Multitasking for a Hyperactive Mind

Today, the American professional comes standard with an arsenal of instant-gratification gadgets: the Internet, the cell phone, the fax machine, the Blackberry. We can get any information we want exactly when we want it. The weather in Kazakhstan? Done. The latest Madonna-inspired fashion trend in London? You bet. The options are limitless, but the consequence of all this convenience—all this instantaneous knowledge—is that the modern workday never ends. Our stress is higher, our deadlines shorter, and, worst of all, the office can follow us home. To counter this breakneck pace, busy Americans everywhere rely on multitasking—the art of doing more work in less time by juggling several tasks at once.

Enter the adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, who are hardwired for hyperactivity, distraction and impulsivity. These individuals struggle with organization, prioritization and time management. They overlook details, need extra motivational nudges and may not socialize well with the rest of the staff. Perhaps the biggest difference of all, however, is that people with ADHD have difficulty transitioning from one task to the next. They are the modern world’s anti-multitaskers.

So the question becomes: Can a mind in hyperdrive keep up?

According to Russell Poldrack, associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, multitasking’s reputation as a timesaving tool is undeserved. “In general, it’s almost always worse to try to do two things at once than it is to do each of those things separately,” he says. “This is because there is a bottleneck in the mind in terms of how people process things psychologically. There are certain things—such as choosing what action to take—that you can only do at one time, regardless of if you have ADHD or not,” says Poldrack.

If a person is multitasking, her mind needs a few seconds to readjust to each new task, the psychologist explains. “Think of it as if you are trying to use Word and Excel at the same time and every time you switch programs, you have to quit the program you’re working on and restart the program you’re moving to.”

People with ADHD can multitask, according to Poldrack. “It’s just harder for them to switch back and forth from one task to the next,” he says. “They need more time to restart their new program.”

But sometimes, San Diego resident Andrea Tribolet can’t seem to remember what needs restarting. Whether it’s packing her older daughter’s lunch or warming up a cup of tea in the microwave, the 37-year-old, stay-at-home mom says she has trouble completing her chores. “If I'm on task, I can stick to it, but if I allow myself to get distracted, I have difficulty finishing anything,” says Tribolet, who was diagnosed with ADHD four years ago. “I just don’t deal well with interruptions.”

This is also true for Jon Maddox, a Web developer with ADHD from Richmond, Va. “Being taken off task can really ruin my day,” says Maddox, 27. “If I’m in the middle of doing something and I get bothered, it can take me 30 or 40 minutes just to get back into something.”

But whereas Tribolet has trouble multitasking at all, Maddox says he can tackle several tasks at once, as long they’re all related to a common goal. Still, his juggling act has its limit, and that limit is well defined. “The minute multitasking comes in the form of completely different tasks, it’s almost undoable,” says Maddox.

Psychologist Poldrack adds that people with ADHD may feel more comfortable with constant change because this environment mimics their mind, which is forever shifting its focus. But added stimulation does not necessarily equal higher productivity. “To perform optimally, people with ADHD need to be turned up a little more than people without ADHD,” he explains. “But there’s no evidence that I know of to suggest that an environment where they’re switching back and forth actually helps them get more done. In fact, the evidence that I know of shows just the opposite.”

Still, Poldrack admits, the demands of the modern world aren’t going away anytime soon. “Everybody has to multitask. Telling people not to do it is crazy.” But what people need to remember, he says, is that faster isn’t always better. “To optimize your productivity, stay on one task as long as possible and switch back and forth as little as possible.”

Andrea Tribolet, the stay-at-home mom from San Diego, has found a rather different solution in her struggle to multitasking. The chaos of catering to her daughters’ needs while trying to dust and sweep around the house drove her crazy, she says. “There were interruptions all the time, and mentally, I just couldn’t do it anymore.”

To cope, Tribolet hired someone to clean the house so that she could devote her full attention to raising her girls. “Instead of using ADHD as an excuse, use it as a framework,” she says. “Know where you need help and get help. Recognize what you’re good at and pursue that.”