Let’s face it: Most of us aren’t good multi-taskers. Neither am I.

You dare suggest, good people of TAVA, that I’m bad at multi-tasking?

No, “not possible,” you say. 

Sorry for the bad news but you’re probably bad at multi-tasking. And by the way, it’s not just you. It’s all of us.

Consider this article from Psychology Today:

“Multitasking lowers productivity, slows task completion, decreases task quality, creates stress, and leads to burnout. We tend to think of multitasking in the context of work; however, it applies to all areas of life.”

The author, Dr. Jeff Comer, continues with his story:

Does Multitasking Work? According to research and my personal and professional experience, the answer to this question is an overwhelming no! The human mind is not wired to multitask. It is evolutionarily scripted for mono-tasking. Research has repeatedly and consistently found that multitasking is not feasible with human cognitive functioning (Jeong & Hwang, 2016; Madore & Wagner, 2019).

To take this one step further, in one study, only 2.4 percent of participants were found to be able to multitask effectively (Watson & Strayer, 2010). And most fascinating, Sanbonmatsu et al. (2013) reported that people who think they are good at multitasking are actually not good at it! Humans do not multitask well, and when a person says that he or she does multitask well, he or she is probably wrong. The human brain can only focus on one thing and one thing only at a time.

Emphasis mine.

Much of what research (driven by search) in the workplace should actually be, has instead devolved into multitasking. We observed a series of behaviors that have become invisible, but once you see them, you won’t unsee them.

Consider a request from a boss or colleague: you need to research a new competitive category using a novel packaging technology that’s streamlining production, reducing shipping costs, and allowing the competition to make eco-friendly claims. 

This request normally requires a bunch of online searching. So, one keyword at a time, you search. Some keywords work, some don’t. Those that do, you might leave a browser tab open, so as not to lose those results. Then the good stuff gets opened and skimmed. Maybe there’s a good quote so you grab a snippet. Maybe the whole page is great, so you bookmark it. Maybe you want to make a note on a source and new terminology. 

In all of that, you’ve executed a bunch of “stacked searches.” You’ve opened multiple tabs. You probably have a document or notes app open because you are certainly cutting and pasting.

Maybe you’ve created a document you can share (after you format it, of course). You likely will be able to reference that document later, but it won’t be dynamic. In other words, if you need to update it, you’ll have to do that manually using the same process you used to create it. Then after all of that – yes, multitasking – have you really been able to reflect on the materials you found?

Here’s my point: much of what drives TAVA is giving our users tools that help maintain focus on delivering effective, thoughtful insight, while reducing the taskiness of search. To put it in terms of the process described above, we are a one-window solution.

One window for…

• Search
• Curation of results
• Saving your work
• Synthesis and observations
• Sharing your work

By reducing the need for tabs, stacked searching, cutting-and-pasting and app switching, we are lightening the load on your brain while you search for stuff. Instead of distraction, our goal is provide clarity and insight to gain knowledge. After all, isn’t that the goal of a knowledge worker?