Multitasking? Is it good or bad?


After watching a video clip Distracted by Everything, this idea of "how inefficient I became after claiming myself as a queen of multitasking" hit me pretty hard. A quick summary and my reflection on the video. The video starts with a lady sharing her experience of realization of "being together physically, but, at the same time, each person being in his or her own little world". She kept saying "it just hit me another night". It did not hit me until the video was telling stories about people around my age. Later, the video featured a group of brilliant MIT students during their hang-out with friends time. Everyone was either on their computer or phone but "engaged" in conversations with their friends. Another scene in the video captured a group of students eating out with their friends. While they were eating and talking to each other, they were also texting when their phone went off. According to them, they were MULTITASKING. They said it is okay to text in that situation and they understand each other because "they do that to each other". I was just amazed after watching this video and students' response. Before I really did not like (and still do not like) people doing other things when I am talking to them. I just thought of it as a sign of disrespect. Until watching this video, I did not even realized I have been doing that to my friends too. Like the other students in the video, my excuse was "I am multitasking and trying to be productive." And this idea just hit me. 


"Am I being forced to multitask? Who is forcing me? Is it the society? Is it the new technology? Or is it the trend?"


A researcher at Stanford University who came out in the video mentioned that multitasking is "dumbing down" the work. People think being a multitasker increase efficiency of the work process. Can Before I go further, I decided to search and define what exactly multitasking is.


Multitasking:

• Computer multitasking - The apparent simultaneous performance of two or more tasks by a computer's CPU
• Media multitasking - Usage of a computer, mp3, or any other form of media in conjunction with one another
• Human multitasking - The ability of a person to perform more than one task at the same time

In my blog, I want to talk more multitasking and its positive and negative. Of course, I am going to focus on human multitasking.