Hello friend,
This week I was reminded again of how important it is to have only a few clear goals.
“We can have anything, but not everything.” — David Allen
This hit me while reading Justin Welsh’s newsletter, “The Hidden Cost of Being Perfect.”
The message was clear: it is impossible to perfect everything—and trying to do so comes at a high cost.
Soon after, I found an article by Mark Manson called “How to Be More Productive (While Working Less).”
As with a good productivity system, it is often a matter of reminding ourselves of the important things over and over again. I read a whole book about the importance of working strategically and prioritizing rest, called Rest, by Alex Pang. However, I often find myself working long hours late into the night. 😖
I was happy to read that Mark Manson says that after about 3-4 hours of work, it’s best to stop working. After a while, our output declines, leading to more mistakes and extra work.
“Make those 3-4 hours where you’re most productive in the day count. The rest is a bonus.” – Mark Manson
Yet, I still feel like I lack time to fit everything into those productive hours. This is when Productivity Angel Ali Abdaal sat on my shoulder and reminded me:
No productivity system can help us do it all. A good system focuses on what is important to us and helps us get it done.
And the one thing that will transform your focus is tracking your focus minutes.
Since I started tracking my time with toggl.com and updating my calendar nightly, I see how I spend every minute. Leading a 12-week productivity course lets me test and apply the concepts I teach again and again, which is great.
Tracking my time for several months now allows me to pinpoint my 20% High-Impact Tasks, using the exercise from Justin Welsh’s post. But more on that next week.
Have a productive week!
Lukas 🌞
