# Only one type of attention can be given to one thing at one time

Humans are constrained by biological limits, and we are also limited to how we can use our attention:

  • We can only give our attention to one thing at a time
  • We can only utilise one of our many kinds of attention at one time

# References

Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 58).

Multitasking is not what we think it is. It is not focusing attention on more than one thing at a time. Nobody can do that. When we think we multitask, what we really do is shift our attention quickly between two (or more) things. And every shift is a drain on our ability to shift and delays the moment we manage to get focused again.
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All these are not just different tasks, but tasks requiring a different kind of attention. It is not only impossible to focus on more than one thing at a time, but also to have a different kind of attention on more than one thing at a time.