As the world gets busier and buzzier, many of us like to believe we’re good at juggling several activities at once. But studies have consistently shown that’s not the case, as Cleveland Clinic Wellness points out:

In truth, multitasking is the very opposite of efficient. Research has shown that multitasking reduces productivity by up to 40 percent, and a new study explains why. Using a special type of scan, researchers recently looked at the brain activity of a group of people watching movies. When they watched 6 ½-minute segments, areas of the brain that synthesize separate events into a cohesive whole worked well. When the movies were fragmented into 50-second segments, these areas functioned poorly. In other words, your brain works better when you tackle one thing at a time!

To get back on track, notice when you’re skipping between multiple tasks, stop yourself, and focus on completing a single job at a time. Cleveland Clinic recommends: “Be patient with yourself, and think of it like rebuilding a muscle — your attention muscle.”