Point of View

Challenging Assumptions about Living in the Digital Age

Posted by Maggie Harmon on 18 August 2011 | 6 Comments

Tags: multitasking, digital work, efficiency

You would think being named The Brand, Art and Technology Studio, and having a portfolio of clients who are technology leaders we would be inclined to embrace all things digital and the predominant behaviors associated therewith. You would be wrong.

At BAT we certainly don’t eschew the latest and greatest gadgets, systems and communication means, but we approach them inquisitively, answering the most basic business question before we adopt: does this help me increase my efficiency and do my job better? Because we love our clients we also often ask: can this help Awesome Company meet their goals? 

Not infrequently the answer to both questions is, “it can’t.” Like the shiny new toy you opened on Christmas morning, it was the most fabulous thing you had ever owned for about a week and then you went back to playing with the stuff that kept you entertained for the previous 11 months. 

There are times when something new comes along that really can improve how we work, live and play, and there is plenty of technology that can’t be ignored because it has become a part of how society functions. The goal of this series is to take a look at some of those technologies and evolving social behaviors and challenge common assumptions about how things have to be. 

Challenge Number One: is multitasking really a great way to get a lot done at once? Or, is it a complicated way to make us feel more efficient while we get more done poorly? I think you can guess where I’m headed. 

During the last two decades many of us have proudly held as a badge of super-worker/parent/partner that fact that we are constantly multitasking. 

- I’m commuting while on a conference call!

- I’m in the staff meeting responding to e-mail!

- I have four screens open and am answering a call while texting!

And how well did any of that work out? The reality we all know is that when we check our mail on a call we often have to say, “I’m sorry can you repeat that?” Now, for some of us who enjoy the chaos of juggling ten things at once we have brain science confirming our fears: multitasking not only does not work, it may actually be causing long-term cognitive damage. 

A 2009 study showed impaired short-term memory functions, decreased ability to form long-term memories and a behavioral increase in the inability to filter out irrelevancy when trying to comprehend new material. (Put your phone down and read this paragraph again). 

We have more we have to get done in the office/home/life so we respond by trying to do more all at once, the result is we get less done because we aren’t focused and we may be damaging our cognitive functioning permanently - OUCH! 

I started working on this over a month ago. I would write a little here, a little there while I waited for a download or while I was on hold. Then I started writing it again this morning; two hours later I was done. 

It isn’t a shiny new phrase but it sure does work: sometimes less is more!