Generation of Multitaskers

 
People today have loads of sources to choose from when it comes to entertainment: thousands of TV channels, weekly shows, high-speed Internet, social networks like Facebook and Myspace etc. These sources have become very easily available and with the latest technological improvements we can give ourselves some entertainment while doing other tasks: listening to music while running, browsing the Internet while attending class, watching movies while doing our homework (hope you are not doing this one, but you can) and many other multitasking activities. We have become so “connected” to the technological world, that sometimes we feel even more disconnected. People are becoming very effective at multitasking and we are becoming a generation of multi-taskers suffering from attention deficit disorder, thinking that multitasking is the only way to cope with the increasing demand of tasks to be finished every day. But do we really finish more tasks while multitasking ? Latest research has shown that it takes about 50 percent more time to complete two tasks when they are performed in a multitasking manner than if those two tasks were done separately, one task at a time. It seems to be that the major reason people give in support of multitasking is not really true. Another study has shown that today’s workers do not spend more than three minutes of their attention on a single task before letting their attention escape to other matters.

The multitasking state of mind is really dominant in younger generations and it happens to have serious consequences on students’ performance in their academic endeavors. As Simpson says in her article "Multitasking state of mind", “students indeed have little tolerance for anything that does not have the split-second, image-splashing pace of a Spike TV commercial or an Internet pop-up ad. Antsy with mere existence, they are often tuned everywhere but where they actually are.” Students are always on the lookout for sensational stories and worthless irrelevant newspaper items that excite the impulsive and emotional faculties - thus weakening their power of concentration. To be able to focus the mind on the object at hand in a conscious manner leads to concentration. The strong influence of technology and the increased pace of modern life have led to significantly shorter attention spans, decreased power to concentrate and there seems to be a constant craving for information that is “exciting”. 

Where does this desire for this constant input of information come from ? Why do students escape the task at hand by distracting themselves with useless information ? The answer points to another popular problem among students : procrastination. Students find it that it is far more amusing and interesting to spend their time on exciting news than to listen to a long, boring lecture. It gives them a temporary escape from the task at hand. Procrastination is also very handy when the current task is demanding and students want to lessen the pressure and anxiety caused by the immediate task. This however seems to be a recipe for disaster. Distracting themselves and procrastinating, students fall deeper in their addiction to a constant flow of exciting information.

It seems that the information age is bringing a curse with itself. Things are not that bad as they seem though. Not all students are in such an escapist state after all. I think that we live in an era where there is an abundance of information and the question of being successful depends on the ability to filter out the information we need from this ocean of data. Information is free and available. It all begins with training our minds to focus and giving our minds some peace and silence. We have an incessant noise pounding in our heads, which makes us deaf and blind to the real beauty out there.  Longer and bigger projects seem to be too demanding and boring and the reason for that is because we are not used to giving a single task our utmost dedication and concentration. Changes and improvements will be made once we learn to focus, concentrate and tone down the constant noise we have in our head. Then we will be able to truly learn and enjoy things the way they are.

Technology makes it very easy for us to get distracted and believe that we are more successful if we perform multiple tasks at the same time. However, technology is also the reason humanity has made improvements in economy, health, global peace and almost all aspects of the human life. Using it properly is what we have to learn. Anchoring ourselves in the present, the here and now. The pending task, whether it is talking to our friends, or listening to a lecturer or taking care of our children is the one that we should fully acknowledge and accept. Once we learn to fully commit ourselves to a single task, we will truly learn to use the benefits the information era has brought to us.