Most of us work too hard to really get anything done.
There are many studies that demonstrate that multimillion dollar CEOs spend less than 30 minutes per day doing the work they're actually paid to do.
Why is this?
It's because the higher we go in our levels of responsibility (and this is especially salient for entrepreneurs) the more likely it is we will be interrupted throughout the day by concerns, people, and tasks that are urgent (needs attention from someone immediately) but not necessarily important (needs high-level attention from the entrepreneur, CEO, or manager).
This applies even if you are a freelance worker (or perhaps you started your own online business in your “spare time”).
The key to success on a massive scale is to focus on revenue-generating activities as much as possible.
Here's how you do that…
If you were to analyze your day, you would no doubt discover that less than 20% of your daily activity produces 80% or more of your total revenue.
Another way of looking at this is to realize that 80% of what you do doesn't really contribute to your income in a directly measurable way.
You may be familiar with this as Pareto's Law: “80% of the results typically come from only 20% of the activity”.
Instead of expending a lot of effort trying to change that 20% number to a higher percentage-save 50 or 60%-it might be more useful to consider simply eliminating the 80%.
Sound almost impossible? In fact, you already know how to do this…
Have you ever experienced “the day before vacation phenomena”?
You know what I'm talking about.
You're leaving for vacation on, let's say, a Thursday. Have you ever noticed how that Wednesday becomes the most efficient work day you've had in many weeks (perhaps months)?
Have you noticed how, on the day before vacation starts, you get 10 times the work done in a single day?
You've probably also noticed the wonderful euphoric feeling you experience when you walk out of the office on that day… how you feel that everything is in its place, each task is handled, each responsibility delegated to a team member, or at the very least deferred until you get back.
On those days, don't you feel more at peace, in control, and effortlessly productive then on 99% of the other days of the year?
So there it is: your proof that you're actually capable of eliminating the 80% of normal time-wasting, revenue-depressing, stress-inducing activity that makes up most of your days.
I have a colleague named Dan who doesn't do e-mail.
I don't mean that he does “very little” e-mail… I mean he doesn't do e-mail at all. Doesn't have an e-mail address.
Dan also doesn't have a cell phone. If you want to talk to Dan, you have to call him at his office; his phone is answered by his assistant who deftly protects Dan from time-wasting phone calls and appointments.
In fact, Dan has very few appointments. Yet he is very productive, very receptive and open to talking with people, and runs a multimillion dollar business. He somehow manages to do it while living a sane, orderly, and peaceful life.
So what excuse do the rest of us have?
Just a few weeks ago, I wrapped up a three-month experiment.
For three months, my wife and I traveled the United States in our motorhome.
We ran our business in our “spare time” from that motorhome-using laptops, WiFi Internet connections, and UPS stores.
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