Extreme Productivity

Sharing my learnings from the book, Extreme Productivity by Robert Pozen

Extreme Productivity by Robert Pozen

With Extreme Productivity, Pozen explains how individuals can maximize their time and energy by determining and focusing on their highest priorities. He also provides a toolkit of practical tips and techniques to help professionals at all stages of their careers maximize their time at work.

• productivity is about developing a certain Zen sense of busyness, expending minimal effort for maximum results
• To get yourself thinking more long-term, begin organizing your work. Split up tasks into aims, objectives and targets so that you can begin to prioritize. A good strategy is to divide tasks according to how long they take to accomplish
  • aims take five years or more
  • objectives take between 3 and 24 months.
  • targets are anything that will take 3 months or less.
• It’s also important to prioritize aims, objectives & targets. Once that’s done, you can address the tasks. How you allocate your time is crucial to your productivity
• fight procrastination by breaking your projects down into smaller targets, for which you can set mini-deadlines. You should set your deadlines at similar intervals and avoid having them all pile up at the end. It’s also key to reward yourself after successfully meeting a deadline.
• instead of allocating a lot of time to work that’s not super important, do the simple things quickly to free up more time for the meatier tasks
  • a good approach is to apply the OHIO principle (only handle it once).
  • fight the temptation to be perfect when it comes to your low priority tasks. You should reserve the privilege for your top-level work
• improve the efficiency and quality of your writing, you need to add structure to the process. You can do this by brainstorming, categorizing and outlining
  • brainstorming – write down whatever thoughts come to mind about the subject
  • categorizing – you add some order to your ideas
  • outlining – arranging your categories in a logical sequence
• efficient writing isn’t just about structure. It also requires peace and quiet
• results are what count. The number of hours spent on any project is irrelevant. It makes no sense to embrace a culture that favors long hours over productivity
• productivity is about much more than work. It’s also closely connected to your personal life and general lifestyle. After all, the point of being efficient at work is to make time for your life outside of work.