ONE thing DONE.
My working mantra.
Say it with me: “ONE thing DONE.”
It’s the opposite of multitasking, which is the great poison of the modern workplace.
Forget your lengthy to-do list, or at least hide it in a drawer while you concentrate on your to-do ONE.
It could be as simple as anwering an e-mail, or as complex as restructuring your company — although if you’re going to do that, I’d suggest you chop that job up into lots of little bits that you can get done-done-DONE. And by all means, if you’re in the trenches of restructuring, make sure you don’t pause from the task at hand to answer an unrelated e-mail.
The crime which bankrupts men and nations
is that of turning aside from one’s main purpose
to serve a job here and there.
–Emerson
Many knowledge workers today complain about the noise, clutter, dissatisfaction, and overwhelm in their working lives. Putting the focus on getting ONE thing DONE could be the most effective way — maybe the ONLY effective way — to eliminate these problems.
And taking firm, completed, definitive actions — whether their fruits should be good, bad, or indifferent — is the royal road to success.
Shut down the 14 channels you have open — browser, e-mail, Blackberry, walk-up visitors, etc. You’ll get to them in due time, anyway.
Focus on the ONE thing to do next, and run with it until it’s DONE.
~
Related posts:
- One can of worms at a time.
- Time is the resource, but attention is the problem.
- How to succeed in business: the simple version.
~
(Photo by Editor B.)
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Amen Brother! I’ve got one thing to do today, one thing….
Great post! And an excellent reminder.
“The crime which bankrupts men and nations
is that of turning aside from one’s main purpose
to serve a job here and there.”
–Emerson
I wonder if this quote was posted on the wallpapers of all the top CEO’s monitors and blackberries if we’d be in much less economic turmoil than we are in currently.
However, I do feel that if a person focuses on the idea of getting tasks accomplished one at a time and recognizing that progress is being made, there will be much less stress and more overall productivity due to this.
Great post Tim! I’ll keep this at heart.
[...] couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my anti-multitasking mantra, “ONE thing DONE.” Thanks to that post, a colleague thought of me when he came across this little [...]
[...] Probably tomorrow (well, Monday in this case) will be a lot like today. Maybe we’ll encounter one of those magical uninterrupted spells that sometimes arise . . . but that’s not the way to bet. Probably we’ll face just as many chances for interruptions and distractions, just as many opportunities to “turn aside from one’s main purpose to serve a job here and there.” [...]
[...] ONE thing DONE. [...]
[...] ONE thing DONE. [...]