If multitasking is scrambling our brains, what is the solution to information overload and the attention problems that it causes?
“We need to blinker ourselves, to better monitor our attentional focus. Enforced periods of no email or internet to allow us to sustain concentration have been shown to be tremendously helpful. And breaks – even a 15-minute break every two or three hours – make us more productive in the long run. Also, prioritising tasks is very important. So many of us find that while we’re working on one task, a nagging voice pops up in our heads saying we should be doing something else. If you explicitly prioritise your “to do” list, you know that whatever you’re working on now is the most important thing you should be doing.”
Extract from Q & A with neuroscientist Daniel J Levitin, author of *The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight In The Age Of Information Overload”.