By Theo Saville, CloudNC co-founder and CEO
For years I could spend twelve hours a day at a computer and, if I’m honest, move nothing that mattered. I fell into two opposing traps:
- Busywork dopamine: endlessly processing emails and Slack because it feels productive.
- Nihilism: asking “Is this the most important thing?” so often that everything feels pointless and I do nothing.
Fundraising made that second trap worse. During a raise, only fundraising matters. After the round, my brain kept that rule and quietly applied it to everything. Writing an email? “Pointless.” Reviewing a plan? “Pointless.” It took time to recognise the pattern and rewrite the mental software.
The solution I’ve landed on is simple but strict:
- For small and medium tasks: prioritise flow over prioritisation.
- For big, needle-moving work: do one thing at a time, to completion.
Below is how that actually works, day to day.
Part 1: For the small stuff, choose flow
Most prioritisation frameworks crumble under real-world interrupt load. Lists get long, energy dips, and “What should I do next?” becomes a decision tax.
I do this instead:
1) Gate every small task with a brutal yes/no
I don’t rank it. I don’t ponder ROI. I ask one binary question: Is this worth any of my time in the next three days?
- Yes? Do it immediately, quickly, and move on.
- No? Delete/ignore/archive without apology.
Being “a bit rude” occasionally is cheaper than burning hours writing “sorry for the delay” emails that don’t move the company.
2) Build a one-thing-at-a-time interface
Flow dies when I’m shown a wall of options. I use an email client that shows the next item, not a list, and gives me a hotkey to advance. I’ll often dictate a fast reply and ship it. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s uninterrupted throughput.
In many cases, flow is faster than prioritisation. Think “tidy a messy house” rules: pick up the closest thing, put it where it belongs, repeat. No sorting ceremony.
3) Lower the bar to start
I keep the “worth my time?” bar deliberately low. The cost of deciding is frequently higher than a two-minute reply. Once I’ve said “yes,” I commit and finish it in one go.
4) Kill the “am I doing the most important thing?” pop-up
That mental dialog is the enemy of flow. When it appears, I remind myself: I’ve already passed the yes/no gate - just finish.
Part 2: For the big stuff, do one thing only
Small tasks benefit from flow. Big tasks demand monomania.
Every month I pick one outcome that must happen. Examples I’ve run in the past:
- Close a fundraise.
- Nail US market entry strategy.
- Double down on PR/social media.
- Hire a (great) chair for our board.
Then I do three things:
1) Block it as an all-day, every-day calendar banner
I literally put the outcome - “Hire the chair” - as an all-day event across the entire month. It’s a constant, visual reminder of where my discretionary time goes.
2) Work in serial, not parallel
When I block out a full week to complete one important thing, it gets done. Do that four times and you’ve done four important things in a month. When I multi-thread, those same things drag on for months.
3) Opt out of “performative CEO” work
There are seasons where it’s irrational for me to sit in ten meetings just to be seen. My leverage is to deliver the one thing that moves the company. Operations matter - but if I’m in ops, it’s only to design the system and hand it off, not to become the system.
(Side note: many founders - me included - have some flavour of ADHD. Focus isn’t a gift; it’s manufactured. Serial execution is how you manufacture it.)
Tactics you can steal
- Do/Delete Triage: If it won’t matter in three days, archive it. If it might, action it now. No “maybe later” pile.
- Single-Item UI: Use tools that surface one next action with a “next” hotkey. Hide lists.
- Fast Replies > Perfect Replies: Dictate, be concise, and ship. Perfection is a flow break.
- Monthly “One Thing” Banner: Name it. Put it across every day in your calendar until it’s done.
- Serial Weeks: Protect one full week at a time for deep work on the big thing. Treat everything else as maintenance.
- Communicate Your Season: Tell your team, “This month my focus is X. Expect fewer meetings and faster ‘no’s.’”
- Design to Delegate: If you touch operations, your objective is to stop touching it by building a machine and an owner.
Common pushbacks (and responses)
“Isn’t ignoring people unprofessional?”
Occasionally, yes. But it’s more unprofessional to starve the company’s most important work because you’re hand-crafting low-leverage niceties. Ruthless triage, paired with clear expectations, is CEOship.
“What if I choose the wrong ‘one thing’?”
You’ll know within a week. If new information shows it’s wrong, update the banner and move. The cost of a week of focus is far lower than the cost of a quarter of dithering.
“My role demands responsiveness.”
Some roles (PR, support, sales) are responsiveness. This essay is for founders/CEOs whose highest leverage is unlocking step-changes. If your job is the inbox, design flow there too - same rules apply.
The short version
- Small stuff: Enter flow. Do or delete. Don’t rank.
- Big stuff: Pick one thing. Make it unavoidable. Do it to completion.
- Your job as CEO: Find and move the biggest lever, not all the levers.
Try this for one week: set a banner for a single outcome, kill the list view in your inbox, and enforce do/delete triage. If you feel oddly calm and a little rude, you’re doing it right - and you’ll likely ship more that matters than you have in months.
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