Good Weekend magazine had an interesting article in it this week - the author. A.J.Jacobs, tried to 'unitask' for two weeks - to only do one thing at a time. The opposite of multitasking. The result:
"...I'm calmer. I have a sense that I'm in charge of my brain more often, that it's not a slave to the blips and bleeps that pop up outside. I shut my eyes during phone calls. I'm getting more work done, which is huge. The key is self-mastery. I've got control of my brain's steering wheel."
Multitasking isn't actually as effective as we think - instead of doing many things at once, we do lots of things, individually, in fits and starts. The article calls this 'switch-tasking'. Not very productive, and a tiring way to work.
Give unitasking a go - your brain will thank you!