The Art of Single Task Focus

The art of single task focus

Let me be honest with you. I struggle with procrastination. Ironically, I’ve been excited to write this article but I haven’t found the time to finish it.

I can be meticulous and motivated but only when pressured by a deadline. Sometimes (for reasons I am still learning to understand), I think about one task while working on another.
I scroll when I need to focus. Then check my emails and my phone. I will swivel my chair and scroll again and then it’s probably time for another coffee. 

But this technique helped me change my behaviors.
I’ve been practicing single task focusing.
Single task focus has helped me get projects over the line.

Let’s explore the art of single tasking.

Do one thing at a time. Then the next and the next

It is important to be clear about the purpose of your time.
What do you want to do with your time?
It can help to make a list of all the things you want to get done.
Then sit with it and highlight the priorities and the most important tasks. Make a new list with just the important task.

Start with the first thing on the list. Do that and only that task for a set period of time. This is known as single task focusing.

It is the opposite of multi-tasking and multi-tasking is just another way of being distracted.

There are so many things demand attention. There are always notifications to be checked. Blinking lights that want to hijack your nervous system. Blinking lights that want quick and easy access to the feel-good chemicals of your brain.

But only you can keep pulling back the distractions and stay on task. Only you can quiet down the noise.

What distractions can you control? 

How can you disrupt the interruptions that hiccup your workflow?

Reinforce your identity

Actions inform identity. It’s a matter of taking steps towards a goal.

This is a vote for the part of my identity that gets things done. If I say I am going to finish something, I want others to believe that I will get it done. I invite you to this contemplation. What is your working reputation?

Do people believe in you as much (or as little) as you believe in yourself?

Let me tell you a story about my writing desk

I convinced myself that I needed the perfect desk to do work. I hunted for weeks in antique stores and furniture shops. All the while in a state of mild anxiety and creative block. Finally, I found a mahogany desk. It was perfect.

I immediately starting writing again. But on the floor. Or the corner of the couch. Or in the shower. But the point was that I was productive again and it was never about the desk. It was about an anchor. A way to organize my mind - to say, now I am allowed to be a writer. Now, I can work. It was a vote for a version of myself that I wanted to become.

The more you follow through on your actions, the more you will believe that you get things done. The desk is there, waiting for the days when I simply do not feel like working. It’s a spell to cast upon myself. When I am sit down at my desk, I will be working. It tricks my brain into focusing.

What talismans, artifacts, or tools help you feel empowered?

Is it a power suit, a fountain pen, polish on your shoes, no wrinkles in your shirt?

Design an intentional environment

It is important to design a space with intention. It could be a room or a desk or a corner in a room. It could be the way your desktop icons are arranged. It could be an outfit. Its purpose is to switch you into focus mode. As a way to remind you of the identity you inhabit when you are in this environment. It could be a chair you sit in, a notebook you carry. A song you play or an entire playlist. Anything that has the association that now is the time to work.

For me, it is music with noise cancelling headphone. When I wear headphones, it is a signal to the world, to leave me alone, I am working.

Context switching and attention residue

Context is switching is when you dance from task to task. It is answering an email, then checking Slack then swivelling your chair to talk to a colleague then trying to do your work. Constantly switching tasks can be necessary but each time we switch focus, our brain uses energy. This is known as a context switch cost.

This can look like a loss in efficiency. This can look like tasks feeling harder and harder to complete. This is a real side effect of multi-tasking, each time we switch tasks, we switch goals. Because each of those new tasks has slightly different rules to achieve it.

This creates something known as attention residue. This is when you are still thinking about a previous task while working on the next. Or you are turning over an idea in your head while someone is talking to you about something new. There are ways to reduce the cost of constantly switching tasks. Like have small breaks between tasks and meetings.

Build buffers and microbreaks into your workday

Allow your brain to rest before switching tasks. It can be helpful to use a threshold like making cup of tea. Or a walk around the office. What cues can find in your work environment to remind you to stand up and stretch for 20 seconds?

This may sound weird but personally I like to form a dialogue with an pot plant that is far away from my desk and each time I see it, it reminds me to take a few deep breathes and a tiny break. Or I add a private to note in my calendar to close my eyes and meditate before jumping into the next meeting. I urge you to be the one in the room that takes intentional breaks.

It can be helpful to make brief note before taking these microbreaks of what you still need to finish. Writing this down can ease the cognitive load for when you transition in and out of the task.

Pay attention to your attention throughout the day. Where do you shift (or lose) focus?

What pulls you away from your work?

There are two distinctions to be made here. There are passive shifts and active shifts. Passive context shifts are when you get interrupted by someone or there’s a loud noise like a siren outside. Active context shifts are things that you initiate like scrolling on your phone through Instagram.

Are any of these disruptions within your influence?
For example there are app blockers that can limit the time you spend on social media.

Pomodoro technique

We talked earlier about focusing on a single task for a set period of time. One way to do this is by using the Pomodoro technique. This means, focusing on a single task for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break. The goal is to focus for long as your brain will allow. Then take a break before starting again.

The times are flexible. I use pomofocus. This is not an affiliate link, it’s just a genuinely great tool. This helps me when I am simply not the mood. I force myself to focus and more often that not, within the first 7 minutes, I am absorbed in the task. Sometimes, I will keep working. 40 minutes, 50 minutes.

Remember, momentum can be created.

Motivation can be crafted and identity can shift.

Quick wins

·         Invest in noise-cancelling headphones. 

·         Find the flow of a playlist.

·         Take intentional breaks

·         Build buffers before meetings

Hopefully this helps you make intentional choices about how you spend your time. Good luck out there.

Talk soon,
Harley.