Do a Small Thing Well: A Sustainable Approach to Productivity

I often feel bombarded with an endless stream of tasks, projects, and responsibilities.

The sheer volume of work can feel overwhelming, leading many of us down the path to burnout. I’ve been there, I’ve seen many others unforutnately experience the same. I’m not sure there’s a universal solution, but I have found a way to manage my work load that has helped me avoid burnout and improve my productivity.

The Overwhelm Trap

We’ve all been there: staring at an overflowing inbox, a growing task list, and calendar invites that seem to multiply like rabbits. The modern workplace demands our attention from multiple directions, and the rise of digital tools, while helpful, has only increased the pace and volume of incoming requests. Slack, teams, emails, etc, 24/7.

The toll of this constant barrage is profound. Our focus becomes scattered as we jump between tasks, never fully engaging with any single piece of work. The quality of our output suffers as we rush to keep up with the endless stream of demands. Lower quality output leads to more rework, changes, clarification, and it all compounds.

Mental exhaustion sets in, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between what’s truly important and what just feels urgent. We end each day feeling perpetually behind, despite working longer hours and pushing ourselves harder.

The “Do a Small Thing Well” Philosophy

For me, a simple mantra has helped me stave this off for many years now: “Do a small thing well.”

This mantra carries profound implications for how I approach my work and manage my energy. Instead of trying to tackle everything at once, I intentionally narrow my focus to smaller, manageable pieces. By giving each task the attention it deserves, I create a foundation for sustainable success. This approach generates momentum through small wins, each victory building upon the last to create a positive cycle of achievement and satisfaction.

It sounds trite, but it really isn’t. Focusing on doing a small thing well means that you are definitionally not rushing and not doing those other things. Don’t think about them, don’t worry about them, don’t let them consume your mind.

Breaking Down the Approach

The journey to doing small things well begins with mastering the art of task decomposition. When faced with a large, intimidating project, our instinct might be to dive in headfirst. Instead, we need to step back and carefully break it down into smaller, discrete tasks.

This isn’t just about creating a to-do list (thought it is absolutely also that); it’s about understanding the natural rhythm of the work and identifying logical stopping points. Get proficient at noticing something and putting it at the bottom of your list, ignoring it, and keeping your focus on the task at hand. The whack-a-mole of trying to do everything is a cancer for your mind.

When I do this effectively, I create opportunities for collaboration, make progress more visible, and maintain a sense of forward momentum. Those discrete things on the list that aren’t at the top? Maybe someone else can do them.

Quality becomes the north star in this approach. When self-reflecting on what got done the question should be “was it done well?” Not “did I get it done?”.

When you think about how to improve velocity, think about tools and systems that help make quality easier (e.g. reusable templates or systems, for code: linting and testing, etc.).

This measured approach naturally leads to a more sustainable pace. Rather than exhausting myself in sporadic bursts of activity, I maintain a steady rhythm of focused work. My work-life boundaries become clearer and more defensible. My decision-making improves because I’m not constantly operating from a place of overwhelm. And perhaps most importantly, my output becomes more consistent and reliable.

In my experience, that sustainable pace is actually faster than when I’ve tried to do too much.

Practical Implementation

The path to implementation begins each day with a triage exercise. Start by reviewing your to-do list, meticulously cleaning it up to remove any outdated or irrelevant tasks. This involves reading through your emails, Slack messages, and any other communication channels that might generate new tasks, whether they are urgent or not.

Next, curate, groom, and prioritize the remaining items on your to-do list. Determine which tasks are most important and align with your goals. Prioritize them based on urgency and impact, ensuring that you focus on what truly matters.

You don’t need to rank order the whole thing, but you should know what the top 1-3 things are.

Once your list is prioritized, block off calendar time for the top item. Dedicate this time exclusively to focusing on and completing the task. If the items on your list are small and manageable, you can block off time for more than one task within the same session. However, avoid planning too far ahead to maintain flexibility and focus.

The art of this approach lies in selecting the right task to focus on, ensuring it is appropriately scoped to be small, and committing to doing it well. After completing a task, repeat the process by selecting the next priority from your curated list, maintaining a cycle of focused and high-quality work.

Creating boundaries becomes essential to this practice. Block specific time for focused work, and protect these blocks as vigorously as you would any other important commitment. Learn to say “not now” to requests that would derail your focus. Be transparent with your teammates about your approach - you might be surprised to find them supportive and even inspired to adopt similar practices. Literally sign out of slack when you need to focus on something.

Building support systems is crucial for sustainability. Identify which tasks truly need your personal attention and which could be handled by others. Develop clear processes for delegating work, and invest time in building strong relationships with collaborators. Create feedback loops that help you refine your approach over time.

The Compound Effect

The magic of this approach reveals itself over time. What starts as a simple practice of focusing on one small task grows into something much more significant.

Your portfolio of work begins to show a consistent level of quality that sets you apart. You will build professional trust, quickly. Professional relationships deepen because you’re fully present in your interactions. Your mental health improves as the constant pressure of overwhelm subsides.

Common Pitfalls and How to Navigate Them

The “just one more” trap is perhaps the most seductive challenge you’ll face. There’s always one more email to answer, one more task to squeeze in. Success requires learning to be comfortable with incompletion, trusting that tomorrow will provide another opportunity to do good work.

You solve problems by picking the right thing to do well, not by trying to do a million things. That’s where your deepest attention should go.

Perfectionism can also derail this approach if we’re not careful. “Doing something well” doesn’t mean doing it perfectly. It means giving it appropriate attention and care, then knowing when to move on. Define clear criteria for completion and stick to them.

Conclusion

In a world that constantly pushes us to do more, faster, the act of doing a small thing well becomes a radical form of self-care and professional development. By focusing on quality over quantity, breaking down complex problems, and maintaining sustainable practices, we can avoid burnout while actually improving our output and satisfaction.