Dangers of Divided Attention
By Stefan Van der Stigchel
Multitasking may seem to be a time-saver, but the working memory can only handle one task at a time, so attempts to divide concentration inevitably backfire.
This Article From Issue
January-February 2021
Volume 109, Number 1
Page 46
Brian Cullinan, an accountant at the prestigious PricewaterhouseCoopers firm, considered himself luckier than most in his job. After all, he was responsible for handing out the prizes at the annual Academy Awards ceremony.
QUICK TAKE
- Quickly switching between tasks creates the illusion of multitasking, but this style of work ends up taking longer and creating more errors than concentrating on a single task.
- Task switching at work is most often caused by interruptions, either by coworkers or by various media. Often people stop working and check for messages out of habit.
- Students who chat online while studying or in lectures absorb less information, take fewer notes, and have lower scores on tests than those who are not distracted.
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