Aliya Belton
English 109
27 October 2014
A warm hot and muggy day traffic was backed up on the interstate. People was driving one mile per hour. Some people had actually stepped outside of their car due to the traffic jam. This one particular car was texting in traffic and not paying much attention to the other cars, the driver ran right into the back of another car and caused an accident. No human being can multitask!
People from the age of 18 and younger multitask more often than others. When you pay partial attention to the task at hand it often become incomplete. The brain can never be in more than one place at a time. It takes longer to multitask than to just complete things one at a time. Making a choice affects multitasking because that particular thing is what you are focused on. Multitaskers perform worst on memory than someone who use their full focus. When people check text messages during learning they score 75 percent lower on a test. Someone who is focused scores 85 percent or better. When a reader is interrupted by the text message it takes time to get their brain back focused on the topic. The original marshmallow test proved that children who waited for the second marshmallow was more successful in life than the students who ate the first one given. People actually paying continuous partial attention to something one is doing.
Sometimes I try to multitask when I am cooking dinner. I talk on the phone or watch television while my dinner is on the stove. I live in an apartment alone so when I go home it is just me there alone and I get lonely. As soon as I get home I call my sister to keep me company over the phone. Often times I get home late so I have to catch up on my television shows at the same time that I am cooking. I use to think I was multitasking but after I learned more about the definition it is a proven fact that I am not multitasking. When I think back I realize it took me more time to get the job done than it would have if I was just focused on one item. I will continue to talk on the phone while I am cooking because I have become comfortable with it and it has gotten easier. It gets boring and lonely living alone so I have to keep myself entertained. This information just proves sparks research on multitasking to be true.
In Steve Covey’s article gives us the difference between important and not important task. The goal is to spend the majority of your time in quadrant 2. Many people procrastinate and have to spend time in quadrant 1; which is the important and urgent quadrant. Other spend a large amount of time in quadrant 4; this quadrant is not important and not urgent. Examples of quadrant 4 are watching television, talking on the phone, and fishing.
I am living majority of my time in quadrant 2. Most of my time is spent in quadrant 3 the not urgent and not important quadrant. I am right in place in quadrant 2 for college. I can do my work when it is assigned to me and not wait until the last minute to stay in this quadrant. I will show up for all my scheduled classes on time to stay focused. I use to spend a lot of my time slacking off and being a very last minute person. I do not like the feeling of rushing so I had to change my ways to get a better outcome. When I realized my actions I started doing my homework right after class. I focused more on my school work. I set aside just to complete my homework assignments or to review materials.
Every student should read the articles from Sparks and Covey! People need to understand that it is not humanly possible to multitask. You will be neglecting a task you are doing if you are doing more than one thing at a time. Looking back on things I’ve tried to get accomplished I see a better outcome when I do one thing at a time. I’ve had to go back over things when I thought I was multitasking.
Works Cited
Sparks, Sarah D. “New Research on Multitasking Points to Role of Self-Control” on Multitasking highlight value of self- control 31:31(2012): 1,13 www.educationweek.org 15 May 2012
Mckay, Brett and Kate The Einsenhower Decision Matrix: How to Distinguish Between Urgent and Important Task and Make Real Progress in Your Life http://www.artofmaliness.html