For many people, the festive season feels like a sprint towards the finish line. Your to-do list is growing, emails pile up, clients demand your attention, pressure mounts and there’s a sense of urgency to wrap things up before festivities start.

You may also be trying to navigate the complexities of the Christmas food shop, purchasing multiple gifts for family and friends and creating a table plan that avoids inter-family conflict on Christmas Day!

You’ve been busy all year and are exhausted, so managing visitors’ travel itineraries, balancing work, children or pets, and maintaining your own health and sanity can be incredibly daunting. You may even be wondering, ‘Am I actually making any meaningful progress?’

Being busy doesn’t mean being productive

It’s very easy to fall into the trap of measuring success by the sheer volume of things accomplished. The truth is, being busy doesn’t necessarily mean being productive. As the year draws to a close, it’s important to take a step back to reassess how you’re spending your time and whether it’s driving the results you want in both your work and life.

Success isn’t about doing more, but doing what matters most… and the game-changing shift you need to make is being intentional about doing the things that matter. In the rush to meet deadlines and start planning for the next cycle, it’s easy to get caught up in the detail of tasks that don’t necessarily move things forward. True progress comes from focusing on one thing that, when accomplished, makes everything else easier, or sometimes even redundant.

Create a ripple effect

What’s the one thing you can do today that will have the greatest impact on your work or life? Not the 10 things you could do, or the five things everyone says you should do. Just one thing that will truly make a difference. That’s the first domino, which, when completed, has a ripple effect on everything else. That’s where real progress and momentum live and your energy and focus should be directed.

With Christmas and the New Year fast approaching, it’s easy to feel the pressure to do it all, but here’s the reality; more hours and more hustle doesn’t always equal better results. In fact, it often leads to burnout, fatigue and a sense of being stuck in an endless cycle without any tangible outcomes.

Working smarter brings more clarity

Successful people schedule time for their one thing; they block off focused, uninterrupted time and protect it fiercely. This isn’t about squeezing more into an already full day, it’s about making room for the most important tasks that will generate the greatest results. Working smarter brings more clarity to your day and focuses on what truly moves the needle in your work and life.

By focusing on your ‘one thing’, you’re not just working towards achieving your goals, you’re also setting yourself up for the freedom and space to enjoy your success. When you nail that one thing, you are building momentum for ongoing success.

As you prepare for the holidays, ask yourself: “What’s my one thing today?” Now, go and do it – make that your focus and priority, and the rest should follow.