You leave out a clause, I think: It is possible to multitask while listening to audiobooks, so long as you're not doing anything else that requires complex thought or processing.

Walking, riding, driving, working out, washing dishes, doing laundry - these are tasks not at all harmed by listening to something while you do them, and indeed people have so alleviated their monotony since the commercialization of radio.

A task like programming is something else entirely, in terms of cognitive complexity, and attempting to partake simultaneously of something that requires attention to follow means one or the other probably isn't going to get done very well.

I have to disagree that driving isn't a complex task. Sure, the muscle memory but is easy but what about concentration, reading the road etc?

It's no different than cleaning. Yes, it requires attention, but your attention can (and will) pass back and forth between active and passive. Evaluate, execute, evaluate, execute, with large parts of the execute phase being pure muscle memory (i.e., maintaining your speed and lane), during which you can pay attention to an audio book.

In a more programmer related parlance, you can't perform the most rigorous part of driving concurrently with paying attention to an audiobook, but you -can- task switch pretty easily. The driving is pre-emptive.

> It's no different than cleaning.

Except for the fact that you're operating a two-ton death machine.

This is why I'm nearly knocked off my bike a couple of times every time i go riding. I rarely give direct instruction especially online however i strongly encourage you to change your attitude and approach to driving before you kill someone.

I should've said "highway driving", since that is what I meant. But I drive so rarely at all any more, and more rarely still off highways, that I gave it little thought - and have spent so many years driving those same highways that, save the one time or so in five years that I drive them in a vehicle other than the one with which I am intimately familiar, little thought is any longer needed.

Walking is much more interesting.

My attention can easily shift. When doing more complex car maneuvers (e.g., merging, navigating city streets) I am not listening to any audio.

You will slow down your reflexes if you listen to book while driving - making accident more likely in case you need to react fast.

Watching TV while coding has its limits and drawbacks. Only possible in home-office, and when the coding task is more routine than challenge. Probably a bad habit.