Productivity and Time Investment

Jul 12, 2024

Productivity and Time Investment

Key Concept

  • Productivity: How much money you get out for the time you put in.

Personal Experience

  • The speaker went from $0 at age 23 to $100 million net worth at age 31 by better investing time.
  • Aim: Teach others how to get good returns on their time.

Types of Workers

  • Two types: Managers and Makers.
  • You may switch hats between these roles throughout your day/week.

Manager's Schedule

  • Time Management: Time divided into the smallest chunks possible (15 mins to 90 mins).
  • Objective: Use up all their time slots to maximize productivity and fill them with meetings and tasks.
  • Nature of Work: Collect data, report, persuade, lead, train, and make decisions.
  • Start and End: Day starts prepping for meetings and ends after the last meeting.
  • Key Challenge: An empty time slot is a lost opportunity.

Maker's Schedule

  • Time Management: Focus on few large chunks of time, often 4-hour blocks or longer.
  • Objective: Work on Deep Work that moves the big projects forward (non-urgent but important tasks).
  • Nature of Work: Creation that requires focus and uninterrupted time (e.g., coding, writing, editing).
  • Start and End: Set start times but variable end times to sustain flow.
  • Key Challenge: A single meeting or interruption can ruin the productivity of the entire day.
  • Energy Levels: Empty calendar invigorates them as it offers time for deep work.

Manager vs Maker Interaction

  • Conflict: Managers disrupt Makers by scheduling meetings during Maker work blocks.
  • Opportunity Cost: A meeting may cost a Manager 15 mins but could cost a Maker 10% of their weekly productivity.
  • Vicious Cycle: Managers try to fix issues by scheduling more meetings, which further disrupts Maker's work.

Strategies for Better Time Management

For Managers

  1. Understand Costs: Recognize the high cost of meetings for Makers. Avoid unnecessary disruptions.
  2. Respect Maker's No: Understand that a Maker declining a meeting is trying to stay productive for larger commitments.
  3. Ask for Ideal Day: Collaborate with Makers to design the most productive schedules.

For Makers

  1. Communicate Needs: Explain to Managers how you work best. Share this content if needed.
  2. Cluster Meetings: If a meeting is inevitable, cluster it with others to minimize disruption.
  3. Standard Meeting Times: Designate specific days/times for meetings.

Organizational Solutions

  1. Implement Quiet Times: Mandated quiet periods (whole days if possible) for deep work without interruptions.
    • Example: Wednesdays as a no-meeting day for editing teams.
  2. Measure Output: Extend trust and measure productivity by output rather than activity visibility.
  3. Cultural Shift: Develop a culture where meetings are seen as potential productivity killers. Allow team members to decline non-essential meetings.

Speaker's Schedule Example

  • Practice: The speaker practices these principles in real life.
  • Schedule: Shows a mix of meeting days and maker days with detailed time blocking for deep work days and manager work days.

Conclusion

  • Main Point: Understanding these two productivity styles can lead to better returns on human capital.
  • Goal: Spread awareness about these working styles to optimize time investment in organizations and improve overall productivity.