by Thatcher Wine
If you find yourself overloaded with to-do lists and and multitasking more often than not, and feeling stressed and unproductive as a result, you are not alone.
This book teaches us to return to monotasking (as opposed to multitasking), starting with basic daily activities. By monotasking these twelve activities, we will become more productive, produce higher quality work, reduce stress and increase happiness.
The twelve monotasks are:
- Reading
- Walking
- Listening
- Sleeping
- Eating
- Getting there
- Learning
- Teaching
- Playing
- Seeing
- Creating
- Thinking
Book review
Each chapter is dedicated to one monotask, and starts with explaining the benefit of why we should monotask that activity. Then the author provides a couple of exercises to help us practise focusing on these activities, as well as some strategies to focus should we start to become distracted. Each chapter also explains how these monotasks are rooted in our past and therefore part of our human nature, and include some real-life examples from others and from the author himself on how they put these monotasks into practice.
Having said that, the gist of the book is simply to focus on everything that we do, and not try to multitask or get distracted by our phones.
I found the list of 12 monotasks a good list to have and a reminder of how we should be more fully in the present. For example, I read the chapter on listening while on the train commuting to work and listening to music as usual. I decided to practise this skill then and there. I put the book aside, closed my eyes and simply listened to the song that was playing. I found myself paying attention to the lyrics and it was amazing – for a song that I have liked and listened to for more than a decade, I don’t think I really appreciated what the song was about until I really paid attention to the lyrics and can appreciate how beautiful the words are, how dramatic the singer’s voice was, giving life to the song, and it made me enjoy it even more.
These are all basic day-to-day activities that as we grow older and busier, never take time to appreciate anymore. I encourage everyone to read this book – maybe we won’t be able to monotask each of these tasks 100% of the time, but we should try whenever we can and if anything, being fully present in one small activity a few minutes a day helps to release stress and appreciate life better.
Rin Ranger 