The Myth of Multitasking: Why Mindfulness is the New Productivity

What is mindfulness to you? For some, it’s a few deep breaths before a busy meeting. For others, it’s a daily meditation, a yoga class, or a quiet walk without the phone. For me, mindfulness is the art of presence of noticing what’s happening inside and around you, without rushing to change it. It’s not about escape; it’s about engagement meeting the moment with awareness and full attention.

In yoga, mindfulness takes form through movement and breath. We practice being fully present in our bodies, feeling the ground beneath our feet in Mountain Pose, the rhythm of inhaling and exhaling in Pranayama breathing, the steadiness that comes from surrendering control in Savasana. On the mat, mindfulness means honoring both effort and ease. That same philosophy extends far beyond the studio. In business, as in yoga, balance is everything: focus without rigidity (keep a slight bend in those knees!), ambition without burnout, and flow without losing direction.

Technology and AI have reshaped the rhythm of our modern life. We now live in an age where information moves faster than reflection and where algorithms anticipate our thoughts before we’ve had time to form them. The constant influx of data, notifications, and digital noise surrounding us creates the illusion of connection, but often leaves us more fragmented than ever. In this environment, attention has become our most valuable, and most vulnerable resource.

Artificial intelligence can process knowledge at lightning speed, but wisdom still requires pause. Amid this velocity of innovation, mindfulness invites us to slow down, discern, and lead with presence rather than reaction.

Even as I write this, I feel the quiet pull of technology, the notifications, the tabs, the invisible hum of being constantly “on.” We live in an era of acceleration where attention has become currency. The myth of multitasking is everywhere: we tell ourselves we can check emails during a meeting, respond to texts while leading a project, and still maintain focus. But science tells a different story: our brains are not wired to perform multiple attention-intensive tasks simultaneously; instead they rapidly switch between tasks  and each switch comes with a cost. Functional MRI studies show that when people switch from one task to another, activity in the frontoparietal control network and the dorsal attention network significantly increases, revealing the extra cognitive load of switching (PMC+1). Further, switching tasks creates what researchers call “attention residue” the lingering cognitive imprint of the prior task that reduces focus on the next one.

The result: each shift slows us down, increases errors, and erodes our capacity for sustained concentration. In this context, mindfulness reminds us of a deeper truth: we don’t need to do more, we need to be here for what we’re already doing. Doing one thing at a time with full awareness: to write and only write. To listen and only listen. To be in a pose, a meeting, or a moment without trying to be everywhere else at once. It’s a quiet rebellion against chaos, and a powerful tool for clarity, creativity, and calm.

That’s the essence of mindfulness, monotasking not multitasking.

Mindfulness, at its core, is a practice of remembering what it means to be fully human in an increasingly automated world. It’s the pause that lets us feel before reacting, the breath that grounds us before leading, the awareness that reconnects us to purpose beyond productivity. Whether we’re on the mat, in the classroom, or in a boardroom, mindfulness gives us permission to slow the pace and deepen the presence. In a time defined by speed and distraction, perhaps our greatest act of progress is not doing more, but being more awake to what we’re already doing.

Namaste.

Izzy