How multitasking affects the brain

According to Ashish Kothari, founder and CEO of Happiness Squad, people are constantly multitasking.

"Today, more and more people are doing multiple things at the same time, double- and triple-booked on meetings," Kothari said. While that may give the appearance and feeling of productivity, multitasking characterized by constant "context switching" can be detrimental without breaks.

"Toxic multitasking is the illusion of productivity," said Sandi Chapman, chief director at the Center for BrainHealth and a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Dallas. "Multitasking is often seen as a sign of high productivity. Unfortunately, your brain experiences it as a performance bottleneck. We think we're getting two complex things done at once, but our brains simply aren't wired for it."

"When you switch between tasks, your brain doesn't instantly reset," Chapman added. "It burns through your mental energy. Your brain works harder and produces less." Chapman compared multitasking to trying to read two books at the same time. "You don't absorb twice as much information from reading both at the same time. Instead, you simply keep losing your place in both," she said.

Some research has found that people can't actually do two tasks at the same time, even with a lot of practice. Rather than doing two tasks simultaneously, the brain just quickly switches between each task, which can slow performance and increase mistakes.

In one study published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology earlier this year, researchers asked volunteers to complete two tasks at the same time. They had to use their right hand to report the size of a circle briefly shown on a screen while also saying whether a sound played at the same time was high, medium, or low. This test was repeated for up to 12 days.

With practice, the participants became faster and made fewer mistakes, but the brain wasn't handling two tasks at the same time.

"This phenomenon, known as virtually perfect time sharing, has long been considered evidence of true parallel processing in the brain and proof that our brain is capable of unlimited multitasking. The results of our study clearly contradict this assumption," said Torsten Schubert, lead author on the study and a psychologist at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg.

The researchers also found that even a small change in the task slowed people down and made them more likely to make a mistake.

"Our brain is very adept at sequencing processes so that they no longer interfere with each other; however, this optimization has its limits," Schubert said.

Other research has suggested that multitasking can lead to memory problems, including trouble remembering information over the long term.

The desire to multitask often continues outside of business hours into our nonwork time. "We're on phones all the time," Kothari said. "We might be watching TV and doing something else. As a result our sleep is affected and, combined, creates a heavy toxic effect on our holistic well-being, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually."

Digital multitasking, such as watching TV while also scrolling on your phone, has an especially negative effect on our attention and our ability to multitask. "These types of inputs actually reduce your ability to handle multiple inputs at once," said Kay Linker, a neuroscientist.

Linker also distinguished between good and bad multitasking, noting that multitasking can be beneficial when used properly.

"Once a task becomes automatic, it is transferred to a different part of the brain, allowing for parallel processing," Linker said. Examples include listening to a podcast or audiobook while taking a walk or calling a friend while commuting to work, rather than what Linker refers to as "task switching, which drains your control and focus."

How to know if you have a toxic multitasking habit

Since toxic multitasking has become so normalized in American culture, you might not even be aware of how much you're doing it, but there are clear signs it's a problem.

"Usually, the first symptom of toxic multitasking is emotional strain," Chapman said. "If a quick question from a co-worker makes you want to snap, that's often a sign that your brain is overwhelmed from constant distractions or overload."

Kothari recommends asking yourself three questions to determine if you have a toxic multitasking habit:

1. Do you know how often you pick up your phone? Counting the number of times you grab your phone during the day can provide a data point to quantify your digital multitasking habit. "Most people pick their phone up over 150 times a day," Kothari said. "It's a clear indicator that we have lost our ability to focus."
2. Are you addicted to dopamine? To figure this out, set a timer and sit quietly while doing nothing. This will tell you how long you can go without being distracted.
3. Is your wearable device showing that you're stressed? "If you wear an Oura ring or another wearable, look at the amount of time you spent in a high-stress zone," Kothari said.

How to break your habit

If you have a toxic multitasking habit and want to break it, experts recommend a few strategies:

• Meditation. Kothari said that meditation and other mindfulness practices are "foundational" to increasing our focus and ability to stay in the moment.
• Practice single-tasking. Linker recommended engaging in just one task like writing or reading for a sustained period of at least an hour to improve your attention span.
• Design your environment to help you focus. Silence your notifications, close any unnecessary browser windows, and keep your phone out of sight to help you focus. "Keeping a scratch pad on your desk lets you quickly log random errands or stray thoughts on paper without interrupting your workflow," Chapman said.
• Use technology that can cut off digital multitasking. To avoid using your phone too much, Kothari recommends the Brick device. "It's a tile that you can use to turn off all apps or even access to your phone completely," she said.
• Change office norms to encourage deep work. In work environments where multitasking makes work difficult or impossible, Kothari said you should "set norms for focused, deep work time where all of your notifications are off and your colleagues commit to not disturbing you."