WEBVTT - Try the 3-hour rule

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to before breakfast, a production of I heart radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, this is Laura. Welcome to the before breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to try the three hour rule. Schedule

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<v Speaker 1>a three hour chunk of time on at least a

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<v Speaker 1>few days per week to focus on your most important work.

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<v Speaker 1>No meetings, no email, no phone calls, no notifications, no interruptions,

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<v Speaker 1>just you and your most important task. I know it's

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<v Speaker 1>not always possible. I know not all work allows for this,

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<v Speaker 1>but sometimes it might and it might mean getting a

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<v Speaker 1>lot done. Today's tip was suggested by a reader and

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<v Speaker 1>I talked about it a bit in my latest book,

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<v Speaker 1>tranquility by Tuesday, nine ways to calm the chaos make

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<v Speaker 1>time for what matters. You could say that the three

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<v Speaker 1>hour rule is the inverse of the two minute rule.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the popular productivity guideline which states that if

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<v Speaker 1>you could complete a task within two minutes, you should

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<v Speaker 1>do it as soon as it comes up. The thinking

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<v Speaker 1>is that it would take longer than two minutes to

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<v Speaker 1>make a note of what you need to do and

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<v Speaker 1>then return to the task later and complete it. So

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<v Speaker 1>just get it done. And I do think there is

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<v Speaker 1>some wisdom to the two minute rule. It's good to

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<v Speaker 1>save time where we can for other things, but I

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<v Speaker 1>find that this rule doesn't always work in practice. The

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<v Speaker 1>problem is that it's easy to spend your whole work

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<v Speaker 1>day doing two minute tasks. There seems to be an

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<v Speaker 1>endless supply of them. After what feels like a day

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<v Speaker 1>full of accomplishment of two minute tasks, you may realize

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<v Speaker 1>that you haven't even touched your big projects. The three

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<v Speaker 1>hour rule is a counterbalance to the two minute task.

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<v Speaker 1>It ensures that you carve out time for what calnewport

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<v Speaker 1>calls deep work first, before you make yourself available for

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<v Speaker 1>the myriad demands on your time, even those that seem

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<v Speaker 1>like you could get them done pretty quickly. So what

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<v Speaker 1>this reader of mind did was start the day by

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<v Speaker 1>scanning her email and calendar and then, at nine a

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<v Speaker 1>m diving into her big task for the day. She

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<v Speaker 1>would aim to be pretty close too, unreachable, phones silenced,

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<v Speaker 1>in box closed and so forth. She would stay at

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<v Speaker 1>it until noon. That's three hours. By lunch time she

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<v Speaker 1>would generally have accomplished something pretty important, and then she

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<v Speaker 1>could spend the afternoon attending meetings and handling routine tasks.

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<v Speaker 1>The three hour rule allowed her to do the deep

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<v Speaker 1>work that she needed to do and do all her

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<v Speaker 1>shallow work instead of pitting one against the other. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>I know not everyone has the autonomy to be unavailable

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<v Speaker 1>for three hours every morning, and I also know not

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<v Speaker 1>all work works like this. Health care providers, teachers, retail

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<v Speaker 1>workers and others operate in an entirely different manner. But

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<v Speaker 1>for those who are in information professions, consider that you

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<v Speaker 1>have probably been unreachable for three hours at some point

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<v Speaker 1>in your life, on a plane during a root canal.

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<v Speaker 1>If your office kept humming along, then most likely people

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<v Speaker 1>can learn to keep doing so. Even if three hours

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't seem right, maybe you could do ninety minutes or

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<v Speaker 1>maybe three hours twice a week if it helps. You

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<v Speaker 1>can make exceptions for calls from Your Kids, school and

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<v Speaker 1>your spouse, and maybe one designated work person for true

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<v Speaker 1>work emergencies, but start from the assumption that your sole

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<v Speaker 1>priority for the allotted time is the deep work that

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<v Speaker 1>you've identified. Let your manager and your colleagues know what

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<v Speaker 1>you're doing and share what you accomplish. That might help

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<v Speaker 1>bring them along for the ride, because you were probably

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<v Speaker 1>not hired to do two minute tasks, or at least

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<v Speaker 1>not only two minute tasks. You were probably hired to

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<v Speaker 1>do challenging projects that demand your deepest attention. So try

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<v Speaker 1>the three hour rule and see what you can get

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<v Speaker 1>done in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on twitter, facebook and Stagram at before breakfast pod.

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<v Speaker 1>That's B e, the number four, then breakfast P O d.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at before breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at I heeart media DOT COM. That before breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I heart radio. For more podcasts from

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