Most of us are programmed to say yes. No one wants to come across as someone unhelpful or socially aloof. We are saying no to the situation and not the person.Start writing it down. Floating thoughts in your head will always jump from one to another. When you try to bring your thoughts to paper, it forces some order in the chaos.We have limited willpower. Small things creep in and eat into it. We can push ourselves but productivity slumps as we go. Sometimes an impossible task in the late evening is a breeze in a park in the morning. Every day we start with a finite amount of willpower. Be very cautious of where to spend it.Nothing ruins the flow like multitasking, Context switching is a sin. Pick one task and do it. Don’t jump between them. Remember the list. We already have our priorities sorted beyond it is a no go zone. No scrolling the feed while the page loads.

Do more by doing less

<img alt="Sunny Aditya" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/0*A4fONQGTRJEjg3W" width="48" height="48">Cut the nonessential, look at your life as an editor. Do you like reading a long email? Do you like listening to people who go in a circle before reaching the point? Do you like spending time on things that are just a product of routine rather than necessity? No one does, so let’s take a magnifying glass, put on the tweed overcoat.<BLOCKQUOTE>Find me my pipe Watson, we are going to weed out the unessential. — Sherlock Not Holmes</BLOCKQUOTE>Learn to Say noMost of us are programmed to say yes. No one wants to come across as someone unhelpful or socially aloof. We are saying no to the situation and not the person.Hell yeah or no80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes — Pareto’s principle Why not spend it on the most important tasks?<figure><img alt="Image for post" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/1*9XDL4iZV6AUjuB4SqFevrw.png" width="680" height="417"></figure>TradeoffEverything is a tradeoff. Picked a movie missed another one. Picked one task other gets behind. Time is a finite quantity. Be picky and accept that we cannot hit all the balls for home run.What really matters?Start writing it down. Floating thoughts in your head will always jump from one to another. When you try to bring your thoughts to paper, it forces some order in the chaos.Daily lists preferably at night. What we are going to do tomorrow? Really helps in picking up the essentials. Lists act as reminders and are a great way to refocus on goals. When we complete an item in the list, we get a sense of achievement, and suddenly gamification kicks in.Journaling 📔How to know what is eating your time? Record your daily routine.“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” — Peter DruckerPhones give a good starting point of daily time spend on phone, look at app usage. Rest we can keep a small diary or use any note-taking app.Protect playtimeFind some fun activities to do. Sports? Gym? Chess? Reading? Staring into the galaxy? Whatever is your poison protect it? We need to destress time to enable our brain to work more efficiently.Energy Bank“Waiting for” John and Cylvia “to get going one morning in their kitchen,” the protagonist noticed “the sink faucet was dripping” and remembered that it was dripping the last time he was there. “In fact,” it had been dripping as long as he could remember. When the protagonist commented on it, John said he had tried to fix it “with a new faucet washer but it hadn’t worked.” That was all he said. “The presumption left” was that “that was the end of the matter.” That made him wonder to himself if it got on their nerves, “this drip-drip-drip, week in, week out, year in, year out.” This imagery evokes irritation and great discomfort. — <a href="https://amzn.to/2ZdIqxF" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance</a>We have limited willpower. Small things creep in and eat into it. We can push ourselves but productivity slumps as we go. Sometimes an impossible task in the late evening is a breeze in a park in the morning. Every day we start with a finite amount of willpower. Be very cautious of where to spend it.Multitasking is a mythNothing ruins the flow like multitasking, Context switching is a sin. Pick one task and do it. Don’t jump between them. Remember the list. We already have our priorities sorted beyond it is a no go zone. No scrolling the feed while the page loads.FocusRemove distractions when you are entering the work mode. Silent not needed notifications on laptop and phone. You can even try using techniques like Pomodoro.

Cut the nonessential, look at your life as an editor. Do you like reading a long email? Do you like listening to people who go in a circle before reaching the point? Do you like spending time on…

productivity

Productivity

Cut the nonessential, look at your life as an editor. Do you like reading a long email? Do you like listening to people who go in a circle before reaching the point? Do you like spending time on things that are just a product of routine rather than necessity? No one does, so let’s take a magnifying glass, put on the tweed overcoat.

Find me my pipe Watson, we are going to weed out the unessential. — Sherlock Not Holmes

Learn to Say no

Most of us are programmed to say yes. No one wants to come across as someone unhelpful or socially aloof. We are saying no to the situation and not the person.

Hell yeah or no

80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes — Pareto’s principle Why not spend it on the most important tasks?

Everything is a tradeoff. Picked a movie missed another one. Picked one task other gets behind. Time is a finite quantity. Be picky and accept that we cannot hit all the balls for home run.

What really matters?

Start writing it down. Floating thoughts in your head will always jump from one to another. When you try to bring your thoughts to paper, it forces some order in the chaos.

Daily lists preferably at night. What we are going to do tomorrow? Really helps in picking up the essentials. Lists act as reminders and are a great way to refocus on goals. When we complete an item in the list, we get a sense of achievement, and suddenly gamification kicks in.

Journaling 📔

How to know what is eating your time? Record your daily routine.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” — Peter Drucker

Phones give a good starting point of daily time spend on phone, look at app usage. Rest we can keep a small diary or use any note-taking app.

Protect playtime

Find some fun activities to do. Sports? Gym? Chess? Reading? Staring into the galaxy? Whatever is your poison protect it? We need to destress time to enable our brain to work more efficiently.

“Waiting for ” John and Cylvia “to get going one morning in their kitchen ,” the protagonist noticed “the sink faucet was drippin g” and remembered that it was dripping the last time he was there. “In fact ,” it had been dripping as long as he could remember. When the protagonist commented on it, John said he had tried to fix it “with a new faucet washer but it hadn’t worked .” That was all he said. “The presumption left ” was that “that was the end of the matter .” That made him wonder to himself if it got on their nerves, “this drip-drip-drip, week in, week out, year in, year out .” This imagery evokes irritation and great discomfort. — <a href="https://amzn.to/2ZdIqxF">Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance </a>

We have limited willpower. Small things creep in and eat into it. We can push ourselves but productivity slumps as we go. Sometimes an impossible task in the late evening is a breeze in a park in the morning. Every day we start with a finite amount of willpower. Be very cautious of where to spend it.

Multitasking is a myth

Nothing ruins the flow like multitasking, Context switching is a sin. Pick one task and do it. Don’t jump between them. Remember the list. We already have our priorities sorted beyond it is a no go zone. No scrolling the feed while the page loads.

Remove distractions when you are entering the work mode. Silent not needed notifications on laptop and phone. You can even try using techniques like Pomodoro.

Do More By Doing Less: Be the Editor of your Life

Do more by doing less

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