Line BreakAuthor: Steven Aitchison (433 Articles)
I am the owner of this blog and write about personal development with my passions being belief formation, thoughts, perceptions and emotions. You can get my FREE video course to help Change Your Life at www.AlterYourJacket.com
This might be one of the shortest posts I have ever written, but there’s a reason for it. The reason is that the technique I am about to share with you is so simple, yet so profoundly life changing that it need only be explained within a few sentences.
We are all looking for ways of being more productive and cutting out time wasting activities in our lives. There have been countless books written about it, countless blogs blogging about it, and countless gurus doing seminars on it.
Well, here is the one most powerful methods for being the most productive person you will ever be:
Work as if you are being audited,
and have to explain every single
minute of your day.
That’s it. I can guarantee you that this technique alone will double your rate of productivity.
The technique works in two ways:
Notice time leakages
Working as if you have to account for all your time and explaining yourself will let you see exactly where you waste time. When you know where you are wasting time you can cut the practice out.
Being mindful
When you work like this you are being what Buddhists call ‘mindful’. You are focusing on the work you are doing and talking to yourself about it:
‘I am on the internet. Why? I shouldn’t be on it I am being audited, I’ll get back to writing my notes up.’ All day long, you are constantly being mindful of what you are doing. this is extremely powerful, as this is not a normal occurance. Our mind wanders all over the place. the technique above will stop it from wandering and help it to focus on what you deem important.
Of course you have to be disciplined to be mindful, but the more you practice the better you become.
Tess The Bold Life (25)
Christopher Foster (22)
Axel G (19)
parker lee | howt... (18)
Farouk (16)
Colleen (13)
Chris Akins (12)
rob white (12)
Roman Soluk (11)
Valentine Belonwu (11)
{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Steven.
I will give this a go.
I’m not a fan of time leakage at all. I pointed that out recently in a comment I made on an article on A Flourishing Life.
Being mindful sure takes continuous effort, until it becomes more automatic.
Good call on this point.
Armen Shirvanian´s last blog ..You Don’t Know What Works Until You Fully Try
Hi Armen, being mindful is a great way to focus, if you have the discipline to learn it.
What a great focus tool Steve. Maybe you should come up with a computer app. that pops up and says “You are being audited, can you explain your current activity?” It is so easy for our focus to wander, I constantly find myself being distracted by things that don’t really matter. Great idea!
Jonathan – Advanced Life Skills´s last blog ..Exceptional Self Confidence In the Face of Challenges
Hi Jonathan, that would be a good app
I have found myself so many times wandering and getting off focus. I have to admit it’s only been in the last 5 months that I have been practising this and it really does work.
Hi Jonathan;
You might be interested in downloading the following program. http://themech.net/eyesrelax/
You can set it up to give you a reminder throughout the day.
A great way to use this software is with http://www.evernote.com
Evernote has a feature where when you press the PrtScr button it allows you to capture a portion of the screen.
So what you can do is grab little nuggets of wisdom from blogs that you are reading and store them in your “My Notes” folder and set up eyerelax to show you these notes throughout the day.
For example, if you wanted to make a note about “You are being audited, can you explain your current activity?” what I would do is copy that text into the addressbar of your browser then use PrtScr to save it to your “My Notes” folder and now eyerelax will display that periodically throughout the day.
Hi Steven
I agree in terms to be aware how I waste my time and increase discipline but on the other hand this thinking could be high demanding when you are thinking that you are being audited all the time.
Is very similar when you are trying loose weight, when you write everything that you eat inmediately increase awareness about the way that he/she eats when,how much and where.
Rosangel´s last blog ..Los Mantras de Dinero
Hi Rosangel, it all comes down to mindfulness and focus. Thanks for your comments
the best technique ever Steve . i will make a print and paste in my work place so i will be reminded every time i waste my time.
Hi Avinish, thanks for your comments on this, as Jonathan said a computer app might be better
That’s a good idea. I’m constantly surprised about how my time flies away – I’m thinking of cutting out the big time-wasters in my life, at least for a short time. No TV for a week would increase my productivity a lot, it’s something I’m strongly thinking about doing. I like to relax in front of TV in the evenings because I’m mentally tired – but if I am honest, I usually have enough energy to do a lot of little jobs I have lined up for myself.
Hi Mia, TV is great for relaxing but we sometimes forget to turn it off
Brilliant.
(This is one of the shortest comments I’ve ever written)
Brett – DareToExpress.com´s last blog ..What Is “Difficult”?
This is great. My challenge at work is that when it comes to a task I’m done with it really fast and then I have to fill in the time with productive stuff. I like what Jonathan suggests about having an auditing device on our computer that tells us to explain our time.
Hi Josue, thanks for your comments. You made a great point about being done with a task really quickly and then having to fill in time. A lot, if not most, people do this at work. Work does not last from 9-5, so instead of working for 8 hours per day, we pad out for 8 hours per day. Most of our work could be done and dusted within the space of 4 hours if we used this technique. The trouble with that is: resentment from colleagues, more pressure on yourself from your boss to get even more things done, being seen as a ’suck up’, so a lot of people think it doesn’t really pay to be that productive. However the tip is great for people who work at home.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the great productivity tip! I agree that if we felt like there was some kind of time sheet we had to turn in (mentally), we’d cut down our browsing around and procrastination by a lot.
I think that when using this technique it’s important to remember to take some breaks though, or after a few days of this working on something you’re even passionate about may get tiring.
Thanks again!
Jonathan Beebe´s last blog ..Learning to Love Yourself
Hi Jonathan, I think it would be wise to take more breaks than normal using this technique all day long. A 10 minute break every 60 minutes would be ideal. Even taking this many breaks would still save so much time if you are using the technique.
Yup. When I worked billable at 15 minute increments, and had to log them in, it was amazing how focused I got:).
LPC´s last blog ..Udaipur, Egrets, Trains. India, 1982
Hi LPC, I could imagine that would really get you focussed
Well – I need more time leakage, not less. I love working and need to learn to take more time out.
I’m going to use this method the other way around:
I’ll imagine someone is auditing me for time spent having fun away from work
Mary |Goodlife ZEN´s last blog ..How to Use Meditation to Free Yourself From Depression
Mary, that’s a great idea, I think you do too much so you deserve a break
Hi Steve,
GENIUS-LEVEL PRODUCTIVITY
Your post made me smile because as someone who has sold their time for many years, I literally audit and account for every minute of every day.
This is for two reasons: 1) as a legal record, and 2) as a productivity discipline that seeks to identify and minimize inefficient/ineffective practices. The goal here is to maximize billable hours – and fees.
With this discipline well and truly in place, and constantly running in the background, my ongoing mindset is:
Work as if you are a creative genius, attracting better and better ideas, that are increasingly more valuable to clients, in less and less time.
This mindset is less lack/fear-based and much more possibility/abundance-based – which for me is a very resourceful state that heightens productivity and rewards richly.
Great post, Steve.
Best to you,
Robin
Robin Dickinson´s last blog ..5 steps to a super-strong business or brand name
Robin that is brilliant: “Work as if you are a creative genius”, thanks for adding this into the conversation.
Wow, exactly what I needed Steven. Really. Brilliant.
Lana – DreamFollowers Blog´s last blog ..You are NOT responsible for anything and how it can help you reach any of your goals.
Thanks Lana, I really appreciate your comments.
Hi Steve,
I’ve only just found you and will be following you from now on. Great blog. keep it up.
My productivity tip contribution is: Keep a clean desk to massively increase personal motivation for work. Give it a try; before you close work for today (or your next working day) clear your desk. Remove all paperwork, notes, pens, bits of paper, gadgets, everything that’s on your desk that’s gathered during the day. When you approach your desk tomorrow, notice how you feel about your workspace and working day.
Andy´s last blog ..5 Things to do Online This Christmas
Hi Andy, great to have you here.
The desk tip is a great one and I am a great advocate of tidy desk, tidy mind. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Steven,
This is an awesome magic pill kind of thing isnt it…:)
I know this works cause off and On i have used this technique…the problem with me is…to be constantly aware “youre being audited”…..now thats hard to do at times…especially when youre watching your favorite show or eating your favorite ice cream
But, yes on a more serious note this is really a magic pill for increased productivity. Am gonna try not to be too into my ice cream
One more thing that works for me is to “think this is your last day”…imagine all you could do and would want to do and how you would actually do ..if you had no time left to do it ..:)
Zeenat{Positive Provocations}´s last blog ..Being Grateful for 2009!
Hi Zeenat, you’re right it is hard to do all the time but over time it becomes a way of being and you don’t really think about it, it becomes natural. Imagining your last could be another tool for sorting out what’s important in life.
Hi Steven,
I like the simplicity of the concept and some of the great thoughts it seem to have generated amongst your readers. Keep more good stuff coming!
Rani Bora´s last blog ..How to Rise Above Negativity!
Thanks for your comments Rani, I appreciate it.
Interesting productivity trick. Do you ever find that this framework becomes too stressful? After all, I’ve never heard someone use the word “audited” in a calm way.
Dave, a bit of stress, caused by the word audited maybe a good thing
it is a tool for developing a way of thinking and eventually you don’t think about it. Thanks for stopping by.
Working with an audit in mind is a great idea. Often times I’ll work with time limits in mind. For instance, I’ll force myself to do a project for 90 minutes to the exclusion of all other distractions.
Colleen´s last blog ..Kennewick Real Estate
Love it!
Excellent!
Being mindful is so empowering.
Not only will it help to keep our productivity on target, it also helps us learn about ourselves.
Three questions I like to ask myself through out the day are:
1.) What am I thinking and why?
2.) What am I feeling and why?
3.) What am I choosing and why?
Thanks so much for your inspiration!
-Susan
PS. I love the short post format.
Susan Liddy´s last blog ..How to Resolve your Relationship Conflicts through Communication
Hi Steven
Allow me to respectfully disagree with you on this, as much as this technique seems successful in theory, I think it will demand a lot of mental power to keep you on a continuous state of “focusing” which is for me is different from being “mindful”, the latter should come more naturally, but I agree that some stress may be useful sometimes, but I don’t think this can be my motto for productivity all the time, or I will find my self trying to deal with the mental energy this technique needs rather than actually focusing on what I should be doing, and in a way I don’t think under such a state I can be as creative as I can be.
Thanks
This is a good tip – but don’t you think this would cause too much worry. At the end of the day, I would rather have fun!
Anthony Feint´s last blog ..6 Myths about Outsourcing Development…Busted
What a ridiculously simple but powerful tip! I know despite my best efforts remaining mindful in the moments that I am idle can be a very daunting undertaking. This kind of mental exercise makes it so much easier to understand what it is to be mindful.
Michael @ Monetize Your Life´s last blog ..Failure Quotes – Celebrating my Failures of 2009
Without reason, today I felt like I was doing the same thing. Every moment that I was loosing, I was repeating to my self: ” get back to work, you have lots of things to finish!” and it really made me realize that I work better this way. Hope I could be stable, like…doing this every day from now on. Wish me good luck!
Hey Steve,
This is a great reminder. At one company where I did contract work, they requested my time in 15 minute intervals. It definitely made me very conscious of how productive I was being.
Justin
Justin Qualler´s last blog ..Stop now and condemn yourself to mediocrity
I agree with the previous comment that being billable in 15 minute increments is a good way to this. You could do this even if you don’t invoice your customers, by racking your time and being accountable to yourself.
David Burch´s last blog ..There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. – Freya Stark
Hey my dear friend,
WOW!!
This is incredible. AND, I know that it works. I’ve done this a few times and it just blew my mind what I got done and how focused I stayed. I just have to remember to use it. So seeing this here REALLY excited me as I’m going to print out this post and keep it on my desk. This combined with Jonathan’s post about stopping multi-tasking (which I’ve don’t do anymore) can just absolutely change the way we work.
While reading this I thought about taking a small calendar and keeping it on my desk and doing this EVERY day for a week or month and see what happens from there. I feel it could really change my whole approach to work.
And part of this is: If I am going to take break OR I feel tired then dang well TAKE a break away from the computer or GO lay down and rest, but do so consciously and not just stay sitting at my computer “trying” to work when I’m dead tired (but really just dabbling and wasting time that I could be resting). So I either REALLY work or I REALLY rest. The lines become much clearer. I KNOW that this works from having used it. Just so grateful to see it here. I read it and it left me reeling. You are the only person I’ve seen who has spelled it out like this. Just WONDERFUL!!
Hugs and good wishes to you, your wife and kids.
Have a wonderful holiday, Steven.
And thank you for all that you’ve shared, given me, taught me and inspired in me. Amaaaazing!!! Hugs, Robin
Robin Easton´s last blog ..Share Your Legacy?
Hi Steve, wonderful advice and a timely reminder as we approach a brand new year. Thanks so much for sharing, to continued health, success and better time management in 2010. Regards, Niall Devitt
{ 1 trackback }