Brace yourself. You may not be ready to hear this. The most successful way to be more productive is to work less. Are you rolling your eyes saying “yeah sure it is”? Are you doubtful? Skeptical? We get it. It seems dramatically counterintuitive. Let us unpack this a bit for you.
Your brain + body are working against you
Our brains are not designed to bounce between projects. Doing less means you are able to actually fully concentrate your energy on only important + worthy tasks. Most of us that are busy end up jumping between tasks, which increases the likelihood that we will get even less done.
So instead of looking at or feeling that never-ending to do list, start by choosing the #1 thing that needs to get done that day and 4 that it would be really awesome if they were completed.
Then, your first job is to complete that #1 thing on your list of five. This is called eating the frog.
The expression comes means that at the start of each day if you eat the frog, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you are done with the worst or hardest thing you’ll have to do today. It is also way easier to eat the frog if you start there because you have more energy, patience, and ability to concentrate.
Next, you’ll have just four more tasks to aim to complete. But, how do you prioritize?
Priorities Matter
One of the biggest game-changing parts of doing less is that it forces you to focus on what really matters. There will no longer be time to waste on busy work. So, how do you choose?
Start by putting your tasks into 4 categories:
- Important, urgent
- Important, non-urgent
- Non-important, urgent
- Non-important, non-urgent
