If multitasking doesn’t work, why do we do it so often?
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It makes us more emotionally satisfied, even if it makes us less productive.
Via Eurekalert:
The findings showed that multitasking often gave the students an emotional boost, even when it hurt their cognitive functions, such as studying.
“There’s this myth among some people that multitasking makes them more productive,” said Zheng Wang, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University.
“But they seem to be misperceiving the positive feelings they get from multitasking. They are not being more productive – they just feel more emotionally satisfied from their work.“
Take, for example, students who watched TV while reading a book. They reported feeling more emotionally satisfied than those who studied without watching TV, but also reported that they didn’t achieve their cognitive goals as well, Wang said.
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