In the age of multiple monitors and phones in pockets ready to go, so few people I know personally or see online actually pay attention to the thing they’re watching.
Like from a psych perspective multitasking is not legit, you can’t literally focus on two things at once, you’re just switching your focus back and forth. If you’re telling me you watch TV shows while also playing counter strike, I think there’s a genuine argument to be made that you haven’t actually seen the show, because you weren’t paying attention to it. If you’re watching old family guy episodes I’d say whatever. But shows with depth and substance require attention to properly consume, and they aren’t getting it from a lot of people.
Try actually focusing and only engaging on the one thing at a time, you will thank me.
EDIT: I ripped this post off pretty soon after waking up, not very focused. For clarity: I’m talking strictly about consuming two types of media at the same time, and I’m gonna include using your phone as part of that for this post. So to all the people who knit or crochet while they watch tv, this is not for you lol
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Na bruh you can’t
Just sounds like something you can’t do, because I’ve never had any problems with multitasking.
This is well established. It’s not an opinion at all.
I worked at a grocery store when I was 19. Worked in Produce just rotating fruits/veggies and stocking shelves. My Manager would frantically run around try to complete 2 and 3 tasks at one time.
It was my first time watching someone swear up and down that multitasking was better as opposed to completing one task by itself from start to finish.
To this day I still view multitasking as backwards thinking.
You can do one thing at a time really well, or you can do two things half assed. (And so on…)
I hate tech. I was born in 1979. I’d be. Happy if we never advanced.
I think you’re confusing multitasking with focusing on two things at one time. For example, I can definitely cook dinner while doing the dishes, while also having a conversation with my kid. That is multitasking. But I cannot read a book while listening to a podcast. That would require focusing on two things at once.
There’s no such thing as multitasking, you can only think about one thing at a time. Being able to think about two things at a time would be one of the greatest breakthroughs in all of human history.
And no matter how huffily you insist nuh-uh, it’s true. One thing at a time.
Whatever you say, grandma
There are certainly shows that require more focus than others, but there are also tasks and activities that aren’t quite engaging enough on their own where I prefer to watch something at the same time. It will usually be something I’ve seen before or something where it’s not as important to see what’s happening and I can mostly just listen.
I’m never going to sit and just knit.
I would argue that a person can effectively multitask, but the tasks need to be different enough that they’re using different parts of the brain. Combine a physical task with a mental task, for example. Don’t try to do two physical tasks at once, or two mental tasks.
There is some evidence that multitasking is damaging to cognitive health and increases dementia risk.
This article is specifically about multitasking in healthcare, which increases risk for medical errors
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/multitasking-a-medical-and-mental-hazard-201201074063
I think it’s an age thing. Cell phones didn’t become popular until I was 16-17 but let me tell you. I can drive stick , talk on the phone and roll a blunt at the same time and also I can be on Reddit , scrolling endless reading post and know what going on, on tv at the same time while talking to my SO. Maybe you feel that way because people have small attention spans these days. But I’m no one special and I’m definitely not a 1% person.
The only opinion I’ve seen that’s even close to bring a fact.
Nice. Yeah, multitasking isn’t legit according to the science.
I will say some people are better at dividing their attention than others. I’m awful at it. If I’m talking to someone, I have no idea what conversations are happening around me. A lot of people can do it. Now, they are probably bouncing back and forth technically and getting less detail
My friend was playing an MMO with subbed Naruto on the side, other friend called him out “you don’t even know what’s happening you haven’t paid attention in hours” he proceeded to give the plot of the last 5 episodes and even corrected one of us on something that happened, he had not seen it before either I don’t get it
Oh, I agree, and have said this repeatedly, but the folks who write job reqs don’t seem to get that. Look at most of them and you’ll see the word “multitask” at least once.
as an avid osrs enthusiast
yes.
Are you challenging me listening to Fallout Pod Casts while reading a blueprint to finish my weld parts? While taking a drink?
Mf I can multitask
I can multitask alright but I wouldn’t say I’m good at it lol
I don’t know anyone that thinks of multi-tasking like that. Everyone I work with and know when we talk about multitasking we’re talking about the ability to pause a movie/tv show/ other task and address a second task then return to the first task without getting lost and confused.
I have coworkers that get confused returning to their paperwork after taking a phone call that have to backtrack to figure out where they where they were while others can take the call, end the call and pick up right where they left off on the original task.
Chewing gum and walking at the same time is impossible.
This isn’t an opinion, it’s a fact.
As an aside, I thought that if an opinion was actually unpopular here, the point was to upvote it and move on. Can someone please ELI5?
Yes i think this is pretty well known.
What somebody call multitasking is really just task-switching. which means quickly shifting attention between different tasks rather than truly doing them at once.
facts
my homie recently got me to download pokemon go again (yes i know…..i know….i already know what you’re gonna say……i know)
and we go up to a park, walking around, just Pokemon Going, and I came about half a foot from walking head-on into a tree that was wider than me and took up half of my vision just because i was trying to catch a pokemon
I know for a fact that can not multitask.. i can do many things poorly at the same time, but i can’t talk to someone and read something at the same time, if i do i generally become less talkative because i focus on the reading or i talk and skim through the text and then forget what i read just now.
Even science showed us that people driving and talking become more prone to accidents even when using handsfree.
I know for a fact that I cant multitask, I’m already distracted enough by shit around me, too many things will make me stressed
Scientifically proven to be true
Multitasking isn’t psychologically possible
Multiple monitors for me isn’t so much about multitasking, it’s to help me complete the same thing quicker. Easier to have the docs open while you’re doing the thing than to switch back and forth.
Multitasking is really more about dealing with many tasks one after another in a swift and effective matter.