[ t128n ]
The Blacksmith (1786–1869) by George Jones

One Thing At A Time

Cheat sheet for getting things done.

Please stop multitasking. I’m begging you. Please.

I catch myself multitasking way too often. Dozen different windows open, responding to messages and switching tasks like I’m some CPU handing out time slices. Grinding through the day, but still only making marginal progress on everything touched.

Actionable advice

PRUNE

  1. Put all tasks on a list
  2. Rank by priority
  3. Unpack big tasks into smaller estimates
  4. Note a clear goal for each task
  5. Eliminate anything unnecessary

FLOW

  1. Fix on one single task
  2. Lock a 90-minute timer1
  3. Off. Close all distractions
  4. Work until the timer ends

Footnotes

  1. 90-minutes are a good default. Long enough to get into a flow state; not so long that people start filing a missing person report. ↩