“To do two things at once is to do neither.” It’s a great smackdown of multitasking, isn’t it, often attributed to the Roman writer Publilius Syrus, although you know how these things are, he probably never said it. What I’m interested in, though, is — is it true? I mean, it’s obviously true for emailing at the dinner table or texting…
Here’s what my browser generally looks like: work email in the left-most tab, always open. TweetDeck in the next one, always open. A few Google Docs tabs with projects I’m working on, followed by my calendar, Facebook, YouTube, this publication’s website and about 10 stories I want to read — along with whatever random shiny…
Until you know how to focus, you’ll never be able to think clearly, solve problems, make decisions, or remember things. Being focused is important but staying on a task is becoming harder and harder. A symphony of notifications can draw you out of whatever you’re doing at a moment’s notice. Source: How to Focus and Maximize…
15 years ago, I made two major choices before I went to school in the mornings. I picked what cereal I would have (how good were Ricicles?), then sifted through my CD collection before popping one into my Discman for the day. … Think of that same journey I took 15 years ago. Today, it’s…
Multitasking is a big part of the modern world. People are constantly doing two things at once; they send emails when they are spending time with their loved ones, they work out while texting a friend and they cook while they check Facebook. However, all of this multi-tasking is bad for your brain. Recent studies…
Have you considered the high cost of task switching? It probably takes you a little while to stop doing one thing and start doing another with efficiency. What happens when you switch less often? Also: Consider the sprint test. If there’s a task that comes up often, challenge yourself and your team to, just this…
Over the past decade, academic research has increasingly examined issues of multitasking and distraction as people try to squeeze more activities into their busy lives. Prior to the Internet age, some cognition science research focused on how behavior might be better understood, improved and made more efficient in business, hospital or other high-pressure settings. But…