As I get older, I feel my days become shorter. I usually don’t know what day it is until I check the calendar on my phone. The days seem to come and go as they please. I often find myself reminiscing about my younger days before smartphones and social media. It was a much simpler time.
Nowadays, we’re bombarded with content from all angles. Everyday there’s news that brings forth the apocalypse. In recent years, we’ve been plagued by outbreaks, mass shootings, and TikTok trends that make me lose all hope in humanity. This constant surge of information is what causes us to feel the world speeding up.
The Adoption of Multitasking
In the 1960’s, computer scientists invented machines to do two or more things at the same time. We took this concept of “multitasking” and applied it to ourselves.
The average office worker now spends about 40 percent of their work time wrongly believing they are “multitasking.” Most office workers never get an hour to themselves without being interrupted. (Hari, 2021, p. 40-41) Do you still think “multitasking” is being productive? Let me know in a few years.
The Effects of Multitasking
The first is called the “switch cost effect.” Basically, our performance declines as we switch from one task to another. Our brain has to remember what it was doing before and it takes time to process.
The second is called the “screw-up effect.” It’s probable to say that when we constantly switch between tasks, errors might occur. We’re only human.
The third effect is called the “creativity drain.” Innovation takes time. If you spend most of it switching between tasks, then you don’t give your brain the opportunity to come up with new ideas.
The more information we process, the less time we have to pay attention. If you spend a majority of it “multitasking” then you will be slower, more prone to mistakes and less creative. This shows the capacity of the human brain and its ability to absorb information.
The Perception of Time
I smile when I look back at the good ole days; everything was so much simpler. My generation was the last to truly experience life before the internet. I don’t envy this new generation. As I get older, my days do get shorter. There’s so much to do and very little time to get it done.
Johann Hari. Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – and How to Think Deeply Again. New York, Crown, 2021.
KREATIVV INC 