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Reclaim 13 Weeks a Year
John Zheng
January 27, 2024
How does adding 13 weeks back to your life (every year) sound?
What would you do with an additional 13 weeks?
Added up…
Over 40 years, what would you do with an additional 10 years?
Recently, I attended a Zoom session with Eric Partaker, a coach for CEOs, and Ali Abdaal, a productivity YouTuber and author of “Feel Good Productivity.”
In the Zoom call, Eric discussed something that struck a chord with me.
It’s so simple, yet so effective.
And… I still have a hard time doing it.
The power of single-tasking.
Single-tasking instead of multi-tasking.
Have ONE thing that you focus on each day.
Why?
Researchers estimate 28% of the average workday is lost to task switching.
This also introduces a problem (or an opportunity depending on how you view it), you have to be hyper selective of what you want to accomplish in that day.
This is strategic prioritization.
Focus on everything, and you focus on nothing.
If everything is a priority, then you have no priorities.
In an age of abundance, our issue is not scarcity, it's having too much. Whereas all the previous generations were striving to make more, do more, know more, we must strive to do less. Narrow our focus and care for our attention as a precious resource that can be taken from us.
— Mark Manson (@IAmMarkManson)
4:45 PM • Jan 24, 2024
A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.
Here’s a simulation of a distracted hour:
(Open emails)
(Click on an interesting link)
(Suddenly find yourself in a rabbit hole)
"Okay, back to work."
(Notification from LinkedIn)
(Quickly check LinkedIn)
(Start scrolling)
"What was I doing again?"
(Open calendar)
"Right, back on track."
"Oh, need to look something up..."
(Google search leads to more distractions)
An hour later: "Where did my hour go?"
I’m guilty of this.
Ok wait… but 13 weeks?
That sounds too good to be true.
But it also sounds terrifying.
Well… it pencils out.
Losing 28% of each workday, over 46 working weeks, and it adds up to 13 weeks every year. Even more if you extrapolate it to 52 weeks.
Like anything in life, if you let it build up over time, it adds up.
I now spend Sunday’s planning out my one task each day of the week.
Over 12 months, I hope I check off 365 important boxes.
And I hope you do as well.
John :)