A scheduling tip to focus your scattered brain

📂 Today’s tip: Try “day batching.”

When you approach your day’s tasks like a game of whack-a-mole — gotta check on that project! gotta email these eight people! gotta return those library books that were due last Thursday! — you never feel like you’re making meaningful progress. Instead, you just feel scattered, deflated, and overwhelmed by the 492 others items still lurking on your list.

A better approach, as shared by Michelle Loucadoux, MBA on Better Marketing, is to give each day of the week a specific purpose: Maybe Mondays are for writing, Wednesday are for promotion, and Fridays are for inbox maintenance. Loucadoux calls this “day batching,” a twist on a strategy used by Elon Musk. Every time you think of a task that’s unrelated to the day’s purpose, save it for its own day. (It helps to keep five running to-do lists, one each for Monday through Friday.) Try it for a while and you’ll find yourself with more clarity, allowing you to selectively ignore the other pesky moles popping up around you and finally focus on the work itself.

🧠 More from Forge on reclaiming your focus:

Your Focus Is Priceless. Stop Giving It Away.
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How to Get Your Attention Span Back
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What ADHD Taught Me About Productivity
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