Recently, in the podcast program “Efficient Life Business School”, I talked with Mr. Zhao Yincheng about the topic of “how to break up and leave at the end of the year” . Anxiety started to be discussed, but in the end we all came to a common conclusion: that is the most effective way to break away, not to be obsessed with what things, tasks, and moods to lose, but to take back your own dominance and establish your own decision. Using and processing the process, at this time, you will naturally let go of the sundries that interfere with you.
For example, I have a shopping habit for many years. When I see something I want to buy, I will first save the notes, but I will first find a way to task the shopping notes, that is, “determine how I will use it in the future” to buy If you can’t establish such a process first, it often means that this is something you don’t need, and you shouldn’t buy it. (Extended reading: My Evernote wish list, using notes to curb impulse shopping thoughts )
- Efficient Life Business School｜EP.0077｜Talk between two people｜Let go of anxiety and start a tomorrow of efficient work
- (Apple podcast) Efficient Life Business School｜EP.0077｜Talk between two people｜Let go of anxiety and start a tomorrow of efficient work
- (Google Podcast) Efficient Life Business School｜EP.0077｜Conversation between two people｜Let go of anxiety and start a tomorrow of efficient work
Divorce on mobile
I have had a habit for many years, that is, when I change my mobile phone, I don’t use the tools that are very simple and convenient to “sync the old mobile phone data to the new mobile phone”. Of course, one reason is that the tools I use are all cloud Synchronized (audio and video photos, contacts, document files, notes, etc.), and those that cannot be synchronized in the cloud (text messages, etc.) usually I don’t need to keep them.
But another reason is that this happens to be an opportunity for me to help myself break away. After using a mobile phone for several years, it is inevitable that due to some reasons, more apps have been installed, more notifications have been turned on, and more clutter and interference have occurred. At this time, it is just time for me to rebuild a more streamlined workflow.
So I would do this:
Turn on a new mobile phone, use my brain to recall my workflow in a day, list the apps I really need in my brain, and then reinstall them .
I will not deliberately take a picture of the App list of the previous mobile phone, nor will it automatically import the App of the previous mobile phone, and I will not spend a lot of time rearranging the new mobile phone so that it becomes the state of the previous mobile phone. Basically, it only takes less than 20 to 30 minutes. After installing a few necessary apps that I can think of, a new mobile phone can start to use normally.
In such a process, the key lies in:
- I’m not thinking about which apps I want to give up , because this kind of thinking often takes a lot of time, and I may not want to give up a lot of things.
- I only think about the apps I really need in a day. If my brain can’t think of them right now, it means that I don’t really need them.
I no longer think about what apps to throw away, but focus on the work and life processes I want to control in a day.
Later, because such a process can be completed very quickly, I will even “restore the phone to the original factory settings” every other year or so, run the above process again, and re-establish the most necessary and controllable action process. (Extended reading: My mobile phone abandonment plan, nine steps to find my life )
Do separation with children
Recently, I am helping the child to build his room together, and at the same time develop the habit of the child sleeping and managing his life by himself. However, in the past few years, the room was originally a children’s playroom. There are many toys, books and related sundries accumulated in it. Everything you own is the child’s treasure, what should you do at this time?
I first discuss with the child what kind of room I want to create, and even one day after we discussed together, I asked the child to draw a picture of the room design he imagined , and then imagined that the empty area in the middle of the room would be used as a table in the future Going around, playing games, and imagining what his favorite things should be placed on the bookcases around the room, and arranged into a room that he will be happy as soon as he enters.
When it came time for his bed and furniture to move in, we first moved everything out of the room, let the new bed and furniture move in, and then we discussed how to put the needed things back into the room.
But at this time, we began to encounter some problems that could not be accommodated, so we adopted the following process:
- Children first put their favorite things on the shelves that they can see.
- Then store the books, things, and toys you need in the cabinet.
- I gradually found that some things could not be put down, so I discussed whether to adjust the currently designed space in order to stay? Will this destroy the original game space?
So in this process, I not only finished the tidying of the room, but also cleared out several boxes of toys, books, and items . I finally felt that the room that changed from the game room to the bedroom looked more refreshing and comfortable, and the children were also happy.
Here we also “not” start by thinking about which toys are no longer needed or should be thrown away , because when we think about it this way, the focus is still on the items, and there will be a lot of reluctance, and we will feel that there will always be times when we need them in the future.
If we start with “creating the room plan we want” , and decide on the space design first, and then let the items be placed in a way that meets the design goals of the room, we suddenly find that it is not so difficult to give up, because there is a A room with a large space where you can play games is more important.
dissociation of information
To truly break up and leave, you must take “yourself” as the protagonist, and the goal is to create a work and life process that suits you now.
If you resolutely focus on keeping or throwing away this thing, you are limiting your thinking to the item itself.
Perhaps compared to “do I need this thing”, the more critical part to think about in breaking away is: “How this thing is used in my next action process.” Things that are not in this process can be put down .
For example, when we see a good article, good knowledge, and good method on the Internet, there is no doubt that the content itself is “good”. It is very difficult to let go. Every information feels good and may be useful, but I spend a lot of time accumulating information without knowing it, but I can’t use the information well.
So, if we ask ourselves another question: “Can I establish a process that I can use for this article, knowledge, and method?”
At this time, we will find that there are many things that cannot establish such a process, but this is what we can break away from.
On the contrary, when we think about “how to use” data and knowledge, and use such a logic to organize the data, then what we create is a task that can be executed, and we can turn other people’s content into my own action process, so that these learning Really has value to me . (Extended reading: don’t be afraid of losing anything, it’s best not to collect information that seems to be good and useful )
First establish an efficient process with yourself as the protagonist, that is, break away
In many cases, what we focus on is the “item” itself, and what we think about is whether such a thing is good or not, is it useful? In this way, facing a lot of new information, various accumulated items, and even endless ideas, tasks, and goals, we may be unable to choose because of the idea that “all seem to be good”, and finally let ourselves His space, time, and energy are all eroded away .
If we also want to do a zero-reset cleanup this year, then we can try to do the separation from a different angle. This angle only asks a key question: “What is my use, processing, and next step process?” , and Is this information, item, idea, and task included in the processing flow that I decide on my own? Have I decided how to use them?
- Is an app or tool in the execution process that I want to design in my daily life and work? Am I deliberately asking for one more process for the tool? Or does my process really need this tool to handle it?
- First decide the action flow of the living space I want, design the goal I want to achieve in the space, and then check whether these items are in the space action flow I set? If not, do I need to design more space for such an item?
- There are a lot of materials that I want to learn, collect, and organize, but are they in my next goal execution process? Do I need to organize additional material that is not in my process?
- I receive a lot of messy and temporary tasks every day, and judge which process and step they need to deal with? Or find out that something is not in my important workflow, so I decide how to deal with him?
The above thinking transforms the separation of items into the thinking and design of “an efficient processing process with ourselves as the protagonist”. But it is precisely because we have established such a process first that we can more easily and effectively complete the processing The separation and arrangement.
Hello everyone, I am Esor, the webmaster of computer toys. In the ” Personal Digital Productivity ” online course I piled up at the end of the year, I got rid of a lot of myths about tool functions and a lot of confusion about tool selection. What I want to share with you is A “How to build an efficient process with yourself as the protagonist” , welcome friends who are interested to refer to: (“Limited time limit” before 2022/12/15, use the regular reader discount code ESOR500 to get the lowest discount)
My email is [email protected] , if you have any questions about note-taking, time management, and improving work efficiency, please write to me to discuss. Or subscribe to ” Computer Toys Newsletter ”
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Daniel J. Brown
Daniel J. Brown (Editor-in-Chief) is a recently retired data analyst who gets a kick out of reading and writing the news. He enjoys good music, great food, and sports, with a slant towards Southern college football, basketball and professional baseball.