Multitasking

To Multitask or to Not Multitask is the Question Throughout Ms. Tugents paper she uses many examples of how multitasking can be stressful and inefficient. Some people may think that multitasking is an effective skill set while others may see it as unproductive. She used an adequate amount of research throughout the paper, convincing me multitasking is not nearly as beneficial as many people are led to believe. I did some research on my own and made two personal observations over the last week and found that both individuals had differing views on multitasking. Each one provided me with different examples of multitasking and allowed me to see that both trains of thought had merit. With the information I gleaned, it allowed me to analyze my own skills in this area and I came to the conclusion it is not very efficient. The one person I interviewed who felt this skill was beneficial provided me with some interesting feedback. That person happens to be my Mom and her reply was “As a mother you have to be able to multitask.” She used examples of helping your children with homework, cooking, dishwashing and answering the phone simultaneously. She felt that she was able to do all those things at the same time and as a result accomplished substantially more than she would performing one task at a time. But she also admitted that if she did not totally focus, she would make mistakes and miss something important – like when her daughter would tell her something she really needed to listen to – but because she was not focused on all the tasks she did, she would tend to miss things sometimes – but only when she failed to maintain her focus. However, her overall opinion was that multi-tasking was an essential skill for her. Then I talked to my Dad. And his views were totally opposite of my Mom’s. He said and I quote, “ In today’s work environment, multitasking many times is seen as a desired or even required skill set” but he thinks multitasking ultimately results in a lowered level of productivity. He feels that prioritizing tasks in their order of importance and then focusing on each one until complete results in much higher productivity. By focusing on a prioritized task until it is complete and then moving to the next priority ultimately results in fewer mistakes made, less time spent working through the tasks and in the end a higher level of productivity. Through this process I casually observed what I did as it relates to multi-tasking as well as quite a few others and I realized that I and the others I watched were doing many things at once most of the time. Most were working on the computer, texting, emailing, while talking with others and they all seemed to get things done. As I was writing this paper I was talking to my Mom, texting, eating and on Face Book and I unfortunately I realized I was not getting this paper done. So I came to realize that Ms. Tugents research and ideas verified in my mind that multitasking is quite stressful. In the beginning, other people’s ideas made me think that multitasking might be a very good thing. I also realized that people have varying ways of multi-tasking and getting their work done. Some people may work faster by multitasking, but for me it just makes things less productive and inefficient.