Shifting focus a lot at work could wreck your diet

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Updated: June 10, 2011 12:17AM

People who continually change gears to do different tasks might find that reduces their concentration and self-control in other areas of their lives.

Findings from a new study show that frequently switching your mind-set or focus uses a lot of self-control. This could leave you with less ability to control your temper, to resist cheating on your diet or to continue your exercise routine, says Ryan Hamilton, an assistant professor of marketing at Emory University in Atlanta.

If staff cutbacks at work make it necessary for employees to do more different kinds of tasks, that could have an impact, he says. And it could apply to people at home, too.

“If you are checking your Blackberry while helping your kids do their homework, you are switching tasks that require different perspectives,” Hamilton says. “That can be taxing on the executive function of your brain and reduce your ability to use self-control in other areas of your life.”

Hamilton and colleagues at two other universities based their findings on five experiments they did involving 300 people.