5.

1. Divide your page into two vertical columns.

2. Set your timer to 10 seconds.
3. As soon as the timer begins, begin writing out the first twelve
letters of the alphabet (A to L) vertically in the left column.
Do this as quickly as you can.
4. Once finished with the letters, begin writing out the first

Multitasking
twelve numbers vertically in the right column. Again, do this
as quickly as you can.
See if you can write out all 24 letters and numbers within the
10-second window.
Ready … set … begin!

Anyone who can drive safely I’m guessing you either completely finished or got fairly far along that
process before time ran out. Now let’s play this game again, except this
while kissing is simply not time let’s change one small thing …

giving the kiss the attention

it deserves. Round 2

— Anonymous During this round, your goal is to complete the same two tasks
as above — except this time you will quickly alternate between
each.
1. Divide your paper into two vertical columns.
Let’s start this chapter with a little game. For this, you’ll need 2. Set your timer to 10 seconds.
something to write with, something to write on, and a timer. 3. As soon as the timer begins, write out the first letter in the
left column (A), then the first number in the right (1), then
the second letter in the left (B), then the second number in
Round 1 the right (2), etc.
Again, see if you can write out all 24 letters and numbers within
During this round, your goal is to try to complete two different the 10-second window.
tasks in under 10 seconds. Ready … set … begin!

102 Multitasking 103

If you’re like most people, this time you probably only made it about two- successfully read these words right now, your reading ruleset dictates
thirds of the way through each list. More importantly, even though the that you must move your eyes left to right over each line, hold each
tasks weren’t particularly difficult, you might have found yourself getting word in memory until you reach the end of a sentence, use your fingers
flustered and making a few mistakes, perhaps repeating a number or to flip between pages, etc.
needing to mentally run through the alphabet to remember the next letter. Whenever we engage with a task, the relevant rules must be loaded
So what happened? Why was the second round so much trickier into a small area of the brain called the lateral prefrontal cortex (we’ll call
than the first? it the LatPFC). Whichever specific ruleset is loaded into the LatPFC
will determine what information is deemed relevant or irrelevant. For
instance, seeing as your reading ruleset is currently loaded into your
Attention filters LatPFC, this has tweaked your attention filter to allow these black
squiggles into conscious awareness while blocking out the texture of
The world is a chaotic place. these pages against your fingers, the chapter title at the bottom of this
As I write these words, I am sitting in a crowded coffee shop with page, any noises going on around you, etc.
dozens of customers streaming by my table, an espresso machine I often liken this entire process to those old video game systems
hissing in my ear and two girls boisterously debating the extracurricular from the 1980s. In this instance, each video game (task) has its own
activities of some guy named Chad. With all this stimulation it’s an unique set of characters, controls and objectives (ruleset). Any time
absolute wonder anyone can get anything done at all — yet, somehow, you wish to play a particular game, you must pop the relevant cartridge
we can cut through the chaos and home in on those sights, sounds, into the game system (LatPFC). Once a game is loaded in, the pixels
tastes, smells and feelings that are meaningful to us in the moment. on the television screen will display that game’s heroes, villains,
This is the power of attention. weapons, etc. (attention filter).
Perhaps the easiest way to understand how attention works is to
think of a filter. Much like those 3D glasses we used to wear as kids
that only allowed certain wavelengths of light to hit our eyes, attention
allows only relevant information to pass into conscious awareness while
Who’s in charge here?
blocking out irrelevant information. As we learnt in the last chapter, Sticking with the video game analogy, who selects which game to play
information deemed irrelevant still enters our memories (context and at any one moment?
state dependency), but it’s simply not consciously processed. The primary selector is you. Via a specific brain system called the dorsal
This leads to an important question: what determines if a piece attention network, your personal goals, desires and intentions are used to
of information is relevant? The answer changes depending upon the select relevant rulesets. Right now, seeing as you have personally chosen
specific task we are engaged with. Just like a board game, every task we to read these words, your dorsal network has accessed your reading ruleset,
undertake — be it writing an email, tallying up bills or simply taking loaded it into your LatPFC and set your attention filter accordingly.
the dog for a walk — comes with its own unique set of rules that However, imagine if an angry, snarling bear suddenly came running
dictate what actions are required in order to ‘succeed’. For instance, to towards you. Technically, seeing as this bear is irrelevant to your chosen

104 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Multitasking 105

 goal of reading, your filter should block it out and you should never
be consciously aware of it. Clearly this isn’t the case. If a bear suddenly
appeared, I imagine you’d be out the door before this book hit the floor.
This means there must be a secondary selector somewhere within the brain.
Indeed, there is.
Churning away in the background is a system called the ventral
LatPFC attention network which continuously (and subconsciously) monitors
all the information your attention filter deems irrelevant and blocks
out. If something shocking or unexpected occurs — such as a bear
running towards you — this secondary system will automatically take
ILLUSTRATION 30. THE LATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX (LATPFC) over, load up a new set of rules (‘escape from a bear’ ruleset) and change
your attention filter accordingly.
An easy way to conceptualize how these two different networks operate
is to consider one of those driving instructor’s cars that has two different
steering wheels. Most of the time, the car is being controlled by the student
driver (the dorsal network), who is consciously focused on moving and
turning in a specific manner. However, sitting quietly by is the ever-vigilant
instructor (the ventral network), constantly aware of the surrounding world
RULESETS
and able to take control should anything dangerous arise.

It’s not multitasking —

it’s task-switching
LatPFC Think back to the first chapter where we learnt that attempting to
simultaneously read while listen to someone speak leads to a processing
bottleneck. It turns out we have the same issue here. Much like a video
game console, the LatPFC can only hold onto one ruleset at a time.
Put another way: we cannot multitask.
Wait a second — you’ve surfed the internet while writing an email;
ATTENTION FILTER texted while attending a meeting; updated your Facebook status while
reading. Isn’t this multitasking?
ILLUSTRATION 31. YOU CAN ONLY LOAD ONE RULESET AT A TIME

106 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Multitasking 107

 VENTRAL DORSAL Surprisingly, no it isn’t.
Although we often think we’re multitasking, never do we actually
undertake multiple tasks simultaneously. Rather, we really quickly
jump back and forth between tasks, swapping out rulesets within the
LatPFC each time we do. Researchers call this task-switching, and it’s
a lot like trying to watch two different shows on a single television:
sure, you can quickly flip back and forth between stations but you’re
only ever watching one show at a time.
Why does this matter? It turns out that jumping between tasks has
three major consequences.

COST NO. 1: TIME

Task-switching is not an instantaneous process. As we jump from one
task to another there is a brief period when our attention turns ‘off ’ as
the filter is updated. Researchers call this period the attentional blink
and it is essentially a sensory dead zone: all external information stops
being consciously processed.
Although a single attentional blink is relatively short (0.1 to 0.2
ILLUSTRATION 32. THE DORSAL & VENTRAL ATTENTION NETWORKS seconds), this occurs every time we switch between tasks. Accordingly,
as the number of task-switches increases, so too does the amount of
time we spend in this sensory dead zone. Thinking back to the game
at the start of this chapter, this is why you could finish more during
round 1 (uni-tasking) than you could during round 2 (multitasking).

STRIATUM COST NO. 2: ACCURACY

Task-switching is not a seamless process. As we jump from one task to
HIPPOCAMPUS
another there is a brief period when the two rulesets blend. Researchers
call this the psychological refractory period and during this time general
performance suffers.
Have you ever tried to write an email while having a conversation
and accidentally typed out the words you meant to speak aloud?
ILLUSTRATION 33. THE STRIATUM Have you ever been rushing to prepare for work in the morning and

108 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Multitasking 109

accidentally poured coffee in your cereal bowl? Have you ever had to Here’s the scary part. If you were reading or writing a text message
jump back and forth between writing letters and numbers (say, at the while driving, it would take you around 1.3 seconds to slam on the
start of this chapter) and accidentally scribbled down the digits in the brakes. Every time you jump between your phone and the road, you
wrong order? This is the psychological refractory period in action. must update your relevant ruleset. This process takes twice as long as
the reflex lag caused by alcohol and leads to an estimated 1.6 million
COST NO. 3: MEMORY motor accidents in the US every year: that’s about one accident every
20 seconds.
At this point in the book, whenever you hear the term ‘memory’ there
should be one brain region that immediately comes to mind: the
hippocampus. Interestingly, during task-switching, activity within
the hippocampus decreases. This means that attempting to multitask It’s bad … and getting worse
impairs memory formation.
On the scale of 0 (horrible) to 10 (incredible), how good would you say
To make matters worse, during task-switching, activity within
you are at multitasking?
the striatum increases; this is an area of the brain that subconsciously
Believe it or not, the better you rated your ability to multitask, the
processes reflexive and repetitive skills (such as walking). This means
worse a multitasker you likely are. Researchers consistently find that
that information learnt during multitasking is often stored as a
people who consider themselves strong multitaskers are notoriously
habitual routine, making it incredibly difficult to consciously access and
bad at recognizing just how poorly they perform when jumping
manipulate in the future (try describing the exact muscle movements
between tasks.
you undertake in order to walk).
Furthermore, the adage ‘practice makes perfect’ has little bearing on
multitasking. In fact, people who frequently multitask almost always
perform worse during task-switching than people who rarely multitask.
Task-switching in the real world To make matters worse, frequent multitasking strengthens people’s
confidence in their ability to task-switch … which leads to more
Imagine you’re driving when suddenly a deer jumps in front of your car.
multitasking … which leads to even higher confidence … and so on.
How long do you think it would take you to react? If you were focused
To be fair, if you spend time explicitly practising multitasking with
only on driving, it would take about one second to recognize the deer
two specific tasks (say, writing emails and sending texts), you will likely
and slam on the brakes.
improve your switching speed between these. Unfortunately, this does
Interestingly, if you were drunk, this reaction time would slow to
not mean you will boost some general ‘multitasking ability’ which will
about 1.15 seconds. Seeing as alcohol dampens sensory processing and
help you jump between any and every task. In fact, as we saw above, any
slows the speed with which people recognize and respond to the world,
improved ability to jump between email and text will almost certainly
this leads to an estimated 275,000 motor accidents in the US every
be due to the striatum forming a habitual routine — meaning it will be
year: that’s about one accident every two minutes.
a subconscious skill difficult to explicitly access and apply across other
task-switching scenarios.

110 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Multitasking 111

Enter the supertaskers
A small warning: it’s possible you will read the following section and
think to yourself ‘That’s me!’ The truth is, for every 100 people who read

-
this book, only one will fit this bill. To put that into perspective, more of
you will have a small hole above your ear that’s thought to be a remnant
of gills from our ancient fish ancestors (the preauricular sinus); more of
you will have two distinct hair whorls going in opposite directions on the
back of your head (a double-crown); more of you will be able to bend
your thumb backwards far enough to touch your wrist (hypermobility).
Just saying.
In a 2010 multitasking research study, people were asked to
memorize word lists and mentally complete maths problems while
Implications for leaders,
undertaking a driving simulation. Of the 200 participants, the vast teachers and coaches
majority performed as expected: horribly. Their reaction time slowed
by almost 20 per cent while their memory and maths skills dropped by
nearly 30 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.
1. Don’t invite multitasking
Interestingly, five people showed no change whatsoever! These
people showed no slowing of their reaction time and had no decline This one is simple: if you’re at all interested in reducing effort
in memorization or mental maths ability. It was as if they weren’t while boosting efficacy and efficiency, do not invite multitasking.
multitasking at all. Every time we mention a web address, distribute practice problems
Further research has revealed there is a small subset of people or display a complex graph during a learning session, we encourage
dubbed ‘supertaskers’. Just like normal people, supertaskers cannot others to multitask which, ultimately, can impair comprehension,
actually do two tasks at one time; however, they can swap rulesets memory, and performance. To avoid this, we must ensure that
incredibly rapidly. This ability shortens their attentional blink every learning task has a clear focus, a step-wise trajectory (see
and allows them to quickly recognize any ruleset overlap, thereby Implication 2, below) and a devoted block of time to allow for
combating the psychological refractory period. engagement and completion.
As I said above, supertaskers are quite rare and I wouldn’t get my In addition, ask others to turn off emails, put away their
hopes up about being one. However, if you would like to check your smartphones and keep only one internet tab open during sessions.
status, you can go online and search for ‘supertasker tests’. Even if it Though this might cause a few grumbles, when people focus on a
turns out you’re a mere mortal like the rest of us, these tests will help single task they will finish quicker, perform better and remember
demonstrate just how truly difficult and detrimental multitasking can be. more.

112 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Multitasking 113

 BURNING QUESTION 1: BURNING QUESTION 2:

WALKING AND TALKING BATTLE OF THE SEXES PART 1

‘If it’s impossible to multitask, ‘Women are better than men at

then why can I walk and chew multitasking … right?’
gum at the same time?’ Although there is quite a bit of research exploring this issue,
the results are all over the shop: sometimes women perform
Touché!
better, sometimes men perform better and sometimes there’s no
The truth is, we multitask every day. We hold conversations
difference at all.
while eating. We sing while showering. We ponder work projects
Whenever a body of research is this chaotic, there is typically a
while jogging.
very simple explanation: individual differences. In this instance,
Interestingly, if you look closely at these examples, each
it’s highly unlikely that one gender is better at multitasking
includes a habitual routine mediated by the striatum. Chances
than another. Far more likely is that some people are better than
are you have mastered the art of eating, showering and jogging
other people at multitasking — regardless of gender. And, of
— you can perform these skills on autopilot. This means we can
course, when I say ‘better’, I really mean ‘less worse’. Outside of
perform two tasks at the same time, as long as one of those tasks
the rare supertasker, everyone suffers.
is automatic and can be done with little conscious thought.
With that said, have you ever been so involved with a
conversation during a meal that you forgot to eat? Or been
so wrapped up in a song that you absentmindedly shampooed BURNING QUESTION 3:

twice? Or been so concerned with a project that you accidentally THE MIND WIPE
tripped while jogging?
Even when one task is a habitual routine, this does not guarantee
effective multitasking. Rulesets, filters and goals can still become ‘Sometimes I walk into a room
mixed up, leading to impaired reaction speed, performance and only to suddenly forget why.
memory. Furthermore, beyond a certain age, even automatic tasks
like walking and talking can begin to interfere with one another What’s going on there?’
(which is why many older people stand still when chatting).
So, walking and chewing gum is certainly possible — but this As we learnt earlier, whenever the ventral attention network
does not negate the multitasking story. registers a threat it will automatically drop our current ruleset.

114 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Multitasking 115

 When this occurs, any lingering information that has not and effectively complete each individual step. Beyond curtailing
been funnelled through the hippocampus will be effectively multitasking, setting smaller goals has been demonstrated to hasten
erased. It’s as if every time you turned a page in this book you project completion, improve performance, boost confidence and
were to forget the last sentence you read. Researchers call this deepen learning.
moment an event-model purge: but it’s more commonly known There is one issue to keep in mind when considering proximal
as a mind wipe. goals: difficulty. If small goals are too demanding or impossible to
This process makes sense when a hungry bear is approaching accomplish (for example, writing 1000 words in one hour), this can
(who cares what you were just thinking about if your life is make you feel incompetent and drive you to quit. Conversely, if small
suddenly in danger?), but why should it happen when we walk goals are too easy and require no real effort to accomplish (writing ten
between rooms? It turns out, our ventral network sometimes words in an hour), this can perpetuate a sense of pointlessness and kill
interprets doorways as threats. Although no one is certain why creativity, innovation and performance.
this happens, it’s commonly thought when the door jamb passes As such, when breaking a large project into small segments, keep
quickly in front of our eyes, danger is sensed, our ruleset is reset in mind the Goldilocks principle: not too difficult, not too easy — a
and whatever information we were just pondering is erased. solid mix of challenge and time is paramount.
This is called the doorway effect, and it’s the same reason why
we sometimes open the refrigerator and, as the door quickly
passes in front of our eyes, we suddenly forget what food we
3. Ensure technology is integral
intended to grab. Many people employ technology with little rhyme or reason. Every
Luckily, if we return to the room we were originally in (or student gets a laptop; every session is streamed online; every discussion
close the refrigerator door), we can use spatial-, context- and occurs via digital message-boards. The sentiment seems to be that ‘If
state-guiding cues to reconstruct our initial train of thought there’s a computer involved, people must be learning’.
and remember our original intentions. Unfortunately, this sentiment simply isn’t true. Generally speaking,
those who utilize technology more often during learning tend to
remember less than those who don’t.
2. Break complex tasks into small bits
This is largely because technology breeds multitasking. In fact, it’s
When confronted with a long-term, complex task, many people set built into the very fabric of most programs: smartphones run dozens
their sights squarely on the final product. Unfortunately, when people of apps simultaneously; laptops display several windows on a single
form a singular goal that exists far in the future (known as a distal screen; Twitter cycles multiple conversations concurrently. As such, if
goal), this increases their tendency to multitask which, in turn, can you choose to utilize a piece of technology to help others learn, ensure
delay project completion, decrease performance and diminish an all background programs are switched off so that people can devote
individual’s confidence in their own skills and abilities. their attention completely to the task at hand.
When large projects are broken down into small, discrete steps Furthermore, only employ technology if it is integral to the learning
(known as proximal goals), you are more likely to persist with task. A good rule of thumb: if you can run a session or activity in

116 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Multitasking 117

person using physical tools and interaction — do it! By ditching immediate vicinity. In other words, media multitasking has a
unnecessary technology, you can remove the temptation to multitask, detrimental radius and anyone caught up within it suffers.
keep others focused and boost learning. As an interesting aside: think of all the television shows that
However, if learning is not your ultimate goal, then much of actively encourage viewers to tweet or email during episodes.
this discussion is irrelevant. Technology is a great means to boost Though this might boost engagement, it will ultimately kill
engagement and enjoyment — though, as we learnt earlier, engagement viewer memory which, in turn, might decrease willingness to
and enjoyment are not synonymous with learning (remember watch future episodes.
the Attenborough Effect?). Simply be clear on why you are using
technology. If it’s to get people involved and excited, then go to town.
If it’s to help others embody new ideas, then ensure the technology is
4. One message at a time
essential, otherwise ditch it.
As this mirrors the graphs and tables discussion from Chapter 2, I’ll
keep it short. When giving a presentation, you will only ever be able to
verbally discuss one idea at time. Unfortunately, if your accompanying
BURNING QUESTION 4:
slide or handout contains multiple ideas, your audience will likely
MEDIA MULTITASKING attempt to jump between them all and lose key information from
each. This is simply to say make sure you and your slides impart one
message at a time. If this isn’t possible, employ signalling (see p. 69 in

‘Does watching TV while Chapter 3) to guide attention and curb multitasking.

studying impact learning?’ 5. Avoid unfinished problems and premature

questions
I’m guessing you’ve already gleaned the answer to this one.
Human beings hate (or love) unsolved puzzles. This is thought to
It’s been estimated over 60 per cent of people engage
spring from the fact that our brains are prediction machines and an
with different forms of media while studying. Unfortunately,
incomplete puzzle represents a failed prediction that must be corrected.
watching television, surfing the web or texting while learning
Sometimes during a presentation, we will unwittingly leave
are all forms of multitasking which require task-switching and
concepts or ideas half-finished. Maybe we’ll begin a story, only to run
can negatively impact on memory.
off on a tangent and never return. Or perhaps we’ll begin drawing
To make matters worse, when people use devices to media
a diagram, only to get side-tracked and shift to a different topic.
multitask while in a group setting, this not only impairs their
When information is incomplete, many people will feel compelled
learning but also the learning of everyone within that person’s
to complete it while still trying to listen to you — multitasking in

118 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Multitasking 119

action. Accordingly, try to remain cognizant of the flow of ideas and
avoid leaving things unfinished (I know, easier said than done).
AT A GLANCE
Similarly, if you supply handouts with practice problems or Human beings cannot multitask. Trying to do so impairs learning
reflection questions meant to be addressed at a later time, guess and memory.
what will happen? Drawn to unsolved puzzles, many people will »» We can hold onto one ruleset at a time. This ruleset
begin immediately filling them in. This could cause them to miss key determines what information our attention filter allows in.
information and impair learning. As such, hold onto any questions or »» Typically, we select which ruleset is active, but any
problems until they fit into the material you are presenting. threatening or surprising situation can automatically
activate a different ruleset.
»» We don’t multitask — we quickly jump between tasks.
This takes time, kills accuracy and pushes memory into
‘subconscious’ networks.
»» Although some people can jump between tasks faster
than others, nobody can truly multitask.

APPLICATIONS

1. Don’t invite multitasking.

»» People can perform two tasks simultaneously as long as
one is habitual and automatic.
»» Women are not better than men at multitasking.
»» When a threat is sensed, people undergo a sudden mind
wipe.
2. Break complex tasks into small bits.

3. Ensure technology is integral.

»» Watching TV, surfing the net or texting while studying
can impair learning/memory.

ILLUSTRATION 34. DON’T INVITE MULTITASKING! 4. Focus on one message at a time.

5. Avoid unfinished problems and premature questions.

120 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Multitasking 121