Like most people, my life has been spent balancing my yearning for
laziness—tropical islands with fruit-flavored beverages figure heavily
in my life goals—with a burning desire to achieve great things, like
invent a robotic Bumble Bee. The answer has been finding ways to achieve
great things, using as little work as possible. Fortunately, there’s
ample room for finding ways to work less and get more done.
Here are nine simple things I’ve learned over the years about how to
get results without working too hard. Indeed, there are nine steps
because ten steps would be way too much work). If you’re still
working towards your own tropical island paradise, I hope these put you
speedily—and lazily—on your way.
Step 1. Live on purpose. Stop occasionally and ask,
“Why am I doing what I’m doing?” Make sure your tasks align with your
higher-level goals. If you’re emailing a friend, ask “Why?” If you’re
doing it because you want connection, maybe picking up the phone is a
better choice.
Step 2: Stop procrastinating. Easy to say, hard to
do. Get a procrastination buddy. Every couple of weeks, declare an
“Action day.” Check in hourly for just 2-3 minutes. Make sure you’re
each making progress on what you’ve been procrastinating. (I hold free
action days, as well. You can sign up at
http://www.SteverRobbins.com/actiondays).
Step 3: Conquer your technology. If you’re reading
this, you’re probably as addicted to technology as I am. Divorce your
technology! Turn off your PDA, and move your computer away from your
main workspace. Don’t think of your computer as a place to hang out; use
it like a tool, for specific tasks. Get it out when you need it, and
put it away when you’re done.
Step 4: Cultivate focus. Declare a part of your day
(or a whole day) to be a focus time. Turn off email, unplug your phone,
and close your office door. Then defer any non-life-threatening
interruptions to a time after your focus time.
Step 5: Stay organized (mentally as well as physically).
Organized doesn’t mean neat; it just means that you know where things
are when you need them. If you have piles of “this needs a home” stuff
in your office, stop and give it a home, even if that home is a pile somewhere. Just make it official, so when you need it something, you know where it is.
Step 6: Don’t waste time. Re-making decisions is a
hidden way we waste time. For repeated decisions, pre-decide by creating
an “Absolute Yes” list that spells out an automatic “Yes.” For example,
“we’ll restock supplies with any pen that has a gel ink and .07mm tip
will be suitable.” When it’s time to order supplies, you just grab the
first pen that meets the specs.
Step 7: Optimize! Re-examine how you work every now
and then. Ask how you can improve your own work habits. If you notice
your mind is clearer in the morning, schedule your deep-thought
activities before noon. If you notice afternoon is best for you, make that your prime time.
Step 8: Build stronger relationships. Ask for help!
When you’re trying to reach a Huge Honkin’ Goal, ask friends and
colleagues for help. Build the relationship in advance, however, by
being there for them starting today.
Step 9: Leverage. Be on the lookout for ways to get
big results from little work. If you can reuse content, create form
letters that can be quickly customized, or help large numbers of people
by doing work once that can be given to all of them, you’ll be able to
reap oversized results from a single effort.
These nine steps are broad categories. You can implement each one in
many different ways. You owe it to yourself to get the most out of the
work you put in; notice how you do work, and use these principles—and
any others you know!—to rearrange your life so you work less and do
more.
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