#2 Tell time to get stuffed.

A game-changing approach to delivering the high-impact things in life. ?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been attending a productivity course with Rachel King .?As nerdy as it sounds, I cannot recommend it enough.?

Learning how to organise your priorities, it turns out, is very, very #cool.??

Why am I writing about this? Because on Thursday, I had a life-changing realisation about how to get more from the time you have.?

And that is knowledge that needs to be shared.?

The 'Yes' Man

I am by trade a ‘yes’ man.?While this attitude has opened a lot of doors, it also makes me very time-poor. ?

It can take me a while to get things done and I find that work constantly creeps into every other aspect of my life.

But on Thursday I had a major revelation. It's not about what but when.

Let me explain.

When you look at your calendar for the week - that’s is all the time you have. And you can only fit so many things in there.

Up until now, the approach I’ve taken for planning that time has gone like this:

1. Write a list of most urgent things (usually based on what emails have resurfaced in the last 24 hours); and?
2. Close my eyes and hope for the best.?

Like trying to stuff a cheap sleeping bag back into the little drawstring carry sack, I’m screwed before I get started.?

And even if by some miracle I do manage to get it in there - the bag is never pretty. I work late or early or both. I spend my evenings trying to sneak away back to my laptop, or worse half working while I’m with my kids. Needless to say, it's not good and it’s stressful for all involved (especially me).?

How to get stuffed effectively.

It’s well-known by anyone who will listen, that I’m a James Clear fan. His theory is that atomic habits can yield enormous results if delivered consistently over time.?

The thing about work projects though is that they’re not squarely built on the consistent “habits” that James talks about. For example, he’d say if you want to lose 5 kilos, exercise more and change your diet.????

But work projects vary in what is required to deliver them - whether it’s a pitch, a marketing initiative or even a rebrand they all have different needs. They also rely on the inputs of others, which inevitably erodes the ability to be consistent (as JC puts it).???

What I learned from Rachel is that with work projects, you need to break them down into their elements and then allocate specific time to them. Only then can you be confident you’ll get shit done.?

For example - we’re pulling together the next edition of the Consult Recruitment market report What the Buck?! One of the tasks I needed to complete was analyse the survey data. I estimated the initial review will take me three to four hours.?

To do this task I have looked at my window of opportunity (my calendar) and said on Tuesday between 8:30-12:30pm I am going to organise the survey data.?

Science suggests that I was eight times more likely to do that task because I allocated specific time for it. And science was right.?

I know this seems simple (and like you I can’t believe I’ve dedicated nearly 600 words to it) but this one hack has made me more productive than I’ve been in years. It’s also made me less distracted at dinner and much less anxious on Sunday’s.?

If you do one thing this week it’s make your list based on your goals, estimate time to each task, then put that time in your calendar. It will mean prioritising as well which is also very helpful.?

Warning: Be careful not to jam pack your day - you’ll still have unexpected things coming in. But best case scenario you’ll work on the stuff that has the highest impact.

If you suffer from these challenges in your life you should call Rachel.?

Finally, Hofstadter's Law.

As far as figuring out how much time to allocate to a task - that is much harder.? One approach is to use Hofstadter's law which states: “A project always takes longer than expected, even when Hofstadter's law is taken into account.”?

So in short - good luck with that.?