

I’ll show you that some professionals are already there. Perfection, in keeping with the Winston Churchill quote in the opening pages, is a dynamic balancing act requiring permanent vigilance. This kind of perfection is tough, because most knowledge workers face changing circumstances: doing the work of more than one person, handling modern technology and dealing with more information than ever before. You will learn to relentlessly change and tweak your habits to fit the increasing volume of demands you need to process and complete each day. Instead, it means playing the game of continuous improvement. It offers a breakthrough definition: being “perfect” does not mean following a particular set of habits, practices, rituals and routines flawlessly. The end result will not be a new list of rules to follow, but a fresh appreciation of your available options and their consequences. Prepare, therefore, to challenge the conventional wisdom. This diverse body of work has never been brought together into a single tapestry of knowledge, making the message of this book unique. I also include a wide variety of stories that illustrate their findings. Prepare to be informed by the collective wisdom of brain scientists, psychologists, industrial engineers, management theorists and adult learning experts. This is one of the few books in the genre to rely heavily on recent academic research in multiple fields.

How is this book different from other books? Instead, it’s about managing tasks, commitments and priorities through the lens of a new construct we’ll study: a “time demand.” Using this idea will remove the frustration of trying to do the impossible – manage time – and the feeling of failure many have experienced. The solution isn’t “self-management,” either, because managing yourself is an activity that’s inherent in all forms of management. You may already know or suspect that time itself cannot be managed. So, before you make any changes, I will show you the foundational reasoning behind them, giving you some confidence based on your knowledge of the facts. Many of these findings are recent, so you’ll be exposed to the latest thinking from hundreds of studies. This book is written for the knowledge worker who wants to use a “professional approach,” which I define as the use of research and science as a starting point, rather than individual stories, examples or anecdotes. Plus, near the end of the book, you will have the unique opportunity to compare your skills with participants from my live programs, providing you with a fact-based reality check. You’ll measure your skills against world-class standards and develop a new improved approach that works to meet your needs, regardless of your current performance.

Perfect Time-Based Productivity will uncover this knowledge, giving you a unique, in-depth understanding of the “system” you use right now. The reason everyone can follow the steps I’m about to share is that I will start with an assumption: you already know a lot about “time management,” and your knowledge is embedded in the methods you employ today. You may even want to read articles, posts and studies from the references as you make up your own mind based on the evidence.Ĭan I benefit if I’m a novice (or even an expert)? While you read, spend time in the Lab Notes at the end to see how I arrived at key conclusions. While I have been working on these ideas for the better part of a decade, you’ll be able to separate my opinions from the findings of experts who have gathered empirical evidence from studies involving thousands of participants. Where do these ideas come from? Can I trust you?
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I will show you how to expand your capacity to meet these challenges and prepare yourself for a continued information explosion being driven by ever-changing technology. Plus, in the workplace of the future, it’s safe to expect increased demands on your time and even higher expectations. You’ll be able to compare what you’re doing now with the best-in-class practices uncovered in the latest research. You’re about to find the gaps in your current habits. However, if you wish you had more time to complete your commitments, you’ll benefit from the steps I lay out in the chapters that follow. Not everyone needs the principles in this book. Let’s take a look at some of the questions you might be asking. But first, you need to be at peace with this book. This book is about bringing peace of mind to your life.
