Asher's Blog

Lately, I’ve been observing a subtle pattern in my own work rhythm, and it has been both revealing and slightly uncomfortable to admit. I’ve found myself leaving small, easy tasks undone simply because they felt too easy to deserve immediate attention. I would glance at them and think, “That will only take five minutes. I can do that later.” And instead of clearing them, I would move straight into the heavier, more complex tasks that demanded deep thinking and extended focus.

There is something emotionally satisfying about wrestling with difficult problems. They stretch you. They make you feel productive. They give you that internal sense of accomplishment that says, “I did something serious today.” You close your laptop at the end of the day feeling like you fought a good fight.

But while I was busy conquering the big, complicated work, the smaller tasks were quietly accumulating in. A document waiting for a signature; an approval that would take three minutes; a short email response; a quick clarification message. None of them felt urgent in isolation, but together they began to form a long, intimidating list. And that’s when the weight shows up.

What I’ve realized is that small unfinished tasks don’t just sit on your to-do list, they sit in your mind. They create open loops in your thinking. They occupy invisible mental bandwidth. Even when you’re focused on something else, part of your brain knows they are still there, waiting. Over time, that mental clutter slows you down, and it reduces clarity. It makes you feel overwhelmed, not because the work is hard, but because it is unresolved. The irony is almost painful: the easiest tasks can quietly become the biggest enemy of speed.

In leadership and business, we often associate speed with intelligence, bold moves, or big strategic decisions. But in reality, speed is often about friction removal. The companies that move fast are not necessarily the ones with the most innovative ideas; they are the ones that clear small obstacles quickly. A delayed approval can stall a team. An unanswered message can pause momentum and a postponed decision can create unnecessary bottlenecks.

Little hinges truly do swing big doors. Sometimes that tiny task you’re postponing is directly connected to revenue, alignment, or team morale. And when you leave too many of those hinges unattended, the door simply stops moving.

I’ve learned that if I don’t deliberately schedule time to clear small tasks, they will accumulate and slow everything else down. But the moment I organize them and work through them intentionally, I feel lighter and more in control. The relief isn’t dramatic, but it’s powerful. My thinking becomes clearer. My momentum returns.

Speed, I’ve come to realize, is not just about how hard you work or how ambitious your goals are. It is about how disciplined you are in removing friction, especially the small, unglamorous friction that nobody celebrates.

Easy tasks may not look threatening, but when ignored, they quietly stack up and become barriers.

If you want to move fast, sometimes the most strategic thing you can do is to stop chasing only the big battles and start clearing the small ones consistently.