Shaan Puri starts each morning by asking a single clarifying question: “What’s the one big outcome that, if I finished it today, would make the whole day a win?” It’s a low-tech filter that forces trade-offs - one priority gets oxygen, everything else waits. Cognitive-science backs the move: when people focus on a lone target, they avoid the “attention residue” that can cut performance by up to 40 percent after each task switch. Start by writing the outcome in ten words or fewer, then block the first 90 minutes for nothing else. Researchers at the University of Illinois found that locking a single goal into an early, uninterrupted work block doubles the odds of completion compared with spreading effort across the day. One finished outcome beats five half-starts - and the momentum compounds tomorrow.