Transcription
These are my tips, this is my practical experience. The world will not collapse, in fact, in an hour, but if you turn everything off, then you will do the work great in an hour. My life has taught me that I must value my time more than the time of other people. You don't need to do everything perfectly. My foot will not be there. I am not going to. Remember, your time is worth 50 times more than theirs. I want to share some tips with you as well. These are my tips, this is my practical experience. For me, these are successful actions that I apply every day. The first tip is as follows: do not accept unfinished work from your subordinates, from your partners, but with partners it is not always possible to cope, but at least from your subordinates, never accept unfinished work that requires some clarifications, additions, efforts, and so on. For example, my assistant or my subordinate sends me an email in which he says, "Alexander Alexandrovich, please record a short greeting video for the conference," and so on, and so on. I open this email, and naturally, a question immediately arises in my mind: what is it about, what data, what theses, and so on. And now look at what mistake I used to make. I made such a mistake: I put it in my plan, yes, I need to record a video, that is, I started this cycle and wrote to my assistant: "Provide me this, provide me that." I got stuck, you understand? What was I doing? At some point, I realized. I recommend that you do not act like that, and I recommend that you act as follows: I open it and write, "I am not going to do this. In order for me to do this, provide me with these, these, these data: the title, features, target audience, what data must be included in this video." And send the request. That's all. Pay attention, I immediately make it clear that I am not going to do anything with this until all the data is fully formed for me. Because do not accept unfinished business from subordinates, on which you will then have to work, because it will generate several cycles for you at once. The next tip is very simple, it seems like a tip. At one point in time, do only one thing. Try to do only one thing. But this is not a secret that when we are focused on something, we do it better, more qualitatively, faster. Well, for example, when I write books, I try to go somewhere and turn off all means of communication, literally everything. That is, I switch the means of communication to my assistant, I don't pick up the phone at all, I don't look at Facebook, I don't respond to any messages, and so on. I write a book, and then the book is written quickly and easily. You need to do the same: write some document, write some article, close yourself in your office, turn off everything. The world will not collapse, in fact, in an hour, but if you turn everything off, then you will do the work great in an hour, because all your attention will be right here, you understand? You need to discuss an important topic with your boss. Close the door, turn off your mobile phones, don't look at your computer, turn off everything, concentrate on this quality communication, and you will have a great result. The next tip, tip number 3: do not postpone the decision to do something or not to do something. Why? Because when we postpone a decision, it becomes another unfinished cycle of action. Now I will explain. When it comes to decisions that can be made immediately, do not postpone them, because sometimes we have a tendency to postpone. Do not postpone. For example, partners sent a proposal: "We want you to speak at such a conference on education," and so on. And in fact, you can make a decision immediately and immediately write: "Yes, I will participate, send the data." Or: "I will make a final decision only when you send all the data." Or: "No, I am not going to participate in this." Make a decision quickly, because it happens like this: you write, "Well, yes, it seems interesting, but I need to think about it." You understand? An unfinished cycle. Yes, there is no such thing as "thinking," you understand? Either there is not enough data, then you need to request data. Or one more example on this topic: you open your email, read it, and decide: "I will make a decision later." Bang, another unfinished cycle of action. And then, as a result, after some time, you have 200 unread emails, and you feel stressed. So, the next tip, tip number 4: never, never promise that you will do something if you are not absolutely sure about it. And even more so, do not promise that you will do something when you know deep down that you are unlikely to do it. In other words, no excuses in the Japanese style: "But maybe I'll look, maybe I need to think." You understand? This is not necessary. It steals your attention, because even if you think deep down that you most likely will not do it, you have already started a cycle of action. It's something like this: you can postpone lending $10,000 until the end of, I don't know, next month. And, well, you know, "I need to think." You don't actually want to. Or you have no desire, or you see no point in lending. In fact, you have a lot to think about. Bang, and you have started another cycle of action. The correct thing to say is: "No, I will not lend you ten thousand dollars until the end of next year, month, week." Thousands of faces. So, the next tip, tip number 5, is also interesting: do not be a perfectionist. Well, for me, this is important. You start to be a perfectionist. Do not be a perfectionist. A perfectionist is a person who tries to do everything he does very qualitatively, very cool, perfectly. Everything he touches, he tries to do perfectly. You don't need to do everything perfectly, you understand? Because when you try to do something perfectly, it is very difficult to complete the cycle of action. There are small imperfections, they need to be corrected, improved, supplemented, and so on, and it continues to steal your attention. Yes, some things are worth it, but far from all. Therefore, do not try to do everything perfectly. You know, I remember when I bought one of my first apartments, I did the renovation in two months. A beautiful three-room apartment in a new modern building, several elevators, everything is beautiful, completely large, spacious, bright. I did the renovation quickly, moved in, and like a fool, I lived on the construction site for several more years because everyone around was doing it. And this, by the way, is my observation: very often, especially in good, expensive, elite houses, this is related to perfectionism, you understand? People do renovations like perfectionists, and therefore it drags on for years. The question always arises: what is the point of this? When are you actually going to live there, and so on? Or another example: there is a friend who is writing a book, "Nonprofits & Anis," and he is writing a perfect book, and he has been writing it for 10 years. But the problem is that his brilliant idea will remain unknown to anyone for ten years. Therefore, a healthy balance is needed. A healthy balance is needed. That's one thing. But I can also tell you that many, many things in communication can be done with mediocre quality, and it will work. It depends on your goals, on what you need. So, the next tip, tip number six, concerns short tasks. This is my observation and my successful actions too. I try to do short tasks immediately. And this may seem illogical, yes, I am sitting and working, and then some phone call comes in, I quickly do something, then I continue working. It seems not very logical. In fact, when you understand how the mind works, all these tricks with attention and unfinished cycles of action are quite logical. If a task takes a couple of minutes, then for me there is no point in planning when I will do it and placing a piece of my attention on this unfinished cycle of action. That is, if some task, in other words, tip number six, if some task takes only two or three minutes, it is better to do it immediately. But you shouldn't have taken your hand off the phone. But I already took it off. I've started this cycle anyway. It would be better to finish it immediately, you understand? Therefore, for example, I don't know, decorating a Christmas garland, and I find out that there are no batteries. I don't want to go somewhere, look for a piece of paper, write a shopping list. I immediately take out my smartphone, order them on Amazon so that they send me these batteries home. Everything, I ordered and forgot. Bang. Or suddenly you are sitting and working, and you remember that you need to inform a client about something. It takes, say, one SMS. Of course, I take it and send the SMS, why? Because this cycle has already surfaced, it already exists. It's stupid to ignore it. It's better to finish it right away, free up attention, and continue working. You arrive from a business trip, unpack immediately so that it doesn't lie around. And so on. The next tip, tip number 7: if I agreed to something, it doesn't matter when it happened, I immediately put it in my plan and put it in my calendar. If I can't do it immediately, then I immediately put it in the plan and immediately in the calendar, right at the moment when I agreed. And at the same time, I specify all the necessary data. For example, I'm sitting and talking with my acquaintance here in our New York office, and bang, he invites me to a meeting that will take place in Manhattan, downtown, in two weeks. There will be several entrepreneurs there, and the meeting looks interesting, and I'm interested in being there. I make a decision instantly. It corresponds to my goals. And right away I can say, "Okay, one second." I open my smartphone, I immediately enter this meeting into my calendar. I immediately ask him questions: where will it be, what address, what time, and so on. Everything, everything, and I enter it into the calendar and close it. And my attention is immediately freed up, you understand how it works? Or you are at some negotiations, you talk and talk, and the question arises: "Do we need another meeting?" Don't continue negotiations. Understand? If something came up, "Okay, another meeting? Let's agree when?" "In two weeks?" "Great, Wednesday suits you?" "Doesn't suit." "Okay, agreed." Immediately take out your smartphone, immediately enter it into the calendar. Don't forget to enter the time, place, and of course, what the meeting will be about, so that you don't have to remember anything. A very important point. So, the next tip, tip number eight, is somewhat selfish. This tip is as follows: value your time more than the time of other people. We were actually taught the opposite. Remember in childhood, we were taught: "You must value, son, the time of other people." My life has taught me that I must value my time more than the time of other people. Because, strangely enough, my time is indeed more valuable than the time of most people I deal with, most, not all, but most, for sure. Because sometimes, as managers and business owners, we think, "He'll be there, if I assign this to an employee, he'll fiddle with it, he'll do it three times slower, and so on." And it will be three times slower, and he will have to redo it, and all that. But we don't take into account that our time is 50 times more expensive. And even if he does it five times slower, or even ten times slower, our time is still 50 times more expensive, and it still makes sense. So, you will have the right attitude towards your time only if you have approximately such a point of view: that your time is approximately 50 times more expensive than the time of the employees you work with. Because if you have such a point of view, you will not allow them to send you unfinished information, to steal your time. You will not allow them to shift work onto you that they can do. Just adopt the point of view that your time is 50 times more expensive than the time of any of your employees. And therefore, when, for example, they tell me, "Let's organize a meeting, when can you?" I open my calendar, I think, "Where will it be convenient to do it? When will it be convenient for me?" And I suggest. But there you can still bargain. The next tip, number nine: hire an assistant. An assistant can do many things. Imagine if an assistant did only 10 percent of what you are doing now. If he took only 10 percent of your work, some nonsense and routine, filling out some forms, contacting someone and arranging a meeting, buying a ticket, taking it to the laundry, picking it up from the laundry, picking up the child, taking the child somewhere, finding something and buying flowers for your wife, anything. Everything for which legs, arms, and a head are needed. If he takes even 10-20 percent of your time, it's still a very good, very cool thing. Because remember, your time is worth 50 times more than theirs. That is, even if he takes 5 hours from you, and let's say he spends 40 hours on this work, it's still incredibly profitable. What you could have done in five hours, let him do it in 40, it doesn't matter. It's still incredibly profitable. Hire an assistant, it really unloads you a lot. Because all these small, uninteresting, stupid tasks, he can take on. He will be happy about how he helps you, and you will be happy that you don't have to pay attention to it. Little things like plane tickets. Buying a plane ticket takes about an hour. Take your time, it's 50 times more expensive, and so on. In general, you often need to do some simple things, gather information, and so on. Definitely hire an assistant. It's incredibly important. It's an ordinary skill. And so, tip number 10: ruthlessly complete tasks that are not important for your goals. Ruthlessly complete. Because, anyway, we will find out that we have some circle of tasks hanging over us, and at some point, they may have seemed important to us earlier, but now they are no longer important. And you know, how often do we, like a bulldog, have a grip? If I decide to do something, I must do it. And sometimes it's so stupid that it should have been canceled long ago, and that's it. For example, well, I promised someone to participate in a conference next year. Then a month passed, and you realize that it no longer corresponds to your goals, you are not interested in it. Well, what should you do? Right at that moment, first, be happy that there will be one less task. Second, write a kind letter to the conference organizers with polite apologies, but which clearly conveys the idea: "My foot will not be there. I am not going to do this." And enjoy the fact that you have completed one cycle of action. And with the same, in fact, enthusiasm, sort through your cluttered closets, throw away unnecessary clothes that you haven't worn for more than a year. Some people have clothes that they haven't worn for 10 years, and so on. Sort through papers on your desk, some strange things that are lying in the closet, throw away all unnecessary, broken, non-working, obsolete electronic lamps that clutter up desk drawers, and so on, and so on, and so on. That is, ruthlessly complete, complete, complete cycles of action. And so, well, I've told you my most secret secrets that allow me to increase my efficiency and have a lot of creative energy. Now I hope you can use them and feel much better, and direct the released energy towards achieving your goals. [music]