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Multitasking is like constantly pulling up a plant. This kind of constant shifting of your attention means that new ideas and concepts have no chance to take root and flourish.
Barbara Oakley
Raise your hand if this has happened to you before 🙋🏽
You got home early from work so you decide that you are going to get a head start on cooking dinner. You get out all the ingredients you need and the kitchen is prepped for the delicious meal you are about to make for your family.
All of a sudden your phone rings. It’s your best friend that you haven’t spoken to in a few weeks because…well life. You start to cook while you’re on the phone but you are moving at a snail’s pace. You speak for about 30 minutes.
You get back in the groove of preparing dinner and then your kids run into the kitchen screaming your name because they are fighting over who’s turn it is on the tablet.
Now an hour has gone by and instead of dinner being ready, you are only a third done preparing it.
You might be thinking “Gianna, that is a normal part of being a parent.”
And you are correct. As moms, we are the best at multitasking, and let’s be honest, we live in a world where everyone multitasks. But is it the most efficient use of our time?
The Multitasking Myth
Let’s look at your work-life as an example.
What do you do when you are in the flow of working on a project and you hear a ping from your computer indicating that you have an email? Do you ignore it or keep working? 9 times out of 10 you answer it because it could be important.
Or if you work from home, what do you do when you are working on a project and you look around and notice that the living room needs tidying up? 9 times out of 10 you stop what you are doing to clean the mess you see.
Recent studies have shown that when people are forced to change gears in the middle of a task, valuable time is lost. The more complex the task, the more time is lost. The lost time is the time that’s usually spent by the frontal lobe of your brain making decisions and establishing priorities.
When you multitask, rather than being productive, you often wind up taking longer to complete any single task, and you’re not doing your best work for any of those tasks. This is because multitasking spreads your energy and your attention. You’re consistently aware of what else you’re trying to do. Instead, try single-tasking.
What is Single-Tasking?
Single-tasking, like the name suggests, means focusing on a single task at a time. The way you do this is by minimizing interruptions and distractions. You’re free to direct your entire attention to the one task, which means you complete it more efficiently. Often, this means the final product is of higher quality than it would be when you multitask.
Without interruption? Perhaps you’re thinking, “That’s easier said than done.”
Using Single-Tasking to Your Benefit
There are many ways that we can take advantage of single-tasking. Below are some tips that can help you:
- Create a to-do list.
Just to clarify, I don’t want you to create a to-do list a mile long with things on it that you will never get to. Instead, I want you to use this list as a way to organize your tasks and help you to see everything that you have to do and give you a definite place to start.
The first step is to do a brain-dump by writing everything down. Don’t rely on your memory if you want to finish every task. Of course, you don’t have to use a pen and notebook. You can make memos on your phone or in your Google Calendar to keep yourself accountable.
I personally like using Google Calendar because I receive alerts and it takes off the pressure of having to remember everything I need to do.
Once you’ve done a brain dump and know what tasks you need to do (let’s say for a work project), write the items on your list in order of priority. If you are not sure how to prioritize each item on your list, ask yourself these questions:
- What needs to be done now?
- What can wait?
- What is time-sensitive? (ex. an article with the looming deadline)
Once you’ve answered these questions, make a list of 1-3 top priorities and work from that list each day.
Tip: To save time, you can make one to-do list with tasks from all areas of your life. You then can create different lists based on different categories of your life (work, home, etc.) and grow through the same process listed above for each category.
- Plan your day in blocks of time.
After you’ve prioritized your tasks, the next step is to plan your day in blocks of time. These blocks depend on your workflow. Most people break their blocks into 90-minute increments but do what is best for you.
You can set up your day beforehand, so you’ll know exactly what you’re doing during every block. Doing this allows you to set up your workspace and ensure you have everything you need to complete those tasks.
Tip: Make sure you leave some blocks open for unexpected situations that may arise.
- Trick your brain by taking breaks.
If you’re the type who often checks your phone, even when there’s no alert for new messages, you might benefit from this trick. Studies suggest that taking a short break every 90 minutes helps you to be more productive.
Tell yourself that you’ll get a chance to check your text messages, social media, email, or any other thing that will distract you during these breaks. Make sure you set a timer so that you don’t cut into your productive time.
Tip: If you feel the urge to check your phone, simply take a deep breath and continue working. Don’t worry; your phone (messages, social media notifications, email, etc.) isn’t going anywhere! It will still be there in the same place when you finish your current task.
- Keep a notebook handy.
If you are like me, ideas come a mile a minute and it can be very distracting because I’ll go from focusing on one task to wanting to start another. It can be very frustrating and at times I feel very scatterbrained.
I learned to keep a notebook next to me at all times to help with my scatterbrainedness (if that’s even a word). I keep multiple, one that I can travel with and one large one that I keep in my workspace.
So if you are working on a task and another idea comes to your mind, quickly jot them down so you can continue concentrating on your current project. You won’t have to worry about forgetting your ideas and thoughts later.
- Tune out distractions.
This is probably the hardest part for most people. We live in a distracted world with our phones pinging with emails and messages all the time. As mothers, we are always distracted. Our kids are our priority, so when they need something we drop everything for them.
We may not be able to minimize our kids distracting us, but we can tune out other distractions like our phones. While you are in the flow of completing your tasks, turn off your phone or at least put it on Do Not Disturb.
If having it next to you makes you want to check if you have messages, you can keep it in another room so that it doesn’t tempt you. Like I said above, when you take a break you can always check it then.
Similarly, when you log on to your computer, you need to make sure to keep your email closed. I know it is easier said than done but you can schedule administrative blocks each day to check your email so that you don’t go down the rabbit hole of responding to emails all day.
Closing all your tabs the night before also helps to stop yourself from opening Facebook or Reddit as soon as you log into your computer.
Tip: If you really struggle with distractions, Indistractable by Nir Eyal is a good book to help you identify what is distracting you and how to get back to being focused on what’s important to you.
- Every now and then, take inventory.
We all know that things come up. We get emails with urgent information or we get a phone call from someone who we have to speak to right away.
In this instance, we have to adjust. You should have already scheduled in blocks of time to deal with unexpected tasks, so you would simply re-adjust and re-prioritize your tasks.
Tip: If you are worried about always having to re-adjust your schedule due to something coming up, schedule in one block a day that is your focus time. It is a non-negotiable time that you tune out everything and get that one major task done. It is the one time of day that you don’t allow things to come up. I know, easier said than done, but try it for a week. See what happens!
- Celebrate!
It is important that we celebrate our small wins. Going from multitasking to single-tasking can be hard if you are used to doing many things at once, so when every time you are able to schedule your day in blocks, complete your tasks, and do it with minimal distractions, you better celebrate girl!
You can celebrate however you see fit but the point in to pat yourself on the back and celebrate what you’ve accomplished no matter how small the accomplishment is.
Action Items:
Now that you know how to single-task, it is time to take action!
- Do a brain dump of everything that you need to accomplish no matter what area of life it is in.
- Prioritize your tasks by asking yourself:
- What needs to be done now?
- What can wait?
- What is time-sensitive?
- Make a list of 1-3 top priorities by category
- Plan your day out in blocks of time (recommended 90-minute blocks)
- Schedule in 5-10 minute brakes
- Schedule in 1-2 blocks of time used for urgent or unexpected matters
- Keep a notebook near you for ideas and tasks that come to mind so you can remember them.
- Tune out distractions by putting your phone in another room or on Do Not Disturb, close out all your tabs from the night before, and schedule in non-negotiable focus time.
- Celebrate!
Single-tasking might take some time to get used to, especially if you’re accustomed to working on multiple projects at one time. However, focusing your efforts on a single task will help you think more clearly and determine what steps must be completed.
And once you commit to doing one task at a time, you will see your productivity shoot through the roof!
Have you tried single-tasking? Is it more effective than multitasking? Let me know in the comments below!
Okay love, see you in my next post
Peace,
