Multitasking has long been treated as a badge of efficiency, yet many people discover it rarely translates into better results. Even when someone handles two or three tasks at once, success is not guaranteed. In fact, frequent distraction and unfinished tasks can signal attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. This insight comes from Ekaterina Demyanovskaya, a candidate of medical sciences, neurologist, and a specialist at Gemotest Laboratory.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is not a personality trait. It is a neuropsychiatric condition that makes sustained concentration on a single task challenging for both children and adults. The brains involved in planning, self-organization, and behavioral control often function inadequately in ADHD. As a result, people may miss details, drift during lectures or readings, and even struggle to maintain a conversation for a prolonged period. The expert stresses that the core difficulty lies in regulating attention and coordinating mental processes over time.
People with ADHD frequently experience trouble following instructions and completing tasks. The condition can hinder the ability to manage even a single assignment. Due to fluctuating attention, individuals may rapidly switch between activities without really delving into any of them. Tedious, meticulous work tends to be especially hard, and many sufferers dislike preparing reports, filling forms, reading lengthy texts, and even keeping track of everyday items like keys, wallets, glasses, or work papers. These challenges underscore the importance of structured planning and organization for those affected.
Because of these patterns, creating to-do lists and clearly planning daily activities become essential strategies. Setting deadlines and striving to stick to them can help maintain momentum, with the approach of completing one task before starting the next. The neurologist notes that such discipline is not unique to people with ADHD, but ADHD tends to amplify the impact of multitasking on performance. The brain has a limited capacity for short-term memory, which means most people can truly concentrate on only two things at a time before the remaining duties begin to overwhelm cognitive resources. This is one reason why multitasking while driving, such as talking on the phone, increases the risk of accidents far more than some other distractions. In the professional view of the expert, multitasking often interferes with performance across a wide range of tasks, not just for those diagnosed with ADHD.
While there are a small number of individuals who can manage three tasks simultaneously with high quality, they constitute only a fraction of a percent. Specialists refer to these exceptional performers as supertasks. Mastery of multitasking requires a higher degree of self-organization. It involves careful prioritization and quick decisions about what truly deserves attention and what can wait. The trick to achieving multitask success, according to the expert, lies in pairing tasks that draw on different cognitive strengths. For instance, one activity may demand maximum mental effort, while the other two can be handled in a more automatic or mechanical way. With such balance, individuals can free up mental resources to handle more work overall.
This perspective aligns with broader research on attention and executive function. It highlights that the ability to juggle multiple responsibilities depends not only on inherent skill but also on effective strategies and environment. When people structure their days with realistic goals, minimize unnecessary interruptions, and sequence tasks to leverage varied cognitive demands, productivity can improve without sacrificing quality. The discussion also touches on the practical reality that multitasking frequently results in slower progress on each task, even if there is a perception of getting more done. Experts emphasize that progress often comes from doing fewer things with greater focus rather than trying to do many things at once. A clear plan, steady routines, and deliberate task management emerge as practical tools for people seeking better outcomes in work and study. In sum, understanding ADHD-related challenges and adopting disciplined approaches to task management can help people stay on track and maintain consistency in their efforts.
These insights reflect ongoing professional observations about work habits and cognitive performance. The conversation also nods to broader behavioral science research, which continues to explore how attention is allocated, how distractions derail progress, and what work environments can best support sustained focus. The takeaway remains practical: for most people, reducing multitasking, prioritizing one task at a time, and building structured routines can lead to clearer thinking, better results, and more reliable progress across daily activities.