(The following is an excerpt from the book, Hacking Normal by John Stevenot available on Amazon.com)
As we have discussed, by the time you get to this step, you should have a very good idea as to whether the tasks you have in front of you are the most important ones.
For the final step, it’s time to apply Pareto’s Principle and block your time.
The Pareto Principle, introduced in 1895 by Vilfredo Pareto, states that in any society and aspect of life, there is a natural divide between two subsets: the “vital few,” the top 20 percent and the “trivial many,” the bottom 80 percent.
What I have found is that people often act busier than they are within their work environment.
This is what I like to call “working for the sake of work.”
This is a strain of activity that everyone defaults to when they have no clear purpose. It makes them seem busy. It makes them seem like they are accomplishing something, but they are accomplishing very little.
A typical day for me looks a little like this:
The first block is just for me.
It’s when I prime myself for the day. In this time block, I make breakfast, shower, and either read, or listen to positive and mentally charging things.
I do this to get my mind in the right place.
I learned a long time ago that if I want to have a successful day, it all starts with what I put into my body.
At first, I thought that only pertained to the food I ate, but I soon learned that if I was filling my head with terror, fear, and bad news, the rest of my day seemed to run parallel to that theme.
So, I stopped listening to and watching the news, and I avoid social media like the plague.
Instead, I read books like, Think And Growth Rich, or listen to audio clips of Jim Rohn.
I’ve noticed that this has helped me be more creative and positive as life’s little curve balls are thrown at me.
The next two blocks are where I get the majority (if not all) of my work for the day done.
Each of the tasks in these blocks of time has been carefully cultivated to reflect the best ways for me to spend my time.
Sometimes, these days are filled with the mundane. Not every major task is going to be life changing, but each task is something that only I am able to do (see Task-Recycling).
In each block segment, I turn off my phone, shut down outside communication, and keep my nose to the grindstone.
Once all the tasks for the given company are completed, I follow-up with each person who needs to know.
It’s important to reiterate, I follow-up after all tasks (looking for feedback, not direction) for that company have been done.
That ensures that I am not interrupted in any way.
If I finish all my tasks in a time block early, I use the remaining time to either learn something, or I shift to the next time block and begin working on the next company’s tasks.
Before noon rolls around, I am usually completely done with my work for the day.
The next time block is freer flowing than my morning.
My morning is where I get the most work done, but my afternoon is where I give the next morning direction. I call this next block administrative time.
As I eat lunch, I sift through any followup emails that have come back with new direction or input. As I read and whittle down the requests, I apply task-recycling.
I actively decide which things can be deleted, automated, and handed to others.
By the time I have gone through task-recycling for each company, I am usually left with two or three tasks that I then prioritize and set out for myself for tomorrow. With my next day essentially planned, I send a few more emails to let my coworkers know that I have received their messages.
For the last hour and a half of my day, I have chosen to give myself a block of time to learn something new.
This is usually where I spend time learning new skills that are in demand for my industry. These skills can range from web design to coding, to content writing, to videography, and more.