Multitasking Attention Dexterity - I want some

Nancy said I would love this post from from Jeffrey Treem about Fifty Ways to Take Notes and she's right. I love it! It's like opening the toy box - familiar and new toys, just waiting for me to play with them.

But here's a confession. I must be the only person in the world who keeps a flipchart with my to-do list in her sitting room. Yes, yes, I use Netvibes, ... and .... I also have post-it notes all over my sofa and on my screen. But the one tool I can depend on to keep order in my life is .... a flipchart.

I thought of my flipchart as I read an interesting article by John C. Tang called "Ubiquitous computing: Individual productivity at the expense of social good". He worries about designing tools that consider the social context around us as we use them and research about designing for the invisible vs. 'in-your-face'. Well, you can't get much more in-your-face than a flipchart opposite your sofa, but he doesn't mention that!

I know I have a serious case "Continuous Partial Attention" (Linda Stone) but Tang also refers to the "Multitasking Attention Deficit" (Hillman Curtis) of overcommitters and of Parker Torrence's counter notion of "Multitasking Attention Dexterity".

That brings me back to Nancy who must be the Queen of Mulltitasking Attention Dexterity. I'm still struggling through a serious case of multitasking attention deficit.

(Post-edit: Atribution of Continuous Partial Attention changed)

Tags: tools,, design,, articles