【多任务工作】人类自身存在限制：多任务处理降低效率

we developed part of our brain known casually as 'the executive system' and officially as 'the prefrontal cortex'.

应对类似的多任务需求，我们进化出了“前额叶”

This front lobe of your brain conducts your focus by helping you ignore distractions and switch from task to task.

前额叶的作用在于，引导注意力，帮助你忽视干扰，在不同任务之间切换。

The way the prefrontal lobe works is that it can only process one thing at a time, but it can switch between two tasks very rapidly.

前额叶工作机制：一次只能处理一个任务，但是可以实现快速的任务切换。

(和电脑CPU一样的运作原理，任务切换所消耗的能量很大)

You can do more than one thing seemingly at the same time, but in reality you are ordering them and deciding which to do at that specific time.

看似可以同时执行多个任务，实际上是潜意识在排序然后特定时间完成特定任务。

However the negative side to switching from task back and forth again and again is that it takes about one minute to recover our train of thought, breaking our concentration and making us unfocused.

任务切换非常耗能。

For full concentration on one task to be re-established, it can take fifteen minutes!

In this mode we are only capable of superficially scraping the surface. This in turn is more counter-productive than anything else.

影响效率。

"The general understanding people have of multi-tasking is a bit of a misnomer. I've never seen any examples of anyone who can do three or even two intelligent tasks simultaneously," says neuropsychologist Prof Laws

Nowadays the speed and amount that we multi-task has exploded due to technology

频道经历多任务的因素：科技~

很多软件的功能设计需要让人同时处理多个相近任务。

Software often requires us to think about multiple things at the same time.

For instance, if the predictive text feature on your mobile phone is correctly amending what you are writing as you write it, you are forced to pay attention to two very similar tasks.

And if the tasks are too similar they compete for the same space in the brain, and you mentally can NOT focus on both at the same time.

越类似的任务可能占据大脑的同一块区域~

这个时候你是没办法做到兼顾的。

什么时候可以兼顾呢？就是一个潜意识搭配一个意识层面的任务。

习惯成自然的任务就可以占用很少的意识。

所以一边听音乐一边看书…你猜你在做什么。

人们选择的多任务，通常是一个不喜欢的搭配一个喜欢的，是逃避的行径~

Yet if one task is something more automatic or highly practised like walking or breathing, we can do another conscious task simultaneously as we require very little processing to perform the first function.

Too much multi-tasking can condition the brain to an overexcited state which makes it hard to focus even when you want to.

多任务处理会导致认知过载…

当你想要专注的时候…再也不能了。

This makes for unhappy, unproductive and exhausted workers. Do you really want that?

专注才能让你从任务中获得流体验

stream experience!  认真真的是幸福前提。

不专注的后果： 不开心+低效率+精疲力竭

做一件事便只做这件事，踏踏实实认认真真做好它。

From a UX perspective, we can design software, websites and all digital interfaces to minimise distraction and focus the user's attention onto one task at a time.

This means you can't have all the tools in the toolbox in front of you when you work.

We can give our users more of a holding hand as they are guided through a clear workflow that helps them accomplish one task, and THEN another... and another.

One at a time, considering what communication and information is really worthy of interrupting your precious concentration and when you should seek out new data.