Optimize productivity by Ivy Lee method

In 1928, Charles M. Schwab was one of the richest men in the world.

Schwab was the president of Bethlehem Steel Corporation - the largest shipyard and the second largest steel producer of the United States at the time. The famous inventor Thomas Edison once hinted at Schwab as "master of energy". He constantly sought his advantage even in the fiercest competition.

On a day in 1918, wishing to increase the performance of the group and find better solutions to complete the work, Schwab arranged a meeting with a consultant on productivity. Very respectable name is Ivy Lee.

Lee is a self-made entrepreneur and is known as a pioneer in mass media (PR). During the meeting, Schwab led Lee into his room and said, "Please show me how to accomplish everything."

Lee replied, "Give me 15 minutes with one of your executives."

Schwab: "How much will I have to pay you?"

Lee said: "You don't lose any money, unless the solution I give is effective. After 3 months, you can send me a check for as much as you can as long as you feel I deserve it." .

Ivy Lee method

In 15 minutes with a CEO, Lee explained his simple method to optimize productivity to the highest level.

At the end of each working day, write down the 6 most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Don't write more than 6 tasks. At the same time, determine the priority for each job in the 6 bulletins in the order of their true importance.

When you arrive at the office tomorrow, focus entirely on the first job until it is finished, then switch to the second one. Continue this rule until you have completed all the list of 6 important tasks. At the end of the day, you create a new list of 6 unfinished jobs to prepare for the next day.

Apply this process every day you come to the office.

This method may sound simple but Schwab and his board at Bethlehem Steel decided to try it out. After 3 months, Schwab was extremely happy about the growth of the company he had made. He invited Lee to his office and signed a check worth $ 25,000 (equivalent to $ 400,000 in 2015) in return for this talented consultant.

The Ivy Lee method of prioritizing this task list may sound very simple. So how can it produce such amazing results?

Manage priorities very well

Ivy Lee's method of improving productivity is a combination of many previous ideas and this is what makes effective:

Many people believe that these methods are too basic, regardless of the complexities and other problems in life. What happens if there is an emergency? What about using the latest technology to create the best advantage? In my experience, complexity is often a weakness (you can take advantage of it, not a challenge) because it makes things difficult to get back on track. True, emergency and unexpected situations will increase. Ignore them as much as possible, face them when you have no other way and give priority to the list of important things as soon as possible.

Complexity forces us to make sure decisions. I do not believe there is anything miraculous in the method of selecting six important jobs of Lee every day. Choosing 5 jobs, 4 things or 3 jobs a day can be easier. However, what I think is something amazing happens when we force ourselves to overcome our limits. The best thing to do when you have so many ideas (or when you're overwhelmed by so many things to be done) is to get rid of your ideas and unnecessary ones.

The impulse will make you better. Lee's method is like Warren Buffett's 25 -5 rule when asking you to focus on the 5 most important things and ignore other things. Basically, if you are not committed to doing anything, you will be dispersed by everything.

This method eliminates conflicts at the beginning. The biggest obstacle to accomplishing most of those jobs is to start them (getting out of bed is very difficult but once you actually start training you will find it easier to complete the lesson. your episode). Lee's method forces you to decide what to do first in the evening before going to work.

This strategy is extremely useful to me: someone who likes to write. I will waste 3 or 4 hours just wondering what I want to write on any day. If I chose the night before, I could wake up and start writing immediately. It sounds simple but it works. In the early stages, beginning also plays an important role like success in all things.

You can focus on each job. Modern people like many things, multitasking. A belief that multitasking will mean better but this is still not confirmed by science. The opposite is true. The less priorities there are, the better results will be. Study the world's leading experts in a wide range of areas such as athletes, artists, scientists, teachers, CEOs and you will find that a very popular personality of them is focused. The reason is very simple. You cannot excel in a task if you constantly divide your time in 10 different ways.

To become a master, you need to have concentration and consistency.

So what is the most obvious solution here? Do the first most important thing of the day and that's the only thing you can do to increase productivity.