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Onkutsa Tudosa

WRG 121

Jack Visnaw

12 March 2019

Multitasking Productivity and the Influence on Academics.

Day by day I sit in class wondering how everyone on their laptop can focus on the emails

or the text messages they send and still understand the lecture the professor is giving. Is it just

me, or am I slow at processing information and can’t do both at the same time? If I were to have

my laptop in front of me opened to anything other than my notes, I would without a doubt lose

my focus. Just the other day I was sitting in class trying to get homework for another class

finished up and at the same time I was trying to take notes. It was hard having to go from one

subject to another and not have to take a moment to refocus on each task. What I thought was

being productive felt counterintuitive. I was spending time on these tasks and if asked about, I

couldn’t really give a good answer of what I was learning. Isn’t that the whole point of

homework and note taking? I was essentially trying to get both tasks done just to get them done.

I gave no thought to how my academics would benefit from learning this material. Multitasking

is something I can say has been a part of my life ever since I could remember. I grew up

multitasking in order to get through tasks done at a quicker pace. I now still practice switching

between tasks for the same reason and that is to get more work done in a lesser amount of time.

All these questions started to get me thinking and wondering what it's like to be a college

student and go through each day thinking that multitasking is something that will help me

achieve more in less time. I myself and a college student, so it’s nice to get reassurance that I’m

not alone when it comes to the idea of multitasking. Hundreds of millions of students are
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multitasking at this very moment. When it comes to multitasking, it seems that everyone can

attest to moments in their lives where multitasking played or still plays a big part in their life. I

myself can speak out of experience; I can say that multitasking is a big part of my daily life not

just in my educational career but also in my everyday life. However, for the sake of time I want

to specifically be talking about how multitasking contributes to the inefficiency of productivity

in college students and how that affects their academics. Multitasking is a topic that goes beyond

the idea of switching between two tasks and has a lot of substance to it that often goes unnoticed

which translates to insignificances. Extensive amounts of research and studies have been

conducted to be able to conclude whether multitasking is a positive or negative thing and if it has

any effect on the overall ability to perform tasks.

What does it mean to multitask? When it comes to defining multitasking, it can be

interpreted in more than one way. Multitasking is defined by the Webster dictionary as, “the task

of performing multiple tasks at one time.” An example would be listening to music and doing

homework. An article by the American Psychological Association states “Multitasking can take

place when someone tries to perform two tasks simultaneously, switch from one task to another

or perform two or more tasks in rapid succession,” (American Psychological Association) this

means that it's not just doing two tasks at the same time as listening to music and doing

homework but also includes switching from one task to another within a given time. For

example, working on math homework and studying for a Spanish test. Furthermore, the

definition is the stepping stone when it comes to being able to identify the affects multitasking

has on a college student more specifically their academics.

One must understand a college student from a personal level so that they can understand

why one may choose to multitask. A full-time student has on average 15 credit hours, that's

roughly around five classes a semester. Aside from class, most students also have either a full-
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time or part-time job. Between being a student and having a job it's hard to juggle other

obligation from school, work, and family. It can get hard to manage your time most days. It's not

just students that multitask, multitasking is something that started since the beginning of time, it

is by no means a new concept and everyone around the world has multitasked. All these things

are to be taken into consideration when we ask why a student would multitask in general.

When It comes to college student some ways we may choose to multitask is, check

emails while listening to a professor, texting a friend back, catching up on homework from

another class, talking to classmates while doing homework, going on social media in class, and

the list goes on. Work may be putting a strain on our academics causing us to sacrifice time from

our education in order to satisfy work related tasks. Everyday there is a new problem that must

be overcome and the only way sometimes to solve them is to multitask while in school. Then

there is the number of classes we take; each class has its own responsibilities. I have found

myself in these situations where I’m in class but have homework for my next class due so I’m

more focused on getting my homework done than paying attention to the professor. I know that

I’m not gaining much knowledge by multitasking, but I do it anyways because it makes me feel

productive and I have a time limit on one of the tasks. Each individual person may multitask for

different reasons. I may multitask because I'm running late to my class and must eat breakfast in

the car. Someone else may multitask if they want to listen to music while doing homework or

their work place requires that they have great multitasking skills. It doesn’t stop there, so many

students nowadays have many more options when it comes to how they want to divide their time.

Going on social media and listen to music and eating dinner and studying for a test is all possible

at the same time. The possibilities are endless and the affects it has on our brains and

productivity varies depending on the tasks.

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It's important to note that multitasking and distractions are very different things. They

may have some of the same side-effects, but multitasking is not the same thing as getting

distracted. Often a student may confuse the idea of multitasking and instead distract themselves

from their learning completely. However, when multitasking is being executed correctly it seems

to deceive us into thinking that its more productive and time saving.

A common myth that surround multitasking is, when multitasking is done correctly it’s

more productive and efficient. In fact, being able to multitask is often a quality many people state

on their resumes. Why is that you may ask? Many people believe that because they are doing two

things at one time, they save so much time compared to doing each task separately. The

American psychological Association claim that, “even brief mental blocks created by shifting

between tasks can cost as much as 40 percent of someone's productive time.” (American

Psychological Association) Almost half of your productive time is cut in half because instead of

focusing on one task you now have another task that takes up from productivity simple because

your brain must shift from one to another. A survey measured the multitasking habits of more

than 350 college students, UConn researchers found that, “students who multitasked while doing

homework had to study longer, and those who frequently multitasked in class had lower grades

on average than their peers who multitasked less often.” (Diaz) This means that academics are

affected when it comes to multitasking in classroom. Multitasking poses a threat to students and

yet many may still be in denial of the affects and putting the blame on other things. The myth

that multitasking is productive has been busted, according to a blog post by USC, Joshua

Rubinstein, PhD, has proposed a model of cognitive controls with stages, the first is known as

goal shifting. This occurs when you actively decide you are ready to move from one task to

another. The next stage is rule activation; this comes into play when your brain turns the rules

needed for the new task on while turning the rules for the other task off. This model explains
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why there is a lack in the efficiency of switching from task to task and that is because it takes

time for the brain to switch processes. (Allen) Another commonly mistaken myth is that

multitasking boosts performances. In fact, this is the exact opposite. Multitasking will weaken

performances. The brain can’t stay focused on two things with 100 percent focus on both or

multiple tasks, this means that one task will have most of your focus while the other is less focus

on by the brain. Therefore, you can’t fully be productive in both task and at least one of them is

suffering.

The science behind multitasking is quite interesting and really allows us to understand

why multitasking isn’t as productive as we allow ourselves to believe. Our brain is divided up

into sections and each part functions for different reasons. When it comes to focusing on specific

tasks and memorization the prefrontal cortex, which is located at the forehead side of our heads,

is being used. When our brain focuses on one individual task at a time the left and right side of

the prefrontal cortex is being used to perform that task. Scientists at the Institut National de la

Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) in Paris discovered that our brain slits it’s focus

into two areas of the brain when trying to accomplish two tasks at once. Using functional

magnetic resonance imaging, the scientist conducted a study that was essentially telling the

participants that when one of the tasks they needed to complete was valued at a higher reward

than the other the results were that the nerve cell activity increased only on one side of the brain.

Then the increased nerve cell activity switched to the other side of the prefrontal cortex when the

other task had a greater reward. This makes sense because take for instance trying to text while

driving. We know that the multitasking that is going on is taking your attention away from the

road which in turn leads to higher chances of getting in a car accident. Same goes for any kind of

multitasking, it may not seem that it has an influence on efficiency of performing both tasks but

believe me it does.
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The academics of college students are affected when it comes to multitasking in the

classroom, A study that was conducted, “found that increased media multitasking was linked to

poorer performance on measures of academic performance, poorer performance on laboratory

measures of working memory capacity (executive function), more self-reported impulsive

behavior, and lesser growth mindset.” (Cain) This is relevant to the students of today because

most of the multitasking that goes on is media based. Going on Facebook and then back to

studying is often the reality students face day to day. College students have much to think about

when they consider their academics. When it comes down to it, it’s not just grades and GPA that

are at stake here, it's everything that involves a higher education. It can be the ability to

regurgitate knowledge and piece together past knowledge with new knowledge. Anything that

has to do with school can fall under the academic umbrella. It’s easier to understand why

performance is affected, especially looking around a lecture hall and seeing how much

distraction and unproductive multitasking really does go on. It’s easy to believe that checking

your message won’t influence the way you study or pay attention to a lecture, but this isn’t the

case. Your mind is now focused on interpreting the message and less of your attention is on

understanding and processing the lecture.

Knowing when you have a problem with overusing your device is a cornerstone in

developing healthy habits. Let's be real, our phones are one of the biggest sources for

multitasking partly because they are so mobile, and we have them everywhere we go but also

because of how advanced our smartphones have become. In elementary and high school teachers

would implement different strategies in the classroom to get students to stop using their phones

such as phone pouches, taking phones away until the end of the day and even detention. Many

college students today would be against having to put their phones or laptops in pouches for the

class period. Maybe that’s the best route to take to ensure that multitasking doesn’t become an
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issue that can lead to distractions. Students don’t realize it’s a problem and that it effects their

ability to learn because they are so used to the outcomes of multitasking that it starts to be the

new normal. We no longer remember a time when we just focused on one task until completion

that its almost odd to not multitask. Multitasking can happen in the background without being

fully aware of our surroundings. For example, the Television could be on in the background

while you are studying, and your brain is shifting focus from one task to another. Our brains beg

for a break from multitasking and often time when we sleep is the only chance the brain can

detox from this state of being.

To give all this information a meaning, it seems that college student along with most of

the population allow themselves to be deceived by the term multitasking. Giving this term a

positive meaning and plastering it on our resumes because reality is, we live in a word where

multitasking is our answer to everything. It’s supposed to help us be more efficient with the way

we spend our time, yet it takes more time to switch from task to task. Our brains are being

overworked and as a result we are in fact being unproductive. Why then do we continue to

multitask? Could it be for reasons beyond productivity, this must be so. It's hard to give a

straightforward answer to whether this multitasking epidemic has an influence over the

academics of a college student. Each person is so unique that it could be possible one answer

wouldn’t fit the description of how it has impacted another student. It is safe to say that if

multitasking is in fact turning into a distraction then that’s a completely different story and

multitasking has become an excuse students will use to not have to deal with the reality of it all.

There are so many factors to consider when talking about what may affect a student's academic

such as the overall ability to abide by the rules, creativity, IQ, effort, and the list goes on. It’s

hard to give academics a simple definition because as a matter of fact it is quite complex. In

terms of grades and GPA, yes there is a connection between how multitasking can influence a
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student's exam score which indirectly influences grades and GPA. So, there is a direct

association with how multitasking impedes productivity and an indirect link to how it affects

academic. Although I have informed myself on the effects multitasking has on my mind and

academics, the reality is that I won’t just stop multitasking completely. It’s going to be a process

of trial and error in order to find that perfect balance of when to multitask and other options that

benefit my situation more. Overall multitasking done in the classroom is not much different than

the multitasking done outside a classroom. Both have the same negative effects on the brain.

Everyone can find this material useful and practice the ability to focus on one task until

completion before moving on to the next task. Is important that the affects multitasking has on

our brain is spread to college students that way they can educate themselves with the hope that

multitasking no longer is one of the problems of why academic scores are impacted negatively.

Work cited

Allen , Summer. “The Multitasking Mind.” BigFacts.org, BrainFacts/SfN, 9 Oct. 2013,

www.brainfacts.org/Thinking-Sensing-and-Behaving/Thinking-and-

Awareness/2013/The-Multitasking-Mind.

Cain, Matthew S., et al. "Media Multitasking in Adolescence." Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,

vol. 23, no. 6, 2016, pp. 1932-1941.

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Diaz, Bri. “Multitasking Increases Study Time, Lowers Grades | College of Liberal Arts and

Sciences.” Multitasking Increases Study Time, Lowers Grades› College of Liberal Arts

and Sciences› UCONN, 23 July 2015, clas.uconn.edu/2015/07/23/multitasking-increases-

study-time-lowers-grades/.

Multitasking: Switching Costs.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological

Association, Mar. 2006, www.apa.org/research/action/multitask.

To Multitask or Not to Multitask. USC MAPP Online, University of Southern California, 17 July

2018, appliedpsychologydegree.usc.edu/blog/to-multitask-or-not-to-multitask/.