The Perils/'peril/ of Multitasking

文章來(lái)源：https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/memory-medic/201608/the-perils-multitasking

Perils/‘peril/

* (嚴(yán)重的)危險(xiǎn)；冒險(xiǎn)；險(xiǎn)因

We live in the age of multitasking. Though a phenomenon /f?'nɑm?n?n/ of the young, older folks /fok/ are being dragged into the age by the digital revolution in mobile electronic devices. Youngsters/'j??st?/, 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/'kɑm?n/.

Youngsters/'j??st?/N-COUNTYoung people, especially children, are sometimes referred to as youngsters. 年輕人 (尤指小孩)

underperformance表現(xiàn)不佳

Older folks tend to be amazed and awed /?: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 /?:d/V-TIf you are awed by someone or something, they make you feel respectful and amazed, though often rather frightened. 對(duì)…感到敬畏 [usu passive, no cont]

In school, multitasking interferes/??nt?'f?r/ with learning. In the workplace, multitasking interferes with productivity and promotes /pr?'mot/ stress and fatigue /f?'tig/. Multitasking creates an illusion /?'lu?n/ of parallel activity, but actually it requires mental switching from one task to another. This drains/dren/ the glucose/'ɡlukos/ fuel /‘fju?l/ needed by the brain, making the brain less efficient /??f???nt/ and creating the feeling of being tired.

interferes/??nt?'f?r/V-ISomething that interferes with a situation, activity, or process has a damaging effect on it. 妨礙

promotes /pr?’mot/V-TIf people promote something, they help or encourage it to happen, increase, or spread. 促進(jìn)

fatigue /f?'tig/N-UNCOUNTFatigue is a feeling of extreme physical or mental tiredness. 疲憊

illusion /?’lu?n/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/s?'kri??n/ of cortisol/'k?rt?sɑl/ and adrenalin/?'dr?nl?n/. He cites work showing that IQ can temporarily /?t?mp?'r??li/ drop 10 points during multitasking. A brain-scan study showed that new information gets processed/'prɑs?s/ in the wrong parts of the brain and not in the hippocampus/?h?p?'k?mp?s/ where it should go in order to be remembered. The most insidious/?n's?d??s/ aspect/'?sp?kt/ of multitasking is that it programs the brain to operate in this mode, creating a debilitating /d?'b?l?tet/ thinking habit that is permanent/'p?m?n?nt/.

secretion/s?'kri??n/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/?'dr?nl?n/.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. 腎上腺素

hippocampus/?h?p?'k?mp?s/

* n. [解剖][脊椎] 海馬；馬頭魚(yú)尾怪獸（神話中的一個(gè)形象）

* insidious/?n’s?d??s/ ADJSomething that is insidious is unpleasant or dangerous and develops gradually without being noticed. 潛伏的; 暗中為害的

debilitating /d?’b?l?tet/ V-TIf you are debilitated by something such as an illness, it causes your body or mind to become gradually weaker. 虛弱 [正式] [usu passive]

Constant switching creates a distractible/d?'str?kt?bl/ 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 /p?'n???s/ in young people, who are most likely to multitask and whose brains are the most susceptible /s?'s?pt?bl/ to programming of bad habits.

distractible/d?'str?kt?bl/

* adj. 容易分心的；不專(zhuān)心的

* pernicious /p?'n???s/ADJIf you describe something as pernicious, you mean that it is very harmful. 極為有害的 [正式]

* susceptible /s?'s?pt?bl/ADJIf you are susceptible to something or someone, you are very likely to be influenced by them. 易受…影響的 [v-link ADJ 'to' n

Multitasking not only becomes a habit, it is addictive /?'d?kt?v/. I see many youngsters who seem to have withdrawal /w?e'dr??l/ symptoms/'s?mpt?m/ if they can't check their phone messages every few minutes. Mail messages send an associated/?'so??et?d/ signal that someone thinks you are important enough to contact. This provides/pr?'va?d/ powerfully reward personal affirmation/??f?'me??n/. Worse yet, like slot /slɑt/-machine 老虎機(jī)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/‘s?mpt?m/ N-COUNTA symptom of an illness is something wrong with your body or mind that is a sign of the illness. 癥狀

affirmation/??f?'me??n/

* n. 主張，肯定；斷言

addictive /?’d?kt?v/ADJIf a drug is addictive, people who take it cannot stop taking it. 使人上癮的

associated/?’so??et?d/ ADJIf one thing is associated with another, the two things are connected with each other. (與…) 相關(guān)聯(lián)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/s?,s?pt?'b?l?ti/ 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 /?kɑnv?'se??n/ when they were doing rote /rot/ tasks, which were presumably /pri'zju:-m?bli,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 /pr?'p?r??n/ to the amount of task switching. Overall, the workers witched /w?t?/ 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 /?k?s?s?v/ task switching must surely have degraded the productivity of the primary /'pra?m?ri/ work tasks. Why does anybody need to check Facebook 21 times a day or e-mail 74 times a day? This is compulsive /k?m'p?ls?v/ behavior that has affected the entire workforce like an infectious/?n'f?k??s/ disease.

susceptibility/s?,s?pt?'b?l?ti/N-VARIf you have a susceptibility to something unpleasant, you are likely to be affected by it. 易受影響(或損害)的狀況

rote /rot/

N a habitual or mechanical routine or procedure 習(xí)慣的過(guò)程; 機(jī)械式的過(guò)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. 死記硬背 [N n, 'by’ N]

presumably /pri'zju:-m?bli,pri:-/

* adv. 大概；推測(cè)起來(lái)；可假定

witch to

compulsive /k?m'p?ls?v/ ADJYou use compulsive to describe people or their behaviour when they cannot stop doing something wrong, harmful, or unnecessary. 欲罷不能的 [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/d?,str?kt?'b?l?ti/. 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/?n'ɡed???/, 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 /k?n'd???n/ bad habits, mental discipline /'d?s?pl?n/ can condition good attentiveness and thinking habits.

tempting

* adj. 吸引人的；誘惑人的

* engaging/?n'ɡed???/

* adj. 迷人的

* v. 參加（engage的ing形式）；保證；雇用

condition /k?n’d???n/

* vt. 決定；使適應(yīng)；使健康；以…為條件

* discipline /'d?s?pl?n/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 [?’tentivnis]

* n. 注意力；專(zhuān)注

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[sentence]

Youngsters/'j??st?/, 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.