86Thousand400: Tim Ferriss Cont. Modern day philosopher!

It's easy to get caught in a flood of minutiae, and the key to not feeling rushed is remembering that lack of time is actually lack of prioriti

es. Take time to stop and smell the roses

Parkinson's Law dictates that a task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. It is the magic of the imminent deadline. If I give you a 24 hours to complete a project, the time pressure forces you to focus on execution, and you have no choice but to do only the bare essentials. If I give you a week to complete the same task, it's six days of making a mountain out of a molehill. If I give you two months, God forbid, it becomes a mental monster. The end product of a shorter deadline is almost inevitably of equal or higher quality due to greater focus. The presents a curious phenomenon. There are two synergist approaches for increasing productivity that are inversions of each other.

1. Limit tasks to the important to shorten work time (80/20)

2. Shorten work time to limit tasks to the important

(Parkinson's Law)

The best solution is to use both together. Identify the few critical tasks that contribute most to income and schedule them with very short and clear deadlines

He eliminated all the activities he used as crutches and began to focus on demonstrating results instead of showing dedication. Dedication is often meaningless work in disguise. Be ruthless and cut the fat. It is possible to have your cupcake and eat it, too.

More is not better, and stopping something is often 10 time better than finishing it eg Leaving/switching off a bad film. Putting your fork down and not ordering a desert if you're full. Develop the habit of nonfinishing that which is boring or unproductive if a boss isn't demanding it.

People are smarter than you think. Give them a chance to prove themselves.

L is for Liberation. It is far better for a man to go wrong in freedom than to go right in chains. - Thomas H.Huxley

That's precisely the question everyone should be asking - why the hell not?

All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it's impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.

"What is the meaning of life?" fails the first and thus the second. Questions about things beyond your sphere of influence like "What if the train is late tomorrow?" fail the second and thus should be ignored. These are not worthwhile questions. If you can't define it or act upon it, forget it. If you take just this point from this book, it will put you in the top 1% of performers in the world and keep most philosophical distress out of your life.

If you are too intent on making the pieces of a non-existent puzzle fit, you miss out on the real fun. The heaviness of success-chasing can be replaced with a serendipitous lightness when you recognise that the only rules and limits are those we set ourselves.

It doesn't matter how many people don't get it. What matters is how many people do. If you have a strong informed opinion, don't keep it to yourself. Try to help people and make the world a better place. If you strive to do anything remotely interesting, just expect a small percentage of the people to always find a way to take it personally. F*ck 'em. There are no statues erected to critics.

The choice-minimal lifestyle becomes an attractive tool when we consider two truths:

1. Considering options costs attention that then can't be spent on action or present-state awareness

2. Attention is necessary for not only productivity but appreciation

Therefore:

Too many choices = less or no productivity

Too many choices = less or no appreciation

Too many choices = sense of overwhelm

Decision-making isn't to be avoided - that's not the problem. It's deliberation - the time we vacillitate over and consider each decision - that's the attantion consumer. Total deliberation time, not the total number of decisions, determines your attention bank account balance (or debt). Consider the 10% additional cost as an investment and part of your "ideal lifestyle tax", but not as a loss. Embrace the choice-minimal lifestyle. It's a subtle and underexploited philosophical tool that produces dramatic increases in both output and satisfaction, all with less overwhelm

Fast decisions preserves usable attention for what matters