Multitasking: More pain, less gain

(Photo by MilesTeg)

Turns out that those who suffer from "octopus brain" (reaching out in many different directions at once, aka "multitasking") might be better off

ignoring that phone (no matter how "smart" it is) when it threatens to interrupt a preexisting task.

Dr. John J. Medina, author of New York Times

bestseller Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School, is a developmental molecular biologist who "has a lifelong fascination with how the mind reacts to and organizes information."  Father of two boys, he is also the author of Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five.

Medina asserts that although the brain can effectively manage such dual tasks as breathing and walking, "the

brain's attentional 'spotlight' can focus on only one thing at a time…"  Concepts are naturally approached by the brain sequentially.  What this amounts to in practical applicability is that claims of multitasking effectiveness are more mythical than real.

Another way of explaining this is that "we are biologically incapable of processing attention-rich inputs simultaneously."  Shifts in attention invariably require some time to accomplish.  The brain must first disengage from the task at hand, and then engage with a second one.  If there are third, fourth (and who

knows how many other) tasks awaiting, the brain must "rinse and repeat" this disengagement/engagement process over and over again.

All of this shifting back and forth results in a form of system overload.  Both the brain and the person begin to "lose it."  This happens literally as well as figuratively.  Medina reports that interrupted people not only take 50 percent longer to accomplish tasks, but also make "up to 50 percent more errors" while doing so.  

Resources

http://www.brainrules.net/about-the-author    

http://brainrules.blogspot.com/2008/03/brain-cannot-multitask_16.html

Copyright August 26, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved