Multitasking or One Offing?

nivek

As Above So Below
I was at work today with my lead man showing him how to epoxy acrylic solid surface material, these particular counter tops are all tied in together, four of them, not epoxied together to fit like a puzzle with custom shaping...

As we were working I was having a hard time with him early on mainly because he kept trying to do too much at once, numerous times I told him to stop with the distractions and focus on this one single part of the project that was being cut and fitted, then epoxied...He came back with "multitasking has more skill involved than working one step at a time, more can get done"...

That may be true in many cases, but with certain types of jobs and tasks it is much better to focus on one aspect at a time, put all and everything into it then move to the next...This job requires the person to have complete attention and focus on the task in front of him and not be concerned with what needs to be done an hour later...

The point of this is this, I personally think it takes more skill to have all one's attention on the project at hand than it is to multitask, handling multiple tasks at once, less likely of mistakes and the task will get done promptly without distraction...It probably also depends on what these tasks are too to determine whether to tackle many at once or one at a time...

What do you think?...Is there more skill in multitasking or focusing on one at a time?...What do you think the pluses and minuses are in multitasking or one offing?...

...
 

Shadowprophet

Truthiness
I think, personally, I've always had problems multi-tasking, My entire life, One could spin that story either way. Either I have too much focus or not enough, But Multi-tasking is very difficult for me,

OR maybe, Just focusing on one task is hard enough but to focus on multiple tasks would be impossible. I think it's something that is admirable, but it's also something that not everyone is able to do. I think with me it's an ADHD thing, dedicating focus on one specific thing is hard enough, To give multiple things any kind of real focus would be next to impossible to me.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
I think, personally, I've always had problems multi-tasking, My entire life, One could spin that story either way. Either I have too much focus or not enough, But Multi-tasking is very difficult for me,

OR maybe, Just focusing on one task is hard enough but to focus on multiple tasks would be impossible. I think it's something that is admirable, but it's also something that not everyone is able to do.

I think details and quality are quite diminished when multitasking, the door is open for too many mistakes happening, but of course its probably somewhat determined by what the tasks are...There is also the element of stress is an individual is multitasking and trying to juggle too many things at once verses putting attention into a singular task, completing it before moving to the next...

...
 

coubob

Celestial
I multitask all day long everyday, but i`m a cook though. I can get more done, yes. & its hard to put alot of attention to detail when ya have several things going on at the same time.
 
I was at work today with my lead man showing him how to epoxy acrylic solid surface material, these particular counter tops are all tied in together, four of them, not epoxied together to fit like a puzzle with custom shaping...

As we were working I was having a hard time with him early on mainly because he kept trying to do too much at once, numerous times I told him to stop with the distractions and focus on this one single part of the project that was being cut and fitted, then epoxied...He came back with "multitasking has more skill involved than working one step at a time, more can get done"...

That may be true in many cases, but with certain types of jobs and tasks it is much better to focus on one aspect at a time, put all and everything into it then move to the next...This job requires the person to have complete attention and focus on the task in front of him and not be concerned with what needs to be done an hour later...

The point of this is this, I personally think it takes more skill to have all one's attention on the project at hand than it is to multitask, handling multiple tasks at once, less likely of mistakes and the task will get done promptly without distraction...It probably also depends on what these tasks are too to determine whether to tackle many at once or one at a time...

What do you think?...Is there more skill in multitasking or focusing on one at a time?...What do you think the pluses and minuses are in multitasking or one offing?...

...
There have been a lot of scientific studies on the human brain and this myth about multitasking in recent years - if you do a quick Google search you can find a ton of them.

People who think that the brain is capable of sophisticated parallel processing are simply deluded: we're wet-wired to focus on one thing at a time. When people are doing multiple tasks at the same time, they're actually just switching their attention between different tasks constantly. Which is A.) less efficient because each switch between tasks has a time penalty as you refocus on the next task, and B.) the quality of each task suffers, and often results in mistakes (and one mistake can ruin an entire day of work in many occupations).

Now there are some things that we can do at the same time - simple tasks which involve completely different regions of the brain. For example, you can listen to the weather report and sweep the floor at the same time, and you can come away understanding the forecast and also do a good job sweeping the floor. But that's not usually what's going on in the workplace. Usually each task requires some level of executive function: identifying problems and coming up with solutions and attending to production processes. And executive function can't be multitasked at all - try writing an email while talking on the phone: it can't be done. Hell, people can't even do something simple like driving a car while talking on a cell phone without getting into accidents.

Focus is the lost art of the 21st century, and this multitasking myth is the problem, not the solution. I hire people who can focus on one thing for hours at a time - those people are the real treasure: they get much more done each day and they get better at their work year after year because they're fully immersed in what they're doing and learning along the way. But these folks giving themselves ADD by running around trying to do too much at once are the people who make all kinds of mistakes and create hazardous work environments for everyone else.

Line cooks are able to juggle lots of simple tasks because each task becomes largely habitual after awhile. But nobody's going to lose an arm, or a small fortune in product, if an egg gets burnt. In a manufacturing setting though, one scatter-brained jackass on a forklift can do unspeakable damage to others, or more commonly, the bottom line.

Think You're Multitasking? Think Again
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
I multitask all day long everyday, but i`m a cook though. I can get more done, yes. & its hard to put alot of attention to detail when ya have several things going on at the same time.

Agreed but with time and experience you can do it. I used to sit and have several servers under maintenance at the same time that were all doing different things with lengthy procedures for each. Little choice - limited time period allowed in production applications. A small mistake could lead to a real furball but after lots of practice I became very good at it. So I suppose 'it depends.' Lately when I am farting around turning a wrench on something I have to turn off whatever I am listening to because it's distracting.
 

Toroid

Founding Member
I was at work today with my lead man showing him how to epoxy acrylic solid surface material, these particular counter tops are all tied in together, four of them, not epoxied together to fit like a puzzle with custom shaping...

As we were working I was having a hard time with him early on mainly because he kept trying to do too much at once, numerous times I told him to stop with the distractions and focus on this one single part of the project that was being cut and fitted, then epoxied...He came back with "multitasking has more skill involved than working one step at a time, more can get done"...

That may be true in many cases, but with certain types of jobs and tasks it is much better to focus on one aspect at a time, put all and everything into it then move to the next...This job requires the person to have complete attention and focus on the task in front of him and not be concerned with what needs to be done an hour later...

The point of this is this, I personally think it takes more skill to have all one's attention on the project at hand than it is to multitask, handling multiple tasks at once, less likely of mistakes and the task will get done promptly without distraction...It probably also depends on what these tasks are too to determine whether to tackle many at once or one at a time...

What do you think?...Is there more skill in multitasking or focusing on one at a time?...What do you think the pluses and minuses are in multitasking or one offing?...

...
All focus should be on leaning the new task. If the quality of the product is that important then other issues should be put on hold.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
"I do one thing at a time. I do it very well. And then... I move on."
--- Charles Emerson Winchester III

250
 

Dejan Corovic

As above, so bellow
Focusing on one thing is really a priviledge and one delivers higher quality of work. Multitasking is really for situations when you're under pressure from your environment and you toss quality out of the window, just want get it done.
 
Top