Rituals of Success
How to Get More Done By Thinking Less
If you’ve ever felt like you can’t find time to get to your list of important things, you’re not alone. New York Times best selling author Tony Schwarz says almost 75 percent of workers around the world feel disengaged at work and that the "more, bigger, faster" mantra is to blame. We are busier than ever, trying to get more done with fewer resources.
Schwarz suggests everything we do—whether checking email, exercising, or resisting the temptation to eat an extra cookie—often requires thinking, and thinking takes energy. So, if you want to get more done you must actually think less.
In 1911, philosopher A.N. Whitehead wrote: "It is a profoundly erroneous truism that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilization advances by extending the number of operations we can perform without thinking about them."
The answer, according to Schwarz, is to make important things automatic, what he calls a ritual. Rituals are highly specific behaviors performed at a specific time. He reports the five rituals that have made the most difference in his life are:
1. Sticking to a bedtime that ensures he gets at least 8 hours of rest.
2. Working out first thing in the morning, whether he feels like it or not.
3. Starting his workday by doing the most important task first—decided the night before—and working only in 90-minute time blocks with a definite break in between.
4. Writing down his good ideas immediately, so they aren’t bouncing around in his mind all day, or worse, forgotten entirely.
5. When upset by someone or something, he ritually asks how he can see the same set of facts in a more hopeful or empowering way.
Remember, the less you have to think about your goals as you perform the steps to achieve them, the more likely you are to check them off your list.
[1]Many in the housing industry are wondering not only what today’s home buyers really want, but also what they are ready to leave behind in light of current economic realities. A new study recently released by NAHB, What Home Buyers Really Want [2], was designed to answer these questions, and more specifically, to provide the most current and accurate information on buyer preferences so that NAHB members can deliver the home (and community) that today’s buyers want and are willing to pay for.
