Why Multitasking Is Failing Women Leaders, And What Works Instead

By Ellen Duffy-Lueb

Multitasking often feels productive, but it silently drains our energy. Here’s the strategy women in leadership actually need. For many women in leadership, multitasking has become almost instinctive, a way of navigating the endless flow of responsibilities, expectations, and invisible tasks that come our way. It’s celebrated, even admired. How often have you heard someone say, “Women are such great multitaskers”? But this belief is not only misleading; it’s draining our energy, undermining our performance, and creating a leadership model that simply isn’t sustainable. Recently, I shared that I had been offline for a full week, and nobody noticed. My visibility stayed consistent because I had planned strategically before stepping away. When I asked my community what helps them stay productive during busy times, several responded with the same strategy: “I multitask.” It struck a chord, because I once believed the same thing. I thought multitasking was a sign of capability, productivity, strength. But in reality, multitasking is none of those things, and it’s costing women leaders far more than they realise.

The Multitasking Illusion

There’s a belief that women can naturally handle multiple tasks at once, but neuroscience tells a different story. The human brain is not designed to perform multiple complex tasks simultaneously. Unless one task is deeply habitual, like folding laundry or walking, what we call “multitasking” is actually rapid task-switching, and it comes at a cost. Every time we shift from one task to another, our brain burns through precious cognitive fuel. It has to stop, reorient, refocus, and rebuild momentum. Even a small switch, like answering a message in the middle of preparing a presentation, forces the brain to reset.

The result?

• Our focus becomes fragmented.
• Our cognitive load increases.
• Our stress levels rise.
• Our energy drains faster than it should.
• Our work quality dips.
• Tasks take longer to complete.

Multitasking doesn’t make us more productive. It makes us busier, not better.

Why Women Leaders Are Hit Hardest

Women in global and high-pressure environments often carry a mental load far beyond the job description. Emotional labour, invisible planning, team cohesion, relationship management, and often responsibilities at home, all fall more heavily on women. In leadership roles, this mental load intensifies. When multitasking becomes our default strategy, we spread our attention and energy across so many fronts that we leave ourselves depleted, overstimulated, and perpetually behind. What looks like competence on the outside is often exhaustion on the inside. From years of coaching women leaders, I’ve seen this pattern repeatedly: multitasking becomes a coping mechanism in environments where priorities aren’t clear, boundaries aren’t respected, and expectations feel endless. But coping is not leading, and multitasking is not a long-term strategy. Multitasking is a coping mechanism in environments where priorities aren’t clear and boundaries aren’t in place. But leadership requires something deeper, calmer, and more intentional.

The Strategy That Works: Focused Leadership

Sustainable leadership isn’t built on doing more; it’s built on doing what matters most, with presence and clarity. That requires focus. For me, once I began structuring my work into focused blocks, everything shifted. I wasn’t racing between tasks. I wasn’t constantly restarting. And my energy remained far more stable throughout the day. This is exactly why I could step away for a week and still maintain visibility; not through multitasking, but through planning with intention. Focused leadership means choosing what gets your attention; and protecting it.

Here’s how women leaders can begin shifting away from multitasking and toward a more effective rhythm:

1. Create Focus Blocks
   Choose specific time windows for specific tasks, and commit fully.
   Notifications off, no tab-hopping, phone away, clear boundaries.
   Even 30–45 minutes of uninterrupted focus can outperform two hours of scattered multitasking.
2. Group Similar Tasks Together
   Batching is a powerful antidote to switching costs. Group tasks such as:
   • Emails
   • Admin
   • Content creation
   • Deep strategic thinking
   • Meetings
     Your brain stays in one mode longer, preserving energy and clarity.
3. Set Priorities Before the Day Begins
   Women often enter the day already overwhelmed. But when you identify the top one to three priorities — truly essential tasks — your focus sharpens immediately.
   You stop trying to do everything, and start intentionally doing what matters.
4. Establish Boundaries for Focus Time
   Clear communication is essential:
   • “I’ll be unavailable from 10–11 and will respond afterward.”
   • “Let’s bundle these requests.”
   • “I can update you at the end of the day.”
     Boundaries are not a limitation; they are a leadership tool.
5. Plan Your Visibility
   Before stepping away for a week, I scheduled my content, prepared touchpoints, and structured tasks in advance. This meant I didn’t need to “keep an eye on things” while I was offline.
   This is how we build visibility rooted in strategy, not stress.

A New Model of Leadership for Women

When women leaders stop multitasking, something powerful happens:

• Energy stabilises.
• Creativity returns.
• Clarity increases.
• Stress decreases.
• Decision-making strengthens.
• Leadership becomes calmer and more grounded.

And perhaps most importantly, we reclaim a sense of control instead of constantly reacting. The world doesn’t need women who are stretched thin and sprinting through their days. It needs women who lead with clarity, intention, and presence. When we release the myth of multitasking and embrace focused leadership, we step into a model of success that nourishes us instead of draining us; one that is sustainable, strategic, and deeply empowering.