For people obsessed with efficiency, multitasking has long been celebrated as the gold standard of productivity.
Juggling emails while attending meetings, responding to texts while writing reports – these behaviours are often seen as hallmarks of a high-performing individual.
But mounting research says otherwise: multitasking isn’t just overrated; it’s actually undermining your performance.
Numerous studies have shown that the human brain isn’t wired to perform multiple tasks at once – at least not effectively.
What we often call multitasking is actually task-switching, a process in which the brain rapidly shifts attention from one activity to another.
This constant switching creates cognitive drag.
Research from Stanford University and other institutions reveals that multitasking reduces efficiency and can even lower IQ scores by up to 10 points – an effect comparable to sleep deprivation, marijuana use or alcohol effects.
A 2024 study published in Frontiers in Psychology reinforces this, showing that frequent multitaskers struggle to enter a “flow” state – that sweet spot of focus where deep work happens. Instead, they’re more likely to feel stressed, distracted, and mentally fatigued.
The more we divide our attention, the more errors we make and the longer each task takes to complete. Multitasking, paradoxically, leads to doing less – not more.
Even worse, the quality of our work suffers.
Whether it’s writing an email while on a Zoom call or checking social media while studying, the depth of thinking required for each task is diluted.
In high-stakes environments like healthcare, aviation and parenting, the cost of this decreased accuracy can be significant.
Not all multitasking is inherently bad.
Walking while talking, for instance, involves combining a habitual physical task and a cognitive task, which the brain can often handle.
When both tasks demand mental effort, the limitations become clear. Cognitive training and mindfulness practices can help people manage attention more effectively – but they don’t make true multitasking any more viable.
If you want to work smarter, not harder, stop kidding yourself that trying to do everything at once really works.
Start monotasking and give your full attention to one task at a time, you’ll likely find you do better work in less time.
