Single handling

Start the most important task and stay with it, without switching, until it’s 100% done.

Why it works

Switching away from a task leaves attention residue that degrades the next task and forces a costly reload when you return, so a task touched repeatedly takes far longer than one done in a single stretch. Single handling captures that efficiency and delivers the psychological lift of actual completion rather than perpetual half-done work.

How to do it

1. Once you start your top task, close everything unrelated to it.
2. Resist the urge to "quickly" handle anything else until it’s finished.
3. Treat partial completion as not done — return to it before opening a new task.

Evidence

Supported by research on attention residue and task-switching costs, which show that interrupting and resuming work reduces speed and accuracy on the resumed task. (observational)

The switching-cost evidence is robust; "single handling to 100%" is a practitioner application of it.

Sources

• Leroy (2009), attention residue from task switching, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Common mistake

Leaving a task at 90% to chase a fresher one, accumulating a pile of nearly-finished work that each carries a restart cost.