"Many people try to juggle a growing number of unfinished tasks by multi-tasking. As we discussed in a previous post, multi-tasking just makes you less productive because our brains do not work that way. This is why modern productivity advice recommends time-boxing, time-blocking, and other techniques, which describe ways to concentrate on a single task at a time. Single-tasking focuses our attention and allows for "deep work.""
"But there is a catch. In practice, few of us can afford the luxury of working for days on end on a single task until it is finished. Most single-tasking methods mean that you work on one task for a while, maybe a time block, and then move on to the next task, leaving the one you were working on unfinished."
Single-tasking increases focus and enables deep work by concentrating attention on one task at a time. Many workers cannot complete long tasks before switching due to other responsibilities, so time-blocking often leaves tasks unfinished. Unfinished tasks create attention residue: part of attention remains focused on the prior task and diffuses concentration on the current one. Returning to an unfinished task without closure prolongs cognitive load. Implementing a simple ready-to-resume plan and creating brief closure rituals when leaving tasks reduces mental lingering, helps the brain let go, and preserves full attention for subsequent work periods.
Read at Psychology Today
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