Mike Flint was the pilot of Buffett's personal plane for ten years (Flint also flew the planes of four US presidents, so there is no reason to doubt his professional qualities). Mike once discussed his career with his boss, and Buffett advised the pilot to do a simple exercise of three steps:
STEP 1: Write down 25 main goals
You can start small and complete this exercise using only short-term goals. Try writing down 25 things right now that you would like to do this week.
STEP 2: Re-read the list, select and circle the five most important points
And here Flint had to break his head and carefully analyze the list to choose from twenty-five important points the five most important.
If you are reading this article at home, stop right now, and complete the first two steps before moving on to the third.
STEP 3: Remove excess
At this point, Flint had two lists. Five circled items were on list A, and the remaining 20 items were on list B.
Flint was ready to start work on the A-list, but Buffett asked him what the pilot was going to do with the second list. Flint replied:
“Five of the most important goals are my main focus, but twenty others are also important, so I will work on them from time to time when I have the opportunity. They are certainly not so urgent, but I still plan to pay attention to them."
- To what Buffett said:
“No, Mike. You misunderstood me. The items you haven't circled are a list of things to avoid at all costs. No matter what happens, from now on, you should not pay any attention to List B until you reach the five most important goals."
Give up and win
Simplicity and minimalism are the keys to success. There is nothing better than getting rid of excess trash. Parting with all the things that are not critical is a great way to make life easier, develop good habits, and learn to enjoy what you have.
Of course, it is not so easy to abandon interests and plans and affairs to which the soul lies, especially if they are important, even if not strictly necessary. However, they are the ones that most lead astray.
Each step brings a certain result. Even neutral actions are not neutral. They take up time, energy, and space that could be used to take more targeted actions or solve more important tasks. Because of them, you are marking time in one place instead of taking a step forward.
Buffett's strategy is a brilliant way to define your priorities.
List items 6 through 25 are exciting, interesting, and seem important - it's easy to see why they take so long. But when you compare them to your top five goals, List B is just a distraction. Wasting time on things of secondary importance is the reason that instead of five fully completed projects, you have 20 unfinished projects.
Remove the excess. Focus. Complete the task or get rid of it. The main enemies of productivity are pleasant things that don't bring tangible results.
Be smart
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