I hate to think that this has become ingrained in our culture making breaking this habit even harder because those who do not multi-task as much are quickly becoming a minority.

I wonder if there is a link between this phenomenon and the surge in ADD diagnosis in kids and even some adults. Either way our minds are clearly not meant to multi-task at the level some of us are pushing them to. Mass increases in burnouts come to mind and a reduced quality of life.

Excellent food for thought!

This post will resonate with a lot of people. I just learned the other day that it’s popular to call your blackberry a “crackberry” due to the addiction that some people have with these devices. I imagine that they share some of the symptoms too – glazed over eyes and a twisted perception of reality. Not to mention being easier targets for getting hit by a (insert vehicle of choice here).

Many of us tend to fool ourselves into thinking that we’ll get more done if we do several things at the same time, but studies (and my personal experience) shows that we get more done if we increase our focus and concentration on one task at a time and get it done. This is where priorities and discipline comes in.

I don’t want to preach because I tend to fall into the multitasking trap more often than I’d like, but I know that the moment I get back on track with single tasking, things get done quickly, with less effort and stress, plus I feel more productive and gratified once I’m done.

I’m looking forward to your conclusion of this series!

Thanks – it has been satisfying seeing how many people are enjoying this series. It's ironic that only when we start thinking about multitasking and time management that we realize that it's a bad habit that we're being encouraged to maintain.

And every time there's a new technological innovation, we're told that this will help improve our productivity because it allows us to have more immediate access to information and our contacts. I can't help but wonder what the move to real-time searches will bring forth if not an even greater sense of urgency to get more accomplished thanks to the instantaneous delivery of results.

Thanks again, Xurxo, for your contribution to the discussion.

Thanks – I’m glad you’re enjoying this series.

It’s amazing when you think about how many ‘productivity’ or communication tools we now have at our disposal and invariably requiring our attention. But really how productive does this make us and how are we defining that sense of accomplishment? Those are the key questions I want to address in my last installment. Hopefully it will help people get a handle on this whole thing and start making decisive changes for the better.

Again, my thanks Martin for your thoughts. I’m looking forward to hearing what you think about the ideas I plan on presenting in the final piece of this series.

Perhaps it’s time for a universally accepted “To Do” protocol, like RSS, or like iCal allows you to sync Calendars, etc…so we can manage all these different Tasks across various applications and sync them all together…and let’s call it: iDo.