Multitasking is a common phenomenon in our modern society, but research shows that we are much worse at it than we think. The problem lies not only in the fact that we struggle to perform multiple tasks simultaneously, but especially in our inaccurate assessment of our own capabilities. Studies show that people who frequently multitask wrongly believe they are doing so effectively. They significantly overestimate their abilities, while the reality is different. This lack of self-awareness is worrying: we are not only bad at multitasking, but we also seem unable to see or acknowledge it.
The consequences of frequent multitasking go beyond just a distorted self-perception. Research on chronic media multitaskers, people who regularly process multiple media streams simultaneously, shows striking results. These heavy multitaskers are actually more sensitive to environmental distractions and irrelevant information in their memory. Paradoxically, they even perform worse on tests measuring the ability to switch between tasks, likely because they are less capable of filtering out distracting information. This suggests that frequent multitasking is associated with a fundamentally different way of processing information.
The comparison to a drunk person who thinks they are walking in a straight line captures the problem well: we think we are better than we actually are. Thus, multitasking creates a dangerous combination of reduced performance and inflated self-confidence. As multitasking plays an increasingly larger role in our daily lives, it becomes all the more important to be aware of these limitations and the gap between our perception and reality.
