Day One of Monotasking - Do They Make a Patch for Facebook?

So when last I wrote, I talked about the little changes I was making to stop task switching when I could help it.  And, eager to get started, I embarked on work last Thursday with enthusiasm.  I was going to mono-task the shit out of Thursday!

What I Tried To Do

1. Email checks only 3 times a day - once when I got to work, once at lunch, once before I went home, and once before bed.  Ok, that's 4, but only 3 times during the workday.

2. Any non-task related internet was a no-go during non-email break times.  So, I could look up something specific if it helped me with what I was going (for example, logging into a mutual fund account while I was working on taxes for a society that I'm treasurer of), but no Facebook, no people.com, no blogs, no Elephant Journal (dang I love that site), unless it was during one of my email breaks.

3. If I got interrupted by someone, I stopped whatever I was doing to focus solely on that person.  No glancing at my computer, no reading an email.  

4. I listed this last, but it might have been the most important thing - I made a list of 3 main tasks.  I read an article somewhere in all my reading on the multitasking topic that was genius.  So genius that I can't remember the link to the article.  Anyway, it recommended that you make a list (preferably even the night before) of 3 things you want to accomplish that day.  That's it.  No matter how big your to-do list is.  The article explained that it would focus you and if you got distracted by other things, it reminded you that you had 3 things that you'd identified as the most important things that needed to get done. I actually did 3 main goals and 3 gravy goals - things that would be nice if they also got done.  During the day, I noticed that I would be reminded of other things that I needed to do (usually through email).  I wrote these at the bottom of the page.  That way I didn't have to let them distract me from the main 3 goals, but hopefully I won't forget them either.

Did It Work?

YES! I was successful at most of the things - I did take a FB break between the morning and lunch, but that was it.  I got all 3 main goals done and 1 gravy goal, and these weren't small main goals - I had listed that I wanted to design and record lectures for 2 topics in my class and to get together all of the tax materials for the society.  The tax thing took me 3.5 hours and I worked straight through that.  Now, again, I realize that Thursday was also kind of an ideal day for this - I was motivated and there's virtually no one around.  But I did have 2 phone conversations and an in-person conversation and I didn't check my email or mess with other things the way that I normally do - I listened!

At the end of the day, I felt like I'd gotten things done and I was relaxed.  So I'd say that's a win.  It will be interesting to see what happens when things get more hectic.  i don't want this post to come off as Pollyanna or preachy.  I fully understand that I'm in supper utopia right now.  But I am hoping that some of these changes will stick most of the time even during the regular semester.

Oh, and I'm trying not to multitask at home too. Mono-tasking FTW!