If you pick something huge (“Write my next book,” say), break it down and pinpoint a task you can complete in one sitting (“Write the first page of the introduction”). Now take a clean sheet of paper and write down the one thing from that long list - only one - that you most want to accomplish.Don’t hold back - mine included more than 50 items. That one solution? Think of it as “one thing.” It has worked for me every time, and it can work for you, too. Those approaches weren’t working for me, and they probably don’t work for you, either.īut one solution rose above all others. Don’t waste your energy comparing yourself with others. Instagram makes everyone look as though they have a great life, and LinkedIn makes everyone look as though they have it all together. Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper did great research on this: If shoppers are faced with too many choices, they are less likely to buy anything at all. Too many options can lead to procrastination. It could be that you’re facing obstacles that can’t be overcome simply by applying more effort and discipline. If you’re frustrated by a repeated pattern, it may not be because you’re not good enough or aren’t trying hard enough. I considered and rejected some popular solutions: So rather than continue complaining to Eleanor, I set out to change things - to find a way to end my days feeling accomplished because I got my most important work done. It’s easier than ever to be busy all day and still not make progress on critical work (where did that day go?). The productivity problem is especially challenging these days, when many of us are working from home, with less structure than usual. And it was frustrating.Īlthough I’m embarrassed to admit that (I did write 18 Minutes, a book about managing time), admitting a problem is essential to addressing it. Then I added, “But also frustrating, because I didn’t get through everything I had planned.” “Great,” I answered, sharing a few highlights. “How was your day?” my wife, Eleanor, asked me one night.
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