Time to make a resolution: Stop multitasking

It is that time of the year (and decade) where we all make our resolutions for change. My resolution for the New Year is simple.

I will stop multitasking and encourage the end of this practice by all PAKRA employees and partners.

This decade made Multitasking a popular business buzz word (see reference [1]). Having been the consummate consultant, I considered and tried to embrace multitasking.

Growing up in an urban and overpopulated part of the world, I never knew how to work in a quiet place or have ample space to sprawl my necessary possessions. As far as I can remember back, I was able to work in a corner and in all environments. At a very young age, I found out that I simultaneously can:
Task(1) listen to music/noise,
Task(2) drink liquid, and
Task(3) work on one thing and only one more thing.

Task(3) can be -- solve puzzle, chat, write, blog, analyse, code, draw -- name the verb -- I can do it. I can work on front stoop, on subways, or airplanes, or airports or even as a car passenger with Eminem playing -- anywhere where there is some light -- I can work.

Three tasks: drinking fluid, listening and task X -- yep! I can multitask. This led me to believe earlier this decade, that I can be a multitasking pro.

However, over the decade, I realised that there are no task-substitutes for either Task(1) and Task(2) that allows me to create a new combo and maintain the triad of 3 tasks and let me effectively do my task(3).

No more multitasking for me.

Now! to my proselytising spree:
Those of you who use your medical condition to defend that you are more functional and effective by multitasking, we have medical research to support the idea that you are not being effective at all. See reference [2], [3], [4], [5].

Moreover, when you check your emails, play online scrabble, type on your computers (unless you are taking notes) and text during meetings and conversations -- all that you are indicating to me is that: what we are talking about is of no value to you, you rather want to focus on the other task. Stop the disrespect!

Loss of productivity due to lack of focus from multitasking, is only going to get worse in the coming decade. So! let us all abandon multitasking now. Let us simply focus on one task at a time for the next decade.


References:
1. CNN Study (2001): http://archives.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/trends/08/05/multitasking.study/

2. Fast Company (2006): Stop Multitasking


3. Scholastic.com (2007): The Perils of Multitasking-When kids are plugged in, how much sinks in? by Margery D. Rosen

4. Stanford University News (2009): Media multitaskers pay mental price, Stanford study shows, Adam Gorlick

5. Wired Science (2009): Multitasking Muddles Brains, Even When the Computer Is Off

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