We all attempt to multitask. Whether texting while driving or studying bio during Gilmore Girls reruns, multitasking is a friend to those with too much on their plate.
It isn’t always as simple as having the TV or music playing in the background. We’ve all experienced the late night cramming for three or more assignments due simultaneously. We’ve all had that feeling of being stretched too thin.
So yes, multitasking helps us get by. But is it really that helpful for the long haul?
According to a study in UCLA, multitasking or being distracted greatly effects one’s learning. The study was conducted on subjects in their 20s who learned a simple classification task. They were to make predictions after receiving a set of cues concerning cards that displayed various shapes. With one set of cards, they learned without any distractions. With a second set of cards they had to listen to high and low beeps through headphones while keeping a mental count of the high-pitch beeps. The distractions didn’t affect their predictions but made their memory significantly worse.
The study concluded that multitasking is a bad habit in the learning process and suggests one focuses on one topic at a time. And memorizing shapes while listening to high pitch beeps can easily symbolize balancing work and school. Which validates this study.
Not only does multitasking affect the way we learn, it also affects our health and appearance.
According to Beth Ricanati, M.D.’s article from the online journal YourBeauty, our attractiveness is at risk when we multitask. Basically, when you focus on the important things in your life too much, you choose a microwave burrito for your dinner instead of a tofu snack-wrap. And your disgusting non-vegan diet turns you into a pumpkin the minute the clock strikes twelve.
Ricanati’s point? When you multitask, you make bad decisions that your body has to pay for. So to avoid having a hideous body, don’t go to the gym. Clearing your mind of the stress and living in the moment should help you choose better midnight snacks other than a McDouble.
She makes an excellent point in her article. When you’re stressed out over a paper, do you really eat a salad? How about some nice oatmeal. No, chances are you’re like me and you grab whatever is microwavable. Or chocolate.
Ricanati suggests people to “surf the urge,” a technique used to help smokers and recovering drug addicts. Here’s how it works. When you’re craving junk food, or heroin, basically all you have to do is envision yourself approaching a wave, riding it, and getting to the other side unscathed. Apparently that helps you get over heroin. Or ice cream. Whatever your addiction is.
When you think about it, if you eat something good and healthy, your work will no longer be put off by hunger. Because junk food generally fills someone up to the point of sickness or barely takes away the hunger. So eat better and focus on your food.
How does this affect school? I’ll answer that with another question. Wouldn’t you rather have a healthy body and healthy mindset to accomplish assignments? Not only is that the best way to learn the material for your test, but it’s also a skill that will be useful after college.
If the idea of helping your future isn’t enough, let me ask you this: do you want to be fat and stupid? If not, give up the multitasking cold turkey!