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Is focused work really as simple as two steps?
When stories promise increased productivity in a few steps, here’s how you should think it through.
In a recent article, Darius Foroux argued that productivity boils down to two steps: sit down, and do one thing.
I agree with the fundamental argument here, but the reason this advice is a) so attractive, and b) so simple, is because of everything the simple argument is obscuring. It’s like the tip of the iceberg. To better understand why this method is so effective, let’s break down everything these two steps imply.
Step one: sit down.
Sounds simple enough, right? Sitting is painless, easy, we do it all the time…
But to sit down means to have conquered all of the external triggers that draw us into other spaces and activities. To sit down is to not lay down, or walk away, or sprawl in front of the TV. It’s also to have an organized space to sit down into: I don’t necessarily mean a feng shui office so much as a decluttered mental space to arrive at.
