I have always been proud of being able to handle a number of things at one time, or multi-tasking; but lately I have been making a conscious effort to scale back on too many projects going at the same time. I found that I felt a lot less overwhelmed and didn’t feel so pressed to keep moving. 
A recent study suggests this is an approach we all should begin to follow because high-level multi-taskers were more easily distracted, less focused and found it more difficult to switch tasks. In other words, the more you multi-task the harder it becomes to concentrate, and strange as it seems the worse you become at of all things multi-tasking.
Now don’t get me wrong, certain aspects of our busy lives require us to accomplish multiple tasks at the same time, ask any mother; but it is the talking on the cell phone while driving, eating a sandwich, and listening to the radio that begin to create problems. Most people, including me would have told you that all these things have our attention when actually our brain does not function in that manner. The brain constantly makes split second decisions on what it will concentrate on and even though we may be looking at one thing it may not really be our focus.
Our brain needs time to concentrate on a task to access the files in our memory banks that allow us to take full advantage of all our mental tools. Jumping from task to task short circuits this process and even though we may complete the task, it is not done well. In fact, 
people distracted by phone calls, e-mails and text messages suffer a greater loss of IQ than a person smoking marijuana. In reality we are actually changing how our brains function. Powerful stuff huh?
The study highlights that increased multi-tasking raises the level of the stress hormone cortisol and may be responsible for the increased instances of road rage and unanticipated violence we have seen related to things like air travel. The more stressed we become the harder it is to perform all the tasks we have set for ourselves. When compared doing similar tasks, low multi-taskers performed better than high multi-taskers. The ultimate irony is that the low multi-taskers thought they performed the worst and the high multi-taskers thought they performed the best. So, there is definitely some performance distortion going on as well.
Multi-tasking is not going away anytime soon but you can help yourself and your brain by cutting back on tasks to allow yourself time to focus. And, if you operate in a stress filled environment you might want to tackle those areas that require the most concentration first or
try to save them for the time when you are at your best (meaning morning or night person). If you can hold calls to a particular time of day then do so. If not, establish a “to do list” and try to focus on the thing that is most important to get done that day.
In the meantime, put down that phone… stop eating that sandwich… and play some peaceful music on the next drive home. Your brain will thank you!