Ecology of life. Life hack: An avalanche of information falls on our poor heads and a skill is required in order not to choke in this information flow...

We increase productivity by cutting off the excess

The main problem of our time is the dispersion of attention. An avalanche of information falls on our poor heads and a skill is required in order not to choke in this information flow.

And technologies designed to make our lives easier and more comfortable gradually captured our attention and practically established total dominance over us.

Let's imagine a typical manager's day. How is this day going?

You are sitting down to write an important report, at which point - "ding" - a mail reminder pops up. Yeah, a letter from the boss with another assignment that needs to be done "yesterday", you are distracted from your task and intend to immediately follow the boss's order.

But then a colleague with whom you share an office asks some question that is completely irrelevant: for example, about a sensational movie premiere. For a few minutes you are making small talk, but just as you are about to sit down for a report, as - “ring” - an alert comes to your phone that your online friend has commented on your post.

You open Facebook to read a comment, hang in your friend feed for another half an hour, liking new photos of your friends.

Meanwhile, the lunch break is approaching. You have lunch, then sit down again for a report and - oh, hell! - you remember that you have not yet completed the boss' order from the letter, and you still need to call your parents, make an appointment with the doctor and in general ...

This is how the whole day goes. As a result, nothing has been done. Endless distractions give rise to a persistent feeling of wasted time.

Statistically, the average manager is interrupted every 8 minutes. Let's say each distraction is 3 minutes at best. That's 3 hours in an eight-hour workday. And don't forget that it takes us about 10-20 minutes to build up to get back to the previous level of productivity that we had before we were interrupted. There are scary numbers. When to work?

This is where the reasons for our overtime and dissatisfaction lie. The processor is overloaded, we do not have time to process information, misunderstanding, irritation and stress gradually increase. Infinitely I want to press "reset" and reboot.

What to do? How to manage incoming flows, work with distractions, so as not to become a "slave of the lamp"?

I asked myself this question 13 years ago, when I was working as a manager in the largest Russian bank. And when my usual delays at work began to be 4-5 hours daily, and my face acquired a stable greenish tint, then for the first time I decided: “I can’t live like this anymore.”

Fashionable trends at that time in the form of time management were very relevant. After going through several trainings and reading a lot of books, I seriously took up my life, and I managed to reduce the number of delays and significantly increase productivity.

Getting more and more interested in different methods in the field of efficiency, energy management and goal setting, I developed my own system of working with time wasters. I am far from being a robot and I live in a rhythm that is comfortable for me, I love new gadgets and actively use them, but sometimes I do a “cleansing”, tightening measures so as not to be sprayed.

Not all recipes will be acceptable to you, but I hope you can apply some set of tools and hacks in the field of productivity, time and energy management. Here I have collected both my findings and proven recommendations from productivity experts.

Here we go.

I'll start with recommendations for information addicts like me. Let's go back to that pile of unread books, the folder of purchased but not completed e-learning courses on the computer, and the bookmarks on the web with unread articles that never reach our hands.

Firstly, all these “unread” things, like all unfinished business, suck energy from us and only contribute to the growth of dissatisfaction, therefore, there is only one way out - to take the bull by the horns, filter all incoming information and work with distractions.

So, how not to drown in information:

Go on a low-information diet

The first time I heard this phrase was from Timothy Ferris, and it helped me a lot. Start at least with a rule "no internet after six". Reduce the amount of information in your life. And check any incoming information for relevance and timeliness. Become the guardian of your brain. And for this:

Set filters

Any information that I want to swallow is tested with a stop question: “How will this be useful to me in the near future?” And if the answer is no, I put off reading until I need to. For example, I read an additional one on the topic of the upcoming training immediately before the training so that it is relevant.

Limit the amount of news in your life

You won't miss anything important, I assure you. All the most important things will be told to you. I read the headlines in the news feed on the Internet and if something is particularly interesting to me, I go and spend no more than two minutes a day on it.

Give up TV or limit your time on it

The entire TV industry is geared towards keeping you on TV. Thus, they realize their goals, and you do not. You are just wasting the time of your life. Another question is if the TV helps you relax, but half an hour or an hour a day is enough for this.

A few more numbers. According to statistics, Russians spend on TV about 3-6 hours a day, which is 45-90 days a year. Three months of life! Just imagine how your life would change if you spent this time improving its quality! Although, for some reason I am sure that among our readers there are few fans of sitting in front of the TV.

The exact same thing goes for social media.

Many of my friends and colleagues have not watched TV for many years, but safely replace it with chatter on social networks and do not notice what a colossal amount of time they are wasting. For most of the participants in our courses and trainings, the main time absorber is social networks.

Limit your stay there or use them more functionally. My news feed is set up so that I only read announcements on topics that interest me and news from people that interest me.

In his book Doubt, Slava Baransky describes this modern syndrome well and generally suggests a total rejection of friends on Facebook, for example. For me, this is too much, as the meaning of the social network is lost, but there is definitely something in this.

Use the 50/10 Rule

That is, 50 minutes of productive work without distractions and 10 minutes of reward in in social networks in the form of wandering around the friendline and distributing likes. I have such a ritual for the night, I open instagram, scroll through it in two minutes and fall asleep sweetly.

Once a week we do a complete rejection of gadgets

No phones, iPads, laptops or even books. From-breathe! Concentrate on the world around you, on the greenery of the leaves, the voices of your friends, the music, the sensations of your body. Stop living in a fantasy world!

It surprises me when I see endless posts and photos on Facebook about the chronology of the daily activities of acquaintances and colleagues, and the question arises, when do they have time to live and do they have time, if all life happens through the prism of Instagram and Facebook? How much precious time is spent taking pictures and posting, instead of breathing and feeling life.

Free your brain

Constantly dump all the information in one place, it can be a list in a diary, on a tablet or computer, it is desirable that there is only one storage medium. And daily parse your single list and structure the information. Most importantly, do not try to keep the whole chaos of ideas, thoughts and deeds in your head. Press the "reset" button. To structure chaos, I use mind maps.

Meditate, relax, freewrite, just don't keep everything in RAM if you don't want to get stuck.

This is especially important if you need to make a quality decision, generate ideas. Here you must leave all worries behind and free your head full of stereotypes for new ideas and fresh solutions. And for this, just write down all the chaotic thoughts on paper, empty your precious vessel and - forward to new ideas!

Don't be afraid of lists

This is not a trap, as irrationalists think - it is freedom, the freedom of your mind to think about what is really important, and not get stuck in a pile of flying ideas and thoughts.

Get to grips with your phone

We did not notice how we became slaves to our gadgets. One phone call can ruin our grandiose plans. But nothing will happen if you do not answer immediately, but a little later. Only if you are not an employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and ambulance.

For me, this understanding came during the trainings. When I'm training, it's natural that I'm not available on the phone, but I always call back during breaks, at the end of the day or every other day, depending on the relevance.

When I realized that the world doesn’t fall apart if I don’t call back right away, I began to apply these same skills to ordinary life and I often put my phone on silent when I'm doing serious tasks and call back when I can. Moreover, I accumulate calls and then answer all at once. Significant time savings. Here I fully agree with Dan Kennedy, who said it in his usual manner:

There is nothing in life that cannot be put off for an hour. Or for a couple of hours. Everyone has their own specifics, but no one should always be available for incoming calls. It's like walking around with a "Kick me" sign on your back. If you receive all incoming calls, then you are constantly interrupting work on a task of known importance to you in favor of a question or person of unknown importance. You are giving control of your time to the unknown. And it will exhaust you, but you will not be able to keep up with the main thing..

Gradually, you will teach your clients, friends and loved ones to respect time and begin to respect it yourself.

Finally reduce the number of email checks

Just like the phone and social networks, email has become a real chronophage that endlessly devours your time. And all because we believe that we must instantly respond to every letter that arrives. Remember, we must act not reactively, but proactively, manage ourselves.

It is absolutely not necessary to look at the letter that just arrived. It is much more efficient to allocate several time blocks for checking mail. There's nothing over-the-top that you can't take a little time out of.

It is always clear at trainings: the higher the level of the leader, the less he is distracted by the phone and mail, and often he is not distracted at all, as he knows how to prioritize and concentrate. And if a participant is constantly on the phone, then this is immediately an indicator that a person does not know how to organize his time. As a rule, this is how novice employees behave, who serve everyone, but not themselves.

The phone is often needed to feel needed, although this is an imaginary need and an indicator that we are not able to organize our space.

Disable push-up notifications and alerts

Check your email and friend feed when you really want to, not when they want you to.

And the most important, learn to speak politely « No» unnecessary things and people

You have probably noticed how much time and energy is wasted on empty conversations and activities. And we can't find right words to politely refuse a person or let them know that we are busy.

The good news is that saying no is a skill and can and should be learned. In communication trainings, this is the most frequent request of the participants.

Be moderately tough, do not go on about the information and distractions.

We live in the information age, so we need to use information and technology for our own benefit, and not become their slaves.

Today we see perfectly how easy it is to manage us through information flows. Do not be slaves, manage your own life. Filter, block, deny. This is your life, your mood, your territory.

Some companies have already come out of the crisis. But for the heads of enterprises that are still continuing the struggle for existence, it is useful to remember that not all means are good in war.

During a crisis, the behavior of people in an organization is easily described by two models - centrifugal and centripetal. And they can appear at the same time.

Personnel exposed to centrifugal moods begin to flee the ship, which is often fraught with very unpleasant side effects, such as the withdrawal of capital from the company or the leakage of databases. But what is even worse is that the activity of such "vibrating elements", which are internally ready to use the crisis situation to their advantage, first provokes panic at the level of individual teams, and then - the destruction of the business as a whole.

The stable part of the staff, on the contrary, operates within the centripetal paradigm. These people begin to rally under the flag of the system in order to survive in it. At least as long as it's possible. As a result, a core is formed, the services of which can be used by an anti-crisis manager. Such people are useful regardless of the reasons for which they remain: the motive can be both a sense of hopelessness, uncertainty about their future outside the society that has become familiar, and devotion to the company, or maybe attachment to colleagues. Be that as it may, fighting for their workplace, such employees will be interested in achieving common goals.

In general, it can be argued that the most stable during a crisis are systems built on an authoritarian principle, since from the very beginning they rally people around a certain core, a “fist”. If in such a company a sufficiently powerful ideology is also found, the system will turn out to be a very stable formation, despite the storm raging around. Especially when you consider that authoritarian systems usually thrive in chaos.

All decisions in such companies are made by the anti-crisis manager alone, while top management becomes an extra link. The main support of the manager is the layer of "self-nominated", which in such conditions usually forms quite quickly. They also form the backbone of the team that will ensure the work of the company in the future.

True, some essential conditions must be observed. So. communication channels between the manager and the company should be direct, free from "noise" and unnecessary transmission links. For example, the first person must be constantly present at the enterprise and, preferably, never turn off the phone. Spheres of influence are also clearly distributed: the formed team controls the internal environment, while the manager is more concerned with the external environment. At the same time, the leader ideological work rallying and uniting people, suppresses panic, suppresses pockets of resistance and eliminates the sources of destructive centrifugal tendencies. The network of agents of influence within the company, which will gradually carry out the anti-crisis line of the manager, is also becoming a far from superfluous resource for the first person. This role may well be filled by those who are aware of the gravity of the situation in business and understand that there are simply no other ways to survive.

During a crisis, companies built on the basis of developing model organizational behavior. Briefly, this model can be defined as a "swarm" or "flock": the desire of each to survive becomes the key to the salvation of all.

This is a very stable structure, and its adaptability and mobility in comparison with authoritarian systems is even higher in chaos. But all intermediate, hybrid systems of organizational behavior - collegial, supportive, and others - will certainly fall apart in chaos.

In a crisis situation, as in a war, there is only one global task: to survive. The future is not taken into account, so the whole system should be viewed exclusively from a tactical point of view. Including - promptly identifying and eliminating weaknesses.

minus people

The implementation of the anti-crisis program should begin with the accumulation of financial flows within the organization. To do this, it is necessary to find those points at which the "capital is consumed" - the most costly elements and specific people who generate costs and do not create material added value in a tactical period of time.

The first category that consumes the company's resources is, of course, top management, and first of all - corrupted by "golden parachutes". Moreover, some part of the management elite is often characterized by openly speculative, fraudulent thinking, which in conditions of chaos can lead to the already mentioned theft of resources and the withdrawal of capital.

This group must be eliminated first. But even "normal" top management in the amount that the company could maintain during the period of successful and stable work is not needed during the crisis, since it does not create added value in the tactical period of time. That is why in some cases even a part of effective employees can be fired. Moreover, against the background of a pay cut or a freeze in bonuses, such managers may well move into the category of top management that the company has just got rid of. It all depends on whether the top manager of the company is devoted or just loyal to her. It should also be borne in mind that during a crisis, top managers (especially if we are talking about an authoritarian model) will simply have nothing to do: an anti-crisis manager, as a rule, is quite competent in all matters.

Having reduced the top management, it is necessary to start reducing the number of administrative and linear personnel, and in particular the part that serves the management company. You can fire either everyone in a row, or according to the list “through one” - whichever is more convenient. This category of employees forms one of the centers of “eating up resources”, and in addition, it has an amazing ability to generate inexhaustible expenses for quickly wearing out items. All office trifles, absorbed in incredible quantities, as a rule, lie on the conscience of the administrative staff. And, as practice shows, it is not possible to introduce a savings mode in the office until the “administrators” are removed from the system.

The third group, which must necessarily be reduced during a crisis, is all kinds of freeloaders who are sure to appear in a company that has come of age and has a large money supply. Eaten without special purposes. They not only do not create added value, but are also unable to present a clear description of the results of their work. All sorts of advisers, consultants, first deputies, outsourcers of all stripes and types, speechwriters, personal PR agents, coaches - all of them should be fired during a crisis without a shadow of a doubt.

The next hole where capital flows is services that are not directly related to business, and sometimes are not even service structures for the company. Usually, these are common "toys" of the owners, which in fact turn out to be a by-product of large pre-crisis cash flows.

99% EMPLOYEES

departments of organizational development and strategic management can be reduced without any unpleasant consequences

I know a telling story connected with a large construction company. Managers could not get resources from the owner to modernize and purchase heavy equipment, while the first person was throwing millions right and left, financing the dubious inventions of home-grown Kulibins. "R&D funding" - a frank toy that had nothing to do with business - was a direct consequence of the megalomania of a businessman who is not able to adequately assess reality.

The next step in the anti-crisis program is the revision of the departments of organizational development and strategic management, which are easily reduced, if not completely, then by 99 percent - for sure. Then comes the time

deal with the departments of branding and marketing, and especially with the divisions involved in internal and external PR. It is simply incomprehensible to the mind how much money companies spend absolutely unproductively, most often without a clear answer to the question about the result of the work of such structures! The most telling example is branding budgets. Any money of the company can be buried in them.

Now comes the turn of the functional departments. For example, in the IT sector, update functions are most often disabled: these operations are too expensive for a company in crisis: it only needs to ensure the stability of the entire system. But the legal department, accountants and the security service should be reduced very carefully. These are fundamental service functions for the company, playing the same role as the circulatory and nervous system- in the human body. In such departments, first you need to remove those who do not significantly affect the added value, then assess the situation and, if necessary, continue to cut, and strictly according to the certification, leaving the best and discussing with them the redistribution of functions. And last but not least, you can touch the production processes. Moreover, some of the people, drawn by centripetal forces, will scatter on their own with the start of mass layoffs.

The anthill lives

After reductions in people (primarily in the management company) and divisions, the structure of the company becomes compressed, collected. And the next step will be to stop all projects, with the exception of operational ones, without which the company cannot move on. So, the project of the current modernization of the enterprise cannot be stopped in any case, no matter how expensive it may be. Of course, unless this is a promising project, looking to the future, which the company must forget about for now.

After such preparatory work, it becomes possible to accumulate financial flows and funds, restructure accounts receivable and payable. And if the first block of operations was performed correctly, by this moment the previously inefficiently spent money has already returned to the system, which means that there may no longer be a rigid dependence on receivables. The repayment of accounts payable must be postponed.

There comes a stage of optimization of all costs. Of course, you need to start with management (they are overhead, they are transactional). And only last but not least, it makes sense to audit production, take on cost issues related to raw materials and technological processes.

After optimizing these costs, it's time to start taking actions that affect the increase in the money supply. Let's say, quite effective, but at the moment, all the same, "extra" team members can be offered to create a new business on the vacated capacities or under the auspices of the enterprise. Thus, the company bypasses the next phase of layoffs, which, by and large, is not very ethical and pleasant, and may come back to haunt later - in a strategic perspective. The company can give its staff the opportunity to survive on their own. It's about about a fairly common crushing technique, as a result of which, for example, a catering department or a car service center can become independent business units. Ancillary premises can also be rented out to "their own" - for printing work, breeding worms, for anything: it all depends on the solvency and consumption structure of the region. The resulting overlapping financial flows may seem insignificant. But they are like ants, capable of lifting together a huge weight, far exceeding the total mass of all ants. These projects are important not only from a social point of view, but also from a financial point of view. It would seem, "penny". But let the anti-crisis manager not be embarrassed by these small businesses. Multiple cash flows, like air bubbles, are able to keep the company afloat, support the central process. By participating in the birth of new businesses, the company can assume the role of an expert in order to prevent fraudulent and unviable schemes, as well as to promote the effectiveness of projects.

At the same stage, a number of negotiations can be held that relate to the restructuring of payments in order to complete the first stage of anti-crisis management.

18 KINDS OF BREAD

in a crisis, baking is simply pointless. This is a direct path to ruin. Two varieties are enough: black and white

Faculty of Necessary Things

The second stage of the company's struggle to survive in a crisis is directly related to marketing. Only not to vulgar marketing, the traditional combination of "advertising and PR", but to modeling the marketing environment. The Germans call marketing the heart of the anti-crisis program. Indeed, if there is no answer to the question of what exactly (with what products or services) the company will survive and how it will do it, all other actions are meaningless.

As the history of the Russian market shows, many companies were crippled by their managers, who were engaged in the dismantling of equipment, not too puzzled by the question of what products they would produce in the future and whether there would be a demand for it. As a result, enterprises were deprived of just those capacities, exploiting which they could achieve a competitive advantage. This is typical behavior for a period of early ineffective crisis management.

To prevent this from happening again, you need to start with assortment modeling. Namely: during a crisis, you need to drastically reduce the range, stop varying it and stop the development of new products. Of the reliable positions that have "eternal" demand, you need to choose the most reliable

nye in economic terms, five to seven, no more - and be limited to only them.

This tactic is well illustrated by the example of bakeries. During a systemic crisis, they are strictly forbidden to produce any buns - only white and black bread, and the most popular varieties. And that's it! Let only two items remain, but production will continue to be uninterrupted and of high quality. And only when the client begins to ask more and more often where the old buns are, you can gradually expand the range. This will mean that the crisis has passed, and the company has survived.

It is well known that almost all mini-bakeries that sold the most diverse varieties of bread in Moscow go bankrupt very quickly1. They throw away an irrationally large "tonnage" of bread, and not just because of baking errors. They didn’t understand a simple thing: you don’t need to bake 18 positions of bread at the same time! It is not profitable. Especially during a crisis. If you look at the average French shop, you will find only black and white bread there. If the buyer needs a bun in the morning, he will be taught to order it in the evening.

Once the assortment has been reduced to an inelastic state with strategic footholds and a few modifications, it is necessary to decide what to do with the brand now. Especially if, as a result of all the actions taken, the company stopped producing inexpensive brands.

It should be remembered that a corporate brand cannot sustainably exist simultaneously in two volumes: in the zone focused on the premium segment, and in the "basement" - a high-margin and low-cost segment in which the company earns its fixed assets. An example is the “basement” products of Krasny Oktyabr, which is part of the United Confectioners group. This plant produces mainly weight, inexpensive goods. But if the brand of the company is assigned to these products, the loyalty of the clientele from the premium segment (capricious and sensitive to all sorts of psychological nuances) will be in question.

It is necessary to decide which audience is most important for the company, and which, accordingly, the branch of consumers the corporate brand will belong to. And in general, understand whether the brand needs to be supported. Perhaps it is easier to “turn it off” during a crisis, leaving it as a name that only suppliers and wholesalers will take into account. In addition, you should decide what to do with the second part of the consumers. To do this, you can take a rebrand or keep sales, but without additional marketing activities. Of course, before taking such steps, they need to be subjected to the most serious marketing analysis.

But the launch of any new products on the market in a crisis should be forgotten. The money supply in the wallets of consumers is shrinking. It must also be remembered that consumers in principle gravitate towards familiar products. In difficult times, only a financially stable company with a strong base can offer new products. And even then - in small volumes.

Having analyzed the marketing area and, preferably, having checked the adequacy of your decisions on the experimental site, you can approach production by carefully reorganizing all types of capital and dismantling unnecessary equipment (by the way, you can lease it to your employees from the “anthill” that has formed around the company), As a result, space will be freed up, which should be used profitably. For example, renting them out to their own employees or outside tenants. In any case, you should not give up such income, for which it is useful to overcome the squeamish attitude, which is very common in many markets, towards such forms of increasing cash flow. During a crisis, every source of finance for a company is useful. It's just one way to survive.

Yes, we can remember the first post-perestroika years, when factories, stopping production, endlessly leased their space and as a result stopped working. But after all, there was no demand either... Yes, and dying for the idea of ​​your market is rather strange. How not to recall the old Soviet brand Parizhskaya Kommuna here: the company is still successfully operating, because it built the Gromada shopping center on its territories just in time. Brilliant solution!

Having finished optimizing the production program and planning how literally every piece of land, production or office space will be used, you can begin to restructure sales. For example, to its restoration, taking into account the old channels, or to a significant increase in the number of consumers. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that BTL promotions in the company's activities will be rare, and advertising will be discreet, narrowly focused and highly professional.

clenched fist

What is the result? Thanks to the implementation of the anti-crisis algorithm, the company will be a flat structure with a powerful manager, as well as significantly enhanced forms of security and control. Loyal team members will control all production and do it "according to the laws of war." All together they are a clenched fist, which is the only condition for survival and development.

Agree, the idea is simple. It is only necessary to cut off everything superfluous, compress the structure and find a rational meaning in everything. After all, a systemic crisis is primarily a consequence of the loss of meaning by personnel and managers.

Magazine " BUSINESS MAGAZINE September 2010

Imagine that your life and career is a closet. Then the things that are stored there are a list of daily tasks and duties. If you're like most people, then you probably have a lot of stuff in your closet. You will never wear this jacket, a few pairs of old trousers were left for walks in the forest (do you really go for mushrooms that often?), And generally keep that hat out of sentimentality. Isn't it time for a general cleaning?

Throw out everything unnecessary from your closet and from your life. A few tips from Greg McKeon's book "Essentialism" will help with this.

What else is essentialism?

Essentialism (from Latin essentia - essence) is a constant search for less, but better.

The path of the essentialist teaches us to see what is really important, that is, to consider all existing options and choose only the most valuable ones. And remember: sometimes what you don't do is just as important as what you do.

So, to business!

1. Never forget freedom of choice

Have you thought about the fact that you do not love your job? Or maybe you are studying for a third year as a lawyer, although you have long realized that you are not interested in jurisprudence?

Ask yourself the question: “Can I change something?”. Answer: definitely.

Remember, you always have the right to choose. Once you understand this, you can move on to the next step.

2. Set clear goals

Approximately and approximately - far from the same thing as clearly and clearly. A vague statement of a firm's mission statement can harm workflow more than you think. This causes disorientation in the team: no one knows what exactly and what he is doing. Employees spend too much energy on insignificant tasks, forgetting.

The same thing happens to every person. Try to be clear about what you want to achieve in your career and personal life. It depends on how you act. Realizing your true desires and values, you will stop spraying on what you absolutely do not need.

3. Be the editor of your life

The Italian sculptor Michelangelo Buonarotti said: "I take a stone and cut off everything superfluous." This is exactly what you should do with your life.

Another interesting comparison:

Imagine that your life is an article in a magazine, and you are the editor-in-chief. Do you know how the editor will deal with everything unnecessary, unimportant, meaningless, distracting? That's right - delete it.

You may have dozens of prospects, but you should not grab every chance. Choose one - the one to which you are really ready to devote yourself. If we return to our closet, admit that you can get rid of 90% of the trash without much damage.

4. Avoid Commitment

Have you ever played a game of chance and, having spent a significant amount, could not say “stop” to yourself? It's about sunk costs. Most people find it difficult to give up something that they have already invested money, effort and time in.

But is it worth it to persist and make even more efforts, if it is obvious that the project is hopeless? Of course no. Do not fall into this trap, learn in time from the commitments you have made.

Another trap is the possession effect. When we are engaged in some kind of project, we perceive it as our own property, which means that we value it much higher than it actually costs.

Always ask yourself: “If this task did not belong to me, what would I be willing to do to get it?”.

So you will see the true value of the case and be able to refuse it if the game is not worth the candle.

5. Say a resounding "no"

Have you had to answer “yes” to the requests of colleagues, friends, relatives, against your desires? If this has not happened to you, you are an exception. As a rule, we are afraid of offending someone, we are shy in front of the boss and try not to disappoint people. But this leads to the fact that we miss something more important: our own life.

We need to become courageous and learn. If you were going to devote the weekend to the family, you should not agree to the boss's offer to work on Saturday. If you planned to write the first chapter of your book - refuse to meet with friends. You may experience a moment of embarrassment when you say no. But it's only a minute. You don't want to lose an evening, a few days, or even a year of your life, solving other people's problems, do you?

6. Use the 90% Rule

This rule must be applied in a situation of any choice. When evaluating an option, think about the most important criterion and give it a score from 0 to 100. If any of the options gets a score below 90, forget about it. So you save yourself from and immediately discard unnecessary alternatives with estimates from 60 to 70. Choose not good opportunities, but beautiful. How many items in your wardrobe would you rate 90 or higher? The rest is time to landfill.

7. Find a place to think

There is a secret hideout at the Stanford School of Design called Booth Noir. It's a tiny room with no windows or distractions, and the walls are lined with sound-absorbing material. Any student can come there to be alone and reflect.

Try to find a similar place where you can retire and calmly think. There you will fully concentrate on the problem, analyze all the alternatives, determine the most significant of them and make an important decision.

Essentialists prefer to do less today in order to accomplish much more tomorrow. Yes, this is a concession. But in sum, these small concessions lead to huge success.

Based on Greg McKeon's book "Essentialism".

Words by the Italian sculptor and painter Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475 - 1564). To the question "How do you manage to create such magnificent statues?" he responded with exactly this phrase.

On the English language more than full versions his thoughts on the subject:

"In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it" - in every piece of marble I see the statue as clearly as if it were standing in front of me. It only remains for me to cut off the rough walls that hide the beautiful vision in order to reveal it to others.

"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it" - each piece of stone has a statue inside it and the sculptor's task is to discover it.

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free" - I saw an angel in a piece of marble and carved it until I freed it.

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(1860 - 1904)

"You have one shortcoming, a major one, in my opinion, a shortcoming - this is that you do not finish, which is why your things in places seem stretched, cluttered, they do not have that compactness that makes short things alive. There is a mind in your stories, there is talent, there is fiction, but not enough art. You sculpt a figure correctly, but not plastically, you do not want or are too lazy to remove everything superfluous with a chisel. After all, to make a face out of marble means to remove from this piece what is not a face. "

This is how the great Michelangelo created his sculptures.
This is exactly what you need to do if you want to show your inner essence - that is, to find yourself!
And it always hurts to cut off the superfluous from yourself ...

For some reason, people think that for development they need greenhouse conditions and a happy life. In fact, greenhouse conditions, luck, and so on - this is part of Jupiter, who can caress his chosen one in this way.
But how far will such a favorite of the gods go? Or will he sit on his buttocks exactly in his bright and cozy greenhouse all his life? How many talented people buried their talents in the ground because everything came too easy for them? What we got for nothing, we do not appreciate!

Development is rather provided by Saturn, which (undeservedly, in my opinion) was nicknamed the "Great Evil", because it deprives, limits, forces one to suffer, fight, lead a harsh and ascetic life - that is, cut off everything superfluous from oneself! Go through pain, through fear, through "I can't" and "I don't want to."

And, oddly enough, a planet in exile, that is, in an uncomfortable sign for itself, can manifest itself even more strongly than the same planet in its own "house", where it would seem to be the strongest - but because here a person hurts, he is forced to do this, direct his efforts and attention there.

Tense aspects in the horoscope again force the same - to move, to develop, to make efforts. Tau squares rule! ;-)
Therefore, for everyone who wants to grow and move forward:

LONG LIVE THE KNOCKING WIND!

Long live the blowing wind!
Long live the frenzy of alien elements!
I am young, brave, and my path is far,
And the muse, laughing, dictates poetry to me.
I believe in myself, I believe in friends
And boldly go on my way.

But the legs are erased in blood, and the steering wheel is torn off,
And the masts are broken, and the tackle is torn.
And I'm lonely and deadly tired,
And all I want is peace and happiness.
I cried in pain, unable to get up,
Even though he once swore to himself not to break!

Return to yourself.
Come back!
Through the years, losses and wounds,
Through tears and imaginary dramas,
Through thunderstorms and distant lands,
But always - always! - come back!
Smile through pain and fatigue
Straighten up under the weight of the burden:
Whatever the end of the swim -
The choice is made and the die is cast!

I got up.
Started all over again.
And again he fell silent in impotence.
The sea beat me and caressed me,
The wind tore and gave me wings.
Round after round and day after day
I walked the hard way.

Healed bloody wounds
And skin tanned with scars.
Retreat is always too early
To die is never too late!

Life is beautiful, and my path is far -
So long live the wind that knocks you down!