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Multitasking hurts performance and may even damage the brain (2018)

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Re: Multitasking hurts performance and may even damage the brain (2018)

#31

Post by amelius »

refactor_master wrote: post #5

Again and again, people just refuse to accept that cognitive performance has very clear limits, and that multitasking, skipped breaks and long hours are, at best, a total waste of time. And exponentially so, the more “focus-intensive” the work is. Why do we have this bias? Is it deeply wired in some sort of survival instinct?

> Why do we have this bias? Is it deeply wired in some sort of survival instinct?

Dualism. Body is physical, mind is spiritual. Therefore, mind cannot fail.

Or some reasoning along those lines.

Re: Multitasking hurts performance and may even damage the brain (2018)

#32

Post by periheli0n »

etxm wrote: post #20
gautamdivgi wrote: post #4

I'd vote to have no notifications (of any kind) from chat & messaging tools as the default. This too especially at work to reduce overload of multi-tasking. Even showing the number of messages on an icon in the taskbar is very distracting.

I got on this train when I got my first iPhone. I turned off every notification except the ringer (no one calls me except free cruise spam, so maybe I should silence that). At work, I disable all Slack messages and check Slack in my slack time. Email gets checked at 9AM and 4:30P. It’s glorious.

Sounds glorious indeed! But what do you do when you need to send an email at 11:30? Do you send without looking? Or do you just wait until the next send window?

I'm genuinely interested in this because by far the most time-intensive distractor in my job is answering email. When I look at email at 9am I am usually busy replying until 10 at least. Then I get some work done which I need to send off by email at 11:30, seeing that I have 20 new emails of which 10 are somewhat relevant and 1 needs a reply.

Re: Multitasking hurts performance and may even damage the brain (2018)

#33

Post by laurent92 »

mrkstu wrote: post #13
refactor_master wrote: post #5

Again and again, people just refuse to accept that cognitive performance has very clear limits, and that multitasking, skipped breaks and long hours are, at best, a total waste of time. And exponentially so, the more “focus-intensive” the work is. Why do we have this bias? Is it deeply wired in some sort of survival instinct?

Probably because work culture was originally not knowledge/cognitive based, and the expectations were based on human endurance of physical expenditure, which has different load bearing characteristics.

I’d rather say: On passion. Since I’m 13, I’ve always programmed in long stretches, by passion. It’s please to absorbe oneself into a problem and solve it. Not saying it’s healthy, just saying it’s rooted in our human form, not in workplace traditions.

Re: Multitasking hurts performance and may even damage the brain (2018)

#34

Post by bluefirebrand »

andrewstuart wrote: post #11

My primary school age son, and anecdotally, lots of other kids of similar age, relentlessly multitask in ways that hurts my brain just to think about. He literally is playing a game, watching a YouTube video in another screen, and talking to friends at the same time, and in the most extreme case, is even listening to an audiobook or podcast as well. Asking kids about it, they all say that's just what they do and look…

That's a pretty wide amount of tasks, and more than that it's a lot of sensory input. It makes me wonder if they are actually processing any of it or just letting it sort of wash over them.

Like at the end of it could they give you a detailed report about what happened with any one of those things? Even just asking for the gist of things, I imagine at least one of those things is being tuned out entirely.

For instance, I often game and talk with friends at the same time. That's pretty normal I think, especially if we're playing the same game together. I could easily have a podcast on and a youtube video playing, and from my girlfriend's perspective I'd look like I was trying to do it all at once. But realistically there's no way I'd be able to give the podcast or the YouTube any attention. They'd just be on.

Re: Multitasking hurts performance and may even damage the brain (2018)

#35

Post by vmception »

pizza wrote: post #17
refactor_master wrote: post #5

Again and again, people just refuse to accept that cognitive performance has very clear limits, and that multitasking, skipped breaks and long hours are, at best, a total waste of time. And exponentially so, the more “focus-intensive” the work is. Why do we have this bias? Is it deeply wired in some sort of survival instinct?

We love to hustle

People look down on the pursuit of money but appreciate the outcome

For the person that decides to efficiently pursue money at a higher velocity, the sooner they finish it the sooner they can recreate their social circle with new people that only see the outcome

I’m still around people that talk about gentrification and inequality, just from my penthouse apartment where they’ve mentally exempted me from being the very person they talk about

Re: Multitasking hurts performance and may even damage the brain (2018)

#36

Post by danboarder »

Multitasking gets a bad rap but I would suggest that not everything we call "multitasking" disrupts focus. For example, many tasks become background processes and some provide rhythm for improved focus. In my experience, for example, listening to a Lex Fridman podcast while doing Photoshop design works great together and I think is better when done together than not, perhaps using different parts of the brain. Likewise, listening to music while coding are complementary tasks for me. So some tasks multitask together with others fine and improve focus, while others interrupt or disrupt focus, in my experience.

Re: Multitasking hurts performance and may even damage the brain (2018)

#37

Post by slver »

refactor_master wrote: post #5

Again and again, people just refuse to accept that cognitive performance has very clear limits, and that multitasking, skipped breaks and long hours are, at best, a total waste of time. And exponentially so, the more “focus-intensive” the work is. Why do we have this bias? Is it deeply wired in some sort of survival instinct?

We evolve by trying to be better at what is needed of us to adapt. So yes, it's literally wired in as some sort of survival instinct.

And technically, if we keep struggling at it, over time (generations) we'll get better at it.

Re: Multitasking hurts performance and may even damage the brain (2018)

#38

Post by tshaddox »

refactor_master wrote: post #5

Again and again, people just refuse to accept that cognitive performance has very clear limits, and that multitasking, skipped breaks and long hours are, at best, a total waste of time. And exponentially so, the more “focus-intensive” the work is. Why do we have this bias? Is it deeply wired in some sort of survival instinct?

Do people actually refuse to accept this? Are you sure they're not just doing something for a short-term benefit at the expense of long-term benefits? I don't refuse to accept that pulling an all-nighter is bad for my health and my efficiency, I just waited too long for a deadline and need to get stuff done by the morning. Likewise, I don't refuse to accept that a healthy diet is crucial to my health and wellbeing, I just really wanted some ice cream.

Re: Multitasking hurts performance and may even damage the brain (2018)

#39

Post by neurobashing »

refactor_master wrote: post #5

Again and again, people just refuse to accept that cognitive performance has very clear limits, and that multitasking, skipped breaks and long hours are, at best, a total waste of time. And exponentially so, the more “focus-intensive” the work is. Why do we have this bias? Is it deeply wired in some sort of survival instinct?

it seems to me to be the white-collar version of the blue-collar "I have 14 jobs to stay afloat" thing, some sort of weird awfulness that a certain group has spun into a sign of moral goodness. Look how great things are, they work 3 jobs to pay the bills! Well, we only usually work 1 job, and we get paid a lot, so it's been spun until "look how many tasks they take on a day, aren't they great?".

Re: Multitasking hurts performance and may even damage the brain (2018)

#40

Post by slver »

danboarder wrote: post #36

Multitasking gets a bad rap but I would suggest that not everything we call "multitasking" disrupts focus. For example, many tasks become background processes and some provide rhythm for improved focus. In my experience, for example, listening to a Lex Fridman podcast while doing Photoshop design works great together and I think is better when done together than not, perhaps using different parts of the brain. Likewi…

Yup. The key is to find combinations of activities that don't conflict with each other.

I also can work and breathe at the same time (neat trick). /s

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