That1️⃣thing you do
“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.”
Hey
Continuing with this month’s theme, i.e productivity, here is an important point that I’d like to reiterate.
Productivity is all about getting the right things done. It isn’t about clicking on checkboxes, but about filtering (many) right things to do.
The good news is that we all struggle with getting the right things done and today, I will share lessons learned practicing the art of getting the right things done.
But first, an important announcement: 📢I love writing this newsletter and getting your feedback/suggestions. While I love to bring you curated insights from books, I am also doubling down on this conversation format - with a sub-newsletter, which will bring you ideas on startups/tech/product industry (it’s a free newsletter and you will be added as a subscriber).
This newsletter will move to a new home, starting this Sunday (March 12th)
(nothing changes for you).India based subscribers are still not able to subscribe due to Stripe issues. Please use this link 👇
Woof! Enough with announcements.
🐶Now, back to some productive work. First, can you answer this question:
“What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
Finding that ‘one thing’ is the key to a higher level of productivity - which also means either you make other tasks easier or well, don’t even have to do other tasks.
That is, you unlock productivity by defining and doing that ‘one thing’. Today, I bring you big-atomic ideas from the book, The One Thing which explains how the habit to succeed can be incorporated in our life to overcome the hurdles like the lies that will block our success, the thieves that will steal our time etc.
"The things which are most important don’t always scream the loudest."
BOB HAWKE
5 +1 Key AtomicIdeas from the book, ‘The One Thing’
[1] The ONE Thing
It’s realizing that extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus.
You need to be doing fewer things for more effect instead of doing more things with side effects.
[2] Not Everything Matters Equally
When everything feels urgent and important, everything seems equal. We become active and busy, but this doesn’t actually move us any closer to success. Activity is often unrelated to productivity, and busyness rarely takes care of business.
Achievers always work from a clear sense of priority.
There will always be just a few things that matters more than the rest, and out of those, one will matter most.
[3] Multitasking Is A Lie
When you try to do two things at once, you either can’t or won’t do either well.
You can do two things at once, but you can’t focus effectively on two things at once.
Every time you try to do two or more things at once, you’re simply dividing up our focus and dumbing down all of the outcomes in the process.
[4] A Disciplined Life
Success is actually a short race—a sprint fueled by discipline just long enough for habit to kick in and take over.
When you discipline yourself, you’re essentially training yourself to act in a specific way. Stay with this long enough and it becomes routine—in other words, a habit.
You can become successful with less discipline than you think, for one simple reason: success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right
[5] The Focusing Question
“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.”
VOLTAIRE
Answers come from questions, and the quality of any answer is directly determined by the quality of the question. Ask the wrong question, get the wrong answer. Ask the right question, get the right answer. Ask the most powerful question possible, and the answer can be life-altering.
The Focusing Question collapses all possible questions into one: “What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
BONUS: The Four Thieves of Productivity
Inability to Say “No”
Fear of Chaos
Poor Health Habits
Environment Doesn’t Support Your Goals
Happy finding that one thing !
-Ashish.