Multitasking may be counterproductive and addicting, say Harvard researchers, naming it “pseudo-attention deficit disorder.”

Multitaskers have shorter attention spans, become frustrated with long-term projects, thrive on the stress of constant fixes of information, and physically crave the bursts of stimulation from checking e-mail or voice mail or answering the phone. The process takes the same pathway as drugs of abuse and pleasure, generating dopamine, the researchers believe.