On the path to productivity and achievement we need some tools in our proverbial tool kit to help us actualize and implement the things we want to accomplish. I have found this little step to work in a big way. This was something that I learned from Bob Proctor. If you have not heard of Bob Proctor, you can check his company out at the ProctorGallagherInstute.com or do a web search for him. I love Bob’s methods and you will hear me reference him often.
Without further digression, what is this little trick? Well, the story has it that John D. Rockefeller suggest to Charles Schwab that he meet with Ivy Lee a pioneer in the productivity field. Schwab agreed to meet with him and they went over all the usual stuff, clearly define your vision, write your goals and objectives all the stuff that’s talked about these days. However, after meeting all the top executive, Schwab asked for Ivy to just give him one thing for them to work on.
Ivy said at the end of the each day, write out no more than six important things you want to accomplish the next day. Rank them in order of priority. When you get your next day going your work on the first task until it is complete and then go on to the next one, rinse and repeat, and do this everyday.
Ivy also said to Schwab, no charge for this suggestion, if it works, pay me what it is worth to you. Three months later Mr. Schwab wrote him a check for $25,000 dollars. By the way, back in the early 1900’s, $25,000 was a large sum of money. The idea or method worked beautifully for the Bethlehem Steel executives. And now it can work for you too. Once again, make a list of six things in the evening you want to accomplish the next day. Put them in order of priority and then get to work on them.
I can speak from experience on this. I used to make lists, they were way too long. They may have twenty items or so, and I would do them in the morning. When I heard this advice, I gave it a shot and it worked for me. I found myself doubling or tripling my productivity. The important things get done, and that is the key, continual improvement.
I do this at the end of my workday, I list out the six things I want to accomplish the next day. I remember one day, I did not make a list, maybe I was at a meeting or something. When I came the next day, I was dumbfounded. I literally didn’t know what to do. My mind was so used to looking at the list. It was interesting.
Here are some the benefits or positive externalities that happen from doing this. Once you make your list, your mind shifts off, and you can end your day. It creates a nice line in the sand for completing your workday. When I’m out of work, I’m not really thinking about it much, it has put my mind to rest. In the background though, my subliminal mind is working on the list. While I sleep my brain is processing and this list gets processed to. When you come in the morning, you have something to get right into, and it is all laid out for you. Obviously, we live in a dynamic world and things change during the day. This list helps keep you on track and keeps the unexpected things at a minimum most days.
I have always wondered why six? While not an odd number, seems rather random to me. I did some digging. It turns out a milestone paper in psychology was published in 1956 by Harvard University Cognitive Psychologist George A. Miller. His paper titled “”The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information” is interpreted that the human brain can hold in working memory seven things plus or minus 2. Interesting, phone numbers are seven digits (going back to the age where an area code was not needed to dial).
A recent study has challenged this paper and they are saying 4 is the magic number. It is not really important on the why it works, what is important is that it does work. Whether is Seven or four, I think it is important to understand that less is more. The key point is that your mind can only work on so many things at a time and a small list is digestible.
Getting back to you and your super productive amazing days, let’s work shop this 100 year old suggestion. For the workshop today, let’s put this into action. At the end of your day, whether it be a workday or home day, make a list of the six things you want to accomplish the next day. Put them in the order of importance. And then get on with your evening (or sleeping). In the morning when you are into your day, tackle the short and powerful list.
A suggestion, run this for a few weeks and see how it feels, hopefully, your production will increase and you can reap the benefits of being a super productive person. And if it does work share the idea. We all benefit from a productive society.
