I used to think I was pretty good at multitasking.
Answering an email while updating a spreadsheet. Responding to a Teams message while working on a proposal or taking a quick phone call while trying to finish a report.
It felt like I was flying through my tasks.
The problem is, I wasn't actually doing multiple things at once. I was constantly switching between tasks.
And every time I switched, my brain had to stop, remember where I was, deal with the interruption, and then find its way back again.
It might only take a minute or two, but those minutes add up quickly throughout the day.
Think about your typical workday.
You're working on an important project when:
An email notification pops up.
A Teams message arrives.
Your phone rings.
Someone asks a quick question.
You remember something else that needs doing and immediately start working on it.
And then there are the interruptions we create ourselves.
You're waiting for a program to load, a website to open, or a system to sign in. It might only take 10 or 20 seconds, so you think, "I'll just quickly check my email while I wait."
One email becomes three. One quick reply leads to another task. And then, you've completely forgotten what you were originally working on.
I've caught myself doing this more times than I can count. What started as a quick glance at my inbox turns into several minutes of reading, replying, and following another train of thought.
The challenge isn't just the time you've spent on the email. It's the mental effort required to get your head back into the task you were working on before the interruption.
Often, by the time you've returned, you need to re-read information, remember your train of thought, and figure out where you were up to. That's time and energy you wouldn't have spent if you'd simply stayed focused on the original task.
Sound familiar?
By lunchtime you've been busy all morning, yet somehow the task you started at 9am is still sitting unfinished.
The reality is that interruptions don't just take the time of the interruption itself. They also take time for your brain to refocus afterwards.
One of the simplest changes I've made is creating periods of focused work where I deliberately reduce distractions.
That might mean:
Closing my email for an hour.
Turning Teams notifications off.
Putting my phone out of reach.
Closing unnecessary browser tabs.
Letting my team know I'm focusing on a project.
I also keep a notebook beside me. If something pops into my head while I'm working, I write it down instead of stopping what I'm doing to action it immediately.
The goal isn't to ignore people or become unavailable.
The goal is to give important work the uninterrupted attention it deserves.
You'll often achieve more in one focused hour than you will in three hours of constantly jumping between tasks.
The next time you're working on something important, try this:
Choose one task.
Set aside 30–60 minutes.
Remove as many distractions as possible.
Then focus on that one thing until you've completed it, or progressed it as far as you can.
You may be surprised at how much quicker the work gets done, and how much less mentally exhausted you feel at the end of the day.
Being busy and being productive aren't always the same thing.
Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is simply protect your focus.
I hope there's a few tips you can take away that help you to actually be productive without the mental overwhelm.
