Type and Multitasking

Raccoon Love

Raccoon Love

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MBTI
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Do you believe there is any correlation between type and one's ability to multitask? Are you a good at multitasking?
 
I'll add some correlation to the possible causation:
I'm okay with multitasking. I can do multiple things at once, given that I have enough arms to spare. BUT I cannot listen to two people talking to me at once. If I'm talking to one person, and another comes up and starts a second conversation, I sorta blank out and fail to comprehend either of them.

My friends still haven't gotten used to not talking to me when I'm on the phone, it totally removes me from any audio input for a few seconds.
 
Not really.

I would think P types would generally be better at it then J's, but this is a loose corralation. It would emerge more clearly in the function useage. Also there are different kinds of multitasking.

I am generally bad at multitasking, but I am not terrlbile at all of it. I am word based multitaksing. Anything that involves speaking (auditory is the hardest by far), reading, and writing, I have an absoultely terrible time with doing more then one. I actually act kind of funny (others notice) when I have to compartmentalize these types of things.

Physical multitasking I am not so bad at though. I can be cooking several things at once, fixing different things, setting up stuff in the lab, ect. pretty well.

This isn't so much connected to type though. It will be interesting to see what others have to say about this. I have noticed that SJ's tend to be better with word multitasking though. Could be an Ni/Si thing.
 
Maybe? :)

Uhmmm no.. maybe I can multitask but I guess I don't really like multitasking. Whatever it is I'm doing, I have to focus on it 100%.
 
To everyone who says men can't multitask, I'm having a wank while I have a shit.

I'm also hard at work.
(I'm a bus driver)
 
I wonder if the lack of ability in multi-tasking is related to difficulty in focusing on one voice/conversation in a noisy social situation?
 
IndigoSensor said:
Not really.

I would think P types would generally be better at it then J's, but this is a loose corralation. It would emerge more clearly in the function useage. Also there are different kinds of multitasking.
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I don't know if this is specific to this person or to type, but an INFP I know can multitask quite well, which (watching them multitask) often boggles my mind as I don't do it very well.
 
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Multitasking is a myth propagated by people who like to talk on their cellphone while driving ;)
 
I can only think about one thing at a time. If something is automatic and does not require any occupied limbs, then I can multitask it.
 
Raccoon Love said:
Are you a good at multitasking?
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I'm not sure if I can help you with the MBTI correlations.

Yes and no from me. It really depends on how comfortable I am with tasks. If I feel at ease - yeah sure - on a good day I may juggle one or two tasks while cracking jokes and teaching someone about something completely unrelated. But not normally.
 
Multitasking is my strong point. Examples of multitasking for me are;

Watching a movie in a foreign language with subtitles while drawing.

Riding a manual motorcycle which involves shifting gears and controlling the clutch, throttle and brakes simultaneously while watching out for traffic and potential road hazards, keeping in mind the road code (rules of the road) I can do this while listening to music and looking at the scenery.

Playing an instrument which involves me using four limbs, reading sheet music (sometimes) and keeping in time.

I can keep track of multiple discussions and points while doing something else such as cleaning, drawing or reading.
 
It is a myth that men can't multi task. I'm very good at it.

Especially physical i.e. doing two entirely different things with each of my hands simultaneously.

I have no idea if this has anything to do with type though
 
All the studies I have seen suggest that while people can multitask, their productivity plummets. I'll shout that to the sky because while I CAN multitask, I personally hate it.
 
I have no idea.

I know that I, personally, cannot effectively multitask. I call it multitasking, but it really just means that when I'm pretending to study for an upcoming exam that I'm watching Say Yes To The Dress, because anything is better than studying for an exam.

In short, I am too easily pulled in by individual things to spread out my focus and multitask. I end up ignoring everything else except for the one thing that I want to do most. And there's not really a specific word for what that is, except maybe lazy. I don't know.

Ecton said:
All the studies I have seen suggest that while people can multitask, their productivity plummets. I'll shout that to the sky because while I CAN multitask, I personally hate it.
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I've read/heard the same.

Plus, it's always mentioned in those articles about the use of cell phones while driving.
 
i'm a pretty good multitasker, i do it all the time. i'm not as good at focusing on only one thing
 
May said:
i'm a pretty good multitasker, i do it all the time. i'm not as good at focusing on only one thing
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Meh. I'm not sure if it has any correlation with type.
I'm with May on this one though. I'm so used to multitasking that I actually get restless and maybe even bored if I only do one thing at a time. I find more progress if I do 2, 3, 4 things at once rather than just focusing on one.
 
I'm not a good multitasker. My..pff.. resume, may leave the impression that I'm multitasking and doing all kinds of things at once, but the truth is I just allow myself a lot of creative freedom, and while I'm onto something, I give myself fully for it, for a while. But that's not multitasking, it's the opposite actually: hyper-concentration.

In high school, for example, my dream was the school to be organized as follows: one month physics, one month biology, one month arts; and so on. I definitely prefer dedicated effort over larger periods of time, instead of daily multitasking between variety of activities. The former approach has the advantage of gaining momentum quicker. The disadvantage is that you may 'burn out' quicker too, and move on to something completely different, before you've reached true mastery (which may require many years of incorporating the activity within your daily schedule).
 
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I've always thought that I's were better at focusing on one thing and E's were better at multitasking but I think this is too simplistic. I am pretty terrible at multitasking although I can do it when little or no thought is involved. I tend to get anxious when I have to do more than one complicated task at a time but this is probably due to my perfectionism. My performance goes down dramatically when trying to juggle 3, 4, or more tasks at a time. My J does not allow me to perform important tasks at less than my best. This explains why I left a job where I had to juggle three or four activities at a time and be completely accurate at all tasks!:faint2:
 
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