Less, but better - Single Tasking.

We all know that multitasking is a very outdated concept, and that research in neuroscience tells us that the brain doesn’t do tasks simultaneously and that the start/stop/start process from trying to focus on more than one thing reduces productivity and can drain our energy.

We applied the concept of ‘single tasking’ to our financial goals, meaning that we tend to concentrate on one main goal at a time.

Focusing on a single goal means that we can see faster results which keeps helps us feel more motivated and dedicated which is especially hard when trying to achieve goals with a long time horizon (such as paying off our mortgage). There was also no split energy or questioning what we should do all the time - once the decision was made we went all in until the goal was achieved.

For example - before we purchased our house our focus was on eliminating all our debt, including my interest free student loan. Even though I wasn’t very savvy with finances at the time, my husband and I were both on the same page and knew that eliminating debt would always serve us well in the long run, especially prior to us taking on the responsibility of a mortgage.

Throughout the years our ‘single tasking’ goals have included:

• saving for vacations and renovations (this was when we didn’t know too much about personal finances and were living paycheck to paycheck)

• saving for an emergency fund

• paying off our mortgage early

Obviously we still directed money to other areas (such as investing and still saving for vacations and larger expenses when we were paying off our mortgage early), however we were both very clear that the main focus during that season was getting rid of the mortgage.

Are you camp ‘single task’ or ‘multi task’?

Photo by NMG Network