Jim KwikFounder, Kwik Brain · Brain Coach

Is multitasking possible?

10 Jan 2023 · 1 min

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In this segment, Jim Kwik explains that multitasking is inefficient because each switch between tasks incurs a cognitive reset that can take 1–5 minutes to regain focus. He notes that the brain must deactivate one neural pattern and reactivate another, which not only wastes time but also consumes more glucose, the brain's fuel. Kwik cites research showing that surgeons who attempt to multitask make more errors, illustrating the danger of task switching in high‑stakes environments. He links these cognitive and metabolic costs to everyday feelings of mental fatigue and brain fog, suggesting that excessive multitasking may be the cause.

Chapters

Multitasking. You think you're gaining by doing many things at once. Switching from task to task could take anywhere from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 minutes to regain your focus because you're using a certain pattern of your neuronet that's activated to do one task. And when you switch over to something else, it takes time to reactivate something and deactivate something else. We know that surgeons who try to multitask during surgery are going to make more errors during surgery because we do not cognitively switch very easily. When you're activating a different part of your brain, it actually uses more brain fuel, more brain glucose. So if you feel in your day that you feel mentally drained, if you're suffering from mental fatigue or maybe some brain fog, maybe you're trying to do too much at the same time.