Lifestyle

Trying To Do Too Much?

Alexis Jetter

Lisa Maxwell, 31, a fitness trainer and mother of three from Cookeville, Tennessee, considers herself a master multitasker. She routinely answers her children's homework questions while running on a treadmill, and she drills her kids on spelling from a list she reads while driving them to school. Of course, there is the occasional mess-up: Last summer, she was cooking, cleaning, and helping her kids with their science projects when she noticed the house smelled funny. "We had guests coming, so I'd sprayed what I thought was room deodoriser," she says with a rueful laugh. "I'd done half the house before I realised it was Pledge (a furniture cleaner)."

Most of us can relate. In fact, multitasking -- starting one task before finishing another, a kind of warp-speed juggling -- feels like the only way to power through our to-do list these days. But are we really getting more done? And at what cost?

If you're reading this while doing something else, stop for a second. Because new studies are proving that the old adage is true: You really can't do two things at once -- at least not well. And the research also shows something most of us would never suspect: If you multitask relentlessly, you can jeopardise your health in ways both large and small.

The idea of multitasking comes from computers, which appear to perform many functions at the same time. But the analogy is misleading. Most computers flip back and forth between tasks -- and your brain operates in much the same way. It is literally impossible to pay conscious attention to more than one thing at once, notes Dr. Hallowell, a former Harvard Medical School instructor. So "you end up paying conscious attention to several tasks in rapid succession," he explains.

But switching between tasks wastes precious time because the brain is compelled to restart and refocus. "Each time you have this alternation, there's a period in which you'll make no progress on either task," says David Meyer, Ph.D., director of the Brain, Cognition, and Action Lab at the University of Michigan. "It's mental dead time." The result: It takes longer to finish any one chore, and you don't do it nearly as well as you would had you given it your full attention.

Good stress, bad stress
Multitasking, almost by definition, involves stress -- which means the brain signals the body to begin the rapid-fire release of the fight-or-flight hormone cortisol. Of course, stress is not always a bad thing. You need your brain's stress response to help you perform well under pressure, says Esther Sternberg, M.D., author of The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions, and a leading researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health. It's what gets you out of danger or past that deadline. But if you multitask continually, Dr. Sternberg warns, "your brain and your body don't have time to recover from that rush of cortisol. And that can make you sick."

Here's why: Cortisol is also the body's most potent anti-inflammatory drug. And if too much of it is pumped out continuously, "your immune cells are not going to be able to fight infection when they need to," explains Dr. Sternberg. Cortisol overload, she adds, can contribute to serious medical problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

And that's not all: Over time, say experts, stress can kill neurons in precisely the area of the brain that multitaskers rely on: the prefrontal cortex, which helps you switch between tasks and stores key memories.

Finally, the stress of multitasking may also impair your ability to concentrate. "We've so trained ourselves to be ready for interruption that we're not paying attention to anything," Dr. Hallowell maintains. "The two things that people think they have these days -- but don't -- are attention deficit disorder (ADD) and Alzheimer's disease. They're just overloaded from a severe case of modern life."

Cell-phone peril
Multitasking behind the wheel is a very risky business. Last year, researchers at the University of Utah reported that attempting to navigate traffic while talking on a cell phone increases the chance of an accident 500 percent-making it at least as great a risk as driving drunk. While talking on a cell phone, the drivers in the study failed to notice even life-or-death cues such as red lights up ahead. And drivers who used a hands-free phone fared no better. That's because the problem isn't physical dexterity -- it's focus. In the human mind, what you're thinking about takes precedence over what you're actually seeing or doing.

A distraction is to blame for nearly 80 percent of all traffic accidents, according to another recent study, this one sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And cell phones were the main culprit. (However, talking to a passenger while driving isn't nearly as risky, the Utah study's authors say, because passengers are likely to notice a change in the roadway and stop talking or call the driver's attention to it.)

So much for driving and cell phoning. But reality check: Is it ever OK to multitask? Actually, yes -- when one of the tasks is so routine, you don't need to concentrate on it at all.

Mind over matter
The control centre of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, can handle just one new thing at a time, explains Jordan Grafman, Ph.D., chief of the cognitive neuroscience section of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. But as tasks become more familiar, their operating instructions move deeper into the brain. There, the basal ganglia-islands of nuclei responsible for movement -- handle activities that require almost no thought. So, for example, "when you're walking and talking," says Grafman, "the basal ganglia does the walking, while the frontal cortex does the talking."

Another way to look at it: You can combine tasks that use different sensory channels in your brain. It's tough to send an e-mail and carry on a phone conversation (not that many of us don't try). But it's pretty easy to fold clothes while listening to the weather report on the radio -- unless, that is, a winter storm warning is announced. As you visualise the coming storm, your mental imagery and actual eye movements will struggle for dominance -- and your mind will always win. Soon you'll begin putting mismatched socks together.

Young vs. old
By now you may be wondering: Aren't there exceptions to these rules? For example, aren't young people, with their agile minds, better equipped to multitask than the rest of us? "I'm not comfortable unless I have seven windows open on my desktop," declares Hillary Miller, 26, a playwright and teacher in Brooklyn. Online, she'll read a script, check e-mail, scan a newspaper, and shop for leather-free handbags-pretty much at the same time. But Miller admits she's not really concentrating on anything: "I have no focus. It's just a compulsion."

Young people can switch more quickly between tasks, confirms Jordan Grafman, because they've grown up with the new technology and trained themselves to use it. "But," he adds, "that makes them even more prone to sacrifice quality." Says David Meyer: "The brain is wired in ways that impose limitations. Nobody -- no kid, CEO, or world-class athlete -- can overcome that."

Turn off, reboot
So how do you get more done without multitasking -- or at least without multitasking to excess? Preparation is one answer. Reflecting on the day ahead helps prime the mind, enabling it to rehearse the tasks it has performed before, says Grafman. Prioritise what must get done, and then make a schedule rather than a to-do list, advises Dr. Hallowell.

Discipline is also part of the mix. When you're working, he says, train yourself to deflect distractions, whether it's the ding of the e-mail in your in-box (check it when you're done, or turn off the sound), the start of a favourite TV show (record it for later), or the ring of the phone (let the answering machine pick up).

Most important, spend some part of each day clearing your mind. Meditate, take a walk, exercise, stare into space. The key is to wipe the mental slate clean, giving those overtaxed neurons a chance to recoup. This can yield unexpected benefits: As Dutch researchers recently reported in the journal Science, the unconscious mind is often a better problem-solver than the focused one.

Dr. Sternberg suggests you think about the original multitasking model: the computer. Trying to do too many things at once is like sending e-mail spam to your brain. When that onslaught freezes the computer, the only fix is to turn it off and reboot. Dr. Sternberg believes you should show the same compassion for your human hard drive. "You're pushing your brain beyond its capacity," she says. "You wouldn't do that to your car or your computer. But you do it to yourself all the time. Stop and take a break."

Source: MSN.com

Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2007