Multitasking: Good or Bad? (Argumentative Essay)

These days, it is very rare to find people who do not multitask. Multitasking has become a part of our lives (Wihbey, 2013). What is multitasking that it became something that people resort to in doing their jobs? Multitasking is doing multiple jobs simultaneously. In doing this, you get to finish more jobs in a given amount of time. With the increasing amount of work that needs to be done, this can be very helpful. Furthermore, the ability to multitask effectively would sound appealing to a job employer (Lapowsky, 2013) for the reason that a person could finish a lot of jobs in a short period of time. This makes multitasking sound like a definite advantage but it really is not. Although multitasking can increase the quantity of outputs and save time, it can decrease the quality of outputs and cause health-related problems.

            Multitasking is doing multiple jobs at the same time. This means that it could help people practice time management. For example, while waiting for the washing machine to finish washing the clothes, one can cook food or clean the house instead of doing nothing but wait for the washing machine to finish. In doing so, more tasks can be accomplished in a period of time.

            Multitasking can also keep a person occupied (Silverman, 2010). This appeals mostly to impatient people. For instance, when one is waiting for an email, one can go to another site and pass time there. This helps the person to not lose their patience. It could also help the person to become more quick in thinking.

            Lastly, multitasking can help increase the quantity of our outputs in a limited amount of time. Because of the fact that we are doing multiple jobs at the same time, we can finish a lot of jobs in a small amount of time.

            While these examples may sound appealing, multitasking can be disadvantageous. For instance, when we do multiple jobs at the same time, the quality of our output becomes lesser. Doing multiple tasks at the same time would divide our attention between the tasks. Having our attention split in different jobs gives a higher chance of missing some details that may be a vital part in our work. As a result, it will decrease the quality of the output. This is why it is better if we focus on finishing one job than doing multiple jobs simultaneously. Furthermore, switching between tasks would require time to reorient oneself on the task that should be done. Doing this continuously will over-stimulate the brain. (Deeb)

            Another negative effect of multitasking is lacking the ability to focus. After constantly switching between jobs, a person is expected to become used to this and will now be prone to getting distracted by the simplest things. They become unable to ignore any information in front of them and tend to take in as much as they can. This could result in having a short term memory. This is caused by the overload of information that is too much for the brain to take in which results in the brain forgetting every information that was put into it. (Deeb)

            Lastly, Multitasking can also increase a person's stress levels. Performing too many tasks at a time causes a person to become stressed and when people become stressed they would have a hard time doing their job which could lead to overexertion. 

            In conclusion, multitasking takes too much toll on the brain. It is important that people are informed of this fact for them to be aware of what could happen if they keep on multitasking. Its practice should be kept to a minimum to prevent wearing out the brain. This could lead us to a whole new society that could focus on what is important and could produce good quality outputs. 

Reference

Deeb, C. Bad Effects of Multitasking [Web log post]. Retrieved from        http://smallbusiness.chron.com/bad-effects-multitasking-32419.html

Lapowsky, I. (2013, April 17). Don't Multitask: Your Brain Will Thank You. [Web log post].       Retrieved from http://business.time.com/2013/04/17/dont-multitask-your-brain-will-            thank-you/

Silverman, D. (2010, June 19). In Defense of Multitasking. [Web log post]. Retrieved from             http://blogs.hbr.org/silverman/2010/06/in-defense-of-multitasking.html

Wihbey, J. (2013, July 11). Multitasking, social media and distraction: What does the research      say? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/education/multitasking-social-media-  distraction-what-does-research-say#