A very interesting scientific article that makes me ask some fundamental questions about multi-tasking…

SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition, online August 24, 2009.

…Researchers at Stanford University found that college students who made a habit of immersing themselves in various media at once were not very skilled at tests of memory, attention and, ironically, “task-switching.”…

To view the complete article follow the link below

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE57N4UO20090824

Multi-taskers that are not good at multi-tasking?

Hmmm…

Below is an excerpt to explain their findings…

It’s possible, according to Nass and his colleagues, that heavy multi- taskers tend to have a generally “exploratory” orientation: they simply like to gather lots of information, even if that means sacrificing their performance on the task at hand.

OK, so multi-taskers with a general ‘exploratory’ orientation.  Does this sound familiar?

Sounds like possible Global Creative activity to me.

Let’s get clear on the definition of multi-tasking.

Multi-tasking is not doing 2 things at once (contrary to popular belief).  For the brain, paying attention to 2 things (or more) simultaneously is not possible!

Multi-tasking is managing multiple tasks over a long period.  This is where ‘task switching’ is an effective tool (something we Global Creatives can struggle with).

So it is clear the students in the study are not multi-tasking experts.

OK so if they are not multi-tasking experts then what are they?

I would argue that they are multi-chillin’ experts.

Huh?

The key here is the level of engagement.  Engagement has some component of pro-active interaction.  The college students are reacting to multiple inputs and not engaging each at a deep level.  They are passivley being entertained by their media toys, hence the term chillin’.

This brings us to our interest in this article.  Completion of any task demands regular engagement at a deep level for sustained periods of time. Give up the notion that multi-tasking will deliver the project to the team monday morning.  It wont!

Multi-chillin’ is a very passive sport which would fall squarely in Covey’s quadrant IV (not important and not urgent).

So why are the students multi-chillin’?

I can’t fathom a guess but I do know that many of my GC clients are prone to multi-chill.

I see multi-chillin’ as a symptom of overwhelm.  When GC’s are skipping around from activity to activity giving their brains cheap dopamine squirts (little rewards) and not getting any real traction on the most important work.

How can we manage multi-chillin’?

  1. develop an awareness for it
  2. consider the source(s) of overwhelm
  3. make a plan to address the source
  4. pull the trigger!  Engage the action that will move the ball forward
  5. get to a completion point.

Cameron Gott

ADD Coach

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