A True Story: Acting Busy, Ending Up Empty-Handed

To be honest, I used to be so proud of being able to do multiple things at once. I thought it was a sign of productivity. There was this one moment when I was chasing a coding deadline, a chat message from a demanding client popped up, plus my head was spinning thinking about next month's marketing strategy. I attacked them all together.

What happened?

• My code had tons of bugs.

• I replied to the client with a wrong message (I actually typed code there, super embarrassing).

• My business strategy just ended up as messy scribbles.

Complete disaster, bro. Not a single thing got done that day.

Turns Out, Our Brain is a Single-Core Processor

After studying it, I realized my mistake was fundamental. I thought our brain was like a high-tech computer processor that could run multiple programs without drops in performance. Turns out, the human brain is designed more like a single-core processor when it comes to focus.

When I was jumping from coding to chatting to strategy, my brain was doing what’s called "context switching." It takes massive energy and time to refocus on the previous task. As a result, I never truly got into the "flow" of work.

A Valuable Lesson: One at a Time Until it’s Done

Ever since that incident, I've repented. Now I use the "Monotasking" principle.

• If I'm coding, I'm just coding (phone away, noisy tabs closed).

• If it's time to reply to chats, I dedicate 30 minutes just for that.

The result is far more efficient, bro. Work gets done faster, the quality is better, and my brain isn't utterly exhausted. Turns out, focusing on one thing until it’s finished is the key, not acting busy jumping around and making a mess.