I thought I was done with productivity books. However, I am a fan of Michael Hyatt so I decided to purchase his latest book, Free to Focus. The book lives up to its subtitle: A total productivity system to achieve more by doing less. Free to Focus, if you read it and take time to complete all of the activities, is truly transformational.
The book starts by identifying the problem: we live a distracted life. We are bombarded by information, so nothing gets our full attention. A quote from Oliver Burkeman sets the tone for the book: “What will your life be, in the end, but the sum total of everything you spent it focusing on?”
Hyatt breaks the book and productivity system into three steps, each with three sub-parts.
Step one- Stop. In this case, stop does not refer to dropping an activity (that comes later), but rather to taking a pause to reflect. Hyatt takes you through exercises that allow you to decide what you want out of life (formulate), determine what activities you should focus on (evaluate), and use rest to help you improve results (rejuvenate). The exercise associated with “evaluate” force you identify areas of work that you need to eliminate because you are not the best person to do them. I loved the “rejuvenate” information because it emphasizes the importance of caring for ourselves physically, mentally, and relationally.
Step two- Cut. Yes, this is where you go through the process of activity-decluttering. The “eliminate” exercises emphasize the importance of getting rid of activities that eat up time and energy. Time is finite! The “eliminate” information includes strategies for saying no to new requests and for dealing with unwanted existing commitments. I like the fact that Hyatt emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and honoring commitments. If you said “yes,” you can’t dump and run. The “automate” activities are fantastic! Hyatt includes examples of how to use routines, templates, and automation to make your life more efficient. And the last part of step two is….delegate. We know we should delegate, but “it takes too much time to explain, so I will do it myself.” There are other excuses. The delegation information is this book is the best I have seen. It clearly explains the rationale, provides a clear process, and describes five levels of delegation based on the experience of the other person and the stakes of the task.
Step three- Act. It’s time to put it to work and get the important things done! The first exercise is to “consolidate” by planning your ideal week. Hyatt emphasizes the impossibility of multitasking. It is inefficient and does not work. The ideal week exercise involves batching activities, to the extent possible, to avoid toggling and wasting energy. This is a difficult exercise, but it does not have to be perfect the first time. I am looking forward to drafting and revising my ideal week. The second exercise involves prioritizing tasks on a weekly and daily basis. It is easy to write a to-do list and go through the day completing whatever tasks seem most attractive. However, that practice often leads to end of the day regret- “I was busy all day, but did not touch my most important work.” It may sound daunting to take time to reflect each day, but the focus and clarity are worth the effort. The last exercise is “activate,” which involves eliminating distractions so you can focus on the priorities identified in the earlier steps.
The book comes with resources to use throughout the steps and exercises. I suggest you read through the entire book so you understand the process and then go back through a second time and complete the exercises. Some of the exercises will become daily or weekly practices.
This book can help anyone focus on priorities and be more productive- teachers, community volunteers, parents who home school, executives, business owners, students, etc.