Computers, PalmPilots, BlackBerries, cell phones. Today all the gizmos that connect us to the Internet and to each other make us more productive -- or do they? We may be easier to reach, but Dr. Edward Hallowell, a specialist in Attention Deficit Disorder, contends that most people who make use of all these techno toys end up short-circuiting both themselves and their work.

"Many people have become data processing machines; they just send and receive messages," says Hallowell, a psychiatrist and former Harvard Medical School instructor.

"Do they think about it? No. There isn't time to think about it. So there's a lot of superficial thinking, a lot of pigeonholing, gut responses, and shooting from the hip."

The result, says Hallowell, is that we're ruled by technology rather than the other way around. When we're caught in a vicious loop of multitasking, he says, stress rises, exhaustion sets in, and we're unable to do creative work.

Hallowell is the author of the books Worry and CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked and About to Snap, and the co-author of Driven to Distraction.

Reporter Laurie Udesky interviewed Hallowell about the myth of multitasking and efficiency, how to regain your productivity, and some easy exercises you can do at your desk to turn things around.

Click to listen to Consumer Health Interactive's in-depth audio report.

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Digital Audio Team

Reporter, writer, producer, and digital audio editor: Laurie Udesky
Script editor: Diana Hembree
Sound engineer: Laurie Udesky
Web engineering: Eric Turner

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First published June 6, 2006
Last updated January 29, 2008
Copyright © 2006 Consumer Health Interactive