Are you under the impression that you have to multitask to “get it all done”? Well we’ve got news for you, it doesn’t work – not as well as you think it does. If you try to do two things at once, you won’t do either of them well.

Multitasking is not an effective productivity strategy, instead it’s important to  learn how to focus on one task at a time, working free of distraction, so you can consistently get more of the important things done in less time. You’ll be able to work smarter, not harder and get results.

A constant switching between tasks costs you time during your workday. Wouldn’t you rather spend that extra time doing what matters to you most? According to a study by  Gloria Mark of the University of California, Irvine, a typical office worker gets only 11 minutes between each interruption, while it takes an average of 25 minutes to return to the original task after an interruption.

To get more out of your workday, try our three easy tips:

1. Block on times during your workday to focus on important projects and a separate time to process your email.

2. Try limiting your distractions by reducing the amount of interruptions.

3. Turn off your email notifications, silence your cell phone, mark yourself as “unavailable” or “busy” on messenger and close your social networking windows.

For more information on how to eliminate your workday interruptions, read Brain Interrupted and get some more great inspiration for lessening the distractions in your life.