Smooth Transition between Tasks Is the Key for High Productivity
Here are some ways to achieve that
The biggest challenge I found working from home for over five years is not the work but the smooth transition between various tasks.
It’s because when you work independently, you don’t have one given task, but you are a one-man army on every field. You have to organize yourself, write a plan, do actual work, and then issue invoices to clients and all that.
There are the days when work seems like a reward, as I can, e.g., sit and write one article for hours. But it’s rarely the case. Moreover, even if the day is full of writing, it’s not for one client, so I need to focus on one article and then transit to another and another.
Changing focus from one task to another is challenging, as it’s easy to get distracted and start the loop of procrastination.
Another difficulty is that I never work 8 hours straight as I think it’s ineffective. So, instead, I use the time between productivity sessions to do house duties or home workouts. But, after each break, it’s hard to come back to the desk, sit and kick-start productivity on the cue.
Yet, while it’s hard, I found some systems that helped me become way better with the transition between tasks than I was five years ago.
Use Multitasking to Similar Tasks
Many psychologists research found that switching tasks cut efficiency and increase error possibility.
Although switch costs may be relatively small, sometimes just a few tenths of a second per switch, they can add up to large amounts when people switch repeatedly back and forth between tasks. Thus, multitasking may seem efficient on the surface but may actually take more time in the end and involve more error.
Why then do I suggest multitasking?
Because even the dream job, e.g., being a freelance writer, includes boring yet necessary activities. And, if we want to stay independent, we need to do the majority of work by ourselves.
That’s why it’s good to connect those boring tasks, like answering emails, invoicing, planning, and, e.g., organizing sheets. There is no need to do them one by one as such activities are easy, so error possibility is low anyway.
For example, I’m a complete zombie up to two hours after waking up. So, I use that time to do a large, ugly, and inefficient session of boring accountant work. Such a session reduces the future number of task switches, and I can use the time to do creative work.
So, I don’t suggest multitasking while writing articles or doing any essential work as we need full focus to do that. But, the tool can get us the advantage by reducing the need for switches during the day. And that allows us to focus on the work that has actual meaning to us.
Create a Ritual to Kick-Start Productivity
The goal is to create a habit, a set of activities, that will grab our attention from any nonsense to “right now I’m working.” Most of us heard about a morning and evening routine. Those are powerful tools to start or end the day. But we should also have such rituals during the day.
It’s hard to maintain focus all the time. I love the example of monks who wear bone jewelry to remind themselves of their mortality. They also dress in a specific way, which gives them a sense of who they are and what they are doing. Without that, they wouldn’t remember it? That’s not the case.
Even if we are the most motivated person on the planet, we can’t maintain focus or awareness all the time. Actually, the Cambridge Research from 2015 says that we are pretty much unconscious nearly all the time.
That’s why the monks’ trick is so brilliant — whenever they look at their finger, they will see the bone ring and say, “oh, I’m mortal, good to know.” We can use similar methods to program ourselves to productivity. For example:
- Prepare a note “why you do it,” and then read it loudly before starting work. This way, you will ground your focus and turn on awareness a few minutes before jumping into productivity. The goal is to create a habit of starting the work right after reading the note.
- Build a music playlist to specific work to give yourself a sense of “oh, right now, I should work on this.” The goal is to listen to the playlist only while working on a given task. That will increase focus and, over time, allow to start the productivity on cue.
- Or make any other ritual. It can be counting backward from five to one (The 5 Seconds Rule invented by Mel Robbins), ten deep breaths, fifteen jumping jacks, or anything else. The goal is to give clear information to our body, our system “now I’m gonna be productive, and that’s the sign.”
Increase Cognitive Flexibility
When we have already taken advantage of multitasking and created rituals, it’s time to increase context switching ability.
Cognitive flexibility (also referred to as ‘shifting’) refers to our ability to switch between different mental sets, tasks, or strategies.
So, if we want to be better at context switching, we need to improve our cognitive flexibility. How to do that?
Any intellectualist eventually realizes the need for physical activity and a healthy diet. Why? Because the mind and body are like Yin and Yang — they go together. So to increase our mental capability — focus and memory, we need lifestyle changes.
Here are some best ways to increase cognitive flexibility:
- Reading is an overall workout for our brain.
- Daydreaming has a really bad reputation, while it could increase our working memory and ability to focus.
- Mindfulness meditation is one of the greatest tools to increase our cognitive flexibility.
- Proper rest. Sleep regenerates our body and resets our brain. Without the reset, we decrease our mental capacity, so proper rest is the key to maintaining focus and switching tasks efficiently.
- Workout is another great tool to increase our focus and ability to switch tasks. Aerobic exercises may bring the best results.
- Proper nutrition. Many studies found a positive relationship between proper nutrition and cognitive functions.
The Takeaway
Multitasking is a great tool to reduce necessary tasks switches, but we should use it only for similar and simple tasks. Rituals are the ways to ground ourselves and maintain attention on what matters.
Both multitasking and rituals offer useful and instant solutions. Yet, we need lifestyle changes to enhance our mental capabilities, so the ability to focus, cognitive flexibility, and many more.
Article recap for memory:
- Use Multitasking to Similar Tasks.
- Create a routine to kick start vital tasks.
- Work on increasing cognitive flexibility by lifestyle changes.
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