Do One Right Thing

2 mins

To be effective, we must do one right thing deeply.

Do One Thing

The only way our brain and mind can work at full capacity is to focus on one thing for an uninterrupted period. If you're unconvinced, try reading this while solving a math problem. How effective is that?

But not only doing one thing, we must also be willing to put in the hours and invest those hours into doing the right thing, where it yields the most value for our time investment—hence, working hard and smart.

Do The Right Thing

So, how do we know we're doing the right thing? First, we must be honest with ourselves and prioritize what needs to be done, rather than focusing on what we like to do. Also, consider our strengths and opportunities for growth: what can we do well, and where do we have the chance for learning and improvement? This means our goals must be clear:

• Why are we doing this?
• What do we hope to achieve?
• What has the biggest impact?
• Is this still relevant at this time?

Do It Deeply

And to work deeply, we must concentrate for at least 1-4 hours without being distracted. Otherwise, we lose momentum every time we get distracted or have to switch contexts, especially when working on a complex task. Therefore, we must put in the effort to create a suitable and conducive working environment, whatever works best for our context. The environment is crucial; don't just rely on willpower.

Do It Now

Finally, we have to make up our minds and stop distracting ourselves by searching for another 'secret' to effectiveness or over-optimizing our workflow just for the sake of it. All great achievers have put in thousands of hours of deep work, facing challenges and obstacles, and persevering through boredom and discouragement at times before achieving their desired results.

So, get your priority list, pick the top one, shut off all distractions, and start working until the timer goes off.

Be kind, be happy.