Twilight News Edition 545
Edition 545, 23rd September 2023
MULTITASKING: A HELP OR A HINDRANCE?
By Saachi Mehra
It’s a busy time right now, isn’t it? We find ourselves trying to do several tasks in one go - talk to a friend while finishing homework or listen to music while reading a book. But can we actually multitask? And does it make us more efficient or just exhausted?
For more than 50 years, cognitive scientists have been studying the idea of multitasking and have concluded that it is of no use. It is extremely inefficient and makes you do less. This is because your brain requires approximately 15 minutes to refocus on a task after getting distracted by something like an email. Multitaskers’ efficiency can drop up to 40%! Your long-term memory and creativity also deteriorate.
Our brain has billions of neurons and trillions of connections. Yet, we are unable to do more than one thing at a time. Multitasking does not exist in the way we think it does. Rather than doing things simultaneously, our brain switches from one task to another. It chooses what to process and what to ignore. So, if you’re talking to someone while finishing your homework, you will actually hear less of what they’re saying.
But, being in the IT Age, our multitasking problems are more to do with technology. A notification alert can derail you from your task, and even if you manage to get back to it, you won’t be able to focus completely on it.
Why does this happen? Be it non-verbal or spoken, social messaging triggers strong reactions in our brains. We’re wired this way! Recognising and bettering our status and increasing awareness of our group is important to us. Anything that helps us do this is processed immediately, regardless of how hard we are trying to concentrate on something else. Also, people who call you, email you and message you don’t know you’re busy. Notification alerts don’t know that either - they just follow their algorithms. Lastly, we want access to more information because we feel comforted by it. It’s why you’ll find yourself double-checking something you already know of.
There are a few things we can do to stay on task, however:
Stay with one task until you finish it. If your attention starts waning (usually after around 20 minutes), switch to something else but note what you need to complete.
Stop those pings! When you need to channel all your attention towards something, silence your phone. In the “olden days”, people would shut their doors as ‘Do Not Disturb’.
Do not waste time confirming things you already know of. Ask yourself if you are certain of something before searching it up. If yes, don’t waste your time getting a confirmation. Realise that all information is not helpful. Also, recognise the difference between social networks - which are designed to agree with you and make you feel good - and knowledge networks - which may contradict you, but will help you make a better decision.
Compiled and Edited by Saanvi Tripathy