28.1.08

Thoughts on multitasking


- Theres no such thing as 'flow'  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)) in multitasking, and this is the mode in which we are most productive doing complex work

- Women are colloquially better at it…. But most 'traditional' women's tasks (housework, watching children) require frequent, small, bursts of attention, and don't require you to load any knowledge ('state') on the situation into your head. More complex or potentially dangerous tasks (such as attending to a squirming infant, and ironing) are *not* multitasked for obvious reasons.

- Multitasking is a copout for not setting boundaries with other people. "Sure I can do that for you….(while I juggle my five other projects)


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