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The sunk cost fallacy

The sunk cost fallacy

Humans are especially susceptible to the “sunk cost fallacy”—a psychological effect where we feel compelled to continue doing something just because we’ve already put time and effort into it.

But the reality is that no matter what you spend your time doing, you can never get that time back. And any time spent continuing to work towards the wrong priority is just wasted time.

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15K reads

MORE IDEAS ON THIS

Learning how to prioritize...

...means getting more out of the limited time you have each day. It’s one of the cornerstones of productivity and once you know how to properly prioritize, it can help with everything from your time management to work life balance.

4.44K

25.8K reads

Eisenhower Matrix

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
  • Ur...

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19.1K reads

Warren Buffett’s 2-list strategy

Warren Buffett’s 2-list strategy

Cut out “good enough” goals with Warren Buffett’s 2-list strategy.

  1. Write down your top 25 goals: life goals, career goals, education goals, or anything else you want to spend your time on.
  2. Circle your top 5 goals on that list.
  3. Finally, any goal you...

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14.5K reads

The ABCDE method

The ABCDE method

Instead of keeping all tasks on a single level of priority, this method offers two or more levels for each task:

  • Go through your list and give every task a letter from A to E (A being the highest priority)
  • For every task that has an A, give it a numb...

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14.8K reads

Master lists

Master lists

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 th...

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20.6K reads

Set the tone of the day by “Eating the frog”

Once you’ve prioritized your most important work, it’s time to actually choose how to attack the day.

How you start the day sets the tone for the rest of it. And often, getting a large, hairy, yet important task out of the way first thing gives you momentum, inspiration, and energy to keep ...

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13.3K reads

The Ivy Lee Method

The Ivy Lee Method

Rank your work by its true priority with the Ivy Lee Method:

  1. At the end of each work day, write down the 6 most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. 
  2. Prioritize those 6 items  n order of their true importance.
  3. When you arrive tomorrow, ...

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15.7K reads

CURATED FROM

IDEAS CURATED BY

cas_cas

"Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time." ~ Theodore Roosevelt

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The Sunk Cost Fallacy

The Sunk Cost Fallacy

“Sunk costs” are money, time, or effort we’ve already spent and can’t get back.

Cultivate a habit of admitting your mistakes. Ask yourself: If the past didn’t exist and you’re just starting out now, what would you do?”

The Sunk Cost Fallacy In Business

When running a company, many entrepreneurs fail to quit, change direction or pivot their business model, unable to admit that what they were doing isn’t working, or that they were plain wrong in their decisions.

The Sunk Cost Fallacy is the primary reason for this gross error in ju...

The Problem With Quitting

The Problem With Quitting

  • It has been internalized in us since childhood that we should never give up, and that quitting is bad.
  • Many of us are stuck in the wrong jobs and due to this idea of not quitting, we waste a lot of productive years.
  • We don’t quit because of a cognitive bias known as the

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