The Dirty Secrets of Efficiency
If you ever get the chance to spend time with George Lucas, drop whatever you are doing and take advantage of the opportunity. I’ve been lucky to work with George on several projects and the main thing that I take away every time is just how efficient he is.
George’s company, Industrial Light & Magic, is the worldwide leader in visual effects for movies and television. From Star Wars to Avengers: Endgame, ILM is unafraid to break boundaries and create things we’ve never seen before. When Martin Scorsese required de-aging technology for his latest film The Irishman, ILM created the infrastructure and succeeded where no one before dared to dream. This willingness to create freely in the face of failure is the key to unlocking true efficiency.
People ask me all the time, “How are you able to successfully manage so many things in a given day?” My answer is always the same: Master efficiency to unlock your true potential. While this may seem like an easy strategy, a complete understanding and mastery of what it takes to become legitimately efficient took me years to learn. And even longer to implement into my personal and professional life.
The dictionary defines efficiency as the “ability to accomplish a job with a minimum expenditure of time and effort.” Simply put, efficiency is getting the most return with the least resistance. Over the years, I have studied the art of efficiency and have determined a strategy that has helped me to unlock the full potential of my existence.
1. Thought
One of the biggest reasons why people are unable to unravel the mystery of efficiency isn’t for lack of trying, thinking or planning. In fact, this overanalyzing can be doing more damage than good. Overthinking can cause confusion, which can halt productivity in its tracks.
Let’s say that I told you to eat a beetle. You may have thoughts running through your head like, “are these legs going to scratch my throat? What is this going to taste like? Is it going to squirm in my mouth?”
But what if I told you to eat a grape. Those scary beetle thoughts are nowhere in your mind and you can simply put the fruit in your mouth and chew. That is the goal of efficiency. Get to a point where you are not even thinking about the task at hand because your knowledge of the job is so concrete.
2. Emotion
Another obstacle that can hinder efficiency is the emotional attachment that we bring to each situation we encounter. Whether you are angry at your boss or excited for an upcoming vacation, these emotions can get in the way of your task at hand and can add hours to the ETA of a project.
Emotions are a normal part of everyday life, but managing those emotions can kick your productivity up a notch. It is important to stay level-headed and focused on the task in front of you, without bringing unnecessary emotional baggage to the situation.
3. Effort
Sometimes, doing is more important than thinking. Now, I’m not telling you to dive headfirst into every idea without a plan of attack. But in many situations, your first thought is typically the best course of action and it’s more important to stick to that initial spark than to overthink it to death.
Managing your efforts properly and avoiding superfluous thoughts and emotions can help to maximize your productivity and workflow. Once your mind is working at a level where it is not considering any cloudy judgment or harmful mental concerns, it can begin to work at maximum efficiency.
For more information on how to master efficiency, or to learn about how to open your mind to unlimited possibilities, check out my book, The Origin of Opportunity. I’ll teach you the secrets of freeing your brain from past constraints to unlock the true success story lying within.