At this point, I've had over a thousand live conversations with people with the express purpose of supporting them into higher levels of productive effectiveness. As a result I've been given a rare glimpse into the major struggles that we have - as a people - when it comes to having amazing, productive days. I've also discovered a number of simple tweaks that we can make around our work that will give us amazing leverage to get more done per day.
In this article, I'm going to share one such tweak with you. As per the title, It's both quick (you'll learn about it in just a minute) and dirty (by which I mean "excellent").
The tweak is simple and you might be tempted to gloss over it, thinking that you already recognize it or have tried it. If this happens, I suggest that you make sure to keep your mind open at least until you've finished reading, after which you can decide if this is the right thing for you.
Let's dive in.
Act as if There were no Time Left
Here's the main idea:
If there's something important for us to do, and we're not already doing it, then it probably is because we don't want to do it. And if we don't want to do something, then as long as we have time left, we don't do it. We will only do it once there's no time left. That's literally how procrastination works.
Therefore in order to impel ourselves to take action, we need to focus on how much time we feel we have.
Therefore the tip is to pretend that you only have one hour of your day left to make some important moves. What would you do? What would you do if you were going to be away from your workstation for the entire day except for a single hour?
A second way of considering this: Pretend that you are finishing up right now. And that all you're doing are the finishing moves before you hang up your hat for the day and get into something else. What are you going to do?
If you were to seriously take yourself through either one of these exercises, then you'd find yourself conceptualizing your work in an entirely different way. Why? Because in order to accomplish our dreams in the world, we'll be required to make some moves that take us out of our comfort zone. We will always delay moving outside of our comfort zone if we believe we can get away with it.
And why? The truth is that you're not lazy, it's not that you lack will-power or determination. It's that you're smart. Who in their right might would do something that they don't want to do, if they don't have to?
The big trick here is to truly internalize the finite nature of our time by acting as if there's only a little bit left.
To be clear, there is enough time for you to get your work done, but at the same time, it's not an infinite amount either.
Bring your attention away from how much you're working or how hard you're working. These details are irrelevant. Instead, keep focusing on what your biggest move to make is, and make THAT move.
Again: If you only had a single hour, what would you do with it? Do that. And then do it again in the next hour and then one after that.
If you were to work like this, your whole life will change. You will create awesome momentum that would truly create results instead of endlessly spinning your wheels in wasted effort.
This is true productivity.
Have a great week!
Brent
Brent Huras is a Productivity & Actualization Coach - stay tuned for weekly articles on this blog, as well as on TikTok and YouTube. You can also learn more about getting 1-1 coaching with Brent HERE.
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