In the early days of freelancing, when you are the business, multitasking seems like a survival skill.
You’re the service provider, but you’re also the billing department, the marketing team, customer service, shipping and fulfillment… and somehow, you’re supposed to fit all of this into a single day. The to-do list never shrinks, and the pressure to perform is real. There’s always something you should be doing, and when you’re not doing it, you’re thinking about how you’re not doing it.
And so, like many of us, you multitask.
You respond to emails while editing an audio file. You draft invoices with half an ear on the online workshop (that you paid for!). You eat lunch while posting content and researching hashtags. You’re in five mental places at once, and still feel like you’re falling behind.
It’s frustrating and exhausting. And here’s the truth no one wants to admit: it’s not actually helping.
Multitasking Isn’t What You Think It Is
Let’s get something straight: folding laundry while listening to a podcast isn’t multitasking in the way we often think of it. That’s pairing a low-focus physical task with a passive listening activity. The real trouble starts when we try to do two thinking tasks at once, like writing a client proposal while attending a video meeting. Or managing your books while also trying to update your website copy.
In these moments, your brain isn’t doing both things simultaneously. It’s rapidly switching between tasks. And every switch comes with a cost.
Studies show that each time you shift focus, it takes several seconds, or even minutes, to fully reorient. Your brain needs to recalibrate. That recalibration time adds up, leading to slower progress, more mistakes, and ultimately… more stress.
The Freelancer’s Trap: Wearing All the Hats
The pressure to multitask is particularly strong when you’re a solopreneur. You don’t want to spend time on admin work, but it needs to get done. And because it’s not the work you love (or the work you got into the business for), you try to do it on the fly, in between “real” tasks.
But here’s the thing: accounting done halfway is still accounting that needs to be fixed later. Marketing done distractedly won’t connect with your audience. Client emails written while juggling five other tasks can come off rushed, or worse, unprofessional.
Multitasking creates the illusion of momentum while quietly undermining the quality of your work.
A Radical Thought: Don’t Do More, Do Better
What if the secret to getting more done isn’t doing more, but being more intentional?
Try it. Choose a task. Close everything else. Focus deeply. Give yourself a small window (15 minutes, 30 max) and block out distractions. You may be surprised at how much progress you make, and how different it feels when your energy isn’t scattered across 3 different things.
Also, question everything. Why am I doing this task this way? The answer is because in the rush of growing your business, it just worked at the time, and you haven’t changed it since. But is it the best way? Taking the time (yes, it will take time) to review your processes can uncover time and money savers, even if it means investing in new software, or contracting the task out to a professional who can do it faster and more error-free than you can.
You’ll not only move faster without multitasking, but you’ll also feel more accomplished, more in control, and yes, more aligned with the reason you started your freelance journey in the first place.
Reclaim Your Focus
You didn’t start your freelance business to drown in busywork. You didn’t choose voiceover (or design, or coaching, or photography) to become a full-time bookkeeper, scheduler, and social media manager.
Multitasking might seem like a necessary evil, but it’s often just a habit. One that’s costing you more than it’s giving back.
In this week’s episode of my Freelance Fitness podcast, I coach you on core strength while we think about refocusing on our core business.
So next time you feel the urge to juggle, pause. Ask yourself: What’s the one thing that really needs my focus right now? Then give it your full attention.
You might just find that you don’t need more hours in the day. You need fewer hats—and fewer apps—open at once.
