The Awesome Power of Focusing on One Thing at a Time

I manage my productivity and my anxiety the same way

Photo by Matthew Henry from Burst

I’m a productivity skeptic. I think most productivity tips and hacks are placebos. They make you feel better without actually doing anything.

I also think that the way we measure productivity in the information age is ridiculous. How do you measure the productivity of someone who’s job is to think and solve problems? Productivity is a worthless metric.

But, like everyone else, I still have this knot in my stomach because I feel like I’m not getting enough stuff done, even if I’m not always sure what “getting stuff done” means for me.

This uneasy feeling is even more acute for me because it’s like crack for my anxiety. My anxiety devours any sense of foreboding or insecurity and metabolizes it into panic attacks and meltdowns.

There is one technique that has cut through my doubts, inclinations for procrastination, and desire for distractions. It even helps quiet my anxiety. I learned this technique as a child but have only begun to wield it effectively in the past three years.

The technique is deceptively simple, but the results are awesome once properly applied.