Multitasking is a lie.

One that I believed for way too long.

The truth is that where focus goes, energy flows. If your focus jumps from one thing to another all day, that energy bleeds out and your progress is hampered.

“The One Thing” by Gary Keller deeply impacted how I approach my days. It’s a great read and remedies the mountainous to-do lists we accumulate.

“Instead of a to-do list, you need a success list—a list that is purposefully created around extraordinary results. To-do lists tend to be long; success lists are short. One pulls you in all directions; the other aims you in a specific direction. One is a disorganized directory and the other is an organized directive.” ― Gary Keller, The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

[Insert your name here], you are careful and troubled about many things

As good as Gary’s book is (I recommend you read it), it was a conversation with Jesus that impacted my productivity the most.

It was an ordinary morning sitting with my coffee and Bible when the Holy Ghost challenged me.

“David, David, you are anxious and troubled about many things; There is need of only one or but a few things.” (Luke 10:41–42 AMP)

I didn’t argue. I was the chief plate spinner.

I’ve learned to always engage in conversation when the Lord speaks. Prayer is a dialogue. Squeeze the juice out of every interaction.

What’s Your One Thing?

“So what’s my one or but a few things?” I asked.

“Writing” was His reply.

For you, it may be different. But there will be a narrow and very clear focus. An overarching mandate to follow.

That conversation has led to a thriving publishing business, a daily newsletter and numerous books I’ve written in the years that followed.

But here’s the key.

Think big, act small. Life destiny is determined by small daily steps.

Each day has its specific outcome. The Lord has prepared works for you to walk in, and it’s your privilege to ask Him what those works are…

Today.

Tomorrow will have its own set of instructions.

Ask at the outset of the year, what’s my one thing for this year?

At the beginning of the week, what’s my primary focus this week, Holy Ghost?

And each day. Every day can have a clear directive to follow. What’s my one or but a few things for today, Lord?

Try it

Step aside from busyness, and have a conversation with God.

Ask Him, concerning the things that you want to accomplish, what’s your one thing today?

Let Him direct, and you’ll begin to build clarity amidst your clutter.

You’ll surprise yourself with how much you’ll achieve when you ditch the to-do list and embrace the power of a smaller laser-focused success list.

“You need to be doing fewer things for more effect instead of doing more things with side effects… Go small. Going small is ignoring all the things you could do and doing what you should do. It’s recognizing that not all things matter equally and finding the things that matter most. It’s a tighter way to connect what you do with what you want. It’s realizing that extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus.” ― Gary Keller, The One Thing

I would also add that it also connects you to who you are. That is where what you do flows from. Taking time with God impacts your identity, and your activity then flows from that place of security and fruitful connection.

Or, as Jesus said to Martha,

“Mary has chosen the good portion [that which is to her advantage],” (Luke 10:42 AMP)

You get to choose. You get to prioritise what will be most impactful and advantageous and invest in activities that feed into your sense of creative calling.

Live from a deep place, drawing your destiny up from the depths and transforming it into tiny actions that, over time, will lead to remarkable results.