When multitasking becomes one’s bad habit, one’s thought and behavior will also be affected
According to the prominent pathologist Bruce Friedman, admitted, “I’ve lost the ability to do that. Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it.” Carr cites a few studies of internet behavior that is influencing our brain to lack concentration. He proves
In addition to stress, it has been discovered that, “...incoming information can change how people think and behave. These play to a primitive impulse to respond to immediate opportunities and threats. The stimulation provokes excitement — a dopamine squirt — that researchers say can be addictive. In its absence, people feel bored. The resulting distractions can have deadly consequences, as when cellphone-wielding drivers and train engineers cause wrecks...these urges can inflict nicks and cuts on creativity and deep thought, interrupting work and family life”, (Rechtel).
Many people believe that machineries and other advance technologies make the works more easier than the past. But, this is not true in most situations. Workers still have to work hard even more than in the past. Curry writes, “Fully one third of American workers—who work longer hours than their counterparts in any industrialized country—felt overwhelmed by the amount of work they had to do”(400). Ehrenreich’s waitress job is so difficult that when its busy she had to run around taking orders and work long hours without any breaks.
Throughout my experiences I have discovered my tremendous ability to multitask. During my years of college, EMT and hospital volunteering I have shown persistent success. Able to study for a microbiology exam while at the firehouse as an EMT might seem hard for others. However, I feel most comfortable in these situations and seem to have success as well. Earning an A on my exam and reporting to 10+ EMS calls seems to be a productive and successful day for me.
An example is being on the phone with someone and trying to email at the same time. He say that you lose concentration and the person on the other end of the phone with be able to tell. Hallowell quotes, “You cannot divide your attention like that. It’s a big illusion. You can shift back forth” (Tugend 715).
Picture a life where every intricate detail of any trade took a large amount of time to do but it had to be done for the survival of the human kind. Now picture it’s the turn of the 20th century, everyone and everything in the united states was revolutionizing. Many inventions are being born and many machines are making these intricate jobs more effortless. Life before was merely a memory.
al, 2010). This therefore means that when there is some interference between tasks that are being performed at the same time, it is a result of the inadequate response of the system of attention to the demand of a particular task (Gruszka et. al,
Today we can actually get in touch with others from a long distance away. In today’s society, people don’t struggle to contact one another because of all the major technologies we
Verna von Pfetten acknowledges in the article “Read This Story Without Distraction (Can You?),” that monotasking has its benefits although the environment has more to do with focusing than one might think. Everyone knows “multitasking” doesn’t actually exist. The brain cannot multitask. Instead, it switches from one task to another, meeting the demands of only one at a time. There is a cost associated with this switch, resulting in brain power being eaten away causing productivity to slip.
Let’s be honest here most of us believe that we are great at multitasking, but the reality of the truth is that most of us are not even close to being decent at doing it. Now let’s say that we multitask and drive, that puts us at a bigger risk and most of us seem to be ignoring it like it’s not a problem. Nevertheless research clearly shows that nothing positive can come from us multitasking and driving. So what is multitasking?
The article, “Taking Multitasking to Task” by Mark Harris demonstrates the effects of having too much technology in our lives and observes the effects of technology on his life and society. Harris begins his essay referring to personal anecdotes of his use of technology and how it affects his life drastically to a point where there is no return from it. In the book, Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s and Faber’s observation of effects of technology in society, are related to Harris’s observations about technology because society doesn’t want to utilize technology it wants to become consumed by it. Harris’s observation of technology in the society we live in today relates to Montag’s and Faber’s observation of society
Fast Entertainment and Multitasking in an Always-On World is an insightful article written by S. Craig Watkins. He is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and teaches in the Radio-Television-Film, Sociology, and the Center for African and African American Studies departments. He has also written previous titles, many with the topic of Hip Hop. This article talks about how many people today are always on some kind of electronic device. There are also many times when they are multitasking between devices. Watkins reveals that one study has found that multitasking actually often slows down productivity. Throughout his argument he tends to use a lot of analogies along with a few cases of logos and historical evidence with an informative and persuasive tone. Watkins uses many analogies, logos, and historical evidence to explain how the “Snack Culture” of our society often leads to multitasking between devices and harmful side effects.
But the fact is that your attention can’t be effectively multitask. Multitasking does not affect your automated task, but multitasking is not possible for unautomated tasks because it require your full attention in order to go well. So, when you have many tasks need to do which means your attention is crowded, clear out your attention and separated out the tasks. You can’t handle this all at once. Choose only one thing and attention on that fully and then deal with the next thing after that is done.
Attention has always been a prized commodity. The brain knows it and cognitive psychologists know it, but the average person has yet to fully grasp the concept. Articles on how to multi-task still flag the covers of popular magazines, and distracting cell phones and tablets accompany students to class on the forefront of their desks next their notes. It has been verified time and time again that the mind simply cannot attend to two things simultaneously; one can pay attention to one thing or another, but not to two things at once. People know that neutralizing distractions will yield invaluable minutes of clarity and focus, but for most, the application of such, is nearly impossible.