To multitask or not to multitask?: That is the question

Over the past week or so I’ve been researching the not so “soft skill”, multitasking. I’ve documented my findings and my personal experiences and experiments in several blog posts. I came across many different ideas on the concept of multitasking. Many people were pro-multitasking but many were also against it. What I’ve learned is that multitasking requires a lot of focus and minimal distraction. I’ve also discovered the true meaning behind multitasking as I gained a new vocabulary word. The term switch- tasking changed my overall view of multitasking. I had discovered that I was referring to the term switch tasking all along and truly didn’t know what multitasking was.

While furthering my research on multitasking I came across blog posts ,but one stood out a little more to me. Tali Orad writes,

“Switchtasking (or multitasking) is attempting to do multiple attention-requiring tasks at the same time. Each switch in attention incurs switching cost, which includes a loss of time, decrease in performance, and an increase in stress levels.” (2017)

When I came across this point in her post I noticed that she used the terms ‘switch tasking’ and ‘multitasking’ interchangeably. Whether switch tasking and multitasking are simply synonyms is an ongoing debate that would require further research.

I believe that my experiments were well thought out. I believe I thought of many possibilities to test my ability as well as my research findings.

Although I was unable to master multitasking, I was able to find what works best for me. Not everyone can multitask but everyone can maximize their productivity. Through my research I’ve not only realized that multitasking isn’t my particular talent ,but that I am not the only one unable to master it.

Works Cited

Orad, T. (2017). The Truth About Multitasking. [Blog] Available at: https://medium.com/startup-grind/the-truth-about-multitasking-cd7c78b21359 [Accessed 4 Mar. 2018].