The Hidden Cost of Multitasking: Why Focus Matters at Work and In the Leadership Academy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s be honest—the urge to multitask is totally understandable. With endless email notifications, pings, and the mysterious “urgent” requests that pop up just as you’re sitting down for lunch or during meetings like Leadership Academy classes it sometimes feels like you’d need eight arms and three brains just to keep up. If only we could borrow an octopus’s skill set for the day!

However, the cost of multitasking is steep: when you divide your attention among several tasks, you reduce your ability to deeply understand or remember any single topic. Research shows that multitasking actually lowers your IQ and impairs your brain’s capacity for empathy and emotional control. Every time you switch between tasks, you lose valuable productivity—some studies estimate up to 40%. Over time, this constant shifting not only undermines your own learning and effectiveness but also disrupts the focus and progress of those around you.

Multi-Tasking During a Leadership Academy Class

When you multitask during a virtual Leadership Academy training—by glancing at your phone, scrolling on your computer, or chatting with others—you’re not only limiting your own ability to learn, but also disrupting the entire group’s focus. Developing essential soft skills, which are among the most challenging to master, demands your full attention; distractions make true growth impossible.

Also, when classmates see someone multitasking, it often prompts them to reach for their own devices, spreading distraction throughout the group. Remember, as Academy participants, you’re being paid to learn. Staying focused helps you absorb valuable material and ensures a positive, supportive environment where everyone can succeed.

Multi-Tasking in the Office or Field

Contrary to popular belief, smart teams don’t multitask. Just because society has normalized it, that doesn’t mean it’s effective. Multi-tasking equals multi-nothing. When we try to be in too many places simultaneously, we end up nowhere.

Attention and focus precede quality results – multitasking is the illusion of doing too many things simultaneously without accomplishing anything. And the price you pay is high.

Multitasking is a Myth

A study by the University of Sussex found that multitasking decreases IQ scores, similar to if they had smoked marijuana or stayed up all night. While the cognitive impairment from multitasking is not temporary, it has lasting effects. MRI scans revealed multitaskers had less brain density in the region responsible for empathy and cognitive and emotional control.

When one team member multitasks, the entire team suffers. According to psychologist David Meyer, shifting between tasks can cost up to 40% of our productive time.

Multitasking is really just switchtasking—your brain isn’t truly doing two things at once, but rapidly jumping from one activity to another. Things happen so quickly that most people don’t even realize the hidden costs they’re incurring. It doesn’t matter if someone believes they were handling multiple tasks simultaneously; in reality, their attention was continuously shifting, not staying fixed on either task.

Research highlights just how disruptive this can be. Studies show that, on average, a person loses about 28 percent of their workday due to interruptions and inefficiencies. A Microsoft study found that the average person interrupts themselves every forty seconds! Multi-tasking—or more accurately, switchtasking—is one of the biggest drivers of this lost productivity, according to the University of Washington.

Companies that have made a concerted effort to reduce multitasking have seen dramatic results, experiencing an average of 58.8% improvement in productivity, according to Realization Technologies.

As Deepak Chopra points out, “If I’m speaking to you and checking my iPhone at the same time, I’m doing neither. This is why our society is frazzled; this misconception that we can consciously do more than one thing at a time effectively.”

So, let's ditch the myth and reclaim our focus! Imagine how much more we can achieve—and how much less frazzled we'll feel—by simply giving our attention to one thing at a time. Challenge yourself and your team to single-task for a week and see the difference. The results might just surprise you, boost your productivity, and maybe even make work feel a little more fun. Ready to join the single-tasking revolution?

To your greater success and well-being. 

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

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