Multitasking Isn’t What It Promised
Multitasking had a great promise: do more, move faster, stay responsive.
Somewhere along the way, it even became a quiet badge of honor; “I’m good at juggling a lot.”
And many are.
The problem is not capability. It’s cost.
Because at the end of a packed day, you can feel busy from morning to night and still look back and realize fewer things were actually finished.
That gap isn’t about discipline.
It’s about switching.
But here’s the part most don’t consider…the multitasking fine print.
What Switching Does to Your Brain
On paper, multitasking makes sense. If you keep multiple plates spinning, nothing stalls.
But your brain doesn’t move between tasks the way your browser flips between tabs.
Every time you jump from one task to another, your brain has to let go of the current content, load the new one, and reorient to what matters.
That reset takes energy.
Researchers call it a “switching cost,” often described as attention residue — the portion of your focus that lingers on the previous task even after you’ve moved on. It isn’t dramatic.
You experience it as slightly slower thinking, reduced clarity, and a little friction getting started again.
Individually, those moments feel minor. Stacked across a day of interruptions, they explain why progress feels heavier than it should.
Have you ever started an email, taken a call, grabbed coffee, handled a “quick” side-task, and returned an hour later to realize it’s still unsent – even though it would’ve taken less than 5 minutes to complete?
That’s residue, and it interferes with finishing. Which is why days packed with activity can still feel oddly unproductive.
A Small Phrase That Changed How I Work
There’s a phrase my Pilates teacher uses that stuck with me.
She’ll say, “hold for service.”
It simply means: let your brain finish one instruction before moving on to the next.
You don’t have to camp out there. Just complete it.
I liked it so much that I started using it at work!
Now, if I’m in the middle of thinking something through and someone jumps in, I’ll say—lightly—“hold for service.”
It’s my way of signaling that I need to finish the thought before shifting.
It’s friendly. It works.
What I’ve realized is this: much of the fatigue I attributed to “a lot going on” was really the strain of too many unfinished things competing for space in my head.
Completion is surprisingly calming.
The Myth of “I Work Best This Way”
Some people can genuinely tolerate more background input than others. Some can work with music on. Some prefer silence. That’s wiring.
I’ve learned my nervous system isn’t built for a lot of simultaneous input. Sometimes I wish it were.
Here’s what I’ve seen consistently, regardless of tolerance level: even people who can handle more stimulation still produce their best work when they stay with one task long enough to finish it.
Tolerance isn’t the same as efficiency.
That’s why research on focus and flow keeps pointing to the same conclusion:
Sustained attention isn’t a luxury. It’s what allows decisions to get made and work to actually ship.
What Multitasking Really Became
Multitasking wasn’t a productivity strategy.
Over time, it became a coping strategy.
A way to survive days that were never designed for focus in the first place. But the hidden tradeoff is simple:
You touch more and finish less. Momentum doesn’t come from motion; it comes from completion. Completion clears the cognitive space needed to build with confidence.
💡Your Turn
Instead of asking, How do I get better at multitasking? Try this:
What would change if my day were designed to let me finish things?
Finish the task. Finish the thought. Finish the conversation.
Less switching. More finishing.
Cheers to momentum,
Laurie