- Make work packages (pants, socks, piles of little tasks). - Eat a toad in the morning. - Get off a dead horse. - Do important and non-urgent tasks in the first place. - Divide and conquer, eat an elephant in small bites. - A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. - Proactivity, not reactivity. - You can redeem the money, not time. - Sharpen your saw. - There is no substitute for hard work. - The 2-minute rule. - Don’t learn to fight genies. It’s unlikely that you will ever meet them. - Concentrate on the ball. - B-alert. - We have to work not 12 hours and head. (Steve Jobs).

1. Part I

2. 1. Make work packages (pants, socks, piles of little tasks)
Group tasks of the same type and do them together. Your brain will
work on the same wavelength which saves time on immersion in a
task context. Don’t switch to minor tasks, if it’s possible to do them
later because each “break” costs you time on getting back to main
work and getting the right tempo. Gather all trifles in a “pile” or a
“package” and do them at one sitting.

3. 2. Eat a toad in the morning
If you have urgent, important but unpleasant tasks, do them!
It would be better to do them right in the morning. Unfulfilled
important tasks will lie heavy on you all day long. Distract.
Demotivate. Make it a rule for yourself: do the most unpleasant
tasks in the first place. You can do the tasks you like anytime in any
mood.

4. 3. Get off a dead horse
Don’t waste your time and energy on something that has already
outrun itself. Search for alternatives, develop yourself, go further.
“Natural selection” works in every sphere of life, don’t resist
nature.

5. 4. Do important and non-urgent tasks in the first place
Crises don’t spring up spontaneously. As a rule, we come to them.
And you can decrease the quantity of crises (at least those that
depend on you). Define a task circle which is important for you and
do it! Don’t allow important tasks to become more and more urgent.

6. 5. Divide and conquer, eat an elephant in small bites
Solve large-scale tasks in parts. It will help you to deal with a system
of any complexity without losing important but non-obvious details.
Divide et impera!

7. 6. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
Every great thing consists of trifles. If you want to achieve a goal,
you need to move towards it. Make the first step.

8. 7. Proactivity, not reactivity
Your actions totally depend on you. Don’t react to outer irritators
momentarily. Stop for a second. Feel the moment, a period
between a stimulus and reaction. Freedom of actions starts here,
your independent will.

9. 8. You can redeem the money, not time
Well, it’s obvious :)

10. 9. Sharpen your saw
A saw is your personality. It consists of 4 elements: spiritual, mental, physical
and social/emotional. All of them need support and development. Stephen
Covey provides a great example when a person meets another person sawing a
tree in a forest. The first one notices that the saw got blunted and it’s very
hard for the other person to continue the work. After advice that it would be
better to sharpen the saw so that the process is faster and easier, the other
person says: “I’m busy! I don’t have time for sharpening! I’m sawing!”

11. 10. There is no substitute for hard work
Luck is just an illusion. It happens when preparation meets
opportunity.

12. 11. The 2-minute rule
If you can do something (like a reply to an email or a house chore)
in 2 minutes, do it now. Planning it for later, remembering it, doing
it in the future will take 5 minutes or more.

13. 12. Don’t learn to fight genies. It’s unlikely that you will
ever meet them
“What?! Holmes, don’t you know that the Earth is round?
Everybody knows this!” - Holmes answers quietly: “Why should I
know this? It won’t help me to clear the matter up”.

14. 13. Concentrate on the ball
Players don’t think about opponents and a game outcome. They
concentrate on what they can control — a ball. They focus on their
sphere of influence.

15. 14. B-alert
Blueprint. Every well-built house started with a definite plan. (Napoleon Hill)
Action. The only difference between winners and losers is that winners act! (Anthony
Robbins)
Learning. Two things will make you wiser: the books you read and the people you meet.
Charles Jones (“Tremendous”)
Exercises. All the money in the world is nothing if you hardly get out of bed in order to
enjoy it. (Will Smith)
Relaxing. Get some rest before you’re tired and you will never be exhausted. (Dale
Carnegie)
Thinking. If you understand the power of thoughts, you’ll never think negatively. (Pils Pilgrim)

16. 15. We have to work not 12 hours and head. © Steve
Jobs

18. About the author
Leonid Zverugo - 32dayz Co-founder & CEO
l.zverugo@32dayz.com http://32dayz.com @32_dayz