Relationships of multitasking, physicians' strain, and performance: an observational study in ward physicians.

Symptoms of burnout are significantly more common among physicians compared with the general population. This German time-and-motion study found that multitasking is common among hospital physicians and that time spent multitasking is associated with greater psychological strain. Interestingly, multitasking physicians self-reported superior performance, indicating that physicians may lack insight into the correlation between workload and burnout.