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How Having Fewer Priorities Leads to Better Work
When the word ʺpriorityʺ came into the English language, it was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing.
Only in the 1900s did we pluralize the term and start talking about priorities.
Yes, we are capable of doing two things at the same time, like cooking dinner while watching TV.
What is impossible, however, is concentrating on two tasks at once.
Multitasking forces your brain to switch back and forth very quickly from one task to another.
Doing more things does not drive faster or better results. Doing better things drives better results. Even more accurately, doing one thing as best as you can drive better results.
How can you use this?
Assign one (and only one) priority to each workday.
Although you can plan to complete other tasks during the day, your priority task is the one non-negotiable thing that must get done.
The power of choosing one priority is that it naturally guides your behavior by forcing you to organize your life around that responsibility.
Your priority becomes an anchor task, the mainstay that holds the rest of your day in place.
If things get crazy, there is no debate about what to do or not to do. You have already decided what is urgent and what is important.