Dear Andrea Csilla,

Last week, a client said to me:

“I feel like I’m working all day — but at the end, I can’t name one thing I actually finished.”

She felt productive.
But by noon, she was exhausted.

Not physically — cognitively.
She hadn’t done anything particularly intense.
So why did her brain feel like she’d just run a marathon?

As a doctor, I knew exactly what was happening.
She wasn’t multitasking.
She was task-switching herself into cognitive exhaustion.

🧠 The Biology of Task Switching

We like to believe we can juggle.

Inbox open. Slack pinging. Project doc half-finished.
Add a meeting — maybe even a podcast in the background.

But your brain isn’t doing everything at once.
It’s switching back and forth — rapidly — and each switch comes at a cost.

This is called attention residue:
Every time you change focus, part of your brain stays stuck in the previous task (Leroy, 2009).
It’s like trying to run forward with one leg still in the last room you were in.

Frequent task-switching also:

• Elevates cortisol and adrenaline (your stress hormones)
  
  
• Fatigues your prefrontal cortex (which manages planning, logic, and focus)
  
  
• Increases error rates and slows processing speed
  
  
• Makes work feel scattered — even if you’re working hard
  
  

🧪 The Science

Your prefrontal cortex — the part of your brain responsible for focus and decision-making — fatigues faster when it's forced to jump between tasks without closure.

A study by Rubinstein, Meyer & Evans (2001) found that task-switching can reduce productivity by up to 40%.

And your stress hormones?
They spike — even if you’re just sitting at your desk.

💡 Doctor’s Tip: Batch, Block, and Breathe

This week, try replacing multitasking with single-task sprints:

✅ Group similar tasks (e.g., reply to emails in one window per day)
✅ Time-block deep work — protect it like a meeting
✅ Between tasks, take a 2-minute “mental palate cleanse”:
 – Close the last tab
 – Stand up
 – Breathe — no input

Even small changes reduce attention residue — and restore clarity.

🎯 Multitasking feels productive because it stimulates us.

But so does spinning in circles.

Real productivity happens when you give your brain the space to focus.

Protect your focus. Protect your health.

👉 Want help building a brain-based workflow that reduces stress and gets more done? Book a free 30-minute Team Productivity & Well-Being Strategy Session

📚 References

• Leroy, S. (2009). Why is it so hard to do my work? Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109(2), 168–181.
  
  
• Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 27(4), 763–797.

   

   

  Have a productive day!

  Andrea

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