Does anyone else think that the definition of multitasking got corrupted? Perhaps it became influenced by computer multitasking, where two or more things are done in seemingly real time. What I always took multitasking to mean was that over the course of a work day, week, month, a person would have a lot of different responsibilities and would need to switch among them.
Today, I designed an icon, provided customer service, wrote some technical documentation, did a little programming, and a few other disparate tasks. Each of these tasks required a different skill set, and there was a productivity hit every time I needed to get into a new frame of mind and, in some cases, figure out where I left off. So in this context, multitasking was activities done over the course of the day, not simultaneous ones.
Today, I designed an icon, provided customer service, wrote some technical documentation, did a little programming, and a few other disparate tasks. Each of these tasks required a different skill set, and there was a productivity hit every time I needed to get into a new frame of mind and, in some cases, figure out where I left off. So in this context, multitasking was activities done over the course of the day, not simultaneous ones.