The Epidemic of Busyness I. Introduction A. Exclamatory Sentence Henry David Thoreau once said, “It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?” This questions has become even more relevant in today’s society, people wear busyness like it is a badge of honor. B. Focal Sentences 1. Friends run into each other in the grocery store parking lot, “How have you been?”, one asks, “Busy” her friend replies, “So busy!”. Two co-workers meet for a drink after work, when one begins lamenting over the recent demands of life, “There just is not enough of me to go around.” he says, as his friend nods in understanding. 2. And yet, in spite of the fact that they each sound overwhelmed …show more content…
Job security was high and families bought houses and settled in neighborhoods where they lived for years. Life maintained a stability and continuity that has since been lost. Example 1: Perhaps as early as the 1980’s and definitely in the 1990’s multi-tasking became a desired qualification in employees. With production costs increasing it became necessary for employees to do more in less time and for less pay, a scenario that appealed more to the younger, up and coming generation than to their older predecessors. This eventually resulted in older employees finding themselves without a job, even after years of dedicated service. Analysis 2 For many in the workforce today multi-tasking and busyness have become the norm and the only work environment many employees have ever known. Example 2: It is not uncommon for individuals to work an average of forty-five to fifty hours a week, and many works even more. These demands are not limited by the level of education or income, with doctors working some of the longest hours of any other profession. Analysis …show more content…
They buy houses they do little more than sleep in and things that were once common, like sharing meals together, are now reserved for the weekend or for special occasions. Transition Sentence: Consequently all of this “busyness” is beginning to take its toll. While Mr. Jones may think he is accomplishing more in less time, he is ultimately living less, as the average life expectancy is beginning to decline. IV. Analysis of Effect of Cause 1 and 2 A. Topic Sentence With the increase in responsibility and longer work week, the health of society is suffering. Diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure are diagnosed every day, and it has been suggested that some cancers are a direct result of an increase in stress. Death certificates may list other reasons as the “cause of death”, but the underlying reason for many is busyness. B. Analysis 1 In the early part of the twentieth-century families ate at least one meal together. Most mothers were in the home and meals were prepared using produce they often grew themselves, but this is a rare occurrence for most families
After the end of World War II, the United States went through many changes. Most of the changes were for the better, but some had an adverse effect on certain population centers. Many programs, agencies and policies were created to transform American society and government. One of the greatest transformations to American society was the mass migration of families from the inner cities to the suburbs. This was thought to make for a better quality of life and a stronger nuclear family.
Therefore, prolonged stress included adverse psychological and physical health effects as well as the increased risk of premature death (Denollet, J., et al.
In the article, “Multitasking Can Make You Lose…Um…Focus,” Alina Tugend centralizes around the negative effects of multitasking. She shows that often with multitasking, people tend to lose focus, lack work quality, have an increase in stress, and in the end she gives a solution to all these problems. Tugend conveys her points by using understandable language, a clear division of subjects, and many reliable sources, making her article cogent.
Multitasking, a practice used by many people to complete multiple tasks at once, seems beneficial to the user, but recent research shows that this practice causes more distractions. Alexandra Samuel argues in her essay, “‘Plug in Better’: A Manifesto”, that by getting rid of all of the distractions caused by multitasking, the time spent on the computer can be used more efficiently. As businesses in today’s world are using computers to help employees be more efficient in the workplace, each worker should only have to handle one task at a time to maximize their efficiency. Richard Restak argues in his essay, “Attetion Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era,” that by not diverting a person’s attention to multiple activities at once, such person
Technological advancement has come with a price—our focus. Maggie Jackson in her article “A Nation Distracted” explains that technology has promoted a culture of distraction in America. First, the author explains that technology is causing us to engage in more multitasking, which leads to more time spent on completing our tasks. Second, the author notes that studies show that youth and children are adept at using technology, but are deficient in their critical thinking skills, and properly investigating and using the internet. I feel that the author makes an important point when discusses technology is leading to widespread distraction in our society. However I feel that mindfulness might be a way to address this issue because allows us
Today we live in a society where everything is seconds away from us. With the advances and affordability of quality technology, you would be hard pressed to find someone without a smartphone, laptop, or tablet, possibly all at the same time. Because of the accessibility we find that, in our tech-savvy culture, multitasking has not just become an art form of sorts, but rather an expectation. In the article “Multitasking Can Make You Lose…Um…Focus,” Alina Tugend sets out to explore the idea that although multitasking appears to show productivity, it could be doing the opposite. Throughout her article, Tugend uses studies done by neurologists and psychologists to show how in a world that sees multitasking as an expectation it has actually made us less efficient. She proposes, through studies, that although you might be working on multiple tasks it is as if you’re playing tennis with multiple balls (Tugend, 725).
Smith, J. (2013, 6 20). How To Avoid Distraction in The Workplace. Forbes.Com. Retrieved November 28, 2014, from
Today, multitasking is everywhere, and is very huge in many situations. We are guilty of, multitasking and how it has become a negative and positive impact on our lives. Nowadays, people prefer to divide people in two groups; people who masters can multitask, and those who cannot. Almost everyone place themselves in the former group, thereafter they put the rest of the people in the latter. I personally find myself multitassking many things at once, and never pay attention to it. I believe that doing more than one thing is okay. In order to get things done faster multitasking seems like the answer to the question. In Tugend’s essay, she uses certain techniques that caught the reader’s attention, stating this as “you are reading this article, are you listening to music or the radio, Yelling at your children? Checking emails”? Of course, the reader was expected to read the essay. By persuading them to believe that, what she was saying was true.
rural lifestyle and moving to cities where they could find work, but lived substandard lives.
Most people believe that they can successfully multitask. Everyday someone around the world is currently trying to do work while watching their favorite television program, writing a paper and checking up on their friend’s status updates online, or simply having a phone conversation with a loved one while reading the news. Completing these actions together are thought to be time saving yet some recent studies have indicated that when people multitask and divide their attention to completing two or more tasks at the same time they are actually being less productive. Rather than performing one single action as a time, multitasking some actions are actually taking up more time than needed. Although it is probably true that doing more than one
Long working hours continue to be one of the largest health concerns in the world. Currently, the world population has become so busy due to the pressure from harsh economic conditions. People are therefore spending long working hours in the workplace, which is an aspect that has negative impact on their health conditions. Statistics from Working Condition Survey indicates that approximately 30% of workers residing in European Union believe that their health is at risk due to the hours they spent in the workplace (Gurung, 2010:16)
Workaholics – people, who have a compulsive and unrelenting need to work (www.dictionary.com) – appear more and more among the working people of United States and other developed countries. At first glance, workaholics do not seem to be such a problem for industry and society as a whole. But in spite of all devotion to their work the workaholic will not be as valuable as a normal worker. Workaholics do not think about anything else except work that can cause severe health problems and can cause problems on their work. All that causes a reduction of economic profit for the company.
Multitasking is something we all do. With lack of time and needing to get things done fast we often find ourselves doing more than one task at a time. As a college student I find myself multitasking a lot more than I’d like to admit, but it has become such a hard habit to break. Multitasking can often make us feel more productive, but it may not be as efficient as we would like to believe. Multitasking may be causing us more stress, it can be dangerous and cause us problems, and it may cause us to waste more time than we realize and cause us to produce low quality work.
About some years ago the average workweek was approximately 70 hours. This has gradually been reduced to a 40 hours in developed countries. This could become the reality due to mechanization and automation.
In Today’s world, the composition and how work is done has massively changed and is still continuing to change. Work is now more complex, more team base, depends greatly on technological and social skills and lastly more mobile and does not depend on geography. Companies are also opting for ways to help their employees perform their duties effectively so that huge profits are realized in the long term .The changes in the workplaces include Reduction in the structure of the hierarchy ,breakdown in the organization boundaries , improved and better management tactics and perspectives and lastly better workplace condition and health to the employees. (Frank Ackerman, Neva R. Goodwin, Laurie Dougherty, Kevin Gallagher, 2001)