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NY times makes an amazing discovery: being distracted from whatever it is you're trying to do isn't good for productivity. The idea of 'multitasking' is a fool

NY times makes an amazing discovery: being distracted from whatever it is you're trying to do isn't good for productivity. The idea of 'multitasking' is a foolish thing, and I think most people have discovered now that to be successful at any task you need to focus without distractions. Singletasking is much more productive than multitasking. I might even argue that multitasking isn't possible, since humans can't switch context as fast as computers.

mikeokner 9y ago
Yeah this seems like a no-brainer for anyone who has had a laptop in front of them during a meeting or a lecture.
txcwpalpha 9y ago
Agreed that this seems to be a no-brainer. But then again, if you look at the responses in this thread, apparently it's not a no-brainer to some people. On the other hand, if you read the article in full, the debate isn't just about distractions and multi-tasking. Even when not being distracted, the use of a laptop to take notes is less effective than hand-writing notes. This is because laptops encourage a note-taking style where you don't necessarily need to actually process the information before typing it out: > The researchers hypothesized that, because students can type faster than they can write, the lecturer’s words flowed right to the students’ typing fingers without stopping in their brains for substantive processing. Students writing by hand had to process and condense the spoken material simply to enable their pens to keep up with the lecture. Indeed, the notes of the laptop users more closely resembled transcripts than lecture summaries. The handwritten versions were more succinct but included the salient issues discussed in the lecture. In another study[1], it was found that this happens even when students are warned against this "transcript" style of note-taking. It all very much depends on the person doing the note taking, the information being taught, and the person doing the speaking, but in general it appears that laptops encourage bad note-taking and bad listening habits that hand-writing notes don't. 1: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/taking-notes-by-hand-could-improve-memory-wt/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/taking-notes-by-hand-...
- brndnmtthws 9y ago
  That's why I never take notes. I just give 100% of my focus and retain a lot more information.
  - txcwpalpha 9y ago
    That's great for some situations (like some college lectures or a daily scrum meeting) but simply doesn't fly in others. At my job, for example, missing a single detail in one of our interviews can be the difference between the success and complete failure of a project. Retaining just "a lot more" of the information isn't enough, you must retain (or record) all of the information. In such situations, note taking is mandatory. Those are the same situations that encourage the "transcription" style of notes though, which as discussed above, presents its own problems. It's all about finding a balance.
- jorgec 9y ago
  He who follows two hares catches neither.
- evanmoran 9y ago
  This was a thoughtful response, thank you. I'm not sure why you're down voted here, but you make an interesting point that laptop "transcription" is so much worse then pen-and-paper transcription. I wonder if there's some note taking tablet app that wouldn't have this issue. Maybe because free hand drawing promotes connections and associations in a way that typing/outline-focused notes doesn't?
nambit 9y ago
The finding is more than that. People taking notes using pen and paper are more productive than those taking notes in a laptop. You're assuming that the people using the laptop are multi-tasking but I don't know that that's necessarily true.

mikeokner 9y ago

Yeah this seems like a no-brainer for anyone who has had a laptop in front of them during a meeting or a lecture.

txcwpalpha 9y ago

Agreed that this seems to be a no-brainer. But then again, if you look at the responses in this thread, apparently it's not a no-brainer to some people. On the other hand, if you read the article in full, the debate isn't just about distractions and multi-tasking. Even when not being distracted, the use of a laptop to take notes is less effective than hand-writing notes. This is because laptops encourage a note-taking style where you don't necessarily need to actually process the information before typing it out: > The researchers hypothesized that, because students can type faster than they can write, the lecturer’s words flowed right to the students’ typing fingers without stopping in their brains for substantive processing. Students writing by hand had to process and condense the spoken material simply to enable their pens to keep up with the lecture. Indeed, the notes of the laptop users more closely resembled transcripts than lecture summaries. The handwritten versions were more succinct but included the salient issues discussed in the lecture. In another study[1], it was found that this happens even when students are warned against this "transcript" style of note-taking. It all very much depends on the person doing the note taking, the information being taught, and the person doing the speaking, but in general it appears that laptops encourage bad note-taking and bad listening habits that hand-writing notes don't. 1: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/taking-notes-by-hand-could-improve-memory-wt/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/taking-notes-by-hand-...

brndnmtthws 9y ago
That's why I never take notes. I just give 100% of my focus and retain a lot more information.
- txcwpalpha 9y ago
  That's great for some situations (like some college lectures or a daily scrum meeting) but simply doesn't fly in others. At my job, for example, missing a single detail in one of our interviews can be the difference between the success and complete failure of a project. Retaining just "a lot more" of the information isn't enough, you must retain (or record) all of the information. In such situations, note taking is mandatory. Those are the same situations that encourage the "transcription" style of notes though, which as discussed above, presents its own problems. It's all about finding a balance.
jorgec 9y ago
He who follows two hares catches neither.
evanmoran 9y ago
This was a thoughtful response, thank you. I'm not sure why you're down voted here, but you make an interesting point that laptop "transcription" is so much worse then pen-and-paper transcription. I wonder if there's some note taking tablet app that wouldn't have this issue. Maybe because free hand drawing promotes connections and associations in a way that typing/outline-focused notes doesn't?

nambit 9y ago

The finding is more than that. People taking notes using pen and paper are more productive than those taking notes in a laptop. You're assuming that the people using the laptop are multi-tasking but I don't know that that's necessarily true.