The Perils/'peril/ of Multitasking

文章来源：https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/memory-medic/201608/the-perils-multitasking

Perils/‘peril/

* (严重的)危险；冒险；险因

We live in the age of multitasking. Though a phenomenon /fə'nɑmɪnən/ of the young, older folks /fok/ are being dragged into the age by the digital revolution in mobile electronic devices. Youngsters/'jʌŋstɚ/, as digital natives, are wired to multitask, but they don't realize how multitasking impairs their thinking skills. We call our phones "smart," but they can actually make us dumb. This may be one of the reasons that underperformance in schools is so common/'kɑmən/.

Youngsters/'jʌŋstɚ/N-COUNTYoung people, especially children, are sometimes referred to as youngsters. 年轻人 (尤指小孩)

underperformance表现不佳

Older folks tend to be amazed and awed /ɔ:d/ by the multitasking ability of the young. But those in all generations should realize that multitasking does not make you smarter or more productive.

awed /ɔ:d/V-TIf you are awed by someone or something, they make you feel respectful and amazed, though often rather frightened. 对…感到敬畏 [usu passive, no cont]

In school, multitasking interferes/ˌɪntɚ'fɪr/ with learning. In the workplace, multitasking interferes with productivity and promotes /prə'mot/ stress and fatigue /fə'tig/. Multitasking creates an illusion /ɪ'luʒn/ of parallel activity, but actually it requires mental switching from one task to another. This drains/dren/ the glucose/'ɡlukos/ fuel /‘fjuəl/ needed by the brain, making the brain less efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/ and creating the feeling of being tired.

interferes/ˌɪntɚ'fɪr/V-ISomething that interferes with a situation, activity, or process has a damaging effect on it. 妨碍

promotes /prə’mot/V-TIf people promote something, they help or encourage it to happen, increase, or spread. 促进

fatigue /fə'tig/N-UNCOUNTFatigue is a feeling of extreme physical or mental tiredness. 疲惫

illusion /ɪ’luʒn/N-VARAn illusion is a false idea or belief. 幻想

drains/dren/V-T/V-IIf you drain a liquid from a place or object, you remove the liquid by causing it to flow somewhere else. If a liquid drainssomewhere, it flows there. 使流走; 流走

glucose/'ɡlukos/N-UNCOUNTGlucose is a type of sugar that gives you energy. 葡萄糖

Neuroscientist, Dan Levitan, reminds us that multitasking is stressful, as indicated by increased secretion/sɪ'kriʃən/ of cortisol/'kɔrtɪsɑl/ and adrenalin/ə'drɛnlən/. He cites work showing that IQ can temporarily /ˌtɛmpə'rɛəli/ drop 10 points during multitasking. A brain-scan study showed that new information gets processed/'prɑsɛs/ in the wrong parts of the brain and not in the hippocampus/ˌhɪpə'kæmpəs/ where it should go in order to be remembered. The most insidious/ɪn'sɪdɪəs/ aspect/'æspɛkt/ of multitasking is that it programs the brain to operate in this mode, creating a debilitating /dɪ'bɪlɪtet/ thinking habit that is permanent/'pɝmənənt/.

secretion/sɪ'kriʃən/N-UNCOUNTSecretion is the process by which certain liquid substances are produced by parts of plants or from the bodies of people or animals. 分泌

adrenalin/ə'drɛnlən/.N-UNCOUNTAdrenaline is a substance which your body produces when you are angry, scared, or excited. It makes your heart beat faster and gives you more energy. 肾上腺素

hippocampus/ˌhɪpə'kæmpəs/

* n. [解剖][脊椎] 海马；马头鱼尾怪兽（神话中的一个形象）

* insidious/ɪn’sɪdɪəs/ ADJSomething that is insidious is unpleasant or dangerous and develops gradually without being noticed. 潜伏的; 暗中为害的

debilitating /dɪ’bɪlɪtet/ V-TIf you are debilitated by something such as an illness, it causes your body or mind to become gradually weaker. 虚弱 [正式] [usu passive]

Constant switching creates a distractible/dɪ'stræktəbl/ state of never being fully present. It trains the brain to have a short attention span and shrinks working memory capacity. This is especially pernicious /pɚ'nɪʃəs/ in young people, who are most likely to multitask and whose brains are the most susceptible /sə'sɛptəbl/ to programming of bad habits.

distractible/dɪ'stræktəbl/

* adj. 容易分心的；不专心的

* pernicious /pɚ'nɪʃəs/ADJIf you describe something as pernicious, you mean that it is very harmful. 极为有害的 [正式]

* susceptible /sə'sɛptəbl/ADJIf you are susceptible to something or someone, you are very likely to be influenced by them. 易受…影响的 [v-link ADJ 'to' n

Multitasking not only becomes a habit, it is addictive /ə'dɪktɪv/. I see many youngsters who seem to have withdrawal /wɪð'drɔəl/ symptoms/'sɪmptəm/ if they can't check their phone messages every few minutes. Mail messages send an associated/ə'soʃɪetɪd/ signal that someone thinks you are important enough to contact. This provides/prə'vaɪd/ powerfully reward personal affirmation/ˌæfɚ'meʃən/. Worse yet, like slot /slɑt/-machine 老虎机payoffs, the reinforcement occurs randomly, which is the most effective way to condition behavior. It turns us into trained seals/sil/.

withdrawal

* n. 撤退，收回；提款；取消；退股

symptoms/‘sɪmptəm/ N-COUNTA symptom of an illness is something wrong with your body or mind that is a sign of the illness. 症状

affirmation/ˌæfɚ'meʃən/

* n. 主张，肯定；断言

addictive /ə’dɪktɪv/ADJIf a drug is addictive, people who take it cannot stop taking it. 使人上瘾的

associated/ə’soʃɪetɪd/ ADJIf one thing is associated with another, the two things are connected with each other. (与…) 相关联的

seals/sil/N-COUNTA seal is a large animal with a rounded body and flat legs called flippers. Seals eat fish and live in and near the sea, usually in cold parts of the world. 海豹

Why does anybody engage in behaviors that can turn them into a trained seal? One study indicates that susceptibility/sə,sɛptə'bɪləti/ to task switching depends on the existing mental state. The researchers monitored 32 information workers, of near-equal gender, in the work environment for five days. Workers were more likely to switch off-task to Facebook or face-to-face conversations /ˌkɑnvɚ'seʃən/ when they were doing rote /rot/ tasks, which were presumably /pri'zju:-məbli,pri:-/ boring. When they were focused, they were more likely to switch to e-mail. Time wasting in Facebook and e-mail increased in proportion /prə'pɔrʃən/ to the amount of task switching. Overall, the workers witched /wɪtʃ/ to Facebook an average of 21 times per day and to e-mail 74 times. Though the total time spent off-task was small (about 10 minutes on Facebook and 35 min on e-mail, the excessive /ɪkˈsɛsɪv/ task switching must surely have degraded the productivity of the primary /'praɪmɛri/ work tasks. Why does anybody need to check Facebook 21 times a day or e-mail 74 times a day? This is compulsive /kəm'pʌlsɪv/ behavior that has affected the entire workforce like an infectious/ɪn'fɛkʃəs/ disease.

susceptibility/sə,sɛptə'bɪləti/N-VARIf you have a susceptibility to something unpleasant, you are likely to be affected by it. 易受影响(或损害)的状况

rote /rot/

N a habitual or mechanical routine or procedure 习惯的过程; 机械式的过程

2.

N-UNCOUNT Rote learning or learning by rote is learning things by repeating them without thinking about them or trying to understand them. 死记硬背 [N n, 'by’ N]

presumably /pri'zju:-məbli,pri:-/

* adv. 大概；推测起来；可假定

witch to

compulsive /kəm'pʌlsɪv/ ADJYou use compulsive to describe people or their behaviour when they cannot stop doing something wrong, harmful, or unnecessary. 欲罢不能的 [ADJ n]

How does one break the multitasking habit? The most obvious way is to reduce the opportunity. Turn off the cell phone. You do not have to be accessible to everyone at every instant. Don't launch the mail app, and when it is on, turn off the feature that notifies you about the arrival of each new message. If you don't need to use a computer or the Internet for the task you are working on, don't turn on your electronic devices. If a computer is needed, don't launch the browser until you actually need it.

Be more aware of your current mental state, because it affects your distractibility/dɪ,stræktə'bɪləti/. If doing boring work, find ways to make it less boring and thus less tempting to switch tasks. If you are doing work that is engaging/ɪn'ɡedʒɪŋ/, make it a goal to stay focused for longer and longer times on such work. Set goals for increasing the time spent on task. You should at least be able to sustain focus for 30 minutes. Just as multitasking can condition /kən'dɪʃən/ bad habits, mental discipline /'dɪsəplɪn/ can condition good attentiveness and thinking habits.

tempting

* adj. 吸引人的；诱惑人的

* engaging/ɪn'ɡedʒɪŋ/

* adj. 迷人的

* v. 参加（engage的ing形式）；保证；雇用

condition /kən’dɪʃən/

* vt. 决定；使适应；使健康；以…为条件

* discipline /'dɪsəplɪn/N-UNCOUNTDiscipline is the quality of being able to behave and work in a controlled way which involves obeying particular rules or standards. 自律

* attentiveness [ə’tentivnis]

* n. 注意力；专注

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[sentence]

Youngsters/'jʌŋstɚ/, as digital natives, are wired to multitask, but they don't realize how multitasking impairs their thinking skills.We call our phones "smart," but they can actually make us dumb. This may be one of the reasons that underperformance in schools is so common

How does one break the multitasking habit? The most obvious way is to reduce the opportunity.

You do not have to be accessible to everyone at every instant

If a computer is needed, don't launch the browser until you actually need it.