Black People : Computers, Information Overload and Multitaking: A Dangerous Mix

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Mar 22, 2004
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Ever notice how when you look up information on Wikipedia, certain terms will be clickable? If you want to learn more about those terms, you can click on them and they will take you to other articles. Of course there will be clickable terms on the next article as well. You might click through to so many articles that you forget what you were originally trying to find out about.
Computers encourage us to multitask. Employers like that term because they think they’re saving money by getting one person to do more in less time. What may actually happen is we can get so overwhelmed by all the stuff we can do that we wind up not doing anything. Just jumping from one task to the next—one piece of information to the next without having finished or fully absorbed any one thing. Yet we may still have a false sense of having accomplished something.
I’m not suggesting we throw our computers out the window. Despite the myriad dangers, they are a useful source of information. We just need to be aware of how to handle that information. So here are some things we can do to counter the effects of mental multitasking.
1. Be like Santa—make a list and check it twice. What do you want to accomplish today? You may even break each task down into steps. Once each task or step is accomplished write the word Done beside it with a capital D. This will give you empirical evidence that you have actually accomplished something and your brain will want to repeat that good feeling by establishing a habit of achievement.
2. Discipline your mind to focus on one thing at a time both on and off line. Whenever you’re trying to do one thing and find your mind going off on a tangent, recognize what’s going on and take charge of your thoughts.
3. Remember the old saw: once a task is first begun, never leave it til it’s done. Be the task great or small, do it well or not at all.
4. Set priorities. To avoid being overwhelmed by all the stuff out there, set priorities for what is really important. We will find that we DO have time to do the things that are important to us and we won’t feel so bad when we miss out on things that aren’t high priority anyway.
For a more in depth look at this issue.
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-myth-of-multitasking
 

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