Maybe i was getting it all wrong...
I really don't remember it being all that difficult to check most everything during a TO. After pressing TOGA, the airspeed is not changing that fast. It doesn't take that much time for the N1s to stabilize at the TO setting, which i did check regardless of whether i was PF or PM. As captain, i felt i needed to check everything i could. It only takes a second to confirm for one's self that TO thrust is set. Then there is a scan, inside and outside, rwy track, IAS etc. Any power changes or disruption would be signaled with a change of sound and/or asymmetric thrust/yaw and the crosswind affects on a/c track would be obvious to any pilot worth his/her/its salt. I would see that i had passed 80 kts, and approaching V1 and V2. How else could we survive the simulated incapacitation of the PM which we had on a regular basis on sim checks? The other pilot, PF or PM could be simulated incapacitated and the problem was dealt with in relation to V1 which might not be called out.