• Annita McCullagh

How to Stop Multitasking and Focus

Time... why is it that everyone seems short of time? In today's fast paced world of constant change, everybody appears to be crazy busy but are we busy doing the right things?

It’s a topic that comes up in the Riada team meetings regularly. Ultimately we connect talent with their ideal company and role, we try to keep it efficient but we often don't have enough hours in the day.

So we try and effectively use the precious amount we have all been told for years that multitasking is the answer but does it actually work? Does multitasking keep you constantly busy but never feeling like you’ve actually achieved anything? Do you often feel overwhelmed with too much to do and not enough time to do it?

Research shows that every time you stop focusing on a project to ‘quickly’ do something else, your brain takes valuable time to get back into gear on your original project so overall, you’ve actually increased your workload.

We have discovered Monotasking!

Monotasking takes inspiration from the current Minimalism movement it’s about stripping back, getting rid the unnecessary and focusing on what’s important. In simple terms it’s prioritising tasks to do in the day and tackling each task with complete focus!

7 Ways to Monotask your way through your Day

1. Make a List - Draw up a to-do list and prioritise what ACTUALLY needs attention that day. It may sound old school but ticking off a completed task will give you happy endorphins!

2. Take one thing at a time - The essence of monotasking is tackling one project at a time with complete focus. Keep your focus and you’ll complete your task more quickly, with less mistakes and less need to rework it.

3. Stop procrastinating - Start each day tackling the most important task, no matter how unappealing it is. The sooner it’s done, the sooner it is out of the way. This means it takes up less brain energy worrying about it and you’ll feel a great sense of satisfaction that you’ve done it.

4. The dreaded Email Inbox! - Your email inbox can suck hours out of your day without you even realising it. Emails that need actioning can divert your attention from the project you should be focusing on. So, what to do…

  • Resist checking your emails the second you wake up.


  • Give yourself set times to check emails throughout the day, if it’s urgent why not call them.

  • Don’t flick back and forth between tasks and emails, it’s an easy way to lose hours.

5. Social Media … the Distraction - You find yourself scrolling through your news feed you look at the time and 20 minutes has past! (oops) Keep the liking and favoriting to your lunch it's so distracting!

6. Take notes - Keep a notebook or use Notes on your phone for ideas that pop into your head. That way you won’t worry that you’ll lose a brilliant idea and you won’t divert your brain away from your current project.

7. Switch off and Recharge - Switching off from work is really important. Try not to feel tempted to keep doing bits here and there, it's a no no. Shut the laptop, switch off your phone, step away from your iPad. Yes really. If you give yourself proper time to rest and for your brain to reboot, you’ll be ready to focus and achieve so much more the next working day.

Monotasking = Stress levels down + Productivity up

Try monotasking for yourself and let us know how you get on… Tweet us at @RiadaRecruit

Riada - We Listen - We Search - We Deliver

Take the next step to finding employment and contact Riada!

Give us a call for a chat on 028 7032 6600, send in your CV to admin@riadaresourcing.com or you can register online.

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