How I Chunk Tasks Together to Improve My Health, Time and Productivity

When I’m stressed, I become easily distracted. My focus flits erratically like a hummingbird, pulled along by the myriad of daily problems, conversations, and curiosities.

Perhaps you can relate. I could be working hard on something for half an hour, then impulsively fire up Google to search a problem that’s been bugging me all morning.

While I’m doing that, my email could chime, grabbing my attention. Five minutes later, I’m talking to a colleague about the weekend — my earlier email, problem, and work all but forgotten.

Long bouts of stress trigger longer bouts of mental wandering, until and unless I begin consciously ‘chunking’ up my day.

It’s a technique developed to break down huge amounts of information into small chunks, then rearrange those chunks into common, topical groups.

Imagine if you were entrusted to write a book. How would you start? Most writers would begin breaking down the overarching topic into several points, then forming those points into chapters.