Every month I read a book as part of a book circle I’m a member of and then put together a series of Illustrated booknotes.
This month it’s the turn of ‘The 25th Hour - Supercharging Productivity: Secrets From 300 Successful Entrepreneurs.
Also every month, I choose a different creature to help illustrate the booknotes. You might be wondering why I chose to feature toads this time around. This came about because of the ‘Rule 0f Three’ which you can see down below.
The rule of three uses the analogy of having a glass, three large rocks, representing your mot important task which you’re supposed to do first/fit in the glass first, and then a bunch of less important tasks which you’re supposed to do after that/fill up the glass with.
I was trying to think of a creature that was roughly rock shaped or could fit easily into a glass. I first thought of hamsters, and then wa gong to go for frogs when I realised that I’d already ready used frogs to illustrate ‘The Gifts Of Imperfection’ by Brenee Brown booknotes. Well, toads look like frogs, and so toads it was.
On to the booknotes.
I found this very good to help put things into perspective.
Work completed = time spent X intensity of concentration X speed of execution
To become super-productive you must:
-get organized: allocate enough time to do each job properly
-concentrate: give each task the focus it requires
Accelerate: get through each task as quickly and efficiently as possible
The rule of three
The jar represents your day, and the rocks, pebbles, and sand are jobs you need to get done. The rocks represent the most important talks, the pebbles your secondary priorities, and the grains of sand all those small, little to-doos that don’t provide much value. If we concentrate first on the little task, there wont be enough space left in the day to take care of the big ones.
Your first priority on any given day is to figure out what our big rocks are, and begin with those. This was by far and large the most widely-cited tip we re chives from the entrepreneurs we spoke to. They told us that before they start work each morning, they try to momentarily forget about what’s urgent and focus instead on identifying the three most important task to compete by the end of the day. And then they block out the time to do them.
Every morning, ask yourself the question, “what three things do I absolutely need to do today?” Or “What are the three things I need to achieve to feel satisfied with my day’s work?”
If a task on your to-do list will take you at least two minutes to complete, do it immediately.
You might be surprised to find that most of our daily ranks actually take less than two minutes to complete. By doing these talks straight away, we can dramatically reduce the number of items on our list and escape the psychological burden of an endless to-do.
The Zeigarnik Effect
An unfinished task takes up a lot more space in the brain that a finished one does.
Systematically nothing down each task on a to-do list frees up the mind.
Writing down each task also increases the likelihood of actually getting it done. The process of writing something down forces us to engage with it directly and sets us on the path towards completing it.
People who wrote down. their goals achieved on average 40% more of their goals.
Anytime you find yourself grinding away at a long, repetitive, or boring task, you should ask yourself how you might tweak the way you work to avoid having to do it again in the future.
Don’t simply stay on autopilot and continue doing what you’ve always done.
Don’t waste time in unimportant yet time-consuming takes instead of training someone else to do them.
If a week goes by and you haven’t made any tweaks to the way you work, you’re probably not examining your habits with a critical enough eye. It’s crucial to embrace the idea of continual improvement and place this investment mindset in the heart of your routine.
It’s the snowball effect of these small improvements that will eventually make the difference. If every week, you can make a change that saves just 1% of your time, then by the end of the year, a week’s work will take you just 24 hours in total. By adopting this approach, you also stand to benefit from what economists call the Ratchet Effect, where each improvement creates so much value that a return to old wats seems almost inconceivable. To stay motivated, remind yourself that the greater your initial investments, the greater the future payoff.
The fundamental secret to supercharged productivity: implement a series of gradual improvements that eventually add up to an enormous difference.
Whether it occurs now or down the road, every industry will eventually have to reckon with some kind of disruption.
The frequency illusion
You’ve probably noticed the way something that’s been on your mind suddenly seems to pop up all around you. Or how the moment we pick up a new term. Everyone seems to be using it. Or how the second we decide to buy a new home, the world is suddenly full of real-estate agents. This is what behavioural psychologists refer to as “The Frequency Illusion”. All the signs were already there, but they were filtered out by our brain in order to keep us focused on the task at hand. Having your goals in mind primes you to be on the lookout for any information or opportunities that may benefit you.
“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” - Mark Twain.
Always start with the hardest task first. Take advantage of the fact that you tend to have the most energy first thing in the morning and get the hardest job out of the way first. If you start sorting emails and reading newsletters, you’re liable to procrastinate - and you’ll be forced to make up for it later in the day. If you can get the key task finished first, the rest of your day will fall into place.
Pick up your own copy
I hope that you have found these Illustrated Booknotes to be useful. The book is an easy read, and I recommend picking up your own copy to go into the points in more depth.