Humans and multitasking - How much can we do simultaneously? | DW Documentary
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- Опубліковано 3 чер 2024
- Can humans multitask? Scientists are examining how trying to do as many things as possible at the same time is affecting our brains - and our souls.
Making phone calls while driving, checking social media at work, listening to music while studying, maintaining efficiency while working from home. Many companies still regard the capacity to multitask as a crucial workplace skill. But is this approach to work and life really effective? This documentary explores the phenomenon through a wide variety of disciplinary lenses, including kinesiology and neuroscience, occupational psychology, business management and sociology.
The outcome: our brain is not designed to accomplish several complex tasks at the same time. Attempts to do so result in stress that can exert significant damage on particular regions of the brain -- its "grey matter", for example.
This damage to the brain can also hurt the economy. A large-scale study involving companies from 20 sectors found that multitasking practices pushed turnover down by 25 per cent. But is there any way to escape the pressure vortex?
#documentary #dwdocumentary #multitasking #science
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I'm lawyer. If I need to work on a client's case, my concentration must be total because I value my work and respect the needs of those who hire me. If I am preparing my food, a distraction can result in a shit meal. For me, it's possible to watch Netflix series on TV and use my smartphone to chat or watch the news, because in both cases the concentration doesn't need to be great. The secret is to learn to make a clear distinction between what deserves more attention and what is not very important. Self-discipline is key. If I'm reading a book, I don't even touch my smartphone. No app on it makes sound or vibrates.
Thank you!
I only multitask with watching Netflix and youtube when doing minor surgeries, major surgeries I'll usually put it on autoplay. Too many malpractice suit Karens out there 🤣
Honestly i cant work without distractions. Otherwise i get bored and usually fall asleep. Even when i smoke weed no matter how much or little i smoke if i dont walk around i end up falling asleep
Ah yes, nothing like half-watching a video on multitasking while also trying to multitask with doing my work
😅😅😅😅
😂
And reading comments at the same time
Ditto 😂👍
Exactly
DW has been my favorite channel since childhood. The way DW fearlessly present science backed news is an example to all news media in the world. Even touching topics that are sensitive in a delicate scientific manner. The world needs to learn from DW. I have so much respect. Hats off to people and culture at DW!
Thank you for your beautiful words! We appreciate that a lot. We wish you a happy new year!
This video explains in so many different ways why we should focus on one thing at a time. Very informative!
The 'language and music' example was spectacular as well as relevant to the language learners like me. To put it in context, Now I have understood why I was unable to learn vocabulary when I would do a full time messy job with unpredictable deadlines like the doctors and nurses. Thank you DW for covering this topic . Much love from Bangladesh
This is an important topic for society. People driving while making TikTok videos, families paying more attention to their phones than themselves or talking to someone while their head is buried in their phones. Not good.. 😔
It’s even poor on our posture
It’s called, “Switchtasking.” Look for the book: Multitasking is a Myth…
You may call it switchtasking and yes I did that for years until I retired 4 years ago. I handled too many countries in cultural in particular museums. I organize first, then priorities ( overlap in very urgent matters) the switch back, then the usual works, then I coordinated with problematic countries etc. I don’t know if it’s too stressing. I felt it’s how we organize our job, define and priorities and flexible. I noticed the stress if the person is lax and works piled up, and refused to improve.
and myth is busted today by DW 👍
Thanks for this wonderful and informative video, I am currently working as a Front Desk Agent in the most famous Hotel in Singapore .
I relate to this video on so many levels . There is so much task to do behind the scenes while using the system, on top of that we have to manage guest experience ( Obviously listening and chatting with guest but also getting my fingers to move on the computer at the same time ) the amount of stress is overwhelming even though I have all the tools needed in front of me , the challenge now is we do not have the luxury of time to complete the many task on hand and we are fighting against time while dealing with human emotions .
I feel like my job loses its value to provide excellent service as most of the time we are so fixated on just getting the things done in front of us.
Consumers are also more demanding and less impatient too in this time and age .
Anyway love your videos DW documentary , sending love from Singapore ,cheers !! ❤❤
Thank you for watching and taking the time to share your personal experience:)
Thanks for driving our attention to effective performance rather than multitasking.
That ship has sailed, sadly.
Good documentary. About Mindfulness: Let's fix work, so that workers don't need fixing themselves with meditation. Mindfulness is not a tool to increase productivity 😉
🙏🏾
Great point
Beautiful documentary. Insightful findings with good tips.
An Excellent documentary by DW.
“Multitasking” is a very convenient euphemism for expecting ONE person do jobs of many people. And with technology multitasking has gotten DENSER, while people have become more depressed and angry and exhausted.
Indeed. Multitasking is just an excuse to use as cheap labourforce as it might be. And yes, there is research showing that human brain single task and each added task increases the risk of mistake by 30%. And this rsearch has been around for years so if despite this we still hire and expect people to multitask we simply lie to everyone around about how human prefrontal cortex works like. It does single task. Only basal ganglia can mutltask but only after human brain has automated mostly a motoric skill, this is not something we can analyze in a highly rational manner or something we can consciously focus on. We can automate 17 various movements we do to drive a car. This is what basal ganglia do in experienced drivers. But we cannot multitask while doing accounting job, taking calls from various people, writting e-mails and learning new things at the same time. Human brain is simply not capable of such information processing and especially masculine brain does single taks to the extreme. So why we simply do not abandon this false concpet once and for all? Especially given that we have already developed AI that yes, can multitask while searching for infromation while we really cannot. Who are we still trying to fool?
You nailed it. The term found its way into corporate lexicon well over 30 years ago. Everytime I went to a new orientation or interview I heard 'multitasking' over and over. It's just a word for squeezing more blood out of a turnip. Workers are an expendable resource. 100% turnover ? NO PROBLEM !
An excellent documentary with such a lucid comprehension of trade-offs against the limited cognitive capability spread over the stimulus with the productivity in question. 👌✌👍
I have always found the multitasking brains of conference interpreters and war plane pilots very astonishing.
My daily routine is to watch DW documentary while I’m eating and doing homework
I tried that. I ended up eating my homework and watching the the fish read calculus. Too many things at once. Idk.
My daily routine is to smoke weed too.
I reserved the long documentary for meal time, that way I just focus on 1 topic for 45 minutes 😅
This is a thought-provoking documentary that delves into the impact of multitasking on our brains and lives. It's true that many of us juggle various tasks simultaneously, from work to personal life. However, as the documentary reveals, our brains aren't naturally wired for this. Multitasking can lead to stress and even damage to our brains. Interestingly, it can also affect the economy negatively. This raises important questions about how we balance our tasks and whether there's a better way. An eye-opening exploration!
Very good topic.
Thank you DW
They always get a good dig in
Very informative🙂
This one is so good! Informative and efficient!
Thanks for watching!
I love DW documentaries. I'm a teacher and this is great for them to practice and find topics of interest. 🎉😊❤
Thanks for watching us, Jhon! 😊
Topical Documentary with actionables to round off. Great stuff DW !!
Now we also know that Captain Hastings went off to Zurich Uni after Poirot vanished.
very informative
Technically, the brain can only focus on one thing at a time even if you're switching between 2 tasks every 5 seconds.
Great documentary! Thank you! As I'm from the educational field, it made me think about Sweller's cognitive load concept
Thanks for watching :)
Interesting stuff! I myself don't see myself very good at multitasking
I agree on the point that the productivity of studying while listening to music depends on the content, the Subject and the kind of the excercise.
*[# 1]*
The boat VR looks fun and physical.
My favorite SCIENFIELD episode was when Kramer washing his head of lettuce 🥬 while in his shower 🚿😂
when I have a long chore in the kitchen, preparing complicated recipes, I listen to audiobooks, that's my multitasking 😅. I like to swim because it made focus on the moment, sometimes great ideas 💡 pop up during my lap swim!
It's impossible to focus on this video, when an advert cuts it out almost every 3 minutes.
Another wonderful documentary coverage shared by respectful, loved..(DW) documentary channel... allot, thanks... Multitasking activities are creating more quantity products while less quality relatively... rather than more stressful on brains 🧠....it's belonging to civilization level ranges of populations ...
Interesting
More than half my work day was filled with interruptions. The "Now where was I"? happens continuously. It is a wonder I got anything done at all.
I like to have videos on when i work because when I am actively ignoring some noise then I can focus better. If I have silence, my mind wanders much more easily.
Sheikh Thambi Pavalar known as Sathavathani, which means, one who has a grasp on hundred different aspects of knowledge at a moment. On 10 March 1907 he performed Sathavathanam Programme, in the presence of scholars like V. Kalyanasundaram (Thiru.Vi.Ka) at Madras Victoria Town hall and got appreciation. He was given the title 'Mahamati Sathavathani' by Thanjai Sathavathani Subramanya Iyer.He hailed from Edalakudi a place in kanyakumar district , Tamilnad, India. 🎉
I'm very glad I was able to watch this doc. Very informative
There is different types of multi tasking: multitasking in artistic work like music or film is not the same as multitasking in a shitty job plus dealing with kids. I personally like to play my guitar while watching documentaries or movies
I think the similiarity is the key. Multitasking a job while nursing a kid isn't similiar at all, while playing a guitar while watching something has some similiarities (hearing for example), also it's not more demanding than the previous.
here's the tradeoff of multitasking: achieving more poorly Vs less but quality stuff. you may choose the right strategy depending on the particular tasks at hand.
Agreed 👍
I'm a commercial airline pilot and I am fine with doing turbotax and quickbooks whilst flying across the pacific. No problems at all.
Nice video. Do you have German version of it ?
Watching this while gaming and studying for my Portuguese test.
Pop it Champ!
J. S. Bach' Baroque vibrations kept me focused during Applied Calculus studies...🤔
How about simultaneous translation? They really listen to one language while at the same time they speak in one language and technically translate at the same time.... True multitasking?
This deserves a look
Quick switchtasking, like that 1950s entertainer.
It’s interpreting. But yes, we must listen, interpret in a different language, and make sure that it makes sense. For the most part, everything happens so quickly. That’s why we must work for 20 minutes at a time, then switch so our partner can take over. Although we are still paying attention, and researching words and/or concepts for ourselves, and our partner.
I would say I am not bad at multitasking I can do two tasks at the same time especially helping people out at work because I want to get it over with so I can go and do other things. I use my phone for about 8 to 10 hours everyday especially during the week. I love what I do and I am so glad that I can always use my device since it is an iPhone and I love Apple devices.
How much did you pay for your lobotomy ?
@@eddenoy321 I did not get one. So I can say how much I paid for it.
We can do one thing at a time! It is an illusion, multitasking. We have great human brains, but the body does one thing at a time. the automated tasks we do are our heartbeat, breathing, and other automatic tasks the body does that we aren't conscious of.
We don't do each thing to completion. We switch between tasks, but still, work on each one, one at a time.
At 73, I can walk and pee at the same time.
I'm not even watching this video. I'm listening to it while I do some work. I'm also writing this comment. I realise it's inefficient. One can only do one thing at a time effectively. That said, multitasking is very appealing.
Yeah, but nobody's very good at multitasking.
I'm not even typing I'm just like using audio to write this so yeah multi task without having hammer fingers on
But if I speak too fast or like you know whatever it doesn't really pick it up so I have to kind of go back forth between that but anyway I just want to show you like you don't actually have to type right and then you can actually just you know like just how you wanna say like you know what I'm doing right here where you're just like speaking into the thing and it's like doing it and stuff like that
Excellent documentary!👏🙌 It adds much more clarity on the subject, in addition to demolishing several myths haha
Too many ads, you guys broke?
Mothers have to multi task, always have done, always will have to.
Thank you for another interesting and useful documentary
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Making dinner while holding an infant, watching out for a toddler, feeding the dog and answering the phone. Life for a lot of people without the luxury to do otherwise.
Friday, December 16, 2022
I remember a news piece on Public Radio. There was a multi-tasking expert and she said - lots of women say, 'I can multi-task! I can talk on the phone, and make dinner, and listen to the children.'
But these are things that are not cognitively challenging, and they are all things that you have done 1,000 times. If you are trying to do your algebra homework and write a text to a friend on your phone, then it's really pulling your attention in 2 directions.
yea but why should you make dinner,holding an infant,watching out for a toddler,feeding the dog and answer the phone at the same time?
sounds insane and can´t be good 4 you or the kids and dog, in the long run.
I hope American bosses were listening to those last lines of the video.
Me: making dinner with the infant. Oops. I cooked the baby. 🤷♂️ what can you do?
I observed to a highly evolved elderly spiritual teacher who demonstrated multi tasking with ease. the reaction person sitting next to him was.🙀 one expects of him a zen attitude.
I think this topic came needed time
People are missing from most of these studies. It's all about efficiency and high yeild. When it should be about welfare that is PERSON centered and a future geared towards Sustainability.
Music when studying is all dependent on the tastes of the listener. The study with multi-tasking and music forces a listener to listen to particular music that I highly doubt they would ever choose for themselves when studying and most likely at a distracting volume. Like the student in the classroom aptly pointed out how much of a sensory input we add to our environment also matters. Having music playing quietly in the background as opposed to prominently playing a lively Vivaldi score (that's just baiting) with CERTAINLY produce different results. Same as playing something someone likes as opposed to something foreign or distasteful. To me their study proves only that noise is distracting to some people.
The medical gaslighting of the medical system is laughable. Yes they multitasking, but in the US it's based on profitability, judgment of the patient themselves and discrimination all in the name of the efficiency serving the institution not the patient. As a chronically ill patient with a rare disease, I'm well versed. And now it's not sitting around drinking coffee, it's playing on their phones. I have videos of this. It's gross. ERs are the worst violators. If you have medicaid you mind as well be dirt. If you are homeless you are dirt. I have been treated subhuman, on every occasion.
Open-plan offices are beyond horrendous to concentrate and work in, all the auditory and visual stimulations decrease productivity while raising cortisol levels and at the same time increasing low-level anxiety. They are psychologically, cognitively, emotionally and physically unhealthy. The only music I could ever listen to over my headphones to drown out the constant chatter was binaural beats, and definitely nothing with vocals.
I think multitasking is natural. We do it all the time. In this program, the scope of multitasking is too limited. It is limits to artificial activities. But these capacities can be learned. Most people multitasking without learning to.
You didn't listen very carefully to the program, because you were probably answering e-mails or texting while trying to watch the program.
Some can, but sadly they're many who think they can and die or get seriously hurt doing so! Texting or doing other things while driving or ridding a motorbike, like many in Thailand!
This is a question asked by big businesses who want employees that work all the time on many different tasks all for the minimum wage
I think we need to consider that why learning vocabularies using song is better than only learn vocabularies, if the best learning way is without any distraction?
At least for me that's the case.
I'm running a company alone, business development, production services, teaching,
Including working on its three sisters company at the same time. (Building, branding, development, marketing, content creating)
Love multitasking, does it good for the brain?
As a teacher of foreign languages I get extremely irritated when students use mobile phones during the lessons. They believe that learning and texting can be combined successfully.
Something I think this video often misses - sometimes frustratingly - is the idea of multitasking is different to the literal definition of "doing two things at exactly the same time." For instance, it was brought up on a few occasions that (something along the lines of) "this person is not actually doing two things at once, they are instead switching back and forth between things very quickly."
This may be interesting to note, but surely if someone can effectively switch back and forth very quickly between two things, they are being an effective multitasker by any normal usage of the term?
No you are fooling yourself and others Dude; one thing at a time generally speaking; mutitasking leads to second rate results/failures ; only simple tasks can be done simultaneously; my own experience: eating and talking requiring some thinking will lead to choking or swallowing onto the wrong channel. Period ROLEXSYSTEMPROFITS Benji
Question: What exactly is causing speed of this function (switching tasks back and forth) slower or faster in some people comparatively?
I always workout out while watching tv show for 10 years. It makes workout time is not long and I can complete it successfully. If not, it's boring and I easily feel tired.
My takeaway home from this video is that multitasking is not always bad. We're capable of it depending on the tasks and conditions. One research published by BBC in 2021 revealed that multitasking has "creative benefits and could increase our sense of efficacy."
The key word is SENSE (of efficacy). A sense is a feeling. May not be the actual/real thing.. Just like virtual reality is sensations and opposed to what is real.
Multitasking is good for your brain, it trains it.
Yep, funny how i am working while watching/listening to this
Everything is ours responsibility only . its different we don't want /have expertees. All women never home science graduates or done cookry course. But everyone doing because of responsibility. Similarly man doing important tasks. Thus as far as possible we all have to see everything and choose self doing /taking helps/giving to other specialists.
I have TV and Music on. Am productive this way. In silence or quietness, my mind drifts off
I can....I am an absolute Legend!
Ooooh tell me a story
I would've liked to see the results of the woman driving and texting/answering calls.
I hate having to do it. I do it terribly. I have ADHD (Inattentive Type).
Me watching this while getting ready to go out
Ok superstar!
ironically. When this video showed up, I was multitasking HAHA
I do the bare minimum to stay alive, maintain a small social network, enjoy a moderate priced meal out on the weekends, and take a trip every 1-2 years. There is no sense in giving myself any more anxiety and stress, the climate change catastrophe and perilous state of modern civilization is enough for me to deal with.
Multitasking is very unproductive and inefficient your not focused on ensuring the completeness of the task, it can be very harmful and risky depending on the task and can create rework. I have situation where I am swamped by many task by my manager and customer I try to cope by prioritizing the the first most and completing one task at a time, however what happens and what turn frustrating is that when I finish a task my boss ask me how i am doing with the other when I already had prioritize and define the sequence but seems where always not aligned, and by the end of the day he suggest that should I had prioritize more and do more 😢 I really can not cope with it when he does not supports or plans his team better. Other worst thing to add multitasking is have having micromanaging. But overall very good video that shows multi tasking is not efficient and productivity and should be removed from be removed job requirement, is stressful.
I love how the dr from ER said " we really don't just drink coffee" true. Doesn't take away that it happens a lot, the lazy nurse that let old people get a 2nd degree burn on her hand because she left it on the central heating, and when the lawsuit came in "ah but I was overworked". *Here and neighbouring countries it is mainly because of having for profit managers run an hospital isn't always the best idea. Or having specialist doctors go to multiple hospitals instead of just one in a short time frame
DW has been my favorite channel since childhood. The way DW fearlessly present science backed news is an example to all news media in the world. Even touching topics that are sensitive in a delicate scientific manner. The world needs to learn from DW. I have so much respect. Hats off to people and culture at DW!
I'm always multi-tasking, or I get bored. I'm watching this on my tablet, watching a movie on my nreal glasses, and browsing on my phone right now. It really depends on how much attention you need to be paying to a specific input at a specific time so you can preemptively switch your focus to the appropriate one when needed. Also, having sound coming from different spacial locations or having closed-captioning enabled helps a lot. Certain activities like texting and driving can't be done successfully because the inputs are unpredictable, need immediate action, and errors can result in dire consequences. You have to pick your battles.
But the thing is, if you’re watching a movie at the same time, there’s no way you’re not missing parts of this while watching that or parts of that while watching this. You’ll still get this gist of course, but you aren’t getting the same level of detail from either as you would if watching either by itself. Unless you somehow knew ahead of time which parts were unimportant and could be skipped in either video. Might even get more from each video by watching each at double speed in the same amount of time as watching both together. And while that’s fine for hobbies or relaxing, it’s different from the true near-lossless “multitasking” that employers are unrealistically wanting from their employees as being discussed in this video.
Seems to me that one of the few ways it’s truly possible to successfully do two things at once without loss of much quality is when doing things that require mostly different senses, and with one of those being rather routine or predictable as you say - like dishwashing while listening to a podcast.
@A. S. I agree you're not going to get 100% of the details when you're doing that. I think it really depends on the information that's important for you. For example, reading something and listening to most news or podcasts is not too bad because usually it's not a fast pace and you can focus on the details when you need to and pause reading with no problems. With movies, it depends on what you get from them and the type of movie. A documentary shouldn't be too difficult but a murder mystery with a lot of small details you need to catch would be. Action movies and such usually have a lot of banter in between high-intensity scenes so when those come up you can just switch over your attention to them. Doing something like dishes or running and listening to something for example is rather easy because those processes become almost automatic and don't require much attention or concentration if you do them often. Some things can be true multi-tasked but for the most part, it's preemptive-multitasking or rapid task switching with the ability to resume right where you left off without forgetting what you were doing in the first place. I think it might be more a function or working memory more than anything else. I can see how in a work environment that might be useful so you can just switch your attention to new tasks as they come up like a call for example and being able to switch right back to what you were doing right after but obviously they can't expect you to be as effective as if 2 separate people were doing those tasks. And in something that requires high fidelity such as financial calculations/details that you have to be correct about 100% of the time or a surgery in progress it's almost unrealistic without major errors or omissions. It's really more a function of each task and how damaging a miss or error is to the whole final task or goal.
actually it depends on the capacity of the person and the difficulty of the task
this was a good background video to play minesweeper
It's a battel between the human beings and the times which we always losing. Why?
Time is a cosmic system and we having NO system to beat that system yet. Still to early for a human beings to reach that ring.
May be I wrong to think about it in such ways.
i have written all these in my book digital enlightenment a year ago......
,Talking from my own experience, I simply feel my brain aching and going numb and eventually shutting down.
Music may not be good for better concentration, but different musicals can keep you motivated and some musicals can help you avoid other internal and external distractions.
To some extent it is right.
When we are being expected to multitask on our feet while on the move during our every waking moment that is a recipe for disaster. Like when being told to climb up the incomplete framing for a fireplace chiminey on a construction site when a neighbor is caring for your infant while not having a car to go buy the proper equipment to do so in safety. By a boss with a terrible temper. At least I was with good boundaries when I was refusing to do that kind of climbing with a hammer work with an infant walking around below on the ground. However what to do when another adult there insists that is okay? Like when he in another situation during that working on a construction site for me time insistsed that it is smart to toss a lit match into a huge pile of dry weeds. I tried to tell him not to. Good thing our infant son wasn't right there beside him at the time eh? Something a woman with a body size at the norm for us humans might be able to pull of for only a while when she is in her early 20's. Me and my parents far away had to help me figure out a way to save us all of us there. A situation which I found myself in once. So long ago I care not to say because that would be giving away my age.
❤
Where is the same video on German?
i wish they would test other music, classical is too distracting. just put on some drumb and bass and you'll get all the things done.
I believe that we can do some tasks simultaneously without compromising our performance. For example listening to a lecture while washing the dishes at the same time or watching tv and walking on a treadmill. In such cases, one of the activities don’t require a high level of concentration.
Some tasks might be always complimentary to each other - like chili and garlic. Chili and garlic are like two tasks - neither of which needs critical attention levels. If you're listening to a lecture, while washing dishes, you may not be as able to absorb the lecture's information (if that's the reason why you're listening to it) because that would be like the reliable combo of chili and a driving test.
Click the like so that DW can get its dopamine hits
^^; DW sends viewers a message: "please concentrate on watching our documentaries and don't multitask when watching our videos."
Really... It has only taken, what, 20 years to figure this out. There were then 20 years of people try to multitask. The same universities and institutions that told us to multitask are now telling us that 'we' have been doing it wrong. Well we did it 'wrong' because we were taught, told and forced to do it. Where is responsibility for this problem.
Multitasking is not really a thing for us humans. The brain is not designed to do many tasks at the same time, unlike a computer who does it.
What about visual, chromatic noise?
Multitasking is good.
Focus transfer is holy grail of human evolution. Lol
29:50 to 30:00, insect crawling up the window in the background - I can not multitask. I watched the video twice as I got distracted 😃
I can
Me loosing my mind and acting chill at the same time
Always multitasking
Well we walk and talk at the same time easily. And drive and talk. And sing and dance. And play a musical instrument and sing. So yes. 🤣 Edit: Half kidding, obviously it depends on the task, the individual, the environment, and other factors.