Jamaica Kincaid Quotes

You wouldn't read 'Anna Karenina' and try to work on the computer at the same time, would you?

I find that I can't work and listen to radio - either I find I don't like it and it distracts me, or I do like it and I want to listen to it.

Experts say you can't concentrate on more than one task at a time.

There's no such thing as multitasking.

I have a short attention span, so when one book isn't working out, I just work on another.

I think people who multitask pay a huge price. They think they're being extra productive, and I think when you multitask so much you don't have time to think about anything deeply, you are giving the world an advantage you shouldn't do, and practically everybody is drifting into that mistake.

I multitask and always have the TV on in the background. If I need to focus, I generally have to turn off the TV.

I think that we get so distracted with our smartphones... It takes your body and your brain time to switch between tasks. If we can focus on what we're doing, we'll be more productive at that task.

It comes down to a question of attention: it's difficult to use the Net distractedly, unlike the television or the radio.

Pat Moynihan could write books with one hand and legislate with the other. I can't; I have a short attention span. The slightest distraction would take me away from writing.

I find it so easy to get distracted - I try not to do more than one thing at any one time.

I'm very aware how many distractions the reader has in life today, how many good reasons there are to put the book down.

Still, I tune out the visual input when it is too distracting, mainly in conversations.

To be honest, I don't enjoy watching movies much when I'm working. They tend to fall apart on me a bit.

Task switching is hard because we do not control what is on our mind. Despite our efforts, the original task continues to occupy our mental bandwidth. Although we can control where our time goes, we cannot fully control how our bandwidth is allocated.

I'm very focused when I'm making a movie, but I'm also a fantastic multitasker.

I'll always be working on five things at once, usually with those documents open at the same time because if I get stuck somewhere I'll jump over to something else. That's how my head has always worked.

There are different usage patterns - I never do email during the day. I don't multitask well at all. I don't know how to be in a meeting and participate and be on email at the same time. I do see some people do it more effectively. I've never quite figured that out.

Working in an office with an array of electronic devices is like trying to get something done at home with half a dozen small children around. The calls for attention are constant.

No more than a surgeon can operate while tweeting can you reach your potential with one ear in, one ear out. You actually have to reacquaint yourself with concentration. We all do.

I don't like to listen to music while I'm working.

I'm not very good at multi-tasking. Most people aren't, but they think they are. The mind is really better when you're really focused on one thing.

While you're writing, you can't concentrate nearly as well on what the speaker is saying.

Multi-tasking arises out of distraction itself.

Acting and recording an album at the same time, that's not my sport. I could write a movie when my attention was paid to that. But I'm good at one thing at a time.