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- Eric Barker<\/a>, Barking Up The Wrong Tree<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
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- Jun.\u00a0 4, 2014,\u00a0 5:44 AM<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Recent Posts<\/p>\n
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- 7 Ancient Ideas That Will Improve Your Modern Life<\/a><\/li>\n
- The Productivity Secret That Astronauts, Samurai, And Navy SEALs…<\/a><\/li>\n
- The #1 Secret Astronauts, Samurai, Navy SEALs, and Psychopaths Can…<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Ever feel like you\u2019re just not getting enough done?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Know how many days a week you\u2019re actually productive?<\/strong><\/p>\n
About three<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n
People work an average of 45 hours a week; they consider about 17 of those hours to be unproductive (U.S.: 45 hours a week; 16 hours are considered unproductive).<\/p>\n
We could all be accomplishing a lot more \u2014 but then again, none of us wants to be a workaholic, either.<\/p>\n
It\u2019d be great\u00a0to get tons done and<\/em> have work-life balance<\/a>. But how do we do that? I decided to get some answers.<\/strong><\/p>\n
And who better to ask than Tim Ferriss, author of the\u00a0international bestseller\u00a0The 4-Hour Workweek<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n
(Tim\u2019s blog is here<\/a> and his podcast is here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
Below\u00a0are six tips Tim offered, the science behind why they work, and insights from the\u00a0most\u00a0productive people around.<\/strong><\/p>\n
1. Manage Your Mood<\/h2>\n
Most productivity systems act like we\u2019re\u00a0robots\u00a0\u2013 they forget the enormous power of feelings<\/em>.<\/p>\n
If you start the day calm<\/a> it\u2019s easy to get the right things done and focus<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
But when we wake up and the fray is already upon us \u2014 phone ringing, emails coming in, fire alarms going off \u2014 you spend the whole day\u00a0reacting<\/em>.<\/p>\n
This means you\u2019re not in the driver\u2019s seat working on your priorities; you\u2019re responding to what gets thrown at you, important or not.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s Tim:<\/p>\n
I try to have the first 80 to 90 minutes of my day vary as little as possible. I think that a routine is necessary to feel in control and nonreactive, which reduces anxiety. It therefore makes you more productive.<\/p>\n
Research shows how you start the day has an enormous effect on productivity<\/a>,\u00a0and you procrastinate more when you\u2019re in a bad mood<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Studies demonstrate\u00a0happiness\u00a0increases productivity<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0makes you more successful<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
As Shawn Achor<\/a> describes in his book\u00a0The Happiness Advantage<\/a>:<\/p>\n
Doctors put in a positive mood before making a diagnosis show almost three times more intelligence and creativity than doctors in a neutral state, and they make accurate diagnoses 19% faster. Optimistic salespeople outsell their pessimistic counterparts by 56%. Students primed to feel happy before taking math achievement tests far outperform their neutral peers. It turns out that our brains are literally hardwired to perform at their best not when they are negative or even neutral, but when they are positive.<\/p>\n
So think a little less about managing the work and a little more about managing your moods.<\/p>\n
(For more on how to be happier, go here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s the first step to managing your mood\u00a0after you wake up?<\/p>\n
2. Don\u2019t Check Email In The Morning<\/strong><\/h2>\n
To some people this is utter heresy. Many can\u2019t imagine not waking up and immediately checking\u00a0email or social-media feeds.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve interviewed a number<\/a> of very productive<\/a> people and\u00a0nobody said, \u201cSpend more time with email.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n
Why is checking email in the morning a cardinal sin<\/a>?\u00a0You\u2019re setting yourself up to react<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
An email comes in and suddenly you\u2019re giving your best hours to someone else\u2019s goals, not yours.<\/strong><\/p>\n
You\u2019re not planning your day and prioritizing; you\u2019re letting your objectives\u00a0be hijacked\u00a0by whoever randomly decides to enter your inbox.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s Tim:<\/p>\n
Whenever possible, do not check email for the first hour or two of the day. It\u2019s difficult for some people to imagine.\u00a0\u201cHow can I do that? I need to check email to get the information I need to work on my most important one or two to-dos?\u201d<\/p>\n
You would be surprised how often that is not the case. You might need to get into your email to finish 100% of your most important to-dos. But can you get 90% done before you go into Gmail and have your rat brain explode with freak-out, dopamine excitement and cortisol panic? Yes.<\/p>\n
Research shows email:<\/p>\n
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- Stresses you\u00a0out<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Can turn you into a jerk<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Can be\u00a0more addictive than alcohol and tobacco<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- And checking email frequently\u00a0is the equivalent of dropping your IQ 10 points<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Is this really how you\u00a0want to start your day?<\/p>\n
(For more on how to avoid the email trap and spend time wisely go here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
Great, so you know what not<\/em> to do. But a bigger question looms: What should you be doing?<\/em><\/p>\n
3. Before You Try To Do It Faster, Ask Whether It Should Be Done At All<\/h2>\n
Everyone asks, \u201cWhy is it so impossible to get everything done?\u201d But the answer is stunningly easy:<\/strong><\/p>\n
You\u2019re doing too many things.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Want to be more productive? Don\u2019t ask how to make something more efficient until after you\u2019ve asked \u201cDo I need to do this at all?<\/a>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n
Here\u2019s Tim:<\/p>\n
Doing something well does not make it important. I think this is one of the most common problems with a lot of time-management<\/span><\/a> or productivity advice; they focus on how to do things quickly.\u00a0The vast majority of things that people do quickly should not be done at all.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s funny that we complain we have so little time and then we prioritize like time is endless.\u00a0Instead, do what is important \u2026 and not much else.<\/strong><\/p>\n
But is this true in the real world?<\/p>\n
Research shows CEOs\u00a0don\u2019t get more done by blindly\u00a0working more hours, they get more done when they follow careful plans<\/a>:<\/p>\n
Preliminary analysis<\/span><\/a> from CEOs in India found that a firm\u2019s sales increased as the CEO worked more hours. But more intriguingly, the correlation between CEO time use and output was driven entirely by hours spent in planned activities.\u00a0Planning doesn\u2019t have to mean that the hours are spent in meetings, though meetings with employees<\/span><\/a> were correlated with higher sales; it\u2019s just that\u00a0CEO time is a limited and valuable resource, and planning how it should be allocated increases the chances that it\u2019s spent in productive ways.<\/p>\n
(For more ways to save time go here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
OK, you\u2019ve cleared the decks. Your head is serene, you\u2019ve gotten the email monkey off your back and you know what you need to do.<\/p>\n
Now we have to face one of the biggest problems of the modern era: How do you sit still and focus?<\/p>\n
4. Focus Is Nothing More Than Eliminating Distractions<\/h2>\n
Ed Hallowell, former professor at Harvard Medical School and bestselling author of\u00a0Driven to Distraction,<\/a>\u00a0says we have \u201cculturally generated ADD.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n
Has modern life\u00a0permanently damaged our attention spans?<\/p>\n
No. What you do have is more tantalizing, easily accessible, shiny things available to you 24\/7 than any human being has ever had.<\/p>\n
The answer is to lock yourself somewhere to make all the flashing, buzzing distractions\u00a0go away.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Here\u2019s Tim:<\/p>\n
Focus is a function, first and foremost, of limiting the number of options you give yourself for procrastinating<\/a>\u2026\u00a0I think that focus is thought of as this magical ability. It\u2019s not a magical ability. It\u2019s put yourself in a padded room, with the problem that you need to work on, and shut the door. That\u2019s it. The degree to which you can replicate that, and systematize it, is the extent to which you will have focus.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the best way to sum up the research? How about this:\u00a0Distractions make you stupid<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
And a flood of studies shows that the easiest and most powerful way to change your behavior is to change your environment.<\/a><\/p>\n
Top CEOs are interrupted every 20 minutes. How do they get anything done?<\/strong><\/p>\n
By working from home in the morning for 90 minutes where no one can bother them<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n
They found that not one of the twelve executives was ever able to work uninterruptedly more than twenty minutes at a time\u2014at least not in the office. Only at home was there some chance of concentration. And the only one of the twelve who did not make important, long-range decisions \u201coff the cuff,\u201d and sandwiched in between unimportant but long telephone calls and \u201ccrisis\u201d problems, was the executive who worked at home every morning for an hour and a half before coming to the office.<\/p>\n
(For more on how to stop procrastinating go here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
I know what some of you are thinking: I have other responsibilities. Meetings. My boss needs me. My spouse calls. I can\u2019t just hide.<\/em><\/p>\n
This is why you need a system.<\/p>\n
5. Have A Personal System<\/strong><\/h2>\n
I\u2019ve spoken to a lot of insanely productive people. You know what none of them said?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how I get stuff done. I just wing it and hope for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not one. Your routines can be formal and scientific or personal and idiosyncratic \u2014 but either way, productive people have a routine.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Here\u2019s Tim:<\/p>\n
Defining routines and systems is more effective than relying on self-discipline. I think self-discipline is overrated.<\/p>\n
Allowing yourself the option to do what you have not decided to do is disempowering and asking for failure. I encourage people to develop routines so that their decision-making is only applied to the most creative aspects of their work, or wherever their unique talent happens to lie.<\/p>\n
Great systems work because they make things automatic<\/a>, and don\u2019t tax your very limited supply of willpower<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
What do we see when we systematically study\u00a0the great geniuses of all time? Almost all\u00a0had personal routines that worked for them<\/a>.<\/p>\n
(\u201cGive and Take<\/a>\u201d author Adam Grant<\/a> consistently writes in the mornings while Tim always writes at night.)<\/p>\n
How do you start to develop your own personal\u00a0system? Apply some\u00a080-20<\/a>\u00a0thinking:<\/p>\n
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- What handful of activities are responsible for the disproportionate number of your successes?<\/strong><\/li>\n
- What handful of activities absolutely crater your productivity?<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Rearrange your schedule to do more of No. 1 and to eliminate No. 2 as much as possible.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
(For more on the routines geniuses use to be productive click here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
So you\u2019re all set to wake up tomorrow with a system and not be reactive. How do you make sure you follow through on this tomorrow? It\u2019s simple.<\/p>\n
6. Define Your Goals The Night Before<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Wake up knowing what is important before the day\u2019s pseudo-emergencies come barging into your life and your inbox screams new commands.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s Tim:<\/p>\n
Define your one or two most important to-dos before dinner, the day before.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Best-selling author Dan Pink<\/a> gives\u00a0similar advice<\/a>:<\/p>\n
Establish a closing ritual.\u00a0Know when to stop working. Try to end each workday the same way, too. Straighten up your desk. Back up your computer. Make a list of what you need to do tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Research says you\u2019re more likely to follow through if you\u2019re specific<\/a> and if you\u00a0write your goals down<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Studies\u00a0show this has a secondary benefit: writing down what you need to do tomorrow relieves anxiety and helps you enjoy your evening<\/a>.<\/p>\n
(For more information on setting and achieving goals click here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
So how does this all come together?<\/p>\n
Summing Up<\/h2>\n
Here are Tim\u2019s 6 tips:<\/p>\n
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- Manage Your Mood<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Don\u2019t Check Email in The Morning<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Before You Try To Do It Faster, Ask Whether It Should Be Done At All<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Focus Is Nothing More Than Eliminating Distractions<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Have A Personal System<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Define Your Goals The Night Before<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
The word \u201cproductivity\u201d sounds\u00a0like we\u2019re talking about machines. But the funny thing is that much of being truly good with time\u00a0is about\u00a0feelings<\/em>.<\/p>\n
How should you strive to feel when working? Busy, but not rushed<\/a>. Research shows this is when people are happiest.<\/strong><\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t have written this without the help of Tim Ferriss and Adam Grant<\/span><\/a>. Both volunteered their very valuable time.<\/p>\n
Was that a waste on their part? They definitely won\u2019t get those minutes back.<\/p>\n
Helping others takes time but research shows it makes us feel<\/em> like we have more time<\/a>. And it makes us happier<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Once you are more productive, you\u2019ll have a lot more hours to fill. So why not use them to make others and yourself happier<\/a>?<\/p>\n
(I\u2019ll be sending out more tips from Tim Ferriss in my weekly email so make sure to sign up<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
Join more than 45,000 readers.<\/strong>\u00a0Get a free weekly update via email\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Related posts:<\/p>\n
How To Achieve Work-Life Balance In 5 Steps<\/a><\/p>\n
Too Busy? 7 Ways To Increase Leisure Time, According To Science<\/a><\/p>\n
8 Things The World\u2019s Most Successful People All Have In Common<\/a><\/p>\n
The post 6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every Day<\/a> appeared first on Barking Up The Wrong Tree<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Read more posts on Barking Up The Wrong Tree \u00bb<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\nMore from Barking Up The Wrong Tree:<\/h3>\n
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- 6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every Day<\/a><\/li>\n
- The #1 Secret Astronauts, Samurai, Navy SEALs, and Psychopaths Can Teach You About Good Decision Making<\/a><\/li>\n
- Old School: 7 Ideas From Ancient Thinkers To Improve Your Modern Life<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
This article originally appeared at Barking Up The Wrong Tree<\/a>.\u00a0 Copyright 2014. Follow Barking Up The Wrong Tree on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
- The #1 Secret Astronauts, Samurai, Navy SEALs, and Psychopaths Can Teach You About Good Decision Making<\/a><\/li>\n
- Don\u2019t Check Email in The Morning<\/strong><\/li>\n
- What handful of activities absolutely crater your productivity?<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Can turn you into a jerk<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- The Productivity Secret That Astronauts, Samurai, And Navy SEALs…<\/a><\/li>\n
- 7 Ancient Ideas That Will Improve Your Modern Life<\/a><\/li>\n
- Jun.\u00a0 4, 2014,\u00a0 5:44 AM<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n