| One thing at a time and that done best - this is | | | | before moving to another task. |
| one of the oldest pieces of advice handed down | | | | Sometimes, you have to juggle more than one |
| from generation to generation. This would be ideal | | | | task at the same time. Life is not polite. It does |
| if life politely waited for us to finish one task | | | | not stand politely by and wait for you to finish the |
| before sending another our way, or if we had | | | | task at hand before throwing the next task at |
| few tasks to complete in an abundant amount of | | | | you. Certain situations may demand immediate |
| time. Unfortunately, life is not ideal. | | | | attention. People who wear "multiple hats" and |
| Have you ever been in a moving vehicle when it | | | | have several responsibilities need to multitask. |
| made a sudden start or stop? Or, how about | | | | What do you do under such conditions? |
| getting on or off a moving vehicle? In either case, | | | | While it is recognized that context switching and |
| your body takes a little time to get used to the | | | | multitasking introduce a certain element of |
| sudden change of momentum. Without the time | | | | inefficiency, it is also necessary under certain |
| to get used to the sudden change in momentum, | | | | conditions. We rarely, if ever, have the luxury of |
| or without something to hold on to when such | | | | focusing totally on one task for its entire duration. |
| sudden changes occur, you will lose your balance | | | | We constantly get interrupted, and, depending on |
| and fall over. This is a demonstration of Newton's | | | | the nature of the interruption, our priorities may |
| First Law of Motion - "Every body at rest or in | | | | change. |
| uniform rectilinear motion remains at rest or in | | | | Do you think about everything that you do or do |
| uniform rectilinear motion unless acted on by an | | | | you sometimes operate on autopilot? |
| external force". This law is otherwise known as | | | | Do you remember how you were taught to tie |
| the law of Inertia. | | | | your shoelaces? You may have had to focus on |
| The mind is not very different. It works by | | | | the steps until you were able to do it without |
| associations. The term "train of thought" is very | | | | thinking about it. |
| accurate - it follows a track, most often a track it | | | | Do you think about walking? Can you walk and |
| has followed through before, and moves with a | | | | chew gum at the same time? |
| high momentum. Switching the mind from one | | | | My point is that with sufficient practice, some |
| track of thought to another requires slowing | | | | mechanical tasks can be delegated to the |
| down this train and moving to the other track. | | | | automatic section of the mind at which time you |
| When the train of thought gets forcibly switched | | | | can put your mind to work on something else. |
| by an abrupt interruption, it even gets derailed. | | | | You can, for example, plan your Power Point |
| The more disparate the thoughts (and trains) are, | | | | presentation (or something thought consuming) |
| the greater the effort it takes to switch from | | | | while tying your shoelaces (or something equally |
| thought to thought. If switching thoughts take so | | | | trivial). |
| much effort, how about switching tasks that take | | | | There are some tasks which inherently require us |
| thought? | | | | to do multiple things simultaneously. For example, |
| Switching from task to task or thought to | | | | a person playing a musical instrument may be |
| thought is referred to as "context switching". The | | | | doing three or four things at the same time. It |
| brain "normally" operates by following associations | | | | has been observed that musicians can multitask |
| within a context. It either follows existing links or | | | | very well. |
| creates new ones. It operates at a very high | | | | Human beings do multitask naturally. When a |
| speed: By the time one gets to recognize a | | | | mechanical task is done over and over again, it is |
| particular association, the brain scans ahead | | | | no longer handled by the thinking part of the brain, |
| several thousand more. It sets up a queue of | | | | the gray matter or cerebrum. It moves into the |
| associations to be "followed" next in sequence. | | | | automatic part of the brain, the white matter or |
| Context switching breaks these associations. The | | | | cerebellum. Automatic tasks, when sufficiently |
| brain is forced to discard the queue of | | | | practiced, may be combined with other automatic |
| associations and to rescan for new ones. It also | | | | tasks or at most one task requiring thinking. |
| takes some time to come up to speed to scan | | | | It takes practice to move any action from the |
| thousands of associations ahead. | | | | thinking area to the motor area of the brain. It |
| Consider a computerized photograph-printing | | | | takes more practice to combine actions. Only |
| machine in one of the 1-hour photo shops. These | | | | automatic actions can be multitasked. If you |
| machines have a finite setup time. They are | | | | expect to take any specific action over and over |
| normally set for a certain size of print, and all the | | | | again, practice it so that you do not have to think |
| jobs that require that size are scheduled for that | | | | about it. For example, musicians, martial artists |
| run. Other sizes are handled similarly. This makes | | | | and sports personages constantly practice their |
| the operation very efficient. If, on the other hand, | | | | actions to be able to execute them flawlessly. |
| the jobs were scheduled in the order in which | | | | The ability to multitask will help us cope with |
| they were accepted, the machine would | | | | interruptions and changing priorities. In addition, |
| potentially have to be reset after every job. | | | | multitasking, if practiced well, will greatly improve |
| Given the setup time, the operation would | | | | our throughput. |
| become very inefficient. | | | | The benefits of multitasking include: |
| Similarly, context switching causes multiple setup | | | | 1. The ability to switch between tasks when one |
| times and is very inefficient on the mind. The cost | | | | is charged with multiple responsibilities, |
| of multi-tasking, especially with regard to tasks | | | | 2. Greater throughput while handling mechanical |
| that require conscious thought, is inefficiency. | | | | (automatic, thought-free) tasks. |
| Adam Smith (The Wealth of Nations, 1776) | | | | Multitasking can improve productivity and |
| recognized the "saving of time which is commonly | | | | throughput. However, not all tasks may be |
| lost in passing from one species of work to | | | | combined with other tasks. |
| another". This is the biggest benefit of avoiding | | | | We all do a certain amount of multitasking |
| multi-tasking. "Passing from one task to another" | | | | anyway. For instance, you may scan the |
| is "context-switching". Adam Smith recognized as | | | | newspaper while drinking your morning coffee, or |
| long ago as 1776 that time is "commonly lost" in | | | | listen to the radio while driving in to work. It is as |
| context switching. "Division of labor" reduces | | | | easy as walking and chewing gum at the same |
| context switching and, consequently, the time lost | | | | time! Most of these tasks are mechanical. While |
| due to context switching | | | | multitasking in this manner, the brain is actively |
| In short, context switching is bad. It is efficient to | | | | monitoring only one task, or at most one task. |
| do one thing at a time and take it to completion | | | | The other tasks run in the back of the mind. |