How To Do Less

Alex Turek presents a radical approach to productivity through extreme focus, arguing that you should cut your entire roadmap down to ONE thing at a time. The framework distinguishes between 'Prioritization(1)' (just ordering a list) and 'Prioritization(2)' (actually completing the top priority), emphasizing 'don't think of it as choosing a bunch of critical things to fail—think of it as choosing one critical thing to actually succeed at.' Key strategies include using clear, direct language when refusing requests ('This isn't MAIN_PRIORITY, so we aren't doing it'), minimizing work-in-progress, reducing maintenance costs ('keep the lights on, and make keeping them on cheaper'), and encouraging team-wide commitment to saying no. Engineering leaders will learn to challenge diversions by asking 'What if we don't do this?' and 'Will this speed up MAIN_PRIORITY?' The approach alternates between 'Iterate' and 'Invest' modes, advocating that small organizations focus intensely on one mode at a time to deliberately reduce complexity through laser-focused, singular priorities.