It is true that some folks are more adept at multi-tasking than others. This can be helpful in certain mandatory, time-bound or deadline situations in which an individual must be able to move quickly, using shared focus in order to shift between and among tasks. The myth lies in the idea that multi-tasking is a superior skill to focused thinking and that multi-taskers are not experiencing thought dilution. By doing two things at once, you are actually dumbing down both efforts. Remember this, when someone is talking to you while simultaneously texting on their phone. Though they are able to accomplish both tasks, they are in fact not thinking as well nor as clearly as their focused counter-part.
Many in the Millennial Generation have gotten to be extremely good at rapid, focused, sequential tasking. This is a powerful skill as it is the acquired ability to focus on a task, complete it, then focus on the next task, complete it, then the next, etc. – very rapidly. Our future leaders will be more adept at this than our current leaders but they will also have to become cognizant of the fine line between this effective mode of operation and multi-tasking, which is limited in its usage.
Daniel Goleman, author of his new book, The Triple Focus: A New Approach to Education (2014), writes about his research participants and their thinking abilities, offering that, “the most productive and satisfying days, hands down, came when they were able to have unbroken time to focus on their project. These ‘productive cocoons’ are where they came up with small wins, like innovations, problem solving, and taking concrete steps toward their goal.”
Don’t we all need to carve out time like that?