The Myth of Multitasking
When we apply for jobs, we are often told things like, “This is a fast-paced environment, so organization and productivity are highly valued” or asked whether we are good at managing our time and handling multiple responsibilities at once. Modern work tends to reward people who appear capable of doing everything simultaneously. Yet neuroscience suggests that multitasking may actually be one of the least effective ways to work.
This is where it becomes important to distinguish between multitasking, dual-tasking, task switching, and to understand why single-tasking may be a more effective approach.
Multitasking, Dual Tasking, and Task Switching: What’s Actually Happening in the Brain
Multitasking is an umbrella term
You might think you know what multitasking is, and you might also think you do it quite often. However, multitasking is actually much broader than you realize. It is an umbrella term for two other forms of working: dual tasking and task switching.
Let’s break it down:
| Concept | What it means | Scientific reality | Everyday example |
| Multitasking | Overlapping the execution of two or more tasks. | It is a broad category, not a distinct neurological mechanic. | Overall just doing “two things at once” |
| Dual Tasking | Doing two distinct tasks simultaneously. In other words in parallel, or at the same time. | Dual tasking only works well when you are pairing a motor skill with a cognitive skill. This means one task must use automatic, lower-brain function so the conscious upper-brain is free to do the second task. | Walking while having a conversation, or folding laundry while listening to a podcast. |
| Task Switching | Doing tasks one after the other, switching relatively quickly between both. | This is how the brain actually handles two cognitive tasks. Your conscious focus cannot split, so the brain does one task, then rapidly stops, reorients, does the next task, and the cycle goes on.
In this case, the brain must repeatedly disengage from one task and re-engage with another. |
Writing a research paper, stopping to read and reply to a text message, and then spending a minute re-reading your last paragraph to remember what you wanted to say next.
Or A receptionist greeting a walk-in client in person, putting them on brief hold to answer a ringing phone, and then turning back to the in-person client to resume their check-in process. |
As you may have noticed, not all forms of multitasking are bad.
Dual tasking can be relatively harmless since one activity is automatic, because in these situations, the brain is not competing for the same cognitive resources.
The real challenge for most leaders is task switching. Modern work doesn’t ask us to combine an automatic task with a cognitive one. Instead, it requires us to move constantly between emails, meetings, messages, reports, decisions, and conversations. What we often call multitasking is actually rapid task switching.
For this reason, the rest of this article will focus on task switching, the form of “multitasking” that is seen in most workplaces and has the greatest impact on focus, performance, and wellbeing.
The Neuroscience of Task Switching
Attention residue
One of the biggest problems with task switching is something called attention residue. Research by Sophie Leroy found that when we switch between mentally demanding tasks, we do not instantly refocus. Instead, some of our attention stays behind, making it harder to concentrate on the task in front of us.
Your brain may be working on the new task, but part of your attention is still thinking about the old one.
Working memory overload
This leads to working memory overload. Every time you switch from one task to another you have to remember where you were, reorient yourself, and reload the information. This takes a huge unnecessary toll on your mental energy.
How Task Switching Affects Memory, Focus and Stress
Because it is so draining, task switching affects your whole system:
Focus
First and foremost, it interrupts your concentration. For example, I need to sit down and focus on something for at least 30 minutes before I can get in “the zone” and be fully concentrated on the task. If I keep switching every 30 minutes, deep work becomes difficult and I am never 100% concentrated on anything.
Memory
In the short term, task switching causes your brain to hold so many details that it overloads your short-term capacity, straining your working memory. At the same time, because you never truly focus, you reduce your ability to process relevant details before your attention shifts. Basically, you have too many things and not enough time to really process anything.
This also affects your long term memory, since you are not storing anything, there is nothing to remember later.
Stress
This connects directly to the attention fragmentation crisis that leaders face. Leaders are busy all day but rarely focus on one thing for very long. Your attention is spread out thin, leading to increased mental fatigue, overwhelm and stress.
What Is Single-Tasking?
This leads us to our saving grace: single tasking.
- one task
- one objective
- one focus
Single tasking is the practice of dedicating your full attention to one specific activity until it is complete or until a set amount of time has passed.
The Performance and Wellbeing Case for Single-Tasking
Better decisions
Single-tasking allows the brain to stay focused on one objective instead of repeatedly reorienting itself. As a result, work is often completed more efficiently and with fewer mistakes.
Better listening
Listening is an extremely important part of being a leader, and single tasking allows you to be more present during conversations. Although it feels “automatic”, listening is not a passive activity. It is a cognitive task.
When we try to listen while checking emails, responding to messages, or thinking about the next item on our to-do list, we miss important information. By giving a conversation your full attention, you are more likely to pick up on both verbal and non-verbal cues, helping you better understand your employees, clients, and colleagues.
Better strategic thinking
As we talked about in our article about strategic thinking, this imperative skill requires sustained attention. It is difficult to think about the long term when your attention is constantly being pulled in different directions. Single-tasking gives leaders the mental space needed to focus on complex problems, spot patterns, and make better decisions.
Less mental exhaustion
As we mentioned before, task switching takes a lot of mental energy. You feel tired not because you worked hard, but because your attention was so fragmented throughout the day that your brain was struggling to keep up. By commanding your attention, your brain can use all of its energy on that single task, and you will find you are more productive and more energized.
Building Single-Tasking Habits as a Leader
Time-block important work
Try blocking out time in your schedule for specific tasks. Make sure you block out enough time so that you can fully concentrate on it before moving on to something else.
Turn off notifications
Put your phone on do not disturb and even in another room, close your email, the tabs you won’t need, and clear your physical desk of everything except what you need for that specific task.
Batch similar tasks
To help your brain single task, try batching similar tasks together, for example set an hour to in the morning and an hour in the afternoon to respond to all your emails, and another half hour to return calls, etc.
This might be hard at first, because emails and calls arrive spontaneously, but it is part of learning how to manage your time and your attention.
Finish before switching
Stick to it. Look at your to-do list and number it to set your priorities straight. If you have to add something to your list, number it as well and follow the order. No need to panic, everything will get done. Stick to the list and do not start anything else until the task you are working on is done or you have reached your time limit. This also gives you a sense of accomplishment every time you finish something.
Create moments of silence
Silence naturally reduces many of the distractions that compete for our attention throughout the day. Without constant notifications, conversations, and new information demanding a response, it becomes easier to focus on a single task for longer periods of time.
This is one of the reasons silence can feel so restorative. It creates the conditions for sustained attention, allowing the mind to settle and concentrate more fully on what is in front of us.
Attention Is a Leadership Resource
Sometimes we get so used to the chaos: starting a task, getting an email, having a new project handed over to you, having to edit something you thought was done…
We forget that there is a better, more productive, healthy way of doing things. Better decisions, deeper thinking, stronger relationships, and more meaningful work all depend on the ability to focus on one thing at a time.
The challenge is that most workplaces are not designed to support that kind of attention. They are designed for constant responsiveness.
This is one reason silent retreats can be so powerful. By removing many of the notifications, meetings, and digital distractions that compete for our attention, they create an environment where task switching naturally decreases. For many leaders, it is the first opportunity in years to experience what true single-tasking feels like.
And often, that experience becomes a reminder that focus is not something we have lost. It is something we simply need to create space for.
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