新研究：真正的精英從來不同時做多件事
You may have heard that multitasking is bad for you, but new studies show that it kills your performance and may even damage your brain.
你或許聽說過同時做多項任務的害處，不過有新的研究表明，同時處理多項任務不僅會影響你的表現，甚至還會對大腦造成損傷。
Research conducted at Stanford University found that multitasking is less productive than doing a single thing at a time. The researchers found that people who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information cannot pay attention, recall information, or switch from one job to another as well as those who complete one task at a time.
斯坦福大學的一項研究發現，同時處理多項任務比一次只做一件事的效率低。 研究人員發現，經常被多條電子信息轟炸的人無法像一次只處理一項任務的人一樣集中精力、從大腦中調取信息或者從一個任務轉換到另一個任務。
1. A Special Skill?
這是一個特殊技能？
But what if some people have a special gift for multitasking? The Stanford researchers compared groups of people found that heavy multitaskers—those who multitask a lot and feel that it boosts their performance—were actually worse at multitasking than those who like to do a single thing at a time. The frequent multitaskers performed worse because they had more trouble organizing their thoughts and filtering out irrelevant information, and they were slower at switching from one task to another.
但是如果有人擁有能同時處理多項任務的天賦呢？ 斯坦福大學的研究人員做了一個對比研究。 他們發現，特別喜歡同時處理多項任務且感覺這樣做效果特別好的人實際上比一次專注於一項任務的人更不擅於多任務處理，因爲他們更難理清自己的思路、過濾掉不必要的信息，而且他們從一項任務轉換到另一項任務的速度也很慢。
Multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully.
多任務處理是效率和表現的殺手，因爲大腦一次只能關注一件事。你想同時做兩件事，可是大腦又缺乏同時成功完成兩項任務的能力。
2. Multitasking Lowers IQ
多任務處理降低智商
Research also shows that, in addition to slowing you down, multitasking lowers your IQ. A study at the University of London found that participants who multitasked during cognitive tasks experienced IQ score declines that were similar to what they’d expect if they had smoked marijuana or stayed up all night. IQ drops of 15 points for multitasking men lowered their scores to the average range of an 8-year-old child.
研究還表明，多任務處理不僅減緩你的速度，還會降低你的智商。 倫敦大學的一項研究發現，在認知任務中採用多任務處理方法的參與者智商有所下降，下降程度與吸食大麻或通宵未眠的情況相似。 多任務處理使這些人的智商下降15個點，與8歲小孩的智商平均值相似。
3. Brain Damage From Multitasking?
多任務處理會損傷大腦？
It was long believed that cognitive impairment from multitasking was temporary, but new research suggests otherwise. Researchers at the University of Sussex in the UK compared the amount of time people spend on multiple devices (such as texting while watching TV) to MRI scans of their brains. They found that high multitaskers had less brain density in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region responsible for empathy as well as cognitive and emotional control.
一直以來，人們都認爲多任務處理導致的認知障礙是暫時的，但一項新的研究卻給出了不同的答案。英國蘇塞克斯大學的研究員對比了人們在多個設備上花費的時間（比如，在看電視的同時發短信）並對他們的大腦進行核磁共振掃描。他們發現，重讀多任務處理者前扣帶皮層的腦密度較小，前扣帶皮層是控制同情心、認知和情緒的區域。
While more research is needed to determine if multitasking is physically damaging the brain , it’s clear that multitasking has negative effects.
雖然仍需更多的研究來確定多任務處理是否會對大腦造成生理損害，但它的負面影響已經不言而喻。
Neuroscientist Kep Kee Loh, the study’s lead author, explained the implications:
這項研究的第一作者，神經科學家Kep Kee Loh認爲：
“I feel that it is important to create an awareness that the way we are interacting with the devices might be changing the way we think and these changes might be occurring at the level of brain structure.”
“重要的是我們應該建立一種意識，即我們與設備交互的方式可能會改變我們的思維方式，而這些變化很可能發生在大腦結構層面。”
4. The EQ Connection
與情商息息相關
Multitasking in meetings and other social settings indicates low Self- and Social Awareness, two emotional intelligence (EQ) skills that are critical to success at work. TalentSmart has tested more than a million people and found that 90% of top performers have high EQs. If multitasking does indeed damage the anterior cingulate cortex (a key brain region for EQ) as current research suggests, doing so will lower your EQ while it alienates your coworkers.
在會議和其他社交場合中進行多任務處理是自我意識和社會意識低下的表現，這兩種情商技能都對工作能否成功至關重要。 TalentSmart已經對超過一百萬人進行了測試，發現90％的表現出色的人情商都很高。 就目前的研究來說，如果多任務處理確實會傷害前扣帶皮質（對於情商非常重要的大腦區域），那麼經常這樣做就會降低你的情商，使你和同事們越走越遠。
