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QATAR TRIBUNE Publication Wednesday Marion Cotillard just the right person for the role of 18.05.2016 Gabrielle in Mal de Pierres ... Hollywood Pitfalls of multitasking COVER PGSTORY 2&3 02 Wednesday, May 18, 2016 COVER STORY Too distracted? Try monotasking NYT SYNDICATE TOP what you’re doing. Well, keep reading. Just stop everything else that you’re doing. Mute your music. Turn off Syour television. Ignore that text mes- sage. While you’re at it, put your phone away entirely. (Unless you’re reading this on your phone. In which case, don’t.) Just read. You are now monotask- ing. Maybe this doesn’t feel like a big deal. Doing one thing at a time isn’t a new idea. Indeed, multitasking, that bulwark of anaemic resumes everywhere, has come under fire in recent years. A 2014 study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that interruptions as brief as 2 to 3 seconds — less than the amount of time it would take you to toggle from this article to your email and back again — were enough to dou- ble the number of errors participants made in an assigned task. Earlier research out of Stanford University revealed that self-identified “high media multitaskers” are actually more easily distracted than those who limit their time toggling. So, in layman’s terms, by doing more you’re getting less done. But monotasking, also referred to as 4\S[P[HZRPUN[OH[I\S^HYRVMHUHLTPJYLZ\TLZL]LY`^OLYLOHZJVTL single-tasking or unitasking, isn’t just about getting things done. \UKLYÄYLPUYLJLU[`LHYZ(Z[\K`PU[OL1V\YUHSVM,_WLYPTLU[HS Not the same as mindfulness, which focuses on emotional awareness, 7Z`JOVSVN`MV\UK[OH[PU[LYY\W[PVUZHZIYPLMHZ[VZLJVUKZ·SLZZ monotasking is a 21st-century term for [OHU[OLHTV\U[VM[PTLP[^V\SK[HRL`V\[V[VNNSLMYVT[OPZHY[PJSL[V what your high school English teacher probably just called “paying attention.” `V\YLTHPSHUKIHJRHNHPU·^LYLLUV\NO[VKV\ISL[OLU\TILYVMLY “It’s a digital literacy skill,” said Manoush Zomorodi, host and manag- YVYZWHY[PJPWHU[ZTHKLPUHUHZZPNULK[HZR ing editor of WNYC Studios’ “Note to Self” podcast, which recently offered an interactive series called Infomagical, 03 COVER STORY Wednesday, May 18, 2016 addressing information overload. “Our gadgets and all the things we look at on them are designed to not let us single- task.” Zomorodi prefers the term “single- tasking”: “‘Monotasking’ seemed boring to me. It sounds like ‘monotonous.’” Kelly McGonigal, author of The Will- power Instinct, believes that monotask- ing is “something that needs to be practiced.” She said, “It’s an important ability and a form of self-awareness as opposed to a cognitive limitation.” This is great news for the self-identi- fied monotaskers out there. “When I was looking for jobs and interviewing, they’d always want me to say, ‘I’m a great multitasker,’” said Jon Pack, a 42-year-old photographer in Brooklyn. “And I wouldn’t. My inability to multitask was seen as a negative. Now I can just say, ‘I am a monotask- er.’” And the way we work can have ef- fects that kick in long after we clock out. As much as people would like to believe otherwise, humans have finite As much as people would like to believe otherwise, humans have finite neural resources that are depleted every time we switch between tasks, neural resources that are depleted every which can happen upward of 400 times a day. time we switch between tasks, which, especially for those who work online, them done in just a few days.” Zomorodi said, can happen upward of Transcontinental trips aside, Zo- 400 times a day, according to a 2016 morodi stressed that it was important study at the University of California, to find ways to practice. “Start by giv- Irvine. “That’s why you feel tired at the ing yourself just one morning a week end of the day,” she said. to check in and remind yourself what it A good sign you’ve task-switched feels like to do one thing at a time,” she yourself into a stupor: mindlessly said. scrolling Facebook at the end of the Pandolfi and Phelan use exercise night or, as in Zomorodi’s case, looking to aid them. “If I need to get through a at couches on Pinterest. “The sad thing big project and don’t want to get dis- is that I don’t get any closer to deciding tracted by my inbox and the minutiae of which one I like,” she said. the Web, I hop on the treadmill desk,” But monotasking can also make Pandolfi said. Phelan makes a point of work itself more enjoyable. running outside, weekly. “I can multitask — and do, of course; Monotasking can also be as simple it’s kind of essential — but I prefer to as having a conversation. do one thing at a time,” Hayley Phelan, “Practice how you listen to people,” a 28-year-old writer, wrote in an email. McGonigal said. “Put down anything “If I keep looking at my phone or my that’s in your hands and turn all of your inbox or various websites, working feels attentional channels to the person who a lot more torturous. When I’m focused is talking. You should be looking at and making progress, work is actually them, listening to them, and your body pleasurable.” should be turned to them. “ Phelan isn’t imagining things. So is monotasking a movement? “Almost any experience is improved by “It’s not there yet,” Zomorodi said. “But paying full attention to it,” McGonigal Monotasking can also be as simple as having a conversation – put down anything that’s in your hands I think it will be.” said. “Attention is one way your brain and turn all of your attentional channels to the person who is talking. If enough people pay attention to it, decides: ‘Is this interesting? Is this that is. worthwhile?’” two people who are in conversation,” can: conversations with your children, It’s the reason television shows we she said. reading a book in bed before going to tweet through feel tiresome and books Twenty-five thousand people par- sleep, dinner or drinks with friends. we pick up and put down and pick up ticipated in Zomorodi’s Infomagical Even those with more flexibility can again never seem to end. The more we project, which started with a single- find themselves going to great lengths allow ourselves to be distracted from a tasking challenge. Upon completion, for a little bit of focus. Nick Pandolfi, particular activity, the more we feel the respondents agreed overwhelmingly who works at Google, once travelled to need to be distracted. Paying attention that single-tasking was the No 1 thing Sweden in what he called an “extreme” pays dividends. they wanted to carry into their post- effort to monotask. This is why, according to McGo- Infomagical lives. “I had to write my business school nigal, the ability to monotask may be Parents of young children found application essays, and I was having no most valuable in social situations. “Re- it difficult for obvious reasons, as did luck spending an hour here and there,” search shows that just having a phone people with jobs that permit them less Pandolfi said. “I just wasn’t inspired. on the table is sufficiently distracting to control over their time. In those cases, After spending a few days hiking in the reduce empathy and rapport between try monotasking in areas where you Arctic by myself, I was able to get all of 04 Wednesday, May 18, 2016 Starbucks Opportunity Café puts young people in the region on the road to success TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK Business Development Director Rania Nseir. “At Bayt.com, our mission is to TARBUCKS, in collaboration empower people with the tools and in- with Bayt.com and Education formation to lead their lifestyle of choice, For Employment (EFE), has and it was great to be able to give attend- concluded their Opportunity ees insight about the job-market reality.” Café initiative. This is said to EFE-Global Partnerships & Strat- Sbe the largest professional training work- egy Vice-President Jasmine Nahhas di shop on CV writing and interview skills Florio added: “EFE remains dedicated to in the Middle East and North Africa improving the lives of youth across the (MENA). The workshop that took place MENA region by providing them with in April at 29 Starbucks stores across 10 the necessary skills and opportunities MENA countries and involved 35 profes- that will help them become productive, sional trainers from Bayt.com, Starbucks sessions. we operate in,” said Starbucks MENA successful members of society. Partner- MENA region Starbucks franchise opera- “Being able to touch the lives of hun- Regional Communications and CSR ing with Starbucks enabled us to reach tor MH Alshaya, EFE, and 177 dedicated dreds of youth and helping them further Manager Rana Shaheen. hundreds of youth in a novel context, Starbucks employees. Collectively, Op- their careers is a truly rewarding feeling. “We greatly enjoyed meeting so many enabling them to take advantage of the portunity Café trained 900 people aged Starbucks remains committed to mak- wonderful people and helping them with Opportunity Café to further their ambi- between 16 and 35 through 116 training ing a difference in the local communities their careers and CVs,” said Bayt.com tions and careers.” Say ‘Thank you’: Father’s Day suggestions ATHER’S Day celebrates the im- portance of fathers. Here are gift Fsuggestions to show them your appreciation: The camel coloured suede leather jacket comes in adult and kid versions for matching father/son look.

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