Read the given Case and answer the questions that follow.

Multitasking - doing two or more things at once or rapidly switching from one task to another - is a

characteristics of the millennial generation. One recent study revealed that during a typical week, 81

percent of young people report "media multitasking" at least some of the time.

Multitasking nicely illustrates our point of view that motivation is not just effort but also the way you

direct your efforts. However, is the direction of efforts in multitasking efficient or inefficient?

Many people who multitask say it makes them more efficient: "why not two things at once if I can

accomplish about as much as I only did one thing?" they ask. Research, however, suggests multitasking is

inefficient, that it actually takes longer to do two things at once than to do one thing first and then turn to

the others. David Meyer, a University of Michigan psychologist who had studied multitasking, argues,

"You wind up needing to use the same sorts of mental and physical resources for performing each of the

tasks. You are having to switch back and forth between the two tasks as opposed to really doing them

simultaneously."

Multitasking appears to result in adverse outcomes beyond inefficiency. Another study found that

multitaskers absorb material more superficially; they notice more things in their environment but are able

to learn material less deeply. "it's not that they can't focus," says one researcher. "it's that they focus on

everything. They hear everything - even things they would normally be able to block out - because they

are now so used to attending to many things at once."

Others note that multitasking can damage productivity and social relationships as individuals devote less

concentrated time and attention to the tasks they are working on and conversations they are having. This

scattered attention is especially damaging for tasks that require deep insight or creativity.

Questions:

a) One expert who has studied multitasking calls it "a big illusion," arguing that multitaskers think they

are more motivated and productive even when they aren't. Do you consider yourself a multitasker? If

so, does this case make you more motivated or productive? Discuss.

b) The effects of multitasking have been found to be more negative when the tasks are complex. Why do

you think this is the case?

c) You might think multitasking makes you happy. While there's less research on this topic, some

evidence suggests multitaskers feel more stress in their work. Multitaskers "feel a constant low-level

panic." Do you agree? Why or why not?