Motivate to Intensify
October 26th, 2007 | Michael Q. Pink
Okay my friends; this is the last of seven blog entries about how you can be ten times more productive if you will learn how to minimize the effects of pests. They are as effective as you choose to make them. To recap, here are the first six secrets… (1) Eliminate the unnecessary (2) Automate the mundane, (3) Delegate the routine (4) Designate your work (5) Procrastinate the undefined and (6) Separate to cogitate.
The last of the seven strategies is (7) Motivate to intensify. In the rainforest, one of the strategies plants use to outfox the pests is called, Rapid Leaf Expansion. It’s where the plant shoots out the new leaves so fast that by the time the pests have discovered them, they have already toughened up and developed resistance. So what does that look like at work or in business? To me, it speaks of an intense burst of activity over a short time to accomplish a strategic objective.
Think of the Pareto Principle, that 80/20 rule that applies to so much, applies to this as well. Most of the progress is made in a small percentage of the time. Here’s what I want you to do. Think of something important you want to do: a strategic objective. It might be to write a book, run a marathon, paint a bedroom or clean out the garage. Then, right now, decide on a block of time you can dedicate to that objective. If it’s a big objective, like writing a book, you can set aside a block of time to write a chapter. Then focus intently on that objective, letting nothing knock you off course. By the time the pests figure out what you are doing, the job is done!
Until next time, be fruitful, then multiply!
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October 26th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Michael:
Thank you for your insights. A friend shared with me the Pareto Principle SQUARED. That is, look at the 80/20 rule within the 80/20 rule. Four percent of the work or effort can result in 64% of the accomplishments. This can really focus our work and our results!
Blessings,
Charlie
October 26th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Hey Mike,
Motivate to intensify is a little known secret to highly effective people.
This is how one can do it simply and easily each day - I call it INTEGRATED
TIME MANAGEMENT
Here’s how it works…
1) Log all of your activity and the time you spent on it for one week…
list everything - do not try to pad your documentation.
2) Analyze your activity and then group the various task as categories
3) Estimate how much time you spend on that activity on an average
per day or week
4) Set up your day by putting those categories into the estimated time
slots you believe you’ll need to attend to them.
5) During each time slot, do the work or whatever, and when the time
is over, stop that category - don’t do that activity/category until the next day. It’s like having days of the week all laid out for one single day.
6) Schedule your time slots based on your energy levels as well as the
prioritizing of low payoff as well as high payoff activities.
By creating this “MINI-WEEK” daily schedule, you’ll get more done in one
day that you would in three days the other way (your way).
Be sure you advise your family, clients, friends, etc on how your daily schedule works so that their needs can be accomodated at the appropriate
scheduled time for that particular category/activity. i.e., phone work, appointments, research & development, planning-project management, correspondance (i.e. email), personal time, family time, rest and recreation, quiet time, spiritual development, etc., etc.
This discipline will also reduce stress, anxiety and the wasting of yours and others time. The benefits also include peace of mind, revitalized energy, getting things done in at least a 1/3 of the time which all results in improved productivity in your personal and business life.
Cheers!