Lee McIntyre went from overworked high school teacher to full time marketer in just 56 days. He is the founder of Aim Higher Marketing where he shows others how to use honest marketing to build profitable Internet businesses in record time.
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Work Less Achieve More?
By Lee McIntyre | August 5, 2008
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I know it’s a dangerously overused cliché but it really is the case that the more action you take the more money you make.
Even if your actions lead to a failure of some sort this is still a positive for your online business as long as you learn from what went wrong and understand how to improve things in your future marketing.
But I’m not saying anything new here am I?
Everywhere you turn in this industry people relentlessly bang the ‘take more action’ drum, and I’ll hold my hand up and say that I found this more than a little irritating when I was struggling beginner.
For a long time I tool the ‘take action’ advice at face value and filled my working hours with as much marketing as I could possibly cram in. Whenever I had any sort of spare moment I’d rush to my PC and start working like a machine.
Recently however I’ve discovered that by working less I’ve been able to achieve more and I want to share why…
I don’t understand the psychology of it, but when I sit down to complete my day’s work if I feel I have 12 hours to achieve everything it always seems to take the full 12 hours.
The workload expands to fill the time available, and subconsciously I end up postponing the day’s difficult tasks until the end of the allotted 12 hours. And this happens every day unless I’m extremely discipline with myself.
Let me share something that happened last week…
I’m currently living with a teacher friend named Mark, and he was breaking up for the school holidays. He wanted to go for some after work drinks with colleagues, and being the nice guy that I am I offered to drive him to school so he didn’t have to drink Coke all night.
This was a bit of a pain as I was planning to go out for drinks with friends in Preston at 6:30 and I had a LOT of work to get done. I wasn’t worried though as I knew that if I worked hard I could just about squeeze everything in.
And then disaster struck!
I’d given Mark a lift to school while still in a very sleepy daze and when I got home I noticed I’d forgotten my house key. Oh no!
And it gets worse too…
I had no petrol in my car, and certainly not enough to drive to Mark’s school in Lancaster to borrow his key (plus it was a good 90 minute drive there and back).
And to make a bad situation truly terrible I then realised I’d left my wallet and phone in the house too. So now I was stuck outside my house with no wallet, no mobile, no keys, and no petrol. To say I was kicking myself was an understatement.
I’m a pretty easy going sort of guy but there was literally steam coming out of my ears at this point.
Could it get any worse? Yep!
Because I’d driven Mark to school SO early I’d just jumped in the car without getting properly dressed. So now I realised that I was wearing the most hilarious combination of clothes possible that included a very scruffy shirt, Bermuda shorts, and some formal dress shoes that were the first thing that came to hand when I jumped into the car.
I’m just grateful no one had a camera!
Anyway, to cut a long story short I had to walk to the nearest bank looking like Id just escaped from some sort of low security institution for the sanity challenged and beg them to let me withdraw some money. Since I looked like a homeless crazy person this was quite a task!
Then I had to walk back home, get some petrol, and drive to Lancaster to collect Mark’s key. Except that when I got to his school I realised he’d taken his class to Mass and wouldn’t be back until Midday.
By this stage there was no anger left and I was just feeling more than a little sorry for myself. I then had to wait in the school car park for two hours while people pointed and speculated how crazy I must be to dress in such a way (I should also point out that my hair also gave the impression I had been electrocuted).
Eventually I got back into my house at 2pm which was a full SEVEN HOURS after I’d done my good deed for the day by giving Mark a lift to work. This meant I now had just four hours to get all my work done if I was to go out in the evening.
Needless to say the fact that I’d budgeted 11 hours for this task, and now found myself with only fours house available, left me feeling as though I would have to cancel my evening plans.
How wrong I was….
I was an absolute machine and a complete model of productivity. I was in the zone and just blazing through my work at record speed. All distractions were boycotted and I even managed not to check the latest Manchester United news.
Simply by having such an incredibly tight deadline I found myself able to reach new levels of productivity that meant I worked four times faster. I got all of my work done with twenty minutes to spare and then enjoyed a fantastic evening rolling from pub to pub (though if I’m honest I don’t remember it all).
Here’s my point…
The more action you take the more money you WILL make. But the amount of action you take is NOT directly proportionate to the amount of time you sit at your computer,
If you set yourself tight daily deadlines which you stick to rigidly, and if you can maintain the discipline to block out all distractions, you’ll find yourself able to work less and achieve more.
Give it a try. Starting tomorrow put an alarm clock on your desk and promise yourself you WILL stop work for the day once your allocated time expires. You’ll be amazed at the impact this little change will make on your productivity levels.
This is a valuable lesson I learned from this hectic day. Another lesson I learnt is always check your pocket for your keys before leaving the house!
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August 5th, 2008 at 11:27 am
I’m with you on that one, since working at home full-time, productivity has slumped compared to evening 3 hour blitz I use to do after work.
Must try harder
August 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I agree with you on this one.
You see, I am one of those people who sit in front of their computers doing nothing to make money.
One of the example is right now. I am reading your blog even though I can use this time to create a blockbuster product.
There’s difference between activity and productivity… but most believe that they’re the same.
Enough.
Need to get back to my work.
- Abdul Rahman
August 5th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Oh no, that was not a good scenario
Great post though, Lee. I will try the alarm clock thing because I can definitely see where you’re coming.
I’ve found that another good way of increasing your productivity is to do your most dreaded task first. Then you’ve got it out of the way and everything else seems a doddle.
Dan
August 5th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Hi Lee,
That’s definitely something you’ll look back on and laugh at, though I’m sure it was less than hilarious at the time!
A few years ago I went to a club in Queensland, Australia. The next morning I woke up with a raging hangover and couldn’t find my wallet anywhere. I assumed I’d lost it at the club so cancelled all my cards. About an hour later I found my wallet inside my shoe by my bed…arrrggh!
Cheers…Graham
August 5th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Aren’t ALL Man Utd fans sanity challenged Lee?
Joking aside, great message hidden in this post mate…
I also use a stopwatch (cost £2 from Fee-bay :)and “timesheets” that I made in Excel, and basically plan out what I want to achueve for the day, week, month etc…
It’s beneficial for me and increases out no end, and ESPECIALLY if you have a small Outsource team (as I know you and I do) as you can plan ahead for their schedules and know if they are realistically hitting their targets too.
Regards
Ray
PS- Cheers for the update ealier today!
August 5th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Hi Lee
I have a daily battle to focus on the activity that I know will be most productive.
A little tip I learned from experience is to read my emails AFTER doing the productive work as most days my inbox is full of ‘must read’ sales pitches which can take up an hour or more to go thru just to make sure I don’t miss anything!
Keep up the good work!
Stuart
August 5th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Keys are such a pain… I can never remember them and that’s not fun especially when it’s -40 degrees outside!
As far as productivity goes, the less time you schedule for a task - the more likely the task will get done and faster…(not something I made up..it’s part of Parkinson’s Law)
And yeah…Bermuda shorts and dress shoes? Can’t even imagine that combination!
Rigdha
August 5th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Thanks all!
Also, if you want some great time management advice then here’s a very well written ebook….
http://www.managemytimenow.com/timespecial.php
I’ve read it and it’s packed full of info.
(and it’s not an affiliate link just a good recommendation)
Lee McIntyre
August 9th, 2008 at 5:05 am
Hey Lee thanks for all the great info on here
Here’s in interesting quote from Tim Ferris’ ‘Four Hour Work Week’ on the subject
“Parkinson’s Law dictates that a task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation tithe time allotted for its completion. It is the magic of the imminent deadline. […] The end product of the shorter deadline is almost inevitably of equal or higher quality due to greater focus.”
August 20th, 2008 at 1:15 am
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