Know the one thing that you’re going to work on next
Productivity Principle #5
This is part 5 of a multi-part series exploring the principles of personal productivity, with the goal of making it the last thing you’ll ever need to read about the topic. If you missed it, you can read part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, and part 4 here.
You’ve captured every thought in your head. You have an overwhelming list of things you want to do. You’ve accepted that you won’t ever get to the bottom of the list. You know why each item is on the list. So, now let’s start talking about actually getting the work done.
Doing the work starts with knowing what the next thing to do is. If you’ve applied the previous principles, this should be easy. If you understand why you’re doing each of your tasks, then you have an idea of which ones are going to have the greatest impact. If you accept that you can’t do everything, then it follows that you should start by working first on what is going to have the greatest impact.
Way back in 1967, Peter Drucker wrote:
“[Single-minded concentration on one task at a time] is the ‘secret’ of those people who ‘do so many things’ and apparently do so many difficult things. They do only one at a time. As a result, they need much less time in the end than the rest of us.”
This counter-intuitive statement has been confirmed over and over and over again by experts, studies and high performers in the decades since.
Why Doing One Thing at a Time Works
To understand why it makes sense and why it works, you need to consider the alternative, bouncing from task to task or project to project.
In many ways, that’s been my experience. When I was younger, I was told that I had “mild ADD” (this was before it was called ADHD, and before kids were automatically prescribed medication). But, when I was in school, this actually wasn’t much of an issue, because I accidentally developed a kind of coping mechanism. Whenever I got distracted, I’d just switch to a different topic. When you have 7 classes that all need your attention equally, this is reasonably effective.
However, once I left school, the rules of the game changed. Once you’re “in the real world,” the importance of all the things you need to do are rarely equal. So, what would end up happening was the following:
I’d start an important project. The beginning part of a project is usually fun. I would get to think high level thoughts, plan out how I was going to execute the project, and maybe start working on the stuff I already knew how to do. However, in every project, there comes a point where I would either reach the limit of my expertise, or for some other reason, I would get blocked. This is the point where I would then, as was my habit, switch to something else. Something easier.
As it turns out, this is what most people do (including those who don’t have ADHD). Do something that’s easier. Maybe it’s answering emails. Maybe it’s doing the laundry. Maybe it’s bouncing over to another project which is in an easy phase.
The problem with this approach is that the real value is only unlocked when you start doing the hard things. If you’re working out, it’s getting to that next rep. If you’re working on a creative project, it’s fighting through the block. If you’re stuck on something you don’t know, it’s learning that new skill. But, if every time you get to the hard part, you switch to something else, you never actually do the hard things, and thus, never unlock the true value.
This is why doing one thing at a time is the only way to be truly effective.
Applying the Principles
So, go through your list, look at what you think will have the greatest impact and do that. Do only that until it’s done, then move on to the next most impactful thing.
What Comes Next
If this sounds overly simplistic, it’s because it is. If you stop reading this list here, and just internalize the above, you will feel calmer, less stressed, and you will have multiplied your effectiveness. You’ll have all that without downloading any new apps, reading any books, or changing your religion.
So, we’re done here, right?
Well, we could be, but in my experience, there’s a few pitfalls that come up when you actually start doing the work, and so I’m going to go ahead and add a few more principles to this list that will help you navigate those pitfalls and to stay on track.