Difference between revisions of "Context Switching"
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'''Classic multitasking:''' Trying to perform more than one task at a time. | '''Classic multitasking:''' Trying to perform more than one task at a time. | ||
| − | '''Rapid task switching:''' Going from one task to another in quick succession. ''"The switching between tasks is a part of the sequential processing of information and necessitates the selection of | + | '''Rapid task switching:''' Going from one task to another in quick succession. ''"The switching between tasks is a part of the sequential processing of information and necessitates the selection of information that will be attended to, processed, encoded and stored."'' (Dzubak, 2007) |
| − | information that will be attended to, processed, encoded and stored."'' (Dzubak, 2007) | + | |
'''Interrupted task switching:''' Having to switch from one task to another, before the first task is complete; the mother of all time sucks.[https://blog.trello.com/why-context-switching-ruins-productivity] | '''Interrupted task switching:''' Having to switch from one task to another, before the first task is complete; the mother of all time sucks.[https://blog.trello.com/why-context-switching-ruins-productivity] | ||
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== Additional Resources == | == Additional Resources == | ||
| − | Author Greg McKeown's book Essentialism[[https://gregmckeown.com/book/]] | + | Author Greg McKeown's book Essentialism[[https://gregmckeown.com/book/]] |
Latest revision as of 05:52, 29 October 2018
"In its simplest form context switching is jumping between various, unrelated tasks.[1]". That article describes the impact further "People can't actually do more than one task at a time. Instead we switch tasks. So the term that is used in the research is 'task switching'." There are additional sources discussing the effectiveness, or lack there of[2], in multitasking and its impact on the human brian.
Contents
Types of Context Switching
Classic multitasking: Trying to perform more than one task at a time.
Rapid task switching: Going from one task to another in quick succession. "The switching between tasks is a part of the sequential processing of information and necessitates the selection of information that will be attended to, processed, encoded and stored." (Dzubak, 2007)
Interrupted task switching: Having to switch from one task to another, before the first task is complete; the mother of all time sucks.[3]
Unskillful multitasking is inefficient. Starting and stopping a task in the middle and then coming back to it requires ramp up and ramp down[4].
Why Does this Happen
The primary cause from observations is a lack of an initiation protocol for work and projects that have significant Level of Effort (LOE). In addition, an overabundance of job responsibilities on a single person can lead to excessive context switching.
An additional possible cause is FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)[[5]].
Lastly, lack of clear accountability and organizational structure may cause requests to occur in a matrix type method AKA Organizational Thrashing. This is where requests are duplicated across different teams, sourced from multiple directions and a lack of clear accountability causes everyone to attempt to solve the issue simultaneously. When coupled with lack of a Project Initiation process, can result in organizational thrashing.
Where computers thrash when they rapidly exchanging data in memory for data on disk, organizational thrashing is a similar phenomenon.
Impact
According to Psychology Today, one can lose up to 40% productivity if one multi-tasks[6].
Staffing - There is some research that excessive context switching can lower the human IQ by as many as 15 points[[7]]. In observations, organizational thrashing leads to a heavy workload without progress in completing tasks.
Shelfware, or tools and investments which are un(der)utilized.
Process - Without an effective Project initiation process, processes fail as human resources Context Switch while attempting to balance competing priorities.
Citations
Dzubak. 2007. Multitasking: The good, the bad, and the unknown. Retrieved from http://www.hawaii.edu/behavior/306/downloads/Multitasking%20-%20Dzubak.pdf
Additional Resources
Author Greg McKeown's book Essentialism[[8]]
