I read somewhere that Elon Musk uses a technique called time blocking to manage all his multiple businesses (source). It’s a technique I’ve been using to manage my tasks at work, and it works well. Psyched by the start of a New Year and eager to get some revenue-generating projects off the ground (read my New Year reflections), I decided to incorporate time blocking and habit stacking into my calendar.
For example, I planned that during my 30-minute morning coffee, I’d do some research. In the evenings, once the kids were asleep, I’d dive into more research and MVP development. It looked great on paper. But I overdid it. I packed five projects into my calendar and thought I could make progress on all of them.
It didn’t take long to realize the problem. Spending one hour on one project on Monday, then switching to another for an hour on Tuesday, then another the next day, got me nowhere. By the end of the week, I had nothing substantial to show. By the end of the month, none of the projects had moved far enough to give me any measurable progress—no traction, no validation of market demand, nothing.
Recently, I listened to an interview with Alex Hormozi, bestseller of $100 million offers and founder of acquisition.com, on the Impact Theory podcast, and it felt like he was speaking directly to me—it was the wake-up call I needed. Just have a listen!
His advice was simple but powerful: “Pick one thing and focus on it instead of many.”
That line stuck with me. I realized my scattered focus was the reason none of my projects were moving forward. I was trying to do too much at once and spreading myself too thin to make headway.
And of course Elon Musk can afford to time block across multiple projects now because his businesses don’t need him as much on the ground. But he probably didn’t start that way.
So, I’ve changed my approach. Now, I focus on one project at a time. I dedicate what I can to it until I either find traction or gather enough evidence that it won’t work. If it’s the latter, I can move on quickly without wasting more time.
What’s your approach on keeping focus? Let me know in the comments—I’d love to hear what works for you.