As far as we’re concerned, to become super-productive, you must: • Get organized: allocate enough time to do each job properly. • Concentrate: give each task the focus it requires. • Accelerate: get through each task as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Finally, remember that when you delegate a task, it’s the end result you’re delegating. How they arrive there is not your concern (in other words, don’t micromanage).
This was by and large the most widely-cited tip we received from the entrepreneurs we spoke to, and is known elsewhere as The Rule Of 3 7 . They told us that before they start work each morning, they try to momentarily forget about what’s urgent and focus instead on identifying the three most important tasks to complete by the end of the day. And then they block out the time to do them. But why three tasks? Why not two tasks, or four? At first, three seems like a pretty arbitrary number, and it’s hard to explain why this number works other than that it just does . The sheer number of experienced people who seem to use this rule suggests the balance is right. Every morning, ask yourself the question, “what three things do I absolutely need to do today?” Or to phrase it another way, “what are the three things I need to achieve to feel satisfied with my day’s work?” This tip goes hand-in-hand with another: always start with the hardest task. Take advantage of the fact that you tend to have the most energy first thing in the morning and get the hardest job out of the way first. If you start your day sorting emails and reading newsletters, you’re liable to procrastinate—and you’ll be forced to make up for it later in the day. If you can get the key tasks finished first, the rest of your day will fall into place. Mark Twain once said: “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” We agree.