You may feel like a master multitask er as you drink your morning coffee, catch up on email and tune into a conference call. But did you know for most people, in most situations, multitasking makes us less efficient and more likely to make a mistake.
This might not be as apparent when we’re doing simple and routine tasks, like listening to music while walking, or folding laundry while watching TV. But when the stakes are higher and the tasks are more complex, trying to multitask can negatively impact our lives — or even be dangerous.
So-called multitasking divides our attention. It makes it harder for us to give our full attention to one thing. For example, attempting to complete additional tasks during a driving simulation led to poorer driving performance. It can also affect our ability to learn, because in order to learn, we need to be able to focus. Dr. Kubu, a neuropsychologist, says, “If we’re constantly attempting to multitask, we don’t practice tuning out the rest of the word to engage in deeper processing and learning.” Another pitfall (缺陷) is that trying to do too much at once makes it harder to be mindful and truly present in the moment — and mindfulness comes with a plethora (过量) of benefits for our minds and our bodies. In fact, many therapies based on mindfulness can even help patients suffering from depression, anxiety and other conditions.
Choosing to focus on one task at a time can benefit many aspects of our life. Take surgeons for example. “People assume a surgeon’s skill is primarily in the precision and steadiness of their hands. While there’s some truth to that, the true gift of a surgeon is the ability to single-mindedly focus on one person and complete a series of task over the course of many hours.” Dr. Kubu explains. But surgeons aren’t necessarily born with this ability to monotask. Rather, they develop and perfect it through hours of practice. It is true that we perform best one thing at a time. Why not give it a try?
【小题1】Multitasking will make negative influences when tasks are ________.| A．clear and apparent | B．routine and regular |
| C．simple and relaxing | D．risky and complicated |
| A．By listing data. | B．By stating reasons. |
| C．By giving definitions. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．Single-task. | B．Multitask. | C．Efficiency. | D．Task-switching. |
| A．Why multitasking doesn’t work. | B．How to improve daily performance. |
| C．Which career less needs multitasking. | D．What positive effects multitasking has. |
