Introduction: The Myth of Multitasking
Let’s say, you are on a video call, and suddenly a notification pops up, and you are now scrolling through messages and walking in the streets. It feels like you are managing it all, I used to think so too, but your brain is not. It’s just jumping between tasks and losing focus each time.
Constant notifications pull our attention in every direction, something I talked about in my post on “The Powerful Effect of a 10-Day Digital Detox“.
From years we have been told that multitasking is the best skill and a sign of efficiency in this fast digital world. But science says something else, your brain is not built to handle two things at the same time. Multitasking isn’t a skill. It’s something that seems productive, but it makes you lose your focus over time. In this article, we will explore why multitasking doesn’t work the way we think it does and what happens inside your brain when you try and how focusing on one thing at a time can make you sharper, calmer, and faster.
Your Brain Was Never Built for Multitasking
Imagine your brain as a high-performance computer, powerful, precise but built to run only one heavy program at a time. When you try to open too many programs at once, it doesn’t process them together. It jumps back and forth, which wastes your time and energy with every switch.
That’s because our brain was not made to do multiple things at once. The front part of your brain works like a control center. It helps you decide what to look at and what to do first. But your brain can only do one thing at a time. If you try to do two things, it has to stop one before starting the other.
When you keep jumping between things, it feels like you are being fast, but you are really slowing yourself down. Your brain needs a second to catch up each time, and that’s when you start losing focus or making little mistakes.
When your brain jumps between tasks, it loses a bit of time and focuses each time. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that the brain must reset itself whenever we switch, it needs a moment to refocus and figure out what to do next.
These repeated switches slow down reaction time and increase the chance of making mistakes, especially when both tasks require active thinking. The result is more effort, more stress, and less true progress.
I have caught myself replying to a text during class and then realizing I didn’t hear half of what was said. It tries to divide your attention, but in truth, it’s just switching rapidly, doing both jobs halfway.
What Actually Happens: Task Switching, Not Multitasking
You know when you are writing something and a message pop up? You look at your phone, then back at your screen. That little back and forth is what scientists call “task switching”.
Each time your attention jumps, your brain has to pause one process and start another. The switch happens so fast that it feels simultaneous, but it’s not.
Your prefrontal cortex acts like a traffic controller, it keeps deciding where to direct attention next. The more often it switches lanes, the slower and less efficient you become.
This is the hidden truth behind multitasking, it’s not true multitasking at all, just your brain rapidly alternating between tasks that needs the same kind of attention.
The Science Behind Multitasking
Multitasking might look like you are getting more done, but it slowly drains your brain. Each time you switch from one thing to another, your brain must stop, reset, and start again. Those tiny little pauses don’t seem like much, but they pile up through the day becomes more. The more you jump around, the harder it gets to really focus on anything.
According to neuroscientist Earl Miller from MIT, our brains can’t truly multitask. We just switch attention back and forth and that makes us slower and more likely to make mistakes. All that switching also builds stress, which leaves you tired and mentally drained by the end of the day.
When your focus is split, little mistakes will occur more . You might forget small things, read something wrong, or spend twice the time finishing a simple task. After a while, it starts to feel like you have been busy all day but haven’t really achieved that much.
It also hurts your creativity. Your brain needs quiet time to connect ideas, but when you keep jumping around, those connections are never formed. That’s why your best ideas usually come when you’re calm like when walking, showering, or just daydreaming but not when you are rushing between five different things.
So even though multitasking feels like a shortcut, it costs you more time, accuracy, and peace of mind.
Single Tasking: The Smartest Way to Work
If doing many things at once makes you tired, then doing just one thing gives your mind a break. It means focusing on one job and giving it your best. When you stop jumping between different things, your brain gets a chance to think properly, and everything feels a lot easier.
Doing one thing at a time doesn’t only make you quicker, it also helps you stay calm. You begin to notice the little things you used to miss, and your thoughts feel less messy.
Scientists say this works because the front part of your brain can focus better when it isn’t distracted all the time. You feel less stress and more interest in what you’re doing. That’s when you get into a nice “flow,” where you enjoy the work and time passes without you even noticing.
When you focus on one thing, you also remember it better because your brain understands it more deeply.
In simple words, when you give your full attention to one task, you don’t just get more done you do it better.
Conclusion
Our brains are smart, but they can only focus on one thing at a time. When we try to do many things at once, we get tired, we make mistakes and forget things. Doing one task at a time helps our brain to stay calm and do much better work.
When you give all your attention to one thing, it’s easier to think, learn, and finish what you start.
So next time when you are studying, working, or even just cooking dinner, try doing one thing fully. You will notice how much better it feels and how much more you can do when your mind is focused.
Final Thoughts, “One task. One focus. That’s how real progress starts.”
References
Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27(4), 763–797. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.27.4.763
Miller, E. K. (2001). The prefrontal cortex and cognitive control. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2(1), 59–65. https://doi.org/10.1038/35049075
American Psychological Association. (2013, January 1). Multitasking: Switching costs. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask
News-Medical. (2024, March 12). Why your brain struggles with multitasking (and what to do instead). https://www.news-medical.net/health/Why-Your-Brain-Struggles-With-Multitasking-(And-What-to-Do-Instead).aspx
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