Member-only story
This Is Our Most Important Task Each Day
It’s not what you think it is.
At 16, I discovered the best way to be productive: narrow down your to-do list to one thing only.
I called it MIT — not the university, but as in Most Important Task.
I found that reducing your to-do list to one big thing not just simplifies the day, it’s also way more efficient than shooting a dozen little things.
Six years have gone by.
And I now think that our ultimate Most Important Task is to simply make ourselves happy.
What makes you happy?
It’s a simple (even trite) yet essential question to ask yourself each morning.
It’s usually the little things. Friends. Music. Books. Nature. Dogs. Sex. Coffee. Love. Moleskine notebooks. Guacamole. The beach. The Beach Boys. Learning something new. Laughing until your belly hurts. Running. Swimming. Hiking. Bicycle. Surfing. Yoga. Pilates. Meditation. Goat cheese. Red wine. White wine. Fresh mint tea.
But it can be the big things too. Getting a good day’s work. Being productive. Writing an interesting thought. Writing fiction for fun. Having a meaningful conversation with a new person. Calling someone you love. Saying no. Saying yes. Traveling. By train. Having a profound…
