Divided Attention Disorder: Digitization & Smartphones make you sick & inattentive!

The topic Attention is more relevant than ever in the midst of digital change: We have access to a seemingly endless amount of information at any time - but that is exactly what leads to ever greater problems.

How multitasking makes us sick

Thanks Internet, smartphones, netbooks and iPad we can find an almost unlimited amount of information at any time and with a few clicks. Paradoxically, this is exactly what leads many to lose their actual Tasks can no longer manage at all and become permanent procrastinators.

Thanks to multitasking, we can do it in parallel and apparently in the shortest possible time Emails, check stock prices, write a briefing and choose a movie for the weekend. But what about our cognitive abilities, which struggle to keep up with this rapid development? And what can we do about our Brain to "decelerate" again.

Do you recognize yourself here?

• While downloading a larger file is running, take advantage of the time and look quickly to where there are cheap flights for your summer holiday, and from whom the latest contact request comes with Xing.
• Traveling on the train at a business meeting makes your laptop limp, your smartphone does not get internet connection. Actually not so tragic; You do not expect urgent messages, and your office knows that you can not always be reached. You could read the book you bought at the station. They prefer to play a bit of Tetris. After each round, check to make sure you are finally back online.
• At least two browser windows are always open on your computer and there are at least eight tabs each.

Then you may be suffering from DAD.

What is DAD?

Behind this acronym hides a syndrome called Divided Attention Disorder, the latest addition to the Family of attention disorders, to which the BBC recently dedicated an article.

According to current knowledge, DAD is (probably) not deadly or contagious, but it should be in our Society widespread and responsible for a large number of hours wasted.

When multitasking makes problems

Because the principle of multitasking often grows into one Problem: Multitasking is about productivity; it should be our precious and scarce commodity, time, so useful as possible and give us more of it.

Activities with the same priority are carried out simultaneously, whereby one of the activities can be more demanding and attract the majority of our attention, while the second has to be done on the side: for example, we eat while working on the newest Emails at noon.

When priorities set difficult

It becomes critical when we become incapable feel, amidst the information pouring in on us every day priorities to work through tasks in a structured manner and to concentrate on one activity for a longer period of time. When our attention jumps from one topic to another every five seconds, we are not working efficiently.

Our mountain of tasks will not be like this fast smaller than we had imagined, and in the worst case we end up confused in front of a mass of loose threads and spend an unnecessary amount of time putting them together.

Does too much technology damage the brain?

No, this is not about the radiation that affects us through excessive cell phone use. However, our highly technology-dependent way of working harbors other dangers. According to the BBC, there is a theory about DAD that is quite disturbing:

In the long term, this way of working should lead to cognitive overload and influence our way of thinking. Too many quick and short impulses literally overflow the so-called working memory, the part of our memory that is responsible for temporary storage and not particularly pronounced.

Our attention span decreases, our brain forgets how to concentrate deeply and how to link new information with the facts and experiences stored in our long-term memory. In this way, our thoughts do not mature into what is stored in the depths Reset, but only remain confused on the surface.

Slow Food, Slow Brain

But how can you escape the maelstrom of uninterrupted flood of information and constant availability? How to "reprogram" his brain? The keyword is by no means No Brainer, but only Slow Brainer (and that only in a positive sense. Think Slow versus Fast Food). In any case, you do not need a hat made of aluminum foil.

Accept that just because modern technology theoretically enables you to be ready at all times and you could do everything at once, it should practically not invite you to do so. Because if you know that you are always available, you will be with you at the wrong time Emails bomb.

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