Procrastinate on Purpose

Rory kicks the book off walking through his thoughts on the three dimensions of how we can relate to time.

We want to move from trying to manage our time and/or prioritizing our time to MULTIPLYING our time.

Most of us are familiar with Stephen Covey’s four quadrant model of time management where activities are either Urgent or Not Urgent and either Important or Not Important. See the Notes on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People for more.

Basic idea: We want to spend more in Quadrant II (Important but Not Urgent) and less time putting out fires in Quadrant I (Important and Urgent). That’s an improvement on the prior model that simply had us work harder and, hopefully, more efficiently.

Rory adds a third dimension: What he calls Significance.

We need to analyze our activities based on the LONG-TERM benefit and, specifically, whether that activity will increase the amount of time we have tomorrow. Helping us identify the next most Significant thing we can do so we can Multiply our time is what this book is all about.

Here’s how Rory puts it:

“Once ultra-performers realize that you can’t manage time, and there is a limit to borrowing time, they intuitively learn how to multiply their time.

How in the world do you multiply your time?

Simple. And the next sentence is the singular core message of the entire book:

You multiply your time by spending time on things today that will give you more time tomorrow.”

Let’s take a quick look at the 5 Permissions that help us do that!

The 5 Permissions!

Here they are:

1. Eliminate: The Permission to Ignore.
2. Automate: The Permission to Invest.
3. Delegate: The Permission of Imperfect.
4. Procrastinate: The Permission of Incomplete.
5. Concentrate: The Permission to Protect.

After setting up the three dimensions of time and establishing the importance of learning how to multiply our time, Rory dedicates a chapter to each of the 5 Permissions.

Essentially, we first need to ELIMINATE all the things we shouldn’t be doing in the first place—all the time wasters, low priority tasks that don’t serve us and/or move the ball forward.

Then we need to AUTOMATE all the repetitive tasks that we don’t need to reinvent each time.

Then we DELEGATE stuff that doesn’t require our unique set of skills to get it done. Ask: Does this require my unique set of skills to get it done? If not, delegate!!

Then we PROCRASTINATE on the activities that are important and require our attention but aren’t quite ripe for action yet.

And, finally, after we run a potential task through what Rory calls “The Focus Funnel,” we CONCENTRATE all of our energy on the next most Significant activity that will help us multiply our time and achieve our desired results!

Good stuff.

Now, let’s take a quick look at some of my favorite Big Ideas we can apply to our lives today!

This is big.

So, Rory has his “Focus Funnel” where we basically take a potential activity, run it through the funnel and see what’s left for us to do.

The first and most important step?

First we need to ELIMINATE the stuff that shouldn’t be done in the first place.

This may sound kinda obvious but it’s HUGE. Like ridiculously huge.

So, let’s get really practical. Do a quick (or thorough!) scan of your typical day. What are you doing that you simply DO NOT need to do?

Identify.

Eliminate.

And you just created a TON of extra time tomorrow for more Significant activities.

You are officially becoming a MULTIPLIER.

Remember: “As a Multiplier, you are focused on results, not tasks. Success is no longer related to the volume of tasks you complete but rather the Significance of them. As Peter Drucker once said, ‘There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.’”

<— That Drucker quote is one of my favorites. Ever. 
Let’s repeat it to make sure it sticks: “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

P.S. Did you know this? —> “The average American over the age of two spends more than thirty-four hours a week watching TV. That means the average person will have spent nine years of their life watching television!” <— WOW.

Note: Your TV watching (or obsessive social media/online time/etc.) is a good candidate for Elimination and Multiplication, eh? :)

Here’s another way to look at it:

Rory has a great section on the power of a nice, strong, kind NO.

And he brilliantly makes the point that EVERY time we say yes to something (whether conscious or unconscious) we are saying no to something else.

We want to become a LOT more conscious of what we’re saying yes and no to.

How can you optimize that today?

Amen. Amen. Amen.

I’m deliberately focusing on the Eliminate part of The Focus Funnel because this is our highest leverage opportunity for IMMEDIATE gains. (Check out the book for more goodness on the other sections of the Funnel.)

For now, anything up there resonate with you?

Did any of your current activities come to mind that we can Eliminate?

What are they?

These are things I currently do that quite simply DO NOT need to be in my life:

1. _____________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________
5. _____________________________________________
6. _____________________________________________
7. _____________________________________________
8. _____________________________________________
9. _____________________________________________
10. _____________________________________________

That’s a nice list. :)

Let’s Eliminate and FOCUS!

Love that.

Remember: Anything other than the next most Significant priority is a distraction.

Period.

Let’s keep this focusing question in mind as you move into mastering the Concentrate phase:

“Is what I’m doing right now the next most Significant use of my time?”