October 10, 2024
I used to think that a perfect to-do list and some fancy project management system would unlock productivity superpowers.
Spoiler alert: It didn’t.
Turns out, all those gurus and flashy productivity tools just had me running in circles. More tasks, more confusion, less actual progress.
Here’s the real truth: Productivity is doing the right thing, not all the things.
And here’s the kicker - the “one thing at a time” part was my lightbulb moment.
See, your business has 1,001 things you could be doing. All of them seem important. And that’s why you drown in systems and to-do lists trying to track it all.
But let me hit you with a truth bomb: Only one thing actually matters right now.
Doing anything else? You’re basically just spinning your wheels.
So here’s my wild suggestion: Toss that bloated to-do list in the trash.
Well, at least simplify it.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love capturing new ideas to review later. But if you’re serious about moving the needle, you need to zero in on just one thing - until it’s handled.
Not convinced? Go read “The One Thing” by Gary Keller. There’s a ton of science on this but Gary does a good job at explaining it.
So, what’s your one thing? Here’s the magic formula:
First, set your goal. Let’s say it’s doubling your monthly revenue. Your business is made up of three core areas:
1. Leads 2. Sales 3. Delivery
Now figure out which one’s your bottleneck. Is it…
→ Not enough leads? → Low conversion rates? → High churn or low LTV? → Capacity to take on more clients?
Pick the biggest problem. Focus all your energy on fixing that one problem until it’s no longer a problem. Then, move on to the next. One at a time.
Anything else? Yeah, that’s just slowing you down.
Like Alex Hormozi recently said, “You only have one major problem. Spend the first 4 hours of your day working on that problem and good things will happen”.
(or something along those lines)
But that’s not all…
This “one thing” approach? It works for personal goals, too.
Just ask yourself, “What’s the one thing I can do to [insert goal here]?” Then strip down that to-do list like it’s wearing a fur coat in summer.
See you all next Thursday 👋
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