Our brain is simply not wired for multitasking; it’s wired to focus on one thing. We are not wired to do two independent things that require conscious thought especially when they involve different goals. Multitasking limits the kinds of information the brain can process and actually changes brain activity.
When we focus on more than one activity at a time, there is a 20-30% loss in the total time it takes to complete two separate things. It ends up taking longer to do those separate things while multitasking than it would if we focused on them one at a time. We pay the price of wasting our precious time and having the quality of our work decrease.
I just read a fascinating article about how multitasking is a way for the brain to seek novelty. It becomes an addiction and and craving and when it starts to lack, our dopamine levels drop and we crave more, thus our productivity suffers as a result. I wrote about this in my blog and linked to the article. http://thisthatotherthing.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/multitasking-is-the-brain-seeking-novelty/
Richard, thanks for sharing!