You’ve got a long list of things to do today. Fourteen emails waiting for replies, two tasks that need updates, and three pull requests needing your review. So, you open a tab for each one and try to tackle them all at the same time. By the end of the day, you realise none of them are actually finished. But why does that happen?
The answer lies in how you approached your work. You were multitasking, or what I like to call, multi-distracting. Contrary to what many people believe, multitasking doesn’t make us more productive. In fact, it tends to slow us down.
What Does Multitasking Really Mean?
Multitasking is often just rapid task-switching in disguise. You might start working on task A, then suddenly remember task B, so you switch to that. Before you finish, you realise task C is also pending, and soon you’re jumping between all three.
This behaviour is sometimes referred to as “continuous partial attention,” a term introduced in 1998. In this mode, each task gets only a fraction of your focus because you’re trying to keep an eye on everything at once, afraid to miss out on any of it.
The thing is, not everyone is built for multitasking. A study by a psychology professor at the University of Utah found that only around 2% of people are genuinely good at multitasking. That means the rest of us are likely just fooling ourselves. The so-called “supertaskers” are rare outliers.
Why Does It Hurt Productivity?
When you try to juggle two projects at once, or sit in a meeting while typing a report, or even listen to your phone while driving, your brain does not open a new window and handle everything simultaneously. Instead, it enters a state known as task switching.
Research shows that our brains aren’t designed to do multiple cognitive tasks at once. What’s really happening is that we’re shifting attention back and forth between tasks. And each time we do, our brain has to pause, refocus, and get back up to speed. That brief mental reset adds up over time.
The more you switch, the more you lose track of what you were doing. Developers can end up with messy code and bugs. Writers may find their work lacks flow or coherence. And in situations like driving, the consequences of divided attention can be dangerous.
A study by Bryan College found that multitasking while doing cognitive work can lower your IQ by as much as 15 points. On top of that, it can reduce productivity by up to 40 percent. Just think about that. You might be spending nearly half your working hours bouncing between tasks without completing any of them properly. Voluntary task interruptions are a major cause of this drop in efficiency.
- What Can You or Your Leaders Do About It?
When your focus is constantly broken, the quality of your work drops. It also becomes harder to manage stress, and over time, this scattered attention can lead to burnout. Each job gets less of your brainpower, and that means the final result will never match what you could produce with undivided focus.
Multitasking tends to be more common in remote work setups. Not because remote work is flawed, but because things like long morning stand-ups or back-to-back meetings push people to try doing multiple things at once. This kind of fragmented focus has a direct impact on team performance, especially from a leadership point of view.
So what can be done? Here are some practical steps you or your leaders can try:
- Encourage Single-Tasking
This is easier said than done, especially when your backlog looks overwhelming. Still, it’s important to shift the focus from doing everything at once to completing one task at a time, and doing it well. One technique that helps is time blocking or time chunking.
With time blocking, you assign a specific period to focus on a single activity. For example, spend one or two hours coding without checking your phone or email. Then take thirty minutes to handle messages or emails. Of course, exceptions exist for urgent calls or emergencies, but the principle remains valuable.
- Build Digital Discipline
Everyone on the team should commit to boundaries. This means creating meeting-free times, turning off unnecessary notifications, and respecting the time blocks others have set. It also includes setting your status on Slack or Microsoft Teams thoughtfully. That status feature isn’t just for show.
Personally, I use three simple indicators:
- Green means I’m available for chats or meetings.
- Yellow means I’m working, so I might respond with a delay.
- Red means please don’t disturb unless it’s critical, like a server outage.
Agree on these signals as a team. Make it a habit that supports focused work across the board.
Read here to learn how to master inbox zero.
- Clarify Communication Expectations
Some discussions could be an email. Others might be better as a chat message. Leaders, this one’s especially for you. Help your team figure out what really needs a meeting, and what doesn’t.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, we know multitasking isn’t as productive as it seems. But recognising the problem isn’t enough. Improving team productivity also requires awareness from management and leadership.
Leading by example with a single-tasking approach can lead to sharper decisions, better results, and a calmer, more focused workplace.
Sure, it’s tough in the beginning. But try building the habit step by step. Reduce context switching, train your team in time blocking, and encourage regular reflection. These are the things that help new habits stick.
Run a one-week experiment without multitasking and see how it goes. You might be surprised by the results.
