Comments on: Chasing The M-Myth

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:25:34 +0000

You’re absolutely right, Dave. Your articles and books about this stuff are really, really good. I appreciate you for leading the charge and reminding us that switch-tasking kills your productivity. And thanks for stopping by and commenting!

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:23:26 +0000

Thanks Quincy! Yeah…Joel’s example of computer processors and switch-tasking is really helpful to remind you how really impossible it is. I’m with you on learning it the hard way…I always forget that I can’t really multi-task, and keep trying to do it anyways!

By: Dave Crenshaw

Dave Crenshaw — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:12:48 +0000

Great read. Despite of those people who self-claim that they’re good at multitasking and that they do it really well and things gets done very quickly well, the opposite is true. There’s no such thing as multitasking but there is a thing which is called switch-tasking. We can’t really do two things at once but we can switch back and forth from each tasks very quickly that we thought of it as if we’re multitasking because the switches is very fast thus creating the illusion that we are doing more than two things at once.
visit me at http://davecrenshaw.com/ for more articles about multitasking

By: Quincy Barrett

Quincy Barrett — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:52:07 +0000

Jerry have you been peeking through my window? LOL.

Despite the popular belief that multi-tasking makes things easier and more efficient, the opposite actually happens; since we split our focus (or try to anyway) between more than one thing, the quality diminishes – and it takes us longer to complete one thing. I have to learn this the hard way sometimes.

You and Joel, do a good job of pointing that out with your computer analogies. It actually makes even more sense to me now.

Thanks,

Quincy
Quincy Barrett recently posted..Positive Affirmations- Are Positive Affirmations Worth It

By: Day 2 of Robin Robins' IT Marketing Bootcamp | The Motivation 101 Blog

Day 2 of Robin Robins' IT Marketing Bootcamp | The Motivation 101 Blog — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:15:33 +0000

[...] has had on our society, a familiar subject to regular readers of this blog (see the blog post “The M-Myth” and the podcast “The Myth of Multitasking”). Dave’s insights into the workings [...]

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:06:47 +0000

Indeed! I wonder how the myth got started? By Dilbert-bosses who were trying to make their workers more efficient, no doubt…

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:04:59 +0000

So true, Sue! If a five-year old can get this, why is it so hard for us grown-ups to accept?

By: Sue L Canfield

Sue L Canfield — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:59:11 +0000

You know how they say out of the mouths of babes? Well recently my five-year old asked me to do something while I was trying to work on something else. I told her I could ‘multi-task’. I was kidding around knowing that’s not really true. When I explained what that meant she said that it’s just not possible to multi-task. If you’re doing one thing you can’t be doing something else at the same time she said. She’s right. And when she wants attention, she wants my full attention. None of this so-called multi-tasking that can’t be done.

By: Joel D Canfield

Joel D Canfield — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:50:43 +0000

Amen.

I’ve been giving people the computer analogy for 15 years. The reason computers can multiplex (as opposed to multitask) is because they can pause each task and come back to exactly the same spot.

Humans, on the other hand, have to take time to get up to speed again, no matter how short the pause was. If you’re reading an email and answer the phone, when you get off the phone, you still have to find your place, remember what was said up to that point, etc.

Computers just start the task where they left off, no ‘finding’ or ‘reviewing’.

Humans can’t even multiplex very well. We can’t multitask at all.

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:12:27 +0000

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