Singletasking

How often do you find yourself checking email during meetings, texting while walking, or juggling multiple projects at once—only to end the day feeling exhausted but unproductive? In Singletasking: Get More Done—One Thing at a Time, Devora Zack argues that the secret to effectiveness, focus, and fulfillment isn’t doing more, but doing one thing at a time. The modern obsession with multitasking, she insists, is not just inefficient—it’s neurologically impossible. Singletasking, by contrast, restores your focus, strengthens your relationships, and lets you achieve better results in less time.

Zack draws on neuroscience, psychology, and relatable everyday scenarios to show that multitasking is really just “task-switching”—rapidly shifting between tasks and losing focus each time. Instead, singletasking means immersing yourself completely in what you’re doing right now. It’s not laziness or inefficiency—it’s how your brain is designed to operate. The book’s central premise is clear: you can reclaim your attention, sanity, and success by being fully present in each moment.

Why We’re Addicted to Distraction

Zack opens by diagnosing a cultural epidemic. Technology, she says, has turned us into permanent receivers of noise. The Industrial Revolution, then the digital explosion, flooded us with constant stimuli and the expectation of instant response. Sociologist Linda Stone calls this state “continuous partial attention”—and Zack agrees. Rather than feeling empowered, we end up anxious and scattered, confusing busyness for progress. Our sense of worth, she notes, has become tragically tied to how busy we seem, not how effective we are.

Through wit and humor, Zack reminds readers that humanity survived for millennia through focus—our hunter-gatherer ancestors were master singletaskers. Their survival depended on one-pointed attention. The problem isn’t that singletasking is outdated, but that we’ve forgotten it. “We’re not learning to singletask,” she writes, “we’re relearning.”

Rewiring the Brain for Focus

Drawing from neuroscience, Zack highlights that the brain can’t actually process two attention-demanding tasks simultaneously. Studies at Stanford and MIT show that when we “multitask,” we're just switching focus in fractions of a second, causing delays, lost data, and cognitive fatigue. This means no matter how fast you think you’re working, you’re working slower. Your memory and comprehension suffer because your brain’s short-term capacity gets overloaded.

In other words, multitasking isn’t multitasking—it’s self-sabotage. Zack likens it to an electrical circuit trying to handle excess current: performance drops, efficiency crashes, and errors increase. But when we singletask, immersion activates the “flow state”—as psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi defined, a mental zone of full engagement that breeds creativity and peak performance.

Being Here, Now

For Zack, singletasking goes beyond productivity—it’s also a moral and relational practice. Drawing from philosopher Martin Buber’s concepts of “I–Thou” relationships, she explains that authentic living arises from meaningful, undivided engagement with others. When we half-listen, check phones mid-conversation, or multitask in meetings, we dehumanize those around us, treating them as “its” instead of “thous.” All actual life, Buber says, is encounter. Practicing singletasking rekindles this human presence.

Examples make this vivid. Zack recounts U.S. soccer goalie Tim Howard’s famous 16 saves during the 2014 World Cup match against Belgium. Under massive pressure, he entered a trance-like state of total focus—nothing existed but the ball. That, Zack notes, is what singletasking feels like: immersion that transforms performance into artistry. Or think of Henry Kissinger, who once made a modest volunteer feel like “the only person in the universe” just by giving him total attention. Presence, she insists, leaves lasting impressions.

Why It Matters

In an era defined by distraction, singletasking is not a quaint ideal—it’s a survival skill. Zack argues that focusing on one thing aligns productivity with fulfillment. It helps you reclaim control over your schedule, strengthen communication, and reduce mental fatigue. Leaders become more respected; relationships deepen; creativity reawakens. And ironically, doing one thing at a time lets you accomplish more, because your attention isn’t fractured among competing demands.

Over the book’s three parts—Reclaim Your Life, Regain Control, and Recall What Matters—Zack teaches how to manage your mind, structure your day, interact with others, and bring singletasking home. She offers practical tools, from using “fences” against interruptions to designing “clustertasking” systems that group similar tasks together. The ultimate goal is not restriction—it’s liberation. By mastering singletasking, you rediscover time itself.

Zack’s Essential Promise

“The shortest way to do many things is to do one thing at a time.”

In a world addicted to distraction, singletasking is how you reclaim focus, depth, and humanity. It’s not about slowing down—it’s about showing up.

Devora Zack shatters one of the modern workplace’s proudest illusions: the belief that multitasking demonstrates competence. Drawing on neuroscience research, she shows that trying to do several things at once is not only impossible—it’s destructive. The brain’s prefrontal cortex simply cannot process multiple attention-demanding inputs simultaneously. What we call multitasking is really task-switching, the rapid shifting of focus from one thing to another, with a mental cost each time.

The Brain Can’t Do It

Zack cites Dr. Eyal Ophir of Stanford University, who found that humans “don’t really multitask—they task-switch.” MIT neuroscientist Earl Miller confirms that interference between two complex tasks reduces performance because “you cannot focus on one while doing another.” Each switch incurs a “lag time” as your brain reorients, draining mental energy and increasing error rates. The feeling of productivity is a deception: your brain is recycling attention so fast you mistake chaos for competence.

This applies even in daily life. Texting while driving, Zack notes, makes crashes four times more likely. Similarly, pedestrians texting while walking triple their risk of injury. She calls these “the everyday casualties of distraction.” Even minor acts of divided attention—checking your phone while in a meeting—erode focus and credibility.

When Multitasking Isn’t Multitasking

Zack concedes that some paired activities are harmless. Simple, automated tasks—like driving a familiar route or filing papers—can coexist with a second routine activity like listening to music. These don’t compete for attention because one is “autopilot.” But the line is thin. The moment newness or complexity enters, the danger returns. “You can drive and talk,” she writes, “until something unexpected happens. Then your mind must choose one.”

The broader point: complexity demands presence. Mundane repetition lulls us into believing that divided attention is safe, but that’s an illusion. True mastery comes when concentration aligns fully with the task at hand.

The Toll of Multitasking

The costs of this illusion are profound. Multitasking weakens retention and deep learning. Zack cites Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows to show how online skimming rewires our brains for shallow processing: we learn less and forget faster. Poor transference—the ability to apply learning to new contexts—follows. Students who study while texting perform worse academically because fragmented focus prevents information from reaching long-term memory. As Zack puts it, “We aren’t absorbing our lives; we’re grazing them.”

Our nervous system even rewards distraction with dopamine—a “novelty buzz.” This explains why we refresh feeds that stress us, why multitasking feels exciting before it exhausts us. But the more stimulation we seek, the less fulfilled we become. Zack’s antidote is radical simplicity: single-minded attention, one act at a time. Focus is the new luxury—and the ultimate productivity tool.

If multitasking is an illusion, what should replace it? Zack’s answer is the Singletasking Principle: “Get more done, one thing at a time.” This deceptively simple idea redefines how you approach work, relationships, and life. To singletask means to be wholly where you are—physically and mentally—without chasing multiple tasks or worrying about past or future distractions. You choose what to give your attention to and commit to it fully.

Being Present Is Productive

Singletasking is not “slowing down”—it’s speeding up by aligning energy. Focused effort shortens tasks, improves quality, and prevents burnout. Zack notes that immersion, not hurry, yields high performance. She points to goalkeeper Tim Howard’s World Cup trance: in 120 minutes of pressure, he blocked 16 shots because “once that whistle blows, everything else disappears.” Howard’s secret was singular attention. “He wasn’t in the zone by accident,” Zack writes. “He was singletasking.”

Enemies of the Here and Now

Zack identifies three major threats to focus: obsession with the past, anxiety about the future, and judgment of others. All three divide our attention and keep us from the present moment where we can act. The solution begins with awareness. She recommends observing your thoughts during idle times—waiting in line, before sleep, commuting—and gently releasing thoughts about “what could have been” or “what might go wrong.” You cannot rewrite the past or outthink the future, she reminds us, but you can shape this moment.

Checking Your Focus

The book includes a witty self-assessment test to gauge your tendency toward distraction. Do you use your phone at meals? Recheck messages in meetings? Get lost mid-conversation? Each habit erodes focus. Your score shows whether you’re a “Singletask Sensation,” “On the Right Track,” or need to “Hit the Brakes.” (Most of us land somewhere in the middle.) Awareness, not guilt, is the goal. By confronting your distraction honestly, you can retrain your habits to support attention rather than undermine it.

Zack reframes singletasking as natural, even primal—a return to our original design. Modern living may drown us in devices and deadlines, but the human mind remains a single-channel instrument. The choice is not whether you’ll focus on one thing—it’s whether you’ll focus deliberately or by default. Singletasking allows that choice.

Even after turning off your phone, another distraction remains: your mind. In the chapter “Your Mind,” Zack argues that focus begins from within. What she calls Scattered Brain Syndrome (SBS) arises when we can’t stay alone with our thoughts. Our internal chatter and emotional overload mirror the external chaos of notifications and alerts. The cure? Mental discipline—the ability to direct attention where it matters.

Reclaiming Your Brain

Zack explains that overloading yourself with stimuli literally shrinks gray matter in the prefrontal cortex—the brain region responsible for self-control and decision-making. Chronic multitasking floods the amygdala with cortisol, the stress hormone, and diminishes problem-solving ability. Neuroscientists confirm that constant overload impairs emotional resilience and impulse control. “Doing too much,” Zack writes, “results, quite literally, in being unable to think clearly.”

To reverse this, she recommends restorative habits—journaling, short periods of reflection, or mindful walking. Even five minutes of deliberate quiet can reboot your mental circuitry. (This aligns with insights from Jon Kabat-Zinn’s work on mindfulness, showing that simple awareness training enhances cognitive performance.)

Flow and Immersion

At the core of mental focus lies the flow state. When you’re fully immersed, time disappears, anxiety drops, and creativity soars. Flow requires challenge balanced with skill—and zero distraction. Zack borrows from Csikszentmihalyi’s research, linking flow directly to singletasking. She contrasts this with the “monkey mind”: an agitated, jumping consciousness that darts from one thought to another. The moment you silence the monkey, you open the door to deep satisfaction and efficiency.

Building Mental Fences

Zack’s final suggestion is practical: build “fences” around your focus. Before important calls or projects, silence notifications, declutter your workspace, and define a time boundary. Fences make restraint easier. As she jokes, they keep your mental “cheese fries” out of reach—the tempting distractions you can’t resist once they’re near. Discipline isn’t about willpower alone; it’s about design. Create mental boundaries, and the mind learns how to stay on one channel again.

Zack next moves from your mind to your calendar. How you plan your day, she argues, determines your mental clarity. Many of us fill our hours reactively, responding to emails and interruptions. Singletasking, however, demands intentional structure: time blocks for full attention and built-in space for rest.

The Tale of Two Daves

In one memorable case study, Zack introduces “Dave,” a composite professional whose morning unfolds two ways. In Scenario One, he bounces between friendly chats, urgent emails, and impromptu meetings—ending late, irritated, and behind. In Scenario Two, he starts early, closes his door with a sign (“Under deadline, please return after 1:30 p.m.”), lists priorities, and commits to each one in sequence. He accomplishes more, finishes early, and even brings flowers to lunch with his wife. The difference? Focused planning.

Zack’s advice echoes time management expert Laura Vanderkam: high performers design their days to protect concentration. She suggests starting with three to five minutes of morning planning, doing challenging tasks early, and guarding flex blocks for unexpected urgencies.

Tools of Daily Focus

• Clustertasking: Group similar small tasks—like emails or calls—into specific “clusters.” Handle them three times a day instead of constantly. This minimizes switching costs and preserves focus for bigger projects.
• 1×10×1 System: When overwhelmed, handle tasks that take one minute first, then ten-minute tasks, then one-hour ones.
• Post-it Fences: Visual reminders like “Focusing, back at 11:00” help manage expectations in open offices.

By scheduling “flow sessions” of under 90 minutes and consciously pausing to rest, Zack says, you naturally regain control of time. The paradox of singletasking is simple: you can’t manage time until you manage attention. Attention, not minutes, is your real currency.

Can focusing on one conversation at a time transform relationships? Zack says yes—and she proves it. In the chapter “Your Interactions,” she explores how presence builds trust, empathy, and influence. Being fully there for someone, she argues, is the ultimate professional and personal courtesy.

Listening as Leadership

Zack contrasts two executives: Liz, who split her attention during a team-building retreat, and Ricardo, who arrived late but was totally engaged thereafter. Liz’s distracted behavior undermined credibility; Ricardo’s focus restored trust in his organization. His presence communicated something no memo could: “I care about you enough to stop everything else.” Studies by Daniel Goleman support this—emotional competence, particularly attentive listening, predicts leadership success twice as much as technical skill.

Respect in Practice

Zack offers a simple checklist for signaling respect: make eye contact, use names, show gratitude, remember details, ask opinions, and don’t check your phone. These small behaviors signal singletasking in action. She also debunks the fear that single focus means neglecting others—delayed responses are fine as long as you set clear expectations. “Saying no to now,” she quips, “lets you say yes with full presence later.”

Her advice applies even in digital culture. University studies cited by Zack show that 80% of executives consider checking emails during meetings rude. Yet many do it daily. She reframes this as a lack of power: “Being constantly plugged in doesn’t show importance—it shows compulsion.”

Boundaries are Generosity

“No is the new yes,” Zack declares. Protecting your focus isn’t selfish—it honors others by promising your best attention when you can give it. Conversations, coaching sessions, customer service moments—all improve when you favor the person in front of you. As Henry Kissinger’s decades-old story shows, giving full attention even for thirty seconds can create lifelong impact. That’s the human side of productivity.

By the final section, Zack widens her focus to challenge society’s cult of busyness. In “Action ≠ Results,” she insists that constant motion is not accomplishment. Productivity comes from discernment: doing fewer, more vital things well. Drawing on quality expert Joseph Juran’s Law of the Vital Few, she recommends scanning tasks for what truly drives value—and discarding the rest.

The Busyness Epidemic

Our culture, Zack observes, equates exhaustion with importance. “We measure effectiveness by how many things we’re doing at once,” says consultant Leslie Williams, whom she quotes. Yet busyness masks a lack of purpose. Being busy doesn’t mean you’re progressing—it might mean you’re avoiding reflection. A University of Virginia study found that most participants preferred giving themselves electric shocks to sitting quietly in thought. “We’ll do anything to escape ourselves,” Zack wryly notes.

Rest and Renewal

Zack advocates “time-shifting”: alternating productivity sprints with deliberate rest, just as the heart rests between beats. Even five-minute breaks can reenergize focus. She promotes the National Day of Unplugging—a day off from technology—to remind readers how renewal aids efficiency. It’s not slacking; it’s strategy. “You can’t save time,” she writes, “you can only spend it wisely or foolishly.” (This echoes Stephen Covey’s principle from First Things First: prioritize what matters most, not what’s most urgent.)

Zack closes with creativity-based singletasking—slow reading, journaling, and artistic focus—that restores balance. “The sky is the limit,” she promises. “Creativity flows when we slow down enough to feel alive.” Real productivity, in her view, doesn’t come from more action but from more attention to what truly matters.

In the final part of the book, Zack brings singletasking home—literally. She argues that presence is not just a professional advantage but a pathway to happiness. The same principles that improve meetings can save marriages, friendships, and peace of mind. “I want you to be home when you’re home,” she writes warmly. “Singletask it, baby.”

Everyday Presence

Through her Home Life Quiz, Zack invites readers to assess their habits: Do you check work emails at dinner? Eat while scrolling? Forget why you walked into a room? The results reveal how distraction corrodes relationships and fulfillment. Eating while distracted, for example, leads to overeating and poor digestion. Ignoring loved ones while engrossed in social media sends an unspoken message: “You don’t matter.”

Choosing and Committing

Singletasking also means choosing decisively and standing by your choice. Zack retells a story of a tired mother forcing herself to read to her children—but resenting it. The “good” choice done grudgingly becomes the worst one. Her advice mirrors psychologist Brad Sachs’s The Good Enough Child: pick either rest or reading, but don’t vacillate. Commit fully to one. Half-hearted multitasking poisons both experiences.

Moments That Matter

Zack ends with evocative examples of presence missed and found. In 2007, violinist Joshua Bell played incognito in a Washington, D.C. subway station; nearly everyone rushed past except children. The lesson: we’re too hurried to notice beauty. Likewise, Olympians at the 2014 Sochi Games filmed themselves instead of feeling their opening ceremony. By contrast, skater Jeremy Abbott, after a fall, refocused totally and finished with pride—an illustration of resilience through presence. When you are fully in the moment, you recover faster, fail better, and feel deeper joy.

Her conclusion ties back to enduring wisdom from Viktor Frankl and Georgia O’Keeffe: meaning comes from immersion, not accumulation. “Nobody sees a flower, really,” O’Keeffe said, “it takes time.” Zack adds, “Turns out, you have enough time after all. It’s just a matter of how you choose to spend it.”

Final Thought

Singletasking isn’t about doing less—it’s about being more. When you stop scattering yourself across moments, you start inhabiting your life again, one sunbeam at a time.