Effectiveness Insights - Winter 2021
I have been working to improve my effectiveness recently, which I define effectiveness to be:
Getting the things you want done
As a knowledge worker, this is easier said than done. When information is flowing faster than ever and continuously changing, it’s harder for me to be an effective knowledge worker as information can be overwhelming continuously.
Small steps I took to be more effective in overwhelming conditions:
- Plan my week for things to do
- Have the next smallest step
- Measure
Plan Week
Planning the week at the beginning of the week gives you a better chance of being proactive instead of reactive. When I am reacting, I am beholden at other people who are proactive (or just reacting themselves.)
By spending an hour at the beginning of the week, I feel a bit more in control throughout the week instead of going in multiple directions at once.
A company training on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People taught me this. It’s habit #3 - Putting First Things First.
Next Smallest Step
Combining the weekly planning with the Getting Things Done concept of:
Put the next smallest action step for the item
This creates momentum because when I see a long list of “To Do” or a single difficult stepfor a project my mind is:
😨
and I shut down and never look at that list (until there’s a deadline!)
When I see a list of a single To Do that’s small, my mind is:
🤗
and I think: let’s try it. What happens is I start it, get it done, and if I have time, keep doing it!
It’s The 50/1 Rule in action - 1% effort creating 50% momentum (or something like that). The momentum builds up and eventually I get to 80% completion of the project with only 20% effort.
The key is to have a single step that is simple.
Measure
One area I have a hard time with is getting to sleep regularly. I know the benefits. I know the importance of routine. Yet, I never can get to bed on a consistent time. I keep subverting myself.
Until I did one thing: measure.
Yes, I just record what time I goto bed every day and all of the sudden, my habits start to change. All the “routine” I built up before, I question its importance and start reducing activities in order to get to bed at a consistent time.
By only measuring, I allow those exceptional circumstances to happen. I don’t create the perfect routine for every situation, I record and review, that’s it - no goal, no punishment, no rewards.
This is also the same tactic I take to budgeting myself. Every time I tried to set a budget for myself, I failed (and weirdly - punish myself.) By just measuring what I spend, I start to develop a sense of my own spending and regulate it naturally.
Measuring feels like the 1% in The 50/1 Rule.