{"id":4155,"date":"2005-10-14T22:59:43","date_gmt":"2005-10-15T02:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/10\/14\/multi-non-tasking\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:54:29","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:54:29","slug":"multi-non-tasking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/10\/14\/multi-non-tasking\/","title":{"rendered":"multi-non-tasking"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"computer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You wouldn’t believe all the pieces I had planned to <\/font>write this week.\u00a0 I “started” all of them, if thinking <\/font>vague thoughts, surfing the net fitfully, and just <\/font>showing up in front of my computer counts.\u00a0 On the <\/font>other hand, very little was completed and I’m feeling <\/font>blogger remorse, while staring\u00a0a\u00a0guilt-filled weekend <\/font>right in the face.<\/font><\/div>\n
\n
Ironically, today was no better than the rest of this <\/font>week —\u00a0\u00a0<\/font>even though I started the day clicking\u00a0through\u00a0\u00a0<\/font>from the <\/font>first\u00a0listing in The Virtual Chase Alert<\/a><\/em>, titled <\/font>“<\/font>Handling <\/font>Information Overload<\/font>,” to Paul Chin’s article <\/font>“Unplugged<\/em><\/a>: <\/em><\/font><\/font>Information Overload Requires a Human Solution<\/em>,” <\/font><\/font>(Intranet Journal<\/em>, Oct. 13, 2005).\u00a0 I agreed completely <\/font><\/font>with everything Chin said, and I nonetheless managed <\/font>to sputter and fritter away the day, going from topic to <\/font>unfinished topic, distraction to distraction\u00a0(like this <\/font>superfluous post).\u00a0 Chin’s <\/font>words\u00a0have not helped\u00a0me <\/font>(yet), <\/font>but I hope you’ll read\u00a0them<\/font> — especially if any of <\/font>the <\/font>following <\/font>excerpts rings a bell:<\/font><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\"tiny\u00a0 “Think for a moment about how many times <\/font>a day you break your train of thought or stop <\/font>what you’re working on to check your e-mail, <\/font>answer voicemail, Google something insignificant, <\/font>or check an online news site. I must admit that <\/font>I’ve been guilty of all these productivity infractions <\/font>in the past \u2014 and most of the times I wasn’t even <\/font>aware that I was doing it. It just naturally happened <\/font>because it was there. I can even recall some instances <\/font>where I interrupted my interruptions.”<\/font><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"tiny\u00a0 “According to Dr. Donald Wetmore\u00a0. .\u00a0. the average <\/font>person is interrupted once every eight minutes.\u00a0 Eighty <\/font>percent of these interruptions are rated as having little-<\/font>to-no value, creating approximately three hours of <\/font>wasted time per day.”<\/font><\/div>\n
\n
\n
in the middle <\/font><\/div>\n
of the distraction —<\/font><\/div>\n
an interruption<\/font><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

…………………………………………. by\u00a0<\/font><\/em>dagosan<\/em><\/strong><\/font><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\"tiny\u00a0 “It’s alright not to be plugged in 24\/7. I’ve person<\/font>ally\u00a0improved my own productivity and ability to manage <\/font>large amounts of information with this lesson. Some <\/font>of my best articles were written in a quiet cafe with my <\/font>cell phone off and laptop offline. . . . Maybe if we <\/font>spend a little more time improving our own abilities to <\/font>organize our tasks and digest incoming information <\/font>we’ll actually improve the manner in which we use the <\/font>technology. Unplugged shouldn’t have to mean unglued.”<\/font><\/div>\n
\n
update <\/font><\/strong><\/em>(Oct. 16, 2005):\u00a0 I just interrupted what I was doing <\/font>to tell you to take a look at today’s NYT<\/em> article on the new <\/font>field of Interruption Science<\/em>. See “Meet the Life Hackers<\/a>,” <\/font>by Clive Thompson, Oct. 16, 2005).\u00a0 It asks: <\/font>“If high-tech work distractions are inevitable, <\/font>then maybe we can re-engineer them so we <\/font>receive all of their benefits but few of their <\/font>downsides. Is there such a thing as a perfect <\/font>interruption?”<\/font><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
update <\/font><\/strong><\/em>(Oct. 26, 2005):\u00a0 Over at MyShingle<\/a><\/em>, Carolyn Elefant <\/font><\/font>interpreted the NYT <\/em>article “Meet the Life Hackers” to mean <\/font>we can blame technology rather than ourselves when we seem <\/font>to get nothing done, despite spending the entire day on the <\/font>phone and answering emails. I think Greatest American Lawyer<\/em><\/a> <\/font>drew the more useful insight from the Times<\/em> article, when he <\/font>noted that we seem to get more done in the off-hours, when <\/font>there are far fewer interruptions.<\/font><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But, I think Chin’s “Unplugged<\/a>” article has the more truthful and <\/font>helpful message, when he states we do<\/em> have to discipline ourselves <\/font>to resist the interruptions that are unproductive or non-urgent<\/font>:\u00a0 <\/font><\/div>\n
    \n
  1. “If you don’t already possess the basic skills to manage <\/font>information, technology might become a hindrance more <\/font>than a help \u2014 it becomes a liability, a part of the problem. <\/font>Not only will you be overwhelmed by information, you’ll <\/font>have to wrestle with the software as well. ”\u00a0 and,\u00a0 <\/font><\/li>\n
  2. “Information overload is a human problem that needs a <\/font>human solution. Before we can design better software, we <\/font>first need to understand and address our own abilities (or <\/font>inabilities) to manage information and organize our work day.” <\/font><\/li>\n
  3. “If you’re inefficient to begin with, no amount of technology will fix that. It will just mean you’re inefficient with an expensive <\/font>toy. A true solution is based both on behavior and technology; <\/font>it’s based on three factors which need to be addressed in proper <\/font>order:\u00a0 <\/font><\/font>a) Individual productivity and efficiency (behavioral); b) Corporate culture and environment (behavioral); c) Software applications (technology)\n
    “When you rely solely on the technology to dictate the infor<\/font>mation you receive, how to put it to use, and when to put it to <\/font>use, we slowly lose our own mental abilities to do the same.\u00a0 <\/font>It’s a sort of mental atrophy similar to physical atrophy. If you <\/font>don’t exercise your muscles they waste away over time. And if\u00a0 <\/font>you don’t work on your own mental abilities to organize, prioritize, <\/font>and focus the technology becomes a mental crutch. You stop <\/font>running the technology, and the technology starts running you.”<\/font><\/div>\n

    <\/font><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\"buddha\u00a0I wish I could absolve myself for my inefficient use of technology (such as\u00a0checking <\/font>emails and weblog-referrers far too often), but the main culprit is indeed the guy whose <\/font>image is reflected in the glare of my computer screen.\u00a0<\/font>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You wouldn’t believe all the pieces I had planned to write this week.\u00a0 I “started” all of them, if thinking vague thoughts, surfing the net fitfully, and just showing up in front of my computer counts.\u00a0 On the other hand, very little was completed and I’m feeling blogger remorse, while staring\u00a0a\u00a0guilt-filled weekend right in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-151","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12972,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4155\/revisions\/12972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}