

The Impact of Multitasking: A Challenge - seanjohnthom
http://youtu.be/UH-i1t8eZ8o

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codeherb
I think the reasoning in the experiment is a little flawed. Given that each
task is so small, the cost of a context switch in the example is significant.

Most people multi-task because they are waiting for the first task to finish/
get rid of the monotony of doing the same thing over and over again etc. in
which case multi-tasking can significantly improve output. Its kind of like
the OS running multiple processes on a single core. If you are waiting for
something, you don't need to hold up everything else..

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toblender
I think the biggest issue is the set-up when jumping from task to task. I find
if I leave a project for too long, it takes me several minutes to figure out
where I am so in the process.

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seanjohnthom
Set-up (SU) and set-down (SD) is the issue - breaking concentration.
SU(Task#1)SD; SU(Task#2)SD; back to SU(Task #1)SD; SU(Task #3); SU(Task#1).
Too many SU and Too many SD per task easily doubles the total time for all
three tasks.

