We speak often about the benefits of focus training and learning to pay attention as part of the recovery process. I will continue to do that, because cultivating the ability to decide where to place our focus and to keep it there is hugely helpful in moving us forward.
I’ve written and spoken at length on the ideas of meditation, mindfulness, and learning to slow down as key aspects of focus and attention training. I’m always on the lookout for more.
Recently I came across “The Twelve Monotasks” by Thatcher Wine. In The Twelve Monotasks, Thatcher examines twelve activities that can be used as exercises in doing one thing at a time, and remaining fully engaged with that one thing while you’re doing it. If you followed my “learning to slow down” video series I ran when I released Seven Percent Slower, you would recognize some of these tasks as I covered them in that series.
While I spoke about things like walking, listening and eating as basic mindfulness and focus tools, The Twelve Monotasks takes that idea a step further by concentrating on the act of ONLY eating, ONLY walking, or ONLY listening at any given time. When walking ... just walk. When eating ... just eat. When listening ... just listen. Put down your phone, silence all your gadgets, and just do that one thing.
This is not a new idea of course, but in a world where we are praised for “multitasking” and surrounded by distractions designed to get and keep our attention, the idea of monotasking seems almost archaic. There is a method to that madness, though!
When I talk about re-focusing and paying attention to things other than your anxious thoughts and sensations, these can be challenging asks. If you find yourself struggling to learn and practice these ideas, maybe take a look at monotasking. You may find that the simple premise that you will do just one task at a time crystallizes these concepts. Committing to doing one thing at a time may make it easier for you to work on your focus and attention skills.
Give it a try.
Turn off your phone for a while. Turn off the TV. Stop scrolling. Stop reading. Stop listening. Stop talking.
Just walk. Just eat. Just breathe. Just drink. Do one thing at a time. Resisting the urge to go for the distractions and giving yourself permission to just do one thing for the next few minutes can help quiet things down, slow things down, and create an environment where you can practice paying attention, remaining focused, and being mindful of each moment.
But don’t tell all your entrepreneur hustle friends that you’re doing one thing at a time. Their heads might explode, and we don’t want that.
Tomorrow we’ll examine the “recovery by committee” phenomenon that can accidentally become a trap.
33. The Benefits of Monotasking