I learned to get things done faster…

But the surprising part is that I didn’t do it by adding more hours to my day.

I didn’t wake up earlier.

I didn’t try to multitask.

I didn’t use complicated productivity systems.

What I did is to change the way I think.

For a long time, whenever I faced difficult problems, I made the same mistake.

I looked at all the issues at once.

I would think:

“How am I going to solve all of these problems?”

“How long is this going to take me?”

”Where do I even start?”

And the bigger the problem I faced, the slower I became.

Then I discovered the ideas of Michel de Montaigne, a writer and thinker from over 400 years ago.

What fascinated me was that Montaigne had a completely different approach to solving problems.

He didn’t try to find quick answers.

He just tried to understand things sequentially, one aspect at a time.

And I realised that this was the reason I was wasting so much time.

I was not struggling because of lack of effort.

I was struggling because I was addressing too many issues at the same time.

The first thing I learned from Montaigne was to focus on the most threatening aspect of the problem.

Instead of asking:

“How do I fix all my problems?”

I started asking:

“What is the specific issue I need to solve right now?”

I stopped looking at the woods and focused on the tree next to me.

If I was facing super complex problems, I didn’t think about everything I needed to do.

I just asked:

“What is the action that will address the most severe threat?”

In this way, I can focus on doing just one thing.

One email.

One decision.

One conversation.

One small improvement.

And something interesting happened.

The big issues that felt overwhelming started becoming manageable.

I learned that progress comes from solving small aspects of the problem, one at a time.

The second thing I learned was to identify the most threatening aspect of problems.

Before, I naturally looked to solve the aspect that I found most annoying.

But Montaigne showed me the value of challenging myself.

So I started asking:

“What if my assumption is wrong?”

“What aspects of the picture am I missing?”

“What aspects are the most threatening?”

This changed the way I solve problems.

When I challenge myself, I identify the critical aspects of problems much faster.

I avoid wasting time.

And I get things done much faster.

The third thing I learned was that better questions get things done faster.

I used to ask questions like:

“Why is this happening to me?”

“Why is this so difficult?”

“Why can’t I get this done?”

But those questions kept me stuck.

Now I ask:

“What is the next step?”

“What do I have to do exactly?”

Those questions change my mindset.

They move me from frustration to action.

And that is the biggest lesson I learned from Montaigne.

Getting things done faster is not simply about speed.

It is about thinking clearly.

When I ask better questions, I find better solutions.

When I break big challenges into smaller steps, I make progress faster.

High productivity is not about doing more things.

It is about doing the right things in the right order.

So now, whenever I feel overwhelmed, I remember this:

Don’t fight the entire battle at once.

Understand the problem.

Break it down.

Ask better questions.

Because the fastest way forward is thinking better.

If you are interested in applying rational ideas in all sorts of situations, I recommend my book “The 10 Principles of Rational Living.”