Around 2012, I was running a startup called CourseBrew. One late evening, sitting in a coffee shop with my friend Vivek, I explained to him all the different parts of the online learning platform I was building – it was a laundry list of 10-15 different things.
He said, “No, your startup has to be about just one thing. It has to be a one-trick pony – what is that one trick?”
He wanted me to solve only one narrow problem, but sadly, I ignored his advice. As a result, trying to do too many things, I stretched myself so thin that it tanked my product.
If there is one lesson life has taught me over and over again, it is this: Do as few things as possible.
In fact, with this mindset, today I run HabitStrong with a team of just six people. We never work late nights or go crazy. And things still get done.
This is not just about startups – it is just as relevant for individuals because we too have very little time and bandwidth.
When there is a lot to do, the answer lies not in stretching yourself thin, but thinking like a sniper who has only a few bullets left.
If this guy shoots at every moving object, he will soon be out of ammunition, totally defenseless. So he only picks high value targets, and then makes sure not to miss.
Similarly, we have to intelligently use our limited time and energy by focusing on only a few things at a time.
In fact, when I was creating HabitStrong’s Zen Productivity program, I made everything else low priority. Had I tried creating 2-3 more programs in parallel, instead of completing the Zen Productivity, today, there would be three incomplete programs that would be useless to any customer.
Doing fewer things has additional hidden benefits:
1. When your mind has fewer things to juggle, it calms you and lowers your background anxiety.
2. When your anxiety is low, you feel safe, and your creativity and work quality goes up.
3. With fewer things on your mind, you don’t switch your attention or multitask as much. This improves your focus and productivity.
4. When you do only a few things, it forces you to focus on the 20% things that deliver 80% of the value.
This idea of doing fewer things can be implemented at multiple time scales:
> Have fewer life goals
> Have fewer daily tasks
> Have fewer projects
> Launch fewer initiatives
> Do fewer meetings
In short, ruthlessly eliminate things.
That way, you can now give all your attention to a small number of things and deliver the goods. That’s one of the secrets to stress-free productivity, not working 70 or 100-hour weeks.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Rajan