Business Opportunities Weblog

June 9, 2010 by Rich Whittle | 1 Comment

When one of the most important e-mail messages of his life landed in his in-box a few years ago, Kord Campbell overlooked it., reports The New York Times.

Not just for a day or two, but 12 days. He finally saw it while sifting through old messages: a big company wanted to buy his Internet start-up.

“I stood up from my desk and said, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,’ ” Campbell said. “It’s kind of hard to miss an e-mail like that, but I did.”

This is your brain on computers.

Scientists say juggling e-mail, phone calls and other incoming information can change how people think and behave. They say our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information.

These play to a primitive impulse to respond to immediate opportunities and threats. The stimulation provokes excitement — a dopamine squirt — that researchers say can be addictive. In its absence, people feel bored.

The resulting distractions can have deadly consequences, as when cellphone-wielding drivers and train engineers cause wrecks. And for millions of people like Campbell, these urges can inflict nicks and cuts on creativity and deep thought, interrupting work and family life.

While many people say multitasking makes them more productive, research shows otherwise. Heavy multitaskers actually have more trouble focusing and shutting out irrelevant information, scientists say, and they experience more stress.

Test your focus and how fast you juggle tasks here.

Photo by The New York Times.

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Tags: Computers, Internet, Productivity, Stress, Technology