Why we feel busier than ever

Capture everything on a Master List and then break it down by monthly, weekly, and daily goals.

1. Start by making a master list—a document, app, or piece of paper where every current and future task will be stored. 
2. Once you have all your tasks together, break them down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals.
3. When setting your priorities, try not to get too “task oriented” - you want to make sure you’re prioritizing the more effective work.

The matrix is a simple four-quadrant box that answers that helps you separate “urgent” tasks from “important” ones:

• Urgent and Important: Do these tasks as soon as possible
• Important, but not urgent: Decide when you’ll do these and schedule it
• Urgent, but not important: Delegate these tasks to someone else
• Neither urgent nor important: Drop these from your schedule as soon as possible.

• Personal productivity is not about all-round efficiency, and it is wrong to think about your input as that of a machine in a factory unit.
• This is further complicated by our mistaken assumption that being in demand means that we are doing a splendid job.
• We blur our all boundaries between our work and personal life and every minute of the day is to be kept busy as we rush to attend every meeting, cross out every task from the to-do list or to answer every email that we get.

Our brain starts to favour small tasks that give a false impression of productivity (woohoo! I just sent out fifty emails!) while we neglect the large, complex but meaningful tasks.

This is known as the completion bias.

 “Role Modelling” is one of the main factors behind successful change in organizations and consists of inspiring change by example.

While leadership will ultimately give you sign-off, the rest of the team will determine its success. So in an organizational setting, you must convince everyone of the necessity of change. 

In a collection of individuals, one bad seed can kill all the hard work you’re putting in. You must understand who you are working with so you can tailor your message and actions so no one becomes a bad seed. To do this, sort your team in the following categories:

• Fast Yes: those on your team and ready to work to implement the change.
• Slow Yes: slightly skeptical but still open and can see the value in what you’re doing.
• Fast No: quick to dismiss change but clarity and decisiveness can change that and turn them into strong supporters.
• Slow No: look like they can be persuaded but have already decided against you and will stall and undermine. Here, convincing by example is the best route.

• Getting motivated by negative emotions like fear or regret.
• A sudden influx of motivation followed by giving up in the first instance of a setback ("All or Nothing" approach).
• Having a big and unattainable resolution.
• Not being in terms with the concept of failure.
• Not committing fully to the process.

New research suggests we are less prone to keep working on our goals after we publicize them. This is because we may end up talking about our goals and celebrating our success prematurely rather than implementing them.

Social Pressure makes us fearful, as we can feel afraid of appearing inept. This negative mindset does not work well where we need daily work.

Procrastination is worst when we don't see the point of our jobs. The connection to a larger purpose helps us find meaning and motivation at work.

If your job doesn't make a huge impact, think about how it has helped the people you spend your day with. Each day, write down three ways your work has helped your coworkers.

We don't lack motivation because we don't know how to be motivated, but because we don't know how to act on our own knowledge.

When we feel unmotivated, it's common to seek advice. But research shows that giving advice can be more motivating than receiving advice.

• The processes, policies, and busy work gets in the way.
• Most jobs don’t have a clear goal.
• Feedback can be inadequate.
• The pace of work has increased, and it’s hard for people to spend time thinking deeply.
• Your skills aren’t well matched to the challenges you are allowed to pursue.
• There’s a lack of control over interruptions or when and how you work.
• The job doesn’t push you out of your comfort zone.

... to push your mind beyond its comfort zone. Flow happens when we get a bit out of our comfort zone. Too much, and you get anxious; Too little and you get bored.

You need to know your physical or emotional limitations and consciously push past them.

A few explanations as to why it’s so hard to reject urgent tasks:

• The completion bias. Our brains crave the reward we get from checking off small to-dos from our list.
• Tunnel vision: When we get overwhelmed by the things we have to do, we choose to act on those most available to us; these are usually emails, calls, meetings, and other low-friction tasks.

The problem is that we’re continually bombarded with urgent work: emails, meetings, calls, and instead of being in control of our time and attention, we respond and act on someone else’s priorities.

• Get Clear: process all your loose-ends.
• Get Current: make sure all your items are up to date.
• Get Creative: come up with new ideas to improve how you live and work.

• You gain an objective view of the week: a weekly review forces you to practice intention by taking time to pause and reflect as you consider what you did versus what you planned to do.
• You become proactive in planning: a weekly review isn’t only a retrospective, but a prospective too. It lets you run through the upcoming Monday to Friday proactively.

The structure of most working environments punishes people for efficiency and rewards them for looking busy. We need to shift our focus from the number of hours spent on something to the quality generated.

To make a 3-hour workday feasible, design the right environment to make it possible.

• Behavior is the result of environment. If you have many apps open, you’ll be more likely to be distracted.
• Eliminate the need for willpower. Think of willpower like a bank balance. For every decision you make, you spend a unit. Design the right environment, so you avoid depleting all of your willpower.

Taking on additional tasks simultaneously can destroy up to 80% of your productive time:

• Focusing on one task at a time = 100% of your productive time available.
• Juggling two tasks at a time = 40% of your productive time for each and 20% lost to context switching.
• Juggling three tasks at a time = 20% of your productive time for each and 40% lost to context switching.

• Large chunks of focused “flow” time for more demanding projects.
• “Themed” days to reduce the need to recalibrate between different tasks.
• Advanced planning so you can prioritize meaningful work.
• Realistic time set aside for admin, communication, and meetings.
• Clear expectations for your teammates so they know when not to interrupt you.