If only I was actually able to do seventeen things at once. So said the nutcase looking for an early grave.

Only one thing is needful. Only one thing, at one time, with all your heart and mind focussed upon it.

It can be personal, loving your wife or husband in tangible ways. It can be spending time with your kids and not two-timing them with your devices.

It can be a business related task.

Prayer of course. Wholehearted and unhindered by worries about ten other issues.

There’s a right time for everything, and when the time comes the gates should be locked to everything else so you can focus on ONE THING AT A TIME.

Multitasking really is a myth.

It is impossible to concentrate your attention on two things at once.

Focus intently on the task at hand from start to completion.

For larger projects, get granular. Every large project is a sum of smaller tasks and should be broken down into its respective parts. Each part should be something that can be handled fully in one sitting.

Even writing a book breaks down nicely into chapters and paragraphs. No novel was written in a day.

If the Master of the Universe says his Standard Operating Process is ““precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10 KJV), why do you think you can think of a better way?

Most importantly, switch off other distractions, so you can give full attention to the ONE task at hand.

Do Away With Your To-Do’s

I realise that some will disagree with me here. I’m happy to confess one size does not fit all.

I’m well and truly done with To-Do’s.

Those mini-dopamine rushes when another item on the list is ticked off is just not enough to tempt me back into the ever-cycling whirlpool.

My To-Do list could better have been described as a growing list of Undones, every one of them goading me and, irritatingly, making me feel like I could never stop, rest, and just plain enjoy what was already done!

The One Thing Only principle finally helped me put a stake through the heart of task-centric techniques and forever consign them to the “it may be good for you but doesn’t work for me” barrel.

If you are in a position to organize and manage your own time, every day, make sure you have no more than three To-Dos – and they should be in order of priority. Ideally, you will actually have just one.

If you finish that one task, fully and completely and to your utmost satisfaction, your day is an overwhelming success!

Take the rest of the time off to do whatever you please if you want to.

Each day you should ask, if I could do just ONE thing today, the most important element of my business, personal life – whatever – what would it be?

If you can answer that question on a daily basis, you have your To-Do list right there.

Several days of completing the ONE MOST IMPORTANT THING intrinsic to your growth will soon add up.

What if you applied yourself diligently, day after day, for three months, a year, five years – focusing your best time only on the absolute most high-yield activities that you know will give you the greatest long-term fruit and results in your life and business?

How might things look six months from now?