Everyone, including myself tends to multitask at one point or another. We do it so we can finish the jobs faster and get on with the more important things in our lives. But is doing more than one thing at a time really effective? In the short term multi tasking might seem like the most convenient option, but in the long run, it could have negative consequences. For example, doing your homework and eating dinner might save you 20 minutes so that at 7:00 you can get to soccer practice on time. The immediate effects of this are quite positive; you are able to complete your homework, eat your dinner, and get to soccer without being late. But what about long term? You continue with your eating dinner and doing homework routine for several weeks and are exhausted from soccer. Since you are saving that extra 20 minutes by combining the two jobs, your homework is not being completed to the best of your ablilty. When it comes time to study for the test, you realize that the homework you had done was not effective in helping you prepare for the exam. You take the exam and recieve a poor grade.
This was an "aha" moment for me. I have learned through experience that multi tasking is, in many aspects, effective in the short term, but in the long run, it may not be the best way of getting things done.
I love this captured thought because it reminded me of a habit of multitasking to save time, and how it often yields negative long-term consequences. For example, I often do my homework, eat, text, watch TV, organize my digital photos, etc. at once. I usually do the bare minimum of homework on these occasions, which is convienent and easy in the short term but leads to extra homework and worse test scores in the long term. I know that for our generation especially, this is a growing problem due to the constant distractions of all of our "shiny techie gadgets." I hope our brains don't suffer serious permanent damage, since I am definatey a multi-tasking addict.
ReplyDeleteGreat Job Erika! Your blog manages to develop a quite controversial and important topic in a few words. I would agree with you that multi-tasking is a task that is best left not done. Your mind simply works faster when it is committed to one task at one time. By being on Facebook, watching TV, and reading for social studies, you are doing none of the tasks to your fullest. (yes I believe you can be on Facebook to your "fullest"). This comment has taken me five minutes longer than it should have because I was texting and looking at things online. It's a habit that will be quite difficult to break, but one that I know I have to. Hopefully I can stop it before it become to BIG of a problem.
ReplyDeleteErika-
ReplyDeleteI really liked this blog post because of the witty insight and pleasant-to-read style of the post. First off I can say that, though I'm not proud of it, I can definitely be a multi-tasker, and a procrastinator. Though these are bad habits [and trust me, I know they're bad habits], sometimes they're hard things to break- especially on days where you have TOO much homework and not enough time. I think your insight about the fault in multi-tasking is really eye-opening. Now that I think about it, multi-tasking can definitely be much less effective than doing things the right way [in the long run]. I can definitely connect that with my Freshman math class. The class was easy for me- the content was easy because I had retained the information from previous courses, and I found myself being able to figure out problems in class just by 'doing what I remember.' At home, I chose not to do homework in depth, because I figured it was too easy anyways, and that I probably didn't need the practice-besides, I had plenty of other work to do that afternoon anyways. When I finally went to take the test...and when I got it back, I found that I made some stupid mistakes that could have been avoided if I would have just did the homework to reinforce what I already knew. Although it doesn't directly connect to multi-tasking, I think it's a good example for your idea of "Do the job right and do it well the first time, because if you don't it will come back to haunt you in the long run." This really reminds me of my learning experience and definitely makes me less apt to multi-task, procrastinate, or do half-done work. The way you voiced this 'aha' moment was really powerful and really made me want to fix my bad work-related habits.