One thing at a time.

We all can relate to a time in our lives when we took on too much work or adopted too much responsibility. We can feel exhausted and stressed while beating ourselves up as we realise that the work we took on isn’t being completed to its entirety.

However, I am a firm believer in the idea that responsibility creates meaning in our lives. If we ignore the fact that we must take on responsibilities we risk turning into a ‘Man Child’; relying on friends and family members to provide for us.

This of course is an extreme result. However, if you ask me, I would like to keep as far away from this development as possible.

In essence, it’s very simple to take on the right amount of work. It’s just a matter of gauging your limit. Getting a planner or journal is an excellent way to keep track of your deadlines, work and projects. The best thing about writing in a journal is that as long as what you write in it makes sense to YOU, you are on the right path. Throw away grammar and punctuation if that is not your style; or incorporate margins and various headings to keep everything in order… It’s completely up to you!

With regards to actually executing your plans, find the amount of work that is your limit and then scale your work ethic around that.

It is important to note that this is not to say that you should not push yourself to go beyond your capabilities or not to strive for betterment. However, there is no point in engaging in a project if the quality of its product is going to be based around your exhausted operating system.

I found that throughout college, a lot of my friends would bounce from assignment to assignment. They would begin an assignment for one subject and then begin another assignment the following day without finishing the first one. From my experience, this doesn’t work. How can your mind focus and alternate between two different assignments on two different subjects? By doing this, we just end up straining our minds all in an effort to find the easiest and quickest way to complete a task.

I must add that there is nothing wrong with multi-tasking and the idea that you should only ever engage in one project at a time only applies to situations such as completing college assignments. There are plenty of examples where you should maximise your workload in order to obtain the most out of your life. For example; take on more responsibility at work if you are looking for a pay-rise or promotion; or start exercising, eating healthy and reading more if you want to maximise your physical and mental health.

The idea that you should only take ‘One thing at a time’ is not necessarily to be taken at face value. Its purpose is to remind you to gauge your limits in order to maximise your output without sacrificing your input.