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Week 12 [16.01-22.01] 4 Ways of stopping multitasking and focusing on a single task

4 Ways of stopping multitasking and focusing on a single task

Have you ever enjoyed walking and listening to music? Or drinking beer and chatting with your friends? Isn’t it cool to multitask? Doesn’t it make our life more full of action?
Have you ever enjoyed driving a car and chatting with your friends on the phone? Well… it’s obvious that multitasking has its pros and cons.
But what can we do to focus on one task and consequently do it well?




1. Let’s plan
The habit of using the calendar can help a lot. We know that our brain is a pattern based mechanism. And we have this “meetup” pattern, which helps us to get to the meetings and not to get late. What about imagining every task as a meeting with ourselves? Next time let’s schedule every important task in a Calendar app and please, let’s be on time with ourselves!




2. Let the time be your personal motivator
“Damn it, now is 23:30 and I have to send my project till 00:00” – haven’t you noticed that people make impossible possible after such kind of phrases?
Sometimes it’s a good idea to cheat our brain. Next time let’s put a timer in front of us to start doing impossible things. Fake deadlines are hard to use, so let it be our secretly exclusive weapon. But we just cheat our brain? Self-deception would not work! There is a scientific study which proves that even when people know that they deceive themselves - the effect still works. That’s the reason why we get scared watching scary movies. We understand that it’s just a video, but still, we’re afraid.
Link to the study: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0015591



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c1/Whitespace.gif


3. White noise?
Have you ever tried to listen to the white noise?
White noise is hardcore for first 15 minutes, but later after we get used our brain starts to ignore the audio channel. And all our attention goes to eyes and hands. If the white noise is too difficult for you to listen to- try the brown noise, it’s much more softer.
http://onlinetonegenerator.com/noise.html



4. Empty walls in front of us
Do you remember the situation in your life when you are sitting in a cafe and working on with your laptop? And in front of you people are walking and moving around and your eyes are checking the environment from time to time. This mechanism in our brain is cool, coz it can help us to survive.
For example, we’ll notice if a lion wants to attack us while working on a laptop in an African savanna. So let’s sit in front of the walls and not have any moving object noticeable by our eyes.


Questions:
  • Do you agree or disagree with approaches listed above? And why?
  • What is your favorite and most effective way of avoiding multitasking during work?
  • What music do you like to listen while working? Share with us links in comments (I’m sure you have something better than the white noise)
  • Do you create fake deadlines?


Source: “The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It” by Kelly McGonigal

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10865206-the-willpower-instinct

Comments

Unknown said…
I have never heard about white noise. I hardly ever listened to music at home. I've never had mp3 player and I have never used headphones outside. I only listen to music in my car. Maybe it's a little strange. I need silence to focus. Sometimes I play TV when I do something fo example when I tidy up. My teacher always told me that it's better to focus on one instrument and play it well than for example play the guitar and sing at the same time. It's better to be expert at one thing than to be good at many things.
Sylwia Pechcin said…

To be honest I can partly agree with most of approaches listed. I'm not sure if listening to white noise can improve someone's productivity. For me it would be just a noise witch keeps annoying me while I'm trying to do something.

I don't have way to avoid multitasking, because I don't think that it's the worst thing which can happen to us while working. But I have one trick helping to avoid avoiding our work ;) When you work by the computer - don't you EVER minimize window with your work. NEVER. It happened me a few times that I have minimized for example Photoshop with my project and then I've totally forgotten that I was doing something really important and urgent.

While working I avoid listening to fast and rhythmical music because it makes me immediately in a dancing mood and I can't work anymore ;)
Ihor Ahnianikov said…
I agree with these approaches, but they're easy just in theory. Personally I have terrible time management skills - tried to use TODO apps, post-it stickers, chalkboards, Pomodoro timer etc. - nothing helps. I guess it's ok to do what you want at the moment, if you're tired and you want to read something entertaining just switch to a different tab for a minute - you're not a robot. So everything seems to be ok and there're no issues with deadlines - the only thing that annoys me is that it's a kind of chaos, following these approaches and focusing on a single task at a time would bring more comfort.
Unknown said…
I don't agree with any of those advices, because I see nothing wrong with multitasking.
I don't need to avoid multitasking I am well organised person and I deal with any of my duties easily.
While working I usually listen some chill playlists on spotify it makes me more concentrated.
Unknown said…
When I have to be really focused I'm not listening to music - if I have to think hard I'm "turning off", so I'm not noticing if it is still playing or ended two hours ago.
I don't think that multitasking is a bad thing - of course wise one. If you have to write some document it is bad to start cleaning an apartament, but reading and responding e-mails meanwhile is not a bad thing.
Michał Pycek said…
My way of fulfilling my objectives, short-term and long-term goals as well as daily tasks, is to write each of them on a piece of paper or in my notebook and set the deadlines to each one of them. This way helps me organising the time and scheduling it in the right order, regarding the priority of the tasks and the time I need to spend on doing them.
I like to listen to classic music while I work or guitar, smooth music, sometimes blues. It needs to be something which is not too rough and dynamic, so it does not distract me, but instead, calms me down, so I can focus only on my activity.
I have never heard of a white noise, this is the first time I read about it.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
I have never heard about fake deadlines and white noise but both sound interesting for me! I must try it. In my opinion the best option to avoid multitasking is planning our tasks in order of priority on a piece of paper. We just can focus on the most important tasks.
While working and programming I usually listen instrumental movie music. It makes me more focused on my work.
Here is the link to my favourite playlist: https://play.spotify.com/user/1117319416/playlist/6dlwJYNRdkTfZMALZclyIx
Fake deadlines unfortunately don’t work on me. Even though I try, I just constantly get distracted.
That’s why in order to concentrate on one thing I just have to get out of home.
Studying in café, library or even at work is much more effective for me than studying at home.
At home almost everything distracts me form food in fridge to members of my family.
Piotr Basiński said…
In my opinion methods you write are good. Yes I have used methods with simulated deadlines and it's worked. While I study or work I choose listen to music that help me to concentrate or enjoy me when I'm bored. My best way to avoid multitasking is to work on tings that enjoy me.
Check out Comodoro Technique - it can help you power through distractions, and introduce extreme-focus for work, and relax during break. In addition, I recommend do one place for activities work-linked so that you can focus on work and when you finish you you can take a break.
Unknown said…
I create fake deadlines, but usually i make them so impossible that i cannot make it on time. When I truly want to focus I use all my resources not to "do" something, but to focus myself on how I am doing and telling myself few times that i focus. Then, after a while I am cut from the world around and usually have some time to think and work.
I don't create fake deadlines because I know I won't meet them. I drift off to other things mostly when I'm doing something that isn't interesting to me. But when I'm into something I often listen to the music to isolate myself from the surroundings.
I can't see how listening to the white noise would help in anything honestly.
Unknown said…
I actually somehow managed to discover similar way to the one with the white noise. There are a lot of weird tracks on youtube like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPni755-Krg
Recently I found out that if I listen to something like this, I can really focus on the work. When I listen to some simple relaxing music I tend to get distracted by it. Of course for me it has to be instrumental music. When I hear words I focus on them too much and try to analyze song. I'm not a type of person that believes in this "brain waves" music. Thanks to your article now I know why it was easier for me to work while listening to this :)
Wojtek said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wojtek Kania said…
It depends on my mood. Sometimes I need to listen harder music to get more motivation, sometimes I listen classical music. When I need to get more motivation I often listen rap, especially Eminem. When I need to get focus I choose Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi or Wagner.
Unknown said…
Fake deadlines does not work for me unfortunately. I tried this a couple of times but as long as I know when the actual deadline is I will procrastinate till the end.
Lately I have been using the white noise while studying (I am using the sound of rain) and it really helps me focus and I don't get distracted that easily. Besides I always use the Pomodoro Technique while studying. It makes me more effective and the time passes by more qucikly.
Adam Nowak said…
I can't work without "multitasking". I don't think that constant focus on task is good, if we are solving a complicated problem it is better to just sit down and do something else. Paradoxically, when we don't work on solving a problem our unconsciousness is "thinking" about it very hard. I beleive that we have to "hear" ourselves to know when we are ready to focus on the matter.
Unknown said…
Such a nice article! Thank you!
To avoid multitasking I try to set some amount of time to make some actions. When I have 5 projects to do, I can switch between them, but try to do only one at a time.
Often, I'm listening to my favorite music, but I noticed it doesn't help me because I'm trying to listen to the words or getting very emotional because it's my all times favorite song. So, I would like to try to listen to the white noise; it sounds interesting!
Unknown said…
I think nap before work is the best way to focus and concentrate. Sleeping has really beneficial effect on our mood and our mental activity. Thanks to even ten minute nap, we can do a lot more. Significantly improved memory and the thinking process reduces stress level and etc. It is worth to take a nap, if there is some noise next to us it is worth to take a nap with calm music. But we have to be careful with snooze becouse when it will exceed thirty minutes or longer will enter a phase of deeper sleep, and then harder it wil be to wake up and then the rest of day would be bad. We have to control a nap. At the end I will add that it is also very healthy.
Unknown said…
I don't avoid multitasking, cause I can't live without it:D Eating and studying, driving and doing make-up, working and listening to the music. Not time to manage everything and plan:) that's why I don't know how it works, but I try to do everything at the same time, if it's possible.
But your list is quite interesting, I should try it one day. Maybe it will help me.
About the music during work - I prefer something neutral, like Apparat or Trentemoller, or it could be Chopin. And a cup of tea or coffee. In other way - no job:)
kondrat said…
I cant imagine living without multitasking. It feels like wasting of time :)
Bartosz Łyżwa said…
I don't believe in fake deadline because if I know that I have to do something then the time doesn't matter - I'll do that till it's done. Personally I don't have a problem with multitasking and I think it's good to make a brainstorm - I like it so much! :D

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