[johnke]

> Personally, I came to the conclusion that everything I postpone to a later stage in life might just as well never materialise. If I can't live with that thought, then it has to be done concurrently.

Sheryl Sandberg recently gave a talk to Inc. where she used the term 'ruthless prioritisation' to describe her decision-making process. It basically comes down to finding the best thing you can do and making a lot of tough choices.

Now, she was discussing this concept from a business point of view, but speaking as someone who works from home, minds children, and runs a house, it also resonated with me. I have a long list of things to do on any given day, and only a certain number of hours in which to do them. Most days, I end up feeling guilty about not getting something done; it feels like I'm failing in one of my areas of responsibility. Or, worse, as you say, I try to get everything done concurrently and either fail or risk burnout.

The main thing that ruthless prioritisation does is give me the space to forgive myself for the things I couldn't do. I know that I calculated the best thing I could do on a given day and I worked on that. It makes postponing things a lot easier to handle.

[snarf21]

Reminds me of John Doerr's advice on how to be successful: "Be ruthlessly intellectually honest about the biggest threat to your business and marshall all available resources to solve that." Rinse and repeat. The key is not just to do just one thing. You need focus and vision, then you'll get to your most successful as soon as possible.