In a new report from the University of Texas at Tyler, a trio of researchers asked nearly 1000 undergraduates to keep track of their time. And to keep track of what they were doing when they were also doing something else.
“We basically found that multitasking is somewhat of a myth. People think that they are able to do it but they really are not able to do it well,” Kouider Mokhtari says.
Mokhtari co-authored with Julie Delello and Carla Reichard.
He says one of the surprising findings of their study is that students know multitasking doesn’t work – but they do it anyway – and so, admittedly, do most all of us. So what’s the real issue here? Obviously we can handle doing some tasks at once.
But Mokhtari says it’s about putting away distractions when we really need to focus on something.
“If you’re trying to read something and it’s pretty complicated that you really need all the brainpower to really understand it and if you’re trying to do a couple of things on the side – those other things are going to eventually affect that particular activity,” he says.
Mokhtari’s big suggestion for students – and anyone who is having trouble with distractions? Time management.
“For example, during a typical day, maybe they devote, say, two hours of the day just for reading, just completely devoted to that,” Mokhtari says. “Maybe another two hours devoted to something else instead of mixing and matching things.”
So stow away that cell phone while you’re studying for your final… and try, a little at least, to stop planning your vacation while you’re finishing that big report at work.
