I stopped trying to do it all, and grew faster

There’s a point in business where doing more just stops working.

You’re ticking off tasks, filling every hour, answering emails late at night, and yet the results don’t match the effort. You’re constantly busy, but you’re not moving forward in the way you want to.

That’s exactly where I found myself.

And the change that helped me grow wasn’t a fancy system, new productivity hack, or clever app. It was something much simpler and more uncomfortable.

I stopped trying to do it all.
And I started choosing better.

The Hidden Trap of “Doing More”

When you run a small business, you wear a lot of hats. One moment you’re the strategist, the next you’re in operations, admin, sales, support, finance. It’s easy to feel like if you’re not doing everything, something will fall apart.

And so we chase more.
More output.
More effort.
More on the list.

We convince ourselves that if we’re busy, we’re doing well. But in reality, doing more often keeps us stuck in surface-level tasks. We become reactive instead of proactive. We default to urgency instead of direction.

The worst part? It’s easy to look productive while quietly burning out. You’re putting in the hours, but you’re not actually building what you set out to create.

What Changed Everything

The shift for me came when I finally questioned the idea that more equals growth. I realised I wasn’t building a business — I was surviving one.

So I slowed down. I stepped back.
And I started asking better questions.

What’s actually worth my time?
What creates results?
What brings ease instead of noise?
I started choosing better instead of doing more.
That meant saying no to things that weren’t aligned.

It meant removing “nice to have” tasks that didn’t move the business forward.
It meant planning my week around impact, not activity.

I learned that momentum doesn’t come from ticking more boxes. It comes from doing the right things, at the right time, with full attention.

How to Choose Better This Week

Here’s a simple exercise I come back to again and again.

At the start of the week, write down everything on your mind.
Every task, every worry, every open loop.

Then ask yourself this:

What’s the one thing I could do this week that would create the most progress or peace?

Circle it. That’s your anchor.

Block time for it. Prioritise it. Let that one thing lead the rest of your decisions.
This isn’t about abandoning everything else.

It’s about starting from clarity instead of chaos.

When you lead from clarity, your time stretches. Your energy focuses. Your work deepens. And results tend to follow.

You Don’t Have to Prove Your Worth by Doing More

If you’re always pushing to do more, it’s easy to lose the joy in why you started your business in the first place.

You don’t need to prove your value by staying up late and saying yes to everything.
You don’t need to cram your week with more.
You don’t need to run on urgency to make things work.

What you need is focus.
What you need is direction.
What you need is to trust that choosing better creates better outcomes.

This is what real growth looks like.

Not overwhelm. Not pressure. Just steady, meaningful progress from clear, intentional action.

If you’re ready to stop spinning and start moving with purpose, the MY PA system was made to support you. A calm, focused week starts with how you plan it.

Want to Plan Your Week With Clarity?

If you’d like a little help getting started, we’ve created something simple and free to help.

You can download the Free MY PA Weekly Planner, a printable version of our core planning method, designed to help small business owners focus on what matters most.

No fluff. No overwhelm. Just structure, space, and a system that works.
Download your free Planner here