The joy of single-tasking
Not infrequently I’m asked, “how do you manage all of those jobs, projects, responsibilities, tasks, etc?” Honestly, I don’t think too hard about it most of the time. But I also understand where questions like this come from. So today I am going to share a couple of approaches that have helped me to organize myself.
However, I think it’s important to share a couple of things about me before continuing. Sometimes I find these kinds of posts a little condescending and out of touch. What works for one person probably won’t work the same for another. I offer these little bits about me as context for you. First, I like to be busy. I enjoy having the structure that responsibilities and deadlines force upon my day. Second, I am not a perfectionist. By this I don’t mean that I do poor quality work, but rather that I am comfortable sending out materials for others to review and comment on, knowing changes will be needed.
With those caveats in place, what do I do? I time block and single task. What does that mean? Well, “time blocking” involves scheduling specific periods of time on your calendar to complete specific tasks. For example, you have a manuscript review to complete, so you block 45 minutes on Tuesday morning at 9:00am to sit down read the paper, construct your feedback, and submit your review. Time blocking works for me for because 1) I listen to what my calendar tells me; 2) I am motivated by knowing I need to focus on something for just 30 minutes; and 3) I’m competitive so I like to see how much work I can jam into specific chunks of time (note: few things you dread doing actually take the time it seems they will).
This brings me to the second and related productivity approach I use, single tasking. As the name implies this is the practice of focusing on just one thing at a time. It is a myth that multi-tasking makes you more productive. Research has demonstrated that our brains CAN’T do two things at the same time. What happens is that your brain basically flip/flops between the various tasks you’re doing. This wastes and time and energy with the effort. More importantly it also means in many cases going back and doing something again because you missed an important step or instruction while you are attending to the other thing you were working on.
Okay, so that’s WHAT I do, but HOW do I get my work done?
I started by practicing single tasking. First, I removed distractions. I turned off ALL sound notifications for emails, texts, social media (EVERYTHING). Next, I turned off all “inbox” notifications for emails, texts, social media etc.
Second, I started thinking more about my work environment and what I needed to feel productive. For me clutter and mess are great reasons to “tidy up” when I need to be working on something that is hard or unpleasant. So, I simplified my note and record keeping approach (meaning fewer books and papers on my desk). I have one basic black notebook for all my academic related notetaking needs. I also stopped printing. This took some time as I was more comfortable reading articles and editing manuscript by hand, but I managed to do it. It also helped immensely to get a second screen for my computer so that I could have multiple files open simultaneously. All these changes took me a couple of years to fully implement.
In the meantime, my career continued, and I added new research projects, directorships, titles, committees, and teaching. All of which meant more on my calendar, and fewer pockets of free time. At my busiest, I might have two 30-minute blocks of non-meeting time each day. I needed to get good at efficiently fitting non-meeting work into those slots. This is where time-blocking really helped me. I was being driven completely by my calendar. So, it made sense to be to start adding non-meeting items there too. Each morning, I looked at my “to-do” determined the priorities for that day and blocked my available time to complete those tasks.
My calendaring approach has continued to evolve, not because I’ve turned away from these tools, but rather they have become so engrained in my day-to-day that I don’t need to be deliberate about their use anymore. If you are interested in trying this yourself a few final thoughts: 1) Start small – your brain needs to early wins to continue to buy-in. You will not be able to change everything at once. 2) Commit – this will require deliberate effort and mental energy at the start, but you won’t get the benefit if you quit early. 3) Give it time – using these approaches to organization is about forming habits, and habits take time to create. According to some recent work it can take anywhere from 18 – 254 days (average of 66 days) for habits to be formed. If this is something you want to try, be patient.
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