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Comment by rsto | Hacker News Reader

> it’s much more effective to focus your effort on one thing.

This is the gist I got from this post, and while I agree with the statement I think it is too simplistic.

I am one of those persons that "have a long list of goals, desires, and wants for your life" as teased in the article. I think it's clear that focus helps to achieve an item on that list. It's the issue of deciding what to focus on, when multiple items are competing for the 24 hours we have per day. Most life-advice, as the article, starts off with stating the conflict and immediately jumps to the conclusion. The hard part is in the middle.

Personally, I came to the conclusion that everything I postpone to a later stage in life might just as well never materialise. If I can't live with that thought, then it has to be done concurrently.

That's probably different for short-term project that the article uses as examples, but these typically aren't the items I'm conflicted about.

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> Personally, I came to the conclusion that everything I postpone to a later stage in life might just as well never materialise. If I can't live with that thought, then it has to be done concurrently.

Sheryl Sandberg recently gave a talk to Inc. where she used the term 'ruthless prioritisation' to describe her decision-making process. It basically comes down to finding the best thing you can do and making a lot of tough choices.

Now, she was discussing this concept from a business point of view, but speaking as someone who works from home, minds children, and runs a house, it also resonated with me. I have a long list of things to do on any given day, and only a certain number of hours in which to do them. Most days, I end up feeling guilty about not getting something done; it feels like I'm failing in one of my areas of responsibility. Or, worse, as you say, I try to get everything done concurrently and either fail or risk burnout.

The main thing that ruthless prioritisation does is give me the space to forgive myself for the things I couldn't do. I know that I calculated the best thing I could do on a given day and I worked on that. It makes postponing things a lot easier to handle.

Reminds me of John Doerr's advice on how to be successful: "Be ruthlessly intellectually honest about the biggest threat to your business and marshall all available resources to solve that." Rinse and repeat. The key is not just to do just one thing. You need focus and vision, then you'll get to your most successful as soon as possible.

That is the hard part I suppose. Figure out what matters to you, and prioritize accordingly.

As many books describe, you must figure out what story you want people to tell about you after you're dead. That is your ethos. Then you make a list of what you'd like to do, and then prioritize according to your ethos. Do you want to be a 2 digit millionaire, then you have to work towards that. Do you want to be a pillar for the community, then that guides you. Want to be a fantastic parent ect.

> If I can't live with that thought, then it has to be done concurrently.

What does it mean to say that you "can't live with" that thought? If in fact having that thought would cause your death, then I recommend avoiding death. However, if you are saying that figuratively, consider the possibility that you might be taking a less effective action simply due to your discomfort with the reality that we have limited time on this earth. Consider the possibility that you might be better off tolerating that discomfort and narrowing your focus to a few things rather than a dozen.

(Or maybe you're just designing a well-balanced week that is made up of tango lessons, a side-project, and your job. I dunno. You're an autonomous agent.)

I think another important point is can you even accomplish your goal in the first place? if not break it into smaller goals or find another one.

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