“Must have the ability to multitask.”
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Fermion is a Wollongong-based HR consultancy that specialises in helping companies across Australia save money through innovative recruitment and retention programs. Let us help your organisation thrive.
Multitasking is a Myth
You’ll still find it on job ads and position descriptions everywhere, but here’s the thing:
The human brain? Terrible at multitasking.
We don’t run on parallel processing, but the human brain processes information serially, i.e., one task at a time; we switch between tasks and every switch costs us.
⚠️ More mistakes
⚠️ More stress
⚠️ Less depth
So when we write “ability to multitask”, what are we really asking for?
🔄 The capacity to be interrupted constantly?
🚨 To juggle priorities without dropping the ball (or burning out)?
📉 To do many things... poorly?
It might seem like a harmless phrase — but it signals the wrong things and it attracts the wrong behaviours.
A better ask?
✔️ Able to prioritise
✔️ Stays calm under competing demands
✔️ Manages focus and transitions well
Let’s stop pretending “multitasking” is a strength.
It’s not how great work gets done.
About the Author:
Fermion specialises in psychometric testing for recruitment. Please contact Fermion to discuss how a test of IQ, EQ and a personality profile, or any other psychometric test, can help with you your recruitment decisions.
Christopher Apps is a Workplace Psychologist and the owner of Fermion. He stays updated on the latest psychology research and shares evidence-based insights. The focus of Fermion is "Psychometric Testing for Recruitment" and “Recruitment to Retention: How to Select Good Staff & Keep Them”. If you would like to learn how to select good staff and keep them, please feel free to contact us at Fermion.
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
Eleanor Roosevelt.
