The Myth of Multitasking: Why Fewer Priorities Leads to Better Work

The word priority was originally derived from the Latin word "prioritas," which means "to come first." There is no plural in first. There can only ever be one true priority. Overwhelm is a symptom. Having multiple priorities is often the cause.

Trying to navigate more than one priority often results in a chaotic juggle where, despite our best intent... See more

The critical question isn’t how to differentiate between activities that matter and those that don’t, but what to do when far too many things feel at least somewhat important, and therefore arguably qualify as big rocks. Fortunately, a handful of wiser minds have addressed exactly this dilemma, and their counsel coalesces around three main principl... See more

The critical question isn’t how to differentiate between activities that matter and those that don’t, but what to do when far too many things feel at least somewhat important, and therefore arguably qualify as big rocks. Fortunately, a handful of wiser minds have addressed exactly this dilemma, and their counsel coalesces around three main principl... See more

Focus on one big thing

I used to make long to-do lists and feel guilty about not completing them.

Now, I structure my to-do list as follows:

One big thing

Less important thing

Less important thing

If I finish my one big thing, then my day is a success. To find it, I use this matrix:

The Eisenhower matrix

This matrix does have one flaw. From my experience... See more

*The single most important change you can make in your working habits is to switch to creative work first, reactive work second. This means blocking off a large chunk of time every day for creative work on your own priorities, with the phone and e-mail off.**–*Mark McGuinness, [Manage Your Day-to-Day](https://jamesclear.com/book/manage-your-day-to-day... See more

Simplicity. It is hard to focus on the signal when you’re constantly surrounded by noise. It is more difficult to eat healthy when your kitchen is filled with junk food. It is more difficult to focus on reading a blog post when you have 10 tabs open in your browser. It is more difficult to accomplish your most important task when you fall into the ... See more