It’s January 2023. I am at the office trying to think through my annual review. I should be a little more “productive” than I am. But for some reason, I still find it challenging to answer these two questions.
- What are you doing today?
- What did you achieve today?
It dawned on me. There is a lack of clarity in my understanding of how I should be working effectively. I decided to remedy that situation.
So, what is the simplest way to do this?
The central tenet of practical work is first to note all outstanding tasks. The second is to find a way to arrange them in an order or priority. The next activity is to execute the tasks. This can be broken as follows:
- Identify all your outstanding tasks.
- Decide on what you are going to do now.
- Execute your to-do list.
- Repeat the process from the top to bottom.
Making a List of Outstanding Tasks
So, I make my list. I get a massive list of outstanding, scheduled, and upcoming tasks.
You want to be as comprehensive as possible. Every little task that is an open loop needs your attention and has to be listed.
Choosing Priority
The next thing is to decide on a priority.
How do I choose what to do?
One of the fundamental laws of productivity is the Pareto principle. The idea is that 20% of effort produces 80% of the results. You want to review all your outstanding tasks and select the one with the most impact. Specific tasks produce higher results when focused on – working effectively.
It follows that you can select certain micro activities, which, when done consistently, can lead to outstanding progress. For instance, Real work, for me, comprises learning (reading or listening to audiobooks) and writing. Without writing new content, my business doesn’t grow.
The production of a new piece of content drives my business. So, if I must choose the task that will drive my business – writing is number 1.
Apart from writing, almost everything else is pseudo-work. For example, checking my website stats, changing website logos, and checking how many likes on X are all pseudo-work.
In other words, choosing to do the quality actions in your to-do list can lead to more progress than doing everything. Being busy doesn’t mean you are effective. Being busy on the wrong tasks is as good as doing nothing.
For example, a practical activity that drives results is understanding and remembering when learning. This is crucial if you are a student. The most powerful way to do that is by asking and answering more questions on the subject. The more questions you answer (past questions, your questions, textbook questions), the better grades you will get.
Another practical activity with huge implications is fixing your energy levels.
Do you seem tired all the time? Or do you experience being lethargic most of the time?
You want to start building your stamina through exercise. A practical way to gain more stamina is running. Running at least 40 minutes 4 times a week in Zone 2 (Heart rate between 136 – 146 beats per minute) is a good starting point.
Executing your actions
How do I execute the actions?
There are three main techniques I use when it comes to executing the action.
- Doing the most important first
- Time blocking
- Working within my prime time
Doing the most important task is a great way to start my day. Brian Tracy calls it Eat That Frog! The truth is that nobody likes to eat a frog, especially as the first thing to do in the day. So, you must make that intentional choice from the priority list. You tackle the most difficult or stressful tasks.
I usually do my writing in the mornings. To concentrate fully, I put my phone on silent, turned it upside down, and write. The worst thing is to get into a flow state and have phone calls coming in. It shuts down my thinking phase, and all my ideas escape.
For me, working in the morning is prime time. Between 8 am and 11 am is golden; I protect it with my life. When I drop my kids off at school. I quickly get to my desk and do most of my creative writing. I usually block Tuesday mornings for writing.
I leave the afternoons mainly for meetings, emails, phone calls, and errands.
I use the above techniques in combination. I usually do my writing (frog task) by blocking my mornings (biological prime time) on Tuesdays between 9 am and 11 am.
Repeating the Process
By this time, you should be feeling relieved. Most of your outstanding tasks should be off your shoulders.
The trick is to keep writing all outstanding tasks as they occur. The next thing is to go through the priority list and execute them.
Summary
In summary, the clarity I have gained from being effective starts with offloading everything in my head onto paper. Selecting the most important tasks – keystone activities – drives the most progress. You continue by doing these keystone activities during my biological prime time. Then you rinse and repeat.
Now It’s Your Turn
What are you planning to do?
Try writing everything down and grouping them into priorities.
Then, decide which task will have the most impact and action on it.
