You may be surprised by the news that multitasking can be a threat to your life. If you look at the numbers, you can see that multitasking kills hundreds of people yearly, not to mention economic losses. It is a well-known fact that drunk driving is the leading cause of car accidents. But did you know that distracted driving, such as driving while texting or talking on the phone, takes second place? This is a prime example of how multitasking can be deadly.

The American Automobile Association found out that nearly 70% of American drivers use their phones while driving. You can't imagine how many people die when they focus on too many things at once. The economic costs of drivers’ inattention on the road exceed $870 billion each year.

Would you be surprised to know that multitasking doesn't exist? Stanford University scientist Dr. Eyal Ophir has researched the human brain and found that it cannot grasp several things at a time. More precisely, the brain alternately focuses attention on different tasks. When you jump from one task to another, your productivity decreases, and you are unable to perform as efficiently as you could.

Moreover, the spread of attention can greatly complicate the processing of information. This can lead to an impairment in the way information is stored within our memory systems. Scientists in a 2011 Harvard study that investigated how multitasking affects academic performance proved this. They found that cognitive functions are limited if people are bombarded with different tasks simultaneously. This suggests that our cognitive systems have a finite capacity and can be overwhelmed by too much information.