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Guidance for: I keep switching and finishing nothing
One thing, timed, everything else parked
Start here
Start a 15-minute timer, put the phone in another room, and open one thing. Keep a scrap of paper for anything that pops up.
Every switch costs you re-entry time you never budget for. The urge to chase the new thing feels like productivity because it's genuinely more stimulating than what you're on.
Then, if you have room for it
- Keep a parking-lot note. New urge appears, it goes in the note. You don't chase it.
- One timer, one task, phone in another room. The distance is doing the work.
- Stopping mid-task at a timer is fine. It's usually easier to resume than you expect.
- Notice which switches are avoidance of one specific thing. That thing is the real task.
Watch
- Why mind wandering is bad for you and how to stop itDr. Tracey Marks, psychiatrist · 8 minOn the pull toward the next thing, and how to notice it before you've gone.(opens in a new tab)
- How to get stuff done when you have ADHDHow to ADHD · 5 minShort and practical. A good first watch if you don't have much left today.(opens in a new tab)
Read
- FocusmateToolBooks you a stranger on video to work silently alongside. Free tier.(opens in a new tab)
- Could a body double help your productivity?CHADDCHADD's overview, including honest notes on when body doubling backfires.(opens in a new tab)
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