You’ve probably heard of Attention Deficit Disorder
Well I think many students have another condition that is wider spread and worse than ADD.
Are you ready for this one?
Partial Attention Disorder
In my 5 years as a teaching assistant and university tutor I’ve seen all manner of study problems. From over studying and writing more notes than the text book has pages to notes written on napkins!
However, in my work the most common mistake I see in students study skills is a lack of adequate concentration on a single task, otherwise known as the dreaded multitasking monster or what I lovingly call ‘partial attention disorder’
Why is PPA so pervasive?
The main reason why PPA is so pervasive is because many students see multitasking as an advantage. Nothing could be farther from the truth. For some reason, society sees the ability to perform multiple tasks badly an advantage over performing a single task properly. If you check out Tim Ferriss’ blog he has an excellent post on multitasking and shows that ‘multitaskers’ get less accomplished than pot smokers… I’m not kidding! I’m not condoning pot smoking as a study tool but this should show you how horrible multitasking can effect your concentration.