In this day and age, the term “multitasking” has become commonplace. Everyone seems to multitask just to get through most, if not all, their assignments for the day. But according to research, people who think they can juggle important responsibilities at the same time may actually be the worst at it.

Based on self-evaluation questionnaires from 275 undergraduates, the study, posted at NBCNews.com, revealed that multitasking stems not from the need to be more productive, but from lack of focus. The participants of the study were analyzed for how often they multitask, how well they think they are at it, and how impulsive they are. They were then tasked to perform simple mathematical calculations while remembering a precise sequence of letters.

Those who said they were good at multitasking performed badly during the actual multitasking part of the test. They also admitted to being impulsive--a sign that these people get easily bored and distracted. These people were found to be the worst at juggling multiple tasks at a time.

"From a public safety perspective, it's a little alarming that the people who report using a cellphone while driving the most are the persons who are the worst at multitasking," says study co-author David Sanbonmatsu, a psychologist at the University of Utah.

Reports from the study may have been limited to self-evaluations, and did not take into account a person’s shift in cognitive abilities from starting going through tasks to the point where they are focused on multitasking.

What the study did show, however, was that people who did poorly in the multitasking part of the experiment were notorious texters while driving. This may be a good wake-up call to those they think they can handle everything at the same time--there is the danger of always losing focus, which may result in a lot of trouble.

(Photo by Karen Cardoza via Flickr Creative Commons)