If you chase two rabbits, you catch none.

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” — Alexander Graham Bell

“The only way to gain enough efficiency to complete The Art of Computer Programming is to operate in batch mode, concentrating intensively and uninterruptedly on one subject at a time, rather than swapping a number of topics in and out of my head.” — Donald Knuth

Multitasking (多工) is a myth. Focus on completing one task at a time in series/sequence; avoid multi-task in parallel.¹

Unitasking (單工): Do one thing at a time, and do it extremely/exceptionally well. Don’t half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing. If you’re half in, you’re actually all out.

Unitasking and deep work are two sides of the same coin.

Avoid “priority ping-pong” — stay committed to one task at a time. Batch similar tasks together to minimize context switching.

• Context switching = Fragmented
• No context switching = Focused

The Cost of Interrupted Work

The Cocktail Party Effect

• refers to the ability to focus one’s attention a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli (i.e., noise)

Human Brain Paradox

• Your brain is a supercomputer, but it can…
  • only have one thought at a time.
  • really focus/concentrate on one thing at a time
• Humans can only direct their attention to one thing at a time.

In The Happiness Hypothesis, New York University psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes the key distinction of “automatic processing” and “controlled processing” as it relates to multitasking:

Controlled processing is limited — we can think consciously about one thing at a time only — but automatic processes run in parallel and can handle many tasks at once. If the mind performs hundreds of operations each second, all but one of them must be handled automatically.

Multi-tasking Costs

1. Increased Errors: Each switch risks losing focus on important details or skipping steps, especially if the tasks are complex or require high concentration.
2. Longer Completion Time: The time taken to re-focus and re-establish where we left off adds up, sometimes resulting in doubled or even tripled task durations.
3. Cognitive Fatigue: Constantly redirecting attention can exhaust the brain, leading to hinder your creativity and reduce overall decision-making quality.

做什麼，像什麼

“Age quod agis”

Do what you are doing. = Do well whatever you do. = Concentrate on the task at hand.

• When walking, walk. When sitting, sit. When eating, eat. Don’t wobble.
• Use lunch time for lunch.
• When drinking tea, just drink tea.
• If you want to live a quiet life, live a quiet life.

ichigyo-zammai (一行三昧) is a Zen term that translates to ‘one practice concentration’’, or “single-task focus”.

Ichigyo-zanmai is the practice of doing things to the best of one’s best ability; putting your whole self into the task at hand, nothing less.

Focus is about saying no

Being indistractable is superpower