In a compelling business fable, the myth of multitasking. The myth of multitasking explains why doing everything at once is neither efficient, nor even possible, and gives you practical steps for more focus in the workplace. In a factory, standardized work assumes a person can really only do one thing at a time. The biggest takeaway from the book the biggest lie of the 21st century our research offers neurological evidence that the brain can not effectively do two things at once. It was believed to be the high achievers secret sauce. Multitasking has become something of a heroic word in our vocabulary. For decades, multitasking was the mantra for those who wanted to get a lot done. Published in august 2008, i can only imagine few people had an interest in maximizing their productivity. This book presents the theory of threaded cognition, a theory that aims to explain the multitasking mind. How doing it all gets nothing done hardcover august 18, 2008. A current national commercial sings the praises of multitasking.
As crenshaw points out in his book the myth of multitasking however, multitasking is not only inefficient, its also humanly impossible. How doing it all gets nothing done 1 by crenshaw, dave isbn. Be that as it may, it takes nothing away from the value of the message in the myth of multitasking. So, while youre on the phone listening to someone, why not use that extra brain power to book a trip to florence. Multitasking is the computer science term, but it is not concurrent processing. What really stands out about this book is its attempt to provide an overarching, unifying theory to help guide researchers and practitioners in an approachable wayel i believe. This book, written by business coach dave crenshaw, tackles the idea of multitasking that we can do two things at once.
Far from being efficient, multitasking actually damages productivity and relationships at work and at home. Using this concept there are interesting examples on car driving and distraction thing. If you think about multitasking from a lean perspective, you might think about the practices of standardized work. This simple yet powerful book shows clearly why multitasking is, in fact, a lie that wastes time and costs money. Bouncing back and forth between things isnt going to make life easier because what youre really doing is task switching, not multitasking. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. In fact, many people were zerotasking at the time, given the global financial and economic crisis had just hit with full force. That was until i read a book by dave crenshaw called.
The myth of multitasking summary four minute books. However, multitasking, as most people understand it, is deceptively counter. The myth of multitasking how doing it all gets nothing done the book has the premise that multitasking is actually counterproductive. Recent job descriptions that i have seen even ask that potential employees have the ability to multitask. You can establish two kinds of office hours at work to focus more. The story itself follows a consultant, phil, who is working with a client to try and help with her time management. As for cognition, there are new ways to look at attention.
Multitasking isnt possible, but rather a pattern of switching. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Its only 8 pages long and can be read in a few hours. How doing it all gets nothing done crenshaw, dave on. Itsa little book with a big message and i would definitely recommendit to anyone who has a lot of jobs to do and are trying to manageit with multitasking. The book itself is a great little book and certainly opened my eyes to the myth of multitasking. How doing it all gets nothing done, crenshaw explains the difference between background. One task at a time and envied people who could multitask and seemed to do it well. The theory states that multitasking behavior can be expressed as cognitive threadsindependent streams of thought that weave through the minds processing resources to produce multitasking behavior, and sometimes experience conflicts to produce multitasking interference. I like the multitasking approach to cognition which adopted in this.