This ‘foolish’ question will sting you turning you wildly productive

And the question without further delay–

What if you get only 4 hours a day for working?

Not a minute more. 4 hours mean 4 hours – working for a minute more is going to give you a heart attack.

Sound foolish?

But the truth is that throwing on yourself challenging questions and then letting your mind answer them brings you incredibly closer to success.

As your mind kicks around in hammering out solutions, you uncover a cluster of mind-quickening tactics implementing which amazingly ramps up your progress.

I habitually ask myself challenging questions. By the time I get their answers, I hit upon an eye-glittering treasure trove filled with gems that can speed up my progress manifold.

Recently I asked myself:

How am I going to work if I have only 4 hours a day to focus on my writing?

The following solutions bubbled up to the surface. And though I primarily focus on ‘writing,’ you can replace it with ‘work’ or to whatever you want to fill the blank with.

1. Putting a 1-and-half hour cap to reading

When I have no time limits, I tend to read more than necessary. And very often it feels as if my reading is going overboard.

Yes, there have to be restrictions on our reading, no matter how incorrect this statement appears. I think that if we want to write, it’s better than we give more time to actually writing than reading stuff about it.

No matter in whichever field you are, the unvarnished truth is that practical is 10 times more important than theory.

Take the example of skiing.

If you read how to lean your body forward, how not to let the skis from getting entangled, how to bend the knees and so on, it’s good. you can also go ahead hatching talks on it with your coach, friends, and folks in front of whom you want to brag about your hobby.

But you actually learn how to ski when you put on the skis and take yourself out to do the thing on those snow-carpeted slopes.

Similarly, if you lock yourself in your library reading about business, it’s good, but your real business smarts are going to be tested when you actually launch your own venture, when you’re there in the field.

It’s the same with writing. We presume that the more we read, the better for our skills.

The point I want to pound home is that if we only read without actually implementing what we have learnt, it’s useless. Our real learning is tested when we execute and implement the knowledge we have gathered.

2. Putting a 2-and-half hour cap to writing

The problem with us is that we very easily deceive ourselves with pseudo work. When our core work becomes pseudo, it’s difficult to understand.

We may fancy that we’re tasked at really productive work, sitting in the library reading books, but beneath this perception, the truth can be that we want to avoid tough work.

Yes, the practical thing, going forth and actually implementing in real life what we have learnt.

Because you know that it looks cool to talk or think or read a book on a certain subject, but when it comes to actually implementing the knowledge, we falter.

I therefore feel that there has to be a limit to reading (thinking and planning and discussing), and more time should be given to actually doing the thing we’re passionate about – in my case writing.

Important, we’re great at forgetting things, and until and unless we implement what we learn, we’re not going to remember it.

Our reading without implementation would be like having the money in our pocket without having been able to spend it.

So, compared to the time we give to reading (or thinking,) we must give more time to actually doing that activity. Therefore the 90-minute time to reading and 150-minute time to writing.

3. Cutting distractions

Ampleness of anything is a luxury. And when we have something more than we need it, we tend to waste it.

Take the example of money. If you have more money than you actually need, more often than not you’ll ruin it over things you actually don’t need.

You’ll be tempted to purchase things you hardly need: Clothes, food, courses, home decor and so on.

In the traffic of these purchases, there’s a high chance that your essential material is going to get side-lined.

It’s the same with time. When we have a limited time, we automatically eliminate the minutiae and second-class stuff – going directly to what actually works.

So, having a 4-hour cap on your work would sharpen your focus and persuade you to feel the importance of time in earnest.

It would result in you cutting all distractions – Facebook, water-drinking, stretching/yawning, talking on phone etc.

You instead would be persuaded to attack your core work with your complete force and might, and surprise yourself by getting a lot more done than usual.

4. Cutting internal clutter

Confess it. while you’re engage in your work, every minute your mind straggles off to things you mustn’t be caring about – at least while you’re pursuing that particular work.

But rare is it that you pour your full on your work. Instead, while you work, you think about irrelevant things such as:

• The spat you had with your boyfriend
• The suit you’ll wear in the evening party
• Reproaching yourself for having depleted concentration

The list can go on, but you know what I mean.

So, when a strict timeframe is capped on your writing, you won’t care about such frivolities, because you know that once the time is over, it’s gone.

This is the reason why we don’t think about such stuff while taking our final exams.

Cutting internal clutter, therefore, is vital to steam up our productivity.

So?

Find a corner where you’re not going to get interrupted, write this 4-hour work limitation question on the top, set the timer for 15-25 minutes and go ahead to put down your answer.

By the time you’re over, you’ll have a bunch of productive-boosting tips up your sleeve.

Go crush it.