You don't need to feel like a rat on a wheel to get a lot done.
BY JESSICA STILLMAN
If you want to lose weight, you need to eat less. If you want to
see the sun rise, you look east. And if you want to get more done, you'll end up busier, right?
These
three statements may all sound like timeless, unavoidable truths, but according
to a recent Medium post by Praxis founder and CEO Isaac Morehouse, the last one is actually a fallacy.
You might not have much luck trying to change the direction the sun moves
across the sky or your basic metabolic math, but he insists it really is
possible to be more productive and yet feel less frantic.
“I
have three kids; I'm running a business; I
create and post a new podcast episode
at least once a week; I write seven to 10 articles per week; I travel and
speak, on average, twice a month; I'm committed to doing one form of exercise
every day and reading a book every week. Yet I still have plenty of time,” he
says.
How
does he manage this seemingly miraculous feat? Some of his tips are common
productivity fare, such as outsourcing tasks and learning to say no,
but a few of his ideas are both subtle and original.
1. Be honest
Well,
that sounds simple. But Morehouse insists this essential first step can be a
struggle. Being busy is often seen as a
sign of importance and
success, after all, so if you're driven, admitting that busyness is just not
you can take a little bit of soul searching.
“It took me a long, long
time to admit that I hate being busy," Morehouse writes. "From my
mid-teens to mid-late 20s, I was busy nearly every hour of the day. I wanted to
be one of those people who live for the rush and never slow down, so I adopted
(or rather didn't resist) that lifestyle. But it was never me. The sooner I
came to terms with that bit of self-knowledge and stopped feeling bad about it,
the easier it became to begin the process of unbusying myself.”
2. Kill the clutter
If you want to get stuff
done without feeling busy, clutter (both mental and physical) is your enemy, so
show clutter of all types no mercy.
“Every piece of mail,
digital or physical, I immediately review," Morehouse says, explaining his
approach. "I look for excuses to throw things away rather than reasons to
keep them. I take action immediately. I pay bills the minute I get them,
whenever possible, and throw away or delete the envelope. I take a photo of
business lunch receipts, email them to myself, then throw away the paper and
delete the photo off my phone, all while still waiting in line to get my
order.”
3. Let your subconscious do the
work
If you're not aware
you're working, you're unlikely to feel busy. And yes, it is possible to get
stuff done without ever feeling like you're slaving away, Morehouse claims. You
just have to rely on that trusty friend, your subconscious.
“I think about my work
all the time," he says. "In the shower, lying in bed before I fall
asleep, while on a walk, in traffic, and almost everywhere else, unless I
specifically decide to put it on hold. The advantage to this is that by the
time I sit down to get cranking away, the bulk of the hard work is done.”
The
ease with which his problems solve themselves is thanks to the “power of the subconscious,” Morehouse claims. “Wrestling with
ideas consciously triggers your subconscious mind. When you are distracted, or
sleeping, or too tired to consciously focus on them anymore, they're still
bouncing around in there. By the time you need to call them to the front of
your mind again, often problems have been solved and ideas have been improved
as they spent time doing whatever magic your brain does to them with a little
time.”
Source:
http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/3-secrets-to-being-super-productive-without-feeling-busy.html
