So, I'm trying to be more productive in my work. Last week, I was in Virginia for a conference, where a keynote speaker was Tim Ferriss, who wrote The Four-Hour Work Week. Among other things, he talks about ways to shut out the world outside and single-task the most important thing. This is one failing of mine: a belief that because I can have a bunch of windows open simultaneously on my computer, that I'm actually able to keep track of why I opened them all in the first place and complete all the tasks. Whether or not I was ever able to do this in the past, I certainly can't seem to now. So, I have to focus on the thing I'm doing--and to the exclusion of whatever else pops into my head.
While the Ferriss book is good, it also covers a bunch of other things not related to productivity, so I'm linking here to a good summary of some of the more important strategies to focusing in and knocking it out.
The first area of concern when it comes to focus includes, what distractions do you allow into your life? Distractions are the number one focus killer! It is estimated that for every distraction that occurs in our life, it takes about 15 minutes to get back on track or get back to the same thought pattern you were at prior to the distraction occurring. How much wasted time does that add up over the course of a year?
5 comments:
I often find it difficult to focus, particularly on things I don't want to do. I too, want to outsource the mundane chores of my life. I read the excerpt started to chuckle and immediately ordered the book.
Sorry Tyler,
I've been reading "The 4-hour Work Week" myself, but I think it's a farce.
There's some good info buried in there, but the whole style leaves me flat.
He Somehow got into Stanford where he somehow dropped out and somehow got back? C'mon. How bad was his life if his best friend made $450 Million in the internet bubble? He cheated his way to the Kick-boxing championship? Made his fortune selling vitamins? Sounds shady.
Then there's the whole "Live for the moment" philosophy. No Mortgage? No medical insurance? No retirement savings? Excuse me, he does mention he maxes out his IRA for "The tax benefits." Yeah. Makes sense to tie up $15,000 a yea r to save the $5,000 tax bill.
The actual meat of the book is "Get someone else to do it" and the resources he provides are readily available to anyone.
I just don't believe the hype.
Tim Ferriss is *awesome* with unusual processes and out-of-the-box thought patterns. Whether he's "right" or "100% authentic" (both things that wouldn't surprise me a bit, though I can't know for sure) is considerably less important to me than the creative turbo effect he has on my brain. Some of us need exactly the sort of thing he spouts off to get our minds out of the mainstream vibe and into our own alarmingly productive multiverse. ;}
Lou, I certainly appreciate your perspective. I have a fairly powerful BS detector when it comes to get-rich-quick approaches, though I found Ferriss's outline very concrete and empowering. The kick-boxing thing, though, rubbed me the wrong way to be sure!
Post a Comment