People are busy, don’t you think? Those who are working, their calendars are full. Those who are not, they are busy too. No, I am not judging ‘being busy’ is good or bad. What I am curious about is, for almost everyone there is always something left unfinished in the day. Most of us wish there was more time in the day, more hours in a day. Some wish they had 4 hands. Some wish they could clone themselves. Some wish if they can hire somebody to do some things. The feeling that we end up when we have not finished what we intended to do is not good right, so it is worth exploring.
Lot of us are aware and curious to solve their situation. Therefore, ‘how do I master managing my time?’ is the most frequent question I get asked. And this question comes from people irrespective of where they are in life, students, fresh graduates, working professionals, C-suite leaders or those who are running their own business.
Even the very organized ones amongst us sometimes experience or have unfinished business or unmet goals at the end of their day or timeline.
Given a sort of common phenomenon that I see around, I can probably take the liberty and say that no matter what you are doing or where you are in life, you are experiencing overwhelm of varying degree in your work or in life.
Some tell me, that is how life is. They say, ‘you cannot get everything you want’. In other words, they seem to have found an argument or a belief that makes them feel at peace with the results that they are getting.
Some of them argue, does it mean, we got to let go of our ambitions? does it mean, we got to lower our standards? Or does it mean, we got to give up on our dreams? Or they have a version of their own question which is like the above.
I think the answer to finding solution is in asking the right question in the first place.
Given that each one of us believe in our goals. Many of us are passionate about our goals. If you have a goal or a dream itself is an evidence that it matters to you.
So, question could be, how can I get done what I want to do? That takes me closer to my bigger dream or a larger goal.
I don’t know what your current strategy is. I would like to explore and consider this one principle that I am going to explain in a bit.
Change the strategy and change the results you get!
The principle that I would like you to explore and consider is Leverage! in everything you do.
I am sure most of you must have learnt about ‘lever’ during your primary education.
Levers is a simple machine or a mechanical device that is used to amplify the small amount of force in a mechanism to generate much larger results or outcome.
Most of you also must be familiar with the famous quote by Archimedes ‘Give me a lever long enough, and a place to stand and I will move the earth’.
In simple words, lever is ‘one step that will give you maximum result that no other step would give you’. If you are not working on ‘the leverage’ it is going to take more efforts and will deliver lesser outcome in comparison to if you are using the leverage.
In my view, lever as a principle can be applied in our work, our career, our business, our life, and many other areas of our life. The principle of levers can be used to amplify a small effort into larger outcomes.
Benefit of using this principle is that you can achieve far more with lesser effort or time. Smart, right?
How could you apply this principle in your daily actions, planning your day and prioritizing your actions?
Ask yourself, what is your clear goals? What is the measure of that goal? Before jumping straight into action, ask yourself ‘what strategy or actions will give you the most progress towards your goals?’ Most of us are habituated to setting goals and jumping straight into action. The strategy step is a crucial piece in deciding what to do and when to do. This would require you to take a systemic view of your goals and identify the lever in that system. With conscious practice & deliberate reflection you can develop this muscle and get better at it.
Identify the lever that can transform how you do stuff & transform the results you get!
