Habits and long-term memory reduce mental load

Scott contrasts focused tasks with repeatable patterns stored in long-term memory that free cognitive energy.

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One Project Rule: Why You Never Have Enough Time

October 28, 2025 | Episode 5212

Host: Scott Smith

Episode Description

Ever wonder why you've got ten things going and none of them are getting done?

Yeah, me too. This week I'm sitting here with about 10 browser tabs open working on the YouTube channel. My wife walks

in and goes, "Are you making it simple?" I just 10x'd my work, man.

But here's the thing about the one project rule. Your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. Not four. Not seven. One.

And when you're bouncing between multiple projects, you're delaying the completion of ALL of them. What if you could

finish one thing today and actually have more time tomorrow? What if getting more done meant doing less at once?

That's what I figured out this week. And it changed everything.

Featured Story

You know when you look at everything on your plate and think, "How am I ever going to get this done?"

That was me. Ten browser tabs. New YouTube channel. Big workflow changes. A ton of moving parts. My Australian

shepherd is literally trying to break into the room because he can open doors now. Life's happening.

And I'm sitting there thinking I need to make this simpler. But I just made it ten times more complicated.

Then it hit me.

I'm still working on one thing. Just one. The YouTube channel. All those tabs? They're part of one project. And while it

seems like it's never going to get done, there's actually peace in that focus.

Because I'm not also trying to finish nine other things at the same time. And that's when the whole thing clicked for me

about why we never have enough time.

Important Points

When you work on multiple projects at once, you're delaying completion of every single one because your brain keeps bouncing back and forth.

If you have 10 items that could make you money and you're working on all of them, none of them are making money yet—finish one and tomorrow it starts working while you tackle the rest.

Your brain fundamentally can only focus on one thing at a time, and that's not a weakness—it's how you get actual results when you stop fighting it.

Memorable Quotes

"When you work on multiple projects at a time, you are delaying the completion to all the projects because your brain is bouncing back and forth."

"If you could create more time in your day and you didn't have to give anything up, wouldn't that be a cool thing to do?"

"I operate on the one project rule so that I can get more time. But one thing I've learned is a phrase I coined a long time ago called holding space."

Scott's Three-Step Approach

1. Pick one project that needs to get done and commit to finishing it today—not making progress on ten things, finishing one thing completely so tomorrow you're free to move on.

2. Recognize the difference between absolute focus tasks and long-term memory habits—you can't multitask focused work, but you can run through your daily repeating patterns without thinking about them.

3. Hold the space once you clear it—fight to keep that free time open for yourself instead of immediately filling it with more stuff, so you actually create breathing room in your life.

Chapters

00:00 Why You Never Have Enough Time

00:50 The One Project Rule Explained

02:39 How Multitasking Kills Your Progress

03:22 What Your Brain Can Actually Handle

05:58 Why Multiple Projects Delay Everything

07:37 Getting More Done By Doing Less

08:14 Holding Space For Yourself

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Main Website: https://motivationtomove.com