I know how to multitask
Connecting to the Wi-Fi
Went from nerd to superb
Madonna, “I Don’t Give A”
Multitasking is a word, and unfortunately a process, well-known to lawyers. Recently, when a young colleague boasted how well he multitasks, my inner voice groaned. I debated whether to argue or retreat. Rather than challenging the self-confidence of the younger lawyer, I moved on. My experience is that the proponent of an opinion not grounded in science may already be thinking of something else by the time I formulate a response with kind words. I imagine the erroneous thoughts of others pinballing around from target to flipper to target in a random manner. My belief is that the training and practice of law has our minds set to spring into defensive or offensive action to meet any suspect statement or query. It is the nature of the business we have chosen.
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The Science
In case anyone is uninitiated in the concept, multitasking involves either doing more than one task simultaneously or juggling several things at the same time. The first published use of the word multitask appeared in an IBM paper describing the capabilities of the IBM System/360 in 1965. Science commonly refers to it as task switching or dual tasking. Task switching involves shifting one’s attention from one thing to another. Dual tasking is dividing attention among multiple things at once. The reality is that our mental ability is limited to one thinking function at a time, so the cognitive process is continual not continuous. It is serial shifting rapidly back and forth between tasks rather than part of our brain doing one task and a different part doing another simultaneously. In short, two or more mental activities are not being done precisely in an overlapping manner. Decisions are made in succession with imperceptible time gaps separating them.
This is distinguishable from mental and physical activities, which do occur in a simultaneous way. We can and do chew gum and walk at the same time. Automatic and default “decisions” are preprogrammed and may occur without conscious choice. We can drive while listening to music and thinking about the next moves in the case-at-hand without incident. If we are proficient at two tasks, then rapid attention shifts can efficiently occur, but it is likely there is still a loss or waste of energy compared to performing each task to completion independently. Multitasking can result in time wasted due to human context switching and becoming prone to errors due to insufficient attention. It can also affect our well-being.
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Gloria Mark, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, and a leading researcher on attention and multitasking, states: “The science consistently shows that multitasking causes stress — our blood pressure rises, our heart rate increases — and this matches our own perception that we feel more stressed. Even our immune response against disease has been shown to weaken when we multitask.”
The research by Mark and others illustrates some of the other downsides to multitasking. Trade-offs and adjustments are inherent in multitasking. The term psychological refractory period (PRP) is the time frame during which the response to a second stimulus is significantly slowed because the first stimulus lingers during the transition. This causes a delay in response time that may have negative effects on the deliverables of the new task. The brain is unable to fully engage on the one task at hand, allowing errors and a slower completion time. The brain must restart and refocus, with a risk of not being able to pick up at an optimal place or forgetting critical data. A study showed that in the interim between each exchange, the brain made no progress. Other research has shown that the interruptions may create intrusive or disruptive thoughts on irrelevant matters during the transition period.
A small study of seven participants suggests that there are people who can learn to become better at multitasking. In this 2008 study, individuals initially performed poorly but, after some training, were able to adeptly perform the tasks simultaneously. Their brain scans showed that the prefrontal cortex quickened its ability to process the information. The study, however, also indicated that the brain is incapable of performing multiple tasks even after extensive training, concluding that while the it can become adept at processing and responding to certain information, it cannot truly multitask.
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