how to not give a fuckeliminate multitasking
you're not multitasking — you're just doing multiple things badly
here's an uncomfortable truth that productivity culture doesn't want you to hear: multitasking is a myth. your brain cannot process two cognitive tasks simultaneously. what you're actually doing is rapidly switching between tasks, and every switch costs you time, energy, and quality.
researchers call this "switching cost." every time you jump from your email to your project to your slack messages and back, your brain needs time to re-orient. those micro-transitions add up to hours of lost productivity per week.
the flow state you're destroying
flow state — that zone where you're completely absorbed in a task and performing at your peak — requires approximately 15-25 minutes of uninterrupted focus to enter. every time you check your phone, glance at a notification, or switch to another task, the clock resets.
if you're multitasking, you're never entering flow. you're skating on the surface of five different tasks and going deep on none of them. this is why you can be "busy" all day and accomplish almost nothing meaningful.
the single-tasking experiment
for one full work day, try radical single-tasking:
- close every browser tab except the one you need
- put your phone in another room
- turn off all notifications
- work on one single task for 45 minutes before switching to anything else
- take a 10-minute break, then repeat
what you'll notice
the first 10 minutes will feel agonizing. your brain will scream for stimulation. it will beg you to check something, anything. resist. this discomfort is withdrawal — you've trained your brain to expect constant input switching, and it doesn't know what to do with sustained focus.
by minute 20, something shifts. you start going deeper. ideas connect. solutions appear. you enter a mode of thinking that multitasking literally makes impossible.
the most valuable things you'll ever create will come from your ability to focus deeply on one thing. stop splitting your attention. it's the most expensive habit you have.
if this resonated, share it with someone who needs to hear it.