Single Tasking: How to Get More Done by Doing Less

Multitasking is often glorified as the ultimate skill in the modern workplace, and unfortunately, our perceived value at work depends on our ability to multitask and be incredibly fast.

But what good does multitasking do if the quality of our work is questionable? Multitasking comes with high costs, and these are not trivial. That’s why you need to resort to single-tasking.

In this article, you’ll learn the ins and outs of practicing single-tasking, what it means, why it works, and how to incorporate it into your life.

What is single-tasking?

Single-tasking, as its name suggests, means focusing on one task at a time. That is, either until that “just one task” is complete or until you reach a stopping point, as you need a break or you need to call it off for the day.

Either way, unlike multitasking, which divides your attention between Slack messages, emails, and that presentation you’ve been preparing for your client, single-tasking means deeply focusing on no more than one task.

The conditions for reaching a state of focus on one task can be different for each of us. It can be turning off your phone and laptop notifications and adding to your Slack or Teams status something like: “Focused work” and letting your team know you’re not available for 4 hours a day as you’re practicing deep work.

Nonetheless, in single-tasking, you’re exhausting work with only one task without task-switching simultaneously.

What are the benefits of single-tasking?

• First of all, your brain operates more efficiently and effectively when you’re practicing single-tasking.

Research shows that single-tasking activates your prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the human brain responsible for higher-order functions like decision-making and problem-solving. Once this part of the brain is allowed to focus uninterrupted, it operates more efficiently and effectively. So, paradoxically, doing less at any given moment allows you to achieve more over time.

• You have an improved focus and, therefore, achieve the highly sought-after productivity and flow state.

As you’re directing all your mental resources to one task, your cognitive capacity increases. Hence, you build the ability to tackle challenges more deeply and come up with smarter solutions that you wouldn’t have had the time and focus to bring to the table otherwise. Ultimately, you will produce higher-quality work.

• You’ll experience less stress.

With only 20% of people feeling that their workload is under control on a daily basis, according to Zippia, and another striking 39% of employees feeling stressed by workload overload, single-tasking can help you reach a sense of control and achievement. Stress is oftentimes the result of multitasking and the feeling that we’re only putting out fires in a day as if there’s never enough time to get everything done.

• You’ll have better cognitive health.

Research from the American Psychological Association shows that constant task-switching (known as context switching) increases mental fatigue and can lead to long-term cognitive decline. Moreover, the same study proved that multitasking decreases productivity by 40%. Conversely, single-tasking allows your brain to develop, fully engage, and process information more deeply.

Practices to apply for seamless single-tasking

Changing your behaviors and habits takes practice. You’re likely used to context-switching back and forth on multiple things in our fast-paced world, so it takes time to rewire your brain to focus on one thing at a time.

However, you can follow simple but structured steps to slowly manage to close those multiple tabs in your mind and focus on single tasks instead of several tasks at a time.

1. Create the right working environment 

If you’re planning to be successful with single-tasking, you need to create an environment that fosters deep work and focus on single tasks on multiple projects.

This goes beyond merely tidying up your physical workspace. It involves curating a tech setup, physical space, and communication strategy that aligns with focused work.

Let’s start with your tech environment, as multitasking creates the biggest disruption for us in our devices. Here’s what you should do to foster single-tasking:

• Use productivity apps like Timeular to track where your attention goes at all times and learn how to have better time management.
• Turn off non-essential notifications on your phone, email, and apps. For this, it’s best to use website blockers, and if you tend to open an email or a certain site, it gets blocked instantly. One great app I’ve used for this purpose is the Opal app.
• Add a “focused work” status on platforms like Slack or Teams to let your team know that you’re unavailable during specific hours.
• Use full-screen mode for your active application or website, and unless you really need more tabs, keep only one tab open. Consider tab management extensions that hide unused tabs, and this way you’re not distracted.

When it comes to your physical workspace, try the following:

• Clean your space to keep it clean, comfortable, and free from interruptions. If you’re like me, you need to start work sessions by cleaning your office and room well. I’m no specialist in psychology, but for me, it works.
• Invest in ergonomic office set-ups. Creating a functional work environment that enhances your ability to focus on one task at a time and your attention to not be diverted is as important as the notifications buzzing on your screen. It’s also great if you incorporate calming elements like natural light or noise-canceling headphones to keep your focus.

2. Set clear objectives and prioritize them

Studies say that unless we’re planning realistically and predicting how much time we need for some work (two or more tasks), we can easily get biased in the planning fallacy. That means our entire task management process is covered in a maze of optimism, and we optimistically believe that we’ll be able to finish much more than we objectively can in a day.

The cure to beating our brain’s natural drive toward positivity is setting work objectives and prioritizing them.

Setting work objectives is more or less writing them down, and it’s not that complex. The harder part is setting priorities for each of them. However, if you’re struggling with setting goals, a good rule of thumb is Warren Buffett’s 5/25 rule: identify 25 goals, add them to your to-do list, choose the top five, and avoid the others entirely. This sharp focus ensures you don’t dilute your attention.

Need more ideas on how to set goals? Check out this glossary with articles that you might find useful on the topic of setting goals:

• A guide on short and long-term goals
• A guide on setting work goals
• A guide on setting time management goals

Getting back to setting priorities, these two strategies help you recognize and prioritize the highest-impact tasks on your list.

1. Do the hardest task first: Start your day with the hardest task on your list, be it the most complex or the most important task on your list. This method is known as the Eat the Frog strategy, and its philosophy relies on finalizing first thing in the morning a task that you’ll otherwise be dreading all day long. What’s more, these kinds of tasks stress us out during the day and affect our ability to perform tasks.

2. Group your tasks into priority categories: Create a simple matrix by adding similar tasks in 4 quadrants. By grouping similar tasks into the same category, you’ll know which ones to tackle first. The categories you’ll need are:

• Do First = Urgent and important tasks
• Schedule = Important, not urgent tasks
• Delegate = Urgent, not important tasks that can be done by someone else
• Delete = Delete not important, not urgent tasks (routine tasks can be part of this category)

Did you know that this strategy is called The 4 Ds of time management and was created by the former president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower?

Still need help with prioritizing tasks? Check out these resources:

• A short and practical guide on how to prioritize tasks in 7 steps
• Understand why it is important to set realistic goals

Therefore, it’s best to prioritize your demanding tasks and set goals with objective strategies. This way, you’ll escape the optimism bias and can master single-tasking with as few distractions around you as possible.

3. Schedule and protect time for single-tasking

Believing you’ll be able to immediately shift your disruptive behaviors, like checking each phone notification and replying to emails instantly, is wishful thinking. So, you need to schedule single tasks on your calendar with intention and practice them repeatedly.

A simple way of incorporating single-tasking into your schedule is to add single-tasking to your calendar. Factor in the times that you prefer to focus on single-tasking. It can be a 2-hour interval each morning or when you’re at peak productivity or energy each day. You can simply block off chunks of your calendar when you don’t have calls or client meetings.

These proven techniques can help in scheduling and managing a single-tasking session:

A. The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique helps you stay in a flow state and focus on a single activity for intervals of 25 minutes, and then take a five-minute break. For experienced ones, these sessions can be even longer. It’s one of the most used strategies, as the pressure of time makes you aware of the need to finish a task.

How to implement the Pomodoro Technique

1. Deice on a task: Choose a specific task you want to work on during a Pomodoro session. It can be simple or require more cognitive effort.
2. Set a Pomodoro timer: Set a timer for 25 minutes (the length of a Pomodoro session).
3. Stay focused on that certain task: Immerse solely in the chosen activity for the duration of the session. If need be, turn off notifications or let your team or family know you’re focused on deep work and need to be productive.
4. Take a short break: Once your first Pomodoro is done, take a 5-minute break. Meaningful breaks like this one should be used to take a walk, stretch, or do something that’s not related to work.
5. Repeat the cycle: Start another Pomorodo. After four Pomodoros, it’s recommended to take a longer break of 15-30 minutes before getting back to work.

You might also find useful: Practical tips for effective time management

B. Time blocking

With time blocking, you devote specific blocks of time to different tasks or activities, as well.

How to implement time-blocking

1. Allocate blocks of time for priority tasks: Choose the tasks you’ve identified as “Do first” in the Eisenhower Matrix and assign blocks of time to each task based on urgency.
2. Use a calendar or planner: Use a digital calendar or time management tool like Timeular to visualize your schedule and allocate blocks of time accordingly. This will help you to have clarity and be organized.
3. Stick to your schedule: Treat this time in your calendar like any other urgent and important appointment. Decide that you cannot re-schedule this interval of time with clear boundaries and minimize distractions.

Here’s an example of how our Growth Manager, Matilde, uses time blocking for single-tasking:

“My role at Timeular requires me to wear multiple hats: sometimes I am a copywriter, other times a data specialist or a campaign strategist. Also, I want to be a great team buddy for my colleagues. Next to it, I am also a first-time mum, so I need to be present also for my new little family. The multiple responsibilities require me to stay organized and lucid. I prioritize the most important tasks in the morning and block time in my calendar to execute them. In this way, I make sure I’m tackling my to-do list with ease.”

4. Make single-tasking a habit

If you’ve managed to practice single-tasking for a few days and you’re enjoying the benefits of focused attention, you need to turn it into a habit. The pivotal suggestion is for you to start slow with a few Pomodoro sessions each day and then keep on training your attention span.

Research by the Faculty of Haas Berkeley proves that rituals significantly shape behaviors and trigger actions. That happens as a result of cognitive association. Hence, adding rituals before your single-tasking sessions triggers your mind to get into single-tasking mode.

You don’t have to implement rocket science techniques. Something as simple as having a cup of the cup in the morning or afternoon as a starter for your session, simply walking the same route before starting your single-tasking session, or reading the news, etc.

Start single-tasking for your overall well-being

Start reclaiming control over your workday and protect your mental health with single-tasking.

You can simply achieve that by creating the right environment, setting clear priorities, and building consistent habits. Remember that in our modern life, the shift from multitasking to single-tasking takes practice, as our brains are dopamine addicted due to all the stimuli we’re facing.