Bringing the last two lessons together

Using them in your diary

Combing the last two lessons brings us to a pretty powerful position in terms of maximising our productivity. By using the information we've got, we now know how long we should block any given 'work session' for.

We've got a minimum and a maximum. Of course it's not quite that simple, so in this session we're going to look at some of the real-world problems.

Of course it's not that simple. Nothing ever is… Remember Syd?

Let's quickly run through some of the Syds you might meet here. It's worth it, because this one idea alone can save you hours per week – or give you time off 😉

What if my boss/ the system won't..?

First off, are you sure?  Could this be an imagined boss?  Check out the lesson on Syds before you panic!

But if you're right, and the system or your boss really won't let you work more efficiently you need to get creative and subvertive. And don't forget, you're using AIR because you have agency, right?  Some control over when you do what!  Remember the stuff from the very start?  You thought you'd got enough control over your working life then, so what's changed by this point?  Once you know what's changed, you'll be in a position to do something about it!

Thirdly, don't panic. Even if your boss or the system won't let you work in this uber-efficient way for everything, that's fine: you might not make 100% progress, but even 50% progress is still something to celebrate! Productivity isn't a black/white thing, remember!

And even if you only make 50 percent progress on the fifty percent of your work you can control, that's still 25% of the time when you're being much (potentially much!) more productive.

What if don't actually know how long I can work for etc..?

This one isn't as big a deal as it feels, honestly. 

The thing you should do in the first instance is just guess. Be honest, you probably have a reasonable idea already. Try it out and refine it as you go. If you want to know the best way of refining it, listen below (but you might find this a bit overkill, to be honest, if you're reasonably self-aware).

What about outsourcing?

Remember this list from the last lesson?

Think about the last point. It's significant. The less difference there is between your A-to-C time and your A-to-E, the less time you’re productive for that task, obviously. If they'r very similar take a long hard look at how to automate or outsource that task!

That point’s more important than it looks: a short paragraph doesn’t mean an insignificant point. In fact this paragraph is just padding to make you realise the point is more important than you otherwise would! 😉