For some reason I’ve become obsessed with productivity lately.
That same quote “work expands to fill the time alloted to it” keeps ringing in my ears, and I just want to get more and more done in less an less time.
Here’s one of my MEGA productivity tips. Something that will let you either work half as long as you normally do or DOUBLE your productivity each day.
It’s really easy too…
1. You start off by writing a list of the tasks you want to complete in the coming week – as many as you can think of. If you can’t think a week ahead, try 6 days or even 4 days.
2. Once you’ve completed the list, (and assuming you’ve chosen a week) take a glance over it and ask yourself the question:
“What would I have to do, to finish these tasks in 3 days?”
The first thing that’ll happen is likely PANIC!
Your brain will freak out and you’ll start thinking “Noooooo I could never finish it in three days!” “That’s far too much work” “That’s just stupid!”
But if you ask it a few times more and keep your mind open, your mind will start to produce some ideas…
“Hmm, maybe I could outsource that…”
“Hmm, I guess that would only take an hour…”
“Hmm, maybe I don’t even need to do that”
You’ll be pleasantly surprised by what your brain comes up with when you pose it a challenge without telling it that its NOT possible.
3. The last step is to carry out the plan that your brain creates when asked that crazy question! DO IT! Do that stuff in 3 days because you know you can! Sleep an hour less each day, eat your dinner faster, whatever it takes!
If that’s not working for you, and you feel a bit crazy, you could try this variation…
Do you remember that movie called “Swordfish” with Hugh Jackman?
Remember the scene where the evil John Travolta challenges him to hack that security system in 1 minute or the gun pointed to the back of his head would splatter his brains all over the computer screen?
If so, you’ll know where this is going… If not:
4. Ask yourself the question…
“If I had a gun held to my head, how fast could I finish this?”
Suddenly you’re mind accesses resources it never has before…
“Umm.. Sh*&, I guess I could finish that in half an hour…”
“My neighbors daughter could write that article for me…”
“Maybe if I didn’t watch CSI Miami tonight…”
It’s a nasty and scary image and I certainly don’t advise you do this too often because I won’t be taking your collect calls from the insane asylum, but…
For an interesting look into what might be possible for you, it’s certainly worth a shot.
To paraphrase from someone great… “what human beings COULD do is mind blowing… what we WILL do, is another story”
Enjoy!
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I think I’ll try option 2 because honestly, sometimes I think it WILL take putting a gun to my head to get anything done!
What drives me crazy is not procrastination, but it’s sometimes the unknown when testing. Will it work or will it flop? The sooner the winner comes up, the sooner my productivity increases even more because of the results showing up without a doubt
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Sometimes it’s a road block as simple as…”Where To Start In All Of This Jungle”.
Outsourcing can be good, but can take long time to set up the way you want it to work and deliver.
Therefore, when starting, doing stuff on your own teaches you what to do and how to do this or that…and getting re$ult$.
It becomes MUCH easier to corral outsources then, with valuable knowledge and more play money to invest to grow your biz.
It is quite remarkable what you can do under pressure. When my father passed away I was asked to create a memorial website for him. I had approximately 24 hours to do so before the notice hit the paper.
I’m sure my father would be proud.
You have to see the end before you can start.
hei…
this is such an interesting test to do..
i think i’ll do this starting this week and see how much i can achieve next week.
i think sometimes its the other distractions, like change in emotions, disruption from family members, etc that kinda impedes a person’s goals/plans
-ts-