Smartphones lead to unhealthy multitasking

Let’s first admit that we all multitask but usually on tasks requiring no deep mental concentration. Many simple, ingrained activities can be accomplished effectively while preoccupied with some other activity — such as eating a snack while watching TV or humming a tune while riding a horse. This commentary reviews whether certain more complex activities can be effectively handled as part of multitasking.

It is against the law, in many jurisdictions, to drive a vehicle while texting, emailing or speaking on a mobile phone. However, I have often seen local drivers doing just that, or even (thankfully, rarely) actually watching a video film as they drive along! Clearly, being in charge of a vehicle on Hong Kong’s busy and congested roads requires 100 percent of the driver’s attention, and they should not be distracted by other things at the same time. As a matter of fact, notices are posted next to the drivers of public buses and trams warning passengers against speaking to the driver while the vehicle is in motion.

I once saw the driver of a convertible, mobile phone in one hand and sandwich in the other, using his elbows to control the steering wheel. That driver was not only endangering himself but other people’s lives with his reckless behavior.

These days, whenever anyone is about to make a business or conference presentation, or deliver a speech, many in the audience immediately become inattentive as they start to check their text or email messages. Galling as this must be to the speaker, it also means most of the audience members, who presumably had some reason to come to that talk, miss completely whatever was meant to be conveyed to them. Multitasking simply doesn’t work in such circumstances.

In many office meetings, it is common to see participants physically present but not mentally engaged with the agenda as they busy themselves with texting, telephoning or emailing at the same time. These are really ineffective meetings. Those so distracted might just as well have not attended, since their input will be minimal.

It is now a common sight in restaurants to see groups of colleagues, friends or family members gathered together with each immersed in their own little world of smartphone activities. A shared meal used to be a time for conversation and bonding as participants interacted socially with each other. You hardly hear any extensive conversation being carried on in these gatherings except for the initial perfunctory greetings. They thereby deny themselves the very thing which supposedly has brought them together — the opportunity for social interaction with each other.

Crossing a busy road while texting or talking into your smartphone can present serious health hazards — the distracted pedestrian may lose his life in a traffic accident. Is that text or chat really so urgent and vital that it must be done right then, even at the risk of one’s very life? And does multitasking (theoretically giving half your attention to each of two activities at the same time) really save time? I would posit that in such cases, at most only 50 percent of the attention is actually given to each task. The outcomes will thereby be poor and — anyway — two times 50 percent still makes 100 percent of your time, so in reality no time is saved!

There is growing concern that today’s youngsters, eyeing the world as they do mostly through the prism of their smartphones, are becoming too passive and too dependent on electronic stimuli. This common obsession has an adverse effect on development of their interpersonal skills, especially their verbal communication proficiency, and even their written proficiency as they text and email mostly in electronic shorthand.

Attempting to answer an office email on one topic, while at the same time talking on the phone about another matter, means that in all likelihood, neither communication is ever going to be an effective one. Some tasks need our full attention if we are to do them well. Multitasking when one (or both) elements require serious attention rarely results in each task receiving the due attention they respectively deserve.

Another concern raised by multitasking is that a person’s attention span and ability to think deeply may become adversely affected. The urge for instant gratification and impatience for deep contemplation are hardly a combination for more serious accomplishments. Modern gadgets such as the smartphone have their place but should not be treated like an obsession at the exclusion of life’s other priorities. The smartphone addicts can use more sensible prioritization and better time management. It has been wisely noted that: “The scarcity of time is the reason we have to concentrate on one thing at a time.” Multitasking clearly is not the answer.

The writer is a longtime Hong Kong commentator and university lecturer.