Most productivity methods will encourage you to focus on one thing at a time, but is it always the best approach? As with many rules of thumb, a little bit of nuance is needed. Focus on one goal until you achieve it and open exploration may generate higher quality output.
Open loops versus closed loops
You need both open loops and closed loops to produce great work
- Focusing on one thing at a time too early in the creative process defeats the purpose of the exploration phase
- Only when you have spent enough time identifying patterns and connecting ideas together should you pick one work stream to focus on
Balancing discovery and efficiency
Practice open exploration for creativity, and then focus on one thing at a time for productivity.
- Self-education
- Explore different educational channels to see which one would work best for your learning goals
- Habit building
- Choose one, commit to one, and stick with it for a while
- Project management
- Block time for specific tasks to improve your productivity
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