this literally just helped me

Dear You,

I looked at my laptop today, and I had 50 tabs open. And two weeks ago, I had 142 tabs open, and I was not shopping. As I closed each tab, I realized they were things I had opened with the intention of taking action. So in many ways, they were "mini-tasks". I had planned to read an article, fill out a form, take a course, read an ebook, finish a letter I was writing to you, apply for something, and so many things. I was feeling overwhelmed by the number of tasks/tabs that I randomly remembered an article I wrote about a strategy that helped me in 2019, called my 5-tab strategy. 

I probably built this habit because if you have lived in some parts of Africa, you know it is difficult to trust internet providers. So in the spirit of multitasking, we open several browsers to save time, watch them load and get distracted by an urgent task. As I closed each tab, I realized, I had planned to do one thing or the other and never really got to it. Some of those tabs had been open for weekssssss and had a task attached to them on my to-do list, but many weeks after, they had not been done. Could this be another form of procrastination? Maybe.

As I closed the tabs, I evaluated my life. This was definitely not what productivity looked like. I had so many things open, with the plan to multitask, but clearly, it was not working. I randomly switched between tasks as soon as I remembered the deadline, and I had put pressure on myself and ended up only finishing a few things. It was also fuelling a feeling of guilt. Whenever I saw something [or the content of a tab] I had ignored or put off for so long, I felt a little guilty. So, I decided to clean up my browser and re-try my 5-tab strategy for the next 30 days [starting today]. The plan is to only open five browsers at a time. If I need to open another tab, I have to close one. After all, I can only use one at a time, at most three.

To do this, early this morning, I went through each tab and created a task list, stating what I wanted to do with each tab. I found out that there were about 11 things I could have just done immediately, so I did those. 4 tasks had expired, so I closed them. I put action words and memory triggers in front of each link and made a list with checkboxes of 20 things to be done. I currently have only 5 tabs open, and I have gone through 10 of things, and it's just mid-day. I feel so much more productive.

As soon as I am done writing this letter, I will confidently cross out the eleventh thing off my list. I feel less pressure and more productive, and my brain space is clear. When I remember something I need to do that is not on my to-do list, I scribble it as part of my to-do list. If I need to open a new browser, I need to close one first and make a decision. No more micro-procrastination online. Yaaaaay!

I think you should try it too and share your thoughts too. Let me know if it works for you.

To recap:

• Go through your tabs

• Make a task list of the things you want to do, and add their respective links in a notes app, notion page, or any digital notes tool.

• Close those that have expired

• Attend to those that are super simple and close them

• Keep only 5 tabs open

• Don't open a new one, until you close one.

I hope this helps improve your productivity and focus. It just helped me, so I wanted to share it with you. Share with someone too.

With Love,

Blessing Abeng