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"Here's practical advice from a neuroscientist: Don't try to multitask. It ruins productivity, causes mistakes, and impedes creative thought. Many of you are probably thinking, "but I'm good at it!" Sadly, that's an illusion. As humans, we have a very limited capacity for simultaneous thought - we can only hold a little bit of information in the mind at any single moment. Our brains, however, delude us into thinking we can do more. "

"Many students feel there is nothing wrong with sending out a few quick texts or jumping on Facebook during class, and many are proud of their self-perceived ability to keep abreast of classroom discussion while their attention is divided. But a new study by researchers at the University of Connecticut shows multitasking is hurting college students more than they think. In a survey that probed the multitasking habits of more than 350 college students, UConn researchers found that students who multitasked while doing homework had to study longer, and those who frequently multitasked in class had lower grades on average than their peers who multitasked less often. While prior studies have reported that classroom multitasking can hurt students' grades, the UConn study is believed to be the first to take into account whether students' prowess at multitasking and additional time spent studying offset the tendency for poorer academic performance. It did not."

"Our brains on multitasking aren't nearly as good as we think they are. Let's say you're working on an activity over here, on the right side of the brain, and suddenly you're trying to multitask another activity, like talking on the phone. You're not actually doing both activities at the same time, in fact, you're now diverting your attention from one part of your brain to another part of your brain. That takes time, that takes resources, that takes brain cells."