Call it multitasking rehab. Gina Foringer isn't quite going cold turkey, but she's reined herself in. In recent months, she's ditched one of her personal digital assistants. And when she drives, she deposits her cell phone in the backseat, purposely out of reach - most of the time, at least.

   These are significant steps for the 39-year-old, who is an executive officer for a suburban D.C.-based construction management and environmental company as well as the mother of a seven-year-old daughter. Foringer used to pride herself on crafting an e-mail on one personal digital device while hammering out the message's precise wording with an employee on the other. Still, ingrained habits are difficult to shed. The recovering nmltitasker admits to organizing paperwork while on a conference call or using the opportunity to clean out her spam folder. "I enjoy it," she says. "I like the feeling of accomplishment I get when I can do two to three things to completion at the same time."

   A number of recent studies, though, illustrate the ineffectiveness and the potential risks of the juggling act that we call multitasking. One study reveals that the practice can undercut learning. Another demonstrates how it causes the brain to develop a neural bottleneck and become unable to process even two simple tasks simultaneously. As for drivers who insist they can safely weave through traffic while chatting on their cell phone, studies say - forget about it. Contact for complete article.