Is Multi-Tasking A Good Thing?

By Sandi Smith

We each have 24 hours in a day and some of us try to cram an enormous amount of tasks into our schedule. One way to maximize our output is to multi-task or to do more than one thing at once. Or is it? Scientists first began studying multi-tasking after World War II to help air traffic controllers get better at their jobs. Here are some cool science discoveries on multi-tasking.

Doing a task requires our attention. When we do two or more things at once, the tasks must compete for our limited attentional resources. The more effort a task takes, the better chance we have of making errors as our resources are maximized.

Think about using your cell phone while driving. Some studies say this is worse than driving drunk. A significant amount of attention is required to talk on a phone, which takes attention away from the road, and we all know that outcome can be deadly.

Another way we can max out our resources is through a physical task. Let's say we are holding a drink and a sandwich at a party. If a friend hands us their purse, we have no room to juggle all of these items and continue drinking and eating. We have a momentary glitch in trying to deal with these items without dropping anything.

Studies show performance is hampered when a person tries to do more than one thing at once. Our brain lights up a little in two different places when performing two tasks. Some scientists think there is a bottleneck and other think there is competition between the two areas. Either way, there is huge interference and even suppression of sensory information. Conversely, when performing only one task, our brain lights up a whole lot more than the sum of the two tasks. This means we're simply able to do one thing at a time much better, especially the more complicated the task. Sometimes, if two tasks are simple enough, when we practice over and over again, we can get better at doing two things at once.

So what's a multi-tasker to do? Slow down on the important things that you can't afford to make a mistake on and do them one at a time. Multitask on items where the error rate does not matter. And never drive while talking on your cell phone.

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