Multitasking Is Inefficient

I want to register a protest against the now-ubiquitous requirement that people in business be “proficient at multitasking.”

Multitasking, for the uninitiate, is the ability to keep a couple dozen plates spinning without dropping any, usually while whistling Dixie or talking on the phone. That is, the person whose job description includes “able to multitask” is going to be expected to do more than is humanly possible if you want to work less than 90 hours a week. It’s an underhand way of getting two or three people’s work out of one poor, exhausted sap.

Some multitasking is required in nearly any job. Even the receptionist needs to be able to handle multiple phone lines, incoming visitors, and light typing. Mothers are the ultimate multitaskers, as they have to coordinate nutrition, hygeine, social schedules, academic schedules, work schedules, and numerous other aspects of daily life for themselves and their spouses and offspring. I know very few mothers who cannot yell at the repairman while planning a birthday party on the phone while supervising the toddler’s playdate and cooking supper.

However, when multitasking begins to include items that require full concentration and attention to detail, the system begins to break down. For example, I used to work as the communications specialist for a local pilots’ union. All was well when my responsibilities were limited to planning, researching, writing, and producing two publications (one monthly and one quarterly). I did a good job, had plenty of time to get the work done and spend the requisite time brainstorming as I planned future issues.

However, when my job was expanded to include updating and reviewing the website, production (from planning through printing) of two additional monthlies and a second quarterly, attendance at all Board and planning committee meetings, and coordination of all media relations, well, things began to fall apart. Stuff fell through the cracks, and my reputation for “never making mistakes” suffered. The best advice that HR could give me was to learn to “multitask” better. Hah!

Anyone who’s ever done it knows that planning, writing, and layout all take time. Lots and lots of time. Research takes even longer.

The fact is that there are simply certain jobs that require focused, single-minded concentration. I don’t want my doctor multitasking; I want him focusing on curing what ails me — whether he’s putting in stitches or checking my blood pressure. I don’t want my editor multitasking; I want her concentrating on every single character I’ve typed, making sure I didn’t put a comma in the wrong place or type “public” without the “L.” For that matter, I want that editor to be able to focus enough that she can notice that I said Jane’s eyes were blue in the first chapter, and 200 pages later I’m calling them green. I don’t want my accountant multitasking; I want him focused on my tax forms so I get a rebate and don’t have to pay a penalty for some overlooked taxable income six months from now.

And while a good Admin Assist, secretary, or receptionist should be able to multitask to some degree, he or she needs to be able, and allowed, to have certain times or certain tasks that are off-limits to interruption. When talking on the phone, the secretary needs not to be interrupted by a query about where the pencils are kept. When another employee has been told to hold the AA’s calls, the AA should be forgiven if she responds with frustration when that person insists on buzzing her every five minutes with another call.

There are just some things that can’t be combined with other things, and it’s time the business world faced up to that fact. I’m all for efficiency and combining tasks whenever possible. But the fact is that multitasking, as it’s implemented in most offices today, is an inefficient, even dangerous, practise, and it ought to be curtailed.

Tags: efficiency, multitasking, Work Life