OT: Multitasking Hurt Productivity?

[Otto]

The more I work with Metro inspired software I get the feeling that this software design (fullscreen) is much more productive.

So I did a search on Google: multitasking productivity

Most of the results say that multitasking can reduce productivity.


•Multitasking can reduce productivity by approximately 40-percent according to some researchers.

•Switching from one task to another makes it difficult to tune out distractions and can cause mental blocks that can slow down your progress.

*Everything in our connected culture urges us to do more things simultaneously. But a lot of research indicates our brains are not wired to work …

*Multitasking can reduce productivity dramatically. Learn more about the costs of multitasking. ... Multitasking May Not Mean Higher Productivity. (2009). Talk of …

*Multitasking: More work, less productivity

*Trying to do many things at once means doing them poorly

...

What do you say.


Best regards,
Otto

[José Luis Sánchez]

Otto,
I think that you are right with this, and you can apply this to all the aspects of your life. I suggest to you read this summer this book: Focus by Leo Babauta, you have a free version in PDF format at http://focusmanifesto.com/.

Regards,
José Luis

[Enrico Maria Giordano]

I strongly disagree! Would you be happy to close your current work only to search an info on Internet or to read an email or even to look at the date/time?

EMG

[Antonio Linares]

José Luis,

I found a great free book that explained the power of a gift, but I have not been able to locate it again.

I think his author was from Denmark and he works in marketing.

Do you know about it ? thanks

[Gale FORd]

Every mother I have ever seen deals with interruptions all day long. It may not be with computers but if they could not multitask then their day would never be over.
I know that my job demands me to be on my toes. There are many jobs that are made much more efficient when you do not have to close what you are doing to deal with something, only to get back where you were.

[José Luis Sánchez]

Enrico: If you want to be more productive, you must focus on your work, and don't interrupt to read the mail. Have some hours to read the mail, in the morning before beginnig your work, or in the evening when you finished your work. I'm sure that if you do this you'll be more productive.

Antonio: I don't know what is the book you tell. I think there is a best seller titled 'the gift', but I haven't read it. I think this book is not about productivity, but on self-help.

Regards,
José Luis

[Enrico Maria Giordano]

Enrico: If you want to be more productive, you must focus on your work, and don't interrupt to read the mail. Have some hours to read the mail, in the morning before beginnig your work, or in the evening when you finished your work. I'm sure that if you do this you'll be more productive.

I'm not expressed myself clear. What if I need an info from email or internet to complete my work? Do I have to close it, open the browser or the email client, then reopen my work? No, thank you.

EMG

[Bayron]

Why someone may say that multitask will hurt productivity... It should be the other way around...

That means that I will have to wait 4 hours for my antivirus to do a full scan of my computer before I can do something else...
I use windows file explorer to see what the files in fwh\samples while I am running the command prompt to compile the ones I need...

Most of the time I have File Explorer, UEstudio, Command Prompt, Paint, Axialis, Google Chrome seeing Fivetech's Forum, My app, and some other more that I check periodically...

The answer that you may be looking for, is:

Multitasking does not hurt productivity...
People not doing what they are supposed to do hurts productivity...
If they did not have multitasking, still they will take 2 hours bathroom brakes...

[Antonio Linares]

“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

Steve Jobs

[Massimo Linossi]

“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

Steve Jobs

Really true.

[fgondi]

Perdón por escribir en español, pero mi inglés es muy pobre.

¿Cómo tienen ustedes su mesa de trabajo?. ¿Sólo tienen un papel o tienen mas?.
Imaginen que están rellenando un impreso y a la mitad del trabajo les llaman por teléfono para dejarles un recado.
¿Qué hacen?
Finalizan el impreso, lo guardan en la carpeta, rellenan la nota, la clasifican o envían a la persona correcta, vuelven a sacar el impreso y continuan rellenandolo.

¿O mas bien hacen esto?
Apartan a un lado de la mesa el impreso, rellenan la nota, la clasifican o envían a la persona correcta, y continuan con el impreso.

Si en la analogía trabajamos en multitarea, ¿Por qué los informáticos no les permitimos usarla?.
Otro debate sería el trabajar con ventanas siempre maximizadas (a pantalla completa), pero sin tener que haber cerrado y/o finalizado otra tarea.


Translation by google:
Sorry for writing in Spanish, but my English is very poor.

How do you have your desk?. Just have a role or have more?.
Imagine you are filling out a form and half the work they are called by phone to leave a message.
What do you do?
Finish the form, keep it in the folder, stuffed the note, the classified or send the right person to get back and continue populating the form.

Or rather they do this?
Deviate to one side of the table the form, fill in the note, or send classified to the correct person, and continue with the form.

If the analogy work in multitasking computer Why not allow them to use?.
Another debate would work with windows always maximized (full screen), but without having to be closed and / or complete another task.

[sambomb]

Enrico, open the email, browser, etc to help you to finish your work still count as only one task, the trouble come when you have to answer clients in the email, look for the best price of a computer in the browser and develop at the same time.

1, 2 ... N apps running at the same time isn't the trouble, the trouble is to pay attention to different tasks simultaneously

[hag]

You can argue about multitasking all you want. But you need to define what multi tasking is. Computers can multi task by running serveral tasks at the same time. Can we multi task or do we need to stop one task to focus on another. Is that multi task or just the art of moving from on task to another quickly. This may be an art that no everybody posess.
The real issue becomes how do you measure productivity. Obviously moving from task 1 to task to 2 means you may loose productivity on task 1 and possibly gain productivity on task 2. And vice versa. Not sure humans can multi task...maybe musicians can by singing and playing an instrument at the same time. But i can only type on one keyboard at a time and can't sing when I'm typing i can humm.