How to do more in 3 hours than most people can do in a week

1. Avoid Productivity Killers

In an attempt to increase our own efficiency and ability to concentrate, we read books on time management and productivity, install special applications. But before going this way, we need to understand what exactly prevents us from concentrating in general.

For example, this is reading work messages and letters before the start of the working day. Checking mail early in the morning, we overload our brain with tasks in advance, add stress to ourselves, rush to put out local “fires”, although we could have had more important and priority things planned. Or we just feel powerless, because we are unlikely to be able to solve the problems that have arisen until our colleagues get in touch.

Another “productivity killer” is notifications (messages, reminders, etc.). For many of us, the phone literally breaks, and this cannot but be distracting.

Plus, despite what some coaches and motivational speakers might say, nature didn’t design us to multitask. No matter how hard we try to stay focused, notifications are distracting, and it can be difficult to refocus on a task: according to some reports, it takes about 23 minutes^*.

Finally, checking the phone turns into a kind of drug: when we do this, the body gets its portion of dopamine – the “feel good hormone”. So, we are in a hurry again for the supplement.

What to do?

• If work allows, at least from time to time (especially in the mornings) put your phone on airplane mode or set the “do not disturb” status.
• Uninstall all unnecessary or not very important applications or turn off notifications in them.
• Don’t start the day with TV, reading the news, and social media feeds. By consuming content, we do not get closer to our dream or goal, but only overload our heads with unnecessary (usually) information, and besides, we get upset and stressed, which leads to a decrease in productivity.

2. Make the most of your first hours after waking up

Protect your morning time from any encroachment. It is in the first three hours after getting up that we manage to be the most creative, focused, productive and energetic. Here’s what you can do:

• The first few minutes of the morning should be spent on a pleasant ritual that is not related to work. Its purpose is to help you find the right attitude. You can meditate, go for a walk, cook yourself a healthy breakfast, read something inspiring, write down your goals, or just stretch. Do not spend too much time on it, the main thing is that you feel 100% ready – physically and psychologically – for new achievements.
• Save yourself the trouble of making small, unimportant decisions in the morning—what to eat, what to wear, what exercise to do. Do not waste psychic energy on this – stick to the developed routine.
• In the remaining 2-2,5 hours, while working, give your best. Next, we will tell you exactly how.

3. Divide the work into subtasks

Many of us consider ourselves incapable of getting things done because of “laziness, lack of motivation, and willpower.” However, the real reason is much simpler. For example, you could add “write a blog post” or “make a new website” to your to-do list. Both of these tasks are too labor-intensive – they can take from 3 to 30 hours to complete!

Experts suggest “eating the elephant piece by piece” – breaking down each big task into a series of small, specific, and doable ones. Ideally, each microtask should take no more than an hour to complete.

With this approach, “write an article for a blog” turns into “decide on a topic”, “outline the structure of the text”, “prepare a draft”, “come up with 3 heading options”, and so on. As you complete each of these tasks, you will gain more and more self-confidence. And it is always easier to take several small steps than one big one.

4. Learn to prioritize

Do not forget about the “Pareto principle”, according to which 20% of efforts (in this context – your work) give 80% of the result. Don’t try to complete all the tasks on your list – choose the three most important and make them your priority. Do them one by one, without being distracted by anything, until you are done. So you can do more every day than before. And again, the most important thing is to do it during the most productive hours of the morning.

To decide on three priorities, ask yourself:

• What three tasks definitely can’t wait until tomorrow?
• What three tasks will be enough to complete even if I do nothing else?
• What three things will most affect my life?

If there are still more than three tasks left, do the opposite: weed out those that will have the least impact on you if not completed. Then prioritize among the remaining three.

5. Set time limits

Have you heard of Parkinson’s Law? It sounds like this: “work takes up all the time allotted for it.” In other words, no matter how much time you give yourself to complete this or that task, be sure that it will take all this time – and not an hour (not a minute) less. So, if you want to do more, set yourself tighter time frames, internal deadlines that will encourage you to work not only efficiently, but also quickly.

6. Use the Pomodoro Method

Entrepreneur and coach Francesco Cirillo, who invented it, used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer. He would start a timer, work until the signal sounded, take a short break, then repeat everything. Thus, intervals of maximum productivity and concentration alternated with breaks during which it was possible to rest and recover, just like when performing physical exercises.

Cirillo used a “25 minute work – 5 minute break” scheme, but you can vary the intervals based on your needs. At the same time, during breaks, you need to really relax, and not check mail, social networks, or otherwise distract yourself. Instead, you can do a warm-up or at least stand up and stretch.

7. Group tasks

On average, we spend 28% of our work day reading and responding to emails. At the same time, as mentioned earlier, being distracted by letters and messages, we experience difficulties in order to return to the task again. One study found that we check email and messages on average once every six minutes.

Instead of leaving the mail window open all day (as 84% ​​of employees do), it is better to schedule 1-3 time slots specifically for checking emails and messages. Many will immediately object that this is not always possible. Like, their work does not allow it. But is it really so?

• Have you tried checking email less often?
• Did it lead to any negative consequences?
• Are you really required to respond to emails and messages within minutes or seconds?

If you haven’t tried it, start right now and see what happens. Alternatively, you can set up notifications on your phone so that you only see the sender’s name and subject line, without being distracted by the contents of the email. So you can not be afraid that you will miss a message from your boss or an important client.

8. Listen to the same song on repeat

In that case, of course, if music at all helps you work. What is the meaning of this approach? Listening to one song over and over again, we stop being distracted by the words and simply recharge with the necessary energy.

9. Dig deep and figure out what the problem is

If you’ve tried all of the methods in this article and still can’t concentrate and get things done, ask yourself if you even want to do them. Perhaps you are afraid of something or experiencing internal resistance? If so, try to understand what is behind it. Perhaps your body and mind are trying to tell you something. Listen to them – without this, alas, even the most effective tools will not help you succeed.

^* https://www.ics.uci.edu/~gmark/chi08-mark.pdf