One freaking thing at a time — a simple strategy for being a productive powerhouse

Picture a box of juicy oranges in front of you.

You have been set the task to peel them all. How would you do it best?

Well, one orange at a time, with a sharp knife, you say.

Correct. I’d do it the same way too.

But most of us try to pick up as many oranges as we can. When we hold a handful and try to peel them, we end up dropping several.

Sometimes, at the end of the day, we find ourselves surrounded by dropped, unpeeled oranges. We try to take on so much that we don’t do anything. We never find enough purchase to hold on to anyone's orange.

We need to think of our daily tasks as oranges.

Each one requires a firm grip without being distracted by any other orange.

We’d also peel that orange with a sense of enjoyment, flow and a hint of indulgence.

So take on one orange at a time, one task at a time, and find a way to enjoy it.

I don’t know about you, but my biggest issue has always been trying to do too much. A fleeting source of enjoyment came in the idea of finishing everything.