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Twice the Work, Half the Time

Twice the Work

Insights from the book ‘Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time‘ by Jeff Sutherland.

Time to Read: 8:26 minutes

Do you find most projects start off great but end up being a total nightmare to manage midway through?

Thanks to Jeff Sutherland’s book ‘Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time’ I no longer have project nightmares.

The Problem with Most Projects

The traditional method of executing a project goes something like this:

  • one person is responsible for estimating and sequencing the activities needed to complete the project (makes assumptions for areas he/she is not an expert in)
  • managers assign people to complete the activities
  • the team sticks to the original plan until the project is complete (management assumes the original estimate will remain relevant throughout the entire project life-cycle)
  • any change is seen as a threat to the project
  • additional resources are spent trying to get the project back on track, according to the original (outdated) plan

This rigid approach to project management can often create products the customer doesn’t actually need in the end.  It delivers a product that is more then they actually require and cost more money then they were willing to spend!

This traditional project management method is called the ‘Waterfall’ method.  In the book ‘Scrum’, author Jeff Sutherland reflects on his experience with the ‘Waterfall’ method:

“The process was slow, unpredictable, and often never resulted in a product that people wanted or would pay to buy.  Delays of months or even years were endemic to the process.  The early step-by-step plans, laid out in comforting detail in Gantt charts, reassured management that they were in control of the development process – but almost without fail, we would fall quickly behind schedule and disastrously overbudget.” – Jeff Sutherland

The shortcomings of the ‘Waterfall’ method can be explained by the shortcomings of the human mind.  Psychologists have found that we all use irrational mental shortcuts from time to time and are not aware that we are doing so.  Psychologists call these shortcuts ‘cognitive fallacies’.  Here are a two fallacies that the traditional ‘Waterfall’ method falls prey to:

1. Planning fallacy

The planning fallacy was first introduced by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in 1979. It states that we chronically underestimate the time it takes to complete something (even if we are aware of the phenomenon) because of our overconfidence in completing common tasks and our tendency to focus on a single isolated event without considering the influential factors.

A 1994 study called ‘Exploring the planning fallacy: Why people underestimate their task completion times’ asked 37 psychology students how long it would take them complete their thesis – identifying the best and worst-case scenarios.  At the end of the study, researchers found that the actual completion dates occurred an average of 7 days later than the student’s worst-case estimates.  Only 30% of students were able to stick to their original estimates.

We suffer from the planning fallacy whenever we estimate mid to large size projects.

“Estimates of work can range from 400 percent beyond the time actually taken to 25 percent of the time taken. The low and high estimates differ by a factor of sixteen. As the project progresses and more and more gets settled, the estimates fall more and more into line with reality until there are no more estimates, only reality.” – Jeff Sutherland

Therefore, a project plan is only useful if it can be refined in increments and updated according to the latest information we receive.

“The key is to refine the plan throughout the project rather than do it all up front. Plan in just enough detail to deliver the next increment of value, and estimate the remainder of the project in larger chunks. In Scrum, at the end of each iteration you have something of value that you can see, touch, and show to customers. You can ask them: “Is this what you want? Does this solve at least a piece of your problem? Are we going in the right direction?” And if the answer is no, change your plan.” – Jeff Sutherland

It is important to plan our projects.  But we must ensure we do not ‘over plan’ our projects.

 “A good plan executed violently now is better than a perfect plan executed next week” – General George S Patton Jr.

2. Sunken cost fallacy

If we use a large amount of time and resources to generate a project estimate we become overly attached to it.  This attachment causes us to defend an original estimate, go over budget trying to maintain it and disregard new information that conflicts with it.   When this occurs we are suffering from what psychologists call ‘the sunken cost fallacy’.

“The sunk-cost fallacy keeps people for too long in poor jobs, unhappy marriages, and unpromising research projects. I have often observed young scientists struggling to salvage a doomed project when they would be better advised to drop it and start a new one.” – Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Economist and author of ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’

If our initial estimate is too detailed we forget the true intent of the project and make the ‘plan’ the priority.

These two fallacies cause endless frustration when managing projects.

A New Way

In the 90’s, Japanese professors Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka did extensive research on some of the most effective companies in the world and found that they conducted projects in a radically different way then the Waterfall method.

Jeff Sutherland, author of ‘Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time’, used Takeuchi and Nonaka’s research to develop a project management system called ‘Scrum’ in the early 1990’s.  Since then companies like Google, Amazon, Salesforce.com, Toyota and the FBI have used Scrum and continue to use it.

“Scrum has its origins in the world of software development. Now it’s sweeping through myriad other places where work gets done. Diverse businesses are using it for everything from building rocket ships to managing payroll to expanding human resources, and it’s also popping up in everything from finance to investment, from entertainment to journalism. Scrum accelerates human effort— it doesn’t matter what that effort is.” – Jeff Sutherland

Scrum can be used in almost every environment and on every type of project.  I’ve used Scrum on my engineering projects and I now use it manage my website.

The 7 Steps of a Scrum Project

Identify the product owner (visionary), Scrum master (team facilitator) and a small team of 3 to 9 people that have all the skills necessary to complete a project phase.

(Scrum Sprint Checklist PDF – receive a condensed one-page checklist of the Scrum method)

  1. Create and Prioritize a Backlog (product owner responsibility)
    • List everything that needs to be completed by the team, for the entire project, in narrative format: who, what, why (who’ll be getting value from it, what exactly do they need and why do they need it – “As an X, I want Y, so that I can do Z”).
      • make each item small enough to estimate.
      • make each item independent of other items (items can be considered “complete” on their own).
      • ensure each item is ‘testable’ when completed (determine a testing method that you can use deem the item “complete”).
    • Rank the items in terms of their customer value.
    • Items that can provide immediate value and with relatively very little risk should be at the top of the list (prioritize items based on how quickly they can be demonstrated and used to generate revenue).
  2. Refine and Estimate Backlog Items (team’s responsibility)
    • As a team, assign a Fibonacci number to each item: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 (a natural progression in nature that humans naturally find easier to make comparisons with).
    • Start with one of the hardest/most complex items and assign it a value of 13 (use a higher Fibonacci number, like 21, 34 or 55 for very large projects).  Make a relative comparison to this first item when assigning values to all other items.
    • ”Do not estimate the Backlog in hours, because people are absolutely terrible at that” – Jeff Sutherland.
  3. Conduct a Sprint Planning Session (lead by the Scrum master)
    • Establish a fixed sprint duration for the project that is no longer than 4 weeks (most people run a 1 or 2 week Sprints).
    • Have the team determine how many points they think they can complete during the first Sprint (after the first Sprint they will have a benchmark value to use for future Sprints – aiming for a few more points each successive Sprint).
    • Once the team has committed to what they think they can finish in one Sprint, that’s it.  It cannot be changed or added to.
  4. Make Work Progress Visible (Scrum master’s responsibility)
    • Create individual post-it notes for each sprint item and put them in one of three columns: DO, DOING, DONE.
    • Move an item to ‘done’ directly after completing it.
    • Update the Burndown Chart at the start of each day (a graph with ‘Sprint points’ on the y-axis and ‘Sprint days’ on the x-axis – starting with the total initial number of story points selected for the Sprint)
      • The end result should be a steep downward slope that ends with zero points remaining on the last day of the Sprint.
  5. Conduct Daily Stand-up Scrum Meetings (lead by the Scrum master)
    • Each day, at the same time, for no more than fifteen minutes, the team and the Scrum Master meet and answer three questions:
      • What did we do yesterday to help the team finish the Sprint?
      • What can we do today to help the team finish the Sprint?
      • What obstacles could slow down our progress?
  6. Host a Sprint Demonstration (team’s responsibility)
    • Invite all project stakeholders (customer, product owner, management, etc.).
    • Show the results of what was completed during the last sprint.
    • Only show items that meet the ‘Definition of Done’ (it does not need to be a complete product, but it should have at least one functional feature).
  7. Conduct a Sprint Retrospective Session (lead by the Scrum master)
    • Gather feedback and comments from the demonstration session.
    • Get the team together and have candid, solution-oriented discussion to answer the following questions:
      • What went well?
      • What could have been better?
      • How can we improve the next Sprint?

Repeat steps 1-7 (briefly re-assessing steps 1 & 2 each sprint) until the customer is satisfied with the end result.

When you follow this method of work you don’t need to work as much.

Screenshot_012516_101211_AM

Maxwell Curve chart from the book ‘Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time’ by Jeff Sutherland (Chapter 5)

Why Scrum Works

Scrum works great because it embraces the following truths:

Compounding Improvement

Thanks to daily standup meetings and retrospective sessions scheduled no longer than 1 month a Scrum project continuously improves.  Each improvement is build upon the previous improvement.  When you improve a project process in this fashion you experience compounding improvement (aka: exponential improvement).

Most people are unable to grasp the power of compounding (me included!).   We are all linear thinkers by nature.  If I told you to take 30 linear steps 1 meter at a time, how far would you get?  Easy, 30 meters.

But what if I told you to take 30 exponential one-meter steps: 1m step + 2m step + 4m step, etc.  How far do you think you would be able to go?

Taking 30 exponential steps you take your 1,000,000,000 meters away from where you started.  With 30 exponential steps you would circle the earth 78,000 times.

By having short sprints and frequent demonstrations we are able to harness the power of exponential improvement on our projects.

80/20 Production

In 1896, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto found that most things follow an 80/20 distribution – 80% of the land was owned by 20% of the population, 80% of the wealth was in the hands of 20% of people, 80% of his peas grew from 20% of the pea pods.  The Pareto Principle has become known as the ‘law of the vital few’: the majority of the output comes from a vital few inputs.  Translated to our projects: the majority of value we deliver comes from a vital few tasks.

By finding and focusing on the 20% of available tasks on a given project for a given sprint we reduce the chances of working on something the customer may not need.  The sprint duration should only allow enough time for 20% of the initial project activities to be completed before the next demonstration.

Screenshot_012516_102838_AM

Compounding Value Chart from the book ‘Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time’ by Jeff Sutherland (Chapter 8)

When you deliver 80% value after each 20% time duration you end up delivering 350% of the expected project value (assuming you perform five 20% sprints during the project life-cycle – 80% value x 5 sprints = 350% overall value).

Reduced Decision Fatigue

If you don’t work in sprints (doing frequent demonstrations and retrospective sessions), you’re likely to waste a great deal of time doing things that are not essential to the project.  This will require you to take extra time (overtime) to get the essential project components completed.

Working overtime leads to poor decision making.  Poor decision making leads to mistakes, which leads to more work.  It becomes a downward spiral towards burn out.

“People who work too many hours start making mistakes, which, as we’ve seen, can actually take more effort to fix then to create. Overworked employees get more distracted and begin distracting others. Soon they’re making bad decisions.” – CEO of Venture Capital firm OpenView states as detailed in the book ‘Scrum: Twice the work in the half the time’

Scrum validates results throughout the project lifecycle and ensures that very little time is wasted doing activities that produce minimal value.  The system of Scrum forces you to be effective with your time and avoid overtime.  When you reduce overtime you reduce decision fatigue and the rework that results from decision fatigue.

Intrinsic Motivation

In the book ‘DRIVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us‘, author Daniel Pink explains that people are driven by three powerful intrinsic motivations: purpose, mastery and autonomy.  It turns out that intrinsic motivators last longer and are much more powerful than extrinsic motivators (i.e. more money).

Scrum taps into our three intrinsic motivators in the following way:

  • Purpose: all team members establish and share a common goal to deliver the most value in the shortest amount of time.
  • Mastery: continual improvement combined with visual progress generates a sense of mastery.
  • Autonomy: team members focus on results instead of activities.

The TAKEAWAY

Use Scrum to make your projects vastly more enjoyable, rewarding and efficient than traditional project management methods.

What Now?

Turn your next project into a Scrum project by following the 7 steps of Scrum (click here for a handy one-page Scrum Sprint Checklist PDF).

Practicing Work Violence

Approach your work with violence.

“A good plan executed violently now is better than a perfect plan executed next week” – General George S Patton Jr.

Take massive action.

“The path to success is to take massive, determined action.” – Tony Robbins

The thought of working ‘violently’ gets me in the right state of mind to complete my work.

I used to aim for perfection. I used to get easily overwhelmed and easily frustrated.  

Now I get fired up to take on tasks.

I take action, any action, to advance my goals.  I look for ways to flank your tasks (automate, batch, break it down into small chunks and achieve small victories).

My relentless action leads to relentless progress.

Be in One of Two States

I either operate with violence or serenity.  During the work day I find myself in wartime and in peacetime.

Massive action can lead to a state of frantic ‘busyness’.  Therefore it is important to practice violence in short bursts.  After each burst of violence capture your completed work and the time to capture as a brief intermission and a chance to reflect on the significance of your work while experiencing a deep calm.  If your violence leads to low-value work, stop being violent in that area.

Don’t let the violence consume you and lead to chronic stress.  Use it as a tool but let that tool turn against you and don’t wear the tool out.

Make Initial Actions, Massive Actions

“When would now be a good time to do that?” – Tony Robbins

All power comes from the moment you decide to act.  

Never leave the sight of a goal without doing something towards it attainment.  When inspired by a new goal, ask yourself: “what can I do with two minutes of intense work to further my commitment to this goal?”  

Two minutes of violent action is enough to solidify your commitment to a goal.  Once a ball is rolling downhill it becomes hard to stop.

Massive action creates momentum – momentum leads to progress – progress generates results.  Massive action is taking that initial action as soon as possible.

“The important thing is to have a ball, to be joyful, to be loving and to be explosive. Out of that comes everything and you grow.” – Ray Bradbury

 

What Now?

Overwhelm each item with a flurry of violent action.  Take 2 minutes to thrash and hack your way through the to-do list.  Observe the progress you make and build off it. 

When you get violent with your work it doesn’t have a chance to overwhelm you.

Forgive Thy Procrastination

Studies show that thinking about behavior as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’, ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ is surefire way to NOT reach your goals.

This phenomenon is what psychologists call moral licensing.

When you do something that you consider to be a ‘good’ behavior you are more likely to start trusting your impulses.  When you trust your impulses you are more likely be distracted and are less likely to stick to that ‘good’ behavior. 

Priding myself for ‘good’ eating leads me to binge on a box of pastries later in the week.  Thinking I dis the ‘right’ thing by sitting down to work for few hours on a weeknight, causes me to procrastinate for the remainder of the week.

When we think we are doing something ‘good’ we unknowingly give ourselves permission to do something ‘bad’.

The Darkside of ‘Good’ Behaviors

I know many people who start running in order to lose weight and end up eating more and gaining more weight.  Why?   When people think they’ve done the ‘right’ thing (running) they give themselves to indulge a little – “I deserve a treat for my good behavior!”

When McDonalds added the ‘Healthy Choices’ section to their menu the sale of Big Macs and other ‘non-healthy’ items skyrocketed.  The mere act of considering to eat ‘good’, healthy food caused people to indulge in ‘bad’ behavior!

In one study a group of people were asked to recalled a time they gave money to a charity.  They were then asked to make a donation to a different charity.   The group that recalled a previous donation (a ‘good’ behavior) ended up donating 60% less than people who did not reflect on past donations.

How ‘Bad’ Behaviors Backfire

Labelling behaviors as ‘bad’ will also make you more likely to engage in ‘bad’ behavior.

Why?

When you engage in ‘bad’ behavior you feel guilty.  Whenever you feel guilty your brain desperately wants to avoid the feelings of guilt so it tries to forget the situation.  As the brain attempts to delete the memory associated with guilt you suddenly become more impulsive and more likely to indulge in the same ‘bad’ behavior.

In one study students tracked how much alcohol they consumed and noted how they felt about their consumptoin.  The students that filt ‘bad’ about their alcohol consumption the night before were more likely to drink that night and the night that followed.  Psychologist call this the “what-the-hell effect”.  Its the equivalent to saying “I already blow my diet, I might as well eat the whole thing!”.

Guilt drives more guilt.

Another study tracked the studying habits of students prior to exams.  If a  student felt ‘badly’ about procrastinating on a previous exam they were more likely to procrastinate while studying for an upcoming exam.

“Study after study shows that self-criticism is consistently associated with less motivation and worse self-control”. – Kelly McGongial, PhD and author of The Willpower Instinct  

Instead of scolding yourself for ‘bad’ behavior, try forgiving yourself.  Doing so may seem counter-intuitive but it turns out be essential for stopping future ‘bad’ behavior.

As told in book ‘The Willpower Instinct’, a group of women on a diet were asked to eat some donuts in the name of science.  After the dieters ate the donuts (as requested by the researchers), they were put in a waiting room with a giant bowl of candy awaited them.  If a participant was told: “everyone indulges sometimes; don’t be so hard on yourself”, they ate much less candy than the group of dieters that did receive the message of self-forgiveness.

When you forgive yourself for a ‘bad’ behavior you stop fleeing from the ‘bad’ behavior.  Instead, you learn from your experience and are less likely to indulge in that bad behavior again.

The Takeaway

Stop thinking of behaviors as ‘good’ or ‘bad’.  Instead, simply reflect on the cause and effect of your work: finishing a work project allows you to focus on other things, while checking Facebook provides a temporary escape but leads to additional stress later in the day.  There is nothing ‘good’ or ‘bad’ about those options, there is simply a choice and trade-offs.

When you feel guilty about a ‘bad’ behavior find a way to forgive yourself for doing it to increase the chances of not doing it in the future.

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”  ― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

What Now?

The next time you procrastinate – forgive yourself and think: “It’s OK to procrastinate sometimes, I’m only human’.   Forgiving procrastination leads to less procrastination.

(to learn other language that leads to procrastination read this article)

The 80/20 Lens

80 20 koch

Insights from the book ‘The 80/20 Principle‘ by Richard Koch.

Time to Read: 5:49 minutes

“You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.” – John C. Maxwell

The 80/20 Principle states that 80% of our daily effort yields less than 20% the perceived daily value.  

  • 80% of the meetings you attend could probably go unattended
  • 80% of the emails you reply to could probably be handled by someone else
  • 80% of the items on your to-do list could probably go ‘undone’ with little effect on your life three months from now

Upon reflecting on my time over the last few days I realized that only a few hours yielded meaningful results.  This realization have radically altered my view of time.

“Time management implicitly assumes that we know what is and is not a good use of our time. If the 80/20 Principle holds, this is not a safe assumption.” – Richard Koch

In the 80/20 Principle, author Richard Koch makes the following statements regarding time:

  • Most of what we do is of low value.
  • Some small fragments of our time are much more valuable than all the rest.
  • If we can do anything about this, we should do something radical: there is no point tinkering around the edges or making our use of time a little more efficient.
  • If we make good use of only 20 percent of our time, there is no shortage of it!

When you spend more time in ‘high value’ areas of your life you generate an abundance of time.  

How?  

If 20% of your efforts yield 80% of the valuable results in your life, than doubling your time in those efforts should yield results that appear to have a 160% value (a 60% bonus to your expected experience).  

Doubling the time you spend on rewarding activities generates a surplus of value in your life.

But how do we know what those ‘high-value’ efforts are and how can we direct our time towards more ‘high-value’ activities?

Pause & Reflect

To find the most rewarding activities in your life you need to stop rushing and start observing.

“80/20 thinking requires, and with practice enables, us to spot the few really important things that are happening and ignore the mass of unimportant things.” – Richard Koch

Since 80% of our efforts yield just 20% of the valuable results in our life, it is imperative that we learn to pause throughout the day and reflect on our efforts.  

By periodically pausing we are less likely to engage in a low-value activity.  

If we remain ‘busy’ throughout the day we forget that the 80/20 Principle altogether.  When we learn to pause and reflect on our actions can we can interrupt the ‘busyness’ of our lives.

How do you recognize a 20% (significant) item?

Simple yet effective.  Something you love doing and is valuable to others.  Something that provides you with a lasting positive charge (an increase to your personal energy).  Something that gives you a sense of meaning and purpose.  Something that leads to a lasting impact on your life and the lives of others. An activity you find completely engaged in and measurably better than others at.

Examples:

  • Teaching a co-worker a valuable skill that you possess that will aid their career
  • Taking time to cook with your family and build healthy eating habits
  • Comforting a loved one during a difficult time

How do you recognize a 80% (low value) item?

Something that could easily be done by someone else.  Something you hate doing and only has a marginal impact on people’s lives.  Something you are doing because it has always been done that way.  

Examples:

  • Responding to an email thread just to get the last word in
  • Attending meetings simply because you’ve been told to
  • Writing a document without a clear outline or intended purpose

Populate 80/20 Lists

Create two lists:

  1. Low-Value Activities List
  2. High-Value Activities List

Observe the effort you take all day long.  Become a keen observer of your daily experience.  Frequently ask yourself: “is this the best use of my time?”.  

  • If the answer is ‘No’, add it to the ‘Low-Value Activities List’ (80% item).
  • If the answer is ‘Yes’, add it to the ‘High-Value Activities List’ (20% item).

I have found that all 20% items provide me with either a lasting increase in personal energy or a sense of meaning.  If I feel energized and fulfilled after an activity I can confidently add that activity to ‘High Value’ list.  If I experience no change to my energy levels and my work feels meaningless (doesn’t seem to benefit anyone in significant way), then I add that activity to the ‘Low Value’ list.

Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish between a 20% item and an 80% item without conducting some tests.  I like to run small trials to see if my effort is yielding a valuable result or not.  I look for early signs of significance.

At the end of the week you can reflect on the list of items and plan ways to avoid or delegate the low value 80% activities and build routines/habits around the high value 20% activities..

  • What habits can you work on this week to ensure the 20% activities are easier to do?
  • What do I need to avoid to ensure I don’t fall into the trap of doing an 80% activity?

Habitualize the 20%

“Whenever you spot a 20 percent activity, run to it, surround yourself with it, immerse yourself in it, patent it, make yourself its expert, worshipper, high priest, partner, creator, propagandist, and indispensable ally. Make the most of it. If the most appears to be more than you can imagine, multiply your imagination.” – Richard Koch

It is important to establish routines and build habits around ‘high-value’ activities.  We are creatures of habit and a habit can be executed frequently with very little effort.  

I have a habitualized a routine for eating well, exercising daily, going to bed early, interacting with the people I love and reading every day.

Systematize the 80%

Build systems that prevent you from getting trapped by ‘80% items’.

Establish systems in your life to prevent yourself from performing low-value activities.

  • Delegate certain work tasks.
  • Hire someone to take over part of your role.
  • Use autoresponders for certain emails or times of the day.
  • Turn off all notifications and email send/receive during certain times of the day.
  • Install a program on your computer that prevents you from accessing distracting websites.

Re-Allocate Your Energy

Take the energy used to execute 80% activities and use that energy to build 20% habits.

“Use our resources to seize, magnify and exploit any 20% you come across.” – Richard Koch

Stop all 80% activities as soon as you can.  When you stop 80% activities you can re-allocate that energy to 20% activities – activities that yield 80% of the results.  

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” – Mark Twain

Saying ‘No’ and stopping all non-essential, ‘low-value’ activities is a core principle in life and in business.

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.” – Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs turned Apple into a profitable company by eliminating all but four Apple products (iMac, iBook, Power Macintosh and Powerbook). He reestablished the Apple identity by ruthlessly eliminating 70% of all Apple products and lead the company to be one of the most profitable companies in history.

“Ruthlessly prune 80% activities.  80% time drives out 20% time.  80% assets deprive 20% activities of funds.  80% business relationships displace 20% ones.  Mental energy expended on 80% activities takes away from 20% projects.” – Richard Koch, The 80/20 Principle

Stop trying to frantically get through the ‘80% items’ on your to-do list in the hopes that doing enough of them will mean something.  Instead, use your time and energy to build routines around 20% of activites that reward you with the most results.

“There is nothing quite so useless, as doing with great efficiency, something that should not be done at all.” ― Peter F. Drucker

Give your best energies to the most important parts of your life.  Use your time to strengthen and multiplying the 20% ‘high-value’ items.

The TAKEAWAY

Periodically pause and reflect on the 80% of activities that add little to no value to your life.  Systematically remove these activities from your life and use the newly acquired time and energy to build habits around the 20% of activities that provide you personal energy and a sense of meaning.

What Now?

Throughout the day ask yourself “is this the best use of my time?”.  If the answer is ‘No…’ add it to your 80% list.  If the answer is ‘YES!’ add it to your 20% list.

The end of each week review your 20% list and pick one item that you want to turn into a daily habit (make it automatic and effortless by attaching it to an existing habit, like brushing your teeth in the morning).  Then review your 80% list and pick one item you want to systematically remove from your life.  Come up with a way of delegating or preventing that item from showing up in your life. 

Eventually you will find yourself doing more 20% (high-value) activities and less 80% (low-value) activities.

“Those who ignore the 80/20 Principle are doomed to average returns.  Those who use it must bear the burden of exceptional achievement.” – Richard Koch

 

12 Guerrilla Tactics for Procrastination

Battling procrastination

Time to Read: 2:43 minutes

The resistance to starting can be powerful

We try conventional methods (fear tactics + willpower), but they have no effect.

At times like these we must resort to unconventional methods.

Here are 12 guerrilla tactics to neutralize procrastination:

  1. 1,2,3 Counts

    Count “1,2,3…1,2,3…1,2,3…” in your head, continuously.  Each time you find yourself restarting the count at “1”, take one small action and acknowledge the tiny progress you’re making.  See how many action sequences you can string together.

  2. Zombie Mode

    Activate a short countdown timer and give yourself permission to enter ‘Zombie mode’ until the timer expires.  When you enter ‘Zombie mode’ you work without really thinking.  Your work might be sloppy but you don’t really care because you’re a zombie after all!  Try making the occasional Zombie noise to reinforce the fact you don’t care about quality (for the time being).  After the timer has elapsed you won’t have a pretty product but you will have stopped procrastinating!

  3. Challenge Timer

    If you have a little more energy, activate a short countdown timer and challenge yourself see how much you can complete before the timer is up.  Start with a 5-minute timer.  Then use the first 5-minute session as a benchmark to improve subsequent 5-minute sessions.  

  4. Musical-Tasks

    Play a song you enjoy and see how much progress you can make before the song finishes (musical chair style).

  5. Paper Dump

    Get out a blank piece of paper and write what out whatever thoughts you have for 5 minutes.  Write so fast that you can hardly make out your own writing.  Write about anything and explore interesting ideas that come up.  If nothing comes to mind just write about how great you are at procrastinating!

  6. Keyboard Dump

    Open up a blank document on your computer and write down whatever thoughts you have for 5 minutes.  Type so fast that the document fills up with typos.  Don’t be ashamed; don’t use the delete key.  When you write something stupid simply hit the ‘return’ key and type out the next thing that comes to mind.  

  7. Location Triggers

    Grab your stuff and move to a new location.  Use your arrival at the new location as a trigger to begin working…no matter what.  Learn to associate a specific location with a specific action.  For example: Starbucks = writing, Library = editing, Living room chair = reading, Office desk = designing)

  8. Drink Triggers

    Grab a drink and make a tiny action after each sip you take.  For example: sip of green tea = write one line, sip of coffee = list one idea, a sip of water = read one page, sip of herbal tea = edit one paragraph.

  9. Rant

    Start a voice memo on your phone and start recording thoughts until you arrive at a useful idea.  Rant until you feel productive!  Play back the voice recording the generate more ideas.

  10. Doodle-fest

    Get out a blank piece of paper and doodle like a 5-year-old.  Doodle words and objects related to the problem you’re struggling with.  Doodle until the entire page is full.  Eventually you will stumble upon a good idea to help you get started.  Did you know that JFK was an avid doodler?

  11. 30 Second Push-ups

    Get on the ground and do push-ups for 30 seconds.  This will get your blood pumping and release a little testosterone – a hormone that will make you feel confident enough to start!  If you still don’t feel motivated to start, do another round of 30-second ups.

  12. Repeat This Question…

    “Am I willing, at this time, to make a positive difference?”  Something strange happens when you repeat this phrase…you suddenly find the willpower to get started!  “Am I willing…” frames the task as a choice,  “…at this time…” reminds you that only need to focus for a short while and “…to make a positive difference” gets us thinking about the positive impacts of our results.

Congratulations you’ve started!  You’ve defeated procrastination and you now have unstoppable momentum!

Your 20X Factor

Unbeatable Mind

Insight from the book: Unbeatable Mind, by Mark Divine

Time to Read: 3:48

Do your goals suck?

If your goals aren’t constantly urging your forward, they suck.

I’ve come to realize that I need BIG audacious goals if I want to make significant progress.  If a goal isn’t big enough, then a goal isn’t useful.

“Big challenges inspire me. I think we are all made a little like that. I believe strongly in the powerful words: ‘I took the road less travelled and that has made all the difference'” – Bear Grylls

“The point of a goal is focus. And the point of focus is to tune out all the noise” – Scott Adams

“When you try to do something BIG, you never entirely fail” – Larry Page

Here are a few of my goal requirements:

  1. Provides a clear, concrete vision
  2. Inspires action and guides my decisions
  3. Keeps me hungry and curious to find out what’s possible

“It’s not about the goal, it’s about the growth” – Brendon Burchard

When a goal is rational and achievable it passes the first requirement but falls woefully short on the last two.  A small achievable goal may provide a sense of certainty, but it does little else. If you only do what you ‘think’ is within your current ability your doing very little to change the course of my life.

“If you get what you expected, it isn’t good enough” – Ron Carlson

“Don’t let small minds convince you that your dreams are too big.” – Unknown

Enter Mark Divine:

“You are capable of so much more than you think you are, but you have been kept in the dark about this potential your entire life. I call this potential your 20X Factor, in the that you are capable of at least twenty times what you current paradigm allows you to believe. It is not as though your family or our culture purposefully kept you in the dark about this important fact. No, they were ignorant about it as well and can’t be held to blame…Tap into the vast potential lying dormant inside of you – so that you can achieve your fullest expression of yourself, help those around you, and send positive ripples throughout the world.”

OK, that might come across a bit cheesy (motivational, self-help, infomercial-like), but consider this: Mark was a Navy Seal who later became a Navy Seal Commander. He now runs a collection multi-million dollar businesses.  Oh, one more thing: he recently wrote 3 best-selling books in one year!

Mark is the embodiment of the 20X Factor.

Mark seems superhuman.  How could us mere civilians hope to achieve 20X results, improve our daily experience by 20X and realize a life that 20X beyond what we currently think is possible?

Uncommon resolve

“It took me considerable resolve to write three books in one year in 2013 when I finished The Way of the SEAL, 8 Weeks to SEALFIT, and this one all in an eleven-month period. Some may call that uncommon resolve.” – Mark Divine

The recipe for 20X result is uncommon resolve, cultivated through mental toughness.

Mark started out as a CPA (certified public accountant) in corporate America.  He had a good life and a promising career.  But despite that he ditched the suit and become a Navy Seal…a rather uncommon resolve!

“Is a resolve a quality that can be developed?  Of course it can – it is a natural corollary to forging mental toughness. You develop uncommon resolve by deepening confidence and courage, fortified with five attributes that define character and resolve.” – Mark Divine

The 20X Recipe 

Here are the Five Attributes of Uncommon Resolve:

1. Desire

Cultivate desire and feel compelled to step outside of your comfort zone.

“Feed your unfettered mind with Superfood for success. This food is in the form of powerful, positive imagery as well as positive emotions directed towards your desired future states, skills, and victories.” – Mark Divine

2. Belief

Define your purpose and trust in your purpose.

“What ONE thing am I supposed to accomplish in my life, and what does that mean for me right now?” – Mark Divine

Your DNA is completely unique to you. There will never be anyone exactly like you (pending advancements in cloning…).  It’s important to ask yourself: what one thing was my DNA meant to accomplish in its lifetime?  Don’t wait for answers from others.  Instead, look for patterns. Try things out and see what sticks.  When you think you’ve found it, advance it for as long as your lifetime will allow you.

3. Attitude

Develop your ‘challenge response’.

“Witness negativity. Interdict, or stop, the negative thought with a power statement. Redirect your mind with self-talk and imagery to something positive and productive for your current goal. Maintain your new mental state with a jingle or mantra.” – Mark Divine

The Navy Seals use the word ‘Oorah!’. I like to think ‘Go Time!’ when faced with a challenge. What’s your challenge response?

4. Discipline

Commit to a daily practice.

“A virtue is a value that you have habituated until it becomes a character trait.” – Mark Divine.

As the great personal development coach Jim Rohn once said: “The most important question to ask is, what am I becoming?”

5. Determination

Seek constant and never-ending improvement.

“(Be) content with where you are while executing a simple strategy for getting to where you want to go.” – Mark Divine

This statement may seem counter-intuitive given that we are talking about finding your 20X Factor, but it actually makes perfect sense.  On the long journey towards 20X you need a sense of gratitude to sustain you.  Without gratitude you’ll allow fear and anxiety to take you off course, causing you to falter well before you reach your destination.

As Naval Ravikant, CEO and a co-founder of AngelList once said: “Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.”

Balance that potential unhappiness with gratitude.

Have the determination to stay grateful AND hungry.  

Happiness is found in the present moment AND in the pursuit of something great.

The Take-Home Message:

“To live an uncommon life, one needs to learn uncommon disciplines.” – Mark Divine.

Your uncommon life is fueled by Desire and sustained with Belief, Attitude, Discipline and Determination.

 

Use Your Sword

Time Warrior

Insight from the book: Time Warrior, by Steve Chandler.

Time to read: 3:52 minutes

As a Time Warrior you have one battle in life: eliminate distraction

“It’s your war against interruption and distraction.  That life is yours to create. And it never just arrives, it must be created.” – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

A Time Warrior uses his sword to cut through distractions and carve out blocks of focus.  The warrior makes time to focus on what matters.

“How do you make time? By slowing down. Paradoxically. By creating your day. By being ruthless. With great swings and swipes of your samurai sword. You develop a brutal grace. Cutting out the unnecessary” – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

You will never ‘find’ time for anything, if you want time you must make it. – Charles Buxton

“Management and efficiency studies in the workplace tell us that one hour of interrupted time is worth three hours of time that is constantly interrupted.” – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

As a Time Warrior, you MUST declare war on:

  1. People pleasing
    • Saying “yes” to every request that comes your way.
  2. Thinking without doing
    • Thinking about an action without taking an action.

“A warrior takes his sword to all circumstances that don’t allow him to fully focus.” – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

Stop People Pleasing

“I have never seen a greater time-waster then people-pleasing.” – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

Repeat the following prayer to yourself each day: “God, spare me from the desire for appreciation and approval from others.”

“A time warrior is a peaceful warrior but a warrior still. Peaceful taking a sword to all those negative, frightening, depressing thoughts that are automatically believed… So that a great, timeless, active day can be created. A day with no time in it unless you want to make some.” – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

Start Doing, Stop Deliberating

Our minds have the wonderful ability of simulate future action.  But letting the mind chew on your next action without doing something about is a form of mental torture.

“All fear comes from picturing the future.  Putting things off increases that fear.  Soon we are nothing but heavy minds weighing down on weary brains.  Too much future will do that. Only a warrior’s approach will solve this.” – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

Acknowledge all internal desires and external requests for action.  Advance these actions in any way possible:  Write a quick note.  Start a new list.  Sketch a quick design,  Draft a new email.  Schedule a reminder.  Setup a meeting.

“Once I identify the big scary imagined task as a distortion produced by my own worried mind, I want to go small, as small as possible.  What can I do in the next three minutes?” – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

Advance your ‘imagined tasks’ with short bursts of energy.  Use short swings of your sword to advance things forward and get them out of your mind for the time being.

“I am a coach by profession, and when I work with a client who is “Overwhelmed” with too much to do and not enough time to do it I will often ask him to give me an example of one of the things they are burdened by every time they think about it. The client will give me an example and we will do that thing right now. The client is amazed. The only thing missing in this client’s life was a bias for action.” – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

“All this time that they spend thinking and feeling they could have been taking action.” – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

Develop a bias for action: advance things forward enough to get them off your mind.

The feeling of ‘Overwhelm’ is now your cue for Action.

What if we take the wrong action?  

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Action focuses the mind.  A focused mind generates enough energy to make progress and course correct if need be.

The Way of the Warrior

“A time warrior does not ask, “How do I feel?” but rather asks, “How can I help?” – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

Shifting your mindset into ‘warrior mode’ puts feelings aside for the time being.  As a warrior you have a cause.  There is a reason for doing the work and that reason is greater than how you may feel at this moment.  

How can we stay true to the warrior way?  Set commitments.

“Commitments are things you keep no matter what happens to make them difficult to keep.  Commitments are powerful.  So be very selective when using them.”  – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

The TAKEAWAY

“Time Warriors arrange the “chaos” around them by slowing down–way, way, down–and then letting go of people-pleasing, approval-seeking and every shade of mood-based and future based thinking.”  Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

What Now?

“Don’t create your year, create your day.  Figure out the perfect day and then live it.  The year will take care of itself.  So will your life.”  – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

Before your day begins, establish boundaries that eliminate distraction.

“As a warrior [not worrier] I will wake up and create my day based on how I prefer to serve this world.”  – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

The questions is: How “violent” of a swordsman will you be today?

“How much interrupted time will you carve out for yourself? Will you be a true time warrior? Because if you will you’ll love your timeless time. You’ll be amazed at what you can create when time is not an issue.”  – Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

The Power of Identity

Screenshot_111615_042427_PM

Time to Read: 7:42 minutes

Stuck?

Having trouble choosing between 2 or 3 ‘good’ options?

When college students are offered a choice between a ‘desired option’ and a ‘much less desired option’ (attend a lecture by a famous author OR study at the library), they chose the ‘much less desired’ option 21% of the time. When a third option is added, one equally as desirable as the first option (watch a foreign film they’ve been dying to see), the college students picked the ‘much less desired option’ (studying), 40% of the time! (Tversky, 1992) 

We all have a tendency to pick less favorable options when faced several good options.  This is due to what psychologists call ‘decision paralysis’.

When choosing between two ‘good’ options we’re more likely to select a third option that is clearly ‘less good’ simply because we don’t want the discomfort of having to decide between two similar options.

Economists recommend that we use a cost-benefit analysis approach to our decisions – weigh the options according to their expected value and pick the most rational option.  However, a cost-benefit analysis can often be a laborious task when trying to differentiate between similar options.  In many situations we either don’t have enough information to distinguish between two of more ‘good’ options OR we simply don’t have the time and energy to do so.  As a result, we typically rely on our ‘default mode’ to make decisions for us.

Default Mode

After decades of research, behavior economists and psychologists have discovered that human behavior is guided by a collection of heuristics (mental shortcuts) and cognitive biases (thinking preferences). These fallacies and biases often operate without awareness and dictate the majority of our decision-making (you can find a complete list of biases here).

Two common ‘mental shortcuts’ are loss aversion and cognitive ease.  The brain is constantly fighting to avoid loss and maintain the status quo.  It also wants to conserve energy and take the path of least effort. The result?  We avoid tough decisions and end up doing the easiest thing, instead of the most important thing.  

You may think that knowing what you should do and having a pre-defined set of goals is enough to ensure you’re making the right decisions from moment the moment…but it’s not.

In one series of interviews led by William F. Pounds of MIT, managers were asked to share the important problems they were facing in their organizations. Most managers mentioned five to eight problems. Later in the interview, they were asked to describe their activities from the previous week. Pounds shared the punch line that “no manager reported any activity which could be directly associated with the problems he had described.” They’d done no work on their core priorities! Urgencies had crowded out priorities.

– Decisive by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Is there a way to make effective decisions throughout the day without using a systematic approach AND prevent the ‘default mode’ from taking us off track (causing urgencies to crowd out priorities)?

Yes, there is a way…and it’s something very fundamental to who we are.  In fact, ‘who we are’ happens to be the answer to our decision dilemma.

The Identity Model

In the identity model of decision making, we essentially ask ourselves three questions when we have a decision to make: Who am l? What kind of situation is this? What would someone like me do in this situation? Notice what’s missing: any calculation of costs and benefits. The identity model explains the way most people vote, which contradicts our notion of the “self-interested voter.” It helps to shed light on why an auto mechanic in Oklahoma would vote against a Democrat who’d give him health insurance, and why a Silicon Valley millionaire would vote against a Republican who’d cut her taxes. Generally, when we use the word identity, we’re talking about an immutable trait of some kind-such as a racial, or regional identity. But that’s a relatively narrow use of the term. We’re not just born with an identity; we adopt identities throughout our lives. We aspire to be good mothers or fathers, devout Catholics or Muslims, patriotic citizens, and so on.

– Switch by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

We all create stories about ourselves.  We consciously or unconsciously repeat those stories to ourselves and form an identity.  These identities reveal our values, and our values dictate our actions and decisions.

What controls our lives is the concept of identity.  It doesn’t matter what’s true, it matters what you believe.  You have a set of beliefs that control who you are.

– Anthony Robbins

It’s easy to align our choices to our identity because we have a vivid image for how someone with that identity should act.  Our identity compels us to act in the accordance of who we are thanks to a phenomenon called ‘cognitive dissonance’.

Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person experiences psychological distress due to conflicting thoughts or beliefs.

When we form an identity we establish certain expectations regarding how we should act from moment to moment.  Cognitive dissonance results from the inconsistency between our expectations and our actions. We will experience discomfort and tension until we either change our beliefs (our identity) or change our behavior.

When I became an avid runner I started to see myself as ‘a runner’.  If I had to choose between going for a run after work or going home to watch TV, I’d make the decision to go running quite easily.  If I didn’t choose to go running I would feel anxious because watch TV instead of running wasn’t consistent with who I was: ‘a runner’.  

I am often impressed by vegan’s who can resist hundreds of delicious foods that don’t align with their diet.  However, I’ve recently come to understand that it’s much easier for a vegan to stick with their diet than to eat something which isn’t consistent with who they are: ‘a vegan’.  If a vegan were to eat meat it would violate the concept of who they are as a person and they would be plagued by the discomfort of cognitive dissonance.  Their strong identity and the need to avoid cognitive dissonance allows them to filter through an array of tempting food choices with relative ease.

When we remind ourselves of ‘who we are’ we can sort through several ‘good’ options and avoid decision paralysis.  

Two Identity Types

There are two type of identities:

  1. Our individual identity
  2. The identity of our community, peer group or organization

I am a ‘Mucker’

In the late 1800’s, Thomas Edison (inventor of the phonograph and the light bulb) built an industrial research and design lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey.  The researchers in his lab  were called ‘muckers.’

As Chip and Dan Health explain in their book Made to Stick:

The term comes from two slang phrases of the time—’to muck in’ was to work together as mates, and ‘to muck around’ was to fool around. 

In any entrepreneurial organization, there’s a natural tension between efficiency and experimentation.

The term ‘muckers’ is a strategy statement masquerading as a nickname. It makes it clear that, given the tough choice between efficiency and experimentation, you choose experimentation. Why? Because you’re a mucker. Muckers don’t obsess over Gantt charts. Muckers muck.

Adopting the identity of a ‘mucker’ is an effective decision-making strategy.  The image of a ‘mucker’ is powerful and can thus guide behavior. If you’re a ‘mucker’ you have an obligation to uphold the ‘mucker’ tradition: avoid detailed planning and start mucking

We are ‘Nordies’

Nordstrom is a department store known for outstanding customer service. The management at Nordstroms wants all their employees to provide exceptional service at almost any cost.  To ensure their employees maintain a highly level of customer service they tell stories across the company to solidify the companies identity.

In the book Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras detail a series of Nordstrom customer service stories:

– The Nordie who ironed a new shirt for a customer who needed it for a meeting that afternoon;

– The Nordie who cheerfully gift wrapped products a customer bought at Macy’s;

– The Nordie who warmed customers’ cars in winter while they finished shopping;  

When you’re a ‘Nordie’ you go out of your way to help customers, even at the expense of efficiency.  If you hold this identity in mind you will quickly make the decision between saving money and going the extra mile to increase the customer service experience.

If a ‘Nordie’ sees an opportunity to make the customers experience more pleasant, like entertaining children while a mother shops, the ‘Nordie’ doesn’t have to think long before deciding what to do next: she helps out the customer, even if her actions seem unproductive.

Reminding ourselves of our identity is an excellent decision-making strategy.  Our identity guides our behavior by eliminating all choices that don’t align with our current identity.   Thinking of our identity compels us to do that which MOST aligns with our identity, even that thing is the harder thing to do.

Being reminded that we’re a ‘mucker’ or a ‘nordie’ effortlessly leads us through the identity decision-making model:

  • Who am I? (Or, who are my peers?)
  • What is the situation?
  • What would a person like me do in this situation?

Script Your Identity

Start off by consciously forming identities in the two areas of your life:  

  • Personal life (at home, with friends and family, etc.)
  • Work life (at my desk, in meetings, etc.)

Here’s a few rules for scripting your identity:

  • Make it short and profound (like a proverb)
  • Make sure you get excited thinking about it (make it playful and a little odd)
  • Make sure it brings to mind concrete images (thinking of the identity bring several examples to mind)

Examples:

My personal role: ‘Personal Energy Generator’

  • When I’m sitting on the couch feeling lazy I stop and ask myself: “am I doing what I can to generate personal energy?”.  This usually gets me exercising or reading a book, which energizes my mind.
  • When tempted to eat fast food I always ask “will this lead to sustained personal energy throughout the day?”

My work/business statement: ‘Chief Productivity Engineer’ – helping people get more done & enjoy the process

  • If I’m deciding what article to write next I simply have to ask myself: “what will most help people ‘get more done & enjoy the process’?”
  • When tempted to check my Facebook feed I simply have to ask myself: “will this allow me to help people ‘get more done & enjoy the process’?”

Other examples:

  • A venture capitalist could spice up his identity by thinking of himself as a ‘treasure hunter’
  • A school teacher could turn-up her identity by thinking of herself as a ‘nurturer of the human spirit’

Make Your Identity Conscious

It’s important to be conscious of your identity throughout the day (remember the executives who didn’t address any of their problems?!).  If we want decision-making to be easy we need to frequently remind ourselves of who we are in any given context.  

The TAKEAWAY:

Identity is a powerful tool to guide behavior.  Being conscious of our identity allows us to navigate tough decisions with relative ease.

Now What?

Start off by establishing two identities: one for your work life and one for your personal life.

  • When you wake up, go through your list of things to do and ask: “How will I fulfill ___(my/our identity)___ today?”
  • When you get interrupted or distracted, ask: “Does this align with ___(my/our identity)___?”
  • Set an alarm to go off every hour.  When the alarm rings ask: “Am I being true to ___(my/our identity)___?”