Think about this for a second. What if you could complete more than one activity at once? You would say that that’s great because you would be saving time right? But now think about one more thing. Would the quality of your work be better if you spent more of your time and concentration on one thing at a time? In today’s world, its all about finishing everything in the shortest amount of time and getting the most amount of work done in that time.
Let’s take for instance one of the most pertinent issues of this time, talking on the phone and driving. According to the article “Given the Evidence”, a University of Utah study showed that those students he proceeded to talk on the phone and drive were less able to drive well. “The negative relation between cellular communication while driving and multitasking ability appears to further bolster arguments for legislation limiting the use of cell phones while operating a motor vehicle” stated professors Sanbonmatsu and Strayer of the University of Utah.
It is unfortunate that people know the dangers of multitasking but let’s look at high school and college students. Almost all students today have earphones in their ears while in the library or when trying to do work. I for one can say that all of my concentration is not there when I have music blasting in my ear. The problem is it this belief that we can do it all at once. Common sense shows us that the quality of work goes down when you have a million other things going on at the same time. For example, I wrote a paper my freshman year at St. Johns while having music on in the background. I received a grade of B- on the paper when I got it back. On the next paper that I had to write, I turned everything off and focused on just that paper. When I got that back, I had received an A. I’m not saying that that example should push you to not multitask, but we all should take into consideration the old idea of “quality over quantity”. Whether it may be with school or job, it is up to us to manage our time better and a prioritize what needs to get done and what can wait.
sandeeprambaran11 