Tracy - 21 Ideas

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Course Title: English For Managers (Virtual Communication Approach)

Section Title: Brian Tracy’s 21 Great Ideas for Doubling Your Productivity
Lesson No: Tags: Brian Tracy, Time Management, Personal Productivity
Introduction to the Course
All successful people are described as being very well organized and good time managers.
Fortunately, time management skills are learnable with practice and repetition. You can become one
of the most productive people in your field by applying the ideas you are about to learn. Brian Tracy
knows what he is talking about.
He started off without a high school Diploma and worked his way up to being the Chief Operating
Officer of a $265,000,000 company.
Brian studied time management for more than 20 years. He read dozens of books, attended
countless seminars, used the time planners and listened to the audio programs.
Finally, he put together his own time management system and then taught it to thousands of men and
women world-wide. What you are about to hear are 21 of the greatest ideas on personal productivity
ever discovered. These ideas can change your life. Now, here is Brian Tracy.
Brian Tracy’s Introduction to the Course

Hello. I’m Brian Tracy and welcome to this program. What you are about to learn can change your
life. These ideas, methods, and techniques, can increase your efficiency and effectiveness, boost
your productivity, double your income, lower your stress levels, and make you one of the most
productive people in your business or field today.
The fact is that all successful people are very productive. They work longer hours and they work
better hours. They get a lot more done than the average person. They get paid more and promoted
faster. They are highly respected and esteemed by everyone around them. They become leaders
and role models for others. Inevitably, they rise to the top of their fields and to the top of their income
ranges and so can you.
Every single one of these tested and proven strategies for managing your time and doubling your
productivity is learnable through practice and repetition. Each of these methods if you practice them
regularly, will eventually become a habit of both thinking and working.
When you begin applying these techniques to your work and to your life, your self-esteem, your self-
confidence, your self-respect, and your sense of personal pride will go up immediately. The pay-off
for you will be tremendous for the rest of your life. Let’s begin.
1. Make a decision!
Every positive change in your life begins with a clear unequivocal decision that you are either going
to do something or stop doing something. Significant change starts when you decide to either get in
or get out, either fish or cut bait. Decisiveness is one of the most important qualities of successful and
happy men and women and decisiveness is developed through practice and repetition over and over
again until it becomes as natural to you as breathing in and breathing out.
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The sad fact is that people are poor because they have not yet decided to be rich. People are
overweight and unfit because they have not yet decided to be thin. People are inefficient time wasters
because they haven’t yet decided to be highly productive in everything they do.
Decide today that you are going to become an expert in time management and personal productivity.
No matter how long it takes or how much you have to invest to achieve it. Resolve today that you are
going to practice these principles over and over again until they become second nature. Discipline
yourself to do what you know you need to do to be the very best in your field.
Perhaps the best definition of self-discipline is this: Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do
what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. You see it’s easy to do
something when you feel like it. It’s when you don’t feel like it and you force yourself to do it anyway
that you move your life and career on to the fast track.
What decisions do you need to make in order to start moving toward the top of your field? Whatever
they are, to either get in or get out, make a decision today and then get started. This single act alone
can change the whole direction of your life.
2. Develop clear goals and objectives.

Perhaps the most important word in success for you for the rest of your life is the word clarity. Fully
80 percent of your success comes about as the result of your being absolutely clear about what it is
you are trying to accomplish. Unfortunately, probably 80 percent or more failure or frustration comes
to people who are vague or fuzzy about what is they want and how to go about achieving it.
The great oil billionaire H. L. Hunt once said that there are only two real requirements for success.
First he said: “Decide Exactly what it is you want”. Most people never do this. Second he said:
“Determine the price you’re going to have to pay to get it and then resolve to pay that price.”
You could have just about anything you really want as long as you’re willing to pay the price. And
nature always demands that you both pay the price in full and that you pay it in advance. There’s a
powerful seven step formula that you can use to set and achieve your goals for the rest of your life.
Every single successful person uses this formula or some variation of this formula to achieve
success. As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the average person and so can you. Here it
is.
Number one decide exactly what it is you want in each part of your life. Become a meaningful specific
rather than a wondering generality. Decide how much you want to earn. Decide how much you want
to weigh. Decide the kind of family relationships and life style you want to enjoy. The very act of
deciding clearly, dramatically increases the likelihood that you will achieve it.
Second write it down clearly and in detail. Always think on paper. A goal that is not in writing is not
really a goal at all. It is merely a wish and it has no energy behind it.
But when you take your goals out of your imagination and crystallize them on paper, you actually
program them into your subconscious mind where they take on a power of their own.
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Third set a deadline for your goal. A deadline acts as a forcing system in your subconscious mind. A
deadline motivates you to do the things necessary to make your goal come true. If it’s a big enough
goal, set sub-deadlines as well. Don’t leave this to chance.
Fourth make a list of everything that you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your
goal. When you think of new tasks and activities, write them on your list, until your list is complete.
Fifth step in this goal setting formula, is for you to organize your list into a plan. Decide what you will
have to do first and what you will have to do second. Decide what is more important and what is less
important and then, write out your plan on paper, the same way you would develop a blue-print to
build your dream house.
The sixth step is for you to take action on your plan. Do something. Do anything. But, get busy, get
going. Don’t delay.
Step number seven, perhaps the most important of all, is for you to do something every single day,
that moves you in the direction of your most important goal at the time. Develop the discipline of
doing something 365 days each year that is moving you forward.
You’ll be absolutely astonished of how much you accomplish when you utilize this formula in your life
every single day. Now, here’s is an exercise that you can do that can change your life. Take a blank
sheet of paper and write out 10 goals that you want to accomplish in the next 12 months.
Write each of these goals in the present tense, as though a year is passed and you have already
achieved the goal. Start each of these goals with the word “I.”
For example, you could write down goals such as “I earn X number of dollars per year.” Or “I weigh X
number of pounds.” Or “I drive such and such a car.” Your subconscious mind only accepts
instructions when they are phrased in the present tense, and when they are preceded with the word I.
Once you have your list of 10 goals, select the most important goal on that list, ask yourself what one
goal if I achieved it right now, would have the greatest positive impact on my life. Whatever it is, put a
circle around that goal, then write at the top of a new sheet of paper, set a deadline, make a list,
organize the list into a plan, take action on your plan, and do something everyday until your goal’s
achieved.
This exercise has made more people successful than perhaps any other single exercise. From now
on, you should resolve to become intensely goal oriented. Think and talk about your goals all the
time. Write them and rewrite them. Review them everyday.
Continually look for better ways to achieve them. This combination of a goal setting formula and goal
setting exercise, will have more of a positive impact on your life than almost anything else you could
ever do. Give it a try.
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3. Plan every day in advance.

Daily planning is absolutely essential for you double your productivity. You should practice the six P
formula for high achievement. This formula says: Prior, Proper, Planning, Prevents, Poor,
Performance. Proper planning is the mark of the professional.
All successful men and women take a good deal of time to plan their activities in advance.
Remember the 10/90 rule which says that the first 10% of time that you spend planning your activities
before you begin, will save you as much as 90% of the time necessary to perform those activities
once you start work.
Always think on paper. Something wonderful happens between your head and your hand when you
write out your plans in detail on paper before you begin.
Writing actually sharpens your thinking. It stimulates your creativity, and it enables you to focus far
better than if you were just trying to work out of your mind. Begin by making a master list of
everything you can think of that you have to do for the long term future.
This master list then becomes the central control list for your life. Whenever you think of something
new that you have to do, write it down on your master list. At the beginning of each month, make a
monthly list covering everything you can think of that you will have to do in the coming weeks.
Then, break your monthly list down into a weekly list and specify exactly when you are going to start
and complete the tasks as you decided upon for the month. Finally, and perhaps the most important,
make a daily list of your activities preferably then night before. So that your subconscious mind can
work on your list while you’re asleep.
Always work from a list. When something new comes up during the day, write it down on your list
before you do it. As you work, you tick off each item as you finish it. This tracking gives you an
ongoing sense of accomplishment and personal progress.
Crossing off items one by one, motivates you and actually gives you more energy. A list serves a
score-card and makes you feel like a winner. It tells you where you are making progress and what
you have to do the next day.
According to time management experts, working from a list would increase your productivity by
twenty-five percent the very first day you begin doing it. All highly effective people think on paper and
work from written lists.
4. Use the A-B-C-D-E method to set priorities.

This is one of the most powerful time management techniques for setting priorities that you’ll ever
learn. And the beauty of this method lies in the fact that it is so simple and easy to use and apply.
The key to doubling your productivity in any area of your work or at any time of your life is for you to
select your most valuable task and then for you to discipline yourself to work on that task until it's
complete.
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All of time management revolves around helping you clarify in your own mind the most important
thing you could possibly be doing before you start.
The way that you determine your highest priority at any moment is to think about the potential
consequences of doing or not doing a particular task.
A task that is important is something that can have major consequences, if it is done or not done. All
highly productive people think continually about possible consequences as they plan and organize
their activities.
With the ABCDE method, you make a list of everything that you have to do before you begin. You
then go through the list carefully and put one of these letters next to each item on the list.
An “A item” is something that is very important. This is something that you MUST do. Something that
has serious consequences for either doing it or not doing it. Put an A next to every key task on your
list.
A “B item” is something that you SHOULD do, but it's not as important as an A item. There are
consequences associated with doing it or not doing it, but they are only mild consequences that don't
last for very long.
A “C item” is something that would be nice to do, but for which they are no consequences at all.
Phoning a friend, going for coffee, reading a newspaper or chatting with a coworker are all things that
are nice to do but they have absolutely no consequences for your career or for your success.
The rule is that you should never do a B item when there is an A item left undone. You should never
do a C item when there is a B item left undone.
You must be very disciplined about this. A “D item” is an item that you delegate or outsource to
someone else who can do it pretty much as well as you. The rule is that you should delegate
everything possible to free up more time for you to concentrate on your A activities.
E stands for Eliminate. These are items that are of such low priority that you can eliminate them
completely and would make no difference at all. Sometimes the disciplined act of eliminating low
value task and simplify your life and free up enough time for you to accomplish those tasks that have
the greatest possible consequences for you.
Once you've applied the A, B, C, D, E formula to your list, go back over the list and organize your A
tasks by propriety. Put an A1 next to your most important task. An A2 next to your second most
important task and so on. Then begin immediately on your A1 task and discipline yourself to stay at it
until it's finished. This simple ABCDE formula alone will double your productivity.
5. Separate the urgent from the important.

Everything that you have to do during the day can be divided into one of four categories. These
categories are determined by designating your tasks as either urgent or not urgent, and important or
not important.
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The first type of task is both urgent and important. This is something that you have to do immediately.
It's a job that is in your face. Urgent and important tasks like important telephone calls, meetings,
customers calls and emergencies are almost always determined by other people. They are vital
requirements of your job. You can't put them off without causing serious problems. Most people
spend all day long doing things that are both urgent and important.
The second category of items are those that are important but not urgent. These are the items that
usually have the greatest possible long term consequences. These are items like personal renewal,
upgrading your knowledge and skills, physical fitness and exercise and spending time with your
family.
An item that is important but not urgent, is an item that can be put off until later. But it is also the kind
of item that can have the greatest possible long-term impact on your life. Tasks and activities that are
not urgent but important, sooner or later become very urgent indeed. Like a term paper in collage or a
report for your boss or one of your clients.
The third category of tasks are those items that are urgent but not important. These may consist of
telephone calls, coworker's dropping in to see you, casual conversations about what was on
television and so on.
You may engage in these activities as work but they have no effect on your success. Many people
actually delude themselves into thinking that they're actually working when they are doing things that
are urgent but unimportant. This however is a great time-waster and a real killer of careers and future
potential.
The greatest time-wasters of all, are those activities that are neither urgent, nor important. These are
completely useless activities. These are things that you do during the day that are completely
irrelevant and have no consequences at all. Like reading a newspaper, calling home to see what's for
dinner or going shopping. They contribute nothing to your company or to your personal goals.
The key to doubling your productivity is for you to spend more time doing things that are urgent and
important and then working on activities which are important but not urgent at the moment. You
increase your productivity by refusing to do things that are not important at all. Because it simply
doesn't matter if they are done or not.
Always ask yourself: “What are the long term potential consequences of doing this task?” “What
would happen if I didn't do it at all?” And whenever your answer, let it guide you in your choice of
priorities.
6. Use the law of forced efficiency.

This law says that there is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do
the most important things. Whenever you are put under significant pressure to complete an important
task, a task for which there are significant consequences, you put your head down and you get the
job done by the deadline.
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Many people cannot discipline themselves to get the job done in advance. They then say that they
work best under pressure; However, no one works best under pressure. This is just a justification for
poor time management. When you are under pressure, you not only experience more stress, but you
also make more mistakes. These mistakes often require that the job be redone again at a later time.
There are four great questions that you can ask to increase your efficiency and double your
productivity. Here they are.
First begin by asking before you start work “What is the highest value use of my time?” “What is it
that you do that contributes the greatest amount of value to your work and to your life?” “What is it
that you do that pays the very most or yields the highest rewards to you and your company?” Talk to
your boss and to the people around you. Ask for input. You must be absolutely clear about the
answer to this question and work on these high value activities all the time.
Second, ask yourself regularly: “Why am I on the payroll?”
“Exactly what have you been hired to do?” And of all of things that you have been hired to do, what
are the few accomplishments that most determine your success in your job? Whatever the answer is
to this question, these are the activities that you need to focus on all day long.
The third question for a maximum efficiency is this: “What can you and only you do that if done well
can make a real difference?” At any given time, there is only one answer to this question. This is the
sort of task that if you don't do it, it doesn't get done. But if you do do it and you do it well, it can make
a major difference. Whatever it is, you should be working on it above all else. This is where you can
make your greatest contribution.
The fourth question is perhaps the best time management question of all. It is simply this. “What is
the most valuable use of my time right now?” Always ask yourself “What is the most valuable use of
my time right now?” And whatever your answer to that question, be sure that is what you are doing
most of the time.
Your ability to ask and answer these questions on a regular basis, will keep you on track and
performing at your best. “What are of highest value activities?” “Why am I on the payroll?” “What can
I and only I do that if done well, can make a real difference?” And “What is the most valuable use of
my time right now?” Discipline yourself to work only on your answers to those questions, and this
alone will double your productivity.
7. Apply the 80/20 rule.

The 80/20 rule, the Pareto Principle, is one of the most important and powerful of all time
management principles. This rule comes from the Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto, who divided all
activities into the vital few, and the trivial many.
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This law says that twenty percent of the things you do, the vital few, will account for fully 80 percent
of the value of all the things you do. The reverse of this principal is that 80 percent of the things you
do will account for only 20 percent of the value of your activities.
This 80/20 rule applies to all aspects of business and personal life. In business, 80 percent of your
sales will come from 20 percent of your customers. 80 percent of your profits will come from twenty
percent of your products. 80 percent of your sales will come from twenty percent of your salespeople.
80 percent of your income, success, and advancement will come from twenty percent of your
activities.
If you make a list of ten things that you have to do in a particular day, two of those items will turn out
to be worth more than all the others put together.
Your ability to identify and focus on the top twenty percent of tasks will determine your success and
productivity as much as any other factor.
And here’s an idea for you. Practice creative procrastination with the 8020 rule. Since you can’t do
everything, you have to procrastinate on something. Therefore, discipline yourself to procrastinate on
the 80 percent of activities that contribute very little value to your life and your results.
The average person procrastinates on high value tasks. But this is not for you. You must hold your
own feet to the fire. And procrastinate deliberately and continuously on those low value items that
have very few consequences if they’re done or not.
Before you start work, always check to make sure that what you are doing is in the top twenty percent
of all the things that you could be doing. Procrastinate on the rest.
8. Work at your energy peaks

One of the most important requirements for high productivity is high levels of physical, mental and
emotional energy. All highly productive, highly successful, highly paid people have high levels of
energy sustained over long periods of time.
To generate and maintain high levels of energy you need to practice proper eating, proper exercise,
and proper rest. You need to eat light nutritious high protein foods and avoid fats, sugars, white flour
products, pasta, potatoes, candy, soft drinks, and deserts of all kinds. You need to get regular
exercise, three to five times per week, 30 to 60 minutes each time.
Be sure to get lots of rest, especially if you are working hard. You need at least seven or eight hours
of sleep per night and sometimes even more. You need to take at least one full day off each week
and two full weeks off each year if you want to perform at your best.
You should identify the times of the day that you are the brightest and most alert. For some people
this the morning. For others it’s the afternoon or evening. Whatever it is for you, you should
schedule your most creative and demanding tasks during the time of day when you are at your very
best. Especially, you should do creative work such as writing reports and proposals at your energy
peaks.
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Perhaps your most valuable asset in your work is your ability to think well and perform
effectively. Maximum performance and productivity requires that you take excellent care of your
physical and mental health and that you work at your most important jobs when you experience your
highest levels of energy. This is a major key to high outputs and great success.
9. Practice Single-handling With Key Tasks

Single-handling is one of the most powerful of all time management techniques. This technique alone
will boost your productivity by 50% or more the very first day you begin practicing it.
When you make single-handling a habit, you can actually double your productivity even if you do
nothing else recommended in this program. The way it works is simple. You make a list of everything
you have to do. You select the most important item on your list, the highest value use of your time.
Then, you start work on that most important task and you discipline yourself to stay at it until it is
100% complete.
Andrew Carnegie, who became one of the richest men in the world, after starting as a day laborer in
a Pittsburgh steel plant, attributed much of his wealth and success to this simple formula. He said
that it had transformed his life and the lives of everyone who ever worked for him.
Remember, the two keys to success are focus and concentration. Your ability to concentrate single-
mindedly, without diversion or distraction on one thing, the most important thing, and stay with it until
it is complete, will contribute more to your success than any other habit you will ever develop. The
fact is that if you start a task and then put it aside, coming back to it later and starting again, you can
eventually increase the amount of time required to perform that task by 500% or 5 times.
On the other hand, if you pick up a task and you discipline yourself to stay at it until it is done, you
can decrease the amount of time it takes to do that task by as much as 80%.
This is one of the great secrets of time management and high productivity. And it is a habit that you
can learn by repetition and practice, over and over again.
There are two major pay-offs from single-handling. The first is that you will become one of the most
valuable and highest paid people in your field, and very quickly.
The second, and even more important, is that every time you complete a major task you get an
Endorphin Rush. Your brain releases a chemical that gives you a feeling of well-being. You feel
happy all over, and your self-esteem goes up. You feel energized and motivated and eager to start
on another task. Single handling is one of the most important of all success principles ever
discovered.
10. Eat That Frog

There is an old saying that goes like this: If the very first thing you do each morning is you get up and
eat a live frog, you can have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s probably the worst thing that is going
to happen to you all day long.
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And there is another observation that says, If you have to eat a live frog, it doesn’t pay to sit and look
at it for too long.
Your frog is the biggest, ugliest, hardest, most challenging but most important task that you have to
do at any given time or on any given day. The jobs that can make the greatest deference in your
career and in your life are invariably big hard jobs. These are the very jobs that you are most likely to
procrastinate on. These are the jobs that you keep putting off even though you know how important
they are or can be if get them done.
Here’s the formula for single-handling. Make a list of everything that you have to do the next day the
night before. Organize the list by priority, using the ABCDE method. Select your A-1 task, the most
important thing you have to do tomorrow and put it in the center of your desk or work-place before
you quit for the day.
Then, first thing in the morning, before you make any telephone calls or read the newspaper or talk
with your co-workers, discipline yourself to start work on that task and stay with it until it is done.
Discipline yourself to eat your frog every morning until it becomes a habit. This starts your day with a
bang. From then on, you’ll have more energy, greater focus and you will work at a higher tempo.
You’ll always get far more done on the day when you eat your frog first thing.
About five years ago, I was conducting a strategic planning exercise with a 30 million dollar company.
I told them the story about eating their frog first thing in the morning. They liked the story so much
that, at the following Christmas, every executive in the company received a brass frog to put on their
desks, to remind them of the importance of the principle.
Within five years, the company’s annual sales jumped from $30 million dollars per year to over $100
million dollars. And throughout the company, the executives that I continue to work with proudly point
out the brass frogs on their desks and tell me what a deference it’s made in their lives. Try it for
yourself. Eat that frog!
11. Organize Your Workspace!

Highly productive people work from a clean desk and a clean workspace. Inefficient, unproductive,
confused people look the part. Their workplace often looks as though a grenade has gone off,
scattering papers and files everywhere. This is not for you.
Make it a habit to clean off your workspace and to work from a clean desk all the time. Even if you
have to take everything off your desk and put it behind you on the floor on a credenza. Keep your
desk clean!
Fully 30% of working time today is spent looking for something that has been misplaced in some way.
When people say that they work better from a messy desk, it turns out not to be true at all. When
these same people are forced to clean up their workspace and work on one item at a time, their
productivity doubles within 24 hours. It amazes them to learn the truth.
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Use what is called the TRAF formula on all your papers. The four letters stand for Toss, Refer, Action
and File, TRAF. Your wastebasket is one of the most helpful time management tools in your office.
Throw away and toss everything that you possibly can, before you get bogged down reading through
it. This is especially true with direct mail advertising, unnecessary subscriptions for magazines,
newspapers or any other material that you have no need of.
The second letter R stands for Refer. This is something that someone else should deal with. Make a
note on it and send it off. Take every opportunity to delegate or refer everything you possibly can, so
that you have more time to do those things that only you can do.
The third letter A stands for Action. Use a red file for this purpose to make it stand out. Your action
file contains everything that you have to take action on in the foreseeable future. By putting things in
your action file you deal with them and get them out of the way.
And the final letter F stands for File. These are papers and documents that you think you will need to
have available to you at a later time. But remember before you file things that 80% of all items that
are filed are never referred to again. When you make a note to file something, you are creating work
for someone else. Be sure that it’s necessary before you file it.
There are time management specialists today who charge several hundred dollars to help executives
clear up their desks and offices. One of the first things these experts do is to help their clients go
through their piles of material that the executive has been saving up to read at a later time. And here
is the rule: If you have not read it in the last six months, it’s junk! Throw it away!
My motto for keeping my office clean is this: When in doubt, throw it out! This also applies to old
clothes, old furniture, old toys and anything else that is cluttering up your life.
Many people are pack rats in their attitude toward magazines, newsletters, newspapers and other
information that comes in the door. This inability to throw things out usually comes from a poor
childhood or from a parent who had a poor childhood. The fact is that you will never be able to read
all the information you receive on a daily basis.
You must discipline yourself to throw it away as quickly as you possibly can. Keep your work space
clean and keep only one thing in front of you at a time. This will dramatically increase your
productivity.
12. Use Travel Time Productively!

The two major forms of travel time are driving and flying. You should turn both of these forms of
transition time into highly productive time. When you drive, always listen to educational audio
programs. The average person sits in his or her car 500 to 1000 hours each year. This is the
equivalent of one to two full time university semesters.
Experts at the University of Southern California recently concluded that you can get the same
educational value as full time university attendance by simply listening to educational audio programs
as you drive from place to place.
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Turn your car into a University on Wheels. View your car as a learning machine for the rest of your
career. Many people have become highly educated and moved to the tops of their fields with audio
learning. You should do the same. You should resolve from this day forward that your car will never
be moving without something educational playing.
When you’re flying, you should use this time productively as well. Time management experts have
found that every hour of work in an airplane is equal to three hours of work in a busy office. The
reason for this is because you can work without any interruptions at all on an airplane, if you plan and
organize it in advance.
Look upon every flight as an opportunity to work and increase your productivity. Plan your trip in
advance. Prepare a work schedule. Write up an agenda for the things that you’re going to accomplish
when you are in the air. Then pack carefully to be sure that you have everything you need to make it
a valuable flight.
When you fly, get to the airport early, 45 to 60 minutes before your flight departs. This will enable you
to board your flight completely relaxed, with your mind calm and clear. You’ll be ready to begin
working as soon as you’re airborne.
Once the plane takes off and you can lower your table, pull out your work and begin working
immediately. Resist the temptation to read the magazine in the pocket in front of you or watch the
movie that they play on long flights.
Don’t drink alcohol of any kind. Instead, drink two glasses of water for every hour that you’re in the
air. This will keep you alert and refreshed and will dramatically cut down on jet lag.
One final rule for traveling. On the outbound leg of the flight, you should work on serious activities
that require energy and concentration. Read books and magazines on the return flight when you are
tired and not as sharp as you may have been earlier in the day.
In any case, make every minute count. Don’t be like those people who drive listening to the radio or
who board the plane and either drink the whole way or just sit there looking out the window. Turn
your car into a mobile classroom and turn your airline seat into your flying office. Use them both to
get ahead and stay ahead of your work.
13. Get Better At Your Key Tasks

This is one of the best time management techniques of all. The better you get at the important things
you do, the less time it takes you to do them as well or better than before. The very act of becoming
very very good at your key tasks can double your productivity. It can dramatically increase the quality
and quantity of the work you get done and have an inordinate impact on your income.
Here’s an example I use in my seminars. A person who types using the hunt and peck method will
type about five to eight words per minute. However, with a little bit of practice, that same person can
become a touch typist. Within 90 days, with 30 minutes practice each day, the average person can
get their typing speed up to 50 to 80 words per minute. Now notice what has happened. In just three
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months by getting better in this key area, one key task, the person who was typing five to eight words
per minute can now type 50 to 80 words per minute.
This is an increase of ten times in the output and productivity of the person in the same period of
time. It can be the same way with the important things that you do as well. If you sell for a living
dedicate yourself to becoming very, very good at prospecting, making presentations and following up
and closing the sale.
If you are in management, commit yourself to becoming very, very good at selecting the right people,
delegating, clearly supervising, well, and communicating with your key people.
Here is one of the great questions for you, which you can use for the rest of your career: What one
skill, if you developed and did it consistently in an excellent fashion, could have the greatest positive
impact on your career? This is one of the most important questions you will ever ask and answer.
What one skill could help you the very most in your career? What one skill, if you were absolutely
excellent at it, could have the greatest impact on your income?
If you don’t know the answer to this question, go and ask your boss. Ask your coworkers. Ask your
spouse. Ask your friends and customers. But you must find out the answer to this question.
Then, once you’ve identified the key skill, you write it down and set a deadline. You make a plan to
acquire the skill and you take action immediately. Then, you do something every day that moves you
toward becoming absolutely excellent at the one thing that you can do that can help you the most.
This single time management principle alone can change your life.
14. Work In Real Time

This is an extremely important principle for increasing your productivity. Develop a sense of urgency.
Develop a fast tempo. Develop a bias for action. Pick up the pace. Do it now! Today, there is an
incredible need for speed. People who do things quickly and well are considered to be better, more
valuable and more competent than people who do things slowly.
Make decisions quickly. Fully 80% of all decisions can be made the moment they come up. Don’t
delay or procrastinate on them. Slow decision making simply plugs up your pipeline and puts a drag
on your activities.
Complete all quick jobs as soon as they come up, as well. Anything that will take you less than two
minutes is usually something that you should do immediately. Always think about how much time it
will take you to ramp up and do the job later if you don’t do it now.
Take an important phone call immediately and deal with it. Have an important discussion and make a
decision to solve the problem right there.
Respond to requests from your boss or your customers fast. Move quickly when need or opportunity
arises. Develop a reputation for speed and dependability.
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Your goal should be to develop a reputation for being the person who, when you want it done fast,
they give it to you. This will open more doors for you than you can imagine. This will attract more and
more opportunities to you to do more and more things quickly and well. Doing things quickly, when
they come up, is a vital part of doubling your productivity.
15. Reengineer Your Work

This is one of the most popular and important ways to reduce time, energy and expense in getting a
job done. Most work processes and jobs today are multi-task multi-step jobs. They’re composed of a
series of things that have to be done, from the beginning to the end, to complete the task. As it
happens, many of these jobs have developed over time with many inefficiencies built in that no one
really thinks about. Many steps are either unnecessary or actually useless.
Nonetheless, they expand the amount of time it takes to do the job. But this is not for you. Take any
large task that you have to do and write down every single step necessary to complete that job from
the initial idea to the finished task.
Once you have a list of every single step, set a goal to reduce the number of steps by 30% the first
time you go through the list. This is almost always possible when you use your creativity.
Look for ways to consolidate several steps into a single step. Look for ways to consolidate several
jobs so that they are done by a single person at the same time. Look for ways to cut back,
discontinue or eliminate steps that are no longer necessary. Always ask, Why are we doing it this
way? and Could there be a better way? Your ability to simplify and streamline your life and work so
that you get more done in a shorter period of time is a major key to doubling your productivity.
16. Reinvent Yourself Each Year

We are living at the time of the greatest change in all of human history. Things are changing so
rapidly, in all areas, in all directions, that you must be continually reevaluating and reinventing
yourself and your life.
At least once a year, you should stand back and look at every aspect of your life to determine
whether or not this is something that you want to continue doing.
Imagine for a moment that your company has burned to the ground and that you have to walk across
the street and start over again in a new building. What would you start up immediately? What would
you not start up at all? Who would you bring with you from the parking lot to continue working in your
company? Who would you leave behind in the parking lot, if you had the choice?
Imagine that your job, your industry and your business disappeared. Imagine that you were starting
your career over again and you could go in any direction and do virtually anything. What would it be?
Evaluate where you live and how your family spends leisure time activities and vacations. Reevaluate
your finances and your physical condition. If you could begin any part of your career and life over
again, like a painter standing before a white canvas, how would you design or reinvent your life
today?
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When you stand back and look at your life from this point of view on a regular basis, you’ll begin to
see all kinds of opportunities to change what you are doing so that they are more in line with what
you really want. This is the real key to increasing your productivity.
17. Practice Zero-Based Thinking Continually

This is one of the best tools you’ll ever learn to clarify your thinking and improve the quality of your
life. Ask yourself on a regular basis, “Is there anything in my life that, knowing what I now know, I
wouldn’t get into again today if I had to do it over?”
Is there anything you are doing today; any relationship you’re in, any investment, that knowing what
you now know, you wouldn’t get into if you had to do it over? This is one of the most important
questions you ever ask and answer.
When you think of time savers and time wasters, you usually think of unexpected interruptions or
telephone calls. However, the biggest time waster of all is for you to continue to pursue a course of
action, a job, a career or a relationship, that is the wrong one for you.
Many people waste many years of their lives working at something that they don’t particularly like or
enjoy, and then, in their 30s, they have to start all over again in a completely new job and a
completely new career. Is there anything that you are doing today that, based on your current
knowledge and experience, you wouldn’t start up again today if you had the opportunity? Because
we’re living in a time of rapid change, fully 70% of your decisions will turn out to be wrong in the
fullness of time.
This means that everyone is involved in at least one thing that, knowing what they now know, they
wouldn’t get into. And the key indicator of a zero-based thinking situation is stress.
Whenever you feel chronic stress, dissatisfaction or unhappiness with any person or situation that
seems to go on and on, you should ask yourself, knowing what I now know, would I get into this
situation again today?
And if your answer is No! then the next question is, How do I get out of this situation, and how fast? Is
there any relationship in your life, business, social or personal activities that, knowing what you now
know, you wouldn’t get into again?
Is there any part of your business, any product, service, expenditure or process that, knowing what
you now know, you wouldn’t start up again today if you had to do it over? Is there any investment that
you are in today, of time, or money, or emotion, that’s dragging you down and holding you back that,
knowing what you now know, you wouldn’t get into again?
Remember, whatever the situation, if it is unhappy situation, it is probably not going to change. It’s
probably going to get worse over time. The only question then is, Do you have the courage and
character to deal honestly with your life, as it really is, today?
By applying zero-based thinking to every part of your life, you’ll be absolutely amazed at how much
better your decisions become and how much more productive you become, at the same time.
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18. Set Clear Posteriorties

You’ve heard of setting priorities. Priorities are tasks that you do more of and sooner. A posteriority,
on the other hand, is something that you do less of and later, if at all. The fact is that you are already
overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time. For you to do something new or deferent, you
must discontinue something that you’re already doing. For you to do something new or different, you
must begin systematically setting posteriorities on activities in your life that are no longer as important
as other activities.
Practice what Peter Drucker calls Creative Abandonment with tasks and activities that are no longer
as valuable as they were when you first started doing them.
The fact is you have too much to do already. Therefore, before you start something new, you have to
stop doing something old. Picking up a new task requires putting down an old task. Getting in means
getting out. Starting up means stopping off.
Look at your life and your work. What sort of things should you stop doing so that you can free up
enough time to do more of the things that you should be doing more of the time?
The fact is that you can only get your life under control to the degree to which you discontinue lower
value activities. You can only double your productivity when you free up more time to do the things
that can have a signiant payoff for you in the future.
When I get overloaded with work, I have a little motto that I repeat to myself all the time. It’s simply
this, All you can do is all you can do. Whenever you feel overloaded for any reason, whenever you
feel that you have too much to do and too little time, stop, take a deep breath and say to yourself, All I
can do is all I can do, and then sit down, make a list of everything you have to do and begin setting
posteriorities on your time.
Sometimes the word No can be the best time saver of all.
19. Keep Your Life In Balance!

The reason you are working is so that you can earn enough to enjoy your family, your health and the
important parts of your personal life. You want to have happy, healthy, harmonious relationships with
your spouse and children. You want to be healthy and fit. You want to grow, mentally and spiritually.
You want to be as successful as possible in your work and your career so that you have the
resources to do all the things that you really care about that have nothing to do with your work.
Unfortunately, most people get the cart before the horse. They become so preoccupied with their
work that they lose sight of the reason for wanting to be successful at their work in the first place.
This is definitely not for you.
Remember that in life, relationships are everything. Fully 85% of your success in life will come from
your happy relationships with other people. Only 15% of your happiness will come from your
achievements in your work. You must keep your life in balance.
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In my Advanced Coaching Program in San Diego, we work with executives and high achievers to
show them how they can dramatically simplify their lives, reduce their work hours, spend more time
with their families and double their incomes over time, all simultaneously.
Most people doubt that all this is possible until they begin using these techniques. For example, one
executive in our program was working 60 and 70 hours a week and earning about $55,000 a year.
After he began simplifying and balancing his life, over a period of five years, his income went up to
over $300,000 a year while his work week dropped to 38 hours. And you can do very much the same
with your life.
The keys to balance are simple. Set your peace of mind, your happiness, and your home life as your
highest goals and organize the rest of your life around them. Create blocks of time to spend with your
family. Create time in the evenings, time on the weekends and time away on vacations.
Remember the formula for balance, which is this, It is quantity of time at home that counts and quality
of time at work. And don’t mix them up. The simplest of all rules for balance is “Put people first.” And
of all the people that you put first, put the most important people in your life ahead of everything and
everyone else.
When you work, work all the time you work. Don’t waste time with idle chatting and useless activities.
Work all the time. Remember that every minute you wasted work with idle socializing is the minute
that you are taking away from your family and your important relationships.
When you get your life in balance, you’ll actually accomplish more, be paid more, produce more and
have vastly more time with your family. This is the whole reason for wanting to become more
productive in the first place.
20. Plan Every Project Carefully.

Virtually everything that you do today is a project of some kind. A project is defined as a multitask
activity. It’s a job that requires several steps in order to complete it from beginning to end. In this
sense, you are a project manager throughout your career.
One of our discoveries is that your success in life, your pay and your promotability, are largely
determined by your ability to complete projects or multitask jobs. And fortunately, you can become an
expert in this area with a few simple instructions.
Remember, the most important word in success is clarity. Start each project with a clear definition of
the ideal finished result, as if it were perfect in every respect. You then make a list of every step in the
project, every little thing that has to be done to get from the beginning to the completed task. You
then organize the list by priority and sequence. What has to be done first? What has to be done
second? What activities can be done simultaneously?
You then assign responsibility for each part of the project and decide exactly who is to do what and
by when. A project plan without assigned responsibilities and specific deadlines is merely a business
conversation. It doesn’t lead to a specific result.
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Finally, if the project is important, monitor it closely. Make sure everything is on track.
Develop a reputation for getting your large jobs done on schedule or well before schedule. Never
trust to luck. Never assume that all will be well. Inspect what you expect. Always ask, What could go
wrong? Of all the things that could go wrong, what’s the worst possible thing that could go wrong?
And then make sure that it doesn’t happen.
Look at the project and ask, what is the key element, or most vital part of this project? What could
interfere with that key element being done on time? Remember the six P Rule. Proper Prior Planning
Prevents Poor Performance. Your ability to plan your projects carefully and thoroughly in advance
can dramatically increase your productivity.
21. Be Intensely Action Oriented!

I’ve referred over and over again in this course to the need for speed. Today, everyone is in a hurry.
Your customers didn’t even know they wanted your product or service until now, and now they want it
yesterday. People today are incredibly impatient. Nobody will wait in line anymore. The average
Internet surfer will switch in 7 to 8 seconds if the Internet Site does not load quickly.
The most outwardly identifiable quality of the top performer, in every field, is that he or she is in
constant motion. The top performer takes initiative to get the job done. The top performer takes
action, over and over again continuously toward the goal.
On the other hand, the greatest single obstacle to high performance is the tendency to talk a subject
to death. Many people think that talking well and planning continuously is the same as execution. But
only action is action. Only execution is execution. Only getting the job done really matters.
In the final analysis, we only get paid for results. Results are everything. Intense result orientation
goes hand in hand with high productivity and high performance in every area.
Make a decision today that you are going to move fast when opportunity or need presents itself. Pick
up the pace. Take action of some kind. Get on with it.
The good news is that, the faster you move, the better you feel. The faster you move, the more you
get done. The faster you move, the more energy you have. The faster you move, the more you learn
and the more experience you get. And the faster you move, the more you earn, the more you get
paid, and the faster you get promoted.
Let me summarize these “21 Great Ideas for Doubling Your Productivity” with a basic formula. Here is
where you start: first of all, decide exactly what you want, in terms of goals and objectives.
Second, make a list of everything that you have to do today to move you toward the achievement of
your goals and objectives.
Third, organize your list by priority and select your A-1, your most important single task. Fourth, begin
immediately on your number one task and discipline yourself to work at it single-mindedly until it is
100% complete.
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And finally, keep repeating, over and over to yourself, the wonderful words, Do it now! Do it now! Do
it now!
We are living in the greatest time in all of human history. There are no limits to what you can
accomplish except for the limits that you place on yourself. Your job is to become one of the most
productive people in your field. Your goal is to develop the reputation for being the person that, when
anyone wants or needs something done, they come to you first.
Your job is to become one of the most productive and most valuable people in your organization or
business. Your job is to get paid more and promoted faster. Your job is to have a wonderful life and
you do this by managing your time and doubling your productivity.
Good luck!
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Course Title: English For Managers (Virtual Communication Approach)

Introduction to the Course

Brian Tracy’s Introduction to the Course

2. Develop clear goals and objectives.

3. Plan every day in advance.

4. Use the A-B-C-D-E method to set priorities.

5. Separate the urgent from the important.

6. Use the law of forced efficiency.

Second, ask yourself regularly: “Why am I on the payroll?”

7. Apply the 80/20 rule.

8. Work at your energy peaks

9. Practice Single-handling With Key Tasks

10. Eat That Frog

11. Organize Your Workspace!

12. Use Travel Time Productively!

13. Get Better At Your Key Tasks

14. Work In Real Time

15. Reengineer Your Work

16. Reinvent Yourself Each Year

17. Practice Zero-Based Thinking Continually

18. Set Clear Posteriorties

Sometimes the word No can be the best time saver of all.

19. Keep Your Life In Balance!

20. Plan Every Project Carefully.

21. Be Intensely Action Oriented!

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