Advertisers take note:
Americans are perhaps even bigger multitaskers than previously realized.
A new study by Experian Simmons shows that Americans would actually need 38 hours in a single day
to complete all their daily tasks. Since there are only 24 hours in a day, Americans multitask heavily.
The fall 2008 study says the biggest multitasking period comes when watching television.
While nine out of 10 online adults watched television in a given 24-hour period, 72% of them multitasked by using at least one of 12 measured media. The three biggest activities are the Web, 27%;
mobile phone, 26%; and emailing, 23%.
The 38-hour day adds up as follows: working, 6.6 hours; sleeping, 6.1 hours; television, 3 hours; Internet, 2.4 hours; and radio, 1.7 hours. Time spent
with books and computer games are each 1.5 hours. Listening to audio online, gaming on consoles and eating are at 1.4 hours each. Instant messaging and listening to an MP3 player are at 1.3 hour each.
Commuting is 1.2 hours.
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Emailing, portable games, and exercising are each 1.0 hour a day. Watching videos online, grooming, texting and using wireless devices to access the Internet are each
0.8 of an hour. Newspapers are at 0.7 hour and magazines are 0.6 hour.
The fastest-growing new medium continues to be social networks. Fifty-four percent of adults have visited a
social-networking site in the last 30 days, which is almost a threefold increase from a new media study conducted by Experian Simmons in fall 2007.