Don't Try to Multitask, It's Impossible

You might think you're really good at multitasking or you might know someone that seems to multitask well. Well you're not and you don't.

It's not possible.

Your brain cannot multitask. Period. You consciously focus on one task at a time. That's it. No more.

When you attempt to multitask, you are actually switching between tasks (sometimes very rapidly). But your brain must disengage from one task and engage another task at every switch. This reduces the overall efficacy of all the tasks.

I know, you're still shouting at me, "Noooooooo, that's impossible! I'll never join you!"

Before you get mad and jump off a radio tower down a tube, let me explain.*

What is a task? This is probably the most important part of this discussion. A task is something you do that requires mental attention. Listening to music isn't a task because it can be easily ignored. Our brains are adept at filtering out information that's not task-critical, like music, background conversations at a coffee shop, the smell of the rendering plant near your house, the sound of the airport that sends jets over you daily and most activities that you've learned to do automatically.

For example, it's not a task for me to type the letters in this sentence. But when I was in 9th grade learning from Mrs. Van Gilder, it took all of my attention to place each finger on the keyboard. Now it's automated, it doesn't require any attention and is therefore not a task. I took care of the task of learning to touch type 20 years ago so that I don't have to worry about it now.

What is attention? When you focus on something, even a little bit, you use your attention. You have a finite amount of attention you can use at any one time. Your brain tries to help by removing extraneous details so you can get on with your life. This is why the dirty laundry can fade into the background. It's familiar once it's been sitting for a week and your brain just ignores it.

The thing that takes up the majority of your attention is the task you're working on. You can maintain a situational awareness that lets you keep several tasks active at once. For example, when I worked at the Mermaid Coffee Company I was able to take drink orders, cook food, brew coffee, get pastries and send baristas on break - all at the same time. How did I do this? I had enough attention that I could switch rapidly between tasks and I'd mastered enough of the tasks that they no longer required my attention.

That made it look a lot like I was multitasking. But I wasn't. I was multiattentioning and quickly switching between tasks.

When you try to multitask without first dealing with attention and learning your skills, then you will stumble and probably fail.

How have you experienced the limits of your brain when trying to multitask?


*This is a reference to The Empire Strikes Back. Watch it. Now.

Do you Hack Your Technology?

What computer should I get? I hear that question a lot. I'm a tech-oriented guy so it's common for me to be the consultant for friends and family looking for new gear. But, the longer I've been doing this, the more my answer has changed. I used to answer the question based on my personal preferences, but then I discovered that people may not be happy with the same thing I'm happy using. There's one main reason behind it.

I like to hack my technology.

Not everyone likes to get inside a computer (or smartphone or TV or game console or battery charger) and figure out how it works and how it can be made to work better. In fact, some people hate that process. For me it's similar to auto repair. If I could afford it, I would never lift the hood of my car again. I really don't like it. I've gone in and replaced alternators, CV arms, exhaust manifolds and even a clutch, but I hated every minute of it. I only did it because I couldn't afford to pay someone else to do it for me.

Some people hate to mess with their technology. That's okay by me, but if I know that, I won't recommend tech that is conducive to hacking. For example, I have an Android smartphone. I've been running a custom operating system on it for years now and I enjoy messing with the settings. My wife has the same model phone, but she's running the stock OS. She feels similarly about technology the way that I do about car repair, it's not beyond her ability, she just doesn't want to mess with it.

Other people can't hack their own technology. I know that I couldn't make my own clothes, I wouldn't even know where to start. I just want to go into the store and buy them and then they work. This is a common attitude about tech. What that leaves us with is a continuum. One one end are the people who hack things apart and do as much themselves as possible. At the other end are people who want to do and know nothing about the inner workings. Most of us lie somewhere in the middle.

I like to hack my technology, but I'm not soldering my own circuit boards or modding computer cases. I know that I'll buy a ready-made computer or smartphone and then make it work for my needs. When it comes time for you to buy your next piece of technology, ask yourself how much you want to hack it, because the computers and phones out there also run on a continuum of how hackable they are. Typically Apple products are the least hackable and the easiest to work right out of the box. Windows and Android products are more hackable, but still work out of the box as well. If you want a complete hacking experience, you'll probably load a custom distribution of Linux onto a computer you built yourself, there is no box.

Where you do land on the spectrum? Do you hack your technology?

Alternatives to PowerPoint

Today Lifehacker is showing off alternatives to PowerPoint, they asked their readers for the best non-PowerPoint presentation tools and the top five are:

Keynote - you need a Mac to use it. Apple won't even consider releasing this for Windows, which is a pity, because it could be a serious contender with PowerPoint for market share if it could run on 90% of the computers in the world.

Google Docs - I've looked at it before and I looked at it again when they updated things. It still feels like PowerPoint 2003 (or earlier) in terms of the capabilities and layout. The one advantage is the tightly integrated collaboration that is in all of Google Docs. You'll need to do all of your photo editing outside of the program and but you can create adequate presentations in the cloud.

Beamer (LaTeX) - I tried to do anything with this, but it is beyond my skills. Basically you code your presentation from scratch. It gives you a lot of flexibility, but the learning curve is immense. If you already know LaTeX, then this is for you, if not, steer clear.

Prezi - This is the one, truly different choice that made the list. It doesn't function in a linear, slide-based setting like PowerPoint (or the other programs) rather you have a large canvas on which you can place all of your images and text. Then you navigate around through the presentation by zooming, rotating and swooping around the canvas on a pre-defined course. When viewed it looks organic and natural, but the actual presentation design needs to be, if anything, more linear and pre-planned than the slide-deck variety.

OpenOffice.org (or LibreOffice) - Pretty much just the free, open-source version of PowerPoint. You can open and edit PowerPoint files and do most of what you can do in the Microsoft software. Like Google Docs, it's behind the times as far as cutting-edge features, but it's a good (and cheap) alternative if you need something for your next presentation.

What PowerPoint alternative do you use (and why)?

My vote was, and still is, for the good, old whiteboard.

How to Make Time for what You Want to Do

We all crave more time for the things we really want to do, that project that we've been dreaming about or that vacation that we hope to take. All it takes is time.

There are only a certain number of hours in the day. And we are bound to use some of those hours to make money for living. We use other hours for sleeping and general life-maintenance. What we're left with often doesn't feel like enough to do anything else. We collapse into our chairs and watch some TV before stumbling to bed and then we rise to do it all over again.

Yesterday Lifehacker had a great article on the true cost of commuting. In which they point out that the real dollar value of driving just one mile to work adds up to almost $800 over the course of a year. So living farther away from work to save money on housing is often a losing proposition since the money is just evaporating into your transportation.

What was fascinating, though, was all of the comments from people saying that it was just impossible for them to change their commuting lifestyle. They have no other jobs, the housing is too expensive, they can't bike where they live, and on and on. But the real problem isn't any of those things. The real problem is that they aren't willing to give up.

If you want more time in your life you must give up. Give up the thought that you must own a home and have a "nice" car and have a "real" job. The needs of housing, transportation and income don't have to look normal. Like Dave Ramsey says, "I don't want to be normal; normal is broke." Normal is also time-broke. You have to give up being normal if you want to get your time back.

If you find a job that is 30 miles closer to your home you automatically save $24,000 a year in transportation costs. So if you have an average American salary of $40,000 a year and you commute 30 miles to work every day, you could get a job within walking distance making just $16,000 a year and still pay the rest of your bills. You could save an hour every day in driving time and work less to boot. But, you wouldn't be normal.

What are you willing to give up?

5 Ways to Learn a New Skill Today

One of the biggest objections that I get when I advise people to add visual presentation to their presentations is that it takes too much time to use the software to create a good slide deck. They argue that the time is better spent refining the existing presentation rather than adding something new.

That's true, for the presentation that's due tomorrow. But, for the presentation after that, and the next one, it's the willful retardation of development. If you think that you should stop learning new skills and focus on refining the skills you've got, you won't advance in your career. You're done. Enjoy the coast to retirement.

But, if you're hungry to grow and to get better at what you do, you have to be adding new skills to your repertoire, almost constantly. It's not an option. The option you do have is to choose which skills to add. And, perhaps the most important, is the skill of learning skills.

So, how can you learn a new skill, today?

1. Become a Beginner
Try something that you've never done before. It's frustrating and confusing, but you'll be creating new neural pathways that will open your mind up to learning in general. Learn a dance or pick up a skillet and try to flip the veggies in the pan. You will fail, but that's a part of learning new skills. Be awkward and clumsy and figure out how to do something new.

2. Become an Apprentice
Learn a skill from someone who knows it well. Ask the computer guru how to use keyboard shortcuts. Check with your uncle who's a carpenter and get some lessons on finishing that old table in your garage. Mobilize the resources you have at your disposal and turn them into new skills. People are the best teachers and learning happens best in relationship. So, learn a new skill from someone you know and trust.

3. Tweak what You Do
Take a skill that you already know how to do and make it better. One example is in the video below. You already know how to tie your shoes (I'm guessing), but do you know how to tie them the right way? Terry Moore explains in this video how you can tie your shoes correctly and how it benefits. It's a small change, but even small changes help to re-form your brain into a learning machine. Plus your shoelaces will look better.



4. Get Stuck
Necessity is the mother of invention and it's also the step-mother of new skills. If you're stuck, your brain will start cranking in some new and interesting ways to help you find a way out. Think of it as the MacGuyver principle, you're locked in a room with a toothpick and some hydrochloric acid; now get out. One way to do this is to make a meal from only what you have on hand. Figure out how to substitute and fudge to make something that you've never made before. Force yourself into situations where you have to use your creativity to get out of it and you'll learn some new skills.

5. Learn the Principles
I love watching Alton Brown's Good Eats because he doesn't just give the recipe for some food, he gives the principles behind the recipe. Armed with those principles I can then apply them across a range of situations. Learning about the Maillard reaction (the magical moment when food turns golden brown) helps me to make not only better steak but also better toast, bacon, roasted squash and chicken salad. Every skill has an underlying principle. Understand what that is and you will have unlocked the door to that skill.

How can you learn a new skill today?

High Contrast Photo Magic

Lifehacker points out a simple trick for achieving high contrast photographic magic. Essentially you make a copy of the Green color channel then overlay that on the original picture. Make it slightly transparent  and you'll get an effect that ups the detail and contrast at the same time. Check out a step-by-step in the video below.

What color channel wizardry do you rely on?



Note: In Paint.NET you'll find this under the "Adjustments" menu then "Color Accent." Make "Duplicate" layer then select the top layer and open the "Color Accent" tool. Crank "Green" to 100 and click "OK." Then click the "Properties" button for the layer and set it to "Overlay" and slide the transparency to about 50%.

Use Three Questions to Drive Your Presentations

Lifehacker highlights the 3Q method for creating impactful presentations.

Next time you have to create a presentation, don't go to your computer and open up PowerPoint. Instead, take out a blank sheet of paper and ask yourself "What are the three questions my audience would most likely ask me about this subject?"

When preaching, you might look for the three main questions that your church would ask about a passage of Scripture. What is Jesus saying in this passage? What is does Jesus want us to do? How will this look in our church context?

I think that too often my sermons stay in the theoretical area. I want to show off what I know of the passage, or I want to delve into the theological discussion. But what questions are really on the mind of the church? I wonder if we could ask them. I wonder if we could use our church members to clue us in to what is most important.

What are the questions your church is asking?

Enlarge Images without Making them Blocky

Lifehacker is on a roll today with the image tips. They point out the new program SmilaEnlarge which can help take those small images and make them bigger.

So if you just can't find a version of the picture large enough to project without it looking all grainy and distorted, perhaps this can help.

Below I show what a couple minutes of dinking around can accomplish. It's not perfect, but it sure looks a lot better.