Limit multi-tasking when walking: The Living with Parkinson's Tip of the Day

Though we encourage persons with Parkinson’s to lead as an active of a lifestyle as possible— it is important to be aware of the safety issues— especially if you are guilty of “multi-tasking” too much. Multi-tasking is simply when you try to do two or more things at one time… People with Parkinson’s frequently have trouble multi-tasking.

Here are some tips:

• Multi-tasking with Parkinson’s disease can result in falls, fractures or other injuries.

• We recommend that when standing or walking— try not to multi-task.

• You may not think you are multi-tasking— but remember, especially when walking, your mind is wandering, your eyes are scanning your environment— you are thinking about a lot of other things while your feet are moving.

• If you look down at your phone while walking (or are texting)— this is multi-tasking.

• If you have balance problems, try not to have conversations when walking— wait until you are seated. The focus should be on walking.

• If you have balance problems, try to pay attention to your feet when walking— try to gaze down at them every 10-15 seconds to keep you on task (and to prevent multi-tasking).

  Read more in the new book by Drs Okun, Malaty and Deeb: Living with Parkinson’s (Robert Rose, 2020).