Multitask Chapter 3 Summary

Chapter 3 is about attention and it teaches how to control your attention. Your automaticity is doing what it’s told and going though the part that you know. Your attention is doing problem solving. However, your attention has its limits, so, when it gets task for which it is not prepared, the whole operation can grind to stop. Multitaskers think multitasking is an effective way to work. But the fact is that your attention can’t be effectively multitask. Multitasking does not affect your automated task, but multitasking is not possible for unautomated tasks because it require your full attention in order to go well. So, when you have many tasks need to do which means your attention is crowded, clear out your attention and separated out the tasks. You can’t handle this all at once. Choose only one thing and attention on that fully and then deal with the next thing after that is done. Also, you

Inside your brain is a small region called the amygdala. It is like a gatekeeper to your attention. When you have emotions that help your attention such as confidence, joy, pride, curiosity, etc., amygdala put your attention to accessible and it makes learn easier to do. On the other hand, when you have emotions that unhelpful your attention such as discouragement, fear, embarrassment, boredom, frustration, etc., amygdala put your attention on lockdown and it prevents learning. When you get closer to the core where the amygdala lives, your brain is like an animal and it can shut that all down because the animal parts of your brain deal with the most basic survival instincts. But it is possible to take control your emotions and train your brain’s animal response by practicing. When your emotions get going, they take over your attention and control how you feel. To change your emotions, you need to hit reset. Clear your emotions out that it become automatic, until the unhelpful emotions went away