Learning and multitasking are not good friends

July 30, 2007 in Education & Learning, Getting Things Done, Graduate School, Mental & Physical Health, Ph.D., Planning & Action | 2 comments

Being a student for more than two decades, I always believed that listening to music helps me to concentrate more on my studies and research. But the habit of multitasking didn’t stop here. Multitasking also led me to believe that I can watch TV while studying. Soon I was watching TV, and doing my work on my laptop while having conversations with friends at the same time. Did I save time? No. Did I produce quality work? No. Was my learning affected? Yes.

Why do we believe that we can perform multiple tasks at the same time without any hindrance to learning? Does multitasking really exist? Is it really beneficial for students? Here is where most of the students go wrong. They don’t understand how exactly multitasking works in their brain, when to do it, when to avoid it and how to make the best use of it.

The illusion of simultaneousness in multitasking

Multitasking refers to simultaneous/concurrent processing of two or more tasks. Please take note of the word ‘simultaneous’ as it plays important role in our understanding of multitasking. Technically, ‘simultaneous’ means at the same instant of time. But now in context of multitasking, it is also used in short for ‘perceived simultaneousness’ or ‘illusion of simultaneousness’. Now you would ask, why? Because most of the time multitasking involves context switching, which means that only one task is performed at an instant of time but the tasks are constantly juggled/switched giving the illusion of simultaneousness.

So, how does it affect us?

Your brain cannot process two relatively different thoughts simultaneously. It makes heavy use of context switching between different thought processes. Surprised? But it’s true. Whenever your brain switches from one task to another, it saves the current state of the task so you can come back to it later (somewhat similar to ‘hibernation’ in Windows machines). So, in essence your brain is processing information in serial order and not in parallel fashion. These context switches are not free. They cost time and perhaps more. The time costs are directly related to your familiarity with the task. Thus, when you are doing complex unfamiliar tasks, you are actually taking more time to finish them by constantly switching between them than if you had done them sequentially.

Multitasking and learning

As we learned just now that the time costs for context switching increases with the complexity and unfamiliarity of the tasks, we can easily conclude that multitasking hinders learning. Why? Because learning involves delving into unfamiliar territories which is not favorable for context switching. So, it takes more time to finish the learning task. Secondly, the available ‘attention’ resource is limited at any instant of time. A learning task requires more attention and you might compromise its requirement if you are multitasking it with other tasks that compete for your attention. Even my computer hangs when I switch between different windows too fast. It needs some time in between not only to switch the context but also to come to a ready state. Similarly, your brain takes time to come to a ready state after context switching and if you switch too fast, you might not be able to concentrate on learning. Same goes for tasks that require creative thinking and imagination.

In my personal experience, multitasking leaves me unsatisfied with my work except when I am doing trivial or repetitive tasks and the goal is just to finish the tasks rather than learning something new. When the goal of a task includes learning, e.g., reviewing research papers for publications, I find it efficient to do the tasks one at a time. Serial execution also gives me satisfaction as I get enough time to absorb what I learned and to think about new ideas.

Multitasking and students

Two main aspects of multitasking are context-switching and attention resource. From what I have read, my conclusion is that multitasking, in general, should be avoided, especially by students. The goal of a student is not just to get things done but to learn new concepts and develop the thinking process. But while multitasking, different tasks compete for the limited resources in your brain and thus, there is no room for learning and thinking. Agreed that brains of younger people are better capable of switching contexts efficiently than those of grown-ups but too much of context switching is going to decrease your attention span and your ability to concentrate, in long terms. In habitual multitasking, your brain gets into a habit of being in hyperactive state whenever you take up a task to finish and it diminishes your ability to focus and concentrate on the task at hand.

If multitasking is inevitable, then it should be planned in a way that requires less context switching and makes best use of your available attention at the moment. Don’t ask me how. I am still trying to figure it out. Also, it is said that if the tasks are drawing resources from different parts of the brain then it doesn’t affect our performance. For example, I have experienced a few times that music helps me concentrate better. It might be because that particular music doesn’t require much of my conscious attention and that’s why context switching might not be happening, or it might be that I focussed my attention completely on the task at hand that I didn’t notice any phonetic distractions. I don’t know the answer but I am eager to find out.

Now, I have become more conscious of how I perform a task or multiple tasks. I first try to recognize the type of tasks I want to do. Do they require my full attention? Do they require me to concentrate and think? Are they trivial tasks? Are they familiar tasks? Are they repetitive tasks? Based on these questions, I decide whether I should perform more than one tasks at the same time or do them sequentially. Being a graduate student and having most of the ‘to-do’ tasks related to my research, the option that comes more often is sequential processing instead of multitasking.

Even if you are not a student, I would suggest you to check your multitasking habits and see if it helps or hinders your growth. As I have said earlier too, we are always learning and my experience says that multitasking hinders learning. In the end, it is upto you to decide if multitasking is for you or not.

Also read

  1. Is multitasking more efficient?
  2. The multitasking generation – Claudia Wallis
  3. Multitasking wastes time and money – Megan Santosus
  4. Multitasking makes us stupid – Kathy Sierra
  5. How not to multitask – Leo Babauta

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What stops me from writing?

June 21, 2007 in Personal Development, Writing | 6 comments

Writer’s block? Not exactly. In a simplistic sense, writer’s block characterizes lack of new ideas. But I am full of ideas to write. There are so many things going on in my head but I am not able to sit down and write. So I thought why not write about what’s stopping me from writing.

Fear

Yes, I do fear writing on some of the topics of my interest. Why? I am afraid of criticism. I am afraid to reveal myself to my readers. It feels like being naked in public. I am afraid that my blog won’t have any common theme other than the fact that I am writing it. But I am overcoming this fear gradually. Steve’s post on ‘the hidden inner life of existential depression’ made me realize my weakness. It takes courage to write on topics that reveal parts of you. I am sure he must have been criticized and ridiculed by some. But it helped me. It must have helped others. So, I am going to shed my fears and try to help others like Steve. See I am writing about my weaknesses in this post hoping that it’ll help you to shed some of your fears.

Anytime you work with materials that are deep parts of yourself, you feel revulsion at showing things about yourself that you don’t want people to know. – Janet Flitch

Writing skills

Earlier I used to write drafts that I would delete eventually. I know I should have saved them if not post them but I couldn’t bring myself to hit the save button seeing the poor writing. Now I regret. I am still new in this writing arena. Also, I have not been an avid reader until recently. So, I never developed a good writing style. But I am trying. John at ‘Pick the Brain’ is one of my inspiration. His post on ‘how to attract an audience by writing with style’ provides useful suggestions for writers to improve. The process is slow but I believe I am improving.

Why bother?

It is difficult to realize that Educated Being is helping others unless someone communicates it to me. Sometimes I start writing and then just delete it thinking why bother, does it matters. Recently I received an email from one of the readers on how Educated Being has helped him, and how he wants to hear more from me. Another one asked for my permission to nominate it for best education blog at blogger’s choice awards (though I haven’t heard back from him yet). This surely flattered me but it also opened my eyes. I realized that there might be other Educated Being readers who enjoy my posts but just don’t communicate for some reason. Most of us are like that. I am no different. But I’ll change now. And I won’t let it bother me anymore. I’ll write.

Ph.D.

Well, this is just an excuse though I have to fight for time away from my research.

After writing all this I am contemplating if I should publish it, save it as a draft or delete it. After re-reading what I wrote I have decided to publish it. I am trying to walk the talk. So, here it goes.

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What happened to genuinity?

June 4, 2007 in Education & Learning, Graduate School, Ph.D. | 2 comments

What happened to genuinity?
No, not the word ‘genuinity’.
It doesn’t even exist.
I mean genuineness.

In a recent issue of a popular technical magazine, there was an article on networking for about-to-graduate-students. In that article, the author gave some ‘practical’ tips on how to build your network of prospective employers by pretending that you are not a job-seeker, and asking ‘sincere’ questions to build credibility. One of the tips was to ask recruiters their advice on how to improve your resume. In a nutshell, the author was implying that the perception of genuineness matters more than genuineness itself. But as Penelope says,

When you need a job, you’re not networking, you’re calling in favors.

It is really painful to read such articles with ‘practical’ tips. Why are such authors teaching students to pretend and manipulate, when the students are actually looking for a job? Why editors are allowing such stuff for publication that misleads the students? Don’t they feel responsible to educate students to be honest and genuine, and build a strong foundation for young generation? Or is it just about getting from here to there by any means?

What concerns me most is that the people who have ‘authority’ to disseminate knowledge are not careful enough to understand how such advice affects the younger generation. If these so-called ‘educated’ people don’t realize it’s impact, they shouldn’t be given such authority. They are corrupting the youth, the future. They are planting seeds of insincerity and dishonesty, which will soon grow into trees of hypocrisy and corruption.

This is related to what Stephen R. Covey said about the shift from character ethics to personality ethics in his book. The new trend is to create a perception of genuineness for personal gains. Many individuals and business organizations are doing it. Yes, it works sometimes, but in the end we are corrupting our own society. We are weakening the foundation on which a civilization survives.

Once you manipulate and if it works, you are tempted to do it again. The effects of such manipulating behavior are so subtle on you that without you knowing, soon it becomes a habit. You start manipulating your boss, clients, family and friends to get what you want. It seeps into your character and soon a wall of pretension builds around you, eventually leaving you alone, desperate and unsatisfied.

So, I request you all fellow students to not fall for such cheap tactics which will harm you in the long run. You don’t need to manipulate to become successful. Let’s not kill ‘genuinity’.

Also read:

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Dang, I promised more than I can deliver (Part 2)

April 22, 2007 in Getting Things Done, Motivation, Personal Development, Planning & Action | No comments

We are social animals. We cannot survive alone. We develop relationships to grow and prosper. In each relationship we are branded, sometimes without us knowing. Agree or not, but every day we are marketing our personal brand, ‘Me Inc.’, in personal and professional worlds. Everything we do is either enhancing or damaging our brand. The simplest way to improve the brand image is to keep the promises we make. It is easy to say, but difficult to do. It is even harder to deliver more than promised. In the previous post, we discussed about why we tend to make promises that we cannot/don’t intend to keep.

Promises may fit the friends, but non-performance will turn them into enemies. – Benjamin Franklin

A promise gives other person a basis to expect something humanly tangible from you. He is then less worried about the uncertainties and this makes him at ease to some extent. But if you want to rise beyond expectations, over deliver.

Why to deliver more than promised?

1. For personal satisfaction: I try to keep promises I make. That makes me a responsible person. But there is nothing unpredictable in it. Fun is when I over-deliver and exceed the expectations. Whenever I deliver more than promised, I feel good for doing a quality job, and my confidence gets a boost. Moreover, my ‘extra’ efforts are recognized and appreciated by others.

2. To gain trust: Once people around you know that you put in extra efforts to deliver beyond expectations, they start trusting you. They will stick with you as long as possible since they know that at the least they are going to get what is promised. I am a vegetarian and I face problems when I go out to dine because of limited choices. But in a few restaurants, they understand my plight and offer me more options than stated on the menu. So, I visit those restaurants more often.

3. To take relationships to the next level: Delivering more than promised makes you extraordinary. You not only gain trust but also win a following. You create evangelists for your brand. Why people love Google, Firefox and Apple so much? Why their users become their marketers too? It is because they deliver more than what other search engines, internet browsers, and personal computers offer. The relationship between them and their users has advanced to the next level. Please find me a user who is not happy with them.

Have you ever under-promised and over-delivered? Do you put extra efforts to rise above expectations?

However, sometimes we are not able to keep our promises, even if we want to. After all we are humans. Things do go wrong and mistakes happen. It is important to remember that mistakes are allowed provided we accept and don’t repeat the same.

What to do if we could not keep our promise?

Instead of hiding, ignoring or lying about it, if we just communicate and accept it openly, we can still maintain the relationship and not lose the trust.

- Accept it. Tell the truth. Move on.

- Learn from your mistake or keep your mouth shut next time.

[Update]

Also Read:

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