Multitaskers Are Bad At Multitasking!
October 7, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Blog
Multitaskers are bad at Multitasking! Stanford researchers compared Multitaskers and Unitaskers and found significant differences in memory, ability to concentrate and easily distracted. The results found multitaskers couldn’t concentrate and their memory stinks, resulting in not doing anything well (or rather to the best of our ability).
I know, we all think we are the exception; terrific with multi tasking, listenening to music, watching tv, texting/talking on the cell phone, checking email and surfing the web. But I have to admit that I started this post as an hommage to my month of focusing on Yoga (September was National Yoga Month). My plan was to celebrate the increased results from concentrating on my Yoga focus and mindfulness. Yet, as I started writing, I realized that intentional focus, mindfulness and unitasking were contrary to my usual multitasking.
The truth appears to be that we operate more like our computers with too many programs open, we slow down or crash. I have refined several habits and become more productive as a result; reducing the stimuli of having too many distractions siphoning my attention. Instead of juggling too many tasks, I really focus in the moment. What about you? I really want your thoughts and comments on multitasking.
What do you think? Please take a minute and share your comments. Thanks!
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I have become more productive by unitasking vs. multitasking. How are others with handling multitasking vs. unitasking. Please share your thoughts here!
At one point, I thought it was age that was compromising my memory and increasing the time to complete tasks… until I started to see info stating that, what I thought I was a master of — multitasking — was a falicy. When I inform folks, or try to, that research does not support their claimed capacity to engage in multiple tasks equally, they resist this notion. Now we have folks putting our lives, and theirs, at risk by multitasking while driving — I consider this to be insanity. But thanks for sharing with research and your own personal impact… I, too, can vouch for the fact that life is better lived in the moment… with all of one’s attention.
Thanks for your comments because I also thought that age was a component. With all the media, tools and pulls on our attention, I have reduced my lists making so that I concentrate on only one thing at a time.
This one blog posts received a lot comments (and Retweets on Twitter), so we are not alone. In fact my “mom and dad” friends said that “multitasking with kids around is definitely bad for concentration