Focusing on one thing vs. Variety for no tedium

[Lupe]

Dear Mr. Pavlina,

I've read that focusing on one thing at a time is the best.

I don't know how to do that without becoming tedious of that one thing and adding some variety of projects to remedy the tedium.

Could you solve the problem?

[Lupe]

bump

[bigadam]

Here's a great blog post from Steve that may help get you started:

What If You Have Many Different Interests and Cannot Commit to Any of Them?

Read the forum responses to that blog post as well for additional insight.

[StacyT]

Hi Lupe,
Of course, I'm not Steve but if I may add my 2 cents here: I have the same problem as you - I like to have variety and break up the boredom. But I also find that I can't stick to doing one thing for very long before I just drop it and move on to the next thing (without finishing anything!).

I have been listening to an audiobook called "The Art of Presence" by Eckhart Tolle. He talks about doing one thing at a time and living fully in that moment. I think it takes practice. It takes mindfulness and focusing only on the present moment (not the past, not the future).

I got the audiobook from my library - I highly recommend it!

[David Cain]

Hi Lupe,

I also recommend Eckhart Tolle's work for learning how to be present.

Not to plug myself but I recently wrote an article about exactly what you asked, here. I think you'll get something from it.

[Eric Revelin]

Another approach is to focus on one thing at a time in short intervals. What I mean by that is don't do any one activity to the point of tedium. Instead, have a series of activities to which you devote the whole of your attention for the brief time you spend on each one.

I find that to be the best way to multi-task, and it can be just as (if not more) efficient than focusing on one thing for an extended period of time. It depends on what you're best suited for.