This post was originally published in August of 2016 on another platform:
I continued muddling my way through the book Mindful Tech by David M. Levy. I referenced it in an earlier write up. The thoughts shared by Levy of what multitasking means has changed in studies over the years. For some time the idea meant doing more than one thing at the same time. Most of the literature these days tends to define it as shifting rapidly between or among tasks serially.
Levy gives a few examples to help understand the fuzziness associated with trying to define multitasking. "When you open an email message to read the announcement of an upcoming meeting, then switch to your calendar to enter the meeting date and time, are you multitasking or simply carrying on with your current task? When you are reading an email message and notice that a new message has arrived (but you don't actually open it and read it) are you multitasking?"
Levy then breaks up multitasking into three "attentional skills."
"Focusing means directing your attention to the task at hand. When you are reading an email message or posting a message on someone's Facebook wall, how much attention are you paying to what you're doing?
"Noticing means exercising self-observation or awareness, so you can see that other objects or activities are vying for your attention. When your phone dings, announcing a new text message, how aware are you that this has happened? Do you consciously notice the event, or do you just respond to it out of unconscious habit?
"Choosing means making a skillful, informed decision – whether to stay with your current object of focus or to switch to something else – and then reestablishing focus with whichever object you've chosen. When do you consciously choose what to attend to next (and on what basis), and when do you operate out of conditioned habit?"
Levy goes on to make the argument that multitasking is sometimes a useful tool. Other times it can be the wrong choice, even deadly as in texting and driving. He argues that multitasking can be helpful even though it is true that we are doing each task less efficiently then if we concentrate on one thing at a time.
I remember standing on the bridge of the USS Duluth (LPD-6) back in the day. There were about six or seven different radio voice circuits piped in on speakers and linked to different handsets. One of the circuits was "clear voice" meaning unencrypted and meant for plain conversation with non-military ships and aircraft. Another was clear voice, but meant for military conversations using specific codes. The rest were encrypted using technology so you could hold uncoded conversations, but each was meant for different purposes (air control, ship maneuvering, weapons coordination, admiralty direction, etc.) so you had to use the correct handset for the correct conversation. Since the audio speakers were in different positions around the bridge, over time we all got good at knowing which circuit and type of conversation was coming over the speaker based on the position of the speaker on the bridge. Some circuits we had to pay more attention to, some less attention. The challenge was when more than one circuit had traffic at the same time. I do remember times when I had a handset in each ear carrying on two conversations at the same time using different codes. There were other people on the bridge who were able to interact on the radios as well so there was a constant dance as to who would take care of which traffic on which circuit. Oh yes, and by the way, we still had to drive the ship and not crash into things. Sometimes we were driving the ship to maximize weapons effectiveness, or minimize risk from the other side's weapons. If ever there was a multitask environment, that was it!
I wonder in a high-stress environment how Levy's three skills come into play. Perhaps the more repetitive an activity, the less conscious our interaction becomes. His point is that we should consciously train ourselves to be the most efficient at the process when it is right to multitask. On the Duluth we did practice in very rigid ways. Limited numbers of people on the bridge meant each had to handle more simultaneous tasks. More people on the bridge meant each could focus more on fewer tasks, but at some point adding people became a diminishing return or even hampered the work.
I continued muddling my way through the book Mindful Tech by David M. Levy. I referenced it in an earlier write up. The thoughts shared by Levy of what multitasking means has changed in studies over the years. For some time the idea meant doing more than one thing at the same time. Most of the literature these days tends to define it as shifting rapidly between or among tasks serially.
Levy gives a few examples to help understand the fuzziness associated with trying to define multitasking. "When you open an email message to read the announcement of an upcoming meeting, then switch to your calendar to enter the meeting date and time, are you multitasking or simply carrying on with your current task? When you are reading an email message and notice that a new message has arrived (but you don't actually open it and read it) are you multitasking?"
Levy then breaks up multitasking into three "attentional skills."
"Focusing means directing your attention to the task at hand. When you are reading an email message or posting a message on someone's Facebook wall, how much attention are you paying to what you're doing?
"Noticing means exercising self-observation or awareness, so you can see that other objects or activities are vying for your attention. When your phone dings, announcing a new text message, how aware are you that this has happened? Do you consciously notice the event, or do you just respond to it out of unconscious habit?
"Choosing means making a skillful, informed decision – whether to stay with your current object of focus or to switch to something else – and then reestablishing focus with whichever object you've chosen. When do you consciously choose what to attend to next (and on what basis), and when do you operate out of conditioned habit?"
Levy goes on to make the argument that multitasking is sometimes a useful tool. Other times it can be the wrong choice, even deadly as in texting and driving. He argues that multitasking can be helpful even though it is true that we are doing each task less efficiently then if we concentrate on one thing at a time.
I remember standing on the bridge of the USS Duluth (LPD-6) back in the day. There were about six or seven different radio voice circuits piped in on speakers and linked to different handsets. One of the circuits was "clear voice" meaning unencrypted and meant for plain conversation with non-military ships and aircraft. Another was clear voice, but meant for military conversations using specific codes. The rest were encrypted using technology so you could hold uncoded conversations, but each was meant for different purposes (air control, ship maneuvering, weapons coordination, admiralty direction, etc.) so you had to use the correct handset for the correct conversation. Since the audio speakers were in different positions around the bridge, over time we all got good at knowing which circuit and type of conversation was coming over the speaker based on the position of the speaker on the bridge. Some circuits we had to pay more attention to, some less attention. The challenge was when more than one circuit had traffic at the same time. I do remember times when I had a handset in each ear carrying on two conversations at the same time using different codes. There were other people on the bridge who were able to interact on the radios as well so there was a constant dance as to who would take care of which traffic on which circuit. Oh yes, and by the way, we still had to drive the ship and not crash into things. Sometimes we were driving the ship to maximize weapons effectiveness, or minimize risk from the other side's weapons. If ever there was a multitask environment, that was it!
I wonder in a high-stress environment how Levy's three skills come into play. Perhaps the more repetitive an activity, the less conscious our interaction becomes. His point is that we should consciously train ourselves to be the most efficient at the process when it is right to multitask. On the Duluth we did practice in very rigid ways. Limited numbers of people on the bridge meant each had to handle more simultaneous tasks. More people on the bridge meant each could focus more on fewer tasks, but at some point adding people became a diminishing return or even hampered the work.
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