We live in an information rich, time poor world and one that is becoming increasingly busy.
A bi-product of the advancement of technology is that we have many devices such as laptops, tablets, smart phones which demand our attention. We are more accessible, have more information to process and many sources of potential distraction.
I have been doing some research on techniques to effectively manage time and to be more focused. In doing so I found some interesting research and information on multi-tasking which I believe is worth sharing.
According to an article written by Fiona Macrae (for the Daily Mail) and Ellie Zolfagharifard (for Mail Online) multi-tasking shrinks the brain. Research suggests it could be damaging your career.
A study found that men and women who frequently used several types of technology at the same time had less grey matter in a key part of the brain. Grey matter is the part of the brain that processes information.
University of Sussex researchers said: ‘Simultaneously using mobile phones, laptops and other media devices could be changing the structure of our brains.”
Worryingly, the part of the brain that shrinks is involved in processing emotion. The finding follows research which has linked multi-tasking with a shortened attention span, depression, anxiety and lower grades at school.
The researchers began by asking 75 healthy men and women how often they divided their attention between different types of technology.
This could mean sending a text message while listening to music and checking email, or speaking on the phone while watching TV and surfing the web. The volunteers were then given brain scans which showed they had less grey matter in a region called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).
The findings held even when differences in personality were taken into account.
The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, is the first to make a link between multi-tasking and the structure of the brain.
Researcher Kep Kee Loh said: ‘Media multi-tasking is becoming more prevalent in our lives today and there is increasing concern about its impacts on our cognition and social-emotional well-being.’
He added that more research is needed to prove that multi-tasking shrinks the brain.
This is because it is also possible that people with less grey matter in the ACC are more drawn to using lots of gadgets simultaneously. Scientists have previously demonstrated brain structure can be altered on prolonged exposure to novel environments and experience.
Experts have also warned of the harmful impact technology can have on our memory and attention span.
The University of California team commissioned a survey of more than 18,000 people aged between 18 and 99 and found 20 per cent had problems with memory.
Researchers were taken aback by the 14 per cent of 18 to 39-year-olds who also worried about their memories.
Multi-tasking with gadgets may shorten attention span, making it harder to focus and form memories, the researchers said, adding that youngsters may be particularly affected by stress.
A separate study by Stanford University backs the latest research that multi-tasking is less productive than doing one thing at a time.
After putting about 100 students through three tests, the researchers’ realised heavy multi-taskers are paying a big mental price. People who multi-task, according to the research, are not only less efficient, but they also have difficulty in paying attention, recalling information and changing from one job to another.
The Stanford researchers compared groups of people based on their tendency to multitask and their belief that it helps their performance. In each of their tests, the researchers split their subjects into two groups: those who regularly do a lot of media multi-tasking and those who don’t. In one experiment, the groups were shown sets of two red rectangles alone or surrounded by two, four or six blue rectangles.
Each configuration was flashed twice, and the participants had to determine whether the two red rectangles in the second frame were in a different position than in the first frame.
They were told to ignore the blue rectangles, and the low multi-taskers had no problem doing that.
But the high multi-taskers were constantly distracted by the irrelevant blue images. Their performance was horrible.
Because the high multi-taskers showed they couldn’t ignore things, the researchers thought they were better at storing and organising information. Maybe they had better memories.
The second test proved that theory wrong. After being shown sequences of alphabetical letters, the high multi-taskers did a poor job at remembering when a letter was making a repeat appearance.
‘The low multi-taskers did great,’ researcher Eyal Ophir said. ‘The high multitaskers were doing worse and worse the further they went along because they kept seeing more letters and had difficulty keeping them sorted in their brains.’
As well as damaging our brains, research by business planning group, Realisation, has found that trying to do too many things at once costs the global economy $450 billion (£278 billion) annually.
If you would like to improve your concentration and focus, here are a few suggestions:
• Focus on one task at a time. Complete things before you move onto something else. A short break to deal with emails, send texts or take quick phone calls makes it very hard to focus. Some research suggests it takes 15 minutes after a distraction to return to complete focus.
• Whilst working on a task that requires lots of focus (such as devising a report or preparing budgets) shut out distractions. This can be closing e mail/chat boxes, turning off notifications of incoming mail/messages on social media. If you are able to shut yourself away in an office or work from home, this may be worth considering as you may complete the task quicker if you effectively manage your distractions
• Compartmentalise. Set specific time aside to deal with worries and things that are playing on your mind. It is not easy to concentrate on a task if you are constantly worrying about other things. Make a note of things that are causing you concern. Park them and return to them when you have completed the task at hand. On occasions we spread ourselves too thin and seek to do too many things at once. Sometimes less is more.
• Take short breaks. Our minds aren’t really able to cope with focus with intensity for eight hours each day. It is good to chunk up your time into one hour segments and take 5/10 breaks in between tasks and meetings. This gives the brain a rest before you refocus.
• Ensure that your working environment is comfortable, with chair and desk at the right height and workspace clutter free.
• Being hungry does not help concentration, so ensure that you start the day with a healthy breakfast. It is also important to ensure that you drink plenty of water as dehydration can make us feel tired, irritable and slow down our responses.
This week, why not take a moment to consider if you need to make some changes to your daily routine to improve your level of focus and concentration levels. What one step could you take to increase your personal effectiveness?
Quote for the week:
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” Alexander Graham Bell.
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