Against multitasking
In this age and time (I’ve always wanted to say that) we all multitask, all of the time. Not only do we multitask most of the time, but often we see it as a sign of progress (in different ways), especially as a sign that we are getting things done. Many things done (at least that’s what we often think).
If you are someone who still spends a significant amount of time working on a laptop computer or a PC, one mild version of this is having too many browser tabs open and/or too many programs open at once. If you are under the age of 30, you probably have no idea of what I’m talking about.
This is also what I mean. We can be watching Netflix, while speaking on the phone, while using a tablet computer, while eating, while working. For some unknown reason, most of us think that yes, we can do all of these things at the same time, and that we can do all of them well. Even though I’m writing on this topic, right now, I’m trying really hard not to open another window to Google the synonym of a better word to use in the next sentence.
Research has suggested that multitasking truly does not exist, at least at the cognitive level. That is, we are not capable of working on multiple things at the same time. What we do instead, is work on each of these things one at a time for a very short period of time (maybe seconds) and then switch into the next thing. Which really suggests that no, we are not good at doing several things all at once, and especially in doing them well. Not that this will ever stop us from multitasking, of course.