16 Things
Successful People Do to Maximize Their Time
The truth
is, 95 percent of the things we do in our lives can and should be done either
by someone else or by automation tools. Successful people focus on the five
percent of things only they can do: they optimize their time so that they spend most of it
doing the things they
do better than anyone else in the world. They don’t try to do it all. They know
this only leads to disaster.
Most
importantly, they’ve defined success for themselves. They aren’t
trying to measure up to some cultural or societal standards of success. They
don’t care what other people think of them. They live their life on their own
terms.
The
following are a few key things successful people do to do less and live more.
1. They don’t waste decades of their life
off-course.
Most
people spend years, sometimes decades of their life on an undesired path.
They’ve in-authentically, following cultural and social norms and eventually
found themselves in a mid-life identity crisis. Although identity crisis is fundamental to identity
achievement, the goal is to get this out of the way
sooner rather than later—like, in your 20s and 30s rather than your 50s and
60s.
2. They correct their course quickly.
Airplanes are off course 90 percent of the
time. Yet, they almost always arrive at their final destination on time by
incessant course corrections throughout the flight. Because they correct
themselves so quickly, getting back on course is easy. If they weren’t so
intense about their course corrections, they’d be extremely late or never make
it.
Likewise, successful people have an
internally correcting system. The more narrow and aerodynamic they can get, the
less time and energy they spend getting where they want to go.
3. They remove non-essential garbage from their lives.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
— Leonardo
De Vinci
Successful people live minimally. They
removed all the non-essential physical, mental, and relational baggage bogging
them down. Their lives are built on fundamentals. They avoid excess. They say
no to almost everything.
4. They skip non-essential steps most people take.
Most people climb ladders vertically.
Successful people switch ladders
laterally. Almost all of the United States Presidents
spent less time in politics than the average Congressman. The best, and most
popular Presidents, spent the least amount of time in politics.
Ronald Reagan was an actor. Dwight Eisenhower laterally shifted from the
military. Woodrow Wilson bounced over from academia.
Rather than spending decades climbing the tedious
ladder with glass ceilings, they simply jumped laterally from a different,
non-political ladder. They reached the top by skipping the unnecessary
“dues-paying” steps.
5. They focus on results rather than hard work.
The majority of the population still lives
under the outdated industrial model. They work 9–5 and are compensated for the
amount of time they work. No punching the clock, no dollars earned. However,
successful people focus on the few things that generate the most results.
Everything else is either automated, outsourced, or removed. Rather than
getting paid for time, they are compensated for the value they produce.
“You could do most of what Richard and Steve
do, perhaps better than they do it. Except for what they do for about five
minutes a day. In those five minutes a day, they create billions of dollars’
worth of value. And most of us could not do what they do in those five
minutes.”
— Seth
Godin
6. They use automation tools.
We all do certain 30–60 second tasks multiple
times every day. Successful people automate these tasks. There are endless
automation tools you could use to remove the doing from your life to create
more space for living. One example is Zapier, which is an app that makes
automations between multiple web services. Essentially, if something happens at
one place, something else happens at another. If someone buys something from
you on PayPal, they are automatically put in a customer file. If someone
important emails you, it’s sent to a place where you’ll see it.
7. They outsource tasks.
After optimization and automation, the rest
gets outsourced. Like automation tools, there are limitless outsourcing
options. Fancy
Hands is a team of over 3,000 virtual assistants
who are available 24 hours a day. The service starts at $25 dollars per
month. Fiverr is another outsourcing tool where you pay $5 to get
various tasks done like editing your blog posts or transcribing your audios.
8. They create automated income streams.
Successful people have established their life
on their own terms. They are not governed by the clock. They consciously choose
how they spend every minute. That’s because they’ve created automated streams
of income.
There are several approaches you can take to
doing this. Some take longer than others. You could build a large real estate
investment portfolio. This may take a few years. Or, you could create online
courses using tools like Aweber or Infusionsoft. You can even automate
the marketing using Facebook Ads.
9. They set short timelines.
“How can you achieve your 10 year plan in the
next 6 months?”
— Peter
Thiel
According to Parkinson’s Law, work expands so
as to fill the time available for its completion. If you have a lot of time,
you’ll be inefficient. If you have a little time, you’ll be intensely
productive. Short timelines facilitate flow, which is optimal human
functioning.
10. Get 7+ hours of healthy sleep daily.
Healthy sleep is essential for increased
productivity and optimizing your life. Successful people ensure they get good
sleep. They keep their room around 68 degrees and avoid eating too close to
bedtime. They go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Most wake up
between 4:30 and 6:00 a.m.
11. They have a killer morning routine.
Successful people have a bomb morning
routine. They practice prayer and meditation to orient
themselves toward the positive and abundance in life. They exercise and get
their blood flowing. They eat a healthy breakfast, focusing on proteins and
good fats. They take cold showers. They listen to or read content that
instructs and inspires them. They review their life vision to get perspective
on their day. And they do the most undesired task first, knowing if they don’t,
it won’t get done.
Most of the time, this routine is complete by
8 a.m. and they’ve already completed the most important things they will do
that day. They’ve put themselves in a position to succeed at their highest
level the rest of the day. To be fully present and not bogged down by the
urgent and unimportant.
12. They have a small to-do list each day.
Successful people do not have big to-do lists
like most people. On most days, there is only 1–5 things that really need to
get done. They usually have these things done before noon and have the rest of
the day to attend to urgent and life stuff that naturally pops up.
13. They drop stuff that isn’t working.
Most people fail to understand what
psychologists call the sunk cost fallacy. When people put resources into
something, even if it’s a sinking ship, they stay in longer than they should.
Sometimes to the death. Successful people, on the other hand, discern quickly
when they are on a dead-end path. Even if they’ve put lots of resources into
something, they see quitting as a win, not a loss. They move on quickly and
don’t overthink the past.
14. They check their email and social media at a few specific times
each day.
Most people wake up and immediately check
their email and social media. They put themselves in a reactive mental state.
Subconsciously, they’ve committed their day to other people’s agendas.
Conversely, successful people check their email and social media at specific
times each day. They don’t obsess over messages, page views, likes, or other
statistics. At most, they check these things only a few times per day.
15. They completely unplug when they finish working.
When they are at work, they’re at work. When
they’re home, they’re home. Successful people aren’t afraid to be unreachable.
They have one or two key people who keep them in the know if needed. But when
they finish their work, they are just as awesome and present with the ones they
love. They make time for rejuvenating recreation. They aren’t workaholics.
16. They take mini-retirements often.
Most people take two weeks off per year.
Successful people take multiple mini-retirements each year. At least quarterly, they take a one to
two week hiatus. Often, they check out for an entire month. They aren’t afraid
of taking long-periods of time off. Their lives are far more balanced than most
people.
Conclusion
Successful people live their lives
fundamentally different from the norm. Rather than being a mediocre generalist,
they do a few things only they can do. The rest is automated and outsourced.
They do less and live more.
B BENJAMIN HARDY
http://www.lifehack.org/290558/16-things-successful-people-maximize-their-time?ref=mail&mtype=goal_reminder&mid=20161015_with_thumbnail&uid=687414&hash=707e797f7e757e6d794c856d747b7b3a6f7b79&action=read_more&goal_id=9&token=d0e3e4b03809d240b52d71f8a6770fa9
