Ever feel like you’re juggling a million things but finishing none? Managers and executives often think multitasking is essential for keeping up with constant emails, meetings, and decisions. After all, aren’t successful people known for handling numerous priorities and pushing through?
However, the fact is, multitasking is a myth, and studies confirm it. Stanford University research showed that people who think they’re excellent multitaskers do worse than those who concentrate on one thing at a time. They have trouble filtering information, switching between tasks effectively, and staying productive. Basically, what seems to boost productivity actually hinders it.
For leaders, the effect is even more significant. Constantly splitting your attention weakens your ability to make decisions, increases stress, and sets a poor example for your team. When employees see their leaders multitasking, they’re more likely to copy those same unproductive habits—resulting in errors, burnout, and a company culture focused on being busy, not truly productive.
So, if multitasking isn’t the key to success, what is? In this article, we’ll explore why multitasking is a myth, how it creates problems for leadership success, and what you can do instead to improve focus, decision-making, and overall performance.
Let’s get started.
The Science Behind Why Multitasking Is a Myth
Multitasking seems great at first. Answering emails during meetings or quickly switching between tasks sounds like a productivity win. But science disagrees. Human brains aren’t built for effective multitasking. We’re really just switching between tasks rapidly—and paying a price.
Why the Brain Cannot Truly Multitask?
Our brains have limited cognitive capacity—they can only handle so much at once. Think of your brain like a computer. Too many programs running? Performance slows, and the system struggles. Instead of handling multiple tasks at the same time, the brain task-switches, shifting focus. Each switch has a cognitive cost—a task-switching cost reducing efficiency and increasing mistakes.
Task-Switching Costs and Their Impact on Efficiency
Every task switch requires brain reorientation and refocusing. This takes time—even a split second—but adds up over the day. The American Psychological Association (APA) found that task-switching can cut productivity to a great level. The reason? Your brain resets focus each time, creating delays and lowering work quality.
Key task-switching effects:
- ✔ Slower performance – Switching makes work take longer than doing tasks one by one.
- ✔ More mistakes – The brain loses details with constant focus shifts, causing errors.
- ✔ Increased mental fatigue – Task-switching drains energy, making it harder to stay productive.
Multitasking’s Impact on Working Memory
Multitasking doesn’t just slow you down—it hurts working memory, and the brain’s ability to hold and process information. Trying to do multiple things makes it harder to store and recall information, hindering focus and task completion. Also, multitasking increases stress. Frequent task switching releases cortisol, the stress hormone. This can lead to exhaustion, decision fatigue, and reduced problem-solving—all critical for leaders.
Multitasking is not just inefficient—it’s actively harmful to productivity, focus, and leadership. Instead of juggling tasks, managers and executives should single-task, minimize distractions, and improve deep work habits.
How Multitasking Undermines Leadership?
Many managers and executives take pride in multitasking. They answer emails during meetings, review reports on calls, and jump between urgent tasks, feeling productive. However, in reality, multitasking weakens leadership and creates long-term problems for individual performance and team dynamics.
Weakens Decision-Making
Successful leaders need clear thinking and strategic decision-making. However, multitasking reduces cognitive sharpness, making it harder to process information and make informed choices. Leaders who constantly divide their attention may miss critical details, make impulsive choices, or delay important decisions due to cognitive overload.
Imagine a CEO responding to Slack messages while reviewing a quarterly report. This divided attention could lead to misinterpreting key metrics, resulting in flawed strategies.
Increases Stress and Mental Fatigue
Leadership is demanding, and multitasking makes it even more exhausting. Every time a leader switches tasks, the brain works harder to reorient itself, leading to mental fatigue and higher stress.
Executives who regularly multitask experience higher stress and burnout compared to those who focus on one task at a time. Why? Cognitive overload. When the brain constantly shifts gears, it depletes energy faster, making it harder to stay engaged and productive.
High stress levels from multitasking can also negatively impact emotional intelligence, causing leaders to become:
- ✔ Less patient and more reactive under pressure
- ✔ More prone to miscommunication and misunderstandings
- ✔ Less effective at mentoring and guiding their teams
Hurts Team Performance
Leaders set the tone for their teams. When executives multitask, their employees likely follow suit, believing that constantly juggling tasks is the only way to keep up. But this leads to:
- ✔ Reduced productivity – Employees mirror their leader’s behavior, leading to distracted work and lower efficiency.
- ✔ Increased errors – A study by the University of California found that multitasking environments increase the mistakes ratio.
- ✔ Lower engagement – Employees pressured to multitask are more likely to feel overwhelmed and disengaged.
Imagine a manager checking emails during one-on-one meetings with employees. This sends a message that divided attention is acceptable, reducing the quality of team interactions and damaging workplace relationships.
Creates a Culture of Busyness, Not Productivity
One of the biggest myths in leadership is that busyness equals success. Many organizations reward leaders who seem constantly busy—rushing between meetings, handling multiple priorities, and appearing always available. But busyness does not equal effectiveness.
Instead of valuing output and deep thinking, a multitasking culture creates:
- ✔ Shallow work habits – Employees focus on quick, reactive tasks instead of deep, strategic work.
- ✔ A lack of prioritization – Leaders struggle to identify and focus on high-impact tasks.
- ✔ Constant interruptions – A culture where responding instantly takes priority over meaningful progress.
Successful leadership is not about doing more—it’s about doing what matters most with full focus.
Multitasking may seem like a leadership skill, but it actually weakens decision-making, increases stress, harms team performance, and fosters a culture of busyness instead of productivity. The best leaders know that deep focus leads to better outcomes—for themselves and their teams.
The Illusion of Productivity: Why Leaders Fall for Multitasking
If multitasking is so harmful, why do so many leaders still do it? It’s the illusion of productivity—the false sense that juggling multiple tasks means getting more done.
For busy executives and managers, multitasking feels efficient. Responding to emails during meetings or skimming reports while making decisions feels satisfying. However this scattered approach reduces work quality, increases errors, and drains mental energy.
Let’s break down the three biggest reasons why leaders fall for the multitasking trap.
The Dopamin Effect
Multitasking creates a temporary sense of accomplishment, even when it’s ineffective. Every task switch—checking email, replying to a message, or skimming a report—releases dopamine, the “reward” chemical.
This dopamine hit makes you feel productive, even if work quality suffers. Instead of focusing deeply on one high-impact task, your brain craves quick, easy wins, reinforcing constant switching.
A University of California, Irvine, study found that after an interruption, it takes workers an average of 23 minutes to fully refocus. That quick email check isn’t harmless—it’s stealing valuable time from meaningful work.
The Myth of Multitaskers are Great
Many executives believe they’re “great multitaskers,” handling multiple priorities efficiently. But science proves otherwise.
- ✔ The Stanford University multitasking study found that people who think they’re the best at multitasking actually perform the worst. They struggle with filtering information, maintaining focus, and switching between tasks efficiently.
- ✔ The American Psychological Association (APA) confirms that multitasking reduces productivity, meaning tasks take longer.
Reality check: If you think multitasking makes you productive, it’s likely the opposite—it’s slowing you down.
The Pressure to Always Be Available
In today’s digital world, managers and executives feel a constant need to be responsive. Emails, Slack, and phone calls create an “always-on” work culture, making it hard to focus deeply.
Instead of setting boundaries, many leaders try to keep up with everything at once—which leads to:
- ✔ Shallow work – Rushed, low-quality output.
- ✔ Decision fatigue – Mental exhaustion from too many rapid choices.
- ✔ Burnout – Chronic stress from feeling pulled in multiple directions.
The best leaders aren’t those who respond to every email instantly. They’re the ones who protect their time for deep, strategic thinking.
Multitasking feels productive, but it’s an illusion. The dopamine effect, overconfidence in multitasking skills, and pressure to always be available keep leaders stuck in ineffective habits. The solution? Breaking free from the busyness trap and prioritizing focus over fragmented work.
How Successful Leaders Cultivate Focus?
If multitasking is a myth, what’s the alternative? The best leaders don’t juggle everything at once—they protect their focus, manage their time strategically, and prioritize deep work over scattered attention.
Eliminating multitasking doesn’t mean doing less—it means doing what matters most with full attention. Here are four powerful strategies successful leaders use to cultivate focus and improve productivity.
Embracing Deep Work for Maximum Productivity
Deep work, a concept from Cal Newport, means fully focusing on a single, high-value task without distractions. Unlike shallow work (quick emails, notifications, and task-switching), deep work allows leaders to:
- ✔ Solve complex problems faster
- ✔ Think strategically without distractions
- ✔ Improve decision-making and creativity
How to implement deep work?
- ✔ Schedule uninterrupted focus blocks in your calendar (e.g., 90-minute work sprints).
- ✔ Turn off notifications during deep work sessions.
- ✔ Set “do not disturb” hours for emails and messages.
Using Time Blocking to Structure the Day
Time blocking is a simple but powerful technique where leaders dedicate specific time slots to different types of work. Instead of reacting to emails and meetings all day, they structure their schedule for maximum efficiency.
For example:
- ✔ 8 AM – 10 AM: Focused strategy work (no emails or meetings).
- ✔ 10 AM – 12 PM: Meetings and team check-ins.
- ✔ 1 PM – 3 PM: Deep work on high-priority projects.
- ✔ 3 PM – 5 PM: Admin tasks and email responses.
Prioritizing Single-Tasking Over Multitasking
Single-tasking is the opposite of multitasking—it means focusing on one task at a time and finishing it before moving on.
A simple single-tasking technique is the Eisenhower Matrix, which helps leaders identify what’s truly important:
- ✔ Urgent & Important: Do it now (critical tasks).
- ✔ Important but Not Urgent: Schedule it for later (strategic work).
- ✔ Urgent but Not Important: Delegate it (tasks others can handle).
- ✔ Neither Urgent nor Important: Eliminate it (low-value tasks).
Instead of constantly switching between low-priority distractions, leaders can focus their energy on high-impact work.
Setting Boundaries for Digital Distractions
Digital distractions are the biggest enemy of focus. A Harvard Business Review study found that professionals check their email every 37 minutes on average—meaning they’re constantly task-switching.
How to minimize distractions?
- ✔ Batch email responses (only check email 2-3 times a day).
- ✔ Mute unnecessary notifications on Slack, Teams, or messaging apps.
- ✔ Use focus tools like website blockers (e.g., Freedom, StayFocusd) to prevent mindless scrolling.
Successful leaders don’t multitask—they cultivate focus by prioritizing deep work, using time blocking, embracing single-tasking, and eliminating distractions. The result? More productivity, better decision-making, and lower stress.
Transforming Workplace Culture to Reduce Multitasking
Breaking free from multitasking isn’t just about personal habits—it’s about changing workplace culture. If an organization rewards constant busyness, employees will feel pressured to multitask, leading to decreased productivity, higher stress, and more errors.
Leaders play a crucial role in setting the tone. When executives prioritize focus, encourage deep work, and model healthy work habits, the entire organization benefits. Here’s how to create a work environment that values focus over multitasking.
Lead by Example
Leaders shape company culture through their behavior. If a CEO is always distracted in meetings, checking emails, or rushing between tasks, employees will follow suit.
- ✔ Demonstrate deep work: Block out time for focused work and communicate when you’re unavailable for distractions.
- ✔ Be present in meetings: Give full attention instead of multitasking on a laptop or phone.
- ✔ Encourage single-tasking: Promote quality work over speed and remind employees that focus leads to better results.
When leaders set the example, employees are more likely to embrace single-tasking and deep focus.
Implement Company Policies That Reduce Multitasking
Many workplaces unintentionally encourage multitasking by rewarding availability over effectiveness. Simple policy changes can promote a more focused, productive work environment.
- ✔ Create meeting-free time blocks: Set designated hours where employees can work without interruptions.
- ✔ Discourage unnecessary notifications: Encourage team members to turn off non-essential alerts during deep work sessions.
- ✔ Restructure meetings for efficiency: Keep them short, focused, and free of distractions (no checking emails or Slack).
Organizations like Microsoft and Google have introduced similar policies, allowing employees to protect their time for high-value work.
Train Employees to Prioritize Focus Over Busyness
Many employees feel pressured to be “always on”, responding instantly to messages and juggling multiple tasks. Training programs can help shift this mindset.
- ✔ Workshops on deep work and time management: Teach employees techniques like time blocking and single-tasking.
- ✔ Encourage strategic work habits: Provide guidance on identifying high-impact tasks vs. shallow work.
- ✔ Recognize focused productivity: Shift performance metrics from “time spent working” to “quality of output.”
Leaders must create a workplace culture that values focus over multitasking. By modeling deep work, implementing company-wide policies, and training employees to prioritize strategic thinking, organizations can boost productivity, reduce burnout, and improve work quality.
Final Thoughts
For years, we’ve believed multitasking is a vital skill for great leaders—an ability to juggle many things at once. But research shows multitasking is a myth. It doesn’t make leaders more productive; it actually weakens them. Constantly switching between tasks makes it harder to think strategically and make good decisions. It also increases stress and mental fatigue, leading to burnout and poor performance. Perhaps most damaging, it creates a culture of busyness, not productivity, where employees copy their leaders and become distracted and inefficient.
The most successful leaders don’t multitask—they prioritize focused work, manage their time well, and set an example for others. By eliminating multitasking and embracing single-tasking, time-blocking, and distraction-free work, managers and executives can become more efficient, reduce stress, and improve their decision-making.
Breaking free from multitasking takes time, but small, consistent changes can lead to big improvements in leadership and workplace culture. Start by setting aside distraction-free time for important tasks, leading by example, and creating an environment that supports deep focus.
The best leaders aren’t the busiest; they are the ones who protect their focus and make every moment count. Are you ready to stop multitasking and start leading more effectively? Make the shift today, and experience the difference focused leadership can bring to your career and your team.
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