Is Multitasking Bad for Your Health?

With spring upon us and back-to-school regimens already in gear, it is not uncommon for the need to multitask to get yourself through a busy day. But a distracted lifestyle can hurt your personal relationships and reduce your productivity.

What are you doing right now? Reading this article and what else? Sending a text message, driving your car (hopefully not), changing the radio station, helping your son with his math homework? All of the above?

Many people today take pride in multitasking, or engaging in several activities at the same time. The truth is you don’t need to fill every waking moment with activities to be successful. You will probably get more done, do it better, enjoy it more—and live longer—if you don’t.

When you continually shift your attention from one task to another, you are more likely to make a mistake and less likely to retain information. The distracted mind is not fully engaged long enough in any one task to master it, or in any one interaction to savor it.

Your personal relationships suffer. Who wants to have dinner with someone who is constantly checking his or her phone for email? What’s more, distracted living may actually hinder your health. When you are constantly distracted, your brain moves too rapidly from one topic to the next, sending electrical signals throughout your body. This constant excitatory response may disrupt our bodies as well as our minds, stressing all our systems from digestion to circulation.

Pay Attention!

The solution is simple. Train your mind to pay attention to one thing at a time. Master mindfulness with these simple tips.

Turn off the distractions around you, such as your cell phone.

Learn to prioritize so you have time to engage in one activity at a time.

Determine when you are most productive (i.e., morning, afternoon or evening) and attend to your most difficult tasks at that time.

Be mindful of those around you. Give them your full attention.

Learning to avoid a multitasking life will improve your health, your relationships and your work.

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