Get in The Groove

Focusing your attention on work, holding back tears during a sad movie, or otherwise restraining yourself in one moment can make it harder to do so later. It may therefore come as a surprise that engaging self-control in two different ways at the same time can actually help you do a better job.

In recent studies, Imperial College London researcher Mirjam Tuk and colleagues gauged the self-control of all participants based on real and hypothetical choices they made about money, junk food, and other rewards. Some of them simultaneously completed a task that required self-control—like ignoring distracting text on a screen. This group, researchers found, performed better on the self-control measures than those with no added burden.

Holding back one impulse activates the brain’s inhibitory network, which may help manage concurrent impulses. While multitasking can backfire, Tuk says, it depends on the tasks. In the case of self-control, doing (or not doing) two things at once could pay off.

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