We all do it. We are all constantly doing more than one thing at a time. And we are all arrogant enough to think that multi-tasking makes us more productive.

The State of California had to make texting and driving illegal to prevent us from multi-tasking behind the wheel, bc texting and driving does not make you more productive. It makes you dead. And the research linked here  suggests we shouldn’t be doing it at our desks either.

Nobody dies if  we check Facebook while trying to finish a paper. But that paper won’t get done.  As the article suggests, chewing gum and checking facebook = ok. Chewing gum and writing the intro for a new paper = ok. Checking Facebook and finishing that paper = not ok. We can use different parts of our brain at the same time and not lose focus – but when the same part of the brain competes for different tasks, we’re just procrastinating.

I am up for the challenge, and am logging off FB, twitter and email for a couple of hours a day. Who’s with me?