Overcoming the Multitasking Myth: A Developer's Story

#webdev #productivity #beginners #career

Why do we always complicate our lives, making things harder for ourselves?

Do you know that only 2.5% of the whole human population are great at multitasking and even they lose efficiency when switching between tasks? Source

I know that I am terrible at multitasking, yet two weeks ago I decided that I will challenge this fact and prove myself wrong.

Here is my story

I have a goal to learn Front-End Web Development and monetize my skills before December 31st, 2024. That was my primary objective after quitting my job. I also wanted to start a YouTube channel and learn about social media, as I had no previous experience in these areas and Zero social media presence.

At the beginning, I had the laser focus on my primary project of learning web development, and gave no attention to any other thing. Then two weeks ago, after analyzing my performance thus far, I decided to start working on the learning YouTube and Social Media (IG content creation) project.

Instead of still focusing primarily on my main project (Web Development) and working on YouTube and social media (content creation) as supplementary projects with scheduled days and time, I decided to tackle everything with the same energy and focus. This approach disregarded the important principle of goal achievement: "Focus on one thing at a time and avoid prioritizing multiple tasks simultaneously."

Additionally, I began writing here on Dev this month and committed to writing for one hour each morning as this provided an opportunity to develop my writing skills and express my thoughts and ideas.

Juggling Web Development, YouTube (where I've been spending countless hours - almost all my waking hours each day learning editing, crafting catchy thumbnails, and writing compelling descriptions), IG content creation, and my newfound love for writing, all at the same priority level for the past two weeks, has been about as productive as trying to herd cats while juggling chainsaws. By the end of each day, my to-do list is longer than my shadow, and my stress levels are about as high as a rocket ship. It's like trying to drink from a firehose while running a marathon in high heels, all at once!

When I journal at the end of the day, it's like watching a slow-motion car crash. I see my productivity dwindle, and it's so painful to witness.

This made me ineffective and inefficient. Yet I kept telling myself that I can do it. I tell myself that it's possible.

Well this weekend, burnout hit me like a ton of bricks. On Saturday and Sunday, I was completely drained. I couldn't pickup myself to write a single line of code on Vs Code or write a word here on Dev.

Then I realized it was time to hit the reset button. So Yesterday, I gave myself the task to do nothing at all until I diagnose my stupidity and figure out a prescription.

I spent most of the day digging through my commitments, goals and schedules, and then with the help of my thinking hat and journal I developed a new strategy that would allow me to work on all of my goals without compromising my primary objective and ending the year feeling accomplished.

Here is a short breakdown of the plan

Monday to Friday:

Mornings (4:00 AM - 8:00 AM): Prayers, journaling, Workout, and blogging.
Web Development (9:30 AM - 5:30 PM): Web Development - with two hours spaced breaks of 5mins and 30mins in-between.
Hobbies (7:00 PM - 8:30 PM): Learning Content Creation.
Evening (8:30 PM - 10:00 PM): Journaling, planning, and Prepare for workout for the next day and reading.
10 PM: End of Day.

Weekends

Saturdays:

Mornings (4:00 AM - 6:40 AM): Prayers, journaling, and work on blog draft.
7 AM to 10 AM: Workout.
11 AM to 12 PM: Clean up and recover.
1 PM to 6 PM: If Arsenal are not playing in the premier league, code all through, else, schedule my break around their game time for watching and relaxing (on which relaxation is not often the case)🤣.
Hobbies (7:00 PM - 8:30 PM): Learning Content Creation.
Evening (8:30 PM - 10:00 PM): Journaling (Reflect on and Analyze my week - my efforts and results.), planning, and reading.
10 PM: End of Day.

Sundays:

No initial plan. Wake up at 8am. Would mostly plan for the week, less hours of coding, more time for relaxation, watching football matches, reading, post scheduled YouTube content and then working on content creation plan for the week.

Content Creation

YouTube: Post weekly on Sundays and Wednesdays.
Instagram: Post twice weekly on Mondays and Fridays.

This Schedule is flexible, hence, adjustable as I am no robot.

After implementing my new strategy, I noticed a significant improvement. Even though I couldn't write here on Dev yesterday, I was able to regain focus on my primary goal and still had time for other tasks. I went to bed on time and woke up feeling refreshed, ready to tackle the day ahead and now sharing my story with you.

Take Away

As ambitious individuals, we often have a mountain of goals and dreams to chase. However, trying to tackle everything at once often leads to loss of productivity and burnout. The magic happens when we prioritize and focus on one significant task at a time.

As Josh Billings said,

"Be like a postage stamp, stick to one thing until you get there."

This quote perfectly encapsulates the importance of laser focus.

Our brains aren't wired for effective multitasking. Remember that only 2.5% of people can multitask well, and even they lose efficiency when switching between tasks. I am not in that 2.5% and it's most likely that you are not.

Let's ditch the multitasking myth today! Set clear priorities, dedicate your energy, time and resources to your primary goal, and tackle other tasks one by one as you make progress.

This is from Grëg Häris with ❤️🖤.

Happy coding! ❤️🖤.