Multitasking Argumentative Essay

The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes multitasking as “the ability to do several things at the same time.” People multitask in order to complete work more quickly than they originally would have. After all, who wouldn’t want to finish their chores in half the time? When it comes to school, students nearly always welcome opportunities to finish early. Multitasking becomes an appealing strategy when faced with multiple homework assignments, extracurricular activities, and social gatherings. However, multitasking, by nature, takes attention away from one particular item and stretches it to another. Trying to focus on more than one subject at a time strains the brain and ultimately provides less desirable results. Although it may appear to accomplish jobs faster, multitasking does not help performance in school. Multitasking is not as productive as doing one task at a time. In the article, “The Real Harm in Multitasking,” Dr. Travis Bradberry, author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, says that researchers at Stanford University studied bodies of people and how helpful they think multitasking is. The University found that people who multitask more often performed worse, as they could …show more content…
However, evidence shows that that is not the case. Multitasking does not accomplish jobs quickly because one’s brain is working twice as hard to do two activities at once, slowing the process down. In 2010, Bowman, Dendron, Levine, and Waite observed that some psychology students got on an instant messenger while they were supposed to be reading something on the computer. Of the students in the class, those who used instant messaging took up to 59 percent longer to finish reading the article (qtd. in Mokhtari et al. 167). Even though it may be tempting to pick up one’s phone during class time, it will be better for students and their test scores to leave it