Multi Tasking

A recent Television News Show here in Middle Georgia discussed this topic. I think it was the topic selected as we all witness our peers, family and friends engage in the Annual Christmas Rush. As you can see in the image above, the young man appears to be writing out this Christmas Shopping List. Now I would like to refer you to the portion of an article I copied from a website:

Rule activation itself takes significant amounts of time, several tenths of a second -- which can add up when people switch back and forth repeatedly between tasks. Thus, multitasking may seem more efficient on the surface, but may actually take more time in the end. According to the authors, this insight into executive control may help people choose strategies that maximize their efficiency when multitasking. The insight may also weigh against multitasking. For example, Meyer points out, a mere half second of time lost to task switching can mean the difference between life and death for a driver using a cell phone, because during the time that the car is not totally under control, it can travel far enough to crash into obstacles the driver might have otherwise avoided.

The above information was copied from this site and the information was dated 5 August 2001:

http://www.apa.org/releases/multitasking.html

Here we are five years later and it is only now getting reported that Multi-Tasking may not be the answer to any of the problems in our lives. In fact there are those who even consider Multi-Tasking as the genesis of many Depressions that citizens suffer from. Admittedly, some of this depression is a seasonal situation, but I believe that far too many of my peers take life much too seriously and try to have everything totally under control each and every minute of their lives.

Recently my beloved spouse received this information from one of her peers on some Ways to Maintain Mental Health:

1. At Lunch time sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing traffic.
2. Every time soneone asks you to do something, ask them if they want fries with that.
3. When money comes out of the ATM, scream, "I Won, I Won!!!!"
4. Tell your children while at Dinner, "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go.
5. Put mosquito netting over your cube at work and play tropical sounds all day.
6. Specify that your Drive-Through order is "To Go."
7. Finish all your sentences with the phrase: "In accordance with the Prophecy."
8. Put the trash can on your desk at work and label it: "IN"
9. Five days in advance, tell your Friends you can not make their party because you do not feel in the mood.

and Finally,

10. In the memo line of all of your checks enter: "For Sexual Favors"