Hey friends

I am stretched super thin at the moment. I have too many hobbies. Too many pseudo-hobbies (half-work-half-hobby). Too much real, paying work.

And what I find is the age-old truth: What you focus on, grows. What you neglect, withers.

Even if I feel like I am still doing the bare minimum, I soon see that I am letting things slip.

Giving things up is hard though.

Do you feel like you are doing too much? Spread too thin?

The Big Idea

Are you doing more than ever but achieving less than you’d like? Do you have a packed calendar but feel like you’re spinning your wheels? Most project managers excel at managing complex deliverables but struggle to manage their own focus. We plan for project scope creep but not life scope creep.

What we need is strategic focus. Goodness knows I need it myself right now.

Strategic focus isn’t about doing less work but it’s about doing the right work so your efforts compound instead of compete.

Think of it as the ultimate resource allocation.

High achievers typically focus on 2-3 core areas while saying no to everything else.

(read that again. and remember it.)

Your goal? Build deep expertise and meaningful results instead of shallow progress across many fronts. But here’s what most people miss: Focus isn’t really about doing less. It’s about multiplying your impact. When you concentrate your energy, you don’t just improve incrementally, you actually also create breakthrough results.

You project manage your own potential. Which is what you're good at, right?

Here’s how strategic focus transforms your career: First, audit your commitments like you audit project resources; because you can’t optimize what you don’t measure. Second, delegate systematically the same way you delegate project tasks. Make it intentional, not accidental. Third, say no consistently to good opportunities so you can say yes to great ones. Finally, focus on your unique strengths and let others handle what they do best. Think having specialized team members instead of trying to be a one-person army, doing it all yourself. The math is simple: if you’re working on 10 things, you’re giving each 10% of your energy. Focus on 3 things, and each gets 33% of your attention. Plus the compound effect of deep work.

Takeaways

• Strategic focus gives you career leverage by concentrating your energy where it matters most
• Most people can double their results by cutting half their commitments and going deeper
• Mastery takes 5-10 years of focused effort, not scattered attempts across many areas
• You don’t have to do everything - you just need to do the right things exceptionally well
• What you focus on grows; what you neglect withers. So choose your focus areas wisely

Try This:

• List everything you’re currently working on (projects, hobbies, side hustles, commitments)
• Identify your top 3 priorities that align with your biggest goals
• Cancel or delegate one commitment this week that doesn’t serve your core focus
• Create a “someday/maybe” list for good ideas you won’t pursue right now
• Practice saying “I’m not taking on new projects right now” when opportunities arise

Deep Dive

Six Things I Wish I Learnt in my Project Management Degree I wish they taught me, so I'm teaching you... ​Read full story →​

From my Toolkit

The more tasks I have, the less I trust my memory to keep them straight. Sounds obvious, right? But for years I tried to juggle everything in my head (or worse, scattered sticky notes). The result: I was constantly reacting instead of moving the important stuff forward.

Now I use a simple task tracker in Excel. You can use Excel or Google Sheets, it works the same. No more mental gymnastics, no more “didn’t we already talk about that?” moments. Just clarity.

Here’s my system: if it’s a one-off task I can do in under 5 minutes, I knock it out immediately. If it’s bigger, it goes in my tracker with a deadline. I also tag it by project so I can see progress where it actually matters, not just a random list of to-dos. At the start of each week, I pick my three “must-move” tasks and highlight them. By Friday, I measure my success by whether those three things are done. Everything else is bonus points.

Here’s the best part: because the tracker is simple (just columns for task, deadline, status, and project), I don’t waste time managing the system itself. To save you time, here’s the exact Task Tracking Template I use.

✅ Do it now if under 5 minutes

🗂 Add bigger tasks to the tracker with a deadline and project tag

🎯 Pick 3 “must-move” tasks per week

📊 Measure success on progress, not volume

Let me know what you thought of this email. I read every reply.

Have a great week ahead.

Jonathan