True Change Today – Single Task
‘True Change Today’ posts list changes, challenges, or fast actionable steps that can be taken today to see immediate results.
Purpose: small steps that can change your life forever. Change your life to change your future.
True Change Today actionable steps challenge you in 4 different topics: changes in health, finances, minimalism, and mindset.
All steps require immediate action while motivation is still high, and all of them promise delivery of results if you decide to stick with them.
Try these on your own, with a family member, friend, enemy, or for extra motivation and encouragement, sign up for a One-on-One coaching program with me.
Today’s Challenge – Mindset
Single Task
Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand, the sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
Multitasking is often seen as a productive and efficient way to get things done, but research shows that this isn’t the case. Professor Anthony Wagner, director of the Stanford Memory Laboratory, examined a decade of studies on multitasking and found that:
There’s not a single published paper that shows a significant positive relationship between working memory capacity and multitasking.
In the last blog post, I wrote about multitasking and how to stop it. Today, we will focus on its cousin – single-tasking. Single-tasking, or doing one thing at a time, is a far better approach.
I challenge you to focus on just one most important task for at least 25-30 minutes. Then take a short 3 to 5-minute break and do couple more rounds of deep work until it’s finished. After successfully completing the task, take a longer break to give your brain rest. When ready, take another round of focused work and tackle the second most important task. Repeat until done.
I am aware that this challenge is hard because focusing only on one task for a longer period of time is difficult in today’s world full of disruptions and it doesn’t naturally come to our brains. But practicing single-tasking can help rebuild our focus and attention span, so with time, it becomes the new norm for our brain. More practice = better results = habit formation.
Bouncing between different tasks may sound exciting, and keeps things fresh, but it doesn’t benefit you, nor the quality of your work.
Remember: forget the things you could do, and instead focus only on the things you should do – the ones that matter most.
P.S.: I use the Pomodoro Technique, you can use other that works best for you.
The quickest way to do many things is to do one thing at a time.
10 Benefits of Single Tasking
- Improves productivity and focus
- Promotes self-discipline
- Conserves energy
- Increases commitment
- Improves attention span
- Empower us against distractions
- Increases creativity
- Strengthen relationships and improve communication
- It simplifies life and gives us a chance to better appreciate time
- Makes us smarter, less stressed, and happier
How to Single Task: 4 Easy Steps
1. Focus Deeply Without Distractions
Eliminate all sources of distractions and focus only on the task at hand. Your creativity, speed, and quality of work will increase.
2. Start Small
Don’t do long focusing sessions at first. Starting small, as little as 10, 15 minutes of distraction-free single-tasking per day can build your mind-muscle, and with time you will get longer and longer focusing periods. When it starts to feel easy, increase the focused time to 25 – 30 minutes or more, depending on your level. For best results, use a timer.
3. Prioritize
Not everything can be of the same importance. Make a list of MITs (Most important tasks) and do them before everything else. It’s not about how many things you do, it’s about doing the right things.
4. Take Regular Breaks
When you’re deeply focused, your brain gets tired easily. Take regular 3 to 5-minute breaks from mentally challenging tasks. It will help rejuvenate the brain and prepare you for the next session of mental activity.
Final Words
Don’t do long focusing sessions at first. Starting small, as little as 10, 15 minutes of distraction-free single-tasking per day can build your mind-muscle, and with time you will get longer and longer focusing periods. When it starts to feel easy, increase the focused time to 25 – 30 minutes or more, depending on your level. For best results, use a timer.
Cheers!
–
If you found value in this post, please consider buying me a coffee or simply share this post with your friends and family.
Every dollar is greatly appreciated and will keep the True Change Today blog 100% advertisement-free.
