Below, Vaden shares the 4 questions that time multipliers ask of the items on their to-do lists in order to free up their hours in the future:
Question #1: Can I eliminate this task?
There’s a simple truth: “Anything that we say no to today creates more time for us tomorrow,” says Vaden. When we do say yes to unnecessary duties, we’re usually acting out of guilt — we’re worried about disappointing other people.
Vaden wrestled with this himself until, he recalls, “in one of the interviews I conducted with a multiplier, they said something that changed my life. They said, ‘Rory, it’s futile to go through life trying to never say ‘no’. What you have to realize is that you are always saying ‘no’ to something because anytime you say ‘yes’ to one thing, you are simultaneously saying ‘no’ to an infinite number of others.’”
Question #2: If I can’t eliminate this task, can I automate it?
Online bill paying is one example. But what other obligations could you deal with today so they’re already done tomorrow? For instance, are there items you purchase on a regular basis — pet food, groceries, prescriptions — and could you have them automatically sent to you? Or, are there semi-annual appointments you have — such as getting your teeth cleaned or your hair cut — that you might book in one swoop instead of having to call and schedule them one by one?
And if you’re deterred by the initial time investment or learning curve that this entails, just think about your past year and calculate how many hours you spent, say, buying pet food.
Question #3: Can it be delegated, or can I teach someone else how to do this?
While many of us are fine with offloading the personal tasks that we’re not so crazy about — whether it’s shoveling snow or caulking the bathtub — we can find ourselves more resistant about delegating duties at work.
“You say, ‘Well, they just can’t do it as well as I can,’” says Vaden. “And that may be true once or twice but … if you think longer-term, you realize they’ll be able to master the task just like you did.”
Question #4: Should I do this task now, or can I do it later?
Vaden calls this strategy “procrastinate on purpose.” However, this isn’t procrastination as we typically think about it — you know, endlessly delaying an activity and feeling lousy about it. Instead, procrastinating on purpose is about consciously deciding that we will do a certain thing later, not just letting it fall between the cracks.
Vaden calls intentional procrastination “a virtue.” He says, “There’s a difference in waiting to do something that we know we should be doing … versus waiting to do something because we’re deciding that now is not the right time.”
When you procrastinate on purpose, you’ll eventually decide whether to eliminate, automate or delegate the task, or you may find that it’s risen in significance, importance or urgency, compelling you to do it.
Source: Multiply time by asking 4 questions about the stuff on your to-do list |
