And perhaps children and college students multitask better now because they have in general had so much stimulation around them, at least compared to when I was a kid and in college.

Psychologists say, though, that the brain can only fully focus on one thing at a time. If we try to do two things at once, like write an essay and watch a movie, our brain just switches back and forth between the two tasks, losing a bit of time each time it does it.

I think the median of the bell curve is closer to multitasking for today’s generation than in was for prior ones, but there has always been individual differences.

I grew up with five yourger siblings, and learned to focus on what I was doing and shut out the noise around me when I did my homework or read a book. I had friends with their own rooms who had to have silence to do their homework. There is still a range encompassing both types of people in colleges today.

I also think that many women can multitask more effectivley than most men, because of inherent biological differences. Men tend to be “serial port” and can often focus more intently on one thing. Women are more “multi-port” and are more easily distracted by things around them, because they are inherently wired to monitor their children while they do everything else. Still, every person is unique, and has to find what works best for each of them.