IT年代，资讯科技发达，电脑、互联网、e-mail等即时通讯设备的效率愈来愈高，人也需要同步赶上，工作效率要加快，工作方式要改变，机构对员工的要求也提高，人人都像是要七手八臂，一心多用，才算是及格。
近年multi-tasking这个字就十分流行。 Multi-tasking就是同一时间兼顾、处理并完成多项工作。 Multi-tasking需要一心多用。懂multi-tasking的雇员自然特别抢手。老板要求职员做多一点，又会训示他们，今时今日不懂multi-tasking，当心会被淘汰。
不重要的work chatter
Multi-tasking的概念大行其道，但multi-tasking真的有大家想象般，立即增加生产力的神奇功效吗？这亦是愈来愈多人提出的质疑。
Multi-tasking不是同时写三份报告，或开会时写报告又同时设计展览会的平面图。
办公室最常见需要multi-tasking的是埋首写报告或思考处理问题之际，又要回复来自四方八面的电邮和客户的来电。
William Park在”Should ‘deep focus’ become a central pillar of workplace culture?”(〈“深层专注力”应否成为工作间文化的中心支柱？〉)一文中就说：
The constant ping of messages(讯息) that keep us plugged into work chatter might be doing more harm than good. We feel we must respond – it is about work, after all. But always being switched on means we never have the chance to think deeply. And that is a problem for companies that want to get the most out of their employees.
有些e-mail要回应、或起码要读，但却是不重要的work chatter。 Chatter解闲谈。 Plug into解探知。有些人觉得不参与work chatter就会与办公室内发生的事脱节。
违背思考制造价值
要读要复的e-mail当然确有与工作有关的。上司发给你的e-mail，你不可以不理，但不断收发电子讯息，思路就会被打乱。现在，multi-tasking可能被雇主当宝，但真相是什么？
Some people swear by(极其信赖) multitasking even when we intuitively(凭直觉地) know that our brains struggle to concentrate on more than one thing at a time. Psychologists thought that busy multitaskers possessed abnormal control over their attention. But evidence suggests that multitaskers do not have a particular gift for being able to juggle multiple projects.
Juggle解同时抛接几样东西的杂耍，亦解调来调去、抛接或同时应付。 Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World的作者Cal Newport说，知识型经济着重的是用思考制造价值，但现时的工作模式却背道而驰。
In fact, in many cognitive(认知性的) tasks, heavy multitaskers underperform(表现平平). Our brains have a limited capacity for what they can work on at any given moment. And using tricks to cram(硬塞进去) as much into our working day as possible might be doing more harm than good.
Cal Newport建议linear的工作方式，即做完一样才做另一样，这样员工才可以做到deep focus(深层的专注)。仍要求员工multi-tasking的公司，结果会变得落伍。
