You can be in two (or more) places at the same time, but should you?

The move to many conferences, meetings and public seminars to online platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and YouTube live has meant that there are numerous ways that you can maximise your learning during lockdown. Many of these events are free and as there are no travel issues to consider - other than the travel from your bed to your desk - or you can stay in bed if you really wished to, it is now becoming difficult to decide which ones to attend and which to leave. In the past you would have to make those difficult decisions - can you afford to attend the event or conference, have you got the time to travel to it (is it local, or overseas?) and have you got the time to fit it in around your many other commitments - but those decisions are redundant in this new online conference and webinar world.

The increase in online events has meant that you no longer have to make those difficult decisions - you can even register to attend two or more conferences that are happening at the same time, as long as you have the same number of devices to log into them. In fact, over the past few weeks we have read several accounts on social media of people attending more than one online conference or webinar, with varying accounts of success. Online technology has made it possible to be ‘present’ at different events, at the same time; but is it really a good use of your time and should you do this?

Multitasking - the act of doing more than one task at any one time - has been a norm across many industries for many years now, in fact the term multitasking has seen a sharp increase in use since it emerged in the mid 60’s and 70’s with the growth of computer technology and time saving electrical household appliances. Whilst some things can be carried out simultaneously, there are many who believe you can effectively multitask and conversely those who believe we simply cannot handle multiple tasks as well as we think we can and this leads to a false notion of efficiency.

We could not find any research that proved or espoused the benefit of multitasking. However, what we did find were a number of accounts of people talking about how multitasking made them feel like they were being more productive and the techniques they used to effectively multitask. Blocking time out and spending short amounts of time on activities seemed to be the best way to achieve more, but this was for tasks where you had control over when things started and ended. For an online conference or webinar this can be difficult but not impossible. Conferences streamed via YouTube live can enable you to pause a live session. However, where and when this is possible, you would then simply be left to consume the talks and not engage in real time discussions with other delegates. The only benefit to being in two or more places was to be seen as present by other delegates. We found examples of people making sure they were ‘logged in’ to a conference or webinar which gave others the impression that they were present at different conferences and webinars that were running concurrently. The reasons for doing this were to simply benefit from the possible connections they could make with delegates at each event. In these examples, it appears you simply can have two or more copies of yourself in different places.

Researchers Joshua Rubinstein, David Meyer and Jeffrey Evans in their 2001 study on multitasking published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, found that it inhibits productivity, rather than assists it. They identified two key models the brain abides by when switching between tasks: goal shifting and rule activation. The former involves actively switching to a new task, whilst the latter involves switching off one set of cognitive rules to make room for another. Each change results in significant time costs - resulting in the opposite effect to what was wanted.

This and other research studies show us that multitasking leads to three problems. Firstly, it leads to confusion - imagine trying to listen to two talks at the same time, you are clearly going to mix up ideas and concepts from one talk with another. Secondly, it uses up more energy - switching between one webinar and another can be more draining and use up more of your energy as you have to stop your focus on one topic and switch it to another, before reigniting it back to the other topic. Finally, the rapid and quick succession of ideas does not allow your brain to properly absorb issues and concepts which may mean that your original objective to save time is lost and you end up spending more time having to revisit issues that you did not absorb the first time around.

Multitasking can also have more serious consequences as Brandon Ralph, David Thomson, Paul Jonathan & Daniel Smilek highlight in their 2014 study entitled “Media multitasking and behavioural measures of sustained attention.” In this study they indicate that multitasking can lead to poor performance and other studies have also indicated that it can contribute to poor attention spans and difficulties in concentration, the latter is something that many young people seem to experience with the switching between various media devices that vie for their attention.

However, in this Covid-19 lockdown period, when many workers are working from home, we have also read accounts of employers who have encouraged workers to register on multiple online conferences and webinars, encouraging them to use the time they would have spent on travelling between one event and the next, to maximise this and get more for the same amount (or even less) resource.

Based on our research, we feel that however tempting it is to be present at one or more online conference or webinar it is best to be fully present at one and if the other is being recorded, watch the recording at another time.

One of the newcomers to the market is YouTube Live which is fast becoming the chosen platform to present live webinars and events. Easily linked to Zoom, the platform allows Zoom presenters greater control over how participants engage with the event - for example, hosts can allow delegates to make comments that are visible to all, or just to the event host. In addition, the event is immediately available for replay after the event, and whilst watching, delegates can pause if they need to attend to children, pets or an unexpected delivery, and then resume the session and catch up.

More as a result of necessity rather than choice, these video communication platforms enabled many to continue to meet, discuss issues and share ideas. For some, the pandemic was a test to our civilisations' development of technology - whilst the Covid-19 virus ravaged through populations and sadly thousands have died, the technology was ready and helped ease the problems we all could have experienced.

Without the technology things could have been so much worse - Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams and YouTube Live have enabled academics, researchers, students, businesses and everyone interested in sharing ideas and thoughts to meet, collaborate and continue to develop ideas. Through online conferences, meetings, networking events and webinars, these tools may have actually allowed us to do more in this period than we have ever been able to, and this may even speed up our global efforts to find a vaccine for this disease.

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