Workaholics aren’t heroes. They don’t save the day, they just use it. The real hero is already home because he/she figured out a faster way to get things done. To do great work, you need to feel that you’re making a difference. That you’re putting a meaningful dent in the universe. That you’re part of something important, something you can be incredibly proud of, something you want to take a stand for – a thing worth fighting for.

Real and Great Work

The longer the list of unfinished items, the worse you feel about it. And at a certain point, you just stop looking at it because it makes you feel bad. Then you stress out and the whole thing turns into a big mess.  <ul><li>Divide your long list into many smaller ones. The List of 100 points to the ten lists with ten items in each.</li><li>Try to separate tasks into smaller pieces until you will be able to fully understand them.</li></ul>

Smaller To-Do Lists

The easiest, most straightforward way to create a great product or service is to make something you want to use. Until you actually start making something, your brilliant idea is just that, an idea. And everyone’s got one of those. Ideas are cheap and plentiful. The original pitch idea is such a small part of a business that it’s almost negligible. The real question is how well you execute.

Execution Matters

<ul><li>Make tiny decisions. It’s difficult to make and change serious decisions.</li><li>Taking tiny solutions makes it hard to make big mistakes. And it’s easier to change them.</li></ul> Trade the dream of overnight success for slow, measured growth. It’s hard, but you have to be patient. You have to grind it out. You have to do it for a long time before the right people notice.

Tiny Decisions

<ul><li>Whenever you can, swap “Let’s think about it” for “Let’s decide on it.” Commit to making decisions.</li><li>Don’t wait for the perfect solution. Decide and move forward.</li><li>When is your product or service finished? When should you put it out on the market? And when is it safe to let people have it? Probably a lot sooner than you’re comfortable with. Once your product does what it needs to do, get it out there.</li><li>Put off anything you don’t need for launch. Build the necessities now, worry about the luxuries later.</li></ul>

Making Decisions Fast

<ul><li>Meetings are toxic. A one-hour meeting with ten people is actually a ten-hour meeting, not a one-hour meeting. You’re trading ten hours of productivity for one hour of meeting time.</li><li>Good enough is fine. Find a solution that delivers maximum efficiency with minimum effort. You can usually turn good enough into great later.</li><li>Break large tasks into smaller subtasks. The smaller your problems, the easier it is to plan them. Divide time intervals into small pieces. Instead of planning a project for 12 weeks, break it into 12 weekly projects.</li></ul>

Productivity

Too many leaders are preoccupied with growing their companies. In reality, they should be more concerned with finding the right size for their companies. <ul><li>Expanding prematurely often leads to downsizing, damaging the morale and productivity of those who stay. </li><li>Sustainability and profitability are more important than growth, so don’t get caught up in the growth hype. </li></ul> Grow slowly and follow your feelings.

Take It Slow And Easy

<ul><li>Less is a good thing. Embrace the idea of having less mass.</li><li>The more massive an object, the more energy is required to change its direction.</li><li>Large companies spend months and years to change something. Small companies can quickly change a business model and a product marketing policy. They can make mistakes and quickly correct them.</li><li>Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make do with what you’ve got. There’s no room for waste. And that forces you to be creative.</li></ul>

Lean And Agile

Give up on the guesswork. Decide what you’re going to do this week, not this year. Figure out the next most important thing and do that. Make decisions right before you do something, not far in advance.
A written business plan is practically useless. Creating a plan allows you to feel that you can control everything that you actually cannot control, such as market conditions, competitors, customers, economy, etc.
Setting deadlines in long-term plans is also nonsense. You have all the complete information when you are doing something, but not before you have started.

Improve Your Business and Productivity

"Rework" shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. You'll learn how to be more productive, how to get exposure without breaking the bank, and tons more counterintuitive ideas that will inspire and provoke you.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

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Motivation & Inspiration

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Business

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Books

Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business.  Most business books give you the same old advice: Write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you're looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf. Read it and you'll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don't need outside investors, and why you're better off ignoring the competition. The truth is, you need less than you think. You don't need to be a workaholic. You don't need to staff up. You don't need to waste time on paperwork or meetings. You don't even need an office. Those are all just excuses.  What you really need to do is stop talking and start working. This book shows you the way. You'll learn how to be more productive, how to get exposure without breaking the bank, and tons more counterintuitive ideas that will inspire and provoke you. With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs they hate, victims of "downsizing," and artists who don’t want to starve anymore will all find valuable guidance in these pages.

Jason Fried is the co-founder and President of 37signals. Jason believes there’s real value and beauty in the basics. Jason co-wrote all of 37signals books, and is invited to speak around the world on entrepreneurship, design, management, and software.

Jason Fried

David Heinemeier Hansson is a Danish programmer and the creator of the popular Ruby on Rails web development framework. He is also a partner at the web-based software development firm 37signals based in Chicago, Illinois.