9 Work Habits You Need to Stop
Today
Author
Tim Ferriss suggests some common bad habits you should definitely add to your
not-to-do-list.
Perhaps
you've heard of a "not-to-do list." CEOs and productivity
experts recommend the idea highly as a huge
productivity booster that will help you free up time and headspace for all the things
that really matter.
Sounds
great. But what should go on it? Best-selling author Tim Ferriss has some ideas. In a recent short podcast he offered nine
suggestions of bad work habits that many entrepreneurs and others desperately
need to eliminate (chances are you are doing at least a couple of these--I'm
personally massively guilty of two and five), so there is almost certainly
something here that can boost your output.
Don't
overwhelm yourself, Ferriss says. Just tackle one or two at a time, eliminating
counterproductive habits step by step, and eventually you'll reclaim impressive
amounts of time and energy.
Do Not Answer
Calls from Unrecognized Numbers
Ferriss
gives a couple of rationales for this one. First, the interruption will throw
your concentration, costing you far more in time and brain power than just the
conversation itself, and second, if it's important, you'll find yourself in a
poor negotiating position, scrambling to formulate your thoughts when the
caller is already well prepared. Instead, use Google Voice to check your
messages or a service like PhoneTag to have them sent to you as email.
Do Not Email First
Thing in the Morning or Last Thing at Night
"The
former scrambles your priorities and all your plans for the day and the latter
just gives you insomnia," says Ferriss, who
insists "email can wait until 10am" or after you check off at least
one substantive to-do list item.
Do Not Agree to
Meetings or Calls With No Clear Agenda or End Time
"If
the desired outcome is defined clearly... and there's an agenda listing
topics--questions to cover--no meeting or call should last more than 30
minutes," claims Ferriss, so "request them in advance so you can
'best prepare and make good use of our time together.'"
Do Not Let People
Ramble
Sounds
harsh, but it's necessary, Ferriss believes. "Small talk takes up big
time," he says, so when people start to tell you about their weekends, cut
them off politely with something like "I'm in the middle of something, but
what's up?"
But be
aware, not everyone agrees with this
one (and
certainly not in every situation), and you may want to pay
particularly close attention to norms around chit chat
when traveling internationally.
Do Not Check Email
Constantly
Batch it
and check it only periodically at set times (Ferriss goes for twice a
day). Your inbox is analogous to a
cocaine pellet dispenser, says Ferriss. Don't be an addict. Tools like strategic use of
the auto responder and Boomerang can help.
Do Not
Over-Communicate With Low Profit, High Maintenance Customers
"Do
an 80-20 analysis of your customer base in two ways," Ferriss advises.
"Which 20% are producing 80% or more of my profit, and which 20% are
consuming 80% or more of my time? Then put the loudest and least productive on
auto-pilot, citing a change of company policy."
What
should those "new policies" look like? Ferriss suggests emailing
problem clients with things like guidance on the number of permissible calls
and expected response times. If that sounds like it might annoy your loudmouth
customers, his response is, essentially, who cares? Point them to other providers
if they don't like the new rules. "Sometimes you really have to fire your
customers."
Do Not Work More
to Fix Being Too Busy
The cure
for being overwhelmed isn't working more, it's sitting down and prioritizing
your tasks, Ferriss believes. So don't make the mistake of working
frantically if you're swamped. Instead, sit down and decide what actually needs
doing urgently. If that means apologizing for a slightly late return call or
paying a small late fee, so be it, as long as you manage to get the important
things done.
"If
you don't have time, the truth is you don't have priorities, so think harder,
don't work harder," he says.
Do Not Carry a
Digital Leash 24/7
At least
one day a week leave you smartphone somewhere where you can't get easy access
to it. If you're gasping, you're probably the type of person that most needs to
do kick this particular habit.
Do Not Expect Work
to Fill a Void That Non-Work Relationships and Activities Should
"Work
is not all of life," says Ferriss. This seems obvious, but the sad truth
is that while nearly everyone would agree to this in principle, it's easy to
let things slide to a point where your actions and your stated values don't
match up. Defend the time you have scheduled for loved ones and cool activities
with the same ferocity you apply to getting to an important meeting for your
business.
http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/9-work-habits-you-need-to-stop-doing-today.html?cid=em01016week28e
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