Do Fewer Things, But Do Them Better

This week, you're faced with a choice like all other weeks. The choice is simple. You can either choose to do a lot, or you can choose to do a little.

When given those two options, almost everyone will choose to do a lot. Who wants to do less when there's just so much to do? Things change when we revisit those two options and insert a dose of reality.

Like all other weeks, this week too, has five work days. Or six, depending on which country you're in. Or seven, depending on what kind of work you do.

Operating within that reality (of finite productive time), you can either choose to do a lot but do it poorly (machines optimised for one task can do a lot and do it well), or you can choose to do a little but do it well (the human approach).

That's a more interesting choice. And you consciously make it every day, often without even realising it.

No one wants to do any work poorly, but in the rush to do a lot, we end up compromising quality with a focus on quantity. We don't give our best to tasks we undertake because there's just so much to do, and at some point - doing more has taken precedence over doing well. Because doing more in the minds of some, is the same as doing well.

"Look at how much he does" or "Look at the amount of things she did this week" has been used as the ultimate yardstick of competence.

People have become factories. And you can choose not to be one.

Checking things off a to-do list can be freeing. Rewarding even. It makes you feel like you're accomplishing something and you're getting things done. So we try to check as many things off a list as we can, telling ourselves that we're getting so much done.

Except that we're doing them just like anyone else would. If we put so little thought into it, what's the difference between us and someone else doing it? Does that completed task you shelved yesterday truly have your personal stamp on it? Would you hold it up to the world and say, "I did this!" with pride?

In the race to "completion" - the quickest path is often picked, and that path tends to be devoid of quality.

Take a look at your to-do list for this week. Prioritise what really needs to be done, and what can wait till the next week. Have the courage to say no, to refuse to do more. Have the courage to stop being measured by how much you do, but how well you do it.

Don't do 18 things this week, do eight. Or do four.

But do them well. When people start coming to you not because they need things done or out of the door, but when they need them to be done well, that's when you know you're making a difference.