In the midst of a drought, a crow half-dead with thirst saw a water pitcher. But it was nearly empty and he couldn’t reach the water that was left. Then he had . . . one idea. He dropped pebbles into the pitcher one by one until the water was high enough to drink.
“Bit by bit does the trick.”
This is probably the most important “one idea” I have ever learned, although my current way of thinking about it is the phrase “Moving Things Closer.”
In particular, “Moving Things Closer” is what I repeat to myself that helps me overcome the tendency to not do the next step or “bit” on a project when it is so minor that it almost seems not worth taking the time to do. That common tendency is well expressed in a saying by Jim Rohn: “What is easy to do is easy not to do.”
In other words, when a given project is broken down into the smallest individual steps, many of those steps are likely fairly easy to do, amounting to no more than a short email, phone call, or meeting. But such simple steps are also very easy not to do. Thus, it’s crucial to find a way to avoid giving in to the easy-not-to-do side of the equation. One impediment to that, however, is the fact that, individually, an easy-to-do step ordinarily doesn’t lead to much of an immediately important and apparent result.
Thus, to make sure I’m always making forward progress, whether the steps taken are big or small, complete or incomplete, I always tell myself to simply “move things closer” to where they need to be.
In particular, for any project I have — whether for work or fun, whether large or small — I first map out as many of the steps as I can that I think will need to be taken, and then, whenever I have any time for that project, I strive to push it forward, at least to some degree on at least some step(s) that are awaiting my attention.
Importantly, you don’t have to complete those steps, or even a single one of them. You just have to move things closer to where they need to be. And as long as you habitually do that, you’ll make continuing progress that will ultimately result in success, just as with the crow and the pitcher.
TL;DR: If you push something enough times in the right direction, it will get there.
***
“Moving Things Closer” also works on more mundane levels:
For example, on weekends, when I’m busy around the house, I always pick up anything that is out of place and carry it with me as I’m doing other things. I then put it down anywhere that is closer to where it ultimately needs to go. Over the course of the weekend, everything eventually gets put where it needs to go with little wasted effort.
For example, a screwdriver from the garage might be in my study. I would carry it downstairs on my way to the kitchen, then later set it by the door to the garage. But I don’t carry it into the garage unless I’m going in there for some additional purpose, such as getting duct tape, at which point the screwdriver gets placed back where it goes.
Another example: one weekend, I decided to reorganize my closet and study and box up items I wasn’t using to put in storage. I didn’t have the time to get it all done on one day, but I had some time each day. Thus, on Saturday, I took everything I wasn’t using from my closet and study shelves and put those items on tables; on Sunday, I boxed everything up and took them to storage. Between Saturday and Sunday my study was nearly unusable, but by Sunday night everything was back to normal!
One Idea 