Multitasking and Stress

By Chris Woolston, M.S.

In this high-tech, high-pressure age, multitasking has become a national pastime. No matter where we are or what we're doing, we can always add one more ball to the juggling act. Many people regularly check emails on their Blackberry while talking on the cell phone, pausing only to yell at other drivers.

"Because of all of the new electronic gadgets like cell phones, Palm Pilots, and other personal digital assistants, multitasking has exploded, says David Meyer, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.

Doing several tasks simultaneously may seem like the height of efficiency -- and it would be, if a person had more than one brain. In the real world, multitasking actually wastes time and reduces work quality, Meyer says.

Missed deadlines and shoddy work may get a person fired, but they're not the most worrisome consequence of multitasking. According to Meyer, juggling tasks can be very stressful. In the short term, stress makes you feel lousy. In the long term, it can become a serious threat to health -- and that's not even counting the dangers of sending a fax while changing lanes.

One brain, one task

Meyer sees three major types of multitaskers. Some people do it out of desperation. In their minds, talking to a client while doing research on the Internet is the only way to keep up. Other people multitask impulsively. They'll abandon a report in mid-sentence to check email without thinking about the consequences. The third group multitasks with pride. "Many people delusionally believe that they're good at this," he says.

Some people's jobs, like air traffic controllers and emergency room doctors and nurses, virtually demand multitasking under pressure. But in reality, nobody can effectively do more than one remotely complicated thing at a time. "The brain is not equipped to do heavy-duty multitasking," Meyer says. "People are being asked to do multiple things, but they would need superhuman abilities."

Multitasking is especially futile if the different activities use the same part of the brain, Meyer says. For example, the brain only has one language channel. If a person tries to read while talking, one or both tasks will get short shrift.

Source:  https://consumer.healthday.com/encyclopedia/emotional-health-17/emotional-disorder-news-228/multitasking-and-stress-646052.html