The Most POWERFUL Productivity “Tool” I’ve Found

Thanh Considering Time

If there’s one factor that led to exponential development in my private life and at AE, it’s being younger and Asian.

Therefore, Asian Effectivity.

In all seriousness, it’s a brand new considering device I’ve realized about two years in the past that I wish to share with you at this time that can change your productivity sport. It’s referred to as Considering Time.

I realized this from varied folks reminiscent of Keith Cunningham (enterprise coach with web value in a whole bunch of tens of millions) and different entrepreneurs in my circle. Because the identify implies, it’s time carved out for considering. It’s one of the highly effective instruments you possibly can have to resolve issues and I attribute my largest wins of the final 12 months to it.

For instance, within the trailing yr I’ve been capable of:

Go to Tokyo for 2 weeks, utterly disconnect from the enterprise and once I got here again we generated extra income than once I left.
Purchase my dad a enterprise class flight to Vietnam so he might see his dad and mom after they obtained sick.
Each week on Saturday I both get a therapeutic massage/cupping, acupuncture or a float tank session to deal with myself.
Rent my first govt assistant to assist me day-to-day and unencumber time.
None of those had been doable earlier than till I began implementing Considering Time. This device took my Productivity Rating to new heights (take the quiz to see what’s yours).

As you would possibly discover, quite a lot of my issues on the checklist “cost” cash. Due to Considering Time I’ve been capable of leverage my time significantly better which resulted in making more cash that I’m reinvesting in both myself or the enterprise.

Being Asian Environment friendly provides me the chance to succeed in my objectives sooner and with larger success price. That is what I’ve been obsessive about all my life. How can I get issues accomplished sooner? How can I assure that I get what I need? How can I construct one thing to make my life simpler and extra handy?

And most vital of all, what is going to make me happier?

As I wish to say, pleased individuals are productive folks.

Blissful folks working

And right here comes the massive problem while you begin optimizing your life: we ignore the time to consider what’s truly vital frequently.

As life will get busier, that’s once we want Considering Time essentially the most. That’s once we want to have the ability to take a step again and actively take into consideration what we’re doing subsequent and how we should always make changes.

I’m not speaking about doing a weekly evaluation and following a guidelines of issues you must monitor.

Considering Time is a really artistic course of the place you begin from scratch each single time and query all the pieces you recognize.

Don’t confuse this with reflection. Lisa, certainly one of our Dojo members, put it like this:

“Reflection is looking backward whereas thinking is about looking forward.”

Effectively mentioned, Lisa.

(You would possibly acknowledge her as certainly one of our star college students of Escape Your E mail. She used to spend 7 hours/day on electronic mail and after taking our course, she freed up over 6 hours. Right here’s her case examine.)

While you’re going for a stroll or sit nonetheless on the sofa, that’s reflecting. While you let your thoughts wander, that’s reflecting.

Considering could be very totally different. It’s while you attempt to clear up a problem or drawback and want lengthy considering time intervals to provide you with an answer. You want to be in a distraction free surroundings so you possibly can let your mind go on the drawback at full pace. It isn’t doing a Google search on the way to do or repair one thing. It’s about actually understanding your drawback and arising with methods to resolve it.

What you’ll typically discover is that the issue you’re dealing with is definitely not an issue, however a symptom. That is one thing I’ll make clear with you on podcast episode 162 of The Productivity Present that’s popping out in a couple of month however right here’s a easy instance.

Numerous Asian Effectivity readers come to us with procrastination issues. They simply can’t appear to get began on vital stuff despite the fact that they know they need to be doing it. Ever been in that state of affairs too?

Get instantly obtain AsianEfficiency Finisher’s Fastlane – Increase your productivity and Focus

Procrastination and urgency

They assume the issue is “procrastination” however in actuality, procrastination is a symptom. It’s the symptom of a scarcity of readability. When you’ve got absolute readability round your purpose and/or imaginative and prescient, procrastination not often manifests itself.

If it’s not lack of readability, it’s often associated to power. This might be a weight loss plan or sleeping drawback. One time I had a shopper who blamed his continual procrastination for all the time lacking his objectives. As quickly as he informed me that, I knew immediately that procrastination wasn’t the actual drawback. I suspected “procrastination” was a symptom of one thing else.

After digging deeper, what I discovered was that he had poor sleeping habits. The man was sleeping 4–5 hours an evening and all the time cranky within the morning. While you don’t get sufficient sleep, the most typical signs of which are procrastination and getting simply distracted.

Once I informed him that we might work on his night ritual, he instantly pushed again. “Thanh, why would I need to do this? This doesn’t help me get this important work done.”

After explaining to him the considering behind it, he was open to attempting it out. He put his night ritual in place, began sleeping on time and getting an excellent 7–8 hours in each night time. Just a few days later once I checked-in with him, he was a modified man.

Procrastination wasn’t a problem anymore. He now had the power to tackle the vital stuff he wanted to concentrate on. We ultimately obtained there as a result of we didn’t deal with the symptom however fastened the basis drawback.

(And if you happen to’re inquisitive about the way to get higher sleep, we’ve got an audio program on that.)

I might have simply taught him the Eat That Frog tactic or my favourite anti-procrastination method, and it will it have helped him. Nevertheless it wouldn’t repair the actual drawback. It was a band-help resolution.

(As a facet-word: as a trainer and coach, I’ll typically give these options to folks to provide them momentum whereas we’re addressing the basis drawback on the similar time. By the top of it they’ll have the actual drawback fastened and new instruments they will use each time the symptom comes up sooner or later.)

Don’t get me improper, the short techniques and methods work. I nonetheless use them each now and then each time I’m procrastinating and I must get one thing accomplished. I’ll use one of many techniques outlined in our Finisher’s Fastlane course as a band-help.

At the back of thoughts, I additionally know that I both want to handle the readability round my work or take a look at what’s improper with my power. Particularly if it occurs greater than 3 occasions. That’s when the three Occasions Rule will kick in that we educate in our programs. When one thing occurs greater than 3 occasions, it’s an indication of a systemic error so we have to deal with it at its core.

I hope by now you notice that quite a lot of stuff you cope with each day aren’t actually issues. They’re signs. After spending a whole bunch of hours on Considering Time, I can inform you that each one the “problems” I assumed I had weren’t actually issues.

Now that I’ve this highly effective device, I really feel like Neo in The Matrix. I can see with readability what’s taking place with different folks and myself, I can take a step again and analyze what the proper, productive transfer goes ahead. It’s sort of like having the ability to catch your self on a cognitive bias earlier than it kicks in and derails you.

Reflection

In the event you assume you’ve got an issue…assume once more.

I’ll guess you my treasured MacBook Professional that it’s not an issue however a symptom.

After you have readability and confidence that you’ve discovered the basis drawback, arising with an answer is the straightforward half. It’s simply the method of attending to the actual drawback is tough.

I’ll stroll you thru a course of on this in episode 162 on our podcast The Productivity Present that’s popping out in a month. I’m additionally finalizing a mini-course on this within the Dojo, our non-public neighborhood and coaching library, that can come out quickly.

For now, right here’s what you are able to do.

Write an inventory of three issues you’ve got that you simply wish to have addressed.
Settle for that every drawback you wrote down is a symptom. It’s not the actual drawback however a symptom of one thing else.
Spend quarter-hour enthusiastic about what the basis trigger is likely to be for certainly one of your issues. What’s it that generates the symptom?
Maintain questioning each assumption that comes up till you possibly can’t anymore. That’s most likely what the actual drawback is.
What are you able to do to handle the actual drawback?
Give it a strive proper now. I’m assured that you simply’ll uncover quite a lot of stuff you’ve by no means considered.

If you wish to be sure you get the podcast episode on Considering Time, subscribe to the podcast proper now. Open up your podcast app, seek for “the productivity show” and subscribe proper now. In case you’re questioning, my favourite podcast app is Overcast.

Replace: the podcast episode is now dwell.

Subsequent week I’ll present you ways I plan my week. This can be a system I’ve been tremendous-tuning over the past 12 months as my work has modified at AE from creator to CEO. In the event you’ve ever questioned how a CEO plans per week, keep tuned. It’s very atypical however you’ll get to see the behind-the-scenes of my planning system that permits me to have time freedom and end day-after-day at 5pm (with none stress).