My 3 rules are not to be a hamster in a wheel. GTD personal experience
A couple of days ago, I accidentally stumbled upon a blog "Internet Moneymaker", which I once read about 5-6 years ago. Judging by the dates of posts, the blog was still alive and the author continued to openly publish the figures about his earnings. I decided to run through the posts and evaluate the success of this blogger. In a minute I was just amazed!
Over the past 5 years, the person’s wages have not only not grown, but even decreased slightly. All these years he continued to do the same: selling links from sites, contextual advertising, affiliate programs, etc. For a student in 2008, earning $ 800 / month was quite a good income. But it's already 2015, and the dude has the same $ 700-800!
And then I wondered why someone in 5 years is building multi-billion dollar companies, and someone (I put plus or minus as much effort) is marking time? Here in this post I want to share with you my experience and thoughts. I do not pretend to objectivity, but this experience has been gained for 5 years by the management of the company, the birth of 2 beautiful children and the launch of our new project.
')
Back in 2010, it became clear that without some system, without some approach, it was impossible to cope with a bunch of incoming tasks:
I started to google, read and try different approaches. I read Gleb Arkhangelsky, a bunch of articles about Getting Things Done on Habré, etc. It took about 3 years to implement the system of planning and execution of tasks, adapt it for themselves and cultivate the habit of doing all this. There were several visits, it took a fair amount of self-discipline and perseverance - but the results in conjunction with the other principles now suit me.
I began the implementation of the system with the method of Vasi Sour . Who this wonderful person who made this document, I do not know. This material was written for a long time, when there was no iPhone and contains some archaisms, but I adopted this approach almost completely.
To automate the process of scheduling and managing tasks, I use the mobile and desktop versions of this Doit.im application. There is a free version or paid for only $ 20 per year. For processing and storing physical documents, I have trays and crown folders with files (just like in Vasya Sour's method). To store the docks in electronic form is Evernote and Dropbox.
And when I set it all up, I really began to perform many tasks a day. And when I worked in this mode for a couple of months I realized that there are not many tasks to be done, it is much more important to do RIGHT tasks. If you have implemented the system correctly, then at any time you have tasks that need to be done. Those. do everything - a priori it is impossible. The quantity should turn into quality.
I came to the aid of this article on Habré about Zen GTD and Mind maps of Maxim Kolpakov with the outline of the book (the source was not found, so I put it in Dropbox). It became obvious to me how great the role of planning, analysis and reflection is.
The planning scheme is very simple:
What do we get in the end? In an ideal world, with this approach, every action, every sneeze that we do leads us to big and global goals.
And a couple of life hacking from personally practice. Every morning when I plan my 1-3 key tasks for the day for each of them I ask the following questions:
As a result, it is important not the number of tasks completed, but the final result (I call this “exhaust”) of your activity. You could, without straightening your head without days off, figure a month, marking the tasks as completed. But in fact, this is your heroism does not really move forward (immediately remembered the blogger).
The formula from the name of this principle was peeped from the guys from Business Youth. I do not really like them, but they formulated a very important thing in such a simple presentation. The meaning of this formula is that your real efficiency depends on whether you can get the maximum “maximal profit” at the lowest possible cost (min cost)!
I have always tried to do only those 20% of the tasks that give the greatest “exhaust” that really move you or your project forward. Those 20% that allow quality grow. This approach applies to everything. For example, if we are talking about the functionality of our ticket system, then we try to make 20% of features that provide 80% of the value of the product.
The denominator of this formula is the second interesting number, which makes us think about how we can get the maximum result at the lowest cost. How to do something with minimal resources? Due to the fact that once we thought about it, we managed to make the first version of the system in 2 months and 37,500 rubles .
It is the conventional numbers in the numerator and denominator of this formula that ultimately determine how efficiently you work and live.
Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz
When 5-6 years ago I was engaged in various Internet projects, I asked myself the question: “Will I be able to earn $ 10 million by doing the same by 30, and $ 100 million by 40”. The answer was NO. Yes, at that time there was a good income, but to get to the cherished goal you need to radically change the type of activity, you need to change the approach to business.
This third principle is very cool to apply, when you have rested somewhere and can not overcome the wall, you can not get the desired result. For example, if your business model does not initially work (strategic miscalculation), then no investment and a super team will help you. Looking for drastic changes.
Small tactical successes and failures with the right strategy add up to a meaningful result. While the same successes, but with a strategic miscalculation will lead to collapse. This picture perfectly illustrates.
Actually, in this mode, I have been working since the end of 2014. This approach allows to achieve a certain balance between work, leisure and family. These principles do not allow me to work 4 hours a day (I work 8-10), they allow me not to work 12-14 hours a day without the "exhaust". I am sure that it is still far from real effectiveness. But as they say, there is no limit to perfection.
Over the past 5 years, the person’s wages have not only not grown, but even decreased slightly. All these years he continued to do the same: selling links from sites, contextual advertising, affiliate programs, etc. For a student in 2008, earning $ 800 / month was quite a good income. But it's already 2015, and the dude has the same $ 700-800!
And then I wondered why someone in 5 years is building multi-billion dollar companies, and someone (I put plus or minus as much effort) is marking time? Here in this post I want to share with you my experience and thoughts. I do not pretend to objectivity, but this experience has been gained for 5 years by the management of the company, the birth of 2 beautiful children and the launch of our new project.
')
1. Plan and execute the planned
Back in 2010, it became clear that without some system, without some approach, it was impossible to cope with a bunch of incoming tasks:
- The wife calls: "Buy a loaf, milk and ...".
- I received an email confirming the meeting next week at 16-30.
- Vasya’s friend should give the debt the day after tomorrow, if he doesn’t give it back - remind.
- I promised to prepare a presentation by the end of the month, I need not forget.
- And a million other things that are simply impossible to remember.
I started to google, read and try different approaches. I read Gleb Arkhangelsky, a bunch of articles about Getting Things Done on Habré, etc. It took about 3 years to implement the system of planning and execution of tasks, adapt it for themselves and cultivate the habit of doing all this. There were several visits, it took a fair amount of self-discipline and perseverance - but the results in conjunction with the other principles now suit me.
I began the implementation of the system with the method of Vasi Sour . Who this wonderful person who made this document, I do not know. This material was written for a long time, when there was no iPhone and contains some archaisms, but I adopted this approach almost completely.
To automate the process of scheduling and managing tasks, I use the mobile and desktop versions of this Doit.im application. There is a free version or paid for only $ 20 per year. For processing and storing physical documents, I have trays and crown folders with files (just like in Vasya Sour's method). To store the docks in electronic form is Evernote and Dropbox.
And when I set it all up, I really began to perform many tasks a day. And when I worked in this mode for a couple of months I realized that there are not many tasks to be done, it is much more important to do RIGHT tasks. If you have implemented the system correctly, then at any time you have tasks that need to be done. Those. do everything - a priori it is impossible. The quantity should turn into quality.
I came to the aid of this article on Habré about Zen GTD and Mind maps of Maxim Kolpakov with the outline of the book (the source was not found, so I put it in Dropbox). It became obvious to me how great the role of planning, analysis and reflection is.
The planning scheme is very simple:
- Every year I make a global plan for the year, where I fix the key things I want to achieve. These tasks / projects should fully correlate with the goals for 5 years, which I also review once a year.
- Then I cut the annual plan for a quarterly plan, where from big goals I switch to specific projects that I have to do in each quarter.
- Then, at the beginning of each quarter, I divide the goals and projects of the quarter into specific tasks to be performed in the current quarter.
- Well, in the end, at the beginning of each month, a detailed monthly plan is made for all active projects.
What do we get in the end? In an ideal world, with this approach, every action, every sneeze that we do leads us to big and global goals.
And a couple of life hacking from personally practice. Every morning when I plan my 1-3 key tasks for the day for each of them I ask the following questions:
- Why am I doing this? A control question that allows you to understand the whole chain to the quarterly and annual goals for this particular task.
- How can I not do this at all? If, nevertheless, the task has to be completed, you need to think, maybe you can automate it somehow. Maybe it is not so important and urgent right now, although it leads to a goal.
- Who can I do this to? And finally, if a task leads to a goal and needs to be done right now, can it be given to someone? Can someone make it better / faster / cheaper?
As a result, it is important not the number of tasks completed, but the final result (I call this “exhaust”) of your activity. You could, without straightening your head without days off, figure a month, marking the tasks as completed. But in fact, this is your heroism does not really move forward (immediately remembered the blogger).
2. MM = Max profit / Min cost
The formula from the name of this principle was peeped from the guys from Business Youth. I do not really like them, but they formulated a very important thing in such a simple presentation. The meaning of this formula is that your real efficiency depends on whether you can get the maximum “maximal profit” at the lowest possible cost (min cost)!
I have always tried to do only those 20% of the tasks that give the greatest “exhaust” that really move you or your project forward. Those 20% that allow quality grow. This approach applies to everything. For example, if we are talking about the functionality of our ticket system, then we try to make 20% of features that provide 80% of the value of the product.
The denominator of this formula is the second interesting number, which makes us think about how we can get the maximum result at the lowest cost. How to do something with minimal resources? Due to the fact that once we thought about it, we managed to make the first version of the system in 2 months and 37,500 rubles .
It is the conventional numbers in the numerator and denominator of this formula that ultimately determine how efficiently you work and live.
3. You can not reach the goal - change the approach
“Strategic miscalculations cannot be compensated by tactical successes”
Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz
When 5-6 years ago I was engaged in various Internet projects, I asked myself the question: “Will I be able to earn $ 10 million by doing the same by 30, and $ 100 million by 40”. The answer was NO. Yes, at that time there was a good income, but to get to the cherished goal you need to radically change the type of activity, you need to change the approach to business.
This third principle is very cool to apply, when you have rested somewhere and can not overcome the wall, you can not get the desired result. For example, if your business model does not initially work (strategic miscalculation), then no investment and a super team will help you. Looking for drastic changes.
Small tactical successes and failures with the right strategy add up to a meaningful result. While the same successes, but with a strategic miscalculation will lead to collapse. This picture perfectly illustrates.
Actually, in this mode, I have been working since the end of 2014. This approach allows to achieve a certain balance between work, leisure and family. These principles do not allow me to work 4 hours a day (I work 8-10), they allow me not to work 12-14 hours a day without the "exhaust". I am sure that it is still far from real effectiveness. But as they say, there is no limit to perfection.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/289660/
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