Notes: I originally wrote Part 1 and Part 2 separately, but later I combined them. Here goes:
PART 1
You might not have noticed, but the posts I’ve shared over the past several days were written in advance.
Sometimes I get too many ideas at once, so I write them down here and schedule one post a day.
But today—Tuesday—I’m writing this on the spot.
What I want to share today is about systems.
You might see me doing a lot of things, but honestly, I’m not that productive. You’ll notice I post sometimes at 10, sometimes at 11, sometimes at night—no fixed schedule. That’s because I’m not productive like Ali Abdaal.
Let me share something I’ve been saying for quite some time:
ONE THING AT A TIME.
My “one thing” is my work. I’m lucky because I don’t get paid by the hour; I get paid for the work I deliver.
I provide a service. In my One-Person Business course, during the introduction, I shared something I learned from Rich Dad Poor Dad. Robert Kiyosaki said: you need to know what you want and what you don’t want.
I’m clear about this as clear headed could be.
What I don’t want:
I don’t want to ask for permission just to take a holiday—or even to buy a drink at the shop across the office. Why should I ask for permission? Are you my mother?
I don’t want people telling me I have to be in the office at 9am and can only leave after 5pm. Who are you again? Are you my mother?
I don’t want to be paid by the hour. That way, if I go out for a drink at 10 a.m., I don’t have to feel guilty about it.
Look, I dont want to list down everything here.
Here’s what I want:
Surprise, surprise! I want FREEDOM. I want to do what I want to do—and still earn good money.
So let’s get back to ONE THING.
My ONE THING is my main work. That’s “A.”
At the same time, because I’m ambitious (and also a bit “sad”), I keep myself busy. So now I also have “B,” which is my One-Person Business course.
Since A is my priority:
Sometimes I work on B before A.
Sometimes I work on B at night.
Sometimes I work on B during weekends.
But A always comes first. Got it?
Now, when do I work on The Quran Notes Newsletter? Let’s call that “C.”
I do TQN on weekends. It takes about 2–3 hours to schedule several posts ahead. So you can see, C doesn’t disturb A or B.
Understand that ok?
And what about the Minimalist Newsletter? Let’s call that “D.”
I used to work on D every Sunday, but not anymore. “A” also takes up my weekends, and when I do “B”, I can’t do “D”.
Now, I try to write the Minimalist Newsletter every two weeks. I write based on ‘ilham’—whatever comes to mind, I put into the newsletter.
What else?
Then there’s my social media posts. At first, I tried copying Tim. I noticed he spends a few minutes each morning writing his posts. I tried it for several days, but I couldn’t keep it up. Even though it looks like just 10 minutes of work, I still couldn’t manage it.
Because again, I’m not Ali Abdaal, ok?
Just saying, I’m not that productive.
I write social posts, to slowly “seed” my course—which is “B”. But I realized: one thing at a time.
So, finish B first. Then, on weekends, create and schedule content ahead—like a month’s worth, similar to what I do for TQN. But again, finishing the course comes first. Promotion later, ok?
So as you can see, most of my time is spent on A and sometimes B.
C (TQN) and D (Minimalist Newsletter) only take few hours on some weekends—not every weekend.
If you’re ambitious like me, don’t do what I do: A, B, C, D all at the same time. I only do it because of the things constantly running through my head. Trust me, my life is not that easy. I do a lot just to stop thinking about the challenges I’m dealing with. You don’t need to know the details.
My advice is, only work on A and B at the same time.
And make sure A is bringing in the most cash flow. That should always be your ONE MAIN THING at the moment.
In the future, if you start another business, you can change your A.
But A should always be the one that makes you the most money.
Further reading: Pareto Principle
p/s: Please, maximum 2 only. I don’t know what else can I share to ask you to stop juggling doing 10 things at a time. Nouman Ali Khan just focus on Bayyinah. Hj Asri just focus on teaching saham. I’m at the stage where I’m currently ‘keluarkan’ semua ilmu yang ada, so it seems like I’m doing a lot.
But one day, when I have done ‘keluarkan’ semua, I want to focus on ONE THING. Just like Nouman Ali Khan and Hj Asri.
PART 2
Look, in my previous post, I might have come across as a bit arrogant.
I said I work on A, B, C, and D. And then I told you to focus only on A and B. Why can I do four things while asking you to do only two?
Let me explain.
It’s simple.
You’re married. You live with someone you love. You got kids together.
So you should spend time with your spouse. And you should also make time for your kids.
That time with your spouse and kids—let’s call it your C and D. And believe me, it will give you even more motivation to work on A and B.
For me, I don’t have that.
And I don’t want to feel sad scrolling through my phone, seeing:
my friends taking their kids to Legoland.
my friends are happy spending time with their spouse
my friends posting updates about picking up their kids’ report cards,
or my ex-colleague sharing photos on whatsapp status of her newborn baby.
So, I deleted my ex-colleague’s number not because I hate her. It’s because I don’t want to think about what I don’t have.
It’s the devil’s job to make you focus on what you don’t have, so you forget what’s right in front of you.
Look, I’m happy for them. And I pray they will always be happy.
As for me, let’s just say I keep myself busy with a lot of things, to fill the emptiness. Because if I don’t, that emptiness will just get filled with scrolling and Netflix.
I’ve always wanted to buy an Xbox btw.
But recently, I stumbled on a few random YouTube videos—and they all gave the same advice: Say NO to games. Say NO to Netflix. It felt like the universe itself was telling me to focus.
So, let me remind you again.
Just work on A and B. Don’t copy me by trying to find C,D,E— because you should spend your time with your spouse, and your kids. You making them happy, your life will be easier.
Now, please excuse me. I’ve got a world to save.
Because I’m spiderman…
