For many high-achieving and ambitious women, the ability to multi-task was often sold as a recipe for professional success. According to productivity experts and behavioural scientists, multi-tasking isn’t actually something to be celebrated; in fact, it’s a damaging myth that harms women. 

Multi-tasking is a lie. There, we said it. For as long as we can remember, we’ve celebrated the ability to perform multiple tasks at the same time as the ultimate badge of honour. At work, many high-achieving ambitious women have been sold the same story: that our ability to multitask and master the art of plate-balancing was a fail-proof path to success. However, according to productivity experts and behavioural scientists, multi-tasking isn’t actually something to be celebrated; in fact, it’s a damaging myth that harms women's ambitions. 

The idea of multi-tasking first originated in the 1960s, used in reference to a single computer carrying out two or more tasks simultaneously. (You can already see how adapting a concept originally intended for computer functionalities to describe human capabilities is problematic.) Eventually, the concept became adopted in the workplace and lauded as a sign of efficiency and competency. 

This later morphed into gendered tropes of women as “natural multitaskers”, innately and effortlessly able to balance the socially constructed demands of juggling a paid job while running a household and taking care of those around them. It’s a myth that remains perpetuated in popular culture and the media (even backed by questionable research) till recently. After all, how often have we been fed with images of the ‘multi-tasking supermom’, juggling everything from housework and kids’ lunchboxes to organizing social dinners on top of everything else? 

"This later morphed into gendered tropes of women as “natural multitaskers”, innately and effortlessly able to balance the socially constructed demands of juggling a paid job while running a household and taking care of those around them. It’s a myth that remains perpetuated in popular culture and the media (even backed by questionable research) till recently.”

The case against multitasking

According to leading productivity experts and behavioural scientists, the widely-held glorification of multitasking is a lie – and a damaging one. From as early as the mid-90s, scientists have known and illustrated that not only does multi-tasking negatively impact efficiency, but it also erodes your brain’s capacity. 

In her book, Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day, cognitive neuroscientist and author Dr. Amishi P. Jha reveals that what we are generally doing when we think we are multi-tasking is actually switching between tasks. This is exhausting for the brain because the entire brain has to adapt to a new task, which bears an energy cost.    

“When someone multitasks projects, they are unable to deliver (projects) on time, even with a reasonable buffer around deadlines, due to the time and mental focus lost when context-switching between tasks. They’re also more likely to feel overwhelmed. With that limited mental capacity, you tend to avoid making decisions or go for the lowest-risk options, if you do make a choice. This cost is greater for women, who make more decisions on average and say yes to extra, often non-promotable tasks at work.”

Other psychological studies reveal that when people multi-task, they’re more likely to feel stressed and have worse mental health as a result. Decision scientist Dr Alan Bernard explains that far from making us more effective, multi-tasking overloads cognitive capacity, making it easier for us to feel mentally overwhelmed. He explains that when someone multitasks projects, they are unable to deliver them on time, even with a reasonable buffer around deadlines, due to the time and mental focus lost when context-switching between tasks. They’re also more likely to feel overwhelmed and make more mistakes than if they performed the projects one at a time. 

With that limited mental capacity, you tend to avoid making decisions or go for the lowest-risk options, if you do make a choice. This cost is greater for women, who make more decisions on average and say yes to extra, often non-promotable tasks at work. 

Multi-tasking is a myth that harm women’s ambitions

Research by the author of The No Club Lise Vesterlund reveals that managers ask women to take on new work 44% more than they ask men because women are 50% more likely to say yes. Women also volunteer for assignments roughly 50% more than their male coworkers. These are often ‘non-promotable’ tasks like office busywork; according to McKinsey & Company and Lean In, women leaders are twice as likely as men to spend time on DEI work, with nearly half of them women saying their work isn’t recognized at all during performance review time. 

However, it’s important to note that women don’t take on these tasks because they like them or because they’re particularly suited for them. Rather, they shoulder these added responsibilities because of the different ingrained expectations for women versus men. Not only do women feel an unspoken and internalized expectation to say ‘yes’ to extra work, research shows that they’re also more likely to experience backlash for saying no.

Moving away from multi-tasking to a more focused, intentional way of work

We need to recognize that buying into the myth of multitasking isn’t a recipe for success; it’s a path to burnout. Like many other inequalities women face in the workplace, the unequal burden of non-promotable tasks and ingrained expectations on women is on leaders, not on individual women to fix. Only when this is addressed from the top will women have an equitable chance at focusing on the tasks that will actually get them promoted at the same pace as men. But there are actionable ways that we can move away from the myth of multitasking and towards a more focused work life. Here’s how:

1. Evaluate a task before committing to it. Before committing to a task determine two things: firstly, whether it’s of high value to your organization or team goals, and secondly, if it’s aligned with the performance indicators you are evaluated on. 

2. The power of mindfulness. Dr. Amishi discovered that certain types of mindfulness and mind management techniques can help us learn how to focus better, rather than simply switching from one task to another. In essence, mindfulness is a particular form of cognitive training for our attention. In her book Peak Mind, she suggests a simple exercise to help you practice mindfulness and improve your attention: First, notice your breathing. Focus on a breath-related sensation, such as the coolness of the air passing through your mouth, using your executive function. Use your "flashlight": ie. notice when your mind wanders, and use your executive function to re-direct your thinking. Dr. Amishi's research has found that practising this kind of mindfulness for 12 minutes a day, 4 to 5 times a week, can help support your ability to pay attention during stressful times.

3. Understand your motivation for saying yes. If you still feel compelled to do it, try to understand your motivation for saying yes. Often it’s due to guilt or fear of letting others down.

4. Block off time for concentrated work. In a hyperconnected world of work where you’re constantly fending off emails, Slack messages it can be hard to focus. Block out time in your calendar to work through your most high-value tasks. It’s important to treat these time blocks as non-negotiable calendar events, as you would a meeting invite. Commit to these chunks of time and set a desired outcome you’d like to achieve or a task you intend to complete at the end of it. 

5. Leverage technology. It might seem counterintuitive to use tech to fight the distractions caused by modern technology, but there are various apps that actually help you optimize your focus time. Endel plays AI-powered soundtracks engineered to help your brain focus and tune out distracting sounds and interruptions. Apps like Llama Life help you pace your work day by breaking down your bigger tasks into manageable chunks of time. 

6. Design your environment. Is your current workspace set up to help you focus? Or is it priming you for multitasking? Consider leaving your phone in a different room, or installing distraction-free browser extensions while you work through your tasks. 
   

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