The art of monotasking: 8 ways successful people get more done by doing less

by Lachlan Brown | May 13, 2026, 10:56 am

Remember that feeling when you’re juggling three tasks at once, convinced you’re being super productive, only to realize hours later that nothing actually got done properly?

Yeah, me too.

For years, I bought into the myth that multitasking was the secret sauce of success. The more balls I could keep in the air, the more accomplished I’d be, right?

Wrong. It wasn’t until I started writing daily, often in those quiet early morning hours before the world wakes up, that I discovered something counterintuitive: the most successful people aren’t doing more things at once. They’re doing one thing at a time, with complete focus.

And here’s the kicker: they’re actually getting more done.

Welcome to the art of monotasking, where doing less becomes your superpower for achieving more. Today, I’m sharing eight ways successful people harness this forgotten skill to transform their productivity and, honestly, their entire lives.

1. Start your day with one clear priority

Every morning, before I even touch my phone, I ask myself one question: “What’s the ONE thing that, if accomplished today, would make everything else easier or unnecessary?”

This isn’t some productivity hack I read about. It’s what helped me grow Hack Spirit from zero to reaching over 10 million readers monthly. Instead of attacking twenty different strategies at once, I focused on one core activity each day. Usually writing. Always with intention.

The power of this approach? It eliminates decision fatigue before your day even begins. You’re not scrolling through an endless to-do list wondering where to start. You know exactly what deserves your best energy.

Try this tomorrow: Write down your one priority the night before. Make it specific. Not “work on project” but “complete the first draft of the proposal.” When you wake up, that’s your north star.

2. Create sacred time blocks

You know what successful people guard more fiercely than their money? Their time.

I learned this lesson the hard way. When I first started building my site, I’d let emails, calls, and “quick questions” interrupt my writing flow constantly. My productivity was a joke. Then I discovered something that changed everything: time blocking.

Now, my morning writing sessions are non-negotiable. No notifications, no exceptions. Just me and the work.

Start with just 90-minute blocks. During that time, you do ONE thing. No email checks, no quick peeks at social media, no “multitasking.” Just pure, undivided attention on a single task.

The results? You’ll accomplish more in those 90 minutes than most people do in half a day of scattered effort.

3. Embrace the power of saying no

Here’s an uncomfortable truth: every yes to one thing is a no to something else.

Successful people understand this trade-off intimately. They’re not trying to be everything to everyone. They’re laser-focused on their core priorities, which means they say no to good opportunities to make room for great ones.

Warren Buffett once said, “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”

Start small. Next time someone asks for a “quick coffee chat” or wants to “pick your brain,” pause before automatically saying yes. Ask yourself: does this align with my current priority? If not, a polite “I’m fully committed right now” is perfectly acceptable.

4. Use the two-minute rule (but differently)

You’ve probably heard of the two-minute rule: if something takes less than two minutes, do it immediately. But here’s how successful monotaskers flip this concept:

If something takes less than two minutes BUT isn’t related to your current focus task, it goes on a list for later.

Sounds harsh? Maybe. But those “quick” two-minute tasks are attention vampires. Five of them and you’ve lost momentum, broken your flow, and forgotten what you were originally doing.

Instead, keep a “quick tasks” list beside you. When you’re done with your focused work session, knock them all out in one go. Batch processing these small tasks maintains your monotasking integrity while ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

5. Practice presence like it’s your job

Can you remember the last conversation where you were 100% present? Not thinking about your next meeting, not mentally drafting an email, just fully there?

Most of us can’t, and that’s a problem.

Monotasking isn’t just about work tasks. It’s about being fully engaged in whatever you’re doing, whether that’s writing a report or having dinner with friends. This level of presence is what separates truly successful people from those just going through the motions.

Start practicing with everyday activities. When you eat, just eat. Taste the food, notice the textures. When you walk, feel your feet hitting the ground. This might sound simple, but it’s surprisingly difficult in our hyperconnected world.

6. Design your environment for focus

Your environment is either helping or hindering your ability to monotask. There’s no middle ground.

My most productive writing happened when I eliminated every possible distraction from my workspace. Phone in another room, browser tabs closed, even my coffee made beforehand so I wouldn’t have an excuse to get up.

Look at your workspace right now. How many potential distractions can you count? Each one is a trap waiting to pull you away from deep, focused work.

Create a monotasking zone. Clear your desk of everything except what you need for your current task. Use apps like Freedom or Cold Turkey to block distracting websites. Make it harder to multitask than to monotask.

7. Honor your energy rhythms

Not all hours are created equal. Successful people know this and plan accordingly.

For me, those early morning hours are golden. My mind is sharp, the world is quiet, and I can dive deep into complex work without interruption. By afternoon? Different story. That’s when I handle emails, calls, and administrative tasks that don’t require peak mental performance.

Track your energy for a week. When do you feel most alert? When does focus come naturally? Schedule your most important monotasking sessions during these peak times. Save the mindless stuff for when your brain is running on fumes anyway.

8. Celebrate depth over speed

We live in a world obsessed with speed. Fast food, speed dating, rapid results. But here’s what I’ve learned from years of daily writing: consistency beats intensity every single time.

Showing up every day to do one thing well beats sporadic bursts of frantic multitasking. Always. This isn’t about working slowly; it’s about working deeply. It’s about producing work that matters rather than just staying busy.

When you monotask, you might feel like you’re moving slower at first. That’s normal. You’re trading the illusion of productivity for actual results. Trust the process. The quality of your output will speak for itself.

Final words

Monotasking in a multitasking world feels rebellious. It goes against everything we’ve been taught about productivity and success. But maybe that’s exactly why it works.

The most successful people aren’t trying to do everything. They’re doing the right things, one at a time, with their full attention. They understand that focus is a finite resource and treat it accordingly.

Start tomorrow with just one change. Pick your most important task and give it your undivided attention for 90 minutes. No distractions, no exceptions. Feel what it’s like to go deep instead of wide.

You might just discover what I did: that doing less, with more focus, is the real secret to getting more done. In a world that celebrates the juggler, be the archer. One target, one arrow, perfect aim.

Lachlan Brown

Lachlan Brown is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Brown Brothers Media, a digital publishing network reaching tens of millions of readers monthly. He holds a Graduate Diploma of Psychological Studies from Deakin University, though his real education came afterward: a warehouse job shifting TVs, a stretch of anxiety in his mid-twenties, and the slow discovery that studying the mind is not the same as learning how to live well. He started experimenting with Buddhist principles during breaks at the warehouse and eventually began writing about what he was learning. That writing became Hack Spirit, a widely read personal development site, and his book Hidden Secrets of Buddhism became a bestseller. His work breaks down complex ideas into frameworks people can apply immediately, whether they are navigating a career change, a difficult relationship, or the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. Lachlan splits his time between Singapore and Saigon. He writes about high-performance routines, decision-making under pressure, digital innovation, and the intersection of Eastern philosophy with modern life. His perspective comes from having built things from scratch, failed at some of them, and learned that clarity comes from practice, not theory.