A few weeks ago, I spoke to a retired CFO of a large Indian company who recently launched his consulting business. And he told me something that made me think.
He said, “When I started my consulting business, I accepted any client – big or small. So our client base ranged from Rs 3 crore to Rs 300 crore companies
“But we soon discovered our blunder. We found that it took the same effort to fix a business problem, whether the company had Rs 3 crore revenue or Rs 300 crores.”
Simply put, for the same effort, the impact could be 1x, 10x, or 100x, depending upon the company size – as the graph below demonstrates for three hypothetical clients, with revenue of Rs 3 crores, 30 crores, and 300 crores.
It may not surprise you that my friend now only accepts large companies as clients. But how is this relevant to us?
It turns out, this is a trap that many of us fall into when it comes to allocating our time.
We all have long to-do lists, overflowing with tasks of varying values, ranging from 1x to 10x, or even 100x. But if we don’t have a clear sense of prioritization when starting our day, what do we do? We often pick up tasks at random, regardless of their true value.
Worse still, we often check emails or messages habitually, getting stuck in firefighting or urgent but low-value tasks.
And if much of our time is spent on ‘1x tasks,’ it doesn’t matter how long or how efficiently we work – the impact of our toil will be minimal. This is why, even after a very busy day, most of us feel dissatisfied.
There is another way this trap may ensnare us – even when working on a ‘100x task,’ we may keep checking our emails/messages and get pulled into low value work or email ping-pong.
This is why working long hours has little correlation with success or impact. Then what is the way to avoid this trap?
I recommend two things:
- You absolutely need to prioritize
I know this sounds obvious, but most of us don’t do it. There are many frameworks (e.g., top-down prioritization, effort vs. impact matrix, Eisenhower matrix, etc.) but people often find them impractical.
When you try to prioritize among a long list of tasks (say, 40 or 50 tasks), it becomes hard. Instead, identify 5-10 relatively high-priority tasks, then conduct a quick prioritization exercise to select the most important. Also, make the exercise quick and dirty rather than laborious.
- Do focus sprints to minimize context-switching
When working on a high value priority, work in sprints of intense focus lasting 25 to 50 minutes. After that, do deep relaxation for 5-10 minutes. This will help you minimize context switching.
These techniques are part of our Zen Productivity program, designed to help you transform the way you work — learn more here.
The most accomplished people in the world are NOT those who work the longest hours, but the ones who prioritize and focus. For example, Cal Newport, author of ‘Deep Work,’ has written eight books, teaches at a top university, runs a successful podcast, and writes for leading newspapers—all without working past 5:30 pm.
I am not promising you nirvana. But if you focus on your real priorities—the ‘100x tasks’—for a significant part of your day, you’ll achieve far more than most people believe is possible.
As always, the proof of the pudding lies in eating it. So try it for a few weeks and see for yourself.
Thank you for reading this.
Rajan