Do one thing well at a time method
This is my method of doing work, as an individual and when working in a team. It is what I bring to teams I manage and encourage group or ensemble/mob programming.
When doing this for work It’s likely you will inherit a longer list, or personally you may have items that had due dates but are not able to be completed immediately e.g., renewing car insurance. I suggest a “backlog” for these and when looking for new work items one should check or be reminded of the backlog list.
Focusing on the “inbox” however one should:
- Determine what matters most
- Make a list of no more than 7 things.
- Start at the top and work down.
- Do one thing well at a time, as a team.
- Finish before starting something new.
- Reprioritise as you learn more.
- Learn how to measure success/impact.
Notes
- If you half-arse a task and decide that’ll do, it’s evidence it wasn’t the right priority to begin with. If it doesn’t require full effort it clearly doesn’t matter or move the needle. It’s ok. Learn.
- Any sort of productivity, multi-tasking, app, solution, points, or digital currency type thing is a scam or a money grab and isn’t needed. Pen and paper will suffice.
- People tend to remember 7 things well, but struggle with longer lists and particularly fail to remember things in the middle of long lists. Don’t make a list longer than one can reasonably recall or cite easily.
- Seven can be matched to hours in a typical work day, or days in a week.
- Tasks taking longer than an hour or a day are an indicator that they are too big a task and not broken down into suitably smaller tasks. Learn.
