Multitasking is a creative skill to have. Not everyone has the ability to manage and complete different tasks at the same time. I believe that multitasking comes in handy when you’re the type of person to have multiple projects you need to complete and it’s crunch time. If I’m working on a paper due for a class, but I have two separate assignments owing for two separate classes, working on all three would be great. However, working on more than one task at the same time gives less attention and care to each task individually which could affect the outcome. If you’re a chronic multitasker, research has shown that you may perform worse on core multitasking skills such as memory management, cognitive filtering, and task switching. A chronic multitasker is unable to filter irrelevant stimuli which has to do with their lack of memory skills(Lottridge, Rosakranse, Westwood).
Chronic multitasking is the condition in which a multitasker struggles with “telling what information is relevant, managing working memory, and ignoring irrelevant information”. There are some instances where you can multitask, but the tasks that are receiving your attention are minute. For example, a friend of mine had an assignment due at midnight. He also had an essay to complete by the end of the semester. On top of school, he also was working the majority of the week. Instead of prioritizing the assignment due immediately, he spent the final few hours he had after work, working on his end-of-the-year essay and then cramming in a last-minute “completed” assignment for midnight. So, even though this friend was able to multitask, in this situation he was unable to determine what should be at the top of his priority list.
The most common distractions society face today are the thing we hold close. Our phones. Chronic media multitasking are chronic multitaskers who could use different devices at once such as; watching TV while using your phone, or browsing on your laptop while playing a game on another device. There are heavy chronic media multitaskers(HMM)and light chronic multitaskers(LMM). The difference between HMM and LMM is that studies show that HMM is bad at tasks that they were precisely asked to do and expected to be good at, in contrast to LMM(Lottridge, Rosakranse, Westwoodz). LMM would most likely be able to focus more because their usage of different devices at once is less than that of HMM.
Leave a Reply