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How to Build a Rock-Solid Single-Tasking Habit

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How to Build a Rock-Solid Single-Tasking Habit

Trying to do more than one thing at the same time is killing your productivity.

Dan Silvestre
Nov 18, 2022
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How to Build a Rock-Solid Single-Tasking Habit

oneproductivity.substack.com

Discover a system to capture all your ideas from articles, podcasts, videos, and books and transform them into long-lasting knowledge!


The number one skill that will set you apart from 99% of the world’s highly distractible knowledge workers is the ability to ruthlessly single-task.

Here are the 4 steps to building a rock-solid single-tasking habit:

#1 Cut Out Distractions

  • Use Freedom or another service to block distracting sites

  • Turn off all notifications

  • Use separate devices for different types of work

  • Only have one tab open at a time

  • Work offline whenever possible

  • Schedule your email time, ideally only do it twice a day

#2 Make a single-tasking plan you’ll actually stick to

  • Keep a to-do list with focused, actionable items

  • Visualize your to-do’s one at a time by using post-it notes

  • Schedule your daily to-do’s on your calendar

  • Give yourself less time to complete tasks. It forces you to stay focused

  • Keep a timer on your tasks to track how you spend your time at work

#3 Dealing with unavoidable distractions

  • Instead of handling interruptions immediately, add them to your to-do list to come back to later

  • Keep a “read later” list, saving interesting articles to read later. I use Pocket

  • Instead of following up on your ideas immediately, keep a running list of thoughts you want to come back to later

  • Set aside unstructured time during the day or week to review these lists

#4 Getting back on track when you’ve fallen off the single-tasking bandwagon

  • Schedule regular breaks into your day to re-focus

  • Forgive yourself when your day gets derailed by distractions; focus on what you’ll do differently tomorrow instead

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How to Build a Rock-Solid Single-Tasking Habit

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