Has this happened to you?
I'm really glad we get to spend a nice quiet meal together tonight.
I know it's like really rare to just like sit down and just concentrate on us but I really like it we ...
Do you have to get on your phone again do you have to to every noise it makes?
This be something important, I gotta ... it could be like , hold on
I'm sure it's just another tweet.
Well, but like, I mean, what...
Technology has completely changed how we interact with
, our work and
. We're bombarded with five times as much information as we were in the 80s. It
pulls us in through immediate notifications and people
expect , no matter where you are and what you're doing. Most of us
cope by multitasking, doing two things
. We keep our email open when we work on our documents, continue texting with one group of friends when we're hanging out with another, and scroll through our Twitter when we're watching Netflix. Here's a thing
though, humans can't multitask.
Now, we're doing two different things at the same time and one of them is something we've done a bunch of times, sorta multitask, like driving your daily
commute and listening to music, but the moment one of those tasks
, like driving in a new part of town or trying to find a parking spot, you're gonna have to turn off the music. When people think
(I'm doing my homework and watching TV..) what they're actually doing is quickly
.
Try watching
of these videos at the same time. This isn't multitasking, it's called task switching and it makes you
dumb.
Most people think they're really good at multitasking but when psychologists study this in the lab, they find that people make 20%
when multitasking, not only are you doing
when you multitask but it also takes
to get things done, and
you multitask,
it becomes to
recover from distractions. Your brain is built to do
and even that takes effort. The
default setting on your brain is daydreaming mode. This is where your thoughts
wander from one thing to another, but
is a
, you have to
distractions in your environment, ignore those thoughts about doing something more interesting. Remember important information,
about what to do and solve problems as they come up, all this work is really
for your brain. And after a while, your brain needs to
to daydreaming mode in order to
.
PROTIP. Every couple of hours,
from your work and daydream, just
as you go on a walk or look out a window, listen to music and no, you
read your email or
while doing this.
Stuff like that
triggers focus attention and
your daydreaming recharge.
This is why I hate open offices. While they make employees feel more connected, all those distractions have been found to hurt
attention spans, productivity, creativity, and
to more stress. Open offices take away control from your environment. When you can't control your environment and limit distractions, your attention is going to
and you're gonna do a bad job.
The most important skill you need to learn to be productive is to concentrate on one thing at one time.
Learning how to pick a task,
embracing it fully, silencing your phone and
, closing all the other tabs on your browser, shutting the door, blocking out noises in the environment and keeping it up for a set period of time, that's what's going to lead to success in this era of constant distraction.
How do you
when you need to get stuff done? Let me know in the comments below. I'm AliMattu - on Twitter. Be sure to LIKE the Psych show on Facebook and subscribe on YouTube.