You’ve probably heard of the 10.000-hour-rule by Malcom Gladwell, the notion that anyone can become an expert at anything by practicing for 10.000 hours.
But, when a novice student at Berkeley consistently outperforms his long-tenured professor on basic problem sets, this notion fails.
That’s because it isn’t the experience that sets the top performers apart, but the amount of deliberate practice they put in.
The amount of the ‘quality kind of work’.
The only way to achieve greater quality, and avoid the ‘amount of hours’ trap, is to fully concentrate and engage in what you’re doing.
In this way, you will not only improve your outputs, but also decrease the risk of burnout, and paradoxically – become more productive.
Here are four areas to working smarter:
- Single-Tasking
It’s impossible to do two things at once with a high level of quality. Whenever you multitask, the quality and quantity of your works suffers. By constantly switching between tasks, you’re allotting only a portion of your cognitive capacity to a specific task. The ‘switching costs’ can consume up to 40% of your productive time, and on the long-run, chronic multitasking decreases the ability to filter relevant information, recognise patterns and impairs long-term memory.
To work smarter: Define your purpose (why) and concrete objectives (goals) for each working session.
2. Distractions & Self-Control
One of the best methods for self-control is to move ‘the object of desire’ out of your view. So, the best way to avoid distractions, especially phones, social media, internet etc., is to move them out of your sight.
To work smarter: Identify and eliminate the common interruptors.
3. Optimal working blocks
Top performers across all fields cannot sustain intense work and deep concentration for more than 2 hours. Once that threshold is passed neither the body or the mind can sustain it. In another research, top employees spent 52 minutes engaged in work, and 17 minutes away from it.
To work smarter:
- Alternate between block of 50-90 minutes of intense work and recovery breaks of up to 20 minutes.
- Notice when you are ‘pushing yourself’ through the task, that’s the time to take a break.
- Take days off. Plan your holidays strategically, especially after periods of stress.
4. Mindset & Perception of Stress
Achieving what you want will always include stress, and how you think about stress has a profound effect on what you do with it. Even more so, how you view stress literally changes biological process in your body. Do you tend to see stress as something to avoid, ignore and quite down or, do you view it as an aid in performance?
The growth mindset performers search for tasks that are a slightly above their current capabilities, are willing to push themselves harder, and view productive failure as positive. They possess ‘a challenge response’, where they view stress as something productive and an opportunity for growth.
You can change your mind about how you see stress, literally.
To work smarter:
- Focus on what you can control.
- Pay attention if you start avoiding challenges, or you feel like quitting too early.
Source
Brad Stulberg, Steve Magnes, Peak Performance; Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Succes, Rodale, 2017.
Image
Alamy, Demi Moore and Simon Baker, Margin Call, 2011.