The Multi-Tasking Myth

04/11/2008

This New Year needs us all, all our hopes all our good wishes, all our smiles and all our gestures of forgiveness.
Maya Angelou

As multi-tasking becomes a way of life, Dr. Edward Hallowell, in his book CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap (New York: Ballantine Books, 2006), argues that when we multi-task, we are not doing any task as effectively as we would doing one task at a time. His suggestions...

Do what matters most. Don't spread yourself too thin. Choose and prioritize.
Find your own rhythm. Work at the highest level. This will allow the automatic pilot in your brain to take care of lots of things and will leave the creative thinking part to do what it is uniquely qualified to do.
Do less screensucking. Try to break the modern addiction of always having to be near a computer or other screen.
Master a task. If you give a task your full attention often enough, you may get so good at it that your conscious mind will be able to attend to other aspects of the task than the menial ones.
Play. Engage imaginatively with what you are doing. This will bring out the best part of your mind, focus you on your task, and will make you more effective and more efficient.

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