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Burnout Masked As Productivity: When Multitasking Keeps You Functional but Exhausted

Written By Mairi Joyce


woman multitasking: burnout masked as productivity

Multitasking is often praised as a sign of capability. Juggling emails, meetings, home responsibilities, and emotional labour can look like productivity, especially in working women who are used to carrying a lot.


But for many people managing burnout, multitasking isn’t a strength. It’s a way of staying functional when energy is already depleted.


If you’re getting things done but feeling constantly tired, wired, or unable to switch off, your productivity may be masking burnout rather than preventing it. What feels like efficiency may be one of the hidden ways burnout is showing up while you’re still working.


In this post, we explore how multitasking can mask burnout, keeping you busy without actually helping you recover energy, focus, or satisfaction at work.


Multitasking at Work: The Productivity Myth


Multitasking gives the illusion of doing more. Switching between tasks can feel productive, but research shows it actually reduces efficiency and increases cognitive fatigue. Your brain wasn’t designed to constantly switch contexts and every shift drains mental energy.


For working women, this often coincides with people-pleasing tendencies and high standards, making multitasking a default “solution” rather than a choice.


How Multitasking Becomes a Burnout Coping Strategy


Many working women rely on multitasking because it feels good. Every task switch triggers a small stress response and over time, this keeps the nervous system in low-level activation which can become addictive, similar to the work-related adrenaline cycle.


Multitasking makes us look productive but it also hides the signs of burnout. Because you’re still meeting expectations, colleagues and managers may see you as capable and thriving. Internally, however, you may feel emotionally drained, chronically fatigued and detached from enjoyment at work or home. This is high-functioning burnout.


The Hidden Drain of Constant Switching


Your cognitive energy is not limitless. Eventually, you need to rest and allow your brain to recover. If you try to push through, your brain ceases to function effectively.


If you constantly make your brain switch between tasks, it will tire more quickly, ultimately decreasing productivity instead of increasing it. This can have multiple impacts:


  • Reduction in Work Quality: When you multitask, you pay less attention to individual tasks, leading to a decrease in overall output quality. This results in spending more time correcting errors and redoing tasks—apparently multitasking can reduce productivity by up to 40%.


  • Increased Stress: Multitasking has been shown to increase stress, negatively affect mood and motivation, and cause anxiety. Constantly switching tasks can limit creativity and even affect working memory.


  • Personal Relationships: Because multitasking prevents you from being fully present with family, friends, and colleagues, it can impact personal relationships.


What Happens When Productivity Becomes Exhaustion


Multitasking doesn’t just affect work, it shapes your sense of self-worth. You may believe your value comes from how busy you are. This fuels a cycle of hidden burnout, where working harder feels necessary, even when your energy is low.


What Helps When You Can't Just Do Less


Many of us organise our day around time rather than cognitive capacity. We treat time as a resource to maximise, forgetting that our brain has limits. Overloading it with simultaneous tasks can lead to burnout, leaving us exhausted, disengaged, and less productive.


Breaking free from multitasking doesn’t mean doing less work. It’s about working differently:


  • Treat cognitive energy as finite

  • Focus on one task at a time whenever possible

  • Schedule email or admin time rather than constantly checking

  • Accept multitasking only as a temporary necessity, not a sign of efficiency.


Recovering From Burnout While Still Working


Shifting from multitasking to focused single-tasking is a crucial element of preventing burnout for working women. By acknowledging your cognitive limits and intentionally managing your energy, you can increase work quality and efficiency, reduce stress and mental fatigue and protect your wellbeing and personal relationships.


Multitasking is just one of many patterns that can feed burnout while you’re still performing at work. To fully protect your energy:



Each small adjustment contributes to recovery without quitting your job, keeping your career and wellbeing in balance.


FAQs: Burnout Masked as Productivity


Is multitasking actually bad for productivity?

In most cases, yes. Multitasking creates the illusion of productivity, but it often reduces focus, increases mistakes, and drains mental energy. Constant task-switching keeps the nervous system in a heightened state, which may look productive on the surface but can quietly contribute to burnout over time.


Can burnout look like being productive?

Yes. Many people experiencing burnout continue to perform well, meet deadlines, and stay busy. Burnout masked as productivity happens when output remains high, but recovery, enjoyment, and energy steadily decline. You may look capable on the outside while feeling exhausted, detached, or overwhelmed internally.


Why do I feel busy all the time but never caught up?

This often happens when productivity is driven by urgency rather than intention. Multitasking, constant notifications, and reacting to demands can keep you in a cycle of “doing” without progress or satisfaction. Over time, this pattern increases fatigue and reduces your ability to recover between tasks.


Is this a sign of high-functioning burnout?

It can be. High-functioning burnout is characterised by continuing to cope and perform while feeling emotionally and physically depleted. If you rely on busyness or pressure to get through the day and struggle to slow down without guilt, it may be an early warning sign rather than a personal failing.


Can I recover from burnout without becoming less productive?

Yes. Recovery doesn’t mean doing less forever or lowering your standards. It often means working differently, reducing unnecessary task-switching, protecting energy, and allowing focus and rest to coexist. Many people find they become more sustainably productive once burnout-fuelled habits are addressed.


What’s the first step if I recognise this pattern in myself?

The first step is noticing it without judgement. Pay attention to how your body feels during busy periods and how well you recover afterwards. Small changes, such as completing tasks sequentially, building in pauses, or redefining what “enough” looks like, can interrupt burnout patterns while you continue working.


Mairi x





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