A lot of people aim to get a lot done every day. Why? I think the answer changes for each and every person, as it should, but for me, there are two simple reasons. I want to add a lot of value to causese I am passionate about. Ie, work on interesting problems. And the best way to do that is to do a lot. The second reason is that I am optimizing for learning. And one of my favorite ways to learn is to do. And if it’s that simple, I might as well do a ton.
We can discuss later exactly what it is you should be doing throughout your day, as that is really important, but if we simplify the equation, we can understand how to make the most out of everyday. And its stupidly simple:
Don’t do things that do not contribute towards your overall mission. Cut them out.
Ok, much much easier said than done. The first obstacle is figuring out your overall mission. The second is actually identifying what is not working towards it. But let’s imagine we knew both. We could “optimize” our days and get more done.
While this fairy land of knowing these answers may not really exist, we can do things to cut out complaining and become better aware of our own constraints.
You see, if you like sleeping and still want to get a lot done during the day. Sleep a ton and get a lot done. How? Cut out things that are not sleep and doing work. Like facebook and netflix.
But suppose the opposite is true, you like netflix and facebook and don’t want to sleep much — then duh, watch more netflix and facebook.
Of course there are costs to your decisions, but you can become self-aware enough to truly understand opportunity cost. This is something a lot of people (including myself) struggle to digest. That every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
So the answer to “how do you get so much done?” is not that I use all of these life hacks and productivity tools. It is that I do things that I like. And cut out things I don’t as much. simple as that.
Priorities are super important in this equation. Of course, always evolving, but stick to something. Otherwise you will lose your way. And you never want to stray too far off the path because you may get lost.
I qualify this, as always, in that straying can be good — like saying Yes to new opportunities. But you never want to forget to ask yourself why. If you continue to ask yourself why, you will be able to best figure out if you are growing in a positive direction.
So in summary:
Cut out bullshit.
Allow yourself to stray, but always ask yourself what you are doing.
WALA , more time throughout the day because you don’t have to do stuff you don’t like to do.