Attention and Focus
Contents
Contents .................................................................................................................................................................. 1
Attention ................................................................................................................................................................. 1
Multi-tasking and Attention deficit trait ................................................................................................................. 2
Misconceptions about multi-tasking....................................................................................................................... 2
Consequences of Multi-tasking ............................................................................................................................... 3
How to avoid multi-tasking and strengthen focus at work .................................................................................. 7
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Attention and Multitasking
Modern office life has become quite hectic and fragmented:
“Modern office life and an increasingly common condition called “attention deficit trait” are
turning steady executives into frenzied underachievers. Caused by brain overload, ADT is now
epidemic in organizations. The core symptoms are distractibility, inner frenzy and impatience. People with ADT have difficulty staying organized, setting priorities and managing
time. These symptoms can undermine the work of an otherwise gifted executive.”
[Edward Halliwell - Overloaded Circuits: Why Smart People Underperform –
Harvard Business Review]
Attention
Our ability to manage our attention is a core defining trait of what it means to be human. Human beings are
able to direct their attention at will, and not just respond to immediate external stimuli. Humans can direct
their attention to both external and internal objects – which in the ideal situation allows us to be both present
and well centered, reflective individuals.
Managing out attention occurs through three related and closely connected neural networks:
 Alerting network – general awareness, alerting is defined as achieving and maintaining a state of high
sensitivity to incoming stimuli
 Orienting network - orienting is the selection of information from sensory input
 Executive control network - executive control is defined as involving the mechanisms for resolving
conflict among thoughts, feelings and responses
Attentional control refers to an individual's capacity to choose what they pay attention to and what they
ignore. In lay terms, attentional control can be described as an individual's ability to concentrate. Primarily
mediated by the frontal areas of the brain including the anterior cingulate cortex, attentional control is thought
to be closely related to other executive functions such as working memory. In many traditions, attentional
control is considered to be one of the central facilities of an educated person:
“The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of
judgment, character, and will. No one is [the master of himself] if he have it not. An education which
should improve this faculty would be the education par excellence. But it is easier to define this ideal
than to give practical directions for bringing it about.” William James, 1890
Modern research is indicating that peoples ability to control their attention is declining – one study even went
so far as to say that while using the internet our attention span has fallen to about 9 seconds – like that of a
goldfish. But, unlike William James, we have now learnt that one can cultivate ones attention, and that this is
in fact a central aspect of mindfulness practice.
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Attention and Multitasking
Multi-tasking and Attention deficit trait
The psychologist Ed Hallowell has written a lot about the speed of working life and the resulting attention
deficit trait (ADT) which he has observed among workers and executives.
Unlike ADD, a neurological disorder that has a genetic component and can be aggravated by environmental and physical factors, ADT springs entirely from the environment. Like the traffic jam, ADT is an
artifact of modern life. Attention deficit trait is characterized by ADD’s negative symptoms. ADT is
purely a response to the hyperkinetic environment in which we live. Indeed,modern culture all but requires many of us to develop ADT. Never in history has the human brain been asked to track so many
data points. Everywhere, people rely on their cell phones, e-mail, and digital assistants in the race to
gather and transmit data, plans, and ideas faster and faster. One could argue that the chief value of
the modern era is speed, which the novelist Milan Kundera described as “the form of ecstasy that technology has bestowed upon modern man.” Addicted to speed, we demand it even when we can’t possibly go faster. James Gleick wryly noted in Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything that the
“close door” button in elevators is often the one with the paint worn off
To deal with the speed in today’s workplace many people perform multiple tasks over any given interval of
time, often alternating between activities that demand their time and attention. This is a primary driver of the
ADT. In the workplace today, human multi-tasking is a natural response to the increased demand from a growing number of competing activities, and many would argue that multi-tasking has made them more productive.
Types of multi-tasking that are common include:

Real dual tasking – driving a car and talking (rare to non-existent in cognitive work)

Frequent sequential task switching (most seeming multi-tasking is this)

Continual partial attention – surfing and listening to a lecture – half paying attention for fear of
missing something. Continual inner tension and restlessness
It is important to understand that cognitive multi-tasking does not actually exist – it is merely high speed
sequential task switching – which is actually the antithesis of mindfulness. Thus dealing with this high speed
frenetic pace of work is one of the most essential aspects of how we can cultivate mindfulness at work.
Misconceptions about multi-tasking
“Humans can multi-task”
Actually it does not even really exist. Human beings are not able to perform two cognitive tasks in parallel
unless specifically trained to do so. The prefrontal cortex which is involved in cognitive tasks is only able to
work on tasks sequentially. Some things can be done in parallel, or seemingly parallel such as:

Talking and driving – driving is an automated activity which usually does not need cognitive control.
However, when a difficult situation arises and conscious cognitive control is required (such as when
there is a dangerous situation, or when we are trying to read a map and navigate) then we find we
cannot do two things at once.

Short term memory – we can half listen to something while doing something else and then switch our
attention to the conversation and quickly mentally review (retrieve from short term auditory memory)
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Attention and Multitasking
the last few seconds of a conversation and then tune in. However while we were doing something
else, no cognitive processing of what was said occurred.

Not being attentive – we can think we are doing two things at the same time (e-mails and a
conference call) but actually we are not doing two things – we are attending to one and not attending
to the other.

Frequent self-interruptions – because we can only work sequentially, if we switch between tasks
frequently we are not actually multi-tasking, merely interrupting ourselves frequently to do A and
then B.
“Multi-tasking is effective”
Many people pride themselves on their ability to multi-task, and in fact in many job positions there is an implicit assumption that multi-tasking is expected and that this is normal. Many studies however have shown that
multi-tasking actually causes problems:

Multi-tasking lowers productivity and quality. For example, Gladstones, Regan and Lee (1989) and
Pashler (1994) find that experimental subjects are unable to focus their attention when asked to
multi-task. This lack of sufficient attention to tasks at hand in turn increases the likelihood of errors.

Given the human brain’s inability to provide focused attention on two or more tasks simultaneously,
many researchers (Hallowell 2005; Mayer and Moreno 2003; Junco and Cotton 2010) believe that multi-tasked activities are eventually reduced to a set of sequential cognitive tasks. Consequently, excessive multi-tasking can lead to a cognitive bottleneck, and taking on additional tasks does not improve
productivity.

Furthermore, multi-tasking reduces effective processing capacity due to a warm-up or setup cost that
is incurred each time an individual switches between tasks. In other words, the brain is compelled to
restart and refocus (Meyer 2010) between tasks. This recurring setup time does not add value, and excessive multi-tasking can thus be detrimental to individual productivity.
Consequences of attempted “multi-tasking”
Attempting to “multi-task” is inefficient
Many Studies have looked at multi-tasking and come to the clear conclusion that multi-tasking is inefficient. For
example, two studies have shown that:

Multi-tasking can triple or even quadruple the error rates in complex task processing - and the more
complex a task is the greater the increase in error rate

Another study looked at reaction times of subjects performing repetitive tasks or alternating tasks.
Again here, when the complexity was higher, task switching lead to significant increases in reaction
times. The sum of these switching costs was estimated in extremes to be as high as 40% of the time
taken to complete cognitive tasks.
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Attention and Multitasking
(Rogers RD & Monsell S, Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory, Rubinstein,
Meyer and Evans, Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching)
There are a number of reasons for this:

Task switching time loss - the brain is compelled to restart and refocus while multitasking. A study by
Meyer and David Kieras found that in the interim between each exchange, the brain makes no progress whatsoever. Therefore, multitasking people not only perform each task less suitably, but lose
time in the process. When presented with much information, the brain is forced to pause and refocus
continuously as one switches between tasks.

Task switching energy costs – storing issues in working memory, activating the necessary neural networks related to a topic and switching attention all require mental effort. The PFC requires energy to
bring new task to mind and activate all the associated topics and replace other task (e-Mails require a
lot of task switching). A good example is when you are concentrating on something (all associated
topic networks are active and someone interrupts you with an entirely unrelated question - you initially draw a blank because there are no active connections to the new topic. You pause, put one topic
away, activate the other and then respond. This happens when you do e-mails too – there is a lot of
task switching.

Another study discovered that the brain exhibits a “response selection bottleneck” when asked to perform several tasks at once. The brain must then decide which activity is most important, thereby taking more time.
In addition, there is a deeper problem, as described by Ed Halliwell:
when you are confronted with the sixth decision after the fifth interruption in the midst of a search for the
ninth missing piece of information on the day that the third deal has collapsed and the 12th impossible request has blipped unbidden across your computer screen, your brain begins to panic, reacting just as if that
sixth decision were a bloodthirsty, man-eating tiger… When the frontal lobes approach capacity and we
begin to fear that we can’t keep up, the relationship between the higher and lower regions of the brain takes
an ominous turn. Thousands of years of evolution have taught the higher brain not to ignore the lower
brain’s distress signals. In survival mode, the deep areas of the brain assume control and begin to direct the
higher regions. As a result, the whole brain gets caught in a neurological catch-22. The deep regions interpret the messages of overload they receive from the frontal lobes in the same way they interpret everything:
primitively. They furiously fire signals of fear, anxiety, impatience, irritability, anger, or panic. These alarm
signals shanghai the attention of the frontal lobes, forcing them to forfeit much of their power. Because survival signals are irresistible, the frontal lobes get stuck sending messages back to the deep centers saying,
“Message received. Trying to work on it but without success.” These messages further perturb the deep centers, which send even more powerful messages of distress back up to the frontal lobes.”
Edward Halliwell
Attempts at multi-tasking lead to stress and frustration
Nearly 60% of work interruptions now involve either using tools like email, social networks, text messaging and
IM, or switching windows among disparate standalone tools and applications. In fact, 45% of employees work
only 15 minutes or less without getting interrupted, and 53% waste at least one hour a day due to all types of
distractions. While traditional activities such as phone calls, talking with coworkers, and ad hoc meetings
account for 43% of work interruptions today, the lion’s share of distractions are now electronically based.
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Attention and Multitasking
Users reported getting sidetracked in email processing (23%), switching windows to complete tasks (10%),
personal online activities such as Facebook (9%), instant messaging (6%), text messaging (5%) and web searches (3%) (Source USAMP Study). Users report that the continuous interruptions cause:

Difficulty working/producing (33%)

No time for deep or creative thinking (25%)

Information overload (21%)

Missed deadlines (10%)

Lost clients/business (5%)
In fact one study suggested that interruptions were almost as significant a driver of stress level as the actual
workload is:
14%
12%
10%
% Varition of stress
related factors explained by workload
and intrusions
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
Exhaustion
Physical complaints
Anxiety
Workload
Exhaustion
Physical complaints
Anxiety
Intrusions
Source: Don’t Interrupt Me! An Examination of the Relationship Between Intrusions at Work and Employee
Strain; Lin, Kain, Fritz
Attempted “multi-tasking” leads to poorer decision making
In a 3 year study in the emergency department of a hospital, the following findings were made:

A patient seen by a multi-tasking physician is likely to stay longer in the emergency department (ED).

Multi-tasking also has significant implications for quality of care. Multi-tasking physicians find a smaller
number of diagnoses for the patient. In addition, patients seen by a multi-tasking physician have an increased likelihood a 24-hour revisit rate to the ED, a frequently used measure of ED quality.

Multi-tasking increases the productivity (or overall throughput of patients per unit time) up to a
certain extent. However, after this limit is exceeded, there are decreasing returns to productivity. For
the average ED physician, the optimal level of multi-tasking is five patients. Increasing the level of multi-tasking reduces the idle time and improves per unit throughput up to five patients; beyond this optimal number of patients, the throughput losses from multi-tasking dominate gains from reductions in
the idle time.
Source: Does Multi-Tasking Make You More Productive? Diwas Singh
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Attention and Multitasking
Attempts at “multi-tasking” weaken our brain’s ability to
modulate responses and be focused
A lot of what we call consciousness, especially the executive functions, rely heavily on the
prefrontal cortex. The Prefrontal Cortex main responsibilities are:





Recalling, getting information from long term memory into the PFC.
Memorizing, storing information from the PFC into long term memory.
Understanding, connecting new information to the information already stored inside
our brain.
Deciding, comparing two or more different items and deciding which one is most
suitable.
Inhibiting, preventing information from other parts of our brain and outside interferences from entering the PFC.
The brain uses 20% of your body’s total energy and is therefore energy intensive and therefore needs regular glucose to function well. The PFC is particularly energy hungry and gets
drained by a number of factors, leaving the PFC less able to perform its crucial functions:
 Long periods of concentration and especially prioritization
 Frequent task switching (this consumes a lot of energy).
 Over arousal of limbic system by perceived threats, “the complex maps in your prefrontal cortex required for conscious processes don’t function as they should.” (Rock,
2009) We can certainly continue to make decisions but the brain is drawing on more
automatic responses easily accessible to it. So our ability for conscious attention gets
reduced. And our ability to modulate automatic habitual responses is also reduced.
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Attention and Multitasking
How to avoid “multi-tasking” and strengthen focus
at work
While many people think that frequent interruptions are a simple fact of modern office life, and there is nothing to do about this but to try to multi-task even more, this is not the case.

A number of studies have shown that over 50% of interruptions are self-caused or are due to
electronic interruptions which can usually be steered by ones’ self.

Even interruptions caused by others can be influenced - teams can easily work together to reduce the
culture of interruptions
Learning to be mindful and practicing mindfulness gives us the choice of whether we want to engage in the
interruption or not. Mindfulness also strengthens our ability to focus and allows us to be more concentrated
and less easily distracted.
The table below gives an overview of some of the strategies we can engage in to strengthen our focus and
reduce interruptions/multi-tasking. It is important to note that it is not simply a matter of being more focused,
but a general matter of creating the right atmosphere, within ourselves and our teams/offices to work in a
focused manner. For this reason we also work with our emotional state and our physical state – as we relax
both we become more able to engage fully.
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Attention and Multitasking
Mindfulness and organization
Cognitive and emotional strategies
Physical strategies
Ensure a well-paced start to the
day in the morning.
Be mindful of emotional or physical signs of tension and address
them.
Get enough sleep!
Take your time to actually arrive
and take your seat.
Keep a clean desk.
Work on e-mails at specific times,
perhaps 3 times per day.
Have a clear list of priorities for
the day – 3-4 items.
Plan pauses and reflection time in
the day.
Minimize electronic interruptions
(social media, e-mail, messaging
etc.)
Create a concentrated work
atmosphere.
Be aware of how you respond to
interruptions – pause before
responding.
Ask people to wait, don’t jump on
every interruption.
Create a positive emotional atmosphere in your teams to support a
good constructive focus.
Take time for conversations – really
be present.
Build small rituals into your day –
tea, coffee, small walks.
Be aware of a good upright posture
during the day. Don’t slouch at
your computer.
Eat mindfully and don’t munch too
much on the side.
Go for a walk to clear your mind
and freshen up.
Use breathing exercises to reduce
tension and speed.
Take your meals in silence once a
week.
Reflect on your emotions and
concerns during the day – keep a
track on how you yourself feel.
Close your day by congratulating
yourself for all you have done.
Have a transition ritual when you
leave the office.
Slow down!
Completely avoid multi-tasking.
Close your day with a short list of
priorities for the next day.
Be mindful of energy level – use
routine tasks to relax.
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