Multitasking has become one of the buzzwords of the modern era. Originally a term from the computer industry – most modern computers are capable of performing several processes at once – it is now applied to human behavior.
It is becoming more and more obvious that, while computers can do it successfully, humans can not. Because the brain cannot fully focus when multitasking, people take longer to complete tasks and are predisposed to error. When people attempt to complete many tasks at one time, or alternate rapidly between them, errors go way up and it takes far longer—often double the time or more—to get the jobs done than if they were being done sequentially. This has led to the quote
“Multitasking is the ability to screw up two or more things at once.”
Like it or not, multitasking has become a part of our daily lives. Chances are very good that while you read this you are doing something else. Even obviously dangerous activities such as texting while driving are commonplace.
Still, there are some activities that require our total commitment. For example, I doubt that anyone could worry about Global Warming while passing a kidney stone.
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