Humans are good at multitasking because people in life generally have to do multiple things at the same time. Good organization is of the utmost importance and the brain adapts to this kind of situation. Humans multitask the majority of the time, but it can lead to stress which is why the key lies in the fact that they need to have a well-develop schedule and stick to it. However, unpredicted situation occur almost every day which is why people need to work on their multitasking skills. They are good at multitasking because of the fact that they need it to get things done in the modern world which is hectic.
There is one situation which is bad for multitasking and it is being on the phone while driving. This can be hazardous for one’s health even if conducted in a safe manner. “Multitasking doesn’t just slow you down and increase the number of mistakes you make; it temporarily changes the way your brain works” (Allen). It may be beneficial to engage oneself in multitasking, bit it may also lead to problems because of the mistakes which people make and because of the fact that they do everything slower. However, people are very busy today and it is necessary for them to do several things at the same time because of the fact that there is not enough time for everything planned. Moreover, there are activities which are simple to conduct and make people prepared to do them at the same time. “Natural activities such as eating or walking place less demand on the prefrontal cortex compared with activities like reading or driving. This is why it’s easier to check a message on your phone as you eat than when you are behind the wheel” (Allen). It is all about the complexity of the activities that people are performing because those which are easier can be done at the same time, while activities which involve the full intellectual engagement of the person may not be easy to perform at the same time if not impossible.
Some activities are done automatically which is what makes them easy to perform. It is all about practice as well and the distractions coming from the surroundings have to be ignored. It also happens that people who work with multimedia material ae better when multitasking then when doing one activity at the time because of the nature of their job. It is harder to multitask with age because the brain cannot switch to tasks so fast as when the person was younger. However: “studies show multitasking compromises working memory (the ability to store information over short periods of time) in people of all ages” (Allen). That is why most of the people are more efficient when performing one task at the time although modern workforce demands for the people to engage themselves in multitasking.
It is also important to understand the nature of multitasking because this term cannot be understood literally. The point is to do as many things as possible at the same time and be productive as well as efficient. “It's only possible if two conditions are met: 1) at least one of the tasks is so well learned as to be automatic, meaning no focus or thought is necessary to engage in the task (e.g., walking or eating) and 2) they involve different types of brain processing” (Taylor). Reading while listening to music is possible for example and it may make reading more efficient. Working while there is music in the background can be productive as well because people are motivated while listening to the music they like. There is a problem with remembering the lyrics of the songs if a person is engaging in a complex task and multitasking is impossible under such circumstances. People are not really multitasking because they are switching from task to task: “Rather than engaging in simultaneous tasks, you are in fact shifting from one task to another to another in rapid succession” (Taylor). Since they are shifting very quickly, it means that they have the notion of doing things simultaneously, but that is not the case because complex tasks cannot be performed at the same time by the same person because of the brain limitations.
It is also dangerous to drive while talking on the phone even if a person is not using their hands. “Over the course of a decade, he and his colleagues had demonstrated that drivers using cell phones—even hands-free devices—were at just as high a risk of accidents as intoxicated ones” (Konnikova). People are not normally capable of multitasking, but to inter-switching between tasks which makes them believe that they are multitasking. However, the brain is not equipped to make people do two intellectually engaging activities at the same time. “Multitasking involves actively thinking about more than one thing at a time, which can overload the brain's working memory“(Chow). Focus is what matters which is why people cannot pay attention to more than one thing immediately. There is a break which they make between tasks no matter how fast it is. However, they get the notion of doing two things simultaneously even though that is not the case. There is hope for people who believe that they are good at multitasking and for those who believe that multitasking is the essential part of their everyday routine on which they have to work. One new study “illustrates how the brain can simultaneously keep track of two separate goals, even while it is busy performing a task related to one of the aims, hinting that the mind might be better at multitasking than previously thought” (Harmon). The brain is flexible which is why it may be focused on two different foals at the same time.
There are people who are better a multitasking than other people because it is a matter of practice as well since the brain can be trained in such a way to track the results of two tasks at the same time. It is also a matter of motivation since people can be capable of engaging their intellectual capacities to the fullest if they are motivated enough. However, people who lose productivity when multitasking should better stick to doing one activity at a time.
Works Cited
Allen, S. (2013). The Multitasking Mind. In BrainFacts.org. Retrieved May 18, 2016, from http://www.brainfacts.org/sensing-thinking-behaving/awareness-and-attention/articles/2013/the-multitasking-mind/
Taylor, J. (2011). Technology: Myth of Multitasking Is multitasking really more efficient? Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201103/technology-myth-multitasking
Konnikova, M. (2014). Multitask Masters. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/multitask-masters
Harmon, K. (2010). Motivated Multitasking: How the Brain Keeps Tabs on Two Tasks at Once. Scientific American. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/multitasking-two-tasks/
Chow, D. (2013). Why Humans Are Bad at Multitasking. In Live Science. Retrieved May 18, 2016, from http://www.livescience.com/37420-multitasking-brain-psychology.html
