Creating the productivity schedule with Parkinson’s law, Pareto’s principle and Singular focus will help you effectively tackle any problem at hand.
Creating Time
Following the triangle strategy will quadruple your productivity.
The faster you finish your work, the more time there is to spend with your family. If you have a side project that you didn’t quite start yet, now is the time. When it comes to working, if your day job is your biggest passion, then you’ll be able to commit more.
Unfortunately and fortunately, we only have 24h in a day. It doesn’t matter if you’re a billionaire or a student, you won’t get more than 24 hours. Not a second more. Not a second less.
You can’t create more time, but you can use it wisely. Thus, creating more space within your hours.
Define simple goals before your work starts. E.g., send out the memos before lunch; call the R&D director and present the new scheme; Create PPT for our Annual convention before lunch.
Parkinson’s Law
Do you remember the university days? Was there a time when you had weeks to prepare the assignment that could’ve been done in days. And you barely did finish. Nothing spectacular happened. All the extra time didn’t make a difference.
Then there was a time when you had three nights to prepare for the final exam. And guess what, you passed with flying colors. If this sounds familiar, you’ve already experienced the benefit of Parkinson’s Law.
Parkinson’s Law says that the “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.[1]”
This means that we’ll be more productive when we have less time.
“If you wait until the last minute, it only takes a minute to do.”
The night before the assignment, you came to realize there is no time for detours. Your brain focused on essential information. The process of absorbing and filtering only the right stuff came to light. You went straight for the point.
Parkinson’s Law advises that you set the least time possible to finish the task. If you’re writing an article, set out a timer for 30 minutes fo finish research. After you’ve got the right information, set another timer to 45mintues to write the article. Viola, you have a neat post.
Creating a time constraint will push you to find the crucial and most useful information. You’ll convert that info into an article. The end result will be straight-to-the-point stuff others want to read.
If you have employees, apply Moores Law. Give them a task and ask them to report back with their work in 2 to 3 hours. See what happens. There is a high chance they’ll accomplishing more with the set timeframe.
Pareto’s Principle
Pareto’s principle is straightforward.
80% of the outcome comes from 20% of the action. In other words, 80% of the time is wasted on unprofitable tasks.
“The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule, the Law of the vital few, or the principle of factor sparsity)[2][3]states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.[4]”
If you work in sales, you’ll notice that most of the revenue comes from a few clients. Usually, the top 3 or 4 clients make the most purchases. And more times then not, they’re the least of your troubles. They don’t ask too many questions. They genuinely enjoy your product.
On the other hand, the bottom 50 clients nag you with refunds and follow-up questions. These people are time wasters. The more time you spent discussing the product, the less time you’ll have for the important stuff. Cut the bottom. And don’t look back.
When it comes to blogs. After the first 100 published articles, you notice your top performers. Focus on those subjects. Write what others want to read.
Filter what’s important and focus on those topics. It will give you peace of mind, better CTR, and more eyes on your work. And if I haven’t stressed this enough, you’ll get 80% more time, and 80% less trouble for 20% of work.
Singular Focus
Reaching the deep state of flow is essential when it comes to preserving time. Switching from task to task will wreak havoc on your work. Don’t multitask. Never. Grab a post-it note and write a reminder not to multitask. Then paste that note over your desk.
Each time you jump from a task to task, your mind will need time to adjust. There are switching costs. Try to cut on switching costs by not switching between tasks.
“In experiments published in 2001, Joshua Rubinstein, PhD, Jeffrey Evans, PhD, and David Meyer, PhD, conducted four experiments in which young adults switched between different tasks, such as solving math problems or classifying geometric objects. For all tasks, the participants lost time when they had to switch from one task to another. As tasks got more complex, participants lost more time. As a result, people took significantly longer to switch between more complex tasks. Time costs were also greater when the participants switched to tasks that were relatively unfamiliar.[5]”
It’s essential to shut the world out. Don’t let time wasters inside your workflow. Throw the phone away (figuratively). It’s the biggest distraction.
If I checked my phone every ten minutes, It would take me hours to finish a single article.
The French government passed a law recently banning phones in schools due to how distracting they are. [6].
If you’re in the office, ignore the time-wasters. if this means not to instantly respond to your colleague’s inquires, then so be it. They’ll learn to respect your time at work. And they won’t approach you while you’re in a deep state of focus.
If you’re working from home, It’s important to point out that you’re busy and won’t indulge in chit-chats. Tell them to call you only if the house is on fire. And shut the door behind you. Throw away the key. You’re doing this for them as much as for yourself. When you’re carefree, the whole household will be jollier.
If you’re in a public place, put in your earphones or earplugs. Both work great. Music helps to shut the world out. And most people won’t bother you when they see you with headphones. If you can’t focus on music, just wear headphones to make a statement.
The productivity triangle is simple, and it will clear most of your schedule.
- Parkinson’s law — do the same amount of work in less time.
- Pareto’s principle — 20% of work produces 80% of the outcome.
- Singular focus — tackle one task at the time and shut the world out.
If you deal with pressing matters effectively, you’ll create extra time.
Instead of focusing on time-wasters, finish your work before lunch, and start that long-wanted dropshipping niche business.
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