The One Thing (or: How To Make Things Happen When It Seems Impossible)

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with the things you need to accomplish? Meet "The One Thing" method. Friday’s Digest #95

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Preface
Main Article
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Preface

This week, my time management habits were pushed to their limits.

I rarely work under the pressure of deadlines.

It's not that I don't have deadlines. I have a TON of them.

But I finish everything well ahead of time. I prefer setting my own timeframes rather than working under external deadlines.

Anyway, the clock is ticking towards the end of my fellowship, and there are tasks I MUST complete before time runs out.

If I don't do them, they will never happen.

So this week, I did things I hate, such as staying up all night to finish a research project and prioritizing the hell out of my schedule. If it’s not absolutely top priority, I leave it untouched.

The problem with this "burning the midnight oil" approach is that while it's very efficient (you get a lot of work done in a limited timeframe), it's not sustainable over time.

So what did I do?

I brought out the ultimate weapon. The tool that never fails.

It's called "The One Thing".

Number 95!

Let's do this!

Main Article

"The One Thing" is an approach I use when I feel overwhelmed.

When I look at the clock and ask myself, "How on earth am I going to make this happen?"

Before we dive deeper, I want to touch on Parkinson's law. This is absolutely one of my favorite laws out there:

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”
— Cyril Northcote Parkinson

In other words, if you have 2 weeks to write a grant proposal, it will take 2 weeks.

If you have 2 days, it will take you 2 days.

Parkinson is a genius.

So, what makes the difference between writing a grant proposal in 2 weeks and writing it in 2 days?

When you write it in 2 days, everything else is on hold. You ask that no one bothers you, you close your office door, and you cancel or postpone things on your schedule.

You focus on one thing and one thing only.

But we can’t really live our lives like this.

We can’t sit in our office all day with the door closed.

Why?

First, it's not social.

Second, you have many commitments you need to fulfill every day.

And third, it’s exhausting.

After you've devoted 2 days to finishing the grant proposal, you don't want to do anything else. You're drained.

So this is where “The One Thing” method comes in. It is based on the same principles as Parkinson’s law, but it’s more relaxed and sustainable.

It’s something you can keep on doing for a long time. And you can do it even if you’re not pressed for time.

This is how you do it:

🔵 Choose Wisely

Every day, you should choose one thing that is the most important to you.

It can be the same thing every day, or it can be a different thing every day of the week.

I’m not going to dive into all the details of how you determine what is the most important thing.

But let me give you a tip that helps me a lot: Swallow the frog.

The "frog" represents the thing you don’t like doing, and "swallow" symbolizes the act of doing it. This is the task you postpone again and again, feeling bad for not accomplishing it.

This “frog” is the ONE THING you need to do.

🔵 Whatever It Takes

After you've chosen your “One Thing”, you need to do whatever it takes to make it happen.

If it means getting up earlier in the morning, do it.

If it means talking to a person you don’t really like, do it.

If it means sitting in front of the computer and starting to write the abstract, do it.

Whatever it takes, just do it.

🔵 Everything Else

So what about everything else on your schedule?

What about the other people in your life?

Well, everything else is of lower priority. But here’s the cool part.

Everything else tends to fall into place after you've accomplished the “one thing” for the day.

Your other tasks probably won't be as demanding as your “one thing”. If you discover another thing throughout the day that is so important, you can always do it the next day. It will be your “One Thing” for tomorrow.

The nice thing about all this is that when you focus on just one thing every day, you accomplish so much more. And, most importantly, enjoying the process.

Readers’ Favorite

When you're getting older, you sometimes want to talk to your younger self. You want to share what you've learned and wish you had known sooner.

So here are the "3 Things I Know Today I Wish I Had Known When I Was 30"

Enjoy!

Stuff

📱Application I use - Grammarly

This application helps me avoid grammar mistakes when I'm writing in English. It has many other features I don't often use because I find that these applications can take away your personal touch. For example, Grammarly doesn't like my use of commas (,) and periods (.), it doesn't like how I start a sentence with "And" or "But", and it doesn't like how I sometimes say bad things about things.

But it's definitely one of my favorite apps out there (see? I started a sentence with a "but.” Take that, Grammarly!).

It can get pricey, but you can use the free version, which is really good.

🎒 Bag I use - Peak Design Everyday Backpack (30L).

This is not a cheap bag, but it's EXTREMELY high quality and durable. Since I rarely use the same desk for work, I consider my bag as my mobile office (you can read about my mobile office here). This bag is perfect for that.