Daniel Levitin Quotes

I procrastinate all morning. That's when I get my office work done and answer e-mails and see what's on the Internet and do laundry.

It comes down to a question of attention: it's difficult to use the Net distractedly, unlike the television or the radio.

I find it so easy to get distracted - I try not to do more than one thing at any one time.

Task switching is hard because we do not control what is on our mind. Despite our efforts, the original task continues to occupy our mental bandwidth. Although we can control where our time goes, we cannot fully control how our bandwidth is allocated.

I need to have something else going on. I'm able to write a lot if I have an episode of 'Friday Night Lights' going on my computer.

I'm very focused when I'm making a movie, but I'm also a fantastic multitasker.

I don't mind being distracted. I don't want to sit there in utter silence and type. If the phone rings, I usually answer it, speak for a few minutes and return to writing, or go for a walk in and out of the rooms. I don't mind a break.

No more than a surgeon can operate while tweeting can you reach your potential with one ear in, one ear out. You actually have to reacquaint yourself with concentration. We all do.

I always work in a room where there's no Internet to keep from being distracted so easily.

There's no such thing as multitasking.

Who begins too much accomplishes little.

The only factor becoming scarce in a world of abundance is human attention.

Here's the problem with phones - they are a ready-made diversion from the considerably harder work of growing a business.

I used to tape over the top corner of my computer screen so I couldn't see what time it was. I like the idea that I'm just with the words and not knowing what's going on with the world, when it's lunch or dinner.

It's better to do one thing at a time and give your full concentration.

During the playoffs, I tone down the Internet usage.

It's so hard for me to focus on things for a long time that I'm not incredibly passionate about.

I think that we get so distracted with our smartphones... It takes your body and your brain time to switch between tasks. If we can focus on what we're doing, we'll be more productive at that task.

Whatever I'm doing at that moment, I try to only focus on that because I'm already ADD.

You wouldn't read 'Anna Karenina' and try to work on the computer at the same time, would you?

When I write, I try to turn my Internet off so I can't procrastinate through the Internet, but then I just get deeply involved in whatever I have just on my computer.

I can multitask very well. But I know exactly when to block off anything coming in from the outside and just stay focused on the film.

Multitasking divides your attention and leads to confusion and weakened focus.

Giving something your time isn't the same as giving it your attention.

If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work.