Multitasking

There was an intgeresting piece on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday this morning. It concerned a study that had been done to ascertain the effect of multitasking on learning (listen here). Surprise surprise, it turns out that kids who are seriously multitasking (that is, not just listening to music in the background) have significantly more trouble learning than those who are focused on the learning task. It turns out that for some reason, when a person is multitasking a whole different area of the brain is activated than when a person is focused on a learning task. The study also has implications for all who multitask, not just students. The guest suggests that while multitaskers experience the illusion of being more productive, it may well be just that -- an illusion.

None of this surprises me. I'm not one of these people with a blackberry in one hand, bluetooth attached to my ear, downloading music, IM-ing and the like while writing, say, a proposal or a direct mail letter. Nevertheless, there are so many things clamoring for a piece of my time that I find it very difficult to focus on any one thing long enough to finish it. My attention span is getting shorter and shorter. The quality of my work has suffered, my ability to complete a letter to a friend or a household task -- much less take time to meditate -- has suffered, and it takes me forever to finish a book. I'm not quite sure what this has done to personal relationships, but it can't be good.

If one is searching for a way to live sanely, this is not it.