Most people think productivity means packing more into the day: more tasks, more tabs, more plates spinning.

When we built 53° in just four months—while both of us were holding down full-time jobs and working evenings and weekends—I learned that productivity is rarely about doing more. It’s about doing less, on purpose.

Those months were some of the most focused, intense, creatively exciting weeks of my life. Not because we were working 80-hour weeks or flirting with burnout, but because we cut everything that didn’t matter. That’s the real lesson.

The Problem With Multitasking

Everyone says they’re good at multitasking. But multitasking is usually just starting five things, finishing none, and wondering why you always feel behind.

When you try to run the business, reply to customers, build the brand, manage the team, post online, update the website, improve systems, and still be the visionary—you’re not multitasking; you’re drowning slowly.

The hardest truth about productivity is this:

You can’t do your best work when you’re doing everything. Something breaks. Usually, it’s you.

How We Built 53° So Quickly

When the idea for 53° clicked, we made one decision that changed everything: for four months, nothing else existed.

We stripped the calendar to the essentials—client commitments we’d already contracted to deliver; payroll, finances, and compliance (because the law says so); and a weekly review to protect momentum and clarity.

Everything else went on hold: no new product ideas, no “quick improvements,” no tinkering, no distractions dressed up as progress.

We chose one focus: build a platform that helps experience providers launch and scale.

That was the work—every day, no exceptions. It moved fast, not because we were superhuman, but because the path was narrow.

The constraint of full-time jobs forced clarity: evenings and weekends became sacred deep-work blocks, not a chaotic catch-all. Limited time made prioritisation non-negotiable.

The Real Productivity Question

It’s not “How can I get more done?” It’s “What can I remove?”

Productivity isn’t about effort—it’s about direction. You don’t need more hours. You need fewer competing priorities.

The Lean-Out Principle

Every business should regularly ask: what are we doing that doesn’t move us forward? Where are we duplicating effort? Which tasks look important but change nothing? Where is the energy leaking?

Most businesses don’t need more staff; they need cleaner focus.

Most people don’t need more time; they need fewer priorities.

How to Get Your Time Back

Here’s the simple system we used—especially crucial when we were splitting days between full-time jobs and 53°:

1. Define the one goal that matters. Not five. Not three. One. Everything else either supports it or waits.

2. Set two supporting tasks each day. Not a full to-do list—just the two actions that genuinely move the mission forward. Anything else is a bonus.


3. Kill or pause work that doesn’t contribute. If it doesn’t support the One Goal, it goes on the Later List. Not cancelled—paused intentionally. This is where most teams break: they keep too much alive.

4. Protect deep work like it’s gold. 90 minutes. Phone away. Slack off. Door shut. When you only have evenings and weekends, this block is the engine. Most meaningful progress will happen here.

Workplace Momentum Comes From Clarity

When people know what matters most, what can wait, and what success looks like this week, they stop firefighting.

If your team is constantly reacting, it’s not because they’re disorganised—it’s because the business is trying to do too many things at once.

Cut the noise, and momentum follows.

Ask Yourself This Week

• What are you currently “managing” that you could ignore for the next 90 days?

• Which project is stealing time but changing nothing?

• What could you build, launch, or transform if you allowed everything else to sit still?

We built 53° in four months because we chose to. Not because we worked harder, but because we worked focused—even while working full-time.

Start small. Choose one goal. Let the rest breathe.

Your time was never the problem. Your attention was.