Use the 'One More' Trick When Your Productivity Stalls

After writing about productivity and organization for the past few years, I understand better than most that the vast majority of the advice you'll get about working more efficiently asks you to carefully schedule your day, plan out the exact type and number of tasks you're going to do, and be diligent to the point of near-militancy—literally. I also know better than anyone else what works for me, personally—and it usually looks like nothing so meticulous.

Assiduous preplanning and scheduling can be beneficial for a lot of people, but there is no universally effective productivity technique. If the intricate routes aren't working for you or you simply find yourself overwhelmed by the sheer number of items on your to-do list, there's a far simpler, more straightforward, and easier method to try. It's the "one more" approach, and it's one of my favorite productivity hacks because it works extremely well in a variety of situations.

What is the "one more" approach?

I'm borrowing the name "one more" from a Reddit poster who referred to the technique that way, though I've done this for years without putting a name to it. The creator described how they prefer to break their tasks up into small pieces, then continually challenge themselves to do just "one more" mini-task before stopping.

The example used was dealing with emails: When you have a load of messages to sort through and respond to, it can be daunting. If you use a classic technique to schedule time into your calendar just to tackle them all, you'll be faced with the harsh reality that there are dozens of pieces of correspondence that need your attention. It's demoralizing, and it may even cause you to procrastinate, making things worse in the long run. But if, instead of setting a time or amount, you just get to work and urge yourself to tackle "one more" email at a time, you'll feel motivated every time you you cross one off the list. If you feel energized enough to continue, well, you only have to do "one more."

Examples where this will be effective abound. When I was discussing the concept with my colleagues this morning, Lifehacker Senior Health Editor Beth Skwarecki noted she does something similar in the gym: She asks herself, "Can I do one more rep?" or "Can I do one more minute?" and that keeps her moving. And actually, the gym is where I use this strategy the most: It's overwhelming to realize you have 17 minutes left to go on the treadmill, or five reps left on a heavy weight, so don't think that far ahead. Can you do one more? And can you still do one more after that? And after that?

Where I find this most helpful, though, is cleaning. I hate cleaning, but I must do it, especially because I love being in a clean space. I have tried every kind of approach you can think of, but the only one that works is a combination of the two-minute rule and the one-more rule. Basically, as soon as I think of doing something or the motivation hits me, I just pop up and do it. If I catch sight of a dirty baseboard at the opportune moment, no matter what I'm doing, I just try to get up and get it over with instead of concocting some convoluted, multi-step cleaning strategy I will surely punk out on. When I finish the baseboard, I ask myself whether I can do one more thing. Almost always, after feeling a little motivated from my first task, I find I can take the garbage out, clean my fan, vacuum my rug, or whatever.

Why "one more" is an effective productivity strategy

All big tasks are really comprised of smaller ones and, taken individually, those smaller tasks aren't as daunting. It's overwhelming to write a 10-page essay, but not that bad to think about it one page at a time. Every time you get one of the small parts done, you feel good about having done it. You get a boost of confidence, and you're ready to do it again.

This approach is best suited to tasks that aren't especially urgent, so use a system like the Eisenhower matrix to figure out which of the jobs on your to-do list can be tackled this way. Then again, even that is a lot of planning and I don't practice what I preach here too well. I'm more inclined to make a big list of to-dos, but then, just by virtue of them being fresh in my mind from writing them down, get after them when the mood hits me. I keep a loose idea of what is and isn't important, hit the important ones first whenever I can, and try to push forward—at least with tasks that don't necessitate scheduling. This doesn't work for me at my job, of course, but it works on personal pursuits.

That said, while you can use "one more" for one-off tasks, it can also work when you break complex jobs down into smaller components. Even as you're working on something bigger, you'll get that small sense of accomplishment and reinforce the feeling that you're chipping away at the larger task. Especially when it's something you don't really want to do—like working out or cleaning—thinking small in this way can keep you from getting burned out. If a project is overwhelming you, break it down into its smallest components and just do one, without worrying about how much time you have. Keep going with just one more until you you're out of time or finished with the job. If you find you can't do one more, even just because you feel tired or burned out, take a break. Taking breaks is fundamental to maintaining productivity, so let the honest answer to, "Can I do one more?" actually guide you. The goal is to boost your motivation and confidence, not demoralize you, so don't beat yourself up if you can't get through everything without a rest.

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