It isn't enough to think outside the box. Thinking is passive. Get used to acting outside the box.
Tim FerrissRead
Being selective-doing less-is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Being selective about tasks leads to greater productivity, emphasizing the importance of focusing on what's truly essential.
This quote by Tim Ferriss emphasizes the concept that in order to be truly productive, one must prioritize and focus on a select few tasks that have the highest impact. By ignoring less important tasks, individuals can direct their energy and resources towards what really matters, ultimately leading to greater effectiveness and success.
Themes
ProductivityFocusSelectivityImportantTasks
In practice
Example use cases
In a team meeting discussing project goals, one might say, 'We should remember that being selective—doing less—is the path of the productive.'
More from Tim Ferriss
All quotes →The way we measure productivity is flawed. People checking their BlackBerry over dinner is not the measure of productivity.
Tim FerrissRead
It's just astonishing to me, but not surprising in some respects, how dependent we are on the somewhat meaningless and certainly ephemeral feedback that we get from strangers on the Internet. I think that's a dangerous dependence to develop.
Tim FerrissRead
I always point people to the article '1,000 True Fans' by Kevin Kelly. If you choose your thousand ideal customers or readers properly and find the single author blog that targets that audience, you never have to do any more marketing. You're done. That is a lesson that very few product developers and marketers have learned, and it's unfortunate.
Tim FerrissRead
By using money as the scapegoat and work as our all-consuming routine, we are able to conveniently disallow ourselves to do otherwise: 'John, I'd love to talk about the gaping void I feel in my life, the hopelessness that hits me like a punch in the eye every time I start my computer in the morning, but I have so much work to do! I've got at least three hours of unimportant email to reply to before calling prospects who said 'no' yesterday. Gotta run!
Tim FerrissRead
Being busy is a form of laziness - lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions.
Tim FerrissRead
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I have never heard a dancer asking for advice about how to stay focused on her footwork, or a painter complaining about the dull day-to-day task of painting. What task worth doing isn't worth daily effort? Do you think Michelangelo was having fun the whole time he was on his back painting the Sistine Chapel's ceiling?
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One of the main techniques I used was focusing on the goal and visualising myself competing in the race before the race started.
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