Multi-Tasking vs. Multi-Threading

It used to be, the way we were encouraged to take on our jobs was via multi-tasking: switching from one thing to the next when our attention was diverted so that everything got attention… and we were busy as can be. This work style lends to piling on work, moderately giving attention to each new thing while old work is sifted to the bottom of the pile. At the end of the day, I really felt unfulfilled with my progress on projects because I was never paying total attention to anything.

Enter multi-threading: focused time and energy to one task, with a set queue for other items. I have split up my day into the three major tasks of my job: Data Mining, SACS committee work, and the Workforce Preparedness Application. By focusing on one job aspect at a time, I have found myself to be more productive, positive about the tasks, and objective about what I can accomplish in a day.

Of course, this schedule is not for every day. I still have to attend meetings and produce emergency "ad-hoc" data and reports, but having this to help me on days where I feel aimless is very beneficial. Before telecommuting, my days were intersected with drop-in meetings, coffee machine talks, and post-meeting data requests. Without these normal "ticks" to break up my work activity, having a set schedule for work keeps me on task without allowing me to spend all day on a problem that could be solved with a good night's sleep and an fresh set of eyes.

A brief Google on the idea of multi-threading reveals it to be descriptive of the "Nonlinear New Student":

The new students perceive text-based, visual, and multithreaded multimedia "as a single entity" ("monomedia"), and they need an "Integrated Environment" including "Multi-threaded stream of discourse". http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~x28/en/36.htm

To summarize: Blame it on Nintendo. The gaming culture, of which I am a part of, has conditioned me to think on several levels simultaneously, but to see them as one experience branching off as needed. As applied to my work ethic, my goal- completion of my daily tasks, is accomplished by direct attention in lieu of broadcasting or multi-tasking.