Get rewarded for working less. Productivity boosters and advice from The 40-Hour Workweek
Since watching that fantastic interview with Tim Ferriss on ChaseJarvisLive.com, one of my New Year resolutions was to read Ferriss‘s best-selling book ” The 4-Hour Workweek. I’m not planning to become an internet sales mogul. But, I am attracted to the idea of being more efficient with the time I spend on work related projects.
In this post I’m going to talk about productivity.
We’ll share new ways for setting priorities and designing a lifestyle (a new work-style), so that you can spend more time doing what you love to do.
Personally, I define productivity by “quality output per time spent”. I’m in search of my best case scenario: work well, work less, achieve more free time. Everyone has their own definition of productivity, I also like Steve Pavlina’s approach. He writes:
“Adopt your own definition of productivity, such that your pursuit of greater productivity becomes a personal quest that produces the value that matters most to you.”
I’m excited about sharing with you what I’ve learned from reading ” The 4-Hour Workweek”. I’ve deployed several of Tim’s recommendations and I’m seeing the results in my productivity already!
Inspired by “The 4-Hour Workweek” here’s my list of productivity boosters:
• Choose one thing from your list and ask yourself, “If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied?”. This has really helped me prioritize.
• Identify and eliminate interaction with the people and commitments that make you feel starved for time. This sounds a bit ruthless, but sometimes we need to re-evaluate our relationships (business and personal) to make sure they are truly beneficial. Business groups, volunteering and coaching can easily consume a week or a weekend, leaving no time for family and friends. It’s a delicate balance that we need to strive for.
• Remove distractions and frequent interruptions by focussing on getting your most important work done before noon each day. I get my exercise in before 8am, I check my email for 5 min in the morning (for emergencies) and I don’t answer the phone. It feels great to have 80% of my day done before noon.
• Stop multi-tasking. I’ve found that by choosing to do items separately, I am more focused and in turn I get the job done faster.
• Go on a “low-information diet”. I have unsubscribed from daily email broadcasts and limited reading the news to once, every two days.
• Batch tasks into blocks of time. Save on the interruptions and avoid becoming distracted. For example: Choose to check email twice per day, instead of every 5 minutes. If there’s an emergency, most people know to call you by phone. I’ve also made a habit of reading emails from friends and family only in the evenings. This allows me to give them my full attention and reply to them with more detail—instead of a few rushed words.
In this fast-paced world, we need to re-evaluate how much time we devote to “being busy with work”. Productivity isn’t about how many hours we “log-in each day”, it’s about producing quality work, in as little time as possible.
I hope you’ll give some of these productivity ideas a try. You’ll be rewarded with more time for family, friends and your art.
My pursuit for improved productivity has helped me generate more free time to spend with my family. That’s us (Al, myself and our families) in this posts photo.
What are you in pursuit of? What are you doing to be more productive and work less?
Related Fidelis Posts
Fresh Perspective for Creatives with Pro Photographer, Chase Jarvis and Tim Ferriss
Goal Setting for Artists: Make this your year to do something big!
How to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the Internet, so you can get back to creating art.
