Every switch between tasks costs time. Growing up with three screens leaves that cost in place.
The new analyst has Slack, email, and a spreadsheet open, with a podcast in one ear. Her manager marvels: "I could never work like that." Neither can she — at least not without paying for it.
The myth. Some people multitask well, and younger colleagues do it naturally.
Why it sticks. Young people look fluent on devices, and fluency looks like skill. People also do differ in how they handle interruptions.
What the research shows. In 2001, Joshua Rubinstein and colleagues timed people as they switched between tasks. Every switch cost time — more when the tasks were complex or new.¹ In 2017, Paul Kirschner and Pedro De Bruyckere reviewed the evidence on "digital natives" and multitaskers. Heavy media multitaskers performed no better than anyone else.² Individuals vary, but no generation skips the switching cost.
Try this instead. Protect focus time. Block 90 minutes with notifications off, and treat concentration as a team skill you build together.
Talent Takeaway
Next time we run a virtual workshop, we might try one 20-minute segment with second screens closed — then ask the group what they noticed.
¹ Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27(4), 763–797. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.27.4.763
² Kirschner, P. A., & De Bruyckere, P. (2017). The myths of the digital native and the multitasker. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 135–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.06.001
