atomicbrh Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 (edited) After reading the attention games topic, the first thing that popped in my head was the term multi-tasking. Multi-tasking as performed by the general public is simply doing many things at the same time that are not inter-related and require no serious concentration. True multi-tasking in its highest form would be all the skills performed while shooting a mistake free stage with maximum effiency and speed. That is the movement of your eyes, hands, feet and body correctly. I observed the multi-tasking by my wife in her recliner. Punching a game on her Kendall, texting, eating a snack, drinking, crocheting, watching TV. All at the same time. Then while talking to her about scenes and dialogue in movies she "had watched" I discovered that she had not really watched a movie in years even though she said she had. A few weeks ago I wanted to watch the original movie "Manchurian Candidate" that Frank Sinatra was in. I convinced her to stop doing all of the other stuff and just watch the movie. Guess what? She agreed that she had never really watched a movie on TV in years. To receive full enjoyment we must give an individual activity our full attention. This should probably be in the "What I Hate" section. I hate the term "multi-tasking". Edited March 28, 2014 by atomicbrh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 IMO it's not possible to multi-task. Multi-tasking is a modern day buzz word that describes a state of not paying full attention to what you are doing. How often are you totally just driving? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinj308 Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201312/meet-the-super-taskers This is a really good article on multi tasking, kinda long though. I certainly cannot multi task, not at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigboy40 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Perhaps society has reached a point where lack luster performance is acceptable, hence the reason 'multitasking' is so popular. Society would rather see many things done poorly than one thing done completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Perhaps society has reached a point where lack luster performance is acceptable, hence the reason 'multitasking' is so popular. Sad but true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric nielsen Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 (edited) IMO it's not possible to multi-task. Multi-tasking is a modern day buzz word that describes a state of not paying full attention to what you are doing. I completely agree with this. Task-shifting is possible but usually both efficiency & accuracy suffer. "Full attention" is a dying craft. I've done 10-hour shifts as pharmacist-in-charge where I take everything as it comes (continuous interruption & re-direction of my thoughts), and shifts where I clump similar tasks into small piles and then jump on one pile at a time till it's done. Long lists of patient home meds, always riddled with nurse transcribing mistakes, get pushed to last. Checking IV's and hazardous drugs gets pushed to shortly before their delivery run-times. Text messages from nurses pile up at my printer until there's about 6-8 of them or 30 minutes goes by, whichever's first. Clinical dosing gets done when it's quiet or gets handed to the other clinical person if there is one. Brand new 1- and 2-line orders from MD's go first, they go fast, and they keep the work-queue looking manageable rather than dire. Newborn's, kids, and ER orders jump the line, those interruptions get allowed into my brain, not much else. Stubbornness about process and flow really pays off. Seen the numbers (we're a for-profit hospital, I have no choice) and the results are not even close. I accomplish far more and have fewer mistakes & do-overs using the triage/clumping method. In my experience the people who brag the most about multi-tasking are the ones who play with their phones and gadgets way too much. [rant: off] Edited April 2, 2014 by eric nielsen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 IMO it's not possible to multi-task. Multi-tasking is a modern day buzz word that describes a state of not paying full attention to what you are doing. I completely agree with this. Task-shifting is possible but usually both efficiency & accuracy suffer. "Full attention" is a dying craft. I've done 10-hour shifts as pharmacist-in-charge where I take everything as it comes (continuous interruption & re-direction of my thoughts), and shifts where I clump similar tasks into small piles and then jump on one pile at a time till it's done. Long lists of patient home meds, always riddled with nurse transcribing mistakes, get pushed to last. Checking IV's and hazardous drugs gets pushed to shortly before their delivery run-times. Text messages from nurses pile up at my printer until there's about 6-8 of them or 30 minutes goes by, whichever's first. Clinical dosing gets done when it's quiet or gets handed to the other clinical person if there is one. Brand new 1- and 2-line orders from MD's go first, they go fast, and they keep the work-queue looking manageable rather than dire. Newborn's, kids, and ER orders jump the line, those interruptions get allowed into my brain, not much else. Holy crap - that sounds just nuts! Nice work on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okiestovepipe Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 maybe this is where we get the term "jack of all trades, master at none." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docscoutjr Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 IMO it's not possible to multi-task. Multi-tasking is a modern day buzz word that describes a state of not paying full attention to what you are doing. I completely agree with this. Task-shifting is possible but usually both efficiency & accuracy suffer. "Full attention" is a dying craft. I've done 10-hour shifts as pharmacist-in-charge where I take everything as it comes (continuous interruption & re-direction of my thoughts), and shifts where I clump similar tasks into small piles and then jump on one pile at a time till it's done. Long lists of patient home meds, always riddled with nurse transcribing mistakes, get pushed to last. Checking IV's and hazardous drugs gets pushed to shortly before their delivery run-times. Text messages from nurses pile up at my printer until there's about 6-8 of them or 30 minutes goes by, whichever's first. Clinical dosing gets done when it's quiet or gets handed to the other clinical person if there is one. Brand new 1- and 2-line orders from MD's go first, they go fast, and they keep the work-queue looking manageable rather than dire. Newborn's, kids, and ER orders jump the line, those interruptions get allowed into my brain, not much else. Stubbornness about process and flow really pays off. Seen the numbers (we're a for-profit hospital, I have no choice) and the results are not even close. I accomplish far more and have fewer mistakes & do-overs using the triage/clumping method. In my experience the people who brag the most about multi-tasking are the ones who play with their phones and gadgets way too much. [rant: off] Thank you ! Very well put. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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