The Art of Manliness

Become a Focused Monotasker

Jan 5, 2022

Thatcher Wine, author of "The Twelve Monotasks," champions the art of monotasking as a path to enhanced productivity and reduced stress. He debunks the multitasking myth, explaining how focusing on one task at a time can elevate work quality. The conversation highlights the importance of mindful activities like walking and reading, showcasing how they boost clarity and attention. Thatcher encourages listeners to strip distractions from daily tasks and cultivate their "monotasking muscles" to reclaim focus and improve overall well-being.

47:58

Creator website

Episode guests

Thatcher Wine

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

3min

The Power of Monotasking

14min

The Power of Monotasking Through Reading

5min

Embracing the Joy of Physical Reading and Developing Focus

3min

The Art of Walking as Monotasking

3min

The Power of Monotasking

12min

The Power of Monotasking

9min

Exploring Monotasking and Enhancing Productivity

3min

Writing an email while on a Zoom call. Talking on the phone while walking. Scrolling through social media while watching a movie.

In both our work and our play, we're all doing more and more multitasking. Doing two things at once makes us feel as if we're more efficient and getting more done.

But my guest would say that all this task juggling actually makes us less productive, while diminishing the quality of our work and stressing our minds, and that we'd be better off curbing our multitasking in favor of monotasking. His name is Thatcher Wine and he's the author of The Twelve Monotasks: Do One Thing at a Time to Do Everything Better. Today on the show, Thatcher explains the illusions around multitasking and the benefits of monotasking — that is, bringing our full focus to a single task at a time. We discuss why reading is a foundational part of becoming a monotasker, and then get into some of the other activities Thatcher recommends monotasking, including walking, listening, traveling/commuting, and thinking. Thatcher argues that doing things like listening to a podcast while cleaning your house isn't necessarily a bad thing, but that you may want to try stripping everything away from your daily tasks except the primary tasks themselves to observe the resulting effect and to strengthen your "monotasking muscles" and rebuild your attention span. Once you've experimented with doing a task alone, you can then decide to layer back in the second activity, or, maybe decide you actually liked giving it your all.