Between the Lines

Random reflections from the youth in a juvenile correctional facility.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Multitasking

Researchers have discovered what many of us are realizing the hard way – multitasking doesn’t work. If you try to do too many tasks at the same time, you only become more efficient at completing them all poorly. Good work requires concentration. Heck, life requires concentration! ~ Brenda Power, Editor, Choice Literacy, www.choiceliteracy.com

Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Support your position.

No, I don’t agree because if you are concentrating on one thing and try to do another at the same time it might not come out as well as it should because you were not really focused on it. GO

I agree cause if you multitask at things you are bound to mess up. If you do things one at a time and concentrate and take your time you will do a great job of what you are doing. CM

I agree with the topic on the board because every time that I try to do two different things at the same time the only thing that ends up happening is the bad thing. The best thing to do is to stay motivated and do what will benefit you in your life. JL

I agree about that because to concentrate you have to be focused to do something you have to concentrate like for me I can’t talk and do my work because I have to focus on what I’m doing. I have to be alone if I want to focus it has to be silent. DH

I agree to a point about multitasking. I can multitask and make good work but slowly. All people are different though. Sometimes I can do more things than others. I can do good work while multitasking, but also it’s easier to mess up. JH

I agree because I can learn and get more if I concentrate. CS

I agree that you can’t multitask and do everything the same. You need to take your time on what you are doing. If not, and you multitask, you will not get it done the same way. JK

I disagree because like me I can multitask by hearing things what people are saying and I can see what people are doing at the same time. WC

Yes, I agree that if you multitask it helps you get a lot of things done faster. RM

I disagree that multitasking does not work because if you put your mind to it, you can do anything you want to complete in life. You can take day by day and work on them day and night. LP

I don’t think that life requires concentration. I think that you should just go with the flow because it’s more fun that way cause you never know what’s going to happen and that’s more fun. I don’t agree because I think that you can multitask and the thing will still have the same quality as before. DR

I think it does require a lot of concentration. I noticed while I was in here if I focus on school I can’t get my books (program) done. It’s overwhelming and my grades in school and completing my books is mediocre. I know I can do better but my mind is always jumping back and forth. SS

I disagree because just because all people the other people can’t multitask that does not mean people can’t because it depends if you got a stressful life or not because if you got kids, a job, laundry to do bills to pay and it all on your head at once it will be harder for you but if you have all that stuff and you know you can do it if you don’t stress then you can do it so I disagree and that is why. MR

I agree that multitasking doesn't work. Because if you try to drive and eat at the same time there is a high risk that you'll wreck and there are things like say for instance you work 3 jobs all 8 hour shifts in one day you'll be exhausted and you'll go to work not wanting to do anything - that can end up getting you fired. TR

I disagree with the journal question because it does work with certain situations so that’s why it will be easier to do one task at a time cause if you do a lot of tasks only 50% of them will get done. ML

I disagree with the researchers’ assumption about multitasking. I think multitasking is hard work, but it is possible. Multitasking helps a lot in life. We can still concentrate and multitask. Multitasking helps us become more versatile Being versatile will help better in life. MB

I agree that multitasking doesn’t work because I try to do it all the time and it never works so I agree. DA

I disagree with this because I think there are some people out there that can do multitasking and they do it well, but for some people they get frustrated and it ends up being worse than what it was when they started. That’s what I think about multitasking. BM

I agree because the more you put in time and the longer you spend on the task, the better it will come out. I learned that in this art class from Miss Berquist. If you focus on the task then it will keep you occupied in many ways. RS

It does work. I do QL all the time. I have 9 nieces and nephews. I know how to do it. VM

I don’t agree, I multitask a lot and do things to the best of my ability. I know you’re not focusing your attention in one spot, but you’re focusing it in many spots at once. I don’t agree I think multitasking works just fine to get more than one thing done at once. NC

I do believe that good work requires concentration. But who needs good work when you could have mediocre! Multitasking is good enough for me so I’ll stick with it. Who knows, maybe I’ll get really good at it. DM

I agree because you can talk and do something at the same time. As long as you pay attention to whatever it is that you’re doing then you won’t have to worry about side tracking. I also agree because sometimes people need to talk to somebody or have some type of noise to focus. JB

I agree that it is hard to multitask because it’s a lot to keep up with. When you multitask you set yourself up for failure because it knows you can do 10, 11, or even 5-3 things at once. The reason is because if you have to be done at a time then you’ll rush through to get to your next task. This is why I agree that it’s hard to multitask. TA