How to Single Task

Brain hurting? Feeling a lack of accomplishment? Having a hard time concentrating? Crazy busy? Uninspired? Longing? Wanting more-more depth, more connection, more delight-from life? It's the end result of "so much to do, so little time." If you ask me, multitasking is not a skill, but a sickness that leaves us feeling spread thin and ultimately less productive in our lives. Single tasking, on the other hand, allows us to eliminate things that do not truly satisfy and dive deeply into those that do. Follow these tips to get started on a rewarding single task path.

Instructions

• 1

  Start with your meals. While eating, do nothing other than eat. Don't watch television. Don't answer the phone. Don't read. Don't work. Don't email. And most importantly, don't hurry.

• 2

  When spending time with loved ones, don't play with your phone. Turn it off and leave it in your purse or your coat pocket.

• 3

  Stop hanging out with people who drain your energy. No good comes from spreading yourself thin to see people you don't like.

• 4

  Ask not what you can add to your To-Do list; ask what you can take off your To-Do list.

• 5

  When working, start your day with your most important task. Complete that task. When that one is finally finished, move on to the second most important, then the third and so on.

• 6

  Break tasks down to their smallest, most essential parts and focus on those tiny bits. Complete the atoms of a project; don't try to tackle the whole organism.

• 7

  Check email only when you have time and energy to respond to the messages. Don't log in simply to see who, if anyone, has written to you.

• 8

  Calm anxiety with a walk, a deep breath, a wild dance party in your bedroom, not by distracting yourself with another project.

• 9

  Allow time for singularly focused play.