They say it takes about 20 minutes to refocus every time you switch tasks.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have 20 minutes to waste every time I switch between the tasks on my list. My time is limited. So I created a way to skip that 20 minute hazy moment where you’re faffing around…

• Thinking where did I leave off here?
• Procrastinating because you don’t know how to get started.
• Fumbling around trying to remember where you put that email or document that you need to complete the task.

I call it the Breadcrumb Method and it saves me hours every week in wasted time & energy.

The method allows me to jump into (or back into) any task and now exactly what I should be doing within 60 seconds.

Here’s How It Work:

The Breadcrumb Method

The method is so simple that I feel kinda stupid for even calling it a ‘method.’ But the basic premise is for every task on your task list you leave your future self a little note on either how to get started (if it’s a new task) or what you should do next (if it’s a task you didn’t finish and needs another session).

Think about all the wasted time you’ve spent trying to remember where you got up to on a task, or wondering where to even start? The Breadcrumb Method eliminates all of that.

Essentially you’re leaving a little clue for your future self (just like the story in Hansel & Gretel. Get it.. breadcrumbs).

Here are three ways I use this method to save me loads of time throughout the week…

Leave Breadcrumb Notes During Your Weekly Review or Weekly Planning

Each week when I do my weekly planning session I’ll take 10 minutes to open each task I plan to do that week and leave myself a quick breadcrumb note. The idea is to make it easy for my future self to get started.

It only takes a few minutes to note down:

• What the very next thing I need to do is.
• Any thoughts I have on the task
• Any docs or resources I need to and have everything available to get started.


Taking time at the beginning of the week to gather everything I need for tasks saves me so much time

Spending that bit of time at the beginning of the week saves me countless hours hunting for everything I need for each task.

Leave Breadcrumb Notes For Incremental Tasks

Quite often I won’t finish a task in one sitting. Either because it’s a large task that will take some time, or because I’ve been called into a meeting or some other distraction.

Rather than just close it up and hope I remember where I’m up to. I take less than a minute to jot down exactly where I got up to and what I need to do next.


A typcial Breadcrumb note on a large task that I need to come back to.

Now the next time I open up the task again it’s so easy to jump back in and get started because I know exactly where I’m up to. This helps with procrastination and moving tasks forward.

Leave Breadcrumb Notes For Recurring Tasks & Processes

We often think about SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) as something reserved for teams & businesses. But having your own personal processes for things you do on a regular basis will save you a lot of time & energy.

I document everything that I do regularly, and I use these processes as my breadcrumb notes. Even if I’ve done the task a thousand times it still saves me time to see a checklist of each step, or a template I can copy/paste.

It means I smash through recurring tasks even faster and I’m never hunting around for what I need to get them done.


I add templates & process checklists to recurring tasks to make it easy for me to get things done quickly

Breadcrumb notes on recurring tasks has been an absolute gamechanger. Especially for things I do less regularly like monthly, quarterly or yearly tasks.

BONUS: Upgrade Your Breadcrumb Notes With Voice

Jotting something down quickly via text is pretty easy. But I also utilise voice & video in breadcrumb notes to make it even easier.

Leave Yourself A Voice Note

I’ve never been a huge fan of voice or transcribing. That was until I started using Tana. With Tana’s in built voice note feature I can record a note, transcribe it & never have to listen back to the voice note again!

It makes leaving notes really quick & easy (even quicker than typing).

So quite often my Breadcrumb notes are voice notes. I just press the record button say hello to my future self & explain what to do next.

Record A Loom For Yourself

Last year I was in the top 1% of loomers — after recording over 600 loom videos in the year. I’m a huge fan of loom videos for async communication with my team. But also between my now self and my future self.


Top 1% of loomers!

For more complex tasks that need some visual breadcrumbs I like to record a loom video for myself. And let me tell you this is much less awkward than it sounds.

Just like I would leave feedback for a colleague on a landing page or a course outline or a presentation we are working on. I treat my future self like a team member I’m leaving feedback for.

I’ve found audio & video notes even more effective than text notes.

And investing that small amount of time now pays off big time in the future as I can jump in and out of tasks with so much ease — no matter how long ago I originally worked on that task.

So go ahead… start leaving your future self breadcrumbs and see how much time & energy you save yourself.

If you liked this article, here are three ways I can help:

1. Want to get your best work done everyday? Download The Focus Hub Template (Notion + Tana Versions Available) — You’ll see the breadcrumb method in action!
2. Want to get Sparked each week? Sign Up To The Spark Newsletter — Where I give you one actionable way each week to bring your ideas to life & share them with the world.
3. Want to build your very own Knowledge System? Check out my Tana Fast Track Course — Find out how Tana can help you build, organise & share your unique knowledge with the world.

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