In the modern workplace it is almost seen as a badge of honour if you can be seen as competent at multitasking, being able to work on two or more things at a time. How often do you see participants of Teams calls working at the same time as attending the meeting? But this is the thing about multitasking. You cannot devote true attention to two things at once. Already I hear people denouncing me. Let me explain.
Multitasking: We can only truly focus on one thing at a time. This is how the brain works. However, if a second task is so automated by the brain, then we can do the automated task when applying our attention to task 2. A good example is driving a car. We can happily drive down the motorway while doing something else like listening to the radio or having a conversation. However, if we enter a new city we haven’t been before, we turn down the radio or stop the conversation so we can concentrate. The automated driving now needs our focus. We can only truly focus on one thing at a time.
So why do we think we multitask. Well actually we are doing a thing called “task switching”.
Task switching: This is where we rapidly switch between two or more conscious thinking streams. We focus on one for a brief time and then shift focus towards the other in short bursts. For example, on the Teams call, we might answer an e-mail but then we have to focus on what is being said in the meeting if we are going to keep track. But doing this constantly has a cognitive cost. If your organisation relies on speed and clarity and/or high quality decision making then task switching can actually reduce productivity and effectiveness.
Why is task switching a problem for modern organisations?
1) The Content Switching Tax
Every time the brain switches tasks, it must reconstruct the mental “state” needed for the new activity. This context loading takes time and, more importantly, cognitive energy. For simple tasks, like replying to a calendar invite, the cost is small. However, for complex tasks, like interpreting a P&L or making a key decision, the cost skyrockets. Meyer, Evans and Rubinstein, in their research, saif that the cost could be up to 40% more energy as the brain reorientates itself.
2) Superficial Thinking becomes the norm
Complex tasks require deep focus to detect patterns, identify risks, challenge assumptions, and explore second-order consequences. Task switching interrupts this depth of thought and forces the brain into more shallow processing.
Therefore, when leaders or colleagues operate in shallowness decisions become reactive rather than strategic, solutions favour short-term fixes over long-term clarity, and creativity declines, because insight requires uninterrupted cognitive space. This often results in organisations make faster decisions, but worse ones.
3) Reduced quality of Execution
Every partial return to a task increases the likelihood of overlooking details, misreading data, losing nuance, forgetting constraints or assumptions, or misaligning decisions with broader strategy. For senior leaders, whose decisions carry cascading impact across teams and customers, this quality erosion is costly. A single oversight in product strategy or pricing can ripple into operational inefficiency, customer attrition, or market misalignment.
4) Increased Stress and Exhaustion
Task switching forces the brain into a relentless start-stop mode that increases cognitive load. Over time this leads to increased stress, mental fatigue, and burnout, especially in high pressure environments. Colleagues who feel “constantly busy but never productive” are often experiencing the physiological symptoms of task switching overload. In other words, we spend more time working while feeling less effective which is one of the three main causes of burnout.
5) Slower Organisational Activity
Leaders set the rhythm for the organisation. If senior leaders are known to constantly task switch, then there is potential for decisions to slow down, approvals to become bottlenecked, miscommunications to increase between divisions, leading to teams losing momentum. Even small delays from a lack of full attention compound when multiplied across initiatives, different teams and departments, resulting in slower action to improve and change.
So, in summary, multitasking can only happen when one of the two tasks can be done subconsciously. Task switching is energy inefficient and can lead to superficial thinking, slower decision making and reduced performance, as well as taking an emotional and physical toll on your body.
So what can you do about this?
1) Stop kidding yourself that you can multitask
2) Get better at blocking your time into small chunks and focus on one thing at a time. One hour can be broken into six “10 minute focus sprints”
3) Don’t get distracted by the urgent and not important. Turn off notifications for periods of focus.
4) Make meetings 45 minutes and not 1 hour: This allows 15 minutes of focused action after the meeting, letting you focus on what is being said in the meeting itself.
5) Delegate non-crucial activities if possible
6) Design your week with regular short periods of productive focus.
As we go into 2026 we need to realise that the workload we experience will not reduce. Understanding how we operate as a human helps us identify personal efficiencies to make ourself more effective and less overwhelmed.
