Gridwork is my most efficient productivity system.
Multi-tasking gets a bad rap.
I get it, focusing on a single task is the “more efficient” way.
But I use quotation marks because it’s not more efficient if you can’t stick to it. If you’re like me, you’ll get bored of doing the same thing over and over.
I found a way to single-task in a multi-task kind of way.
Sounds contradictory right?
Hear me out.
Let’s see you have all of this to do:
Read 100 pages in a book.
Go through 200 emails.
Write 5 newsletter editions.
Reply to 10 Substack Notes.
Clean 5 pairs of shoes.
50 pushups.
Single-task champions will tell you to go through the list one at a time.
Borrrrrrrrrrring!
I like my way better.
I call it gridwork, and here’s how it works.
You divide each thing you want to get done by 5 (you can use a different number if you prefer).
Make a grid on paper or digital (Sheets, Notion, etc) with the first column containing a description of each thing you need to do once divided, and then add 5 (or the different number you used) columns.
Do the things in order listed from top to bottom, and cross each one out in the grid as you go. When you reach the bottom, move on to the next column, until they are all done.
You can optionally add a reward at the bottom of each column as I did in the example.
I think a picture makes it much easier to understand, here’s a grid I created based on the tasks listed above.
