1318: Be Focused On Your Outcomes Not Your Tasks by Carl Pullein on Outcome-Focused Efficiency

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[00:01:00] This is Optimal Work Daily, episode 1318.

[00:01:03] Be focused on your outcomes, not your tasks.

[00:01:06] By Carl Pelleen of CarlPelleen.com

[00:01:09] And I'm Dan, I am your personal narrator and I'm here with you every single day, including weekends and holidays,

[00:01:15] reading to you from these great blogs that cover all kinds of work-related topics.

[00:01:19] And today we're going to hear from one of our regular authors, Carl Pelleen.

[00:01:23] So let's get right to it now as we optimize your life.

[00:01:30] Be focused on your outcomes, not your tasks.

[00:01:33] By Carl Pelleen of CarlPelleen.com

[00:01:36] There's a common misconception about being productive.

[00:01:39] That productivity is about completing a lot of tasks each day and to become more productive,

[00:01:44] all you have to do is complete more tasks.

[00:01:47] Of course this is not true.

[00:01:49] Becoming more productive is about doing work that matters, so your measurable output increases.

[00:01:55] Completing two tasks that move a project or goal further forward is going to produce far better long-term results

[00:02:02] than completing a hundred tasks that have no impact on any of your important projects or goals.

[00:02:08] Stop picking the low-hanging fruit.

[00:02:11] We have a natural tendency to go after the low-hanging fruit,

[00:02:14] to check off the easy tasks because doing so makes us feel good.

[00:02:18] We get that dopamine hit and that puts a smile on our face and has us wanting more.

[00:02:22] So we populate our to-do lists with even more easy, non-important tasks,

[00:02:27] just so we can check them off and get that dopamine hit.

[00:02:30] It becomes a vicious circle.

[00:02:31] We put more and more unimportant tasks on our to-do lists, hoping for more dopamine hits.

[00:02:36] Of course we tell ourselves we are completing important tasks.

[00:02:39] After all, we must have a clean desk so we can focus better on our work

[00:02:43] and we need to make sure we have enough staples in our top drawer,

[00:02:46] just in case we run out while stapling important documents.

[00:02:49] Oh, and we should check our email just one more time in case something important has come in.

[00:02:54] Begin the day with a simple plan.

[00:02:57] We all have a good mix of easy routine and hard project work to complete each day.

[00:03:02] Difficulties start when you're not clear about what work is important.

[00:03:05] Prioritizing your work is a big part of becoming more productive.

[00:03:09] This is why beginning the day with a plan based on what current projects are important is vital.

[00:03:14] However, the routine work can very easily take over the day if you're not careful.

[00:03:24] There are a couple ways you can make sure that less important routine work does not take over your day.

[00:03:29] One way is to assign one day each week for admin work.

[00:03:33] This could be Friday afternoon, for example.

[00:03:35] Fridays are famously difficult to focus on important work

[00:03:38] because we are often thinking about our plans for the weekend.

[00:03:41] If that is the case, you could assign Friday as your admin and clean-up day.

[00:03:46] You could even make sure you have enough staples in your top drawer.

[00:03:49] This means you only have easy tasks to do on Friday,

[00:03:52] and you don't need a lot of focus to get them done.

[00:03:55] Another way is to allocate a time slot each day to do your admin and routine tasks.

[00:04:00] Giving yourself one hour a day to just get the routine easy tasks complete

[00:04:05] will help you stay focused on the important project work for the other seven or eight hours each day.

[00:04:11] I assign one hour a day for all my routine admin work.

[00:04:14] I usually assign the end of the day to do this because I don't need a lot of concentration to do it,

[00:04:19] but you can choose any time of the day or week to do it.

[00:04:25] The key to better productivity is to focus on the outcome you want,

[00:04:29] not the tasks that will get you there.

[00:04:31] We often add unnecessary tasks when we're planning out a project.

[00:04:35] For example, send email to get 2019 planning template.

[00:04:39] Nine times out of ten, a phone call would get the desired result faster.

[00:04:43] You might also find that you have tasks such as

[00:04:46] talk to John about the presentation order,

[00:04:48] and lower down your list, have a task saying

[00:04:51] ask John for the 2019 sales forecast.

[00:04:54] These two tasks could be completed either by one phone call

[00:04:57] or walking down the hall to talk to John,

[00:05:00] but because the tasks are not grouped together, you miss the second one.

[00:05:04] That means now you have to communicate with John twice instead of once.

[00:05:08] When you set up a project, you need to be very clear on what it is you're trying to achieve.

[00:05:12] What's the desired outcome for the project?

[00:05:15] David Allen in Getting Things Done writes about this,

[00:05:18] and Tony Robbins in his Time of Your Life course puts a lot of stress on outcome thinking.

[00:05:23] The tasks help, they are signposts along the way,

[00:05:27] but more often than not, the shortest distance between where you are now

[00:05:31] and successfully completing the project is not through completing all your tasks in the right order.

[00:05:36] More often than not, the fastest way to completing the project is a simple phone call

[00:05:40] or going out to see the client or customer.

[00:05:43] I use Evernote to plan out my projects and not Todoist.

[00:05:47] I can add tasks and steps I think will be needed to complete the project in a list at the bottom of my project note,

[00:05:53] and once I am satisfied I have everything needed to get the project completed,

[00:05:57] I go through the list removing tasks I feel are not necessary.

[00:06:01] What I end up with is a list of absolutely essential tasks.

[00:06:05] This often reduces the number of tasks required to complete the project down by half.

[00:06:10] If you are serious about becoming more productive,

[00:06:13] focus less on your tasks and more on what it is you are trying to achieve.

[00:06:17] The goal, the completed project and the outcome you desire are what you're looking for,

[00:06:22] not completing 10 tasks so you feel like you've accomplished something.

[00:06:26] As Jim Rohn said, quote,

[00:06:28] Don't mistake movement for achievement.

[00:06:31] It's easy to get faked out by being busy.

[00:06:34] The question is, busy doing what?

[00:06:41] You just listened to the post titled

[00:06:43] Be Focused on Your Outcomes, Not Your Tasks

[00:06:46] by Karl Pelleen of KarlPelleen.com

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[00:07:48] And thank you to Karl, whose last name by the way is spelled P-U-L-L-E-I-N

[00:07:54] and I do have his website linked in this episode's description for you.

[00:07:57] Karl is a renowned productivity and time management coach

[00:08:00] who's helped thousands of people around the world get better at managing their time

[00:08:04] and become more productive using technology they carry around with them every day.

[00:08:08] And you can check out his podcast which is called The Working With Podcast.

[00:08:12] Karl's also written three books on productivity and time management

[00:08:16] and he's also got a couple of courses I'd encourage you to check out.

[00:08:19] They're called Time and Life Mastery and Your Digital Life.

[00:08:22] Karl's purpose is to help people learn how to manage their time

[00:08:26] so they can enjoy their lives and build a life they're truly proud of.

[00:08:30] He's featured over on Optimal Living Daily every once in a while as well

[00:08:33] so you can check out that show for more.

[00:08:35] And again, be sure to come by KarlPaleen.com to show him some support.

[00:08:39] You can also find so much more about Karl plus his podcast,

[00:08:43] coaching, courses, webinars, books and much more all right there on the site for you.

[00:08:48] And again, that is KarlPaleen.com.

[00:08:51] And that is going to do it for today.

[00:08:53] I appreciate you subscribing or following the show wherever you get your audio

[00:08:57] and I'll be right back with you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.