Picture this:
You wake up this morning determined to get at least 3 things done for your business, so you feel like you’ve been productive today.
But as you sit down to write out those 10 social media captions you SWORE you’d get done today, you get distracted by a question on your facebook page, and a message from your graphic designer saying they need your approval on a new logo you commissioned.
Then you put on a podcast as you work, that sparks an idea to start a new podcast. OO! And you also have to set up time to meet with that blogger who wanted to interview you. So you stop what you’re doing to stop and do that.
If I have just described your morning, don’t worry, you aren’t alone. This is Shiny Object multitasking.
It’s when you literally try to do everything, and end up getting nothing done, because you keep getting distracted by new, shiny,exciting things in your business
For me, Shiny Object Multi-Tasking was a natural part of my life:
—>For 17 year old Lizzi, it was getting my high school and college homework done perfectly on top of extracurriculars and scholarship interviews.
—>For 25 year old corporate Lizzi, Time was Money. My job for 2 years, was to jam pack as much work as I could into an 8 hour workday, with the occasional 2-3 hour work nights.
So when I made the switch to working for myself full time at 27, I naturally thought the same plan would work.
I’m laughing now at how off I was.
I was SO stressed trying to do 6,7,8 things a day, that I would have panic attacks constantly. Mixed in with a heaping helping of imposter syndrome.
As you can imagine, I rarely got anything productive done.
It was around this time my coach told me about the one task method.
What Is The One Task Method?
In short, the one task-method is exactly as it sounds. Once a day, instead of writing a laundry list of to-dos that you rarely get through half of, you choose ONE task you need to complete for your business, and you’re done.
Seriously, that’s it.
Crazy? No.
Crazy Simple? Yes!
The reason this is so effective is because as much as we like to think we are, humans just aren’t that good at multi-tasking. It actually forces us to work LONGER hours, because we can’t give ourselves the focus we need to do a task right. In fact, multitasking can reduce productivity DOWN by 40%
And as a recovering multi-tasker, I can tell you my business was a hot mess when I was trying to come up with email content, write new social media captions, respond to client emails, touch base with my team, annnnd write out the modules for a new program.
So why does this work?
It puts you back in control of what you WANT to get done, as opposed to endlessly stressing yourself out on everything you HAVE to get done.
It also forces me to focus on what the PRIORITY is for that day. When I’m focused and in the zone, you might as well have given me the Mario Star…I.GO.HARD.
But I can only get into that zone when I have ONE direction to direct that energy; not 7. As you can imagine, separating a beam of pure energy into 7 fragments makes them less powerful than one mega beam.
That’s why this One-Task Method works so freaking well.
It directs all your mega brain beam energy into one task, gets it done exceptionally well, without wasting any energy stressed about other less-important tasks.
And come on, who doesn’t love that satisfied feeling of checking off everything on your to-do list?
It gives us some happy endorphins, and gives us momentum to keep going!
What Are the Best Tasks to Do With This Method
Let me be clear: My one task is never a 5-minute power trip on Canva then spend the rest of the day goofing off.
My Criteria for my One Task Is:
-It Saves Me Time In the Long Run: Batching content, writing an outline to a live training, creating contract templates; my task has to be something that once completed will help me down the road for getting other tasks done.
-It’s Not too Narrow: My task can’t be something so small as ‘Read a chapter of your new book’. That doesn’t help serve me. My task usually encompasses 2-3 little steps within it in order to be completed. A great example would be batching content. I’m not writing one post. I’m typically writing 4-5.
-It Is Profitable/Impactful Action: My one task directly affects my lead count or income. Meaning, it’s something I know will impact the growth of my business. This could be something like following up on client applications, reaching out for client opportunities, or mapping out a new course!
Some tasks can be the following:
Creating and scheduling out my content for the month
Plan out a new service for my clients (That’s how Impactful Income and Pimp My Biz came to be!)
Write out my entire email content for the month
Creating ALL the graphics for an upcoming eBook
Setting up podcast and blog interviews with potential collaborators
What if I Have More than One Priority?!
For those who can’t narrow their day down to one task because there are just too much to do in the day, something else that has worked well for me is time blocking. It’s essentially the one-task method, but in 60-minute sprints, and is only for 3-4 tasks.
If it suits, you can even set up your days where you are using a mix of the two methods. On non client days, use the One Step method. On client days, using the Time blocking method (This is typically what I do!)
What do you do after your One Task is done?
After my one task is completed, I don’t work on anything else in my business for the day. I take the time to work on other side hustling projects (using the same method), go out to the gym, hang out with friends…you get the gist. I take the rest of my day to LIVE. Because that’s what this method is truly for friends: being able to live without being a slave to my work. I didn’t get into this business to work on it 24/7.
I did it for freedom.
Freedom to go to the movies in the middle of a Wednesday with my boyfriend. Freedom to travel to Thailand for 3 weeks and not have to apply for leave. To feel like I have a say in this crazy rat-race we were born into.
I can only imagine you started your business for the same reason.
Do you have a productivity tip that has completely transformed your business? Tell me about it below, and ONE task you are for sure going to get done today <3