Be a Man and Do Things Pillow Book

Chapter 63
Inappropriate time use is rarely related to a specific event; it is usually part of an ingrained pattern of behavior.To change for the better, one must often wrestle with a habit that has been acquired over the years.

There are two ways to change behavior patterns: one is to force yourself to follow the new behavior pattern until it takes root; the other is to use rewards to gradually "form" a new behavior.

If you're going to overhaul your behavior patterns so that you can properly assess your progress.You may want to use the "disgust" method, but this method will have unpleasant effects.

The important thing to realize for most of us is that any behavior that makes us feel good afterwards tends to encourage us to try harder and be more likely to do it again.You can get encouragement from others, but you can also give yourself some kind of reward to encourage yourself.For example, finishing (or starting, sticking to) a difficult or tedious task for you; continuing to work on a priority task without shunning it to a lesser priority task; embarking on an unpleasant task; refusing a task Items are not important and time-consuming requirements and so on.The reward may be small, but it should be enough to make you feel good.It could be a real piece of gum, a glass of water, some snacks.It can also be allowing yourself to do something to take a break, leaving get off work earlier, or buying a pair of shoes, etc.Or it may just be the self-soothing in your mind every time you take a small step in the right direction.

There are two things to remember:
1. Punish yourself for slacking off rather than rewarding yourself for success, because positive encouragement is the most effective way to achieve behavior change.

2 You must reward yourself for every "small" success, not for the big ones.

In baseball, victory is not determined by hits, but by home runs.Just running to third base doesn't give you a score for running three-quarters of the way.

The same goes for work.It's nice to start, and it's nice to keep going, but you haven't done what you started until you've finished it.Many people have a habit of "doing a piece of work for a while" and then putting it aside, and pretending to themselves that they have done a good job, but in fact it is a typical "unfinished building".

Of course, this advice does not apply if the scope of the work is too large to be done in one go.So what should you do?

It's very simple, use the "break each" method, divide this task into many small and manageable tasks (preferably written in words), and then designate yourself to complete a small task before stopping.Then, when you put this kind of work aside, you won't feel like leaving too many messy threads, but you will feel that you have completed a stage of this work, and you can do the next small work at any time.

For example, if you have a long report to write, you want to avoid the "do it for an hour or so at a time" schedule and instead assign yourself to write the outline first, or do the research, or write the introduction.Once you've done this step, you can put it aside to feel like you've accomplished a specific thing and have a clear idea of ​​what you're going to do next.The next time you do it, you don't need to reorganize your thoughts, and there will be no mental block.

Divide the work into many small tasks, and you will develop a good habit called "compulsion to get it done".This will save you a lot of time every day.

If procrastination is your problem, you can stop putting it off.

The salami looks very bulky and unappetizing before it is cut open.But when you slice it, it looks different.Once cut, you can handle it, which means munching on it with your teeth.

For example, there is a call you should make that you have been putting off for a long time and that may be unpleasant for you.In this case, the "salami slice method" might look like this:
①Find out the phone number and write it down.

②Set a time to make this call. (Ask you to make this call immediately is obviously beyond your present willpower, so take it easy. But there is a compensation, which is to make a firm commitment to make this call at a specific time, and put Write this time on your calendar.)
③Take out the file to see what is involved in this call.

④ Decide what you really want to say.

⑤ Make this call.

In addition, for a large job, the number of "segments" may be many, so make a work division table.The trick is to make every little job so easy and convenient that it can be done in minutes.Then tackle one or two small "can-do" jobs in between conversations, or while waiting for a few minutes on the phone.Without this work-segmentation sheet, you may never have embarked on the big job.

REMEMBER: THE FIRST PART OF THE BIG JOB The first little job that can be done right away is to list in "words" the many small steps involved in the big job.

The principle of "destroying each" can be used not only in combat, but also in work.

As long as you use your brain, anything can be solved.

Another is based on the realization that our inability to act immediately is not because of any particular difficulty in the task, but because we have developed a habit of procrastinating to solve the problem.Procrastination rarely has a specific reason; it is an ingrained behavioral pattern.This kind of problem can often be solved if we can change our thinking habits.

For many people, changing an ingrained habit can be painful.They have tried and failed many times, using all their willpower and new year's resolutions to change their habits.In fact, this is not that difficult, as long as you use the right method.

According to Chinese swordsmanship, only by following one's own rhythm can one gain the initiative.Then, we can only do a better job if we understand our own "biological rhythm" in our work.The so-called "circadian rhythm" is to know when you have the most energy and the most refreshing mind in a month or a day.It's like dividing people into "lark type" and "night owl type" in psychology. "Larks" are most active in the morning, while "night owls" are more active at night.

Use the time with the best energy to do the best and more important things, and use the time when you have less energy to do less important things. Only in this way can you reflect real efficiency, and allow you to maintain energy, save energy, and save energy. time.

Everyone has their own biological rhythm, conforming to it will get twice the result with half the effort, otherwise it will definitely get twice the result with half the effort.

Getting organized often starts with simplifying.

Efficiency often starts with simplification.One of the keys to simplifying things is to grasp the main contradiction of things.Always remember that clutter is a bad habit that must be broken.

The Roman philosopher Sigani once said that "no man can swim to shore with his luggage on his back".Excess luggage can cost you a lot of money when traveling on trains and planes.On the journey of life, too much luggage will cost you more than just money.You may not achieve your goals as quickly as you would without the burden; worse, you may never achieve your goals.Not only will this rob you of fulfillment and joy, but eventually it will drive you crazy.

Throughout the history of human development, efficiency often starts with simplification.King Wuling of Zhao advocated "Hufu riding and shooting", which ended the "Chariot Era" and made outstanding military contributions by simplifying it.Qin Shihuang unified writing, currency, weights and measures, and promoted social progress through simplification.In today's era of ever-changing science and technology and social development, it is still of great significance to use simplified methods to improve efficiency and accelerate the pace of self-enrichment.

There are two types of people: one is good at simplifying complex things and doing things quickly and well; the other is complicating simple things and making things worse.Life is obviously a lot easier when we keep things simple.Unfortunately, given the choice between a simple way of doing things and a complex way of doing things, most of us will choose the complex way.Some people even take the time to invent one if there's no sophisticated method available.This may seem ridiculous, but there are many such things.A lot of hardworking people are doing just that.

There is no need for us to complicate our work.Einstein said, "Everything should be as simple as possible, if not simpler." We needn't worry about people making things in their lives too simple.The problem is just the opposite: Most people overcomplicate their lives and wonder why they have so many headaches and troubles.They happen to be the ones who look hard-working on the outside.

There are many people who are obsessed with finding many ways to complicate their personal life and business.They waste a lot of money, time, and energy pursuing things that don't bring them anything in return.They stay with people who are of no use to them.In a way it's downright masochistic.

Many people tend to make their jobs more difficult and complex.They are getting buried alive with their own garbage and clutter, which is their material possessions, work-related activities, relationships, family affairs, thoughts and emotions.These people cannot be as successful as they would like because they create too many distractions for themselves.

One of the keys to simplifying things is to grasp the main contradiction of things.We must be good at grasping the main link in the complicated things, "cutting the mess quickly", so that the complicated situation can be traced, so that the problem can be easily solved.

It also means being good at removing major obstacles in your work.The main obstacle is like a bottleneck, which must be cleared, otherwise the work will be "stuck" and consume a lot of unnecessary time and energy.

Always remember that clutter is a bad habit that must be broken.Some people use "clutter" as a way of doing things, thinking it's a casual personal touch.There is often a large mess of papers on their desks.They seem to think that there are too many things, and the most important things will always "emerge" automatically.For some people, their habit is so ingrained that if we insist on tidying up their desks, they will probably feel as uncomfortable as putting on a "straitjacket".However, usually these people can get things done on such a cluttered desk, largely thanks to an organized secretary or assistant, which makes up for their shortcoming of being disorganized.

However, in most cases, clutter will only lead to confusion and inefficiency in work.It will prevent you from concentrating on a single task, because when you are doing a certain task, your eyes will involuntarily be drawn to other things.Plus, clutter on your desk creates a subconscious sense of tension and frustration, where everything feels disorganized and overwhelmed.

If you find that your desk is constantly cluttered, take the time to declutter it.Make a pile of all your papers, and go through them one by one (make a big use of your wastebasket) and sort them into four categories: immediate, next priority, to-do, reading.

Pull your top priorities out of the old clutter and place them in the center of your desk, then move other files out of your sight on a side table or in a drawer.The purpose of leaving the top priority to-do items on the table is to remind you not to ignore them.But you have to remember that you can only think about one thing and do one job at a time.So you pick the most important thing and focus all your energy on it until it gets done.

Before you leave the office each day, give your desk a good clean, or at least tidy up.And organize according to certain standards every day; this will make the next day have a good start.

Don't overload your desk with small family photos, keepsakes, clocks, thermometers, and other items.They both occupy your space and distract you.

Everyone who sits at a desk needs to have some way of reminding themselves of the things they need to do during the day.When TV actors are filming, they often use various memory methods to make themselves remember how to narrate lines and perform performances.You can also try.At this time, the calendar may be helpful, but the best way may be to implement a to-do file card (bag) system, one card (bag) for each day of the month, and then use some bags to record the to-do items of the next month (card).Offices dealing with large volumes of documents will of course need to devise a stricter regime.

In addition, it is best to coordinate the time. For example, after arriving at the office, there are a series of affairs and tasks that need to be done. You can arrange time for these affairs and tasks: clean up the desk for 3 minutes; organize the work plan for the day for 5 minutes; 15 minutes for the drafting of a report, and so on.

In short, one of the abilities that countless people who tend to complicate things should learn is: clearly see where the point of a thing is, which are unnecessary red tape, and then simplify them in a quick way.In this way, I don't know how much time and energy to save, which can greatly improve your efficiency.

An important way to get organized.

The reasons for people’s incoherence can be mainly divided into two categories: subjective and objective:

Among the subjective reasons are lack of clear goals, procrastination, lack of prioritization, wanting to do too much, doing things with no beginning and no end, lack of organization and tidiness, lack of authorization, failure to refuse requests from others, hasty decision-making, slow action, laziness and mentality negative.Objective reasons include time wasted by superiors (meetings, phone calls, lack of authorization, etc.), time wasted by work systems (visitors, bureaucratic articles, employee resignation, etc.), and time wasted by living conditions (communication, environment, transportation, chatting with friends, living in the suburbs, etc.) .

(1) Every morning, make a list of the things to do in the day.
If you are not doing things in the order they were done, then your time management will not be efficient.Every morning or the night before, make a list of things to do for the day.This list includes both official and personal items, record them on paper, workbook, your PDA or whatever.In the course of a day's work, check it frequently.

(2) Also record the work to be done next on your list.

After you finish the work you started to plan, record the next things to do on your daily list.If your list is full, or if a certain task can be done another day, then you can count it as a work plan for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.You know the reason why some people tell you they were going to do something but didn't get it done?This is because they don't record these things.

(3) Reschedule the work that was not completed that day.

(End of this chapter)