Focusing is the New Multitasking
- Selina Barker
- May 12
- 3 min read
Multitasking is widely accepted as a common skill. Many people think they’re excellent at it and can often be seen doing two tasks at once, like texting while eating or watching TV while working. What you don’t see, however, is what’s actually happening inside the brain during these moments. Spoiler alert; the brain is not actually performing two distinct tasks at the same time.
Multitasking is not a real skill. The human brain is not wired to perform multiple tasks at the same time. When you see someone watching TV while working on something else, they are not truly doing both at the same time. Instead, they’re rapidly switching their focus between the TV and their work. That’s why neuroscientists use the term “task switching” to describe what is commonly, but inaccurately, referred to as multitasking.
Task Switching is Not Multitasking
Working on a task doesn’t demand just one simple function from the brain. Focusing depends on several parts of the brain working together to narrow a person’s attention toward a single goal. This process involves many small, coordinated actions carried out by different neural networks. When a person tries to do more than one task at once, those networks are pushed beyond their limited capacity and the resulting performance noticeably suffers.
“In fact, multitasking is almost always a misnomer, as the human mind and brain lack the architecture to perform two or more tasks simultaneously. By architecture, we mean the cognitive and neural building blocks and systems that give rise to mental functioning. We have a hard time multitasking because of the ways that our building blocks of attention and executive control inherently work.” - Kevin P. Madore & Anthony D Wagner, “Multicosts of Multitasking”
When people attempt to multitask, the brain networks responsible for selecting goals, focusing attention, and blocking out distractions interfere with one another. As a result, each network operates more slowly, and each task is completed less effectively. Neuroscientists refer to this decline in performance as “switch costs,” because of the mental cost of constantly switching between tasks.
“A rich body of research in psychological science has documented that the behavioral costs of task switching are typically unavoidable: individuals almost always take longer to complete a task and do so with more errors when switching between tasks than when they stay with one task.” - Madore & Wagner
When we attempt to multitask, we sacrifice the benefits of focused attention. Although it may feel like we’re working faster or more efficiently, the evidence shows the opposite. So next time you see a friend working on something while watching TV, ask them what just happened in the previous scene. Their answer will quickly reveal if they were truly able to pay attention and how much they actually understood what they saw.
Switch Costs Cost Lives
When we try to juggle two simple tasks, task switching can feel harmless. You can work and watch TV at the same time without much risk of hurting someone, even if you’re working more slowly or not fully comprehending what’s on TV. However, some tasks require complete focus, and in those situations, task switching can have deadly consequences.
People tend to underestimate or forget how dangerous getting behind the wheel of a car is, especially when they do it every day. But the reality is that distracted driving claims thousands of lives annually in the U.S. alone, and hundreds of thousands of more people are injured. Anything that diverts your attention away from driving puts a greater demand on the systems in your brain that are working together to help you focus on the complex task of driving safely.
Learn to Focus
Alertdriving offers a range of defensive driving lessons that address the serious issue of distracted driving. Fleets have the opportunity to learn why multitasking is not a skill they can master and perform safely behind the wheel, as well as receive lessons about different types of distractions and their consequences.
Multitasking is a common blight on the roads today, as mobile phone use continues to rise and vehicle infotainment systems get more complex. Serial offenders often believe that because they have not crashed before, they must be highly skilled and capable of multitasking. In reality, they have simply been lucky.
It is vital to stay alert and focused at all times while driving. Trying to perform another task only results in performing the task of driving less safely.
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