Multitasking Is Silently Killing Your Business — 23 Minutes and 15 Seconds at a Time

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The toxic boss

Once upon a time I had a boss who was toxic. Chernobyl toxic.

The one who loved unhealthy competition and turned team members against each other to boost performance.

The same boss who once told me that asking my team members for input made me look incompetent and discredited me as a Senior Director.

She created an environment where eating in front of your desk was the norm and working until dawn gave you a badge of honour. She brought multitasking back in style because she was obsessed with productivity, KPIs and climbing the ladder fast and furious - 2 steps at a time.

Outside of work she was a nice person, but she had this compulsive obsession with optimizing everything and going through life on multitasking mode. I hated it, not because of some moral superiority compass, but because deep down, I saw myself reflected in many of her behaviours, and I didn’t want to be that person.

The subtle signs

Before you read any further, I would like you to answer an honest question:

How many windows do you currently have open in your computer?

In my case, probably too many.

Multitasking is a behaviour that has been glorified for decades because the concept sounds great: you are supposedly more productive (doing 2 things at once) and supposedly more efficient (saving time). In theory.

The reality is that the human brain doesn’t quite work that way and multitasking is actually a myth. What actually happens is task-switching: you think you are performing two tasks at the same time but the brain can only process one piece at a time. So, instead of achieving one thing at 100% you are now achieving two, but at suboptimal results.

Multitasking pushes your brain back and forth between two sources of input, like trying to follow two conversations at the same time. You end up eavesdropping here and there but something gets lost and you end up frustrated and exhausted because you were not fully present in either.

The exercise that sold me

I once did a team-building exercise that made me ditch multitasking for good:

Grab a pen and paper.
Have a timer ready.

Exercise 1: Write the following in that order and time yourself.

I LOVE LEMONS
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
Easy.

Exercise 2: Do the same but this time, alternate between letters and numbers. Time yourself:

I, 1, L, 2, O, 3, V, 4, E, 5, L, 6, E, 7, M, 8 and so on.

WTF?!

I was so much slower this time doing the supposedly “productive” multitasking exercise and yet I consumed much more brainpower.

That’s what we are doing every day on repeat and our brain is paying a toll.

The invisible price of multitasking

That simple exercise is a pretty accurate reflection of how we live lives and run our business: constantly switching channels and trying to sync again.

You start writing your newsletter and then you pause to check your phone because of no reason. You might find a new notification that reminds you that you had to book an appointment and open a new tab so that you don’t forget later. And since you are doing a booking, you are also checking what else is pending on your to-do list. By the time you go back to your newsletter, it’s only been 5 minutes.

But it’s never 5 minutes: it’s the mental drain of switching tasks and going back and forth between channels, trying to find the right signal again.

Don’t take my word for it: A study by the University of California Irvine shows that it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to regain full focus after an interruption. That means every time we fall for the spell of multitasking, we actually lose focus and productivity.
No wonder some days I have the feeling of having been busy but I actually haven’t achieved much. It’s the illusion of productivity under the fancy mask of multitasking.

The answer is FOCUS

We don’t need fancy productivity hacks. We need to unlearn the toxic habit of multitasking and relearn how to focus, giving one thing our full, undivided attention so our brain can finally go deep.

Stay in your channel.

Create an environment that works for you:

• Phone on Airplane mode

• Notifications silenced

• Room quiet and free of distractions

• All unnecessary windows and tabs closed

Set an intention to focus and turn it into a ritual. It feels uncomfortable at first, but rewiring your brain takes time. And the payoff is massive: deeper thinking, sharper creativity, higher-quality work, and a fulfilling sense of presence.

Closing the loop

Years later, I still think about that boss occasionally. She wasn’t a bad person: she was just addicted to the same hustle culture she pushed on everyone else.

So now, every time I feel the itch to open another tab, check my phone, or “just quickly” answer a message, I remember the version of myself I’m running away from. And I remember the 23 minutes and 15 seconds.

Because the real badge of honor isn’t working until dawn or juggling ten things at once.

It’s having the discipline to do one thing well and actually being there while you do it.

Next time you catch yourself multitasking, pause. Close the extra windows. Take a breath.

And ask yourself:

Am I building the life I want, or am I just copying the toxic boss I swore I’d never become?

Your focus is your freedom. Protect it. 23 minutes and 15 seconds at a time.

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