3 Reasons Why You Should Focus on One Problem (Even If You Have Many)

Reason #1: Ripple Effect

Our problems are interconnected in some way, and many times making progress in sorting out one problem can have a ripple effect across areas of our life.

In my own experience, fixing my sleep allowed me to have better relationships with my family as I came to realise how my prior lack of sleep affected my emotion regulation.

Think of one problem you know you can do something about and start from there.

Reason #2: Distractionless

Many of our “intentions” these days are driven by the outside world.

Today, you have goal A. Tomorrow, you think goal B will change your life more, so you drop goal A. The day after tomorrow, you will have a sudden burst of motivation to achieve goals A, B, and C.

It is not that we should forget everything else and do just one thing right.

It is that we should focus on one step at a time and direct not just our physical energy but also our cognitive efforts into solving that one problem.

Stick to attacking that one problem for at least 6 months.

Reason #3: Progress is Motivation

With focus, you will be able to start seeing progress.

Seeing and making progress is what draws out internal motivation.

By then, you won't require external rewards or motivation such as motivational videos or someone pushing you.

Witnessing your own progress will be enough to drive you towards more progress.

While the feeling of progress is internal, a physical tracker can serve as a secondary reminder of all the progress you have made.

This brings us to why I use this week's featured tool.

Tool of the Week: Goal Tracker

This Goal Tracker is a Notion template to help list all your goals and measure your progress.

Wait, didn't I say to focus on just one goal?

Yes, we want to focus on just one goal, but the purpose of writing everything down is to close the open loop.

This allows you to address them later and prevents the thought of it from lingering in your head.

I'm offering this Goal Tracker template for just $1 today, reduced from its usual price of $9. (First 100 people only)

This is a token of appreciation for reading this newsletter and to make it more accessible to everyone.

Claim Your Goal Tracker for $1

Favourite Quote This Week:

“You can do anything, but not everything.” David Allen

Focus on one problem instead of trying to do everything.