Simplify Everything

I have been guilty of over-complicating tasks by not focusing on a single step at a time. I now simplify everything and enjoy completing a series of simple tasks. Here is how.

Do a single thing at a time. Keep it simple. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Avoid burnout. Set limits.

List the tasks you need to complete to achieve your main goal.

Break each task into smaller subtasks.

List them based on the order they need to be completed.

Focus on one subtask at a time.

Let’s use building a daily writing habit as an example

My goal is to write an atomic essay a day. To achieve this goal, I need to complete the following daily tasks (in this order):

1. Write and publish content that would be useful to readers
2. Interact with others online who are completing this challenge for support and guidance
3. Read other people’s work for inspiration

To simplify this process I only focus on one of these tasks at a time. And I break down each task into smaller sub-tasks and focus on one subtask at a time.

Subtasks

For example, writing and publishing content can be broken down into:

1. Ideate
2. Write
3. Edit
4. Publish

Again I only focus on one of these tasks at a time and I would break them down even further if possible.

I have also decided to mainly focus on writing and publishing, leaving other tasks to be optional. This is mainly for me to enjoy the writing without overwhelming myself.

Final thought

This is not to say you should also limit yourself. No! Keep it open-ended. List everything that you want to do. But set concrete milestones. Specify what’s enough and what counts as extra points. And take on one small and manageable subtask at a time.

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