{"id":9754,"date":"2014-03-10T09:33:48","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T14:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=9754"},"modified":"2014-05-20T13:23:29","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T18:23:29","slug":"multitasking-doing-more-but-getting-less-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2014\/03\/10\/multitasking-doing-more-but-getting-less-done\/","title":{"rendered":"Multitasking: doing more but getting less done"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSC_5017\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many living in today\u2019s world know the feeling all too well: lots to do, not a lot of time. Technology claims it can help users organize and multitask more efficiently, but many accuse it of doing just the opposite.<\/p>\n

\u201cMultitasking doesn\u2019t exist, it\u2019s a myth,\u201d Mark Humbert, professor of psychology at Sinclair Community College said. \u201cWhat you\u2019re actually doing is selectively focusing your attention on different tasks one at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The word multitasking was first used to describe the parallel processing abilities of computers. In recent decades, it has transformed to describe the human attempt to do as many things as possible, simultaneously and quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome are better than others at shifting their attention,\u201d Humbert said. \u201cIts effectiveness often depends on the content of the communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

In some cases, the attempt to divide one\u2019s attention can have negative effects, or can become a safety concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cDriving and texting is more dangerous than drunk driving,\u201d Humbert said. \u201cYou\u2019re constantly jumping back and forth from the text to the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students might relate more to the example of those who walk through the halls with their phones in hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen people texting and walking who run into doors or people, anything,\u201d Sam McGee, a Computer Science major at Sinclair said. \u201cIt\u2019s the worst when you\u2019re stuck walking behind them.\u201d<\/p>\n

But if they\u2019re texting and walking, isn\u2019t that multitasking?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s true, you\u2019re walking and texting at the same time, but you\u2019re not thinking about walking. That\u2019s the difference,\u201d Humbert said. \u201cYou look up occasionally to redirect your course, but again, the attention is simply shifting back and forth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Business major Steven Kohler sums it up differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I feel like I have to choose between doing three things at once, but doing them poorly, or concentrating on a single thing and doing it well,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard when I don\u2019t have a lot of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the examples so far, technology hasn\u2019t helped with multitasking, but has been the culprit \u2014 the reason we become distracted from a task in the first place. Which brings up an important point: isn\u2019t technology supposed to help with multitasking?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou may be doing more, but you\u2019re getting less done,\u201d Humbert said.<\/p>\n

He refers to the three stages of memory, used by psychologists to understand how we process information.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first stage is sensory recognition. We take something in, though we may remember it for only 2.5 seconds. The second step is to pay attention to the sensory information you\u2019re taking in,\u201d Humbert said.<\/p>\n

The second stage is our short-term memory. To reach the third stage, the information must be internalized and conceptualized, and is then added to our long-term memory, according to Humbert.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is, these days, we\u2019re only reaching the first step,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When we shift our focus from task to task, we don\u2019t give our brain the time or effort required to internalize the information, Humbert said. He mentioned students who shift their attention back and forth in class, from laptops to smartphones, then back again to the lecture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re taking snapshots of the lecture,\u201d he said. \u201cThe quality isn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Timothy Taylor, an undecided major, agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to take my laptop to class, I thought I could multitask, take notes \u2026 it didn\u2019t work for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d always end up looking at the PowerPoint online later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Humbert admits technology, if used correctly, can help people organize their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout my calendar app I\u2019d be lost half the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When asked whether the distractions offered by current technology outweigh the benefits, he said it\u2019s hard to tell.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere needs to be more research on how we attempt to multitask, and how technology has helped or hindered,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many living in today\u2019s world know the feeling all too well: lots to do, not a lot of time. Technology claims it can help users organize and multitask more efficiently, but many accuse it of doing just the opposite. \u201cMultitasking doesn\u2019t exist, it\u2019s a myth,\u201d Mark Humbert, professor of psychology at Sinclair Community College said. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tartan-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-2xk","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9754"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9755,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9754\/revisions\/9755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}