Focus on making whatever you’re working on real from the get-go
Work less.
Workaholics aren’t heroes. They don’t save the day, they just use it up. If all you do is work, you’re unlikely to make sound judgements. No one makes sharp decisions when tired. Forty hours is an astonishingly apt ceiling for sustainable productivity. Stop trying to raise it, and instead start thinking about how to make each hour count for more. It’s the constraint of time that provides the creative context for clever solutions. Embrace constraints.Make the call now.
When you put off decisions, they pile up. Piles of guilt and wasted worry. Whenever you can, swap “Let’s think about it” for “Let’s decide on it”. Commit to making decisions. Don’t wait for the perfect solution. It’s the rarest of decisions that can’t later be improved upon, or even reversed. Most things you thought were worthy of additional deliberation turn out not to matter in the least. But moving forward always will.Say no with gusto.
Nobody is going to protect your time and your productivity for you. That’s all on you. But every meeting you really didn’t need to be a part of, every email thread you don’t have a great input on, and every other demand on your time adds up to a big deal very quickly indeed. Make “no” your default, and your rare “yes” will not only be respected, but coveted, and you’ll actually have time to make progress on your stuff.Something is everything.
Focus on making whatever you’re working on real from the get-go. Yes, it’s a rickety mock-up that only works when you hold it at a 30-degree angle against the sun, but it’s something! Something is everything when it comes to making progress. Simply discussing concepts in the abstract leads to illusions of agreement. It’s easy to think that you’re all on the same page when you’re just talking, but if the page only exists inside everyone’s heads, you’re probably not.Be a quitter.
Most stories of glory are about people persevering against all odds and at all cost. Those make for great stories, but often terrible business. The right move when faced with unexpected adversity is indeed sometimes to give up, retreat, and live to fight another four-hour meeting on Monday. It might not be glorious, but in real life bad odds usually – surprise, surprise – turn out badly. Save your bet for a hand worth holding.Source
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