Why “Ability to Focus” Should Replace “Multitasking” as a Skill in Job Descriptions

Time and again, job seekers are asked to demonstrate a strong ability to multitask in their professional background, and job descriptions of all kinds in many industries include this word among the required and preferred skills for candidates. The expectation is often that the top performers in the position should be able to handle any task thrown at them at any moment from any source, even before accounting for the distractions of the ever-present digital attention economy. 

However, mounting evidence shows that this approach to working is neither efficient nor productive. Reframing the expectations for job candidates to emphasize an “ability to focus” rather than “multitasking” as a skill in job descriptions may benefit both employees and employers.

Multitasking is really task switching

Multitasking is generally defined as handling more than one job or task in a given timespan, often in the name of being more efficient. The wishful thinking behind the idea is that the ultimate worker can efficiently handle multiple tasks and juggle all of their demands at once. Unfortunately, science shows us that the human mind is not wired to do two things at the same time; in reality, we are switching our attention between tasks.

In psychological clinical trials, the process of bouncing back and forth between tasks is referred to as “task switching,” and as it turns out, we are nowhere near as good at this as we like to think we are. In fact, a University of Utah study showed that only 2.5% of us are able to multitask with the same efficiency as we can carry out a single task (Watson & Strayer, 2010). 

The problem comes down to the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which is theorized to act as a bottleneck when handling tasks. The processing capacity of the brain causes us to focus on completing just one task at a time; while there may be many tasks lined up in the bottle, they can only pass through the “attention bottleneck” one at a time (Schwarze et al., 2021). 

Therefore, as Bob Pike (2023) explains, “Being focused on one thing for a certain period allows you to do a better quality of work, more work gets done quicker, and your creative ideas flow easier.”

An inefficient process

Given what we know of this bottleneck effect, proponents of multitasking may say that we should first dedicate our attention to one task, then switch to another when we have finished. However, we are not able to switch between tasks as quickly as we think; it takes time for the brain to readjust. This may only be a fraction of a second, but when switching between multiple tasks regularly throughout the day, psychologists claim that this recalibration time can represent as much as 40% of a person’s productive time (Multitasking: Switching costs, 2006). 

Along with time, switching attention between tasks also wastes energy. Richard Cytowic (2025) notes, “Shifting, focusing, and sustaining attention are the most energy-intensive things our brain can do. The high energy cost of cortical activity is why selective attention—focusing on one thing at a time—exists in the first place.”

On top of the lost productivity for an employer, the expectation to multitask in a role also affects the well-being of employees through added pressure and stress and causes declines in cognitive function and IQ (Steinhorst, 2020). Repeated studies show that it simply draws too heavily on the brain’s finite resources (Nield, 2016).

The war on focus

So, if we can’t truly multitask, this leaves us with only one option: strengthening our ability to focus—and highlighting this ability as the preferred skill in job descriptions. Focus means staying on one task, not just in the professional sense but also in the psychological sense. Anything that we direct our attention to, even subconsciously, is a “task” that has to pass through the bottleneck of the prefrontal cortex, and today’s world is constantly vying for our attention. 

In his article on the attention crisis in education, Borja Santos Porras (n.d.), Vice Dean of IE School of Politics, Economics & Global Affairs, showed that students are inundated with digital distractions. These constant interruptions can inhibit productive work for an average of 23 minutes after the interruption. He contends that these distractions also negatively impact both short- and long-term memory and lead to increased anxiety, stress, and sleep deprivation. 

The effect of distractions on focus can also have dire consequences. A study of nurses showed that notifications on work-issued phones correlated with medication errors, even when the distraction occurred as much as 10 minutes prior to the error being made (Bonafide et al., 2020).

Cultivating the ability to focus

Clearly, a change in the way we talk about handling tasks at work is necessary. Expecting employees to handle multiple tasks at a time while also fending off distractions (both digital and otherwise) is not setting them up for success. In order to build these skills, experts have laid out strategies that can be followed by anyone looking to practice their ability to focus (Sabin, n.d.):

• Identify and break down goals: The Pareto Principle states that 20% of work leads to 80% of outcomes, so identify the work that will have the largest impact on the goals that you want to achieve. Break this work down further into the smallest units of tasks and focus on them one at a time rather than looking at the work as a whole.

• Eliminate distractions: Utilize silent modes on devices and block out extra “focused working” hours in your calendar. Targeted productive time allows you to limit interruptions from coworkers. This time also gives you some slack in case a goal takes longer than expected, which means you’re less likely to be distracted by the next task while trying to finish the current one.

• Learn your limits: People with a strong ability to focus are better able to communicate their limits and know what they can accomplish in a day rather than adding too much to their plate, so delegate or defer work where necessary.

As Santos Porras advocated in his article, the workplace's multitasking demands have a knock-on effect on the education of university students. Changing this expectation in the job descriptions now will also mean that today’s employers are empowering the next generation of students and prospective employees to engage in healthier practices that promote a more human-centered ability to focus in our increasingly attention-hungry world. 

Sources

Bonafide, C., et al. (2020). Association Between Mobile Telephone Interruptions and Medication Administration Errors in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Jama Pediatrics, 174(2), 162–169. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.5001 

Cytowic, R. (2025, January 8). How Multitasking Drains Your Brain. The MIT Press Reader. https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-multitasking-drains-your-brain/

Multitasking: Switching costs. (2006, March 20). American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/research/multitasking 

Nield, D. (2016, July 7). Multitasking drains your mental energy reserves, neuroscientists reveal. ScienceAlert. https://www.sciencealert.com/how-multitasking-drains-your-energy-reserves-and-what-you-can-do-about-it 

Pike, B. (2023, April 10). Improve focus to improve productivity. Training Magazine. https://trainingmag.com/improve-focus-to-improve-productivity/ 

Sabin, S. (n.d.). Multitasking makes you less productive. Here are 4 ways to actually get work done. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90996181/multitasking-makes-you-less-productive-here-are-4-ways-to-actually-get-work-done

Santos Porras, B. (n.d.). The Attention Crisis and its Impact on Education in a Digital World. QS Insights Magazine 24. https://magazine.qs.com/qs-insights-magazine-24/the-attention-crisis 

Schwarze, S. A., Poppa, C., Gawronska, S. M., & Fandakova, Y. (2021). The more, the merrier? What happens in your brain when you are multitasking? Frontiers for Young Minds, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2021.584481 

Steinhorst, C. (2020, February 20). How multitasking erodes productivity and dings your IQ. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/curtsteinhorst/2020/02/20/how-multitasking-erodes-productivity-and-dings-your-iq/ 

Watson, J. M., & Strayer, D. L. (2010). Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 17(4), 479–485. https://doi.org/10.3758/pbr.17.4.479