[STORY] If you chase two rabbits, you catch none

I was sitting in front of my laptop, juggling five tabs — emails, Slack messages, a YouTube video titled “How to Be More Productive in 2025”, and two half-written blog drafts. My coffee had gone cold. My focus was gone too.

You see, I used to pride myself on being a multitasker — “the king of efficiency.” I’d tell myself, “You can do it all, bro. You just need more caffeine.” But that morning, my brain officially staged a protest.

It wasn’t burnout. It was worse — blankness. You know that feeling where you’re doing so much that you suddenly start doing nothing? Yeah, that.

So, I decided to do something dramatic — I shut the laptop.

The silence was loud. My room felt weirdly peaceful without the buzz of notifications and the hum of chaos. I picked up my phone, instinctively opened Instagram, saw a quote that read:

“If you chase two rabbits, you catch none.”

I rolled my eyes, but then froze.

Because that was me.

I was the guy chasing two, three, sometimes five rabbits — and catching none.

So I made a decision right there: No multitasking for one week. Just one task at a time.

It felt like rehab.

When I sat to write, my brain screamed, “Check your notifications!”

When I cooked breakfast, I wanted to scroll TikTok.

When I replied to emails, I wanted to play lo-fi beats on YouTube.

But I fought it.

I started using the Pomodoro technique, focused breathing, and kept my phone face-down. Slowly, the chaos began to quiet.

By Day 3, something strange happened — I finished a task before the deadline.

I even made a full home-cooked meal (spaghetti and shrimp, don’t play with me) without burning anything.

On Day 6, I woke up to an email that changed everything.

A content manager from a big personal development website had stumbled upon an old blog post I wrote months ago — one I had completely forgotten about. They loved it and wanted to feature me as a guest contributor for their Self-Improvement & Productivity section.

The kicker? That post was written on a day when I had completely zoned out — when I was just writing for peace, not traffic.

I laughed out loud. The irony was insane.

Here I was, trying so hard to optimize productivity… and success came from the one thing I wrote without pressure, without multitasking — just pure, focused presence.

That evening, I went to my favorite café — the one with hanging plants, indie music, and baristas that look like they model for vintage clothing brands.

As I sipped my cappuccino, I opened my laptop, one tab only.

No distractions. No chaos. Just me, the screen, and my thoughts.

The girl beside me looked over and said, “You look so… calm.”

I smiled. “I stopped multitasking.”

She laughed. “You mean you found peace?”

I shrugged. “Something like that.”

We ended up talking for hours — about burnout, focus, journaling, and how Gen Z measures productivity by how busy we look online instead of how balanced we actually feel.

That conversation led to coffee again. Then friendship. Then… something more.

Now, months later, I’m writing this story for you — not from burnout, not from chaos, but from clarity.

Here’s what I learned:

Productivity isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing with intention.

Self-improvement starts when you stop chasing everything and focus on something.

Peace of mind beats a packed schedule.

And yeah — I still drink too much coffee, still make to-do lists that are too long… but now, I breathe between the bullet points.

Because sometimes, the best way to move forward isn’t to do more — it’s to pause.