Do you feel overwhelmed by your daily tasks at home or work?

Would you like to get back on track when it comes to completing items on your to-do list?

While there will always be work to do, you’d do well to keep this brief phrase in mind as you go about your day: do one thing at a time.

In this post, I offer a friendly reminder about the importance of working on one task, chore, or errand at a time.

Chances are, you’ve probably heard the clichéd phrase “do one thing at a time” countless times.

The phrase seems so simple, so trite, and oh-so obvious.

Of course it makes sense to work on one task at a time!

Unfortunately, we don’t always follow this advice.

We get caught up in the multitasking mindset.

We mistakenly believe that everything must be completed right away…or as soon as humanely possible. We take on too many things at once, without even thinking about what we’re doing. And we all know that multitasking can lead to errors, accidents, and other mishaps.

What would happen if you switched your mindset from doing everything at once, to working on one thing at a time? Would you be able to better focus on your work? Would you be able to triumphantly cross off that boring administrative task from your office to-do list? Would you breathe a sigh of relief as you crossed off one, two, three or more items from your household chores?

There’s only one way to experience the full glory of working on one thing at a time…and that is to simply work on one thing at a time!

Here are a few ways to help you implement the “one thing at a time” mentality into your day routine.

Schedule tasks directly into your schedule.

This method not only allows you to track tasks in a single convenient location, but it helps you to better focus on your work. Besides, it’s difficult to ignore your work when you’ve scheduled time for it in your calendar. Simply add tasks as single, personal appointments to your schedule. For example, you might run some errands from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., check your email from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., read a report from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., and so on. Make sure you only schedule one task per time slot, be it fifteen, thirty, sixty, or ninety minutes in length.

Work with your calendar.

Not everyone has the luxury of being able to schedule tasks into their professional schedule, or to work on one thing at a time at their office or workplace. While you can’t always control every single detail of your schedule, make use of the “one thing at a time” mentality where you can. Only have an hour or so of flexible time in your schedule during the workday? Make sure to schedule your most urgent or important tasks for that time. How about taking your full lunch break during the weekday? What about working on one household chore early Saturday afternoon?

Create reminders for yourself.

Have trouble staying focused on that single task? Don’t be afraid to remind yourself of what you are working on. Calm that monkey mind and state your intentions with your work. Simply saying aloud, “I am only working on this marketing report for the next sixty minutes,” may just be what you need to refocus your mind. As an alternative, you may want to jot down your task on a piece of paper with a marker, and tape it to the wall, or place it in direct line of sight with your desk or workstation. All you have to do is glance up for a quick reminder of your task at hand.

How about you? Where in your daily routine could you apply the “do one thing at a time” mentality? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!