In the modern workplace, multitasking is often treated like a superpower. The idea of finishing an executive presentation while writing an email during a Zoom call sounds like the height of productivity. However, neuroscience research reveals that trying to do several attention-requiring things at once is a myth that actually hurts how well we work¹. Your brain isn’t built like a computer that can run many complex programs perfectly at the same time. When you think you’re multitasking, you’re actually task-switching. This means your brain is rapidly jumping its attention from one thing to another, over and over again. Every switch forces your brain to stop the rules for the first task and start the rules for the second.

Think of your brain’s command center, the prefrontal cortex, like a traffic light. When overwhelmed with too many tasks, it’s like the light is malfunctioning, leading to:

• Traffic jams (You process things slower): After an interruption, it takes a long time to get back into the groove. The University of California, Irvine, found it takes more than 23 minutes to fully refocus on a task after a major distraction².
• Accidents (You make more mistakes): Research suggests that splitting your attention increases your chance of making a mistake by over 12%.
• Increased wear and tear (You get more stressed): This constant stop-start puts a higher cognitive load on your brain, raising the amount of the stress hormone cortisol. This leads to feelings of anxiety, tiredness, and potential burnout³.

Scientists call this rapid jumping the “switch cost¹.” While the delay is only a fraction of a second, these small costs pile up throughout the day and they are a big energy drain in your brain. The American Psychological Association estimates that this task-switching can lower your overall productivity by up to 40%¹. The strategy to combat this is to move from chaotic switching to intentional mono-tasking.

Strategy for Focus: Viante Talent Solutions’ Values-Based Prioritization Framework

We all have subconscious “rules” for decision-making. The Viante Talent Solutions Values-Based Prioritization Framework is a simple, repeatable system designed to make these hidden rules visible. It helps a client make smarter decisions about why they are prioritizing one task over another, moving beyond a simple to-do list. Its goal is to clarify their thinking and help them focus on what truly matters.

1. Defining Values and Criteria

Clients are first asked to identify the criteria they want to use to decide what to work on (e.g., Value, Impact, Effort, Strategy). They are then asked to think about their personal values (e.g., being trusted or ethical) and align each value (or values) to the criteria. Finally, the client ranks each criteria based on how many of their values align to the criteria and their own perception of importance/impact of that criteria. The criteria’s rank is assigned a numerical weight to be used in Phase 2.

2. Aligning Criteria to Tasks

The client then makes a list of tasks for a given workday (up to 20). For each task, they select the top 1 to 3 of their ranked criteria that are most relevant (e.g., Impact on a key customer vs. Strategy for a long-term goal). The higher the criteria’s weight, the greater  importance there is on the task when determining how to prioritize it.

3. Reflection

The tasks are then automatically reordered from the highest-weighted criteria to the lowest. The client then reviews and reflects on the resulting list by asking targeted questions, such as:

• Does your number one task genuinely feel like the most important thing? If there is a mismatch between the logical ranking and your intuition, what does that tell you about the criteria you chose?
• What is the realistic consequence of not doing the last item on your list? Can it be delegated, deferred indefinitely, or simply deleted?

Based on the answers, the client creates 1-3 actions to implement in their daily routine. While this framework takes some conscious effort up front, the goal is to build new habits that enable faster decision-making with less cognitive effort, naturally aligning their work with their values.

A Real-World Example

I used this framework with a client I’ll call John. John put immense pressure on himself to handle everything instantly, which led to him constantly juggling tasks. When the task-switching was at its worst, he was short-tempered and inflexible, which was hurting his reputation with his colleagues and his leader.

The Strategy in Action

In a coaching session, I walked John through the values-based prioritization exercise. As a result, he realized his highest-ranked values were “Customers First” and “Commitment/Reliability.” He also identified his key derailer, the “instant response” impulse. Although this impulse was driven by his values, the true insight that came from the exercise was how this impulse was not serving him well due to the constant distraction and disruption it caused. It was the malfunctioning part of his stoplight.

The solution was two-fold, with the focus on vastly improving his ability to monotask. First, John built in time at the end of each week to summarize accomplishments and plan out his goals and priorities for the next week, allowing him to be proactive rather than reactive. Second, he created a strict schedule with designated blocks of time for deep work on one task at a time, protecting his focus from the “switch cost.”

Crucially, he needed a way to manage unexpected requests that weren’t priorities based on his weighted criteria. We co-created a script based on his top value: “That sounds important. Since my focus right now is on a task for our key customer, what’s the latest you absolutely need this? I’ll circle back once I deliver what I am working on to them.”

This strategy created immediate, clear boundaries. By scheduling his time and having a structured response, he reduced the cognitive load from constant task-switching. His leaders and colleagues started to give him positive feedback. While he was saying “no” more often, his reputation for being inflexible faded because his communication improved, and they knew they would get a thoughtful, timely response, just not an instant one.

This approach helped John stay concentrated and get more done by forcing him to mono-task and use his ranked values to actively manage and reduce interruptions.

Works Cited

1. Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27(4), 763–797
2. Mark, G. (2023). Attention span: A groundbreaking way to restore balance, happiness, and productivity. Hanover Square Press.
3. Becker, L., Weigl, M., Kaltenegger, H. C., Nowak, D., & Rohleder, N. (2022). Differences in stress system (re-)activity between single and dual- or multitasking in healthy adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Stress, 25(1), 116–132.