Whether your multitasking addiction is triggered by an overwhelming to-do list or just constant distractions, author AJ Jacobs explains the great lengths he went to in order to minimise unproductive multitasking by making it difficult to switch focus.
In exploring the science behind concentration, productivity weblog How to Get Focused offers a good reminder that being busy isn’t the same as being productive.
Apple will include much-asked-for application multitasking functionality when they release the iPhone 4.0 update sometime in the next few months, according to all-things-Apple blog AppleInsider.
When co-workers claim they can do only one thing at a time, do you silently smirk from behind your multiple monitors and tabbed browser windows? Psychologists suggest you’re the one who actually rates lower on straight-up memory and attention tests.
While multitasking is invariably useful, excessive multitasking can make it difficult to get things done (as we’ve previously noted). Productivity weblog WebWorkerDaily suggests now may be the time to adopt a singletask approach.
A data-capture study finds that from ages 15 and 48, women tend to watch TV while surfing the net at the same time nearly twice as much as men. The data, released by Integrated Media Measurement Inc., also finds that while men’s use of both major screen media tends to drop off toward age 40, women’s ramps up, possibly due to the time constraints of children. The study leaves a lot of questions lingering, of course, like what kind of “internet use” is being done. Whether surfing channels while surfing the web is benign background tasking or destructive switchtasking depends on the person, and the data being handled. It is intriguing, though, to look down the road and wonder whether multitasking will remain a young person’s game, or become a fact of grown-up life. Female Media Multitaskers Outpace Males; Disparity Increases Over Time [via ReadWriteWeb]
Jailbroken iPhones/iPod touch only: iPhone-Backgrounder, a free app utility available through the (jailbreak-only) Cydia store, makes running apps in the background seriously simple. After installing the utility, you simply hold down the Home button to “minimise” an application. Call it back up again using its app icon, and then hold the home button again to kill it off for real. Backgrounding worked with at least four apps I tested, and kept the audio playing from Last.fm while checking email or web browsing. There are bound to be a few bugs and inconsistencies, but it’s a great hack for keeping music, instant messaging, and other streaming programs close at hand. iPhone-Backgrounder is free and requires a jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch (check our guides for Macs and Windows for help with that). iPhone Backgrounder [Google Code via CrunchGear]
In a fast-paced business culture of “get everything done yesterday,” it’s easy to admire and reward those busybusy people who always seem to be juggling 14 things at once. But business coach Dave Crenshaw argues that the most common kind of multitasking doesn’t boost productivity—it slows you down. In his new book, The Myth of Multitasking: How “Doing It All” Gets Nothing Done, Crenshaw explains the difference between “background tasking”—like watching TV while exercising—and “switchtasking,” juggling two tasks by refocusing your attention back and forth between them, and losing time and progress in the switch. Crenshaw’s on a mission to reduce distractions, interruptions, and fire-fighting at work, and create environments that let employees see through tasks with their full attention before moving onto the next thing. Here’s what Crenshaw had to say when I asked him a few questions about changing perceptions and habits around multitasking. Photo by Elsie esq..
Scientists have long held that seven items—be they images, numbers, or tasks—was the best a brain could manage to hold at once, but LiveScience points out that, without specific practice, the best-case scenario for most people is three or four. It’s a good explanation why phone numbers are written and spoken as three and four-digit groups, and a better reminder that if you’ve got a lot to do or remember, writing it down is probably the only way to hit 100 percent. What’s your personal limit on non-practiced memory? How do you break up tasks and must-remember items into small groups for better recall? Share your successes in the comments, and check out our top 10 memory hacks for some pointers on augmenting your grey matter’s somewhat paltry RAM. Mind’s Limit Found: 4 Things at Once [LiveScience via Dumb Little Man]
The Associated Press takes on a few ways to stop multitasking and start focusing, with quotes from Gina and Merlin Mann of 43 Folders.
