Are you single tasking yet? We all multitask but in a different way. Multitasking is an ability to perform more than one task simultaneously. Some of us might be experts at multitasking and some are not good at all. But, is it a good idea to multitask? Imaging a man on his phone texting. He walks in the subway station while continuing looking at his phone. By accident, he falls into the train tracks. Luckily, there was no train coming on that platform, and he got pulled out of the tracks and lived. While some may believe that multitasking people can accomplish more than other people who don’t multitask, multitasking, in fact, could be dangerous by causing distraction and decline our productivity. Paul BS Lai, the author of the article How good are you in multitasking, points to multitasking being bad for relationships. He describes a setting at an academic meeting, where …show more content…
It’s so hard to resist multitasking. And actions like being on the cellphones while driving or even walking can be dangerous. The writer offered, “Try monotasking. You will find yourself more engaging with people and present with them” (Paul BS Lai). This is a good advice because multitasking can be bad for our relationships. People tend to get distracted while doing many things at once. And they forget to pay attention to important stuff. Usually, I stay away from multitasking big tasks, but occasionally, I will perform two small tasks that don’t interfere with one another, like having coffee and checking the news on the internet. I am a casual multitasker. At times, when I need to put my attention to something that is important, like writing a paper for school, I single task. I take all the distractions out of the room, that includes putting my cell phone away from the desk. Single-tasking important tasks have always worked for me in a positive way. I get work done on time and without any
Gleick says in his article that by the time Michael Hartl “heads for the bathroom…each morning, he has already got his computer starting... And then, as he runs to breakfast, he…[dials] into the campus computer network, and then gets his web browser started so he can check the news while he eats. ‘I figure I save at least two or three minutes a day…” While Michael is trying to get his computer ready at the same time he is getting ready for the day, he has the potential to rush himself through his hygiene activities which could lead him to not fully completing them. As humans we always want the extra moments in our days to stretch to the maximum that they can, even if it means that we have to cut something else in our day short. We like to be able to say we did more because it gives us a boost in our ego for the day. Doing more multitasking in our days does not always mean we did do more. Switching back and forth between tasks could also take up more time than to stick to one task until it is fully done. When we multitask we have to continuously change the way our mind is thinking and what our body is doing. This could take more of a process to repeatedly get started rather than maintain a single thought on a topic and continuously let it
In response to how fast everything around us, our brain has had to adapt. In his essay, Restak says, “we can be at two places at one time.” For example, you can be talking to someone in person but texting someone else at the same time. Technology has made it possible for us to contact someone in the other side of the world without having to be there in person. This makes us immediately available in more than one place at a time. Yet all of this has to do with our ability to what we call multitasking. Multitasking is something everyone does every day whether they realize it or not. As I said before, when you are talking to a friend and texting someone else at the same time you are multitasking. This is just another example of a way the human brain has had to adapt. Yet this also may not be as efficient as many people would think. In his essay, Restak supports this when he writes, “When you are multitasking your attention at any given moment is directed more towards one of the activates that you are doing rather than both at the same time. Your frontal lobes (which are the main control centers toward the front of your brain) must shift goals and activate new rules of operation. You also encourage different sensory experiences, which makes it harder and takes even longer to get one thing done.” Our brains are designed to work more efficiently when it works on a single task. Until very recently our minds have had to
Many would remark that multitasking is a skill that can be trained like all others. However, a lot of neuroscience has went into proving that multitasking is a myth altogether. The article “The Myth of Multitasking” is written by Nancy K. Napier for Psychology today is here to debunk the myth of the brain’s capability to multitask. The article states that the brain is incapable of doing two things at once. Instead, the way that we fool ourselves into thinking that we can multitask is how quickly our brain switches from one task to another. Our brains can’t perform tasks simultaneously as our focus is a narrow beam. So, to compensate for this, our brain switches between these two tasks very quickly, almost as if we are doing them at the same
Another negative effect that mobile phones impair is mental focus while driving. People who are driving have their minds on the task in front of them with their full attention on the road. So when a person is conversing on a phone their attention is split as he or she is trying to multi-task both talking and driving at the same time. An article written by Nathan Seppa, the cause of “split attention”, he noted that David Strayer a psychology professor and his team studied to understand what impairs drivers when they talk on the phone. They conducted an experiment with drivers to see the effects of how varies distractions compare to each other. Strayer’s team accompanied drivers and assign them different distractive tasks while they maintain their eyes on the road in order to assess the effects. In the team’s findings they found that one most distracting tasks was talking on a mobile phone, which caused a driver’s performance to decline significantly. The typical tasks that drivers should perform on a regular basis, such as observing traffic changes, looking in rear-view mirrors, and watching for pedestrians was reduced overall (Seppa). Not many people can multi-task a conversation and driving at the same time without some drawbacks. Another drawback to a person focus was “unintentional blindness”, described by Simons, as “looking at something and not seeing it” (Seppa). So a person who is talking on a phone can end up not seeing an object whether it is a car, a stop sign or a pedestrian that is right in front of him and her. Many experiments were conducted by professionals to understand how “unintentional blindness” can affect a person’s perception, but one notable professional, Simmons, conducted a test of this concept:
The several effects of distracted driving are deadly. Andrew Lavallee points out that “texting while driving is unsafe. Not only are a driver’s eyes off the road, one or both hands are off the wheel.” “We think it is incompatible with safe driving” (qtd. in Lavallee). “Study upon study showed that talking on a cellphone was far more dangerous than she’d realized – that a driver on a phone had the same reaction speed as someone legally intoxicated, that those talking on a phone behind the wheel are four times as likely to crash” (qtd. in Hanes). Stephanie Hanes also mentions that, “Unlike a conversation with a passenger, the electronic conversation takes a driver into a virtual space away from the road.” Subsequently, this causes severe problems and deadly
Is multitasking effective and does it help people be more productive. This is true in some situations multitasking can be beneficial, but on the flip side when one is multitasking and driving we become a DD because it is a Cognitive distraction in which our mind is taken of the focus of task at hand. The facts prove it to be true, in fact texting and driving which is one of the most hazardous and deadly of DD, since it uses visual, manual, and cognitive attention. (Kingston 45) Found in 2011 (from article by BMC Public Health), at least 26%, which is 1.3 million, of car accidents, involved a cell phone. That is 1.3 million of car accidents, think about that for number, and that shows adult and teen drivers the effect of DD. The reason for this is driver is not able to respond to sudden changes in the road conditions. This is why DD has a negative impact on not only one’s self, but also affects others and the environment around adults and
The article “How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You’re Not Using It” reports the experiment and findings about how cell phones in sight not only effect your relationships, but also your ability to complete motor tasks. In this study, three groups were present and they differed from one group only being able to see their group leaders cell phone, while the other group had sighting of their own cell phones and the last one had no visible cell phone. The first two groups suffered from completing the complex tasks, but the group with no cell phone differed from having a harder time completing the tasks. Like “Our Cell Phones, Ourselves” both articles address how cell phones can be distracting when driving. From the article, “How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You’re Not Using It” Thornton, a professor from the University of Southern Maine states, “You could probably text and drive somewhat safely if you’re on a straight road, and there’s no traffic, and you take your time.” Although it is stated that it could be some what possible, those occasions are rare when it comes to the driving conditions. Not only do cell phones affect driving, but a common theme brought out in many of the articles is how they effect interpersonal relationships. This article talks about how they play a role in our social communication, just like all the
In the article, “Multitasking Can Make You Lose…Um…Focus,” Alina Tugend centralizes around the negative effects of multitasking. She shows that often with multitasking, people tend to lose focus, lack work quality, have an increase in stress, and in the end she gives a solution to all these problems. Tugend conveys her points by using understandable language, a clear division of subjects, and many reliable sources, making her article cogent.
Multitasking requires that a worker divides his/her time and energy on multiple tasks at the same time. As a result, the care and attention to detail is divided. The amount of focus that could be used to review one assignment is split. In an experiment, Patterson (2017) discovered that students who studied while participating in media multitasking took longer to complete tasks in their classes. This experiment addresses media multitasking in the case of students. While it is not a type of multitasking we normally consider, it does involve performing multiple tasks at one. Instead of putting all of their focus on their assignments, these students’ attention is on the assignment and on their social media. The results of the experiment prove that it when placed in scenarios where people are required to focus on multiple things, it takes more time to complete certain tasks. In this instance, media multitasking caused a decrease in performance. In another experiment, Paridon and Kaufmann (2010) made an observation when studying multitasking in the workplace, stating that people’s reaction time diminished when multiple tasks were completed at once. The believe that multitasking affects people’s performance has also been proven to be true in the workplace, as the speed of people’s production when down when required to complete multiple tasks. Performance can be determined by the speed in which a task is completed.
Multitasking, a practice used by many people to complete multiple tasks at once, seems beneficial to the user, but recent research shows that this practice causes more distractions. Alexandra Samuel argues in her essay, “‘Plug in Better’: A Manifesto”, that by getting rid of all of the distractions caused by multitasking, the time spent on the computer can be used more efficiently. As businesses in today’s world are using computers to help employees be more efficient in the workplace, each worker should only have to handle one task at a time to maximize their efficiency. Richard Restak argues in his essay, “Attetion Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era,” that by not diverting a person’s attention to multiple activities at once, such person
We live in a technology driven time when people multitask behind the wheel. The commute to and from work is a time many like to get caught up on emails or figure out plans for the day or weekend thought texting. The truth is that multitasking behind the wheel is very dangerous and could cost you your life. Text, emails, phone calls, makeup, breakfast; it all can wait! If you don’t make it home alive your weekend plans really won’t matter much anymore.
According to The Dangers of Multitasking, the downsides of multitasking outweigh the upsides (Davies 39). Multitasking students can miss many of the necessary information that they really need to pass tests and understand lessons when they multitask during the lectures, which causes them to get a low grade on their tests. “Many experienced multitaskers have experienced an unexpected thing when, for example, their e-mail service was disabled for a period of time. They discovered that they were actually more productive during that period of time” (Multitasking 758). That means that multitaskers are more productive when they concentrate on one task; so students will do better on tests and in school in general, if they quit or cut back on multitasking during classes.
Multitasking with non-course material results in a student’s attention being diverted from the course material that is being taught. This can result in errors in memory for the student and also a more difficult time learning the information outside of the classroom (Kraushaar & Novak, 2010, p.1). The University of Vermont completed a study in order to determine the impacts of multitasking with a laptop during a university lecture. Through the experiment they were able to determine that “students with a high [and long] frequency of software multitasking during lectures will exhibit lower academic performance than students with a low [and short] frequency of software multitasking” (Kraushaar & Novak, 2010, p.6). This shows that repeated and lengthy multitasking with technology in particular laptops during lecture times can cause extremely negative results in a students academic performances and
Every day, fewer people are not paying attention to their surrounds that can possibly affect their safety. For instance, surely they are people out there that do not look both ways before crossing the street because they are on their phones tweeting how boring class was. Hypothetically, he/she could probably get hit by a car. Someone could have prevented this accident if people were paying attention to their surroundings and if the communication was there. In The Washington Post, author Katherine Shaver stated that “A 2013 Ohio State University study found that the number of injuries treated in 100 emergency rooms nationwide related to pedestrians using cellphones…The study found people ages 16 to 25 were most likely to be hit while distracted. Abc News calls them “Petextrians.” In addition, designated driver also can be distracted with their smart phones. Commercials like AT&T, have warned and tried to decrease the amount of death cause by texting and drive. They would display a terrible accident for the purpose of showing the viewers the consequence of a distracted driver. The most common quote that AT&T repeatedly uses is, “It can wait.” What pedestrians and driver are doing is the equivalent of what a student do in class. Turkle states, “College students tell me they know how to look someone in the eye and type on their phones at the same time…Now they use it when they want to be both with their friends and, as
As the cell phone popularity and demand grow, so does the death rate at which cell phone involved deaths occur. It has become very hard for today’s generation to simply put down the phone. So much so that many users cannot do without their phone while driving. The National Safety Council in Washington, DC states “at least twenty-eight percent of all traffic crashes each year involve drivers using cell phones” ("NSC”). These types of reckless drivers carelessly choose to attempt multi-tasking rather than submit their full attention to the roadways, as required by the law. When using a cell phone while driving the drivers’ attention is divided. The personal life that seemingly exists through one’s cell phone often times becomes more important than the safety of others. While an irresponsible driver is distracted by their phone, he or she may not recognize themselves drifting into another lane, or the child walking across ...