Multitasking is dead [Better quality and happiness]

I now have discovered the 100% correlation between me waking up earlier and the quality of work that I do.

Before this, I wasn't certain. I knew that morning time helped me become better focused and gave me more time, but now I know for certain that the effects are much more profound.

Traits that enable better quality

Distractions

First off, the most impact in the morning has been achieved because I am focusing on one thing at a time and not constantly jumping from task to task or browser window to another one.

The multitasking is a big fat lie that we got told by god knows who. We have been trying to improve and promote it while in reality, our brain doesn't work that way.

It works by focusing on one thing and one thing only. Multitasking is a synonym to being distracted.

This knowledge has been in the hands of influenced people from 1700s, and since then somehow, we are in the world of constant distractions and multitasks.

Every device and app is trying to grab our attention. Of course they are, their business model depends on it. While this means that the quality of the app must be addictive, it damages our pattern of work and life, which leads to lower productivity.

What I do

Around 3 months ago, I fully turned off any notifications that I could possibly get. I turned off phone notifications. I turned off any notification on my laptop. Not spearing anything.

This allows me sometimes to work on a task for 1 hour to 2 hours with no distractions what so ever.

If someone urgently requires my attention, they can call me. Otherwise, it means that their problem was not important enough for me to react to immediately. Why is that important?

There are a couple of reasons:

• Focusing on solving a particular task, takes an approximate of 20 minutes. If you are doing the task for 5 minutes before jumping to another task, you are never doing deep and meaningful tasks.
• Depp work or flow state can only be achieved by single-tasking. There is no way to achieve the highest quality of work whilst you are constantly distracted. The flow state has been shown to be the new huge hack that every scientist is working on perfecting. Get on the trend early by focusing on one task at a time.
• The more you multitask, the higher your stress levels will be. Stress and anxiety have been directly linked with lower creativity, happiness and productivity.

The solution?

When you are working, put your phone as far away or in the drawer on silent.

Train your brain and body to stop craving the quick dopamine fixes from the social media while you are doing deep and meaningful work.

Make sure that your brain understands how you can go about achieving the flow state, do extra research.

Multitasking is dead

You might be surprised, but the idea of multitasking is no longer relevant. Anyone who has been a multitasker has either burned out and is no longer promoting it, or have been in the productivity dump ever since they started to multitask.

Our brain is wired to accept information in a deep and meaningful way. This is because we have to be in the moment to achieve the highest levels of concentration to survive.

Think of multitasking this way:

Would you want to check your iPhone notification whilst hunting a tiger? Probably not, because you might get killed while you are distracted. Well, that is why our brain is trained to achieve. It gives you a way to hunt the tigers, but instead you go around chasing chickens.

Stop distracting yourself and try separating yourself from buzz technology and doing deep, meaningful work. You won't regret it.

Start Now. Get perfect later.

Klim Y