Do the right work, at the right time, with the right tool
Productivity is less about time management than it is about mind management. Your mind doesn’t work the same all of the time, and the tools you use affect how your mind performs.
You’re hardly aware of it, but your mind is being affected by the tool you’re using to read this sentence. If it suddenly disappeared from your field of vision, and you were transported to the edge of a clear alpine lake, you would find yourself in a different mind state.
To achieve full output, master your mind state, and your mind’s relationship with your tools. Do the right work, at the right time, with the right tool.
Here’s a general framework for this approach:
- The right work is the work that fits your mind state. There are times when you are in a good mind state to quietly brainstorm a marketing plan, there are times when you are in a good mind state to lead a meeting with your team, and there are times when you are in a good mind state to recharge by reading a biography.
- The right time is the time when you’re in that mind state. We all have our “peak” and “off-peak” times. If you’re not a morning person, surprisingly, mornings may be your best time for brainstorming. You shouldn’t proofread that quarterly report until the afternoon, when your brain is sharp.
- The right tool is the tool that fits that kind of thinking. If you’re trying to troubleshoot a bug, a giant screen that has the capability to display Facebook at a moment’s notice might not be the best tool. Go sit in a comfortable chair with your moleskine and think it through. “I can’t write by hand because my mind works too fast?” That’s the point. Some tools help you think more slowly.
The ultimate goal is to achieve a state where you are perpetually doing the right work at the right time with the right tool.
To get there, you need to gain an understanding of your own energy cycles, the subtle cognitive contours of your work, and shape your tools to promote the mind states you need to tackle that work.
To get started, pick a one-hour block each week where you concentrate on your most important work. This block of time should be when you’re in control of your time, and when you’re likely to be a mind state that’s conducive to that work.
Eventually, you’ll build up to where you know how your mental “strength curve” is shaped within days and weeks — even months and years. You’ll always be doing the right work at the right time with the right tool.
Some people fantasize about cloning themselves. They want to do the work of two people. But, very few of us achieve the quality and output of what one person can do.
By doing the right work at the right time with the right tool, you can fill your finite time with your best work.
In one of my most popular podcast episodes, Neuroscientist John Kounios explains the ideal conditions for insightful thinking. Listen, and subscribe on iTunes.
