The Hazards of Multitasking
Are you a multi-tasker? Are you raising a multi-tasker?
I’ll admit, I’m guilty of doing a zillion things at once in order to get them all done before my favorite shows come on at 8:00 PM. I want to be able to kick back, relax and enjoy the evening watching television with the family. But to get there, I find that I overextend my brainpower most times and begin making little mistakes.
A prime example occurred yesterday. I’ve prepared this particular meal hundreds of times, but because I was trying to do 6 things at one time, I discovered I left out one very important step.
While doing a bit of digging on the impact multi-tasking has on kids, I found an article that puts multi-tasking in a ‘proper’ light.
When we’re distracted, the brain bypasses the hippocampus and relies on the striatum, which is really designed for recalling how to do tasks you have done so often that they’ve become second-nature, such as which route you need to take to walk to school. Information stored in the striatum is tied closely to the specific situation in which it is learned. (We remember that geometry principle only if it’s presented in exactly the same way on a test.) What’s more, while it may seem as if we’re doing many things simultaneously, the brain can really only focus on one thing at a time, unless the other skills involved are purely automatic.
William R. Stixrud, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist in Silver Spring, Maryland offers an example that I could actually wrap my own mind around by comparing the brain to a computer.
“You may have several screens open on your desktop, but you’re able to think about only one at a time.”
I might actually be able to get my kids to make some sense of that one!
I’ve noticed it’s difficult for my own children to study when everyone is sitting at the kitchen table. I might be helping one with math while the other is asking for help with vocabulary words. This constant discussion on varied topics creates a level of chaos that can’t be good on the children’s brains.
So, are you guilty of multi-tasking or even creating a safe multi-tasking environment for your children?
What are some suggestions you can offer for parents who are wanting to help create a more multi-task free home?
Tags: discussion, focus, multi-tasking, ParentingRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Parenting
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