6) Cut back on multitasking

Americans have made multitasking into a national pastime. Sixty-five percent of people eat while they drive. Sixty percent of kids age eight to 18 multitask some or most of the time they're doing homework. Who doesn't sneak a peek at e-mail during conference calls? Yet multitasking isn't as easy as it looks, as a growing body of research on the dangers of distracted driving shows. Toggling between tasks slows us down because the brain needs time to switch attention to the new task, disengage from the old work, and decide what resources to use for the new job. Multitasking may also inhibit deeper, flexible learning, research shows. So, try single-tasking if you want to get the job done right.