Having “too many” tasks on our list can be overwhelming. Even “more than 1” can seem overwhelming at times. There is a decision to be made; which of these two tasks do I take on next?
Oh well, I’ll do them both. Wrong answer.
As much as we’d like to believe we are able to do more than one thing at a time, the simple truth is that we are not wired this way. We are wired for one task at a time. Even if we’re doing “multiple things at once”, we’re really actually doing one thing, then switching to another, and switching back really quickly, before our brain realises we’ve switched tasks.
This is one of the reasons why doing “too many things at once” tires us.
I’ve found great focus in working in “full screen” mode. I show one item on my to do list at a time, open a new browser window to focus on the task I want to work on, and focus entirely on that task until completion or a logical stopping point.
Everywhere you look regularly while in “doing” mode, make it show only one thing. Your to do list, your browser window, your email inbox. Wherever there is friction of more than one thing, make it show one thing.
Craft the tools you use and the environment around you to be free from distraction, to devote yourself to that one thing. Give it your entire focus and attention, free from wondering what the next “one thing” will be.
Give it a try.
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