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SPEAKER: How come
some people achieve
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so much and some so little?
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Being a highly
successful man himself,
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Kevin Kruse set out to
interview seven billionaires, 13
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Olympic athletes, 29 straight A
students, and 239 entrepreneurs
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about their productivity habits.
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15 Secrets Successful People
Know About Time Management
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is the result of those habits.
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Today, I'll share a
summary of the book
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and give you the top takeaways.
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Let's start by a story from
Kruse himself and secret number
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one.
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Time is your most valuable
and scarcest resource.
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Being plagued by
constant interruptions
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when working as a
CEO, Kruse decided
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to put a sign on his
door that read, 1440.
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Why?
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As he saw it, there were
1,440 minutes in a day.
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Each minute would either
take him towards success
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or towards failure.
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How he spent those
minutes were crucial,
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and how his employees spent
those minutes was also crucial.
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Time was and his employees'
most precious resource.
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Therefore, he wanted to alert
anyone knocking on his door.
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That time was a finite
and scarce resource,
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and once spent, one that
could not be returned.
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You only have one shot at
every minute you get in life.
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Use it well.
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So how do you spend
your minutes well?
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Secret number two.
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Identify your most important
task and do it first.
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You need to figure out
MITs, most important tasks.
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Then you start your day
by doing them first.
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That way, you're less
likely to be disrupted
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by events during the day.
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When you have long term
goals, to reach them,
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you need to figure out what your
most important tasks are right
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now and then complete them.
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Keep your eye on
the long term goals
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as they will drive you forward
and should be crystal clear,
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but focus on the MITs.
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You also need to
structure your day.
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This is secret number three.
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Work from your calendar,
not a to-do list.
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A to do list will enable you
to see what needs to get done
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but has no order of priority.
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If just having a to-do list
while completing one task,
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you'll realize you
need to do another,
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and it will lead to
a forever growing
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to do list that isn't
completed successfully as it
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keeps shifting and changing.
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Also, on to do lists,
complicated and undesirable
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tasks tend to end
up left undone,
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and having a lagging
to-do list creates stress.
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It's only when you put what
needs to be done in a calendar
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and strictly set time aside for
each task that it gets done.
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Schedule your MITs
in your calendar
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and see them as
important appointments.
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Never cancel on yourself
unless absolutely necessary.
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If you do, immediately
reschedule.
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Tend to always be
dragging your heels.
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That leads us on to
secret number four.
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To avoid procrastination,
trick yourself.
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Do you love to procrastinate
but hate the results it brings?
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To beat yourself at this game,
turn what you aim to do later
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into something you do now.
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Put it in your calendar or MITs.
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Remember, you cannot cancel on
yourself once you've scheduled
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an appointment with an MIT.
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To keep your motivation high and
to remain accountable, imagine
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the end results and share
your task or goal with someone
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else who does it with you
or keeps you accountable,
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such as joining a
gym with someone,
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or having someone check
in with you every day
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to see what your MITs are and
if the MIT'S from yesterday
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have been completed.
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You can also give yourself a
treat when completing a task,
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be that a walk around the park
or a phone call to a friend.
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Likewise, if you complete
all the MITs for the day,
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you can treat yourself to
an evening of something fun.
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If you don't complete a task,
have a punishment in place,
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such as donating money.
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You really don't like
donating right now
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or doing the washing for a week.
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Also, fake it till you make it.
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Imagine yourself a highly
effective and successful person
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with limited minutes every day.
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Treat yourself as if you
were Richard Branson or Oprah
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Winfrey.
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Lastly, embrace the fact
that you aren't perfect.
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Don't get upset if you
don't get everything right.
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Settle for good
and aim to improve.
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If you like the sound
of this book so far,
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you can get it for free
with a trial of Audible
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using the link in
the description.
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I highly, highly recommend
audible and personally
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use it all the time.
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Also, if you use the
link in the description,
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it helps to support
this channel.
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Secret number five
is there will always
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be more, so set time
to leave the office
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or leave when you get tired.
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Andy Grove, author of
High Output Management,
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has a rule that
when he gets tired,
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his job is done for
the day because if he
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keeps looking at what is left
to do, he'll never stop working.
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Focus on completing
your MITs every day.
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Once that's done,
the job is done.
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Hustle smart, not always.
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But what if great ideas come
to you after work hours?
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That's secret number six.
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Always carry a notebook
and write your ideas down.
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Studies show that the brain uses
interconnected functions when
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processing written information.
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Basically, it leads to more
accurate and clearer recall
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of information than when typing.
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So when you get
your next great idea
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or need to remember
something, write it down.
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If it's an idea worth keeping,
set time aside later to type
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it into your laptop,
so you don't lose it.
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Speaking of typing away, you
need to deal with your inbox.
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Secret number seven is apply
the 3-2-1-0 rule when checking
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your inbox.
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Emails become a
huge time waster,
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which is ironic because they
should be saving us time.
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We no longer have to write
letters that we post,
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nor do we have to waste time
on long phone conversations.
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We can be precise and
to the point in emails.
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Yet, McKinsey Global
Institute found
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that office workers, on
average, spend one third
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of the day exchanging emails.
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To ensure this doesn't
become the case,
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unless you are a customer
service representative
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or similar, Kruse suggest
to apply the 3-2-1-0 rule.
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Spend 21 minutes three times
a day to check your inbox
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and reply to emails.
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When you read an email, decide
immediately to take action
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or delegate it.
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Don't save it till later
unless you absolutely have to.
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And you only have 21 minutes
to deal with your inbox,
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so keep your replies
to the point.
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Also, remember to turn
off email notifications,
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so that you don't get
distracted during the day
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by incoming emails.
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Meetings are another
big time waster.
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Secret number eight is
to avoid wasting time.
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Only schedule meetings
as a last resort.
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As a last resort means if all
other ways of communication
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fail, emails, phone
calls, et cetera.
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If you need to
schedule a meeting,
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keep it as short as
possible, such as a huddle
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where everyone stands up.
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Research shows that
sit-down meetings
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last an average of 40% longer
with no significant difference
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in the quality of
decisions made.
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Also, have a neatly
planned agenda
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and set a time limit,
such as keeping it
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to 15 minutes maximum.
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Of course, make sure everyone
turns off their cell phone
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to maximize productivity.
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Just as you need to
say no to meetings,
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secret number nine is say no
to everything that doesn't
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support your top priorities.
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Warren Buffett said
that successful people
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say no to nearly everything.
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Why?
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Because they have to decide what
takes them towards their goals
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and what doesn't.
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They will say no to
everything that doesn't
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support their immediate goals.
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Think of it as an
opportunity cost.
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When you choose to do one thing,
you lose out on everything else.
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So choose things that
support your immediate goals.
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Of course, you will
have immediate goals
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in your private life as well.
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That's outside of work
hours, but you can also
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still apply the same principle.
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Another principle is
the Pareto principle,
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and secret number
10 is to follow it.
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The Pareto principle states
that 20% of your tasks
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bring 80% of your results.
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So focus on the 20%
that brings you results.
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The other 80% you can
down-prioritize or outsource.
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Likewise, you are more
passionate about certain things
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than others.
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And secret number 11 is to
focus on the things that
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utilize your unique
strengths and passions.
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If you do things
you love, you tend
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to do them better and faster.
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A Harvard research
team did some research
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and asked employees to ask
themselves three questions when
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approaching a task.
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One, can the task
be dropped entirely?
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Is it really necessary?
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If not, drop it.
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Two, can the task be delegated?
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Three, can you create
a better solution?
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They found that a lot of
time was saved this way
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because people delegated
what they didn't want to do
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or weren't the best
at doing to others
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and came up with better
processes for things
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they had to do or were
uniquely suited to doing
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and passionate about.
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Consider, for example, if
you spend 10 hours a week
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cleaning the house.
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If you set your
own hours working,
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this time could be spent
earning $50 per hour instead.
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If you hire a cleaner
for $25 per hour,
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you're saving $25 per hour.
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The cleaner might even be able
to clean your house in less time
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than you would because they're a
professional cleaner, saving you
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even more money.
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Of course, if you
enjoy cleaning and it's
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a way you destress, then by all
means, don't hire a cleaner.
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Mark Cuban, for example,
enjoys doing the laundry.
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But if it isn't your passion,
do your best to delegate.
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That way, more things that are
important to you will get done.
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Another way to save time
is secret number 12.
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Batch your work with
reoccurring themes
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for different days
of the week or month.
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We all become more productive
when we aren't constantly
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changing gear.
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For example, every Monday might
be spent dealing with admin,
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and every Wednesday spent
on product development,
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while Fridays are for meetings.
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Dustin Moskowitz, the
co-founder of Facebook,
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has a No Meetings
Wednesday theme.
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For the average Joe, that
might not sound spectacular.
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But when you work at
that level, having
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one day of uninterrupted
focus in your office
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can make a world of difference.
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And if you get to that level,
you need every minute you get.
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The next secret,
secret number 13,
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is if you can do it in less
than 5 minutes, do it now.
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As mentioned previously, when
you look through your inbox,
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immediately deal with
replying to an email you open.
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Should the email
have a lengthy task
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attached to deal with to be able
to respond, immediately schedule
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it to your calendar.
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The same applies for any
other task you carry out.
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If you can do it now, do so.
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If not, immediately schedule
it in your calendar.
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Also, set time aside
for routine tasks,
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such as cleaning your
desk, paying bills.
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If you let them pile up, this
will create physical and mental
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clutter.
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What would take 5 minutes
a day or 20 minutes a week
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ends up taking a
whole lot more time.
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You also need to set
time aside for yourself.
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That's secret number 14.
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Schedule time for your
mind, body, and spirit.
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Setting a morning routine
where you revive mentally
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and physically, eating
a healthy breakfast,
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meditating and exercising
energizes you for the day
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ahead and allows you
to keep a clear mind.
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Lastly, and very importantly,
secret number 15.
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Productivity is about
energy and focus, not time.
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Ever note as you get more done
in a specific state of mind.
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To get more stuff done,
it isn't about time
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but about energy and focus.
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You're the most
energized in the morning.
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That's why you schedule
your MITs then.
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In general, the brain works
best focusing in 90-minute time
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slots.
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After 90 minutes, you need a
break to revive and revitalize.
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Having a snack,
going for a walk,
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doing a 15-minute exercise
routine, or prepping dinner,
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whatever takes your fancy,
can all work to revitalize you
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for your next 90 minute
session of focused work.
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Don't forget to
check out Audible
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using the link in
the description
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to get this book for free.
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I personally think audiobooks
are the best investment
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you can make because just
one book can completely
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change your life.
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Check out the new Always
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