We all know that feeling of stress—it’s exhausting, unhealthy and unproductive. When speaking of work, it most likely appears if there’s an overwhelming amount of tasks. The mind then switches to the stress mode, in which it seems impossible to get all that stuff done in time. Perhaps this is just another survival strategy of the brain, which is trying to tell us “don’t even try to accomplish, what cannot be accomplished”. Whatever the function of stress is, it does definitely not help us to get our tasks done. So we have to get rid of it, or overcome it.
Rather than jumping from task to task, trying to work off that huge pile of work, wouldn’t it be much nicer to be able to simply grab a mere single task from that pile and then completely surrender to it, letting go of all the remaining ones. By doing so we can project a very productive focus on a single activity. Once that activity is completed, we can concentrate on the next one, and then the next one, and so on. That huge pile will shrink quickly, much faster than it would have trying to flatten it all at once. We call this practice single tasking.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Single tasking helps us to
- be more focused and thus more productive
- actually enjoy what we are doing
- life a happier and healthier life
Single tasking cannot only be applied to work, but to everything else too. It can help to enjoy every moment and living more aware. It has helped me greatly to overcome stress and finding inner peace. I hope it can do the same for you.
