In today's fast-paced world, multitasking is often celebrated as a sign of capability. Students handle classes, side projects and club work simultaneously, while professionals hop between emails, meetings and deadlines without pause. At a first glance, this seems admirable, being busy feels productive. But the hidden truth is that excellence in one craft outweighs mediocrity in many.
Despite its popularity, multitasking is not real productivity; it is rapid task-switching. Neuroscience shows that our brains cannot fully focus on two demanding tasks at once. Attention constantly shifts back and forth, and every switch comes at a cost: lower accuracy, slower execution, and reduced focus. We feel active, but our output suffers. Multitasking creates the illusion of progress. Errors increase, memory retention drops and complex understanding rarely develops.
Creative and intellectually demanding tasks, such as writing, problem-solving, or learning a new concept, rely on uninterrupted focus. These tasks require entering a state of flow, where ideas connect and originality emerges. When the mind is constantly interrupted, results remain surface-level: they may look complete, but lack depth and innovation. Over time, this approach fragments progress, leaving us doing many things halfway instead of mastering anything fully.
The emotional cost of multitasking is also significant. Constantly juggling multiple responsibilities can increase anxiety, as it is impossible to give 100 per cent to any task. Even when several items are completed, satisfaction is short-lived. There is a brief dopamine hit, the fleeting sense of accomplishment, but it quickly fades, leaving us questioning whether we truly achieved something meaningful or merely stayed busy following everyone else's path. This is the hidden cost of multitasking: not just reduced efficiency but a loss of depth, originality and fulfilment.
The solution is simple: doing more does not create better results; doing better things does. Focusing on one task at a time allows us to learn more, perform better and create work that truly represents our ideas and capabilities.
Multitasking may offer the illusion of progress but mastery, depth and originality are born from sustained focus. The question we should ask ourselves is not, "How much can I do at once?" but rather, "What could I achieve if I gave one thing my full attention to?"
Musrat Jahan Efat
Department of Accounting and Finance
North South University
musrat.efat.232@northsouth.edu