Why can’t time management software save you?
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Effie’s ideal” (ID: xiaoyaolsh), author Effie, editor Xia.
Ask you a question about “big brains”:
If you go to the same destination with the “God-walking Taibao” Daizong in the otter at the same time (the otter describes that he can travel eight hundred miles a day), who will win in the end?
You will definitely say, “Of course it is him, but he is a godsaver, walking faster than me.”
However, if your destination is in the East, Daizong did not pay attention and check the direction when he left, and went to the West, and you have been moving toward the East, so who will win in the end?
You will definitely say, “Of course it is me.”
Why?
Because the efficiency of walking is very important, there are factors that determine the speed at which you can reach your destination. That is:
The correctness of the direction.
The former is the efficiency problem of walking, and the latter is the performance problem of walking. Ignoring the latter to talk about the former, the final result can only be “a busy life.”
In fact, time management also follows this principle.
Master’s Time Management
Master time management is: first improve the efficiency of time management, and then improve the efficiency of time management.
1. What is the efficiency of time management?
The efficiency of time management is: the amount of work done in a unit of time. Therefore, if you want to improve the efficiency of time management, you should pay attention to the “correct method”, such as: to find ways to increase the attention per unit time, increase the length and number of “heart flow” in the unit working hours.
“Want to read a book is always distracted by other things. Now I can read a book at a speed of two months.”
“This afternoon, I was going to write a brand plan for next year, but after receiving a few calls, I didn’t have any inspiration…”
These are all issues of inefficient time management.
2, what is the effectiveness of time management?
The effectiveness of time management is: the benefit of timeIt is consistent with the goal implementation, so it focuses on the “right direction.”
When most people are doing time management, they are trying to improve the efficiency of use per unit time by using the “Tomato Time Management Method” and other methods to achieve more attention in the same time.
However, if you talk about efficiency and talk about efficiency, that is, if you don’t consider whether you choose the right goal, but just focus on “doing it well,” you may run on the wrong path, and the result will be That is: the faster you run, the farther you go wrong.
As Peter Drucker, the father of management, said: “There is nothing more useless than doing efficiency without efficiency.”
3, how does the master manage the time?
Unlike ordinary people, the first thing a master pays attention to is not the efficiency of time, but the efficiency of time.
Because if you improve the effectiveness of time management, you can walk on the right path; if you can continue to improve the efficiency of time, you can run on the right path.
It can be said that only when your time flow is consistent with your life goals, the management of time can maximize the “efficiency”; on the contrary, it is the minimization of performance.
However, what should be done specifically?
The key lies in two steps:
Step 1: Find your important goals;
Step 2: Ensure that the flow of time is consistent with the target.
Step 1: Find your important goals
Cheetah CEO Fu Sheng wrote in his article “Cognitive Trilogy”:
“Remember that for a while, I was very busy, all kinds of meetings were flying all over the world, and the efficiency was very low.
I thought at the time, was Jobs more busy than me? In the final analysis, my management method is wrong.
So I kept asking myself if I could make my work time less than half, can I do better?
When this problem continues to surface in my mind, I suddenly realize that the root of my busyness is that I think too many things are important.
So what makes management more efficient?
I think the essence of the problem is to reduce the amount of what is really called management, while increasing the amount of judgment. Increase the amount of help the team make decisions and sort out goals at key points.
So the core of the matterIt becomes the ability to cultivate judgments, not the ability to work diligently.
Assuming, if you only spend half of your time, can you do better?
Thinking in this direction, many things will continue to ask for priority.
At this time, if you think about “how can you improve the efficiency of time management?” or “How can you squeeze more time out?”, it is likely that it will eventually go to the north.
Fortunately, Fu Sheng did not think that way. What he thought was: The root of my busyness is that I think too many things are very important.
So, he began to “do subtraction,” and he slashed things that seemed important, but not so important, focusing his time and energy on what really matters to him. – Help the team make decisions and sort out goals at key points.
In this way, Fu Sheng found his important goal.
Similarly, in the book “The Most Important Matter is Only One,” author Gary Keller uses his personal experience to tell us how he succeeded by finding his most important goal.
In the first phase of his entrepreneurship, Gary Keller founded a very good company in 10 years.
He did a very smooth job and was full of confidence, and felt that the company would soon expand its business to countries around the world.
However, at this time, the company suddenly fell into a full-scale dilemma. Despite all sorts of efforts and attempts, the business was still a mess and there was no improvement.
When he was in trouble and unable to do anything, his teacher appeared.
The teacher asked Gary Keller: “What do you need to do to reverse the status quo?” Gary Keller shook his head in confusion.
The teacher wrote 14 key positions on the wall and said, “You only need to do one thing to reverse the embarrassing situation of the whole company. That is to assign the 14 key positions I marked to be truly competent. People, as long as you choose the right people in these 14 key positions, the whole company can develop in a good way.”
Gary Keller is very surprised that he doesn’t believe that the solution that has been plaguing him for so long is as simple as that – just finding 14 people.
So he asked the teacher if this solution should be a little more complicated. If you do a few things to turn around, it will be more insurance.
The teacher replied briefly and powerfully: “No. Jesus only needs 12 disciples, and you only need 14 key positions.”
In this way, Gary Keller made a very big decision. He first dismissed himself, retired from the position of the company’s CEO, and began to concentrate on finding the 14 key positions.
Then, in less than three years, these 14 people have made the company profitable.Moreover, profits have grown at a rate of 40% for 10 consecutive years, and have grown rapidly from a regional company to a national company.
Who knows, new problems have emerged at this time.
The 14 people can complete most of their work, but sometimes the most important work has not been completed, causing the overall work to be in trouble.
So, Gary Keller decided to simplify their work, from “a few jobs that need to be done this week” to “the three most important jobs of the week” to “the two most important jobs this week.” But still can’t see the effect.
In the end, he decided to try the “just do one thing” approach.
He asked them: “What is your most important job this week? Once you have completed the work, can you make other work easier or less important?”
This method is what he thought of in despair, and it brought another surprise. The performance of these 14 key people has risen.
With such two troubled experiences, Gary Keller realized a very interesting phenomenon: every time a company achieves great success, it is time for him to focus on one thing.
So Gary Keller thought of such a problem. Everyone has 24 hours a day. Why do some people succeed and some people fail?
Why can successful people do more, reach higher goals, earn more money, and have more?
If we consider time as the original capital of a person’s career, then each person’s original capital is 24 hours a day.
How do successful people allocate their original capital and get far more benefits than others?
Gary Keller believes that the answer is: all the actions and energies of successful people are closely related to their goals. They succeed because they give up a lot of things that can be done but are not necessary, focusing on the most important ones. thing.
In fact, whether you are working or living, to get the best results, you should try to narrow your goals, constantly weigh, screen, and think in the goal management until you find the “most important thing” or It is “the most important three things.”
However, this method is contrary to the belief of most people.
They think that if they want to do something big, they have to keep on planning. They have to make the plan very full. The final result is: the schedule is tight and the pressure is huge, but the success is farther and farther away from them.
Because, no matter how energetic your energy is, how short your sleep time can’t change the fact that only 24 hours a day can’t change the fact that one’s life is limited.
So, the most important thing is only three, or even one, but which one is it?
At this point, you need to ask yourself a crucialQuestion: What is the most important thing I can do?
Gary Keller gave a very practical suggestion, which is the reverse method.
First consider the long-term goal, then think back and think about what is the most important thing you should do now.
Now, I invite you to think about it:
• For the long-term goal, what is the most important thing I should do in the next 5 years?
•What is the most important thing I should do this year for the 5-year goal?
• What is the most important thing I should do this month for this year’s goal?
• What is the most important thing I should do this week for this month’s goals?
• What is the most important thing I should do today for this week’s goals?
• What is the most important thing I should do now for today’s goals?
With such self-question, the most important thing can come to the fore.
And this most important thing represents your goal.
In different areas, you may need to identify different key objectives, such as: What is your most important goal in life? What is your most important goal at work? Maybe there is only one, maybe there will be three.
If you still haven’t found the most important thing after using Gary Keller’s method, you can try to ask yourself this question: “Which target is achieved, can you achieve other goals together?”
If you find the “key” of these important goals, you are equal to finding the “leverage point” that incites all important goals. When this “leverage point” is shaken, many other goals will be achieved naturally, and a lot of work will be reduced immediately.
Instead, if you do things that are always “not important”, over time, you will always be in the position of “firefighter”. Every day, you will solve problems urgently, but you don’t know how to solve them. It is never a “root problem” or a “systematic problem”, so it is completely locked up and can no longer escape.
As the old saying goes: “If everything is equally important, it means they are not important.”
This is a very simple truth.
It is inferred from an obvious premise: when we do anything, the resources are limited. Resources include all resources such as time resources, energy resources, and money resources.
Since resources are limited, you can’t allocate limited resources to unlimited things, but think about how resources should be allocated, and what should be focused or focused on.
YC partner Jessica once said: “After watching so many companies, I found out thatThe most important quality for startups is their focus. Especially focused on products and users.
I can easily list a lot of things that look like they are working hard, but actually don’t help the early company, such as: drinking coffee with investors, socializing in various occasions, finding various things for the company. “Consultant” and some companies “strategic cooperation”, in the hope that this will increase the user’s efforts to participate in various conferences, social media and people debate before people really want your product.
It is true that concentration is the key to success, but unfortunately these two words are easy to write and difficult to do.
I often find my core goals, and I am unconsciously attracted to other things or goals. When I return to God, time has passed.
So, what should I do about this problem?
Step 2: guarantee time flowconsistency with important goals
I want to ensure that the flow of time is consistent with important goals. The best way I think it is OKR.
The OKR work method was first invented by Intel founder Andy Grove, introduced to Google by John Doyle, and widely used in many companies.
What is OKR?
O stands for your goal, and KR stands for Key Results.
The goal means what you want to do, and the key results indicate how you can achieve your goals? And how do you measure which goal you have achieved?
So, if you want to find O (the target) you have to use the method we mentioned in the previous paragraph, and want to determine the KR (key result) that can achieve O (target), which is what we will talk about here.
It sounds abstract, what should I do?
Let me give you an example.
For example: I set myself an O (target) this year to become healthier.
So, in order to achieve this O (target), I set four corresponding KRs:
KR1 is: Exercise 1 hour a day to continuously improve physical fitness and cardiopulmonary function (except for physical discomfort).
KR2 is: Beginning of yoga private lessons in August, once a week, stretching the body and exercising deep muscles, dialogue with the body.
KR3 is: Develop a good habit of eating and drinking, usually sleep 8 hours a day, do not sleep late on weekends, no longer look at the phone after 9 o’clock every night, sleep before 11:30 every night.
KR4 is: With less sugar, no more weight, a more balanced diet, combined with the exercise mentioned before, lose 9 pounds before the end of the year.
This is my one year OKR.
It can be seen that each KR is quantified and they are the specific key outcomes of achieving the goal.
Once these KRs are implemented, the target will be implemented.
Again, if these KRs are not implemented, the goal will naturally not be achieved.
When I seriously thought about and established OKR, obviously I couldn’t make a goal at the beginning of the year as I used to, and I would give up if I didn’t insist on it for a month.
After having the OKR method, I can check if I have done the KR for the day.
When I can always do those KRs, I find that I am getting closer and closer to the initial goals.
As I said in this example: If I want to be healthier, I need to do it by doing the above four KRs.
So, if I want to see how my annual goals are going in the middle of a quarter, I can review how the four KRs are performing.
Do you really insist on exercising for one hour a day? Did you really do the things that make adjustments? Did you really start practicing yoga? Is it really less dessert and ice cream than before?
When I found the gap between the set KR and the implementation, I asked myself the question: Why are there such gaps?
Then, I will think again, how can I better implement these KRs so that I can finally achieve my O (target)?
So, OKR is not the same thing as the list management we usually use.
List management is just a matter of letting you list the things you want to do, write the time points you need to complete, and then a time management method to eliminate them.
OKR’s approach is to ask you to think about your most important goals (O) first, then think about the key results (KR) you need to accomplish to accomplish important goals, and then achieve key results. Specific tasks.
The former is a list of things you need to think about, and the latter is a completion strategy and task based on important goals.
Visible, the latter are important things that require you to invest more time and energy, not everything.
This is very important, don’t confuse inventory management with OKR management.
According to these principles, when you set up OKR for yourself, you need to pay attention to it.Point:
1) It must be challenging
70% completion probability is a more challenging standard.
2) Management cycle
A monthly and quarterly review can be performed on a weekly basis.
3) Streamlining Principles
If O is too much, it means that it doesn’t matter, so the goal is at most 5. The KR corresponding to each O can’t be too much, usually less than five, otherwise it will lose focus.
4) Continue to follow up
Setting up OKR is only the first step, and then you need to follow up regularly, review it regularly, re-set it, and re-adjust or set goals when needed.
It can be said that only if your OKR is integrated into life and work, its role will be fully utilized.
At that time, it will act like a compass, always guiding you in the right direction, not lost or disordered.
5) KR (key results) should be quantified
Example: Increase conversion rate by 15%; sleep for 7 hours per day.
6) OKR is not the only thing you have to do, but what you have to do.
So, don’t put every goal and task in your OKR. If you do that, the end result will be: Nothing is available.
Last words
What is the master’s time management strategy?
Master’s time management strategy is: first ensure the effectiveness of time management, that is, the correctness of the target; then improve the efficiency of time management, that is, the usage rate per unit time. The most important way to improve your time management effectiveness is to ensure that your time flow is consistent with your important goals.