The myth of multitasking

Is it actually adding to your overwhelm? Plus, what to do about it...

Jun 24, 2025

I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re reading this whilst also doing something else.

After all, technology has made it hard (strange even!) to focus on one thing at a time. Information comes at us from all directions, our phones ping incessantly, distraction is always an option.

Everything vies for our focus and attention and in a world of plenty, it’s bloody hard to choose. Be honest now, can you even remember the last time you watched TV without your phone nearby…? (You may even be watching TV right now!)

This ability to multitask, to ‘effortlessly’ swap from one thing to the next, is human nature. The fact that we can flexibly shift between what requires our attention has enabled us to thrive as a species, and we’re pretty good at it as a result. But it does come at a cost…

In fact, studies consistently show that the human brain is incapable of multitasking, that we cannot work on more than one cognitive task at a time. What we think of as ‘multitasking’ is actually the brain rapidly switching back and forth between tasks.

And this incurs what psychology professor Anthony Sali calls a “switch-cost” – whereby the brain has to disengage from one task and switch to another. Basically, when you swap tasks, there’s a delay in your brain as it works to store any information related to the task it’s being asked to abandon and direct its attention to the new one.

Switching uses brain power, attention and focus – and the more these things are depleted, the more overwhelmed we will begin to feel.

Plus while we might think we are making great use of our time, studies show that people almost always take longer to finish a task and make more mistakes when switching than when they focus on one at a time.

(Fun fact, 93% of people say they can multitask “better than or as well as” the average person, which is, of course, statistically impossible...)

Anyway, a few questions to ask yourself to train your brain to minimise multitasking include:

· Do I really need to check my email/socials now?

· What am I prioritising by switching my attention?

· Will this switch add to my aim/goal?

· Can this switch wait (insert amount of time)?

There’s also a few exercises and techniques I’ve written about before that can help with focus and minimise procrastination and overwhelm, try:

· The Priorities Matrix

· Eat that Frog

· How Do I Stop Procrastinating?

And I’d love to hear how you get on!

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