The Secret To Achieving Anything
OK, so it isn’t so much ‘a secret’ but more like something that we all overlook as a technique that is not efficient in our modern fast passed world. With so much going in our everyday lives we are all lead to believe that being able to multitask is the key to being some Jedi Master of Productivity. Interesting enough, they’d be wrong, the plain and simple answer is “SINGLE TASKING.”
It’s one of the best ways you will ever be able to achieve your goals and really get things done without losing your mind or your motivation.
But what exactly is Single-Tasking?
Let’s take a look.
What is Single-Tasking?
Single-tasking is the process of focusing on just a single task at a time, leading to higher-quality results quickly.
Single-tasking is all about giving 100% of your attention to a single task, which is not the same in case of multi-tasking.
Multi-tasking is the process of focusing on different things all at once, which leads to a stressful as well as less productive environment.
Don’t we all just want to get as many things done as possible in as little time as possible?
True, but…
Research has successfully proved that while we try to do many things at once, we ultimately end up doing a lot less.
Chances are that you might have already heard about “Single-tasking” before.
But not many people are able to put it in practice.
They struggle a lot.
Why?
That’s because we are human beings and our desires change with time.
We start dreaming of something new before we even have seen our old dreams come to life.
We want to achieve all that we want in a limited span of time and that’s when we start setting multiple goals.
We start focusing on all of it at once.
This blog post isn’t just about me making you understand the advantages of “Single-tasking.” Instead, I will also help you understand how you can stick with it.
Before that, let’s take a look at the “one thing” strategy.
One Thing Strategy
In the above section, I focused on why you should focus on doing just a single thing at a time.
However, that’s not what this strategy is all about.
How can you achieve all of your life/work/business/family goals?
It’s all about being smart.
What should you focus on first to become happier in life and just get things done?
This little and simple to follow strategy is all about prioritizing your life-goals.
You might have life-goals like:
Get in shape
Start your own business
Travel the world
Build a career
Write a book
Invest money
Buy a house
Get a promotion
However, which one should be your first priority?
Let me reveal my personal priority list right in front of you:
Relationship – family, friends, kids, dog, etc. They all come first above anything else.
Money – To provide for number 1 I have to generate income. This is not about greed, it’s about making sure I have enough to pay my bills and put food on the table.
Knowledge – To be able to grow myself and rise to new challenges I need to learn new things and not be afraid of change.
Health – Not the highest on my list because I’m not an athlete, I don’t play sports even recreationally so as long as I take reasonable care of myself it’s all good.
Career – For me, this is where the extra money comes in above what’s needed in number 2 of this list. This is where I want to grow and go beyond ‘comfortable’ with my income.
I use this list above to help me prioritise which goals I am looking to focus on first. It helps give me clarity of thought and removes too much procrastination. Obviously, this isn’t always set in stone because sometimes a project might have a looming deadline so considering ‘time’ as a prioritisation factor is just as important.
What does this mean in practice?
I just focus on a single task one at a time, achieve it and then move on to the next.
While writing this blog post, I wasn’t focusing on anything else.
It’s just me and my fingers working my magic (whilst attempting not to call my laptop too many profanities).
However, you can categorize your life priorities based on your personal preferences and interests.
In the end, what ultimately matters is how you categorize your own life. My list is personal to me, it won’t apply to everyone and that’s OK. Make your own list like mine and then start to see how much easier it is to really boost your productivity.
Without something like this, there would be no fixed structure. Without structure, it will be total chaos and that’s how people end up in the spiral of procrastination. When you have too many things to do and don’t know where to start, this is exactly why you feel that way.
Learn To Keep Your Desires In Control
After reading this blog post, some people will start focusing on doing a single thing at a time.
However…
After a week, some of you will just get back to your old behaviour, swimming in a non-productive sea of
That’s the reason you need to train your “FOCUS-MUSCLE” before beginning with practising single-tasking.
Our human mind is wired to think something like:
“I want EVERYTHING.”
Instead of this mindset, we should train to think something like:
“I am grateful for what I have in my life.”
It’s the only way forward if you want the “One-thing” strategy to work but yes I know, it’s a tad cheesy. It is important however to practice this to remind yourself of what you have right in this moment.
Start practising stoicism or mindfulness. Both of these philosophies will help you detach yourself from your desires.
Our desires are the only reason due to which we aren’t able to focus on a single thing at a time.
Once you are able to control your desires, you will ultimately possess true freedom in your life.
Keeping on desiring for new things will simply lead to an unpleasant and disrupted life.
And that’s not what you’d want, right?
Start Practicing Single-Tasking
Once you have trained your focus muscle, it’s time that you started practising single-tasking.
Focus on just a single task one at a time.
Here are some of the benefits of Single-Tasking:
Conserves Energy
Improves Productivity
Promotes Self-Discipline
Increases Commitment
Improves Our Attention Span
Makes us Happier
Strengthens Us Against Distractions
Improves Our Communication
Improves Our Relationship
Start practising and you will become happy.
For the next week, start doing just a single thing in life.
Put your phone on the “DND” mode
While having a conversation, don’t pick it up
Go out for a walk without even listening to music
Focus on a single task at work
Don’t focus on the phone while chilling with your friends or family.
All I want you to do is become less distracted.
Conclusion
Once you are able to control your desires and have successfully practised doing just a single thing at a time, you will become ready to apply this strategy in your life.
The less you are distracted, the more reliable you will be.
You’ll become a completely different person.
In the end, you will become happier and wealthier.
Always keep the bigger picture in your mind.
Once you do that, there’s nothing in life you wouldn’t be able to achieve.