Do NOT Eat the Frog

Hey Productivity Nerds, This week has been a tussle between what to do and how to do it. Because that’s what ‘Productivity’ has become, isn’t it?

Leaders tend to think that increased productivity is going to be exhausting. 

They believe that they’ll have to work all the time, at full capacity, to fulfil their ambitions. But the opposite is true. 

It’s really all about simplicity. Productivity is about developing a certain Zen sense of busyness, expending minimal effort for maximum results.

In today’s edition of “Surge”, we are understanding that people who ‘pose’ to do everything pitch-perfect and be busy, are they really busy? Are they getting any work done? If NOT, then how to get out of the ‘Perfectionism trap’ and truly start working…

Perfectionism is your best friend if you’re a founder or a CEO. Perfectionism is Addictive. But with Perfectionism comes looming the intricate idea of ‘Procrastination’.

Look, being Perfect is not the problem. The fixed mindset of ‘only’ being perfect is dangerous.

Most Business leaders just work and work and work, thinking that’s the most productive approach. But productivity is about much more than work. It’s also closely connected to your personal life and general lifestyle.

At one time or another, you’ve probably spent so much time on small, simple tasks that you never got around to completing the tasks that truly matter. That’s why, when doing work, it’s important to get the smaller pieces out of the way right off the bat.

After all, spending too much time on a small, low-priority task will waste both your time and your patience. So instead of allocating a lot of time to work that’s not super important, do the simple things quickly to free up more time for the meatier tasks. Yes, this might be contrarian to the ‘Eat that Big Frog’ strategy, but it just doesn’t work. 

If you’re a C-suite executive or a founder, this pragmatic approach is what works. 

This technique is called the “OHIO Principle.”

Also known as “Only Handle it Once.” 

This principle is a mindset shifter. It offers a tectonic shift from your fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

For example, say you receive an email inviting you to a conference. You quickly browse the email and then set it aside. Three days later, you remember the message but don’t remember the name of the sender. As a result, you spend countless minutes scrolling back through your inbox. From there, you’ve got to read it again, wasting yet more time!

On the other hand, if you were using the OHIO principle, you’d check if the date was free and the topic interesting and make a decision straight away.

Another way to move forward with your work is to fight the temptation to be perfect when it comes to your low-priority tasks. I practised this when building Hermessi;

Remember (And I know this would be difficult to comprehend by any Founder, CEO or Business leader reading this) that not everything needs to be done flawlessly. You should reserve this privilege for your top-level work since this is what true visionaries are all about.

It’s about being Perfect, where it’s deserved. NOT where it’s reserved.

Nobody is going to be pleased if you spend loads of time answering meaningless emails, so handle such tasks accordingly: get through them quickly and move on to the important stuff.

Take note, this is not an exhaustive method where that will help you ace the productivity ladder, but it will strengthen your willpower to rebuild, reclaim and restart again.

Spark the efficiency, lit the curiosity, and Surge your productivity.

Catch you all in the next one... 

Hoyin Cheung.
Hermessi.com