The Hidden Cost of Multitasking

How constant switching drains your energy

Multitasking is often celebrated as a mark of efficiency, but it can quietly work against your wellbeing. Your brain is not designed to hold several cognitive tasks at once. Instead, it rapidly switches between them, which increases mental load, reduces accuracy, and leaves you feeling drained rather than accomplished.

Constant switching keeps your nervous system in a heightened state. Cortisol rises, your thoughts feel scattered, and overwhelm sets in. Many women report feeling exhausted at the end of the day, not because of physical exertion, but because their brain never truly rested.

Even small interruptions, like checking messages or bouncing between tabs, accumulate stress over time.

Why Single Tasking Works

Focusing on one task at a time is not only more productive. It’s far more regulating for your nervous system. When you commit your attention fully, your breathing slows, your heart rate stabilises, and your body softens. You become grounded, your mind thinks more clearly, and creativity can flow more naturally.

Practical Ways to Reduce Multitasking:

• Close unnecessary tabs or apps while working.

• Silence notifications for set periods to protect your focus.

• Break work into blocks of attention followed by short restorative breaks.

• Prioritise your tasks each morning, tackling one at a time rather than juggling multiple at once.

• Use simple cues to anchor your focus, like a timer or a visual reminder on your desk.

• Allow yourself moments of “doing nothing” between tasks to let your nervous system reset.

  
  

Even everyday activities benefit from single-task attention. Washing dishes, walking, or having a conversation feels more nourishing when your mind isn’t elsewhere. Small adjustments in attention accumulate, improving overall energy and reducing mental fatigue.

Your Brain Functions Best With Spaciousness, Not Urgency

Simplifying your attention doesn’t slow you down. It restores your capacity to respond effectively. When you give your brain space to focus, your whole body softens, stress decreases, and your energy reserves last longer. Over time, this habit becomes a natural way to support your nervous system and cultivate calm in daily life.

Focus Creates Calm

By slowing down and prioritising single-tasking, you reclaim mental clarity and bodily ease. This simple shift is a powerful tool for nervous system regulation, energy preservation, and overall wellbeing.

For more tools to build clarity, reduce mental clutter, and support your nervous system, follow @balancedbymonica on Instagram.

Monica Uttamchandani is a certified Holistic Health Coach based in the Turks and Caicos Islands, supporting men and women in creating grounded, nourishing lives, one breath at a time. She also consults in person at The Elephant Rooms in Salt Mills, Providenciales.