It is increasingly hard to focus on the task at hand when computers and mobile devices offer so many entertaining distractions. While today’s technology has rendered many former tasks obsolete, more people find it difficult to handle all the applications that are supposed to save time, such as e-mail, social networks, mobile devices, and web search.
Last year’s report from the Canadian Internet Project finds that over three-quarters of Canadian Internet users (76%) multitask while online. Young adults in the 18-to-29 age group are the most frequent multi-taskers, especially students (91%).
Three recent articles look at how an abundance of information and applications can affect our professional and personal lives; moreover, how they alter our concept of knowledge.
A recent article in Wired looks at how multitasking hinders work performance. For instance, technology juggling university students perform worse than their non-multitasking peers; watching television while doing homework hurts the academic performance of children; not checking e-mail every five minutes helps office workers perform better.
But what about people who multitask all of the time? In a study published by the National Academy of Sciences, psychologists surveyed 262 students on their media consumption behaviours. In each test, those who spent less time multitasking performed best. No matter how adept at multitasking, users cannot expect to take part in more than one activity without consequence.
Peter Nicholson, president of the Council of Canadian Academies, wrote an fascinating piece for the Globe and Mail that looks at how the recent overabundance of data and information has created a new scarcity for time and attention. This in turn alters our understanding of knowledge, which Nicholson says, the “primary consequence is the growing emphasis on speed at the expense of depth.”
What to do?
New York Times Reporter Farhad Manjoo provides some amusing and informative solutions for those addicted to multitasking. A program called RescueTime keeps track of everything that users do on a computer, and then provides a detailed report, so they can see how much time they truly spend on needless activities. Another program from Firefox is called LeechBlock. This application allows users to block certain websites during specific times, eliminating foreseen distractions.
Image from williamhartz/Flickr
Tags: New Media, Research, Uncategorized
