Multitasking – A Boon Or Bane?

Multitasking – The meaning

Doing tasks simultaneously. But in case of humans the word means “Shuffling rapidly between various tasks”. Multitasking maybe extremely popular these days, but the fact is, it has its own set of merits and demerits.

MERITS:

1. Doing more work in less time.

2. Increased output.

3. Increased respect among colleagues and bosses ( You are automatically referred to as a geek, a tech savvy person or simply a multitasking personality ).

DEMERITS:

1. It drains the user physically and mentally.

2. Instant change of focus may translate into mistakes.

3. The constant shifting will not register the tasks ( work ) in the users mind, sending confusing signals to the brain.

4. Quality of work and efficiency decreases gradually.

Multitasking is not limited to electronic devices and computers. Even in our daily lives we multitask without realizing it. In the true sense however, humans cannot multitask. The brain just shifts focus from one task to another rapidly. Here are some multitasking platforms.

Daily Life / Media multitasking – It has already entered in our lives in a big way. Today, we watch a movie, talk on the phone and eat popcorns simultaneously.

Computer multitasking – The same can be said for computers. Checking emails, listening to music and chatting on instant messengers has become a common trend in this age of instant technology.

Mobile multitasking – Of all the three, mobile multitasking has the least number of users ( Reasons given below ). But the counts are increasing rapidly. People are gradually catching up with the idea.

• Many users are not aware of multitasking facilities available on this platform.
• The display size of the devices.
• Multi-function keys turn off many users.
• Services like ( 3G / Wi-Fi ) are expensive to subscribe to which forms the bulk of multitasking work.
• The cost of the device itself.

Although, multitasking on any platform is tiring and does not translate into efficient working model it has become an important and integral part of our lives. We cannot avoid it. The future will only see an increase in multitasking platforms and devices. Multitasking will also result in the rise of accidents because humans are not capable of doing various tasks at the same instant ( refer to the meaning mentioned above ).

Verdict: Boon or Bane, multitasking is here to stay in spite the fact that mistakes occurring due to multitasking may result in a car crash or a bug in a software code.