At the Heart of this is a Simple Idea...

DON'T put up with

- slow work

- frequent interruptions

- unnecessary friction in your workflow

- boring and repetitive tasks

- etc.

USE EFFICIENCY TOOLS TO

- increase the speed of your work

- remove interruptions

- reduce friction

- increase efficiency

- do more in less time

Do More in Less Time

This is the secret. The more efficient you are, the more you can get done within a unit of time.

Increasing your efficiency is a VERY high-leverage thing to do and is well worth the time it takes to identify your current inefficiencies and improve on them while you work (more on this in the next lesson).

In this lesson, I show an example of a workflow we overhauled on the team.

When we started out with the ikario team, the video editing workflow was very slow. It took several days to get a single video edit done. After applying the 6 universal efficiency tools, we got to a point where a team member can now finish 2-3 edits in a single day, which is about a 10x increase in productivity.

Here are The 6 Universal Efficiency Tools and the questions you can ask yourself to implement them.

1. Speed

Question: how can you increase the speed at which this work is being done?

Fast touch typing is an example of the speed tool in action and so is the use of keyboard shortcuts.

The speed tool has two parts to it:

A. Reduce the number of steps it takes to complete something, and

B. Increase the speed at which you take those steps.

2. Structure (Organization)

Question: do I always know where to find everything I need, immediately?

Structure is an efficiency tool because it cuts down on time between actions. Structure can be applied in many ways:

A clear, consistent folder structure.
File naming structure and conventions.
A well structured and organized workflow (like everything we've set up in Notion).
A well organized, physical work environment (e.g. you always know where to find the cable/wrench/gadget you need).

3. Templating

Question: where can I use pre-made templates instead of starting from scratch?

Templating is another tool we've already encountered in focus & action.

For example: creating templates in Notion so you always have your checklists instead of having to write them from scratch every time.

Templating can be applied to many areas in your workflow. In the video example, it includes templates for titles, transitions and graphics as well as templates containing the export/render settings we always use.

Another advantage of templates is that it makes your work look more professional.

For example: if you create a set of presentation slides based on a template, the slides will look cleaner, more consistent and more visually pleasing than if you build each slide from scratch. And of course, working with templates is many times faster than always starting from scratch.

4. Batching

Question: can I do many tasks all at once, instead of one-by-one?

We've also encountered batching before, for example with "prison" time blocks and communication batching.

The same principle can be applied to other types of work. In the video workflow example, we gain a lot of efficiency by batching the recording, editing and exporting of videos.

5. Automation

Question: can parts of this workflow be automated? Are there software or services that automate this kind of work?

Automation didn't play a big role in our video workflow optimization. In this case, automation overlaps with templating quite a lot (e.g. animation templates instead of manual keyframes).

For other kinds of work, you may find many automation options. Especially for workflows involving multiple devices and software tools, look up all the available integrations and look at tools like Zapier and IFTTT. These tools can automate even complex workflows, as long as it's always the same series of actions performed in the same way.

6. Delegation

Question: do I need to be the person doing this work? Who would be the ideal person to do this work?

Delegation can happen within an existing team or it can be done via outsourcing. On platforms like Upwork you can hire people for all kinds of tasks.

Beware: it usually takes quite a lot of time to delegate work in such a way that it is done the way you want it to be done. Delegation is not a silver bullet. However, you can ask yourself where your time is best spent and work towards freeing up as much of your time as possible to do the things you are best at. This is a long term goal, but well worth pursuing.

Optimization Triggers

I recommend that optimizing efficiency is something you do while you work, not something to do separately from work. This isn't a task to add to Notion or something to schedule in your calendar.

Instead, look for triggers that tell you there's an opportunity to use an efficiency tool. The triggers are (in a broad sense) two things:

Friction - anything that is interrupting your flow of work, any waiting period, anything that doesn't work seamlessly.
Repetition - any work or process you do repeatedly, without creative input.

Specifically, such triggers are things like:

Switching from mouse to both-hands-on-keyboard and back again.
Right-clicking for the context menu.
Any operation that takes multiple clicks to do one thing.
Frequent switching between different windows or tabs (can this be done in a side-by-side view? All in one place? Do I need a second monitor?)
A workflow that takes you through multiple software applications (can this be automated? Are there integrations?)
Anything you do repeatedly, that doesn't take much creativity or skill (can this be automated? Can someone else do this?)
Time spent doing work that is not aligned with your strengths, values and interests (does this have to be done? Can someone else do this?)

The 6 Universal Efficiency Tools

Week 0: The focus & action Difference

Chapter 1 - The Mindset Shift

Chapter 2 - Your New Way of Working From Now

Week 1: Goal Setting Done Right

Part 1: Goal Setting Done Right

Part 2: The Mantra Doc - How to Stay on Track All the Time

Week 2: Design Your Environment

Part 1: Your Digital Workspace

Part 2: Digital Environment

Part 3: Physical Environment

Part 4: Noise

Week 3: Freedom Time

Week 4: Flow States

Week 5: Efficiency

Week 6: Do What You're Afraid Of