Today I’m gonna spend some time on asubject I think everyone should be taught as soon as they understand words. It could cut down your stress and at the same time increases productivity. How would you like that?
But before I get started, I want say a word about what I mean by “productivity”. What I mean by productivity is the results that you produce. That means if you can make a million bucks working 5 minutes a day, then of course you are productive. If, on the other hand, you work your ass off everyday to make pennies, then no, you are not productive.
People tend to confuse productivity and “being busy”. We tend to think if someone is busy, then he must be very productive. Perhaps because we often see the rich is always busy (they are too busy enjoying themselves than to do anything else). And so we busy ourselves all day along (with useless things like replying to junk emails) and we’re judged by how busy we are. Tell me, how are you paid for your work?
If you’re the typical worker, then you are paid by the hour. The more hour you spend in the office equals more pay for you.
The busier = more productive = more money.
And after a decade or so of such conditioning, you come to think that If someone’s always doing nothing, that must mean he’s a lazy ass. If someone’s always seems to be enjoying himself, then he must be wasting his life.
Well, I have got news for you. That’s just stupid. I’ll choose workring for shorter time than longer… any day. I’d like to spend time with my family and do things I want to do, like scuba diving and archery…. not answering customer support emails.
Ok enough about that. So how can you become more productive? Well, before you do that, I’d suggest that you negotiate with your boss that you get paid not relative to the hours you spend in the office, but by the results you produce. This issue is out of the scope of this article so I’ll not dwell on it too much. Basically build trust by producing results consistently over a period of time.
Here’s the fun part. Once you get paid to be more productive (not to be busier), you can actually make more money in way less time. I want to introduce you to three universal rules, one of which I learned from somebody called “Mr.X”. I forgot the name he gave it so let’s call his rule, “X’s Rule”.
X’s rule is simple. Sometimes the most profound things are the simplest ones. Things that we as “intelligent” beings are too intelligent to see. Basically, he is saying that the more time you spend on something, the better you get at that thing. Simple right?
Tell me, how much time do you spend…. watching TV? Or replying emails? How about games? Dressing up? I think I don’t need to say more.
If you want to “insert_goal_here”, you’ll have to spend more time on it. Make a table and see how much time do you spend on things that really gets you closer to your goal. Note: replying to customer support emails or handling complaints is NOT growing your business. Eliminate or outsource things that don’t get you closer to your goal and do things that do. Simple.
The second rule is what is often called the 80/20 rule. It’s often used in business but there’s actually more to it. The 80/20 rule can change lives IF you understand it and not many does….
But it looks like this post is getting too long so I’ll stop here. Perhaps this is another lesson for another time.
P.S. I dig way deeper into this in my soon-to-be-released book, Sales Copy QuickFix. be sure to check it out soon. Meanwhile just hold your breath and wait.
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