This is the second of four posts I will be writing about achieving greatness. The first post was focused on things I do to improve my performance, and this post will be continuing in the same vein. Those first three tips are things that I try to do on a daily basis as they help give me the energy, mental clarity, and encouragement I need to do everything else. These next three tips are what I do to get more focus on what I have to do and get more time to have fun.
Create “Today” Lists
This is one that I discovered only a month ago, but I’m really glad I did as it has helped me significantly already. The idea came from successful entrepreneur Martin Bjergegaard. The concept is very simple: Instead of making a never-ending “To-do” list, make a short “Today” list. That is, just write down the things that you intend to have accomplished by the end of the day. And if you have something on your list, get it done before you start goofing off. Make sure you write this list down either first thing in the morning or the night before.
The main benefit I’ve seen from making these lists is that I don’t forget to do things as much as I used to. If I do forget that I have to do something, I just check the list and get reminded. The things I put on the list are things I need to do and should do before I start doing leisure activities. My list usually includes reading (as I discussed last week), working out, doing daily chores, and other tasks to get done. I will also put events on there so that I don’t overload myself. For example, yesterday I ran a 5K and did service on my car, which took most of the day up.
Another thing I do with my list, but is not necessary, is that I will put asterisks next to the items that are more important than others. Sometimes things will get in the way of accomplishing a task for a day, so I will usually star it the next day to make sure I prioritize it over other things if time doesn’t allow for everything.
This is not meant to discourage anyone from making long-term goals, this is just a way to focus on what needs to be done day-to-day and not get bogged down by decision paralysis when trying to use a gigantic “to-do” list. I know how it goes, my “to-do” lists would just balloon out of control and I wouldn’t know where to start. Use “today” lists to focus on a few tasks at a time, and eventually those “to-do” lists will sort themselves out.
Prepare / Offload / Automate
I don’t know how true this is for most people out there, but I always feel like I never have enough time to do anything. I also have a lot of trouble making unimportant decisions, so coming to an answer can take much longer than necessary. For example, I have been known to sit in a spot for up to half an hour trying to decide what to eat. If I don’t have something ready to eat or make, I will go around in circles until I have to do the easiest thing, which is usually go out and eat something bad for me.
So for the last few months, I’ve been forcing myself to make a menu every week. And I don’t just mean dinners, I mean every meal. If I don’t plan out my breakfasts and lunches, I end up going out for all of them unless I just happen to have leftovers from the night before. Knowing this, I combat my indecision by planning out the whole week. It’s okay if it doesn’t go 100% according to plan, just having it helps me a lot. I also make most of my breakfasts in advance because I hate making food in the morning.
The point of my food anecdote is that it is important to recognize what your weaknesses are, and find ways to either make it easier to get around them or remove them entirely. I have a lot of trouble deciding what to eat in any given moment, so I prepare a menu ahead of time to remove the need to make a decision. Saves time and lets my brain answer questions that are more important.
Another way to get time back is to offload menial tasks. This isn’t easy for everyone since this will usually require money, but there are other things you can do. For myself, since I live with my girlfriend, we split chores up. We share cooking duties so that one can make dinner while the other relaxes. I do the dishes every night, and in exchange she does the laundry every week. Another thing I don’t like doing is going to stores, so I offload that task by doing most of my shopping online. Let other people get what I need and send it to me.
The last thing that ties in with this is to automate wherever possible. Technology allows us to do a lot of things easily that required a lot of time before. Things like paying bills or shifting money around between accounts. With the exception of rent, I pay for all my bills online, and I always do auto-pay if available. All I need to do is check my accounts once or twice a week to make sure everything is going smoothly.
Using these tips, I generally only spend, on average, one hour per day on chores, leaving plenty of time to do other tasks.
Avoid Distractions / Practice Selective Ignorance
Out of everything on this list of tips so far, I feel like this one will be the hardest for a lot of people. While the Internet is one of the greatest tools we have ever created, it is also creating new generations of people who don’t know how to unhook from it. And I totally get it. When I’m at work and I don’t feel like working on my current task, my first thought is to check Facebook or one of the forums I frequent. For many people, they waste time on news sites, blogs, Reddit, Twitter, etc.
If you want to be truly productive, you have to learn to step away from all of that and focus on the task at hand. My policy at work is to go the entire day without going to any non-work related site. Sometimes I fail at this, but just setting that restriction on myself has increased my focus on work significantly. I’m talking 200% or more output compared to when I would check Facebook every hour or so, just because I wasn’t breaking my concentration. I do my status updating when I get home, and that’s all anyone really needs to keep updated.
One of the things that really resonated with me when I read The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss was his section on elimination. He encourages taking in the things that are necessary to your tasks and ignoring all the rest, and I try to follow it as much as possible. In other words, practicing selective ignorance. This is why I don’t read the news. If something is worth hearing about, I’ll hear about it in person, but otherwise it is just so much garbage to wade through and virtually none of it has any affect on my life. This is also why I don’t spend any time looking at funny pictures or videos. Yes, they are funny and cute, but I have better things to do. I also don’t spend a bunch of time on Wikipedia looking at articles that give me useless knowledge I won’t remember later anyway. Sure, lots of interesting stuff, but if I can’t use it, then I just wasted 10 minutes that I could’ve spent writing something of my own.
Avoiding distractions is similar to losing weight. If you want to stop eating things that are bad for you, don’t put them in your house to begin with. If you want to stop wasting time, don’t go to websites that are specifically designed to do so. I know it’s hard, especially when you have friends who are always asking, “Hey, did you see this adorable picture?” or saying, “Dude, you have to watch this prank video.” Ignore them! Cute cats and skateboarding fails do not make you a better person. Of course, there are things out there that are worth your time if the topic is something you care about, but 99% of the media on the Internet is useless. I don’t have time for that crap and neither do you if you want to improve your performance and have time to get things done.
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Next week, three tips on how I try to increase my happiness. See you then!