http://bit.ly/K3w2Te 

"Being a natural mutli-tasker (sic) means that while it may appear I'm not focusing on one certain thing, I really am. I have the ability to send email, talk with a co-worker and see what's coming across my computer instant messaging all at the same time. Frequently during meetings and seminars I am listening to the speaker, taking notes on a laptop or iPad and monitoring office email with my phone. Almost everyone of my age does this, especially if they are in an information driven industry as I am."

Maybe our generation (I'm also 29) is better at faking multi-tasking, or switching rapidly between multiple tasks, but there is much research that states that multi-tasking doesn't actually exist. 
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-myth-of-multitasking  
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95256794 
Just because you have a few windows open on the computer screen or have multiple devices on at once doesn't mean that you are actually completing different tasks simultaneously. While there are studies that indicate that certain types of multi-tasking are possible, it's because the tasks involve different functions--for example, I find it easier to read when I am on a stationary bike.

On a recent trip to the grocery store with my boyfriend (also 29), he was looking at an email on his phone when I informed him I was heading to the checkout line. Ten minutes later he called me to ask where the heck I went off to and insisted he didn't hear me say anything at all to him. You cannot read something and listen to something else at the same time--or at the very least, you can't effectively process both things simultaneously. 

The original point for this whole discussion was that people were checking their Facebook accounts through the duration of an entire presentation-- I doubt they were absorbing anything. Sure, you can check your email for 60 seconds and not miss the point of the presentation, but you can't possibly be listening to what the speaker is saying during that 60 seconds while simultaneously reading something else. Of course if these attendees were familiar with the presentation topic, they could have repeated a few of the key facts if quizzed. Many of us Millennials have mastered this ability of getting by, using only the bare minimum of our attention spans. Perhaps the writer of the post can actually do two, three or a dozen things at once, which is impressive, but this is certainly not applicable to anyone I know. Many of us just *think* we are masters of multi-tasking, and perhaps we are getting away with it. But if I had a quarter for every time I had to repeat myself while talking to someone when they started to read a news article, compose a text, or hop on Facebook...

Beth Spencer
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