Teachers often complain that their students are distracted by technology that finds its way to school in pockets and backpacks. From smart phones to tablets and portable games, students are always on – but not always on task, it seems to some. The Kaiser Family Foundation studied Millennials and found they were consuming 10.75 hours of media in little over 7.5 hours daily (slide 7) in a remarkable feat of multitasking.
Students are confident in their abilities to handle more than one thing at the same time. In Wallis’ (2006) story in Time magazine, she relates an oft-heard battle between parents and children about their study habits, from the teen’s perspective: “My parents always tell me I can’t do homework while listening to music, but they don’t understand that it helps me concentrate” (para. 5). Anna Liotta, a business consultant specializing in cross-generational workplace relations, notes that “Millennial feels strongly that they need to—and are effective at—using multiple modes of communication simultaneously” (para. 1).
Multitasking is a Myth
In The New Atlantis, Christine Rosen (2008) discusses how multitasking is not only a false concept as far as human brains are concerned (2008), and calls multitasking “a poor long-term strategy for learning” (107). According to Rosen, some neurologists believe the brain can be trained to multitask for some purposes, while others caution the side effects of adrenaline and stress hormones while this rapid attention-switching is occurring.
Research also indicates it actually takes us longer to complete tasks that require similar types of cognitive processing, not less, when we are forced to multitask (Tugend, 2008; Wallis, 2006). Edward M. Hallowell, psychologist, comments, “It gives the illusion that we’re simultaneously tasking, but we’re really not. It’s like playing tennis with three balls” (in Tugend). What your students say about listening to music, however, may be true as it uses different cognitive processing skills than many other tasks (Tugend).
Distraction and Focus
Is all this distraction for naught? While we may be quick to dismiss distraction as the bane of success, a longitudinal study that started in the 1960s may indicate otherwise. Many may be familiar with “The Marshmallow Study,” by Walter Mischel:
And just how did these children manage to avoid the temptation? Peter Bregman (2009) at Harvard Business Review argues that it wasn’t just willpower, it was technique, and that technique was deliberate distraction:
So what’s the secret of the ones who held out? Did they have more willpower? Better discipline? Maybe they didn’t like candy as much? Perhaps they were afraid of authority?
It turns out it was none of these things. It was a technique. The same technique I used with Isabelle.
Distraction.
Rather than focusing on not eating the marshmallow, they covered their eyes, sat under the table, or sang a song. They didn’t resist the urge. They simply avoided it.
….
Distraction is, in fact, the same thing as focus. To distract yourself from X you need to focus on Y.
Bregman (2012) writes later that this resistance to impulse “determines our success in learning a new behavior or changing an old habit. It’s probably the single most important skill for our growth and development” (para. 6).
Two sides of the same coin, distraction and focus in proper contexts can lead to better outcomes in our personal and professional lives. Bregman, recommends meditation for better focus, as do others in the productivity world.
Teaching Students Mindfulness and Focus
Dr. Hallowell believes that we can change our habits and return to (or learn) how to control the amount of stimulus and interruption we are receiving (Tugend, 2008). How can we go about teaching students mindfulness, with intentional focus and distraction? One way is through guided practice. Pam (last name unknown) gives a few ideas at her blog, The Mindful Classroom, including teaching mindfulness through breathing techniques even in kindergarden.
For older students (and overwhelmed teachers and grad students!), consider teaching the Pomodoro Technique. This technique breaks work into blocks of 25 minutes with breaks of 5. After 4 sessions (or “pomodoros”), a longer break is given. Times can be adjusted for particular work situations, but the idea is to push out distractions and focus on a single task for a set amount of time. The reward is 5 minutes to do whatever you want. And of course, once your work is done, that time is yours as well. Plugins for major web browsers that will block “fun” sites and support the Pomodoro Technique are widely available. In addition, phone apps are available for users to track their work on their smartphones.
While teachers and parents are concerned about digital distractions in the lives of their students and children, distraction plays an important role in goal achievement, as does focus. Multitasking, however, is not a realistic expectation of our brains, as we can’t actually focus on more than one idea at a time, but rather make rapid shifts from one area of focus to another. Distraction and focus are two parts of the puzzle that lead to success by learning which areas of attention to avoid and which to focus on.
As teachers, we can work with all ages to help students develop mindfulness and focus through breathing exercises or other focus training techniques such as the Pomodoro Technique.
References:
Bregman, P. (2009, June 10). How to teach yourself restraint. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2009/06/how-to-teach-yourself-restrain.html
Bregman, P. (2012, October 12). If you’re too busy to meditate, read this. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2012/10/if-youre-too-busy-to-meditate.html
Liotta, A. (2012, November 12). Generational Savvy Solutions. Resultance Incorporated. Retrieved from http://resultance.com/multi-tasking-rude-or-efficient/
Rosen, C., (2008). The Myth of Multitasking. The New Atlantis, 20. 105-110. Retrieved from http://faculty.winthrop.edu/hinera/CRTW-Spring_2011/TheMythofMultitasking_Rosen.pdf
Tugend, A., (2008, October 24). Multitasking can make you lose… um… focus. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/25/business/yourmoney/25shortcuts.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Wallis, C. (2006, March 27). The Multitasking Generation. Time. Retrieved from http://www.balcells.com/blog/images/articles/entry558_2465_multitasking.pdf
