Single tasking will change your life: Here's how
In a world obsessed with multitasking and juggling a million things at once in the name of productivity, is single tasking really a viable option?
In short – yes.
Single tasking has been proven time and time again to be the best way to get stuff done. #SlowLiving anyone?
This article will arm you with the right knowledge and tools to make single tasking work for you. It’s easy when you know how.
WHAT IS SINGLE TASKING?
Single tasking, believe it or not, is the act of focusing your entire attention on one single task. It is the polar opposite of multitasking and truth be told, it is a far superior method of productivity.
Single tasking will help you to get stuff done. Period.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?
There’s a whole load of good stuff in it for you as it turns out. I’m lazy, so here’s the top 3. These are the only benefits you need to be fair so don’t hate on me. Cheers.
GENUINE PRODUCTIVITY
When you block out all distractions and focus your energy on one single task, you allow yourself to produce your very best work without flitting between tasks.
Apparently we can only work for 40-ish seconds before we’re distracted, that is absolute madness. Can you believe that stat? I couldn’t either until I actually thought about it.
Picture the scene, you’re sat at your desk…
“Ooo an email!”
“Oh hello colleague that has come over for a random chat”
“Ah let me just have a quick look at the weather…and a bit of news…oh my lord Gemma Collins did what?”
And so the cycle continues. Once you’re able to single task, these distractions cease to exist. They go away and never come back to haunt you again…for the most part.
LESS STRESS
Because you’re actually getting work done and blocking out unimportant tasks, you become a stress free buddha. Well maybe not that zen but because you have prioritised work and aren’t trying to split your time between so many tasks, you become safe in the knowledge that you’re attacking the most important thing and other (less important) tasks will get their turn later.
This absolute organisational #goals is what makes single tasking such a stress-free experience.
BETTER SOLUTIONS TO HARDER PROBLEMS
When you multitask, your mind is spread so thinly that you can’t concentrate on one problem at a time. You’re constantly trying to process about 10 consecutive problems whilst attempting (terribly) to find solutions that are more than likely, rather subpar.
When you single task, your entire mind is focused on the problem at hand. You can give all of your attention to finding the best solution and your head isn’t battered with needless stresses.
This clarity has helped me develop and write up a faeces-tonne of articles over the past couple of years. Simply taking a bit of time to meditate on an issue can be such an effective way to improve the quality of your work exponentially.
HOW TO SINGLE TASK EFFECTIVELY
You’ve been armed with all the juicy benefits, now it’s time to find out how you can actually implement single tasking into your life.
GET A SCHEDULE
This is the easiest thing you can do to single task.
Set yourself time blocks throughout the day. These blocks should be split into things you want to accomplish. For instance, I do 30 minutes of physical activity in the morning, followed by 2 hours of writing, then an hour to do emails and Instagram posts, comments, etc., then it’s lunch, THEN I’ll block off some more time for writing again, freelance work and so on.
Try to block at least 4 hours of pure single tasking throughout your day. Outside of this can be anything you god damn please but during those 4 hours you should do nothing but focus on the task at hand.
I guarantee you that you’ll get more done in those 4 hours than multitaskers will get done in 4 days. They look and feel busy but they’re not really, they’re just spinning their wheels in multiple directions.
Single tasking gets stuff done, multitasking just gives the illusion that you’re getting stuff done. Make your choice.
PUT THAT PHONE AWAY & BLOCK THOSE PESKY EMAILS
We all know that phones are the devil incarnate but to what extent to they affect our productivity?
Well if you have you have your phone in the room with you, it creates an effect which I can’t for the life of me remember the name of BUT it gives you an almost twitch-like reflex to go and grab it to check for notifications.
The dopamine hit you get from these notifications is what keeps us coming back to our pocket-sized enslavers so the best thing you can do is put your phone wayyyy out of reach.
I work from home so I just pop the phone in another room and check it every hour or two for calls and messages. You can try and push it up to 5 hours eventually and see how you cope – it gets a whole lot easier over time.
Once you’ve navigated this hurdle, your single tasking becomes a breeze. Add to that an extension for your web browser and you’ve got a potent combo. I use Blocksite to block emails, football news sites, social media and my biggest and most embarrassing addiction – Miniclip 8-Ball pool…don’t click that link, you might get sucked in too.
Putting these little barriers in the way of these productivity drainers is such an effective method. The amount of times I’ve mindlessly typed those sites in my browser for a little break after an ENTIRE 3 minutes of writing is unfathomable. Thankfully, this extension gives me a telling off and I realise that it’s work time, not mindless scrolling time.
This is your most important step so DO IT PLZ.
GUARD YOUR TIME
I’ve talked about this before but you have to be ruthless with your time. Your team want a meeting for a ‘catchup and chat’? Bugger off. Same goes for needless coffee lunches with people you don’t really need to see.
If someone asks you to help them out with some work that doesn’t involve you and you don’t have the time, DON’T DO IT. The quicker you stop trying to people please by taking on too many tasks, the quicker your head will stop being full of thoughts of killing your boss and butchering 87% of your co-workers.
Put an auto-reply on your email that tells people you only check it once per day. If they need you urgently they can call your work phone (a phone with no apps, simply for urgent calls), if it not then it can wait. I learnt that trick from the main man Tim Ferriss – click on his lovely name to find loads more ‘life hacks’.
Single tasking. It’s easier than you think.
Once you stop trying to do everything (sub-optimally) at once and focus all your energy into one area of development, you’ll see the best results in terms of productivity – and life in general – that you could possibly wish for.
Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.
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Turn your commute into the most productive part of your day
We’ve all been there – the morning commute. Then followed with a back-breaking 9-5. THEN followed with the evening commute. Repeat this 5 days a week for the rest of your godforsaken life and you can see why the majority of people turn into cement-faced zombies by the time they’re 30.
I’m about to unleash a whole flurry of productivity on you in order to prevent zombification. You’ve got no excuse here either – there’s something for everyone; Trains, planes, automobiles (even cyclists) – I’ve got you covered.
Here’s how you turn your commute into the most productive part of your day.
THE MORNING COMMUTE KING: PODCASTS / AUDIOBOOKS
Podcasts and audiobooks are two of the most popular pastimes nowadays. We are cash rich and time poor, so why sit down to read a book when you could have someone (with a lovely soothing voice) read to you whilst you crack on with another task?
Listening to podcasts and audiobooks on your way to work can relax you before the hectic day ahead and give you insight into the minds of experts in various fields. Tim Ferris runs an excellent podcast where he interviews lots of experts and celebrities – it’s funny and engaging, which is probably why it’s so popular.
You could also listen to audiobooks such as Rich Dad, Poor Dad or The Art of War to expand your mind during those soul-wrenching journeys to and from work.
STAND UP
You’re off to sit down all day, ruining your posture and your health in the process. Why would you want to sit down some more on your way to sitting down? Standing up on your way to work can give you roughly an hour’s extra physical exercise (assuming your commute is a half hour) per day. Now obviously I know you can’t do this in your car, but if you take public transport, give standing a chance.
Standing has so many benefits that people are completely unaware of, due to the fact it’s such a medial activity. Standing for just one fourth of your day can reduce your risk of obesity by 32%, improve your posture, increase your lung capacity and reduce your risk of diabetes.
There are so may more benefits to standing that you simply can’t be missing out on. Aim to stand for at least 3 hours of each day and then try to work your way up to 6 or 7 hours. This can have a profound effect on your health and may be the key to reversing some of the ailments you suffer from that you may have thought were just part and parcel of life.
EMAILS / WRITING
Early in the day is when your creative juices are fully flowing. This is before your head is filled with a million tasks and your boss’s voice is ringing in your ears.
The morning calm can let your mind be free and if you are in any way required to write for your job, then this is the time to get your best work done. I tend to write my best articles early in the morning as I have no stressors or distractions at this time.
Obviously if you don’t need to write, you can get all of your emails in check before you even get to work, freeing up your morning to do whatever you please. This can skyrocket your productivity in work as you won’t have to keep checking in with your emails to see which daft idiot has dared to disturb your coffee break.
Now you have no excuse to sit and zone out on the way to and from the rat race. No more getting stressed about that fat smelly gentleman taking up half your seat on the train. You can put your mind to work and get your day off to a flyer.
Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.
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Productivity tips that will triple your output in minutes
Productivity is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. We all want to be more efficient with our time when it comes to work output. How good would it be if we could half the time it took to write that essay, draft that report or read that book?
Well look no further, because these productivity tricks will help you triple your productivity in no time…
PRODUCTIVITY STARTS WITH NO PHONE
Literally the most important thing you will ever do for your productivity.
Put your phone away for one hour and I guarantee your productivity will shoot through the roof. Doing this stops you from looking at distractions like facebook, emails, whatsapp, snapchat etc and lets you focus solely on the task at hand.
If you simply can’t cope without your phone for more than 5 minutes then at least turn it on silent and look at it every 20 minutes so you’re not constantly bombarded with buzzing and notifications. This way you can get more work done but still maintain that oh-so important social media presence.
SET A SCHEDULE
Don’t just make a huge to-do list consisting of 50 unrelated tasks you need to get done, because you simply won’t get them done. What I suggest is a method called ‘time-blocking‘.
Basically, time-blocking means getting all of your to-do list and ordering it into certain time periods where you will get it done. This way, instead of attacking your list un-methodically and burning out, you will have set time-frames to guide you and give you a deadline to work towards.
Not only does this give you rigid guides so you know exactly what to do and when, it motivates you to try and beat these times, giving you more longer to rest between blocks.
GET UP EARLY
No one ever accomplished anything great rolling out of bed at 12pm, making a piece of toast and watching Jeremy Kyle for 4 hours straight. Late rising breeds mediocrity, make sure you get up at 9am latest every single day and make every minute count.
This means waking up, going through your morning ritual and starting work on whatever goals you have set yourself that day/week/month. There’s a reason so many successful people say the key to their success was waking up early every day – do it.
PRIORITISE
To be productive you need to realise what is conducive to your goals and what isn’t. If you’ve got an important deadline coming up in the next week or so, which is more important – Working proactively towards your deadline, using all the hours God sends…Or playing your Xbox for 7 hours every day sat in your boxers eating chocolate.
Learn how to prioritise effectively and you’ll see your output grow exponentially. Sometimes you will have to make important sacrifices – I found it so hard to do any work when I had my Xbox I had to sell it (I actually did this three times because I kept buying it back but I’m video game-sober now…mostly).
This way I got work done and passed all my exams. Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture and decide where you want your life to go.
DON’T MULTITASK
Multitasking leads to burnout. Trying to juggle your emails, writing, reading and whatever else is just a recipe for disaster. Make sure you set one task and concentrate all your efforts into getting that completed instead of half-trying to complete all sorts of other things. It’s far better to do one task at 100% effort than 2 at 50%.
PROCRASTINATE
Set a little bit of time every couple of hours in order to have a 15 minute walk, watch a couple of Youtube videos or reply to any messages you have on your phone.
Setting this time aside throughout the day allows you to unwind and stops you burning out earlier than you otherwise would. I find that using procrastination can let me work for far longer than if I tried to simply work through with no breaks.
WATER
Often overlooked, but keeping yourself hydrated not only keeps your muscle strong and body healthy – it keeps your mind as sharp as possible. Your brain consumes a lot of calories and a lot of fluid in order to stay at peak performance. Think of water as your brain’s fuel – if it’s not getting that fuel you’re not getting that performance.
There you have it.
Get out there and enjoy all the time you’ll save with all this new productivity power.
Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.