How to Be Incrementally More Productive Every Day—and Earn More
Recently I noticed that successful people all seem to get up early and work on personal development. This includes knowing their body’s needs and exercising. I realised that just reading the news and gossip online or admiring others was never going to get me anywhere near my own goals.
What are my goals, anyway? Then, while at Kmart (of all places), I saw a book that could start my 2020 off to a bang. I reveal this soon. But first, here is a productivity system you could use.
Learn the 1000% Improvement Method
This is ‘incremental improvement’—getting a little better every day—otherwise known as ‘the Kaizen principle’.
Brian Tracy asks: “Is it possible for you to make a 1/10th of 1% improvement in productivity per day?”
(Doing it weekdays, your actions would be 0.5% more improved within a week and 13% in a month).
This translates to you working on a more important task or doing a task slightly better. (Perhaps a new system occasionally as well, I presume).
Your overall output can become amazing, posits Tracy… in fact, 26% more productive in a year.
Your income would likely go up 26% per year too. This building on improvements is called the Momentum Principle.
You start early, set good priorities, and work a little harder. If you do this improvement as a habit, so every year over the course of ten years, the compounding effect means you will be working at around 1,400% better, according to Tracy. This then would be reflected in the quality of projects you do and the amount of money you earn.
Here is Brian Tracy’s famous 1000% Improvement list but with my own interpretation. Watch the video afterwards, if you like.
1. Spend your First Hour of the Day on Personal Development
I am spending nearly an hour most mornings on personal development, and then I write out some more on my goals. I do a few stretches. Then if it’s a weekday, I move to writing out my task list.
My present book reading is: Your Dream Life Starts Here by Kristina Karlsson. This is a good book for setting all your goals and taking action.
My audio reading at the moment is: Booked Solid (Michael Port) and The Power of Vulnerability (Brene Brown).
2. Make a Task List
Then I make a Task List of everything I need to do that day, but not too many.
3. Prioritise that List
Then I look at the tasks and find the most important to move my business or life forward. I put the two most important things an call it A.
(This I learned from Eat That Frog, also by Brian Tracy).
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