You might have heard of Parkinson’s Law which states that when you are doing a task its IMPORTANCE will grow along with COMPLEXITY in relation to the TIME you allow for its completition.

Most of us including yours truly are guilty of not setting TIME limits and sticking with them. Have you ever sat down and started checking your email saying: “I will only do this for about 10 minutes.” All of sudden you look at your watch and find that 30 minutes have been devoted to this task!

Here is one thing that you want to buy for yourself ASAP – a timer that you can carry in your pocket. I have one that I think I used for cooking and now I plan to carry it in my pocket beginning today. Also you can use your cell phone as even the cheapest StraightTalk ones have a calendar with timer. Also there are software programs both FREE and paid for that will work with your computer. I plan to check today to see if there is an Android app for our tablets.

Timothy Ferriss also says that this applies to especially OUTSOURCING. He found out through costly TIME and EXPENSIVE experiences that when you outsource you MUST absolutely tell the person you have hired the TIME limits for the project and stick to them! Also you MUST checkup on the person at certain PREDETERMINED and AGREED upon times to see his/her progress!

Returning to what Timothy knows is the best way to increase PRODUCTIVITY he says:

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.”

Here’s a question Timothy puts to his readers to make you think: “If you had a heart attack and had to work two HOURS per DAY, what would you do?