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one of the founders of the innovative venture capital firm Y Combinator,
normal business culture gets in the way of the very productivity it seeks because of the way people traditionally schedu...
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Graham divides all work into two buckets: maker (do or create) and manage...
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This time tends to be viewed in half-day increments. “Manager time,” on the other hand, gets divided into hours. This time typically has one moving from meeting to meeting, and because those who oversee or direct tend to have power and authority, “they are in a position to make everyone resonate at their frequency.”
Graham embraced this insight and created a company culture at Y Combinator that now runs completely on a maker’s schedule. All meetings get clustered at the end of the day.
To experience extraordinary results, be a maker in the morning and a manager in the afternoon.
Your goal is “ONE a...
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Block an hour each week to review your annual and monthly goals.
Isaac ran into him at an open-mic comedy club and asked him for advice on how to be a better comedian. Seinfeld told him the key was to write jokes (hint: his ONE Thing!) every day. And the way he’d figured out how to make that happen was to hang a huge annual calendar on the wall and then put a big red X across every day he worked on his craft. “After a few days, you’ll have a chain,” Seinfeld said. “Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing the chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain. Don’t break
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Walter Elliot said, “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.”
*Download your habit-building calendar and get a FREE video course at the1thing.com/protectmytime.
Although time blocking isn’t hard, protecting the time you’ve blocked is.
“Until My ONE Thing Is Done—Everything Else Is A Distraction!”
your own need to do other things instead of your ONE Thing may be your biggest challenge to overcome.
Here are four proven ways to battle distractions and keep your eye on your ONE Thing. Build a bunker.
Store provisions.
Sweep for mines.
Enlist support.
BIG IDEAS Connect the dots. Extraordinary results become possible when where you want to go is completely aligned with what you do today.
Time block your ONE Thing.
Protect your time block at all costs.
Time blocking is one thing; productive time blocking is another.
THE THREE COMMITMENTS TO YOUR ONE THING Follow the Path of Mastery Move from “E” to “P” Live the Accountability Cycle
The path is one of an apprentice learning and relearning the basics on a never-ending journey of greater experience and expertise.
2. MOVE FROM “E” TO “P”
The path of mastering something is the combination of not only doing the best you can do at it, but also doing it the best it can be done.
Entrepreneurial (“E”) or Purposeful (“P”).
*Here is ONE resource that will shatter your ceiling of achievement at the1thing.com/shatter.
Earlier, I discussed Dr. Gail Matthews’s research that individuals with written goals were 39.5 percent more likely to succeed. But there’s more to the story. Individuals who wrote their goals and sent progress reports to friends were 76.7 percent more likely to achieve them. As effective as writing down your goals can be, simply sharing your progress toward your goals with someone regularly even just a friend, makes you almost twice as effective. Accountability works.
BIG IDEAS Commit to be your best.
Be purposeful about your ONE Thing. Move from “E” to “P.”
Take ownership of your outcomes.
Find a coach.
THE FOUR THIEVES OF PRODUCTIVITY Inability to Say “No” Fear of Chaos Poor Health Habits Environment Doesn’t Support Your Goals
one “yes” must be defended over time by 1,000 “nos.”
The way to protect what you’ve said yes to and stay productive is to say no to anyone or anything that could derail you.
“One-half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.”
Saying yes to everyone is the same as saying yes to nothing. Each additional obligation chips away at your effectiveness at everything you try.
the more things you do, the less successful you are at any one of them.
make your life about what you say yes to,
Bill Cosby
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” —Albert Einstein
“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” — William James
Your environment must support your goals.
if one of your close friends becomes obese, you’re 57 percent more likely to do the same. Why? The people we see tend to set our standard for what’s appropriate.
In time, you begin to think, act, and even look a little like those you hang out with.
BIG IDEAS Start saying “no.”
Accept chaos.
Manage your energy.
