How to get more done in less time in 2014 with Schnitzelfisch
Our very own productivity coach Schnitzelfisch shares his advice on how to have your most productive poker year ever.
Do you ever feel like you want to do a lot of work but there just isn't enough time?
Well, I used to feel exactly the same way. I wanted to play poker, improve my game, coach other people, read books, exercise, meditate, hang out with friends, family, my girlfriend... But it just couldn't find the time for all of that.
Now, I'm actually working on seven different projects, AND I have more free time than ever to hang out with my girlfriend, friends and family, as well as read books, exercise, go to a spa, or do anything else that I want to do.
But how did I get here? Did I invent 40 hour days? Sadly not. I got here by changing my perspective from time management to energy management.
Let's be honest, we all have a lot of time. But the problem is in HOW we spend it. We waste HOURS by watching TV, browsing the Internet and Facebook, playing video games and watching Youtube videos, when we know that we should be putting in volume and improving our game instead.
So time is not the issue. The issue is how we spend our time, and saying "I just don't have enough time probably means that you are spending your time on unimportant things instead of the ones that will really make the difference in your life.
But how do you do that? Today I'll show you three strategies that you can use to insure that you spend your time actually doing work and not just doing random crap that won't help you reach your goals.
1. Know what you want to do and how to get there
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First of all, you need to identify what you want to do in your life. Find out what you want to do/achieve, why you want to do it, and what you need to get there.
If you have no idea about what you want to achieve, how can you possibly ever achieve it? And how do you expect to spend your time productively when you have no idea what you should spend it on?
If you want to reach your goals faster, you need to first take some time to figure out what is it that you REALLY want and be ultra specific about it.
When you take some time to figure out what you really want, be honest with yourself. If you want a Ferrari, don't say that you want to donate to charity.
Once you know what you want, figure out WHY do you want it. Do you want to be a winning player at NL200 to be able to live in Thailand and spend your evenings sipping cocktails on the beach? That's great.
The next thing that you need to do is to figure out how you can get there. How can you become a winning player at NL200? Do you need to hire a poker coach to improve your game, work on your mindset by reading a book or do you simply need to systematically put in more volume? You need to figure this out.
The last step to success is setting good goals. Once you've identified what is it that you want to do, why you want to do it and how you can get there, you can use this information to set good goals for yourself.
The truth is that most people suck at setting goals. They just set random goals like playing 100k hands a month just because it's cool to do it, but they don't even think about whether this is going to take them closer to where they want to be or not.
Instead of setting random goals, you should set goals that will actually take you where you want to be. The cool thing is that if you already listed the activities that will get your you closer to where you want to be, you can very easily make efficient goals by simply making those activities more measurable.
2. Use the 80/20 rule
There is a rule that I have found to be very true. which says that 20% of the work you do gets you 80% of the results.
What you need to do it to analyze a project that you're working on, for example improving your game, and then figure out what it is that actually brings you the biggest results. Is it getting coached? Is it analyzing past hands? Or is it watching educational videos?
Once you identify what it is that brings you the best results, you need to mercilessly cut out everything else, and do more of the thing that works. It's that simple.
I know that you will have the temptation to use 300 different studying techniques to improve as much as possible, but this won't get you great results. It will just make you feel like you're getting something done when you could be improving way faster.
3. Focus on energy, not time
| Learn more about Schnitzelfisch |
| Primoz 'Schnitzelfisch ' Bozic is poker's first productivity coach.
He is a regular coach and content producer for PokerStrategy.com and right now is offering special winter coaching packages. To find out more about what he has planned for 2014, check out highstakesmindset.com. |
Not having enough time is the most widely used excuse there is. And you know that it's BS. I've had countless days when I knew that I needed to get something done, but I just endlessly procrastinated it and did anything I could to put it off.
Then I realized that time wasn't the issue. We have more than enough time. What's keeping us from doing the work is willpower and energy.
I want to talk about energy today. So let's think about it - if you feel super tired, can you realistically expect to get anything done?
Of course not. That's why if you want to get a lot done, you need to have a lot of energy. You can get it by focusing on a couple of main things:
• A proper sleep schedule
• Healthy nutrition
• Frequent exercise
• Good hydration
Those are the 20% of all the things that you're doing that will bring you 80% of the results regarding energy levels.
To sum up, If you want to get more done in less time, you need to:
- Identify what you want to achieve in your life, why you want to achieve it and how you can get there
- Set good goals that will help you get there
- Identify what are the 20% of the activities that are getting you 80% of the results
- Mercilessly cut the activities that aren't getting you results and do a lot more of those that are
- Switch your perspective from trying to have more time to trying to get more energy.
That's it. If you just apply the concepts from this article, you will be able to get the work done a ton faster. I can guarantee you that you can save at least an hour a day if not more, and also greatly improve your poker results.
-Primoz 'Schnitzelfisch ' Bozic
