y of this task was just an illusion. Then you wonder what would happen if you did not perform the next task. Again, you see the illusion. Soon, you wonder how you managed to spend so much energy on trivial things. And you enjoy free and playful time again.

Doing only what is really essential is more than enough (but this, you need to do better than anyone else – or at

Insane. That is what you would hear if you were to spend a day with me, and ask the people I work with what they think about their schedules. We praise ourselves on being doers and shakers, and on our no-nonsense, result oriented approach. But still most people spend enormous amounts of time in the office and when tiredness sets in and their outlook becomes a little less positive, they will confess that they can’t keep up.

Now… I have to confess something myself: I can keep up. I have more free time than anyone else. The truth is: I am the one who works the least in my office (and paradoxically the one with the best results)…

What is the secret?

One of my interests has always been accelerated learning. One day, I asked myself the following question: What is the fastest way to learn something? Well… the fastest way is NOT to learn it, I answered jokingly.

At first, I thought this was a nice theoretical answer, but with no application in the real world. Fast-forward a few months, and I am in charge of a big IT project. Pressure is coming from all sides (client, managers, developers …) There is so much to “do”, that there is objectively no way everything can be done, even by working 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.

This was actually a great situation to be in, because if there really is no way to do something, you are forced not to do it. And then the miracle occurs. The task you thought you had to do, you do not do. And you survive. You realize the necessity of this task was just an illusion. Then you wonder what would happen if you did not perform the next task. Again, you see the illusion. Soon, you wonder how you managed to spend so much energy on trivial things. And you enjoy free and playful time again.

Doing only what is really essential is more than enough (but this, you need to do better than anyone else – or at

sitive, they will confess that they can’t keep up.

Now… I have to confess something myself: I can keep up. I have more free time than anyone else. The truth is: I am the one who works the least in my office (and paradoxically the one with the best results)…

What is the secret?

One of my interests has always been accelerated learning. One day, I asked myself the following question: What is the fastest way to learn something? Well… the fastest way is NOT to learn it, I answered jokingly.

At first, I thought this was a nice theoretical answer, but with no application in the real world. Fast-forward a few months, and I am in charge of a big IT project. Pressure is coming from all sides (client, managers, developers …) There is so much to “do”, that there is objectively no way everything can be done, even by working 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.

This was actually a great situation to be in, because if there really is no way to do something, you are forced not to do it. And then the miracle occurs. The task you thought you had to do, you do not do. And you survive. You realize the necessity of this task was just an illusion. Then you wonder what would happen if you did not perform the next task. Again, you see the illusion. Soon, you wonder how you managed to spend so much energy on trivial things. And you enjoy free and playful time again.

Doing only what is really essential is more than enough (but this, you need to do better than anyone else – or at

self the following question: What is the fastest way to learn something? Well… the fastest way is NOT to learn it, I answered jokingly.

At first, I thought this was a nice theoretical answer, but with no application in the real world. Fast-forward a few months, and I am in charge of a big IT project. Pressure is coming from all sides (client, managers, developers …) There is so much to “do”, that there is objectively no way everything can be done, even by working 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.

This was actually a great situation to be in, because if there really is no way to do something, you are forced not to do it. And then the miracle occurs. The task you thought you had to do, you do not do. And you survive. You realize the necessity of this task was just an illusion. Then you wonder what would happen if you did not perform the next task. Again, you see the illusion. Soon, you wonder how you managed to spend so much energy on trivial things. And you enjoy free and playful time again.

Doing only what is really essential is more than enough (but this, you need to do better than anyone else – or at

ere is so much to “do”, that there is objectively no way everything can be done, even by working 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.

This was actually a great situation to be in, because if there really is no way to do something, you are forced not to do it. And then the miracle occurs. The task you thought you had to do, you do not do. And you survive. You realize the necessity of this task was just an illusion. Then you wonder what would happen if you did not perform the next task. Again, you see the illusion. Soon, you wonder how you managed to spend so much energy on trivial things. And you enjoy free and playful time again.

Doing only what is really essential is more than enough (but this, you need to do better than anyone else – or at

y of this task was just an illusion. Then you wonder what would happen if you did not perform the next task. Again, you see the illusion. Soon, you wonder how you managed to spend so much energy on trivial things. And you enjoy free and playful time again.

Doing only what is really essential is more than enough (but this, you need to do better than anyone else – or at least, be perceived that way, and this is the subject for an entirely different article).

Here are the master questions you need to use:

- Before doing something, ask yourself what would happen if you did not do it. If you can live with the consequences, do not do it. The real understanding you need to get to, is that you can live with far more consequences than what you presently think. There are really very few things that you absolutely need to do. There are several good ways to deal with the emotional aspects of this approach, and if you are interested, let me know. I can explain very concretely how I do this.

- If something really needs to happen, the second question is: Who could do this instead of me? Watch out with this one, because the sub question is: Is this person reliable? Does she have a track record of delivering fast and correct results on her own, or will I need to check her work? (Again, managing other people is a separate topic which I will address in future articles)

- If no one else can execute the task, then the question is: What is the fastest way I can do this? How accurate does it have to be to be “enough”? And the most important question: How can I manage other people’s expectations? How can I be perceived as having done an excellent job?

There is a lot of power in those questions (and I will expand on them for people who are interested). Do this for everything until it becomes a habit.

Perfectionists (I used to be on