Nevertheless, it may be that all multitasking is not of the same kind, as all tasks do not require the same level of attention. Certainly Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman are sanguine about this, remarking that thriving networked individuals have “multitasking literacy: the ability to do several things (almost) at once.”38 They deal with multiple inputs from family, friends, work and institutions, via multiple devices, “without fuss.” The authors dismiss skeptics by noting that driving a car requires precisely such skills. Clearly they are not worried by the reports that talking on a mobile phone while driving is associated with more accidents!
The notion of multitasking brings to mind the well-known distinction between monochronic time, in which events are scheduled as discrete, separate items, and polychronic time, in which several things are done simultaneously. This distinction has been much discussed by anthropologists in exploring cultural diferences in perceptions of time. Edward Hall argues that the dominant time culture of the United States and Northern Europe is monochronic, and that the contemporary workplace is organized according to this “one thing at a time” assumption. Polychronic time, however, takes over in the home, “particularly the most traditional home in which women are the core around which everything revolves.” Hall even argues that, like oil and water, the two systems do not mix, and that at the “pre-conscious level” monochronic time is male time and “polychronic time” is female time, and women therefore find it hard to conform to the alien time culture of work.39
The gender dualism implied by such dichotomies has been the subject of much feminist critique. Even cognitive psychologists who seek out such diferences have failed to find conclusive evidence that a genderbased predisposition to polychronicity exists at all.40 It would be surprising if it did, as these same psychologists confirm that (male-dominated) managerial and executive work are quintessentially polychronic, compared with nonmanagerial work. Dichotomies aside, the idea that many temporalities coexist and that the human experience of time is not uniform is key to my thesis. One only has to think of the linear temporal logic of capitalist production exemplified by scientific management, compared to the relational time involved in the physical and emotional care of others.
Moreover, we should be wary of assuming that any one particular time orientation is superior to another. On the basis of an extensive review of the efectiveness of polychronicity in organizations, Allen Bluedorn concludes that stress-related findings are mixed and that sometimes monochronic behavior patterns are best, sometimes polychronic.41 Although these organizational studies do not specifically examine the efects of ICTs, they point to the contingent nature of these temporal strategies for individuals and groups.
Working with Constant Conne c tivity
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