{"id":15734,"date":"2013-11-09T16:38:14","date_gmt":"2013-11-09T15:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/?p=15734"},"modified":"2022-12-30T14:57:17","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T13:57:17","slug":"15734","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/15734\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Ferriss’ tonic for procrastinative loons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great advice from Tim Ferriss<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Personally, I suck at efficiency (doing things quickly). Here\u2019s my coping mechanism and 8-step process for maximizing efficacy (doing the right things):<\/p>\n

1) Wake up at least 1 hour before you have to be at a computer screen. E-mail is the mind killer.<\/p>\n

2) Make a cup of tea (I like pu-erh) and sit down with a pen\/pencil and paper.<\/p>\n

3) Write down the 3-5 things \u2014 and no more \u2014 that are making you most anxious or uncomfortable. They\u2019re often things that have been punted from one day\u2019s to-do list to the next, to the next, to the next, and so on. Most important usually = most uncomfortable, with some chance of rejection or conflict.<\/p>\n

4) For each item, ask yourself:
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0– \u201cIf this were the only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day?\u201d
\n– \u201cWill moving this forward make all the other to-do\u2019s unimportant or easier to knock off later?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

5) Look only at the items you\u2019ve answered \u201cyes\u201d to for at least one of these questions.<\/p>\n

6) Block out at 2-3 hours to focus on ONE of them for today. Let the rest of the urgent but less important stuff slide. It will still be there tomorrow.<\/p>\n

7) TO BE CLEAR: Block out at 2-3 HOURS to focus on ONE of them for today. This is ONE BLOCK OF TIME. Cobbling together 10 minutes here and there to add up to 120 minutes does not work.<\/p>\n

8) If you get distracted or start procrastinating, don\u2019t freak out and downward spiral; just gently come back to your ONE to-do.<\/p>\n

Congratulations! That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

This is the only way I can create big outcomes despite my never-ending impulse to procrastinate, nap, and otherwise fritter away my days with bullshit. If I have 10 important things to do in a day, it\u2019s 100% certain nothing important<\/em> will get done that day. On the other hand, I can usually handle 1 must-do item and block out my lesser behaviors for 2-3 hours a day.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t take much to seem superhuman and appear \u201csuccessful\u201d to nearly everyone around you. In fact, you just need one rule: What you do<\/strong> is more important than how you do<\/strong> everything else, and doing something well<\/strong> does not<\/strong> make it important<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If you consistently feel the counterproductive need for volume and doing lots of stuff<\/em>, put these on a Post-it note:<\/p>\n