Scientists today are ganging up against the practice of multitasking. Neuroscientist Earl Miller at MIT says "People can't multitask very well, and when people say they can, they're deluding themselves. The brain is very good at deluding itself." When you think that you are really paying attention to all the things around you at the same time, you are not. What you do is you switch between tasks very rapidly and no matter how good you think you are with multitasking, you are more prone to suffer misses than when you concentrate on a single task from start to finish.

Npr.com's October 30 issue reports on the different levels of a person's multitasking skills based on his age. It says a child is more focused and could literally ignore everything that goes on around him when doing a task--meaning, he could only do one task at a time. University of Michigan psychology professor Cindy Lustig tells us that as the child grows, his multitasking skills develop and reaches its peak between ages 20 and 30. "Beyond that, the brain experiences ‘internal chatter' and has to work a lot harder to suppress distractions and maintain focus."

This explains why a student can do a research on the internet while watching tv, and talk to a friend on the phone at the same time. You will be amazed to discover that she's also constantly switching on iTunes, Twitter, and is on IM with another classmate the whole time.

However, as you grow older, "internal chatter," as Lustig points out, cause you to diminish your ability to focus. Jon Hamilton, in a post about multitasking, wrote, "Brain Overload, Something's Gotta Give." David Meyer at the University of Michigan says, "multitasking causes a kind of brownout in the brain, a dimming of lights there's just isn't enough power." When you get back to a task after another, the "connecting" thought process you did for that task must be re-created and connections re-established again. This is where your lapses could happen.

Having episodes of reading on "auto-pilot"? Do you end up re-reading a single paragraph over and over again without getting what it says? Volition Thought House says this frustration is caused by the unfocused and low performance brain state. You are not "in the zone." By listening to iMusic IvyFocus, "you'll experience amazingly high levels of focus, stamina and mental acuity that will deliver" positive results in minutes.

And the boss in the office? He's back on the intercom: "Hey, John! My Blackberry won't charge. Can you come in here and find out what's wrong? Where's my coffee? .....John?.....John?....Hello?"

Poor John.