While adding this month's Consumer Report on Health issue, I went through some older copies and ran across this little blurb. I think it is worth sharing here - because many of us are easily snagged by the Multitasking myth. Truth is, you get more done my doing what you have in front of you, then finishing it, putting it away and going to the next task.
"Researches at the University of Michigan and the Federal Aviation Administration have found that working on several tasks at the same time can take two to four times longer than if you try tackling them one after the other. (emphasis mine)
Brain-scan studies help explain why: When you try to do two or more things at once, your brain constantly switches back and forth between the tasks , a less efficient use of your neurons. Sleep loss, stress, and mood disorders can worsen the problem. So fight the urge to multitask and try to do just one thing at a time."
(From Consumer Reports on Health, Volume 20, Number 3 (March 2008)
Or, for those of you who love MASH as much as I do - "I do one thing at a time, I do it very well, and then I move on. . ." -Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, MD. (episode Fade out, Fade in)
