One question that turns daily chaos into laser focus

Your phone buzzes again, the coffee on your desk goes lukewarm, and the tab count in your browser quietly creeps upward. You could keep swatting flies all morning, or you could ask a better question. You grab a pen and write, “What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” It feels almost too simple. But when you read it out loud, the noise drops a notch.

You scan your list: reply to email, polish slides, outline the proposal, check analytics. The proposal outline has been nagging you for days. If you outline it, the slides write themselves and half your emails vanish. You circle it, block two hours, and put your phone in a drawer. A colleague swings by with a “quick favor,” and you point to your calendar. “I’m heads down till 11. Can we talk then?” He nods and leaves. The room gets quiet in the best way.

Halfway through, the work clicks. You notice how one clear action shrinks five others. Last week you said yes to everything and ended up exhausted and strangely behind. Today, one domino is toppling the rest. A quick micro‑moment flashes in your mind: last semester you asked this question before a biology exam, chose one diagram to master, and the rest of the material finally made sense.

I might be wrong, but it seems we underestimate how much clarity reduces effort. Decision science calls this a “selection heuristic,” a mental filter that reduces choice overload. Framing tasks with a high‑leverage question focuses cognitive resources, cuts switching costs, and increases the chance of entering deep work. When you ask a big, specific question and then a small, immediate one, you align purpose with priority. The result is less thrash, more meaningful progress.

Start by writing the focus filter on a card and placing it where you can’t miss it. Ask it first for your big direction, then zoom into today and this hour. Jot three to seven possible actions and circle the one that would make other steps easier or unnecessary, even if it feels a bit uncomfortable. Put a protected block on your calendar for that single task and give yourself permission to ignore everything else until it’s done. Tell one person you trust, “I’m heads down on X until 11; I’ll surface then,” and let that social promise keep you honest. Try it on your next work block today.