Multitasking has gotten a bad rap. Decades of studies have been conducted that point out the many costs of multitasking and the negative outcomes it can have (see Multicosts of Multitasking for a discussion of the brain regions involved).
In many of these studies, participants complete a dual-task paradigm in which performance on a primary task (task A) is compared when it is done on its own versus when it is done at the same time as a concurrent task (task B). Usually, performance on task A takes a hit when it is done at the same time as task B.
However, real-life contexts exert different types of pressures than laboratory studies. It may be true that doing two tasks separately produces the best results, if time is unlimited. But the real world often imposes time and other constraints. Suppose you only have 30 minutes to accomplish two tasks. The question then becomes: Is it more efficient to focus on task A first, and then focus on task B? Or is it better to multitask, carrying out both tasks at the same time?
The........