Multitasking Inhibits Your Productivity, Monotasking Boosts it
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It’s incredibly easy to make yourself feel busy.
First, you tell yourself “I don’t have enough time.” Second, you do too many things at the same time—you multitask.
Yes, multitasking makes you busy, but being busy doesn’t mean you’re being productive.
Right?
And your goal shouldn’t be to do more, your goal should be to do better; to be more efficient and effective with your time.
The truth is multitasking—the very act of trying to juggle multiple tasks at once—inhibits your productivity.
It’s as simple as that.
When you tackle too many things at the same time, you spread your focus and energy so thin that nothing gets the attention it deserves. You succeed in creating a sense of “being busy” but you fail in creating a reality of being productive.
“The scarcity of time is the reason we have to concentrate on one thing at a time.”—Matt Perman
Time is scarce and precious, so let’s stop wasting in.
Mono-tasking is how you beat multitasking.
It’s how you stop being busy and start being productive.
The Truth About Multitasking
Multitasking is a term that was coined in the 1960’s to describe a computer capability.
We’ve since adopted it and even boast about it now, but the reality is this: The human brain was not designed to multitask. We’re borrowing a computer quality, bridging it into our identity and expecting peak performance. Well, that’s now going to happen.
It turns out multitasking has a negative impact on our brains. According to a study done at the University of London, multitasking makes you dumber by temporarily reducing your IQ by 10 points. Another study from Stanford University found that people who multitask are more easily distracted, less productive, have slower memory recall, and make more errors.
When you multitask, you aren’t doing multiple things at once. Instead, your brain is rapidly switching attention between the activities you’re engaging in. This is known as “task switching.”
Anything that diverts your attention and focus from your main activity is considered task switching, and it happens at such a fast rate, within a fraction of a second, but research shows that it can decrease your productivity by 40%.
So as you can see, there’s a major downside to multitasking.
And the answer to this is mono-tasking (or single-tasking).
Focus on one activity at a time.
When you single-task, you’re training your mind to cultivate more focus, which drives higher attention and increases your chance of entering a state of flow— a psychological state that boosts creativity and performance.
How to Design a Space for Monotasking
We might not be able to fully escape multitasking, but we can reduce its impact on us. And this is especially important for tasks that require your mental energy and focus.
So when it comes to activities that matter to you, such as preparing for a presentation or writing an article, here are some strategies that help you single-task:
1. Block time.
Block time on your calendar for this task.
Respect this time and see it as an appointment with yourself to get shit done, and try your best to make it a reoccurring session. By doing so, you’re creating a mental routine and training your brain to show up, ready to focus on the task ahead at the same time every day. This becomes a mental cue and a ritual for deep, focused, distraction-free work.
I use time-blocking for my writing. My 9.00 am - 11.00 am, Mondays to Fridays are slots blocked solely for my writing.
2. Start with the most important task first.
Willpower is a limited resource that renews daily. We start our days fresh with high willpower, but as the day runs its course, our willpower depletes. And as our willpower reduces, so does our ability to focus and stay distraction-free.
This is the reason you find it harder to go to the gym after work or skip that chocolate bar late at night—your willpower has depleted.
And that’s exactly why it’s crucial to start your day with the most important task (MIT) first.
What is the most important task that needs to be delivered today? Do it first thing in the morning when your attention is sharp, your energy is high and your willpower is firm. Replying to e-mails, requests, and messages can wait.
3. Remove all distractions.
When I sit to write, I put my phone on airplane mode and stow it away. I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to be tempted by it. I declutter my desk. I put a “do not disturb “ sign on my door. I don’t want to be interrupted. I close all tabs on my laptop. I listen to instrumental music and start writing.
Removing all distractions helps you create a distraction-free environment.
You want to cut the noise out so you can tune in and enter a state of flow. Use an app like freedom to block all the websites that might distract you.
4. Set a time limit.
Set a time limit for your task. I give myself two hours to write an article because if I gave myself all day, I would procrastinate and never get it done. Sometimes, if I’m really in a flow, I go overboard, and that’s totally fine. But when you set a time limit, you’re creating a sense of urgency.
This urgency will trick your brain and force you to focus on the task at hand to get it done.
Why it Matters to You
Being busy doesn’t mean you’re being productive. And your goal shouldn’t be to do more, your goal should be to do better; to be more efficient and effective with your time.
You can do two things at once, but you can’t effectively focus on two things at once.
So stop multitasking and start mono-tasking—that’s how you boost your productivity.