The Pros And Cons Of Multitasking And Task Switching

797 Words4 Pages
Introduction: Task switching has become common practice for any computer user. There are two factors that support the need of multitasking and task switching. The first is the increase in the no of applications. Now, the computers are often running a number of different programs simultaneously to complete either a single task or perform multiple tasks together. For Example, a single computer or system may have multiple tasks including word processing, searching, financial analysis, browsing, and communications working simultaneously for different or same purposes. Secondly, the need to communicate in workplace has greatly increased, therefore users must be notified. For this purpose notifications are used. Notifications are being increasingly used as a powerful mechanism for proactively delivering information to users in many multitasking domains [McCrickard et al. 2003]. Generally the term notification is used to refer to a visual cue, auditory signal, any kind of alert generated by an application that reports the user information outside his/her current focus of attention. Notifications are used for beneficial purposes but when in a workplace environment, the unimportant notifications may act as interruptions and become a hindrance for task completion and productivity. Notifications are almost always delivered as soon as the related information becomes available without any consideration of the state of the user‘s ongoing task. In this case the notifications can forge into an unnecessary disturbance. Card and Henderson [4] strived to…show more content…
These notifications are annoying, a hindrance to work and reduce productivity which is why they are also referred to as interruptions. Previous research has shown that interruptions are more troublesome than one might
Show More
Related

  • Multitasking Research Paper

    1467 Words  | 6 Pages

    advantages to multitasking, but there are many downsides to multitasking. These things include stress, less productivity, and brain restrictions. This is why multitasking is a bad habit that nobody should pick up. For the past decade, multitasking has been a big controversy whether or not it is a good thing. There are pros and cons of multitasking. It is fairly easy to

    Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of Multitasking And Task Switching

Open Document