Here’s my to-do list currently — of course, there are a lot of tasks.
As I’m sitting at my desk, staring at this long, overwhelming list, I can feel the familiar frustration bubbling up. You know that feeling when you have so much to do that you don’t even know where to start? That was me. My mind was spinning in this chaos.
But then I remembered something from The One Thing. This book by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan has a simple question that helps me break free from the cycle of overwhelm and uncertainty over and over again:
What’s the one thing I want to do today?
Or the longer version: What’s the one thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary
Why does this approach help?
Simple,
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It eliminates multitasking (which is a productivity killer)
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It helps you prioritize ruthlessly
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It keeps you on track with your big goals
This quote from The One Thing hits home for me:
“Not everything matters equally, and success isn’t a game won by whoever does the most. We can’t fall prey to the notion that everything has to be done, that checking things off our list is what success is all about. Achievers decide what matters and then allow what matters to drive their day. They do those things sooner and focus on them.”
So,
“The trick to success is to choose the right habit and bring just enough discipline to establish it.”
So, what is this question really about?
“What’s the ONE thing I can do…
- ONE thing: You are allowed to pick one thing and one thing only
- Can do: You can do it — execute it
“… such that by doing it…
- This part challenges you to dig deep because when you do this one thing, you’re setting something else in motion.
“… everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
- When you do this one thing, everything else on your list either becomes easier or, in many cases, unnecessary. Most people don’t realize how much they don’t need to do if they just focus on doing the right thing.
What to do with this question? ie Simple Path to Productivity
1. Keep asking the One Thing question, both for your long-term vision and your daily routine.
The Big-Picture Question: “What’s my ONE Thing?”
- Use this to develop a vision for your life and the direction for your career or company;
The Small-Focus Question: “What’s my ONE Thing right now?”
- Use this when you first wake up and throughout the day.
2. Find a great answer to that question.
Ok, How?
Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan suggest 2-step approach:
- Find the best research, study of the highest achievers
- Look for the next step that aligns with their trajectory — or if needed, go in a completely new direction.
3. Do it.
Once you’ve found that next step, time block it. Treat that time like it’s sacred, protecting it as though it’s your most valuable asset.
As Keller and Papasan remind us: “When your willpower is its highest, do the priority/one thing work.”
How do I apply it to my life?
Return to my face-in-palm moment when I was overwhelmed by my to-do list.
I asked myself the One Thing question and realized the one thing I needed to accomplish today was:
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Practice my pitch for tomorrow’s presentation in front of 300 investors. Duh, why was I even struggling to figure this out?
Once I finished it, my next one thing was:
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Write this Substack post, cause I’ve delayed it and I know that the value of this post will compound over time
After answering the question, I blocked time, locked myself in a room, and got to work.
There’s no better feeling than being fully in the moment, knowing that you’re doing exactly what you need to be doing.
How you can apply right away?
For your endless todo:
- Pause for five minutes.
- Ask yourself: What’s the one thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?
- Be super honest with yourself — answer it.
- Block time for that one thing and get it done.
Bonus tip: If you have extra time, spend a little researching or planning to ensure that you’ve picked the right One Thing.
For Random Events and Life Situations
Here’s another way I use this framework: when you’re at a networking event or listening to a speaker and you don’t know what to ask, just apply the One Thing question.
- What is the one thing about [the topic] that help you achieve XXX / you are passionate about?
- “What’s the one thing about skiing that you really love?”
- “What’s the one thing about marketing that helped you scale to $1M ARR?”
There you have it — a simple, applicable framework that’s helped me overcome task paralysis and overwhelm countless times as a knowledge worker, a founder, and even during those awkward moments at networking events.
Bonus
We also apply this approach for our AI Task Assistant on Saner.AI → Help you prioritize and focus on one thing, each task that matters.
It’s available for our early access group now and will be live in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned!
If you want to try it early, just DM me :)