Effective “Knowledge Work”
From: http://www.gtdagenda.com
“To be effective, every knowledge worker… needs to dispose
of time in fairly large chunks. To have small dribs and drabs
of time at his disposal will not be sufficient even if the
total is an impressive number of hours.”
- Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive
The most VALUABLE time and attention spent is focused time
and attention. And more than that, focused time and attention
for more than a couple of hours - minimum - on one project,
topic, or issue.
Want to produce more? Stop checking voicemail, email, and
text messages constantly. Turn off the “auto alert when I
get a new message” functionality in your computer and mobile
phone.
Instead, make an effort to work in focused, uninterrupted
90-minute minimum blocks of time. Half a day, or an entire
day is much better. The more time you can spend focused on one
project or topic, the higher the results you’ll achieve.
Plan your day in advance and create chunks of uninterrupted
work time. These are time blocks when you can work without
interruption or pause on your most important tasks. These
chunks are essential for the accomplishment of any large,
important task.
One way to create long periods of work time is to rise early
and work nonstop, without interruption, on a major task or
project. Sometimes you can create chunks of time in the
evenings or on the weekends. But the fact is, all important
jobs, those with serious potential consequences, require
large chunks of single-minded, concentrated time and energy.
“Every great accomplishment of mankind has been preceded by an
extended period, often over many years, of concentrated effort.”
- Earl Nightingale
