Multitasking Could Be Bad For Your Brain

When the weekend comes, my wonderful wife prides herself on her ability to multitask and get things done. She needs to hear this. You do, too. Getting lots of things done at the same time may feel productive, but neuroscience is warning it could be bad for your brain.

Earl Miller, a neuroscientist with M.I.T., wrote an article for Fortune magazine that explains that many think we perceive the world as we would looking through a wide-angle lens, but in reality our eyes dart around and make small movements as they scan for information, with a small patch of sharp focus in the center. When the information reaches the brain's visual cortex, the snippets of sharp focus images are knitted together with the brain filling in the gaps to create seamless information.

The Daily Mail reports that the same is true for multitasking. When we toggle between tasks, the process often feels seamless, but in reality, it requires a series of small shifts. Neuroscientists say for example, if you stop focusing on writing to switch to listening, and then go back to writing, the brain has to use more energy to focus and get back in the flow. So in truth, multitasking actually wastes time and increases the chance of making mistakes.