Asia Mind Dynamics - Creating change that lasts: Multitasking and the brain

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March 29, 2007

Multitasking and the brain

A couple of month ago, I wrote about the limits of the conscious mind. Research has found that the conscious mind can only hold plus/ minus 7 bits of information at any one time.

Do you want an easy example - how many Shampoo brands do you know? I bet you ran out of ideas after may two or three that were at the top of mind of your awareness. After that you simply started to struggle and may be found two or three more.

Or, think of .... Management Gurus, or even car companies.

Tough, hm?

How do you think of your handphone number? You don't simply stumple along and rattle down all your numbers in one go. Most of us humans (and I bet you are one!) will break the handphone number into bits and pieces.

This is the way the mind operates, sorry to say.

So is it a wonder that multitasking is not as easy as we think? Okay, it is easy to walk in your shoes and chew chewing gum, as Tad James likes to say.

But try, just try, to really work on one intensive task and then flip over to something else, like checking your emails or making a call on the mobile phone.

And then, go back to your task at hand. The simple thoughts might have stopped, and it might take you a while to really get back into the foray of work.

It is simple as that - you cannot multitask without become less efficient.

So believe me, it simply doesn't work.

Now, even the New York Times publishes a study. Quoting research by Microsoft they say that "a group of Microsoft workers took, on average, 15 minutes to return to serious mental tasks, like writing reports or computer code, after responding to incoming e-mail or instant messages. They strayed off to reply to other messages or browse news, sports or entertainment Web sites."

The research estimates that interuptions, and then the time needed to get back on track with whatever was done earlier costs the US economy a whopping US$750 billion annually.

So be wisely if you multitask, because usually, it takes more to get back on track.

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