About Life

If you’ve ever struggled while trying to multitask, this is normal because our brains are not made to focus on several things at a time. In fact, when we think we are multitasking we are actually task-switching, rapidly switching between one task and another. This has been shown to give worse results on tasks when compared to monotasking

Even worse, constant attempts to multitask will train your brain to work this way and it will lose its ability to focus deeply on one thing.

Finally, trying to multitask will make you less able to be mindful and present in the moment. Mindfulness has been shown to help people manage anxiety, depression and even chronic pain so it is also an important skill to practice.

Experiment this week, instead of trying to multitask, work on one thing at a time and see how it goes!

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Our brains are made to solve problems, not really to store information (at least not like a computer or smartphone).

This is why it sometimes feels so hard to keep track of all the things we have to do in our daily lives and all the projects we hope to achieve. If we keep trying to memorize everything we need to do, it is very likely that we will be overwhelmed and end up forgetting something.

In order to better manage these tasks it is quite useful to have a system of note taking, it doesn’t really matter if it’s on a physical notebook, your phone or a whiteboard, what matters is that you find a system that works for you.

Why don’t you start simple this week? Make a list of your tasks with your tool of choice and after a week evaluate what went well and what were the challenges. With this informations you can tweak the system and repeat the process for the next week.

Eventually you will have a really good system that allows you to keep track of everything you need to do in your busy life.

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We tend to focus on the negative. This makes sense from an evolutionary point of view, the trait to be on guard for the dangers of prehistoric life.

We are no longer exposed to these dangers of course, but evolution hasn’t had a chance to catch up, so we need to be mindful of this and apply techniques to counteract them. One of these techniques is gratitude.

Gratitude has been shown to help contribute to an overall sense of well-being, positive mental health outcomes, healthy aging and more benefits.

A gratitude practice can be as simple as writing down two or three things you are grateful for every morning. In the beginning this might be more difficult than you think, but as with any practice, the more you do it the easier it gets and as you notice the benefits you can see that it is something worth doing.

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”
— Epicurius

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To-do lists are very useful tools, and we will feel very productive by check items off of them. However, they are also misleading.

Task lists by themselves, if used without setting priorities, could lead you to work a lot on items that don’t really move you forward. It is best to make sure that you are actually working on the high importance items that will pay off the most for you.

There are systems that are very good at helping you determine what to prioritize, such as the ABCDE method and the Eisenhower Box. Use one of these methods to make sure that your time is well spent, not on low value busywork but on high value tasks that will move you forward.

“Create a ladder of values and priorities in your life, reminding yourself of what really matters to you.”
— Robert Greene

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It can be frustrating when we want to build new positive habits but nothing seems to stick. There are two things that we need to do to maximize the chances of the habit sticking:

1. Figure out a “minimum viable action” that will count as having done the habit for the day, for example if you want to read more, your MVA could be to read one page a day. If you stick to this for a few days it will become easier and easier to read more if you have the time and are in the mood. It is very difficult to justify not having time to read just one page.
2. Figure out a trigger, something that you already do every day, and add the new habit immediately after that. It has to be after the existing thing, not before, because when we say we will do something before something else, it’s easier to not do it if we’re running late.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
— Will Durant

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The Pomodoro Technique might be a good experiment to try.

How does it work?

1. Choose a task.
2. Set a timer, usually for 25 minutes.
3. Work on the task until the time is up.
4. Take a break, usually 5 minutes.
5. Every four cycles take a longer break.

Please remember:

• You do not have to finish the task during the set time, just focus on it and progress.
• This is a tool, you can (and should) adjust it in a way that works best for your work style and the tasks you need to complete.

Try this for a week, then write down what worked and what didn’t, adjust and try again!

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