In project management, looking busy is not the same as moving forward. Many project managers, PMOs and team leaders fall into the trap of multitasking: answering emails, attending meetings, advancing several tasks at once... and ending the day without having closed any of them.
This article explains why multitasking is not a solution, but a source of delays, errors and burnout. And more importantly, what strategies and methodologies you can apply to break out of this unproductive cycle.
Table of Contents
- What is multitasking?
- Multitasking in projects: a false sense of productivity
- Real consequences of multitasking in work environments
- Practical strategies to get out of multitasking
- What does CCPM propose to eliminate multitasking?
- Conclusion: multitasking does not make you move faster
- Do you want to improve the deliverability of your projects?
What is multitasking?
Multitasking is commonly understood as the ability to attend to several activities at the same time - for example, answering emails during a meeting or talking on the phone while preparing a presentation. This practice is often perceived as a sign of efficiency and is even valued in many professional environments as a desirable skill.
However, scientific evidence and neuroscience studies refute this perception. The human brain is not designed to pay full attention to more than one task at a time. What actually occurs is a rapid and continuous change of focus, known as task switching, which fragments concentration and depletes mental resources.
In the project environment, multitasking is a common practice. It seems logical to think that multitasking allows us to move faster, make better use of time and respond better to day-to-day demands. However, this perception is deeply disconnected from how our brains actually work.
Far from being an advantage, multitasking represents a trap disguised as efficiency. Its cumulative effect can degrade the quality of work, increase errors and become a continuous source of stress for project managers and their teams.
Multitasking looks like productivity, but in reality it fragments the focus and multiplies mental fatigue.
From computer science to human behavior
The concept of multitasking was born in the IT field, where it describes the ability of a system to execute multiple tasks at the same time. This term migrated to professional language as a synonym for individual efficiency: a person is expected to be able to attend to several issues at the same time without compromising performance.
But the human brain is not a parallel processor. It does not handle simultaneous tasks with full attention, but jumps from one to another at high speed. This process, known as task switching, involves a constant interruption of focus and a continuous loss of mental energy.
Why we value it ... and why it doesn't work
The pressure to perform better, hyperconnectivity and the culture of "being busy" have elevated multitasking to a virtue. Answering messages while attending a meeting, reviewing tasks during a call or switching between projects seems to be the norm.
However, this practice can drastically reduce your productivity, increase the probability of errors and affect the quality of your work. On a cognitive level, it requires a high effort to reorganize attention after each change, which can take more than 20 minutes. In addition, it decreases concentration, increases stress, and in the long run, deteriorates intellectual performance.
What appears to be efficiency is actually a silent drain on time, energy and attention.
Multitasking in projects: a false sense of productivity
In high-pressure, multi-demand environments, multitasking seems like a natural solution. Answering emails during a meeting, switching between tasks on different projects, or doing "a little bit of everything" in parallel gives the impression that you are making the most of your time. However, that perception is just that: an illusion.
What is presented as multitasking agility is, in reality, a succession of interruptions disguised as progress.
The myth of rapid progress
The human brain cannot maintain full attention on two complex tasks at the same time. What it does, in fact, is to constantly shift focus - a process that fragments concentration and drains mental energy.
In projects, this effect is even more noticeable. When you try to make progress on several tasks at the same time, none of them are completed sooner and all of them are extended. For example, if three one-week tasks are executed sequentially, the total is three weeks. But if they are divided into thirds and constantly alternated, the actual progress is delayed: they all finish by the end of the third week, and none is ready earlier.
The invisible cost of task shifting
Each jump between activities carries a hidden cost. Although unnoticed, each interruption requires the brain to reorganize, regain context and regain focus. This "reset time" can be as long as 23 minutes per change. The result is a constant trickle of losses that affects both actual progress and the professional's emotional well-being.
Multitasking, besides being inefficient, is a source of stress and anxiety. The pressure to control multiple fronts at the same time generates dissatisfaction, fatigue and the feeling of never getting anything done. For this reason, approaches such as Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) recommend eliminating this practice and encouraging total concentration on a single prioritized task.
Multitasking does not speed you up. It only divides your attention and multiplies wear and tear.
Real consequences of multitasking in work environments
Multitasking is not only inefficient: it is actively harmful. Its impact goes beyond simple loss of efficiency. It affects work quality, mental health and project duration, especially in environments with high task loads and multiple open fronts.
Lower productivity and more errors
The first visible effect is a drop in productivity. Constantly switching tasks fragments attention and requires reorganization of thinking at every jump. It is estimated that this cognitive effort can reduce productivity by up to 40%, in addition to significantly increasing the probability of errors.
Each change of context requires recovery time. That extra effort - invisible but cumulative - turns a seemingly active day into a series of costly interruptions.
Mental dispersion and cognitive impairment
Multitasking interferes with key cognitive functions. The brain accumulates what is known as residual attention: fragments of previous tasks that continue to occupy mental space. This reduces efficiency on the current task and affects both short-term memory and reasoning ability.
Studies indicate that this effect can result in a loss of up to 10 IQ points. In addition, infoxication -constant information overload- degrades sustained focus and blocks decision making.
Stress, burnout and health problems
Beyond the cognitive impact, multitasking impairs emotional well-being. It has been directly linked to symptoms of anxiety, mental fatigue, and job dissatisfaction. Seventy-one percent of knowledge workers have experienced burnout in the past year, largely due to the pressure of attending to multiple fronts in parallel.
The constant effort to redirect attention prevents the brain from "switching off", which affects sleep, increases irritability and weakens mental resilience.
Critical impact in multi-project environments
In a single project, multitasking is already a problem. But in multi-project environments, its effect is catastrophic. Tasks become longer, resources lose focus, and synchronization between teams breaks down.
Methodologies such as Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) explicitly discourage this. Splitting time among several parallel tasks not only delays them all, but also introduces uncertainty and resource overload. The result: missed deadlines, increasing pressure and projects that never finish when they should.
Multitasking is noise disguised as activity. In projects, that noise is paid for with delays.
Practical strategies to get out of multitasking
Breaking multitasking is not just a matter of will: it requires method. The human brain is not wired to divide its attention in several directions at once. What we perceive as multitasking is actually a constant switching between tasks that saps mental energy and reduces performance.
The good news is that there are proven techniques to regain focus, protect productivity and reduce stress. These strategies allow you to make more progress with less wear and tear.
The way out of multitasking is not to stop doing, but to start doing with intention and priority.
delegate
In my years of experience, I have learned that knowing how to delegate is an art and is one of the most effective ways to combat multitasking.
When everything goes through you, focus becomes fragmented and tasks pile up. Learning to delegate frees up attention for what really requires your direct intervention.
It is not a matter of releasing responsibilities, but of giving clarity, autonomy and follow-up to those who can assume them. This reduces operational noise, avoids overload and recovers strategic focus.
Focusing and prioritization techniques
The basis for eliminating multitasking is monotasking: focusing on one task at a time. An effective practice is to identify the Most Important Tasks (MITs) of the day and tackle them first, before the environment imposes its noise.
Robin Sharma's 90/90/1 rule sums it up well: spend the first 90 minutes of the day, for 90 days, on your most important or creative task. This way you protect your most valuable energy for the work that really matters.
Structured time management
To sustain focus, time must be designed, not reactive. Some effective techniques:
- Timeboxing: assigning closed time blocks to a single task.
- Time blocking: grouping similar tasks (such as answering emails) at specific times of the day.
- Pomodoro Technique: work 25 minutes in a row, rest 5, and repeat. After 4 cycles, a longer break. This structure helps to maintain concentration and reduce fatigue.
The CCPM methodology also incorporates this principle: eliminate multitasking to protect the focus of the most critical resource.
Minimize distractions and say "no".
The digital environment (and this applies to any environment) is a factory of interruptions. Turn on "Do Not Disturb" mode, mute notifications and eliminate what competes for your attention. But more importantly: learn to say "no". Every new unfiltered task is an open door to chaos. Deciding what not to do is part of being productive.
Mindfulness and effective rest
Training attention is also key. Mindfulness helps to keep the mind in the present, reducing cognitive dragging between tasks. In addition, it is essential to take regular breaks: 5 to 10 minutes every hour or hour and a half can recharge the ability to concentrate. And without real rest (including sleep), there is no sustainable performance.
Intelligent multitasking (only in specific cases)
The only acceptable multitasking is multitasking that requires no real attention. For example, listening to a podcast while folding laundry or walking while reflecting. Yet, even in those tasks, only one receives the full focus of the brain. Using this strategy requires judgment and combining it with a mechanical task that does not require full attention.
It's not about doing more, it's about doing what you have to do... and doing it well.
What does CCPM propose to eliminate multitasking?
Few methodologies address the problem of multitasking as clearly as Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM). For CCPM, multitasking is not a minor inefficiency, but the number one enemy of productivity. Its goal is to build an environment in which every resource is fully dedicated to what matters: one task at a time.
CCPM does not optimize tasks, it optimizes attention. Because without focus, there is no real progress.
100% concentration on a key task
The basis of CCPM is structured monotasking. Each resource works on a single project activity with total concentration. There are no context switches or time slicing. Tasks are completed as quickly as possible - without sacrificing quality - and are immediately transferred to the next link in the chain.
This elimination of "split loading" avoids cumulative delays, reduces stress on teams and dramatically improves delivery reliability. Priority is clear and attention is protected.
Systemic protection with buffers and focus
Unlike other methodologies that spread security margins over each task, CCPM consolidates protection into strategic buffers:
- Project buffer: protects the final delivery against unforeseen events.
- Feed buffers: protect the critical chain from secondary routes.
Tasks are estimated with a focused duration: the time needed to execute them with full concentration and without individual cushions. This forces to work with real focus, and transfers the protection to the system, not to the individual.
Project monitoring is done with tools such as the Fever Chart, which visually shows whether the buffer is being consumed at a sustainable rate. This allows project managers to act before slippage accumulates.
CCPM not only eliminates multitasking: it creates the structural conditions for focus to be maintained effortlessly.
Conclusion: multitasking does not make you move faster
Multitasking is still seen as a professional virtue, when in fact it is a structural obstacle to productivity. Although it may seem that making progress on several things at once is more efficient, what actually happens is a constant change of focus that exhausts, fragments and delays.
This process of "covert switching between tasks" has an invisible but very real cost. It reduces productivity by up to 40%, raises the error rate, and causes cognitive burnout that affects performance and health. Each interruption can take up to 23 minutes to correct, and the cumulative result is a less effective and more stressful day.
In projects, this effect is amplified. Tasks don't finish sooner. They drag on. And the feeling of making progress is just that: a feeling. That's why methodologies like CCPM recommend eliminating multitasking and prioritizing total concentration on a key task.
Multitasking creates false progress and real stress. What looks like productivity is actually loss of traction.
Do you want to improve the deliverability of your projects?
Apply CCPM with the support of TEOCÉ. We guide you to:
- Detect bottlenecks and synchronize resources.
- Redesign your planning with effective buffers.
- Execute with focus, visual control and without adding urgency.