#TablessThursday: why I tried and failed

Have you ever heard of #TablessThursday? No, I hadn’t either until I recently read a blog on the science of single-tasking.

What is single-tasking? Well, it’s in the name…

Single-tasking means doing one activity at a time with as few distractions (and interruptions) as possible.

How many browser tabs do you have open at the moment? I currently have 29 open (ouch) — and I’d like to say that they’re all important to what I’m working on right now - but that’s not entirely true.

Multi-tab is the new multi-tasking. The more tabs you’ve got open, the more multitasking you’re doing, and the less likely you are to be as productive as you can be.

It is not having dozens of browser tabs open at once, it is not checking email every 10 minutes, and it is not a chat window open on your desktop.

Single-tasking to single-tabbing

To escape digital distraction, the Atlantic suggested Tabless Thursdays as a way to combat the temptation of multitasking. At first many of the tabs may be directly related to what you’re working on, but as time goes on, the distractions pile up.

The Atlantic’s James Hamblin explains:

“Tabs are a metaphor for life, right? And if you can just have one tab open and be doing it well, then you are fully present in the moment.”

How I found it

Two weeks ago I attempted a Tabless Thursday. As a Social Media Manager I felt that this might be doomed to fail — I often have multiple tabs for multiple channels, and that’s without considering tabs for projects, research, Slack and Evernote.

The day started very positively. I acknowledged the need for some 'always on' tabs, and pinned these to my browser. Other than these, today was going to be a one tab day.

That sentiment lasted all of one hour. When you’re used to 45+ tabs, sticking to just one is nothing short of impossible.

By lunchtime my resolve had changed to 'keep tabs to a minimum’. Which for me was still a major achievement! This I managed to stick with for the majority of the day.

What I learnt

I definitely agree that keeping tabs to a minimum can increase focus and productivity. I found I was sticking to one task at a time far more often than usual, and generally felt less anxious about feeling I needed to complete all of my tasks immediately. If this is something you struggle with, it’s well worth the attempt. Don’t get me wrong, it’s extremely frustrating but worth it in the long term! In summary, I’d say I’m taking baby steps towards single tasking.

On another note, I also learnt that my laptop works a lot better when there’s fewer tabs open!