Your task list is 90% wrong (here's the fix)

You have too much to do.

People ask you: “How’re things?”

You reply with a resigned sigh: “Busy, very busy.”

But, you feel like you don’t deserve to say this as you’ve done naff all to (actually) move yourself forward recently.

You’ve just been stuck in a tailspin.

In reality ‘work smarter’ just ends up with you taking on more.

Parkinson’s law says that tasks expand to the time you allocate to do them.

So you could work 26 hours today, and still be looking at the same to-do list tomorrow.

But, the sad fact is…

Most of what you're doing doesn't actually matter.

You're stuck in the loop of being busy without being productive.

Working harder (and smarter), and adding more to your plate when you should be clearing it.

The problem isn't that you're disorganised or inefficient.

It's that you're treating all tasks like they're created equal.

They're not.

There's one question that changed how I work.

It's the question that will help you get real clarity on how you should invest your ‘busy’.

In the next 5 minutes, you'll learn this question and exactly how to use it (with the help of AI) to identify the 10% of work that will create 90% of your results.

It’s a minimalist approach to creating massive impact.

And it’s build on the ruthless pursuit of ‘less, but better’.

Eisenhower was wrong

Here's what most productivity advice tells you:

"Just prioritise better."
"Use the Eisenhower Matrix."
"Time-block your calendar."

But, you’ve tried all of that

And you're still overwhelmed.

Because the real problem isn't how you organise your tasks (or how strict you are with a pomodoro timer). It's that you have too many tasks in the first place.

Two years ago, I had my full-time job. Sales targets, and client meetings, and a team to manage.

But I also had content to create. LinkedIn posts. Newsletters. Courses to build. Digital products to launch etc.

I had my Notion sub-divided into work categories.
I had each category set up with projects.
I had sub-tasks set up for each project.

And it resulted in a fat load of fudge all.

To get through everything I literally trained myself to fast on the OMAD (one meal a day) diet. 5AM starts, caffeine, nicotine, you name it.

The hamster wheel never stopped spinning.

And here's the thing that made it worse.

I genuinely believed if I just worked harder, if I just got more efficient, if I just ‘optimsied my schedule around my energy’... it would all come together.

It didn't.

I thought the goal was ultra-productivity.

When the real goal should have been ultra-specificity.

“The ONE Thing”

Then I found the question.

It comes from Gary Keller's and Jay Papasan’s book "The ONE Thing":

It says:

Read that again, slower.

Not "What are the 10 most important things?"

Not "What should I focus on this quarter?"

What's the ONE thing?

This question changes the narrative from do stuff, to find leverage.

—

You don’t eat the elephant one bite at a time.

You build an industrial grinder to make elephant burgers.

You cross breed elephants and mice to make bite sized elephants to save on machinery & labour.

You employ someone to do all of the above to free up your time to sell the burgers in bulk to McDumbos and make bank.

—

Analogies aside…

Instead of optimising your task list, you're asking which task makes the rest of the tasks irrelevant.

It's the 80/20 principle on steroids.

Here's how I used it.

I exported every task from my Notion workspace.

I fed it into AI with context.

This is what I asked.

The answer came back with three suggestions:

1. Content repurposing system (one idea, multiple pieces of content)

2. Prospecting system (take the manual process out of lead gen)

3. Repeatable coaching system (less prep time, more client value)

The ONE thing with all of these?

Systems.

Less ad-hoc work.

More structure.

Less time spent.

It’s amazing how much time you save when you know exactly what you need to do in what order to get things done (or better, have a system / AI do the heavy lifting for you).

Less is More in 4 Steps

Here's exactly how to use this question yourself.

Step 1: Track Your Time

For one week, log how you actually spend your time.

Use your calendar. Use RescueTime. Use a notebook if you have to (just take a pic of it with AI to save you having to manually write it up).

Doesn’t have to be perfect. Aim for 80%.

The end goal is to see where your hours are actually going, not where you think they're going.

Step 2: List Your Tasks

Open whatever system you use. Notion. Asana. Paper (not advised)

Export everything into CSV format if you're using a task manager.

If your tasks are in a spreadsheet, just use that.

Step 3: Ask AI The Question

Feed your AI two things:

1. Screenshots of your calendar (showing how you spend your time)

2. Your task list (exported as CSV or pasted as text)

Then use this prompt:

Then choose ONE.

Reasoning models (Claude 4.5 Sonnet, or ChatGPT-5 Thinking) are best for this.

Pro Tip - Add this at the end of your prompt:

Step 4: Repeat

Once you've done the ONE thing, do it again.

This time around, you’ll have a clearer to-do list, a less busy calendar.

Every iteration should bring you closer to the few thing you do on a daily basis that create maximum impact.

This isn't a one-time exercise. It's a focusing mechanism you come back to frequently.

What This Looks Like

• A Freelancer who has 5 1:1 ‘update’ calls a week with client (that often overrun) shifts delivery updates to Loom. Client still gets the personalised human approach, but it’s done async. 7.5 hours down to 1 hour of pre-recorded batch updates.

• A Founder drowning in admin realizes their ONE thing isn't hiring help (they spend more time telling people how to do things, than they do doing). It's documenting every process first. Once the SOPs exist, anyone can step in, without the handholding.

• A Solopreneur spending 5 hours a week chasing late payments realizes their ONE thing is collecting payment upfront with a Stripe link on invoice (before delivering work). Automated invoices. Chasing stops completely. Cashflow improves.

Notice the pattern?

The ONE thing is never "work harder" or "do more."

It's always a system, a template, or an automation that eliminates the need for unnecessary work.

The Final Word

Stop trying to do everything.

Start asking what ONE thing would make everything else easier.

You don’t have a time problem.
You have a leverage problem.

And the question we've covered today will help you find more leverage quicker than ever.

(you can even ask AI to help you implement it)

So here's what you do next:

Track your time this week. List your tasks. Ask the question.

Then build that ONE thing before you do anything else.

So the next time someone ask you: “How’ve you been?”.

You can reply proudly with: “Bossing it.” whilst cracking open a beer, guilt free, 5PM sharp on a Friday.

Until next time.

Adam

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