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Work Less: Get More Done

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I just read this article:  Take Lots of Breaks to Get More Done.

Taking breaks seems counter intuitive yet it has been proven to increase productivity. It’s amazing how much you can get done in a short amount of time if you REALLY focus. Then you can reward yourself with a well deserved break.

The take home points in the article are:

  • Focus on single-tasking and eliminating distractions. Train yourself to focus on one thing for a designated period of time. 30 minutes is usually a good starting point.
  • Then focus on taking breaks that rejuvenate you and recover your ability to focus.

As most of my work is at the computer, I’d suggest a complete change, for example, physical exercise and breathing. While it’s going to be difficult to go for a run or pump weights, perhaps a walk outside plus taking the opportunity to refuel. Eat some low GI food to prevent your energy level crashing?

What do you think?

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Originally posted 2009-07-18 09:19:45.

Lifehacks vs. Lifestyle Design

Lifestyle Design

  1. Know who you are. Get an objective perspective of your personality with tests like MBTI. There are free versions available (here’s an example) and there’s significant research backing them. It’s unlikely you’ll get many surprises from the tests, but it’s always eye-opening to see how people with similar traits succeed in fields that you have always been interested in.
  2. Make use of your time. Monitor yourself and how you spend your time, identify and eliminate your time wasters, and start zeroing in on the things that you choose to be done. I can guarantee serious revelations into how you organize your day if you’ve never done this before.
  3. Get organised. At this point, tweak, hack or get a bottom-up perspective if you must, but the focus of life design is to get moving. In truth, the only time management or productivity system that works is the one that actually makes sense to you and gets you to move forward. The difference is that now you’re armed with knowledge of your personality and your priorities (the top-down perspective) giving you a good platform to do what matters most.
  4. Embrace your roles. Knowing what your roles are – whether in your career, family, or social circle – gives you a basis to set goals and develop the values you need to make your life work. Don’t worry if you don’t feel like you’re getting it right the first time around. Our lives are a constant work in progress, with shifting goals and values as we go through life. The idea is to have an intimate knowledge of everything present in our life, and then start designing it for the desired outcome.

A holistic attempt at trying to lead a life which should be lived consciously and deliberately, and not left to chance. A balance between discovering your values and beliefs, effectively using your time to achive goals which are important to you, using systems such as GTD, staying orgainsed and knowling your roles (Covey was big on this).

Posted via web from I am Rob. Hear me ROAR!

Originally posted 2009-07-17 01:12:22.

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