Multitasking – How to Not Miss Anything Without Harming Your Nervous System
• Is there a predisposition to multitasking?
• How does multitasking affect efficiency?
• What do experts recommend?
Human multitasking
The word “multitasking” first appeared in 1965 in an article describing the capabilities of the IBM System/360. Since then, the term has become common in relation to humans.
It is meant to be the ability that allows a person to pay attention to several tasks or activities at the same time. For example, talking on the phone and driving a car.
In my subjective opinion, multitasking appears not from the desire to do everything, but from boredom. When a photographer processes photos, he involuntarily turns on a TV series. When a surgeon removes an appendix, he involuntarily starts a conversation with the nurses. I am not a surgeon, but it seems that way to me.
There are many frankly boring moments in work, and especially in training. The idea of filling them all with some background activity seems logical. At the same time, there is a feeling that you are doing two things at once: you went skating and listened to Gogol. For those whose children have not yet figured this out, everything is ahead.
Psychiatrist Edward M. Hollowell described multitasking as “a mythical activity in which people believe they can do two or more tasks at the same time as effectively as one.” Let's try to figure out where the myth is and where the reality is.
Fast is slow, but not distracted
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, led by Dr. Travis Bradberry, compared groups of people based on their propensity to multitask. They found that multitaskers who believed in its effectiveness were actually worse at multitasking than those who liked to do one thing at a time.
This can be easily explained by conducting a simple experiment with a visual illusion. The brain can see in the picture either a martini glass or the goddess Venus. At least part of it.
Our brain cannot perceive both images at the same time. It sees only one thing.
In a TED talk in 2012 Paolo Cardini suggested a great remedy for multitasking – single-tasking. The brain is a single-tasking system. The feeling of multitasking appears when the speed of switching is higher than the speed of the processes we support simultaneously.
For example, you can turn on the kettle, put some eggs on the stove and charge the toaster. The three processes will be performed in parallel. At this point, you can also ask the child about “Dead Souls” and wonder why such a talented writer is not imprinted in the minds of schoolchildren.
The further the body is from the moment of awakening, the weaker the will and the lower the ability to switch. For example, in kindergartens, morning performances are held at the beginning of the day, and casinos are open from evening until morning. The closer to the end of the working day, the worse we cope with multitasking. Therefore, unlike breakfast, we cook dinner slowly and without distractions.
Ability to multitask
The ability to quickly switch between tasks is influenced by two characteristics of the nervous system (NS):
Mobility – rigidity
Strength – weakness
The mobility of the NS is precisely the ability to quickly switch and, like a circus artist, simultaneously spin a large number of plates. Such people find social contacts easier. This is especially evident in the ability to simultaneously maintain two or more realities. In other words, the ability to lie. I do not want to offend anyone. As is well known, “Everyone lies” (c)
Rigidity is expressed in the tendency to solve problems sequentially, rather than in parallel. Comparing themselves, people with a flexible NS sometimes call them brakes. But this is not true. In terms of information processing speed, they may not differ from each other in any way.
The strength of the nervous system is the ability to withstand prolonged stimulation. A strong, mobile nervous system is 24/7 multitasking. A weak, mobile nervous system forces you to alternate between spinning the plates and resting.
Productivity and quality of task execution
University of California professor G. Mark believes that multitasking ultimately does not save time. On average, across all respondents, switching between tasks takes more time than it takes to complete each task separately.
At the same time, Mark notes that if a person is distracted from a task, he fully returns to its implementation only after 23 minutes, and 18% of the respondents did not return to this task at all that same day. Multitasking also increases the likelihood that a person will make mistakes, especially when the action involves critical thinking.
The researchers also wondered about the number of tasks a person can perform simultaneously. It turned out that the human brain is not capable of processing more than two complex tasks at a time, since when performing two tasks simultaneously, the brain divides them: both frontal lobes are activated. When a third task is added, one of them is forgotten or performed with a large number of errors.
How Multitasking Affects Cognitive Abilities
A University of London study found that participants who performed multiple cognitive tasks simultaneously showed a decline in IQ. The level of decline was similar to what you would expect from smoking marijuana or staying up all night.
There is likely a correlation between gender and NS mobility, because the males in this study had a more dramatic decline in IQ, some down to the average range of an 8-year-old child.
Multitasking affects the ability to concentrate for a long time. A person often wants to take a break, check messages, etc.
Some studies have shown that multitaskers believe they are more productive. This illusion probably occurs because chronic multitaskers tend to focus on “easy” tasks that require little cognitive effort, while complex tasks are left unfinished.
Researchers at the University of Sussex in the UK used MRI scans to study people who spend a lot of time using multiple devices at once. They found lower brain density in anterior cingulate cortex — areas responsible for empathy, as well as cognitive and emotional control.
Ankafer M. and colleagues studied the relationship between long-term memory and multitasking and came to the conclusion that frequent multitasking leads to a decrease in the ability to remember not only in working memory, but also in long-term memory.
It has also been found that constant multitasking leads to increased distractibility and a state of “wandering” mindThere is also evidence that media multitaskers suffer cognitive flexibilityand the level also decreases fluid intelligence.
Total
Peter Drucker recommended to enlarge tasks. Perhaps this is the only way not to miss anything. For example, collect all the articles of interest and read them all at once from beginning to end.
Thank you for reading to the end. If you decide to put a minus, then write in the comments what needs to be improved. As I already mentioned, I try to write a lot and interestingly. I post article announcements in tg-channel.
