Though I agree with the premise of this article, I simply can’t get past his burger example. Let me explain.
Multi-tasking has exponentially greater impact on performance the greater the complexity of the task. Most people just don’t find themselves doing these kinds of complex tasks on a daily basis. This is why coming up with a simple example that lay-people can understand is so hard. Simple examples don’t pass their sniff-test. It is obvious to anyone thinking about it that I can make two burgers simultaneously and it only adds a fraction to the overall time. This is because the complexity of the task is extremely simple. In reality it would add seconds, not minutes.
However, once you ramp up the complexity of the task this penalty does approach 1 to 1, or greater. It is obvious to anyone that having to do a heart transplant while also doing your taxes at the same time would require longer than either task individually. An example like that is also easily dismissed because it is so far-fetched.
I find that to really impress on people the penalty involved requires an example that is personal to them. If you can find some complex tasks that they do even rarely and have them envision doing them simultaneously, then they are more likely to buy into the idea. Let’s be honest, most people don’t find themselves in this situation like programmers do because of the deep thinking that programming requires, but if you search hard enough you can usually come up with some personal examples for people. If the person you are trying to impress is important enough in your life (spouse, boss, etc), then it is worth the effort to find some individual examples.
I found the example used in an anti-multitasking book I read to be both simple and compelling. The idea was to write all letters from a to z and all numbers from 0 to 25. Compare the total time between writing the alphabet first and then the numbers (abcd...; 1234...), vs. mixing the two (that is, a1b2c3d4...). The separate approach wins by a large margin, and is accessible to anyone to try themselves.
Multi-tasking has exponentially greater impact on performance the greater the complexity of the task. Most people just don’t find themselves doing these kinds of complex tasks on a daily basis. This is why coming up with a simple example that lay-people can understand is so hard. Simple examples don’t pass their sniff-test. It is obvious to anyone thinking about it that I can make two burgers simultaneously and it only adds a fraction to the overall time. This is because the complexity of the task is extremely simple. In reality it would add seconds, not minutes.
However, once you ramp up the complexity of the task this penalty does approach 1 to 1, or greater. It is obvious to anyone that having to do a heart transplant while also doing your taxes at the same time would require longer than either task individually. An example like that is also easily dismissed because it is so far-fetched.
I find that to really impress on people the penalty involved requires an example that is personal to them. If you can find some complex tasks that they do even rarely and have them envision doing them simultaneously, then they are more likely to buy into the idea. Let’s be honest, most people don’t find themselves in this situation like programmers do because of the deep thinking that programming requires, but if you search hard enough you can usually come up with some personal examples for people. If the person you are trying to impress is important enough in your life (spouse, boss, etc), then it is worth the effort to find some individual examples.