Multitasking: Plugged-in & stressed out

It has become common place to comment on how much more information we are exposed to than previous generations. We know that it is "much more"... but we lose track of how much more.

Research conducted by the University of California, San Diego shows that people consume, on average, 12 hours of media a day at home (an hour spent watching two media simultaneously counts as two hours). These 12 hours compare with 5 hours in 1960 (source: NY Times, 6/7/10).

We have a love-hate relationship with this increased flow of information. We complain about it, experiencing it as invasive and overwhelming. But we also enjoy the increased stimulation it brings, and often experience it as a form of personal enrichment, as well as a way to increase our productivity at work.

The idea that multitasking improves productivity may actually be more of a myth than a reality -- somewhat similar to the idea that amphetamines would be a sustainable way to improve productivity.
In support of this, the NY Times article quoted above mentions two studies conducted at Stanford:
- One study conducted concluded that multitaskers were actually less efficient – they had more difficulty filtering out the irrelevant information, and more difficulty switching between tasks.
- Another study showed that multitaskers tended to search for new information rather than put older, more valuable information to work.

This is consistent with our understanding of how the mind functions. The mind can store and process a lot of information... but it does its processing a single stream of information at a time.
Here is a very imperfect analogy of how "serial processing" is different from "batch processing". If you look ahead, you can see what is in front of you; if you want to see what is in the back of your head, you have to turn your head, and you stop seeing what is ahead of you; this is "serial processing". To have "batch processing" of both what is ahead of you and what is in the back of you, you'd have to have, in addition to the two eyes you already have, two more eyes in the back of your head.
So, when we multitask, we overtax our system.

If multitasking is not really effective, why is it that we are so attracted to it?
It is probably because multitasking stimulates two circuits in our mind.

One circuit that is triggered by new information is the "curiosity and exploration" circuit. Now, curiosity and exploration are very good traits, very useful to help us survive and thrive, and, on top of this, a very pleasant experience.
But think of it this way: Imagine that you are constantly offered deliciously tantalizing finger foods. They taste great, and the flavors and smells make you want to have more and more of them. There is an addictive quality to them, and considerably less balance and nutrition than in a more wholesome meal.
When we overstimulate the "curiosity and exploration" circuit, we similarly get addicted to the excitement of the new, at the expense of processing and integrating (which, in contrast, feel like more "boring" processes).

Another circuit that is activated by new information is the one that monitors danger in order to ensure our survival. It activates our "fight or flight" response -- an intense mobilization of our energy that allows us to be ready to fight or run away in case of danger. In this case, absorbing new information is not the pleasantly stimulating activity of the "curiosity and exploration" circuit. But it is addictive as well, in a different way.
Compared to an "adrenaline high", ordinary reality feels boring… Plus, to counteract the exhaustion created by the adrenaline high, we need a jolt of more adrenaline to keep awake and active instead of collapsing... So our system craves the shot of energy provided by new information.

While in the midst of this hyper activation of the circuits that respond to new information, we feel very alive and very productive. This is similar to the way some soldiers who have been traumatized by war feel bored by civilian life, and feel he pull to go back into the intensity of the war zone.
In the midst of multitasking and hyper activation, we are actually not more productive but less, as suggested by the studies quoted above.

What can we do?
It is, of course, not in our power to roll back time and technological advances. The information overload we are experiencing is likely to increase rather than decrease. What we can do is takes steps to manage it and to counterbalance its effects.
A simple analogy: we cannot roll back the effects of industrialization, and go back in time to living from farming or hunting and gathering in the midst of nature, as opposed to living in large cities where we have desk jobs. But we can counterbalance some of the effects of our sedentary lifestyle by exercising more.

See: How to deal proactively with information overload.