Texting While Running Can Hurt You Mentally
SpryFeet.com’s “Alert and Alive” pledge campaign was launched a little over a month ago to urge runners and walkers to use their cellphones safely on the road or trail.
The focus of the campaign is on physical safety for the runner or walker.
But I have found another safety reason not to talk, text, or surf while running or walking.
That second reason is mental safety for the runner or walker.
GigaOM last week posted the following video of an interview with Clifford Nass, Ph.D., a professor at Stanford University who last month released a book about what machines teach us about human relationships.
Some quotable statements by Dr. Nass in the interview include:
- “Multitasking seems to be very bad for the brain, not just while you are doing it, but there are lingering, long-term effects.”
- “People who multitask chronically — people who multitask all the time — seem to be less able to distinguish relevant from irrelevant information.”
- “We can’t handle the problem of ‘more’ by doing many things simultaneously.”
- “Our brains are built, sadly, to not handle multiple streams coming in at once, so I’m going to have to make hard choices.”
- “Do not have something that every time you get a text or a phone call or whatever, it goes gling-gling-gling-gling.”
So texting (or talking or surfing) on a cellphone while running (or walking) can hurt you not only physically but also mentally. And trying to get better at it will only hurt your brain more. Sorry, but those are the research results!
If you are a runner or walker, then here are my three recommendations to protect your brain:
- Read my book Mental Tricks for Endurance Runners and Walkers.
- Read the book The Man Who Lied to His Laptop by Dr. Nass.
- Take SpryFeet.com’s “Alert and Alive” pledge.
Has multitasking hurt you mentally? Leave a comment here. Thanks!
