The Real Cost of Multitasking on Your Mind and Wellbeing

What It's Doing to Your Mind and Stress Levels

In the business world, juggling multiple tasks has long been seen as a badge of honour. Answering emails while in meetings. Eating lunch on the go or not even taking a break. Typing up reports while managing a team. It feels like we’re being efficient. But the science says otherwise and so does our nervous system.

According to Professor Paul Dux, a neuroscientist at the University of Queensland, multitasking isn't the productivity hack it's cracked up to be. In fact, it comes at a cost: poor performance, fractured attention, and higher mental fatigue.

Dux explains that to do a task well, your brain needs to give it proper attention. Trying to split that focus across multiple demands doesn't work. The brain just isn't built to handle it.

Neuroscientist Ragnar Purje takes it even further, saying multitasking is a myth altogether. What we’re really doing is task-switching jumping from one thing to another. Every time we switch, our brain has to readjust, and that adjustment creates cognitive strain. Think: more effort, less calm.

How Multitasking Drains Your Mental Wellbeing

When we move between tasks too quickly or too often, the brain becomes overwhelmed. This constant flicking between different kinds of work contributes to mental clutter, stress, and eventually, burnout. It also leads to errors, forgetfulness, and feeling like you’re always 'on' but never really productive.

For corporate professionals, executives, and business owners, this matters. You’re making decisions all day. People depend on you. And the more pressure you’re under, the more tempting it is to try to do everything at once.

But what if working smarter meant slowing down?

3 Micro Habits to Help You Work With Focus

1. Use the Pomodoro Technique Set a timer for 25 minutes and focus on one task only. No emails, no distractions. After 25 minutes, take a short break. Repeat. This method helps you stay mentally fresh and gives your brain predictable pockets of rest.

2. Batch Similar Tasks Together Group emails, calls, and admin into specific time blocks during the day. This reduces task-switching and gives your brain time to stay in a similar mode of thinking. It’s easier, calmer, and more efficient.

3. Create Buffer Zones Between Tasks Instead of rushing from one meeting to the next, schedule five-minute gaps where possible. Use that time to breathe, stretch, or step outside. It acts like a mental reset, which supports long-term focus and wellbeing.

Multitasking might look productive, but it's not doing your mind any favours. Reframing how you manage your day even in small ways can bring a sense of calm back to your work. 

And that calm? It tends to lead to clearer thinking, better output, and a healthier way of doing business.

Stay well. 

Storm Dawson 

PA & Wellness Event Host

Reference: Sydney Herald, "The problem with multitasking" featuring insights from Professor Paul Dux and Ragnar Purje.