The Multitasking Librarian
In the last two decades several popular managerial concepts have subtly worked their way into librarianship. One of them, “do more with less”, is plainly flawed if we, as my father once observed, carry this concept to its ultimate conclusion, “doing everything with nothing” and, reportedly, only God is able to perform that feat. The second concept brought forth from our modern age’s perceived need for increased, robot-like efficiency is “multitasking”; an assumption occasionally made by managers, sometimes out of necessity or shrinking budgets, that the few can be made to do the work of the many.
Multitasking, however, is more than just walking and chewing bubble gum simultaneously, a task with which I, frankly, still struggle. It is answering the phone while reading emails or using multiple computer programs while writing a letter.[1] Multitasking is trying to handle too many projects at once or, in the case of the reference librarian, having to work at an understaffed service point, trying to help several patrons at once, performing phone reference, answering email, performing virtual reference, and searching multiple databases and indexes. Meanwhile, all of this multitasking activity is compounded even more by the library patrons’ need for instant gratification and their own accelerated expectations of our information based culture.[2] We need to slow this ever-increasing cycle before we derail the train! Admittedly, some multitasking activities are not as bad as others; I still fill out Book Request Slips while watching television at home. However, the majority of our multitasking activity should be avoided.
Multitasking means you can go work on other tasks
while waiting for your computer to reboot each time it crashes.
-Anonymous
But where did the concept of multitasking come from? Since the Second World War, a huge increase in information has challenged librarians and computer scientists in managing, organizing, and making information available.[3] This accelerated increase in the amount of information is expected to continue well into the future and the anticipated complexity of the future patrons’ informational needs will generate extraordinary demands for improved management, wider dissemination, and better description and organization.[4]
The arrival of the Internet has both complicated and contributed to this increase in the worldwide reservoir of information. For technophiles, the Internet at first appeared to be the Saint George to the perceived library dragon. However, in the last few years, it has slowly become apparent that the Internet is more like a confused amoeba than a saintly knight. The Internet, which provides an illusion of infinite research availability with just a mouse click is, in fact, so disorganized and messy, going off in every direction, that no one individual or group could ever know everything happening on the Internet. Born from this growing tide of computing innovation, like Aphrodite from the tempestuous sea, the concept of multitasking was washed ashore into the collective managerial consciousness.
“But we are not computers! We are human beings!”[5] Stanley Bing defiantly wrote in Fortune two years ago making the obvious counter argument to multitasking. “Human beings are the weak links in multitasking networks; they vary in proficiency and are subject to fatigue.”[6] However, as it turns out, computers aren’t really multitaskers either.
A computer really works on seemingly two things at once by switching back and forth between tasks really fast.7 For instance, if you are a typical busy librarian in your office trying to download an article from a database while typing up those minutes from one of your many library committee meetings, the computer is taking those two tasks and dividing them up into very small pieces of time. The computer looks at what is going on with the article download for a fraction of a second, then looks at the minutes for the last fraction of that second, then back to the download, and so on until one of the tasks is completed.8 If you start running too many programs on a computer, it will slow down and eventually come to a halt (i.e. the screen freeze – much like the human ice cream brain freeze) unfortunately, humans don’t have a restart button.
Like the computer, humans can suffer from information overload and crash; yet, it isn’t just the quantity of information we download that is an issue. It is how the information is delivered to us. If it comes to us through multitasking, it may be deflected out of long-term memory.9 A recent article in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance by Joshua Rubinstein, David Meyer, and Jeffrey Evens reveals the hidden costs of multitasking where performing many tasks at the same time takes a toll on the brain’s ability to allocate resources.10
When we move between tasks, we are using our “executive control” processes. These processes establish priorities among tasks and shift mental resources in order to perform them.11 Their research revealed that as people switched from one task to the other, there was a loss of productive time. As the tasks their subjects were asked to perform became more and more complex, time costs also increased. Additionally, these time costs were compounded when the subjects were asked to switch to unfamiliar tasks. Thus, doing many things at once may seem more efficient on the surface, but may end up taking more time in the long run.12
What is Multitasking? That's
when three people
are looking at the hourglass
on the computer at the same time!
-Anonymous
The first solution to losing time due to multitasking is to stop multitasking. Larry Rosen and Michelle Weil in an online article called “Multitasking Madness” advised getting a better understanding of how long it takes to complete tasks by making a short list of tasks and an estimation of how long you would expect it would take to complete each task then time yourself.13 Most people vastly underestimate how long it takes to complete even simple tasks like reading your email. By making a list with expected time usage you will hopefully be able to adjust your expectations, better manage your time, and, perhaps, even learn to say, “No, I don’t have enough time to take on that additional responsibility.”
A second suggestion made by Rosen and Weil was to develop an external memory.14 I would recommend it be on something else other than your computer, we are tied to our computers enough. I would recommend something simple like a notepad. Once you list all of the tasks that you are trying to juggle, you will allow your brain to get a break. It also might improve your general sense of well being; feeling crabby can be a sign that your mental acrobatics are beginning to stress you out.15
Finally, be good to yourself, your family, and friends. Ensure that you schedule time for yourself and your family. Those are the healing moments where you can relax and reestablish some balance in what can quickly become a busy, work centered life. A good social life is the best defense against stress, and talking with family or friends can relieve tension and, perhaps, yield some practical help.
While some of these solutions may seem obvious, surprisingly we don’t apply them to our own lives. Multitasking, which I strongly believe should be avoided as often as possible, is probably an inevitability for most people in our modern age. We will talk on the phone at work while typing away at the computer and hurriedly search multiple databases while trying to calm our anxious, toe-tapping patrons at the reference desk. But, realizing that the expectation of effective multitasking is unrealistic is a first line of defense against actually doing multiple things less efficiently. The ever-changing world of information demands that librarians be adaptable to our dynamic hyperculture; however, the myth of effective multitasking isn’t a goal librarians or anyone else should strive toward.
Works Cited