![]() ![]() If I wanted to regularly keep 10+ tabs open, I’d have to be drunk in order to silence the part of my mind that would be screaming about the damage I’d be doing to my long-term ability to focus. ![]() Why would I want my visual cortex processing anything in my visual field that could distract me from writing? That would only slow me down. When I’m not active using my computer, all apps are usually closed.Īs I’m writing this blog post, I have only one tab open. I always open my browser to a blank slate. When I’m not actively using my web browser, I close the browser app, and any open tabs are closed automatically, but usually there’s only one tab anyway. Then I go through the tabs in linear order, one by one, closing them when I’m done with them. Occasionally I’ll open multiple tabs to queue up tasks in a linear progression, like multiple course lessons to go through or different articles to read. When I use a web browser, I normally have only one tab open. If you have other tabs open right now that aren’t 100% needed for your current task at hand though, close them. You can have a productive relationship with multiple browser tabs once again. You could also extend this to using one app at a time. Put your focus on one window and one task. Accept the awkwardness of it it will get easier after a few days.ĭon’t cheat by opening multiple browsers or by using multiple devices at the same time. See it as a new experience to raise your awareness and build more discipline and focus. Tell yourself that you can open all the tabs you want on Day 31. It will be tempting to open one more tab. Then you’ll know what this is costing you.Īt first this challenge will make you feel awkward and stunted. ![]() At least give yourself the gift of self-awareness, so you can see the difference in what it would be like to use only one tab for a month. It is powerful to recognize (or to at least suspect) that this behavior is degrading your mental functioning, and challenge your brain to break the habit. Lots of people are, so there’s nothing extraordinary about that. If you can’t do this challenge, then I assert that you’re addicted to distracting yourself. While multiple tabs may look like a form of abundance, they create scarcity in your ability to focus. A single-tab challenge will get you turning towards more meaningful challenges. Multiple tabs can drown you in false tasks that don’t need to be done at all. If a single tab is too boring, you’ll probably realize that you don’t need to be web browsing at all. Every open loop sucks part of your attention away, and this makes you less attentive to what you’re doing. That isn’t to say that you can never use tabs again, but it’s wise to use them judiciously and not just keep adding open loops. This challenge will make you pause and think before you act impulsively and keep opening more and more. You may be surprised to see how little you actually need multiple tabs. Yes, you’ll make a few minor sacrifices where having multiple tabs open would be a nice feature to have, but it’s way more important to put a stop to the abusive pattern. Your focus, productivity, and discipline will almost certainly improve during a 30-day one-tab-only challenge. If you regularly have 10+ tabs open – seriously even 3+ tabs – it’s a safe bet that you’re well into abuse territory. Multiple tabs can be a useful feature in limited situations, but it’s so easy to abuse it. Never open a second tab during that month. Do a 30-day trial of using only one browser tab. Look at all those open tabs and say to yourself, “This is NOT intelligent behavior. Each tab is a distraction from the task you’re focused on – if you can even call a multi-tabbed life focused at all. I suggest you break the habit.Įach tab is an open loop. That’s a dreadful situation to find yourself in. If you’ve been doing this long enough, it may even seem normal for you. You probably don’t even see how distracted your mind is while doing this. How is it possible to have 10+ browser tabs open regularly and not have some part of you crying out to learn single-handling? This isn’t intelligent behavior it will have a negative impact on your mental functioning if you make this a habit. It scares me when people tell me they have 10+ web browser tabs regularly open at the same time. ![]()
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