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- Multitasking is challenging because the brain must rapidly switch attention between tasks.
- Stress, poor sleep, and menopause-related changes can make multitasking feel more difficult with age.
- Healthy habits like getting enough sleep and exercising regularly can help improve focus and productivity.
Younger adults might have no problem grocery shopping online during commercial breaks or calling a friend while preparing dinner, but for people in their 40s and 50s, juggling multiple tasks at the same time can feel more challenging. Here’s why multitasking may become harder with age—and what you can do to bounce between activities more smoothly.
What Multitasking Does to Your Brain
While multitasking may become less effective as you get older, the truth is that even for younger people, it’s not a very efficient way to accomplish tasks.
Despite its name, multitasking doesn’t mean performing multiple tasks at the same time. Instead, it requires your prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for executive functions like memory, focus, and cognitive flexibility—to rapidly switch between tasks, according to Doha Ayish, MD, a board-certified neurologist at Houston Methodist West Hospital.
In doing so, the brain becomes fatigued from constantly having to “re-anchor attention,” said Alex Dimitriu, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and sleep medicine physician.
The result can mean slower performance and more errors than you might make if you were focusing on just one activity, Ayish said.
Why Multitasking Can Be Even More Challenging As You Age
As people age, multitasking can start to feel more challenging, in part because additional factors may make it harder to manage.
In midlife, stressors such as family, finances, work, and health problems tend to accumulate. Together, they can contribute to mental depletion, leaving less room for the cognitive demands of multitasking.
“There are many demands and things to think about and not a lot of downtime to reflect, relax, or sleep,” Dimitriu said.
Biological changes can also play a role in multitasking difficulties, experts said. For example, glucose metabolism, which provides energy to the brain, declines in midlife. The transition to menopause also involves a gradual decline in progesterone and estrogen, which help support brain function in several ways, including by regulating mood and stimulating the prefrontal cortex.
“The brain changes that occur during perimenopause may influence trajectories of normal and pathologic brain aging,” wrote the authors of one recent study, which found that fluctuations in estrogen were associated with forgetfulness, night sweats, and sleep disturbances.
Poor sleep is a common midlife experience for many people, not just women. Not sleeping well can exacerbate cognitive effects and potentially reduce multitasking ability, pointed out Alyssa Dweck, MD, FACOG, a gynecologist and chief medical officer of Bonafide Health.
While it’s normal to feel a little cognitively slower as you age, Ayish recommends consulting a doctor in certain circumstances, like if accomplishing tasks becomes so challenging that it’s causing disruptions to daily life or if you notice changes that persist continuously for more than two weeks.
Habits to Help With Focus
The good news: If you're having trouble multitasking—or accomplishing tasks in general—there are simple steps you can take to help with productivity.
All of the experts recommended starting with the basics: prioritizing sleep (aiming for seven to nine hours a night), staying hydrated, eating a healthy diet, avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, and getting regular aerobic exercise. Meditation can also help clear the mind and improve focus, Dimitriu said.
Experts also suggested making lists, turning off phone notifications, and minimizing the number of open browser tabs to reduce interruptions.
If you want to avoid multitasking altogether in favor of focusing on one task at a time, set aside a dedicated portion of the day for each responsibility on your to-do list.
