Multitasking Impact Studies

⚡ Multitasking: Where confidence goes up and performance goes down Let’s start with the lie. You think you’re good at #multitasking. Spoiler: you’re not. Neither am I. Neither is your top performer. Neither is that high-output founder who answers Slack, approves budgets, reviews pitch decks and eats breakfast all at once. Because the brain doesn’t multitask. It switches, and every switch comes at a cost. 🧠 The neuroscience is clear: you're not doing five things. you're doing one thing, badly, five times. What we call multitasking is actually task switching. Each time you shift focus, your brain burns time, energy and working memory. • You take longer. • You make more mistakes. • You remember less. And here’s the kicker: ⬇️ Read this twice The more you multitask, the more convinced you are that you’re good at it. Read that again. The more you multitask, the more convinced you are that you’re good at it. That’s not confidence. That’s cognitive bias. It’s your brain lying to itself under pressure and calling it efficiency. 📚 The research: it's not a debate, it's physics Psychologists at Stanford ran cognitive tests on heavy multitaskers. They found that these “high performers” were worse at: • Filtering distractions • Remembering key information • Switching tasks efficiently • Even recognizing they were underperforming And the American Psychological Association? They found that frequent task switching can slash productivity by up to 40%. So, if you’re writing a deck, replying to WhatsApp, and glancing at your inbox? Congratulations. You just took a 40% hit in quality and you’re too distracted to notice. 🔁 So why do leaders keep doing it? Because busyness feels like progress. Because answering fast makes you feel responsive. Because in a world of alerts, tabs, pings & panic, focus feels like a luxury. But here’s the truth: Multitasking is a self-inflicted performance tax. And most leaders are paying it… with interest. 🎯 The fix: focus like it's a competitive advantage The best leaders don’t do everything at once. They do the right thing, at the right time, with full attention. Try this: • Time-block your day. Protect deep work like revenue. • Turn off notifications. You don’t need to know you’ve got mail. • Batch your decisions. Group similar tasks & attack them with full presence. • Create slack in your schedule. Focus isn’t just about intensity. It’s about margin. 🔒 Real productivity isn’t frantic. it’s focused. Multitasking might impress your ego. But it’s focus that earns results. So, the next time you feel the urge to juggle… Don’t. Slow down. Pick one thing. Give it everything. And watch how fast everything else starts moving. #productivity #leadership #executivepresence #focus #management

Everyone Sucks at Multitasking... Except You Comment below, but not while driving. The first fiction of multitasking is that you do it well. The second fiction of multitasking is that there is such a thing as multitasking. You may be thinking, "I multitask all the time. I'm great at it. It's on my resume." But do you? Are you? Should it be? Studies have consistently found that the worst multitaskers are those who believe they’re good at it. Hey, that's you! A study from the Univ. of Utah tested self-proclaimed "excellent multitaskers" and found they performed significantly worse than those who admitted they weren’t good at it. The reality is you’re not multitasking. You’re just switching between tasks (with varying degrees of speed). And every time you switch, you pay a "mental tax." The Brain Is Not a Parallel Processor Your brain is a single-threaded system alternating between tasks - one at a time. Neuroscience backs me up. Research from MIT found that what we call "multitasking" is just "task-switching," and every switch comes with a performance hit. Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, says the brain suffers a "bottleneck effect" when shifting between tasks. Each switch requires the prefrontal cortex to disengage from Task A and reorient to Task B. That process can take up to 50% longer than staying focused on a single task. The more complex the tasks, the worse the effect. Hidden Costs of "Multitasking" The American Psychological Assoc. found that frequent task-switching slashes productivity by 40%. Basically, you're working a 5-day week but only getting 3 days' worth of work done. It's like working a full year, but skipping January, February, March, and half of April. It gets worse. More Mistakes: A Stanford study showed that heavy multitaskers perform worse on cognitive tests than people focus on one task at a time. They struggle to filter out distractions. Slower Thinking: A University of London study found that people who multitask during cognitive tasks suffer a temporary IQ drop of up to 15 points. More Stress: Context-switching activates the brain’s stress response. That means mental fatigue, burnout, and reduced working memory. More Switch, Less Flow Flow is the feeling of being fully immersed in a task, and it leads to greater productivity, creativity, and satisfaction. But every interruption, every app or tab switch, every MS Teams or phone notification pulls you out of it. And it takes an average of 23 minutes to regain that deep focus after an interruption, according to a UC Irvine study. The Fix: Do One Thing Well The solution is almost too simple: Just do one thing at a time. Group similar tasks together to minimize switching costs. Carve out distraction-free time for tasks that require cognition. Mute notifications. Give each task your full attention before moving on. These aren't "secret productivity hacks." This is just reality. Multitasking is a myth. The question is: Do you still believe it?

Humphrey Bogart claimed his first real break in Hollywood came from his ability to multitask: he could smoke a cigarette and deliver his lines at the same time. Multitasking is a daily fact of life for most of us. Heck, you may be reading this post while flipping between windows, sitting in a meeting, on even while on call. I hope you’re not driving! Truth is, though, the brain is crap at multitasking. So bad, in fact, it doesn’t even try. Instead it switches between tasks, doing one for a time and then putting it on hold and swapping to the next. What we think of as “multitasking” is actually task-switching and it comes with a cost. The cost of switching between two tasks is pretty significant too. Though the time cost may be only fractions of a second each time, these costs accumulate with each switch. So even someone who appears to be multitasking efficiently might be incurring significant costs of their cognitive processing time! Joshua Rubenstein and his colleagues conducted four experiments to measure how efficiently people completed tasks either in isolation or when switching between them. For example, in a really simple task where participants saw a letter and a number (e.g. “7H”) and were asked to name only of them, switching between letters and numbers slowed responses by approximately 40%. The true cost of multitasking is arguably not efficiency loss, but how it impairs our mental well-being. In one study which simulated an office environment, the researchers found that participants reported significantly higher stress, frustration, workload, effort, and pressure after only 20 mins of multitasking compared to participants who hadn’t switched between tasks. Focus is the antidote to multitasking. When you spend an extended period of time on a single task, focusing all your attention on it, you are capable of accomplishing far more than trying to do many things at once. There are many great ways to practice focus: reading, exercising, meditating or even going to the cinema. They key is to remain in the moment and not interrupt yourself with distractions. It’s a classic use-it-or-lose-it scenario. If you constantly task switch without giving yourself regular time to focus on a single thing, it becomes harder to focus when you really need it. What are some of your favourite focused activities to engage in? #Neuroscience #Multitasking #Productivity #BrainHealth

Multi-tasking: A Productivity Myth Research shows that multi-tasking can reduce efficiency by up to 40% (Harvard Business Studies). Yet, many of us still try to juggle tasks, whether it’s reading and listening to music or texting during a meeting. Studies in neuroscience reveal that our brains don’t actually do tasks simultaneously. Instead, we rapidly switch between tasks, a process that disrupts focus, increases mistakes, and drains energy. Want proof? Try this: 1. Draw two horizontal lines on a sheet of paper. 2. Time yourself as you: • Write “I am a great multitasker” on the first line. • Write the numbers 1–20 sequentially on the second. Now, try multi-tasking: 1. Draw two more lines. 2. Write one letter from the sentence on the first line, then switch to write a number on the second, alternating until you complete both. You’ll likely find it takes more time, with errors and frustration. The next time you feel like multi-tasking, consider the impact on your focus and energy. Sometimes, multi-tasking is unavoidable, especially for working mothers, but when possible, focus on one thing at a time. Choose wisely. #multitasking #leadershipdevelopment

💡 Today's Work Smarter, Not Harder tip from your friendly neighborhood behavioral scientist: Stop trying to multi-task. Your brain literally CAN'T. Study after study shows that the human brain cannot and does not "multi-task" (links in comments). The neuroscience research clearly shows that the human brain is incapable of engaging in more than one cognitive task* at a time. Instead, what we think of as "multi-tasking" is our brains rapid-fire switching back and forth between cognitive tasks, consistently taking longer overall than "single-tasking" and introducing greater error and less creativity into our work. Rather than trying to get better at multi-tasking, strategic leaders focus on getting better at prioritization and energy management and intentionally work to MINIMIZE the cognitive switching that consistently erodes focus, performance, and innovation—a.k.a. "multi-tasking." The even MORE strategic leaders develop and coach their team members to do the same, designing work flows, ways of working, and collaboration norms that help team members prioritize, stay focused, and strategically single-task to deliver consistently exceptional results while preventing the burnout, exhaustion, and overwhelm that tank productivity, engagement, and retention. *While our brains can't engage in more than one cognitive task at a time, we can engage in a cognitive and non-cognitive task simultaneously. For example, you can load the dishwasher while listening to a podcast, walk on the treadmill while reading an ebook, etc. #LeadershipDevelopment #GreatLeaders #WorkDesign ID: A woman with five arms wearing a suit and trying to juggle multiple tasks while looking stressed, under a banner that reads: Work Smarter Not Harder: The Myth of Multitasking. -- As always, thoughts and views are my own and do not represent those of my past, current, or future employers.

I used to think multitasking was an effective skill set. But neuroscience is saying otherwise. Studies now show that constantly switching tasks can actually age the brain faster, shrinking gray matter and reducing cognitive performance over time. I’ve started shifting my focus toward single-tasking with intention. I am working to silence notifications during deep work, batch similar tasks together, and leave space between calls or meetings to actually think. Sharing this insight in hopes it makes you think twice about multitasking based on these new findings.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞—𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝." Multitasking is killing your productivity, and here’s the science to prove it: 📉 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐲 40% when you multitask (American Psychological Association). 🕒 It takes 23 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 15 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 to refocus after every distraction (University of California, Irvine). 🧠 Multitasking lowers your IQ by 10 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬—the same as losing an entire night of sleep (University of London). Here’s the truth: Trying to juggle everything means you excel at nothing. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲? 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞-𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 1️⃣ 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: Protect uninterrupted blocks of time for deep, focused work. 2️⃣ 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲: Start every day by identifying your top three goals—and ignore the rest. 3️⃣ 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Turn off notifications and close unnecessary tabs. Your brain will thank you. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐃𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 Leaders who focus deeply on one task at a time are: ✔ 500% 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 than those who switch tasks constantly (Cal Newport, Deep Work). ✔ They see a 31% 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 by freeing up mental space. ✔ And their teams perform 25% 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 when the leader models focused work. The next time you’re tempted to multitask, ask yourself: 𝐀𝐦 𝐈 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲—𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐦 𝐈 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐞? 𝑾𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓? 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒕—𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔. #DeepWork #Leadership #Productivity #SmartWork #Focus