Michael S. Hyatt is known in Russia in a narrow circle, mainly among publishers. This person knows the publishing business thoroughly — he was both an author (he wrote 4 books, one of which was on the New York Times bestseller list for 7 months) and a literary agent. And now he is the head of the world's largest publishing house producing Christian literature (this company ranks 6th in the USA among all publishers). So according to Hiatt, it is quite realistic to snatch 10 hours from the working week. And here's how:
1. Limit the time spent on the Internet. Michael is convinced that although the Web is a great tool for research, etc., people mostly spend time there. Mindless surfing from one page to another without a clear goal is what we often do. The key is to focus on activities and limit hours online.
The same applies to working with email. One of the few exceptions is made for employees of customer services, who should always be available.
2. Access electronic messages only once. Many people reread the e-mail correspondence several times. It's a waste of time, because the information doesn't change. Hiatt advises to read the letter only once and immediately make the appropriate decision — to perform some action, delegate, postpone, delete, etc.
3. Follow the two-minute rule. It's amazing how many people add small details like «call parents » to their ToDo lists. Do it right away. If the task is simple and does not require a lot of time, why postpone its execution if you can do it and move on?
4. Stop attending unimportant meetings. Every meeting should have a goal and an agenda. If the topic of the meeting does not coincide with your work, most likely it is not necessary.
5. Create a schedule for the work. Besides the fact that it helps to be organized, there is another positive point. When someone wants to invite you to an unimportant meeting, you can always refer to the fact that there are jobs at this time. And you will do it, but for yourself :)
6. Encourage the habit of «not finishing». Not all the projects that we are starting are worth completing, bringing to an end. Often it would be more correct to exit the project in a timely manner, saving time.
The same applies, for example, to reading — if a book or article is not of interest to read, it is not necessary to finish reading to the end. Moreover, Hiatt, who has worked in the publishing business for many years, claims that reading most books can be stopped in the middle and you will not lose anything.
The key, in his opinion, is to read the book as long as it is of interest. If it is not there, do not torture yourself, there are a lot of really great works in the world that are worth reading.
7. Weekly review. One of the reasons why life gets out of control is the lack of planning. Hiatt suggests (and follows this rule himself) spending a little time once a week to see what has been accomplished, what needs to be done next week. In general, the topic of the weekly review is quite interesting, Hiatt devotes a separate article to it. So if you want, consider this aspect of planning.
How to Shave Ten Hours Off Your Work Week [From Where I Sit]
