The other day on my morning run, I saw a biker riding down the street. This is nothing surprising in Portland, considering bikers get their own lane on almost every road.
What was surprising about this particular biker was how quickly he was peddling and how slow he was actually going.
I realized at that moment that this biker needed to switch gears. He was in the wrong gear that was causing him to work much harder than he needed too.
Not to mention he looked really silly!
Bicycles are built with many gears, so that you can maximize your effort to see the most productivity.
Unfortunately if you don’t understand how the gear system works, you will waste energy and won’t see the results you hope for.
If the gear system of a bike helps the rider maximize their output to result ratio, what could we do to get the most from the energy we spend? Here are 4 gears:
1. Group Like Tasks
Imagine taking a separate trip to the grocery store for every item you need to pick up. You would go 5 times a day. That is why the shopping list was invented. You can get all the items you need in 1 trip.
This is what it means to group like tasks. When possible, do the tasks at work that require the same tools or programs.
Keeping your mind and work area engaged towards the same tasks maximizes your effort.
2. Time Block
Similar to grouping like tasks, but this is more on a macro level with your time.
[Tweet “Name your time. Just like a budget, you tell your time what to do and protect it from misuse.”]
When you block time off to be with your family, you are also blocking out that big project from that time.
3. Priorities, Priorities!
It is time to make a priorities list. This is allows you to focus your energy on the items, tasks, events or people that mean the most.
This will maximize your yield, by allowing you to focus on what is really important and matters most.
4. Tool Time
The other day, my 3 year old daughter did some yard work for the fun of it. She was picking the tall grass 1 piece at a time. It would have taken her a week to do the whole yard!
She was just having fun, but what tasks are you doing that could do done better or faster by using new tools.
There is a lawnmower for the grass and I am sure there is a tool to help you.
It was funny to see that biker peddling so hard and not going very fast. It would have been funny to see my daughter pick each piece of grass in the entire lawn, but it’s not so funny when we waste our most precious asset (our time) because we were in the wrong gear.
I would love to hear what you, please comment below and share your thoughts.
What have you found that helps you maximize your output to results ratio?
