Throughout my many years of education in the public school system, perhaps the most important insight I have found about my learning process is my inability to multitask. I first discovered this around sixth grade: middle school had just began, and like many young teenagers I received my first iPod with music. It didn’t take long for this to seriously impact my schoolwork; for me, listening to music was absolutely incompatible with any school-related responsibility, be it homework or even simple reading. Indeed, I found that when I tried to multitask like this I was neither able to enjoy the songs nor do my work, and thus I quickly stopped. Listening to music has continued to be an effective and enjoyable outlet for me ever since, but only when separate from educational tasks.
Recently, however, this problem has become increasingly prevalent in my learning process once again. It is not music that is the distraction this time, but rather my smartphone as a whole. Although technology can certainly be helpful, in the case of schoolwork I often find my phone to be extremely hindersome: a variety of distractions, from Instagram to internet articles, can vastly increase the time spent on my homework! I have also discovered that these diversions can inhibit actual learning; for instance, after using my phone I often forget the content of my previous study efforts, leading to a large waste of time. Even after identifying this problem, however, I surprisingly still have a difficult time convincing myself to stop using my phone. This dilemma occurs quite frequently among students, and I believe it attests to our fear of social isolation from easily-accessible smartphone media as well as our unproductive dependency on technology. Personally, the only way to achieve maximum productivity in my learning process is to stop attempting to multitask, and this is an issue that I will definitely strive to improve in the years to come.
Recently, however, this problem has become increasingly prevalent in my learning process once again. It is not music that is the distraction this time, but rather my smartphone as a whole. Although technology can certainly be helpful, in the case of schoolwork I often find my phone to be extremely hindersome: a variety of distractions, from Instagram to internet articles, can vastly increase the time spent on my homework! I have also discovered that these diversions can inhibit actual learning; for instance, after using my phone I often forget the content of my previous study efforts, leading to a large waste of time. Even after identifying this problem, however, I surprisingly still have a difficult time convincing myself to stop using my phone. This dilemma occurs quite frequently among students, and I believe it attests to our fear of social isolation from easily-accessible smartphone media as well as our unproductive dependency on technology. Personally, the only way to achieve maximum productivity in my learning process is to stop attempting to multitask, and this is an issue that I will definitely strive to improve in the years to come.