January 6, 2018

Single Tasking

I have been a fantastic multi-tasker for as long as I can remember.
I'm pretty sure every job I've ever applied for had 'multi-tasking' in their desired attributes and I prided myself on how well I could multi-task, prioritise and how quickly I could finish off tasks.

But, I now feel multi-tasking is more 'distracted working'.

This past year I've realised than instead of multi-tasking by doing several jobs at once I was actually being distracted by and creating additional things to do. I had way too many things going on at one time and I began wondering why I couldn't just finish something before moving onto another.

Single tasking can be quite difficult because you have to completely focus on one thing at a time and I feel it requires more skill than multi-tasking does. I still think you need to be able to prioritise your workload or tasks/duties which will often mean leaving what you are doing when something more urgent pops up but this should only apply in some workplaces depending on your role.

I feel that by focusing on just one task at a time allows you to have more focus and the finished product will be of better quality. I find if I truly focus on just what I'm doing I'm not thinking about all these other "to-do's" and allowing my mind to wander, it stays on task and I can finish things quicker than expected.

I try to keep my phone away from me also to avoid the temptation to 'take a quick phone break' to check social media or what not - this is one of the biggest distractions for a lot of people, myself included - it's even on the list below.

Pinterest - 13 Reminders Single Tasking List
Image Source

While writing this post I can look at all my open tabs and there are currently five, BUT I haven't allowed myself to click through them in between writing this because I want to finish this while the words are in my mind. I think there is even a notification flashing on my phone as I may have heard a notification tone but it isn't near me so I'll check it once I'm done here. If it was urgent, they would call!

I read a post on Pinterest recently (that put into much better words than I could hope to write myself) how to avoid the urge of multi-tasking and you can read it here.

We are too busy and this is something I want to work on in the future, hence my journey into living a minimalist, simpler life. If I wasn't so busy I wouldn't need to multi-task so I'm trying to single task as a way to determine what is actually important to me.

xx Emily

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