Multitasking is a person's ability to perform several actions at the same time, for example, do the project while watching a movie and speaking on the phone. The word 'multitasking' was first used to refer to the ability of a computer to perform several operations simultaneously. Later this term was applied to describe human activity. Surely the idea of being able to cope with various tasks at the same time is rather alluring as such capacity may make human lives easier. However, the harm of multitasking outweighs its advantages.

Problems with Absorbing Information

Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, has discovered that when people are continuously distracted from one task, they work faster but less productively. She has also noticed that students solving a mathematical puzzle needed more time and suffered much stress when they were made to multitask. Therefore, to achieve high quality, all actions should be performed one by one but not simultaneously.

The Myth of Multitasking

Multitasking does not save time. The human brain is incapable of coping with different tasks at the same time. The interruption of one task leads to remembering where a person has stopped to allow him/her to resume the activity. When the brain re-orientates itself during performing many actions, lost time increases with unfamiliarity and complexity of tasks, and the period needed to renew the operation expands. The essay online store research conducted by the deputy director of the Institute for the Future of the Mind, Martin Westwell, has proved that the ability to multitask does not depend on the individuals' age. During one experiment, Martin Westwell divided people into two groups, the first one consisted of individuals aged 18-21 years, while the second one included people aged 35-39 years. Both groups translated images into numbers using a simple code. When two groups were tested without interruption, younger people completed the task about 10% faster. However, when both groups were interrupted by phone calls or text messages, the older group was more accurate and successful. Westwell concludes that although older individuals may process information more slowly than younger people, they have a 'faster fluid intelligence;' therefore, they are very good at ignoring interruptions and deciding what to concentrate on. Time spent on multitasking can be spent on doing things right. The ability to multitask is not an indication of human intelligence.

Multitasking Decreases a Human IQ

Multitasking is very dangerous for the human mind. For example, the research done by the Institute of Psychiatry has revealed that an IQ of people who are distracted by phone calls and e-mails at their working place decreases more than twice, the result similar to that of marijuana smokers. It is a serious threat to individuals' productivity. Dr. Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist, calls multitasking a mythical activity as people cannot effectively fulfill more than one task simultaneously. He offers therapies that help people to combat extreme multitasking, however, the treatment may take years. In 2005, Edward Hallowell wrote an article in which he discussed a new condition called 'Attention Deficit Trait'. The psychiatrist believes that this condition is commonplace in the modern world. 'Attention Deficit Trait' is just a response to the hectic environment in which individuals live. The typical symptoms of the condition are similar to those of attention deficit disorder. Hallowell claims that the person's brain should track many data points, and this challenge can be controlled only by creatively engineering one's environment and one's emotional and physical health. As people multitask too often, their brains have no time to have a rest, which provokes headaches and bad sleep.

Multitasking Increases Productivity

On the one hand, multitasking has a harmful effect on the human mind, memory, productivity, and intelligence. However, on the other hand, it helps people to do more tasks at the same time. Training improves the speed with which tasks are completed. Actually, when people think that they multitask, they do not do it. The brain still performs only one task but does it so quickly that individuals cannot realize it. When a person tries to simultaneously perform several tasks, he/she needs a higher level of cognitive control. According to Ren? Marois, an associate professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University, the main reason why people are bad at multitasking is because their brains process each task slowly, creating a bottleneck at the central stage of decision making. However, constant practice allows the human brain to do each task more quickly through this bottleneck. It is possible to do many things at the same time and stay productive. To gain such result, people should follow only two rules. The first rule is to capture all things that should be done. The second one is to develop self-discipline and do tasks on time. Undoubtedly, time management is very helpful; therefore, it is necessary to make a to-do-list, a kind of planning which includes tasks and the amount of time given to complete them. The expert believes that multitasking, discipline, and self-organization are key components of a prosperous and happy life. To be happy and wealthy, it is not necessary to be born into a rich family because successful people often create their lives themselves. To productively multitask, a person should leave his/her comfort zone. There is an infinite number of possibilities outside of a person's current comfort zone. Multitasking can be really helpful while planning and managing time as it teaches the human brain to work more quickly.

The Innate Ability to Multitask

Comparing the human brain with a computer, it should be said that even the device cannot perform several very difficult operations simultaneously. Chewing gum while walking is very easy because walking and chewing are very simple actions. However, reading and watching a movie cannot be productive because they require high levels of attention. The fact that multitasking is not so bad is proved by the ability of women to multitask. Unlike females, men are less organized, and their reaction is slower when they try to perform several actions at the same time. Dr. Stoet conducted the research with the aim of discovering who, men or women, were better at multitasking. During the research, a special computer program compared 120 men and 120 women who did the test which included switching between different tasks involving recognition of shapes and counting. When the tasks were tackled one at a time, both men and women had good results, but when the program mixed the types of tasks, the productivity of men and women decreased. It was discovered that men took 77% longer to respond, while women took 69% longer. To make the experiment relevant to daily life, the researchers conducted one more test which involved doing simple math problems, locating a building on the map, trying to find keys in a field, and answering a phone call in eight minutes. The experiment showed that women were better at multitasking as they managed to complete more tasks and used methodical search patterns while looking for the keys. It may be concluded that women have higher levels of attention than men and can successfully perform several easy actions at the same time. As a rule, females think more about the good result rather than about the speed of completing tasks.

Multitasking is More Harmful than Useful

Despite the fact that multitasking has some advantages, its disadvantages outweigh. People who support multitasking and consider it to be the key to high productivity are completely wrong. Productivity increases due to discipline and an ability to manage time but not due to doing several tasks simultaneously. The human brain cannot properly focus on more than one task; therefore, the quality of work lowers. Though women have an innate ability to do several tasks at the same time, multitasking is not a natural phenomenon because the females' brains slightly differ from those of men, and they cannot perform some difficult actions simultaneously. Women are more attentive, and this fact helps them to cope with activities more quickly. Due to the development of information technologies, young people multitask every second they are online. Main activities are performed with help of the computer, and most of the time is devoted to secondary activities. In the modern world, computers encourage people to multitask in order to save time and perform their tasks faster. However, multitasking has adverse effects on people's concentration, attention, and mental activity.

In the modern and hectic world, people do not have time to complete all tasks one by one, that is why they try to multitask, and it is especially easy with help of information technologies. Nowadays, more and more individuals consider multitasking to be a perfect solution to the constant lack of time. The idea of completing several tasks at the same time looks great, but it is not so wonderful as it may seem at first sight. Multitasking has harmful effects on individuals' attention, perception, and cognitive skills. To complete all tasks in time, people do not need to multitask, they should just manage their time in a proper way.