To improve work efficiency, please refuse to do these seven things

Editor's note: this is an article about Cammi Pham, which is published in medium. Through his own experiences and scientific evidence, the author shows that sometimes hard work may not be the correct path to success. The key to success is not hard work but clever work. Because time is a scarce commodity, sometimes it is better to do less.

Being busy does not necessarily mean that you are productive. To be productive, you must manage your energy, not your time. To make your life better. We need to learn to spend the minimum effort to maximize the benefits. I did not do the following seven things. I reduced my work time from 80 hours to 40 hours, but I did a lot more work.

1. High efficiency without working overtime

Five days a week and eight hours a day was discovered by Ford in 1926. Experiments show that the productivity has increased from 10 hours to 8 hours and from 6 days to 5 days every week.

The "overtime Effect of Construction Projects" published by the commercial round-table conference in 1980 pointed out that, in the short term and long term, the more work, the lower efficiency and productivity:

If the working hours per week exceed 60 hours for more than two months, the cumulative effect of productivity decline will lead to a delay in the completion date, and the same number of people will work only 40 hours a week or even earlier.

US military research shows that "sleeping less than one hour a day for a week can lead to cognitive degradation equivalent to 0.1 levels of blood alcohol ".

The secret world of sleep pointed out:

After staying up late, no matter how good you are during the day, your mood will not be too high. More importantly, the willingness to think forward and act, the suppression of impulse, optimism, empathy, and emotional intelligence will also decline.

Therefore, ensuring adequate sleep is very important for maintaining high levels of productivity.

Many celebrities experience taking a nap during the day. Da Vinci, Napoleon, Edison, Mrs. Roosevelt, Jean? Terry, Kennedy, Rockefeller, Churchill, Clinton? Johnson and Reagan all have the habit of taking a nap.

2. Do not always say "OK"

Based on the principle of 20/80 (the principle of the People's Republic of China), 20% of the efforts were made to create 80% results, but in turn 20% of the Results consumed 80% of the efforts. Therefore, we should focus on producing 80% results and give up other things. In this way, more time can be concentrated on the most important tasks. We should stop saying "yes" to tasks with low output or even no results ".

The difference between a successful person and a very successful person is that the latter says "no" to almost everything"

-- Buffett

This raises the question: What should we say "yes" to and "no"? If you cannot figure out what is worth the time, you may wish to perform a simple separation test. Track everything you do and optimize it as much as possible.

Most of us often say too much "yes" because it is much easier to reject. No one wants to be a bad guy.

In a study published in the consumer magazine in 2012, researchers Divided 120 people into two groups. One group trained to say "I can't (I can't)", and the other said "I don't (I don't )". The results are interesting:

Students who told themselves that "I cannot eat X" chose to eat chocolate sugar in 61% of the time, but those who told themselves that "I don't eat X" could not resist the temptation in 36% of the time. Making such a simple change can significantly improve the choice of healthy food.

So next time you need to avoid saying yes, simply say "I don't ".

Another technique to avoid unnecessary activities is the 20-second rule: Give yourself 20 more seconds for things you shouldn't do.

3. Do not do anything

I once managed a very large community, tried to do everything by myself, and finally found that I could not do it. I was exhausted and finally the Community took over self-management. Surprisingly, everyone is doing better than me. So I realized the power of the community.

We must be aware that it is important to seek help when necessary. It is better for you to have better people take over your jobs. This allows you to spend more time on your most important tasks. Don't waste time solving problems on your own, so experts can help you.

Many times, even if a friend cannot help you, their company can make you more productive.

4. Do not be perfectionist

Simon sherry, professor of psychology at dalwhouse University, found that perfectionist is a stumbling block to productivity:

It takes more time for the perfectionist to complete the task.
The perfectionist thus waits for the perfect moment. For business, it is too late to wait until the perfect moment.
Perfectionist often misses the big scene because he pays too much attention to small things.

The best time is now.

5. Do not repeat the job

According to a study by Tethys solution, if a team of five spends 3%, 20%, 25%, 30%, and 70% of their time on repetitive work, after two months of productivity enhancement (the introduction of automated software), the time was correspondingly reduced to 3%, 10%, 15%, 15% and 10%.

Now, if I need to repeat one task more than five times, I will ask myself to find a program to do it for me. It doesn't matter if you don't know how to program. If you don't know how to develop, buy a program.

People often do not remember that time is money. They do it manually because it is easier and does not need to be studied. There seems to be no problem in processing 30 images, but what if it is 30000 images? You have to deal with it by software. Remember, you need to spend money to make money, and time is your most valuable commodity.

6. Decision-making is not based on speculation

If the website can be Seo, you can also live. Don't rely on random guesses to make decisions. Use data to support your decisions.

There are many studies in different fields for reference. For example, do you know that people are most likely to be distracted at four o'clock P.M? This is a study led by Robert Matchock, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Even if you cannot find the required data, it does not take much time to perform the separation test.

Keep asking yourself, how do you plan to measure and optimize what you do?

7. do not always work

Most people do not realize that if we are too focused on something, we will be stuck in the ground and cannot jump out of the box. It is important to get out of work and be alone from time to time. According to "the power of loneliness", time alone is of great benefit to the brain and spirit:

Harvard Research shows that if someone believes they are experiencing something alone, their memories will be more persistent and accurate. Another study shows that being alone for a certain period of time can be more empathy. Although no one will question the unhealthy status of the early days, the time of being alone can improve the performance of teenagers.

It is important to leave time for reflection. When we don't look for a solution, the latter often comes unexpectedly.

Of course, we cannot become more productive overnight. Like everything in life, this also requires effort. Waiting for a rabbit cannot wait for a change. We all need to learn more about our bodies and find the best way to allocate our energy so that we can live a happier life.

To improve work efficiency, please refuse to do these seven things