There's a familiar image: the open laptop, half-finished emails, a phone buzzing with messages, a podcast running quietly in the background. The sense that you're doing so much at once. But if you look closer, it isn't more. It's less. This scenario perfectly illustrates the multitasking myth that many of us believe in.

Recent findings from 2024–2025 are surprisingly consistent: multitasking lowers productivity, increases errors, and amplifies stress levels. Single-tasking — the discipline of giving undivided attention to one thing at a time — is proving not only more efficient but also kinder to mental health and overall brain function.

The hidden cost of switching

The brain does not truly handle multiple complex tasks simultaneously. What feels like multitasking is actually rapid task switching — shifting attention back and forth. Every shift comes with a cost, often referred to as switching costs in cognitive neuroscience. Even a small interruption can take minutes to recover from, as attention must rebuild context and recall what was held in working memory capacity.

Studies in 2024 and 2025 show that productivity can drop by as much as 40% under heavy task-switching. Errors multiply. Work slows down, not because the tasks are harder, but because the mind is continually forced to reset. This constant context switching can lead to mental fatigue and decreased cognitive performance.

Stress and cognitive load

The cost is not only lost time. It is also mental bandwidth. Cognitive systems become overloaded when too many demands compete for attention at once. Stress levels rise, decision fatigue sets in, and burnout becomes more likely. This mental overload can have significant effects on multitasking and overall cognitive functioning.

Daily diary research from 2024 showed that fragmented workdays — full of constant switches — left people feeling less effective and unable to enter a state of flow. In other words, the busier the surface, the thinner the experience. This highlights the negative impact of multitasking on both productivity and mental health.

Quality and creativity

Single-tasking brings something that multitasking rarely delivers: depth. When attention is whole, ideas connect in more subtle ways. Work feels more textured. Creativity doesn't thrive under constant interruption — it requires time, immersion, and the quiet to follow a thought to its edges. This concept aligns closely with the idea of "deep work," which emphasizes focused, uninterrupted periods of concentration.

By contrast, multitasking splinters problem-solving. Errors increase, nuance disappears, and solutions tend to be shallow rather than innovative. The myth of multitasking becomes evident when we consider its effects on the quality of work produced.

When multitasking works (and when it doesn't)

Not all multitasking is harmful. Routine, low-cognitive tasks — folding laundry while listening to music, walking while taking a call — don't strain mental resources. They combine automatic physical activity with light input, which the brain can manage without cost.

But the same cannot be said for work that demands focus: writing, designing, coding, planning, learning. Here, each extra layer divides capacity and drags performance down. This is where the benefits of single-tasking become most apparent, as it allows for better cognitive control and improved task performance.

The conclusion is straightforward but often ignored: multitasking is safe for the mundane, but a myth for anything that truly matters. Understanding this distinction is crucial for maintaining cognitive health and optimizing productivity.

Why the myth survives

If multitasking is so consistently shown to fail, why do we cling to it?

Illusion of productivity. Switching rapidly creates the feeling of busyness even when the actual output suffers. This illusion is part of what perpetuates the myth of multitasking.
Cultural pressure. Modern work celebrates responsiveness and speed, not depth. To be "always available" is treated as a strength, even when it erodes focus. This aspect of hustle culture often overlooks the importance of undivided attention.
Technology's design. Notifications, tabs, and alerts train us to divide attention by default. Each ping invites us back into the loop of switching. Our increasing reliance on digital devices and the prevalence of media multitasking contribute to this problem.

It's not that people consciously choose distraction. It's that systems around them reward it. This highlights the need for better digital literacy and more mindful technology habits.

Choosing single-tasking

What, then, does single-tasking look like? Not a rigid ritual, but a choice to give something your full attention for a period of time. No divided screens. No toggling mid-sentence. It's about creating a distraction-free environment that promotes focused work.

Some find it through time-blocking — dedicating windows of the day to a single task. Others build it by removing small triggers: silencing smartphone notifications, closing unused tabs, pausing email until later. Even micro-pauses help — completing one thing before beginning another, so attention is not forced to hold two competing contexts.

The shift is often uncomfortable. Multitasking feels fast, even when it is not. Single-tasking feels slower, but its results are deeper, cleaner, more complete. This approach aligns with mindfulness training techniques that emphasize present-moment awareness.

Living with attention

There's a quiet paradox here. In a culture of acceleration, to give one thing full attention can feel almost rebellious. To resist the pull of divided screens and endless feeds is not about doing less. It is about restoring the possibility of doing something well.

In 2025, the trend is clear: multitasking belongs to myth, not practice. The evidence aligns across productivity, stress, and creativity. Yet the real significance is personal. It's the difference between days that blur in scattered fragments and days that hold shape, meaning, and completion.

The choice is not about working harder. It's about deciding what deserves to be whole. By embracing single-tasking and recognizing the myth of multitasking, we can improve our cognitive abilities, reduce mental fatigue, and ultimately produce higher quality work.

Why multitasking is a myth