Mono-tasking or multi-tasking: what's best for creativity?

Are you a monogamist when it comes to writing or do you dabble in creative affairs? Five approaches to the multi-tasking dilemma, with advice from Darwin, Cal Newport & Cathy Rentzenbrink.

Striking the perfect balance between work rhythms and creative output is a puzzle we’re all trying to solve. It was certainly a theme from last week’s Ask Us Anything webinar, sparking our curiosity to delve deeper into the topic today.

➡️ The recording of our Ask Us Anything is on YouTube – you can watch it here.
 
Simply put, some of us fear that juggling multiple projects might dilute our focus and hinder progress, while others worry that putting our spotlight of attention on one task might become overwhelming or mundane - leading to missed opportunities.
 
We also had questions about the type and variety of projects. Should you immerse yourself in different genres or writing forms simultaneously—such as long-form fiction, poetry, newsletters or short articles? Or, is it wiser to specialise in just one?

Creative solutions to the problem of multi-tasking  

We’ve all heard horror stories about the dangers of distraction. We’re not here to lecture you about declining attention, stolen focus and concentration-busting cycles of distraction.¹ Instead we offer some alternative role models.

Here’s five approaches that writers use to find balance and make progress. As always, learning how others manage multi-tasking might surprise you or inspire you - but at the very least we hope they offer some comfort that you are not alone in struggling with this. 

1. Creative monogamy with Dolly Alderton

Famed for her complicated and rather messy love life, Dolly Alderton declared herself a monogamist when it came to writing. 

Alderton is the definition of a multi-hyphenate with achievements across a wide range of creative projects. Blogger turned journalist with a must-read dating column, she penned a bestselling memoir, hosted the chart-topping podcast The High Low, added scriptwriting and live events to her credits before moving on to fiction. When it came to writing her first novel she needed to focus on one project at a time. 

“I like being creatively monogamous,” she explained, being “left alone, I get to have a relationship with this thing. Art imitating life, I like going deep.” 

Let’s leave Alderton to concentrate on her love of writing and go deep ourselves, as we turn to digital minimalist and father of deep work Cal Newport and an approach inspired by James Bond. 

2. Cal Newport’s seasonal approach 

In his new book Slow Productivity, Cal Newport shares the story of Ian Fleming taking two months out of a work contract to spend his winter in Jamaica.