The Myth of Multitasking: Why It May Be Hurting Your Efficiency and Patient Care
Multitasking is often considered an essential skill for physicians and others in high-stakes professions. From my earliest days in medicine as an intern on the HIV wards in the late 1980s, those who could juggle the most tasks at any one time were considered the true heroes. And those who balked at the notion were considered dinosaurs or even slackers, out of touch with the reality of modern medicine.
Like many doctors, I embraced the challenge during the years and decades that followed. With ever-growing patient care demands, constant interruptions, and endless inbox messages, doing more things at the same time seemed like the only way to keep from stalling out. It was a point of pride, and it gave the illusion of intense focus and efficiency.
It’s now clear that the reality is starkly different: multitasking often leads to increased errors, inefficiency, and heightened stress.
A study of Australian emergency physicians found that ER doctors are interrupted nearly 10 times per hour. In this study, the more physicians were interrupted or attempted to multitask, the more medication errors they made. This effect was even more pronounced when the physicians were sleep-deprived. The researchers found that below-average sleep led to a disturbing 15-fold increase in clinical errors.
As you would expect, the ER is an ideal place to study the impact of multitasking, and other studies in theses settings have come to similar conclusions.
The same phenomenon plays out in the hospital. Picture this:
You’re on rounds in the CCU. A critically ill patient just had a rhythm change, your phone buzzes with a consult request, and you’re simultaneously reviewing morning labs, finalizing a discharge summary, and answering a staff question about another patient’s medication dose. You’re flipping between screens in the EHR—labs, imaging, notes, inbox, and back again—trying to keep up. Then suddenly, you realize… you almost signed off on the wrong discharge med for a different patient. Sound familiar?
In that moment, one thing—the critically ill patient—needs your full attention. The other tasks are important, but they are not urgent. Yet, the mental overload from constant task-switching makes errors more likely, slows you down, and increases stress.
Why We Think We’re Good at Multitasking
Physicians are trained to process multiple inputs under pressure—responding to pages while reviewing labs, answering questions during procedures, thinking three steps ahead during a patient encounter. It feels like multitasking, and you probably get praised for doing it well. But research shows that what we call “multitasking” is actually task-switching, and this constant shifting leads to cognitive overload and more mistakes.
The illusion of productivity masks the toll it takes on your attention and performance. Over time, this constant mental shifting can erode not just your focus, but also your well-being and sense of control.
Practical Strategies to Reduce Multitasking and Increase Focus
While we can acknowledge the harm it may cause, the truth is that multitasking is not going to completely disappear. In healthcare, where dealing with the unexpected is part of the job, it’s not realistic to think that you can avoid multitasking completely. But you can limit it, and you can plan ahead so that the impact is minimized and your focus is protected. Here are some ideas to get you started.
✅ Complete Before Moving On
Before EHRs, a common efficiency tip was: “Touch each piece of paper only once.” Although paper charts are long gone, the same principle applies in today’s digital world. It means that whenever possible, close out one task before moving to the next. Protecting your attention in this way reduces mistakes, improves your workflow, and most importantly, helps you stay fully present for your patients.
Click it, complete it, close it. Whenever possible, finish one task before starting the next.
Batch related tasks to stay in flow. Group similar activities—like reviewing imaging, responding to messages, or finishing notes—into dedicated blocks of time to minimize context switching and boost efficiency.
✅ Prioritize Tasks by Urgency and Importance
Emergencies deserve immediate focus. Everything else? It can often wait. Develop the habit of quickly categorizing tasks so you can allocate your mental bandwidth accordingly.
✅ Break Large Tasks into Smaller Steps
A massive to-do list creates overwhelm, increasing the temptation to multitask. Instead:
Focus on one completable step at a time.
Track your progress to build momentum and reduce unfinished-task anxiety.
✅ Delegate When Appropriate
Trying to do everything yourself leads to burnout and inefficiency. For example, one of my coaching clients, a highly skilled proceduralist, was constantly behind on his work—not because he lacked skill, but because he spent too much time checking his staff’s work instead of delegating. His inefficiency put his job at risk, and it frustrated his staff. Learning to delegate strategically got him back on track. When done right, delegation builds trust and camaraderie while freeing up your cognitive resources for what matters most.
Delegate lower-stakes tasks that don’t require your expertise.
Trust but verify—educate your team, give them a reasonable degree of autonomy to carry out their assigned tasks, but maintain a structured review process.
✅ Use Time Blocking to Protect Deep Work
Scheduling dedicated time for specific tasks—such as charting, reviewing imaging, or preparing for boards—helps maintain focus and reduces cognitive switching costs.
Communicate your schedule with your team or family to minimize unnecessary interruptions.
Create a “protected time” window for deep work whenever possible. Turn off notifications, put hard limits on your social media use, set boundaries, and commit fully to the task at hand.
Final Thoughts
Multitasking isn’t a badge of honor—it’s a hidden drain on your performance. In a busy medical practice or an intense hospital environment, it can’t always be avoided. But by prioritizing effectively, reducing task-switching, and implementing strategies like delegation and time blocking, you can work smarter, reduce your stress, and improve both efficiency and patient care.
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