Warren Buffett’s 2-List System
One day Buffett went up to his pilot named Steve and jokingly said to him that “the fact that you’re still working for me tells me I’m not doing my job.”
“You should be out going after more of your goals and dreams,” Buffett reportedly said.
To help him with that, Buffett asked Steve to list the 25 most important things he wanted to do in his life.
Then Buffett asked that he review each goal and choose the five most crucial ones.
After considering a moment, he drew circles around five fantastic goals, confirming with Buffett that yes, indeed, they were his highest priorities.
And the rest?
“What about these other 20 things on your list that you didn’t circle?” Buffett asked. “What is your plan for completing those?”
Steve knew just what to say.
“Well, the top five are my primary focus, but the other 20 come in at a close second,” the pilot said. “They are still important, so I’ll work on those intermittently as I see fit as I’m getting through my top five. They are not as urgent, but I still plan to give them dedicated effort.”
Buffett suddenly turned serious.
“You’ve got it wrong, Steve,” he said. “Everything you didn’t circle just became your ‘avoid at all cost list.’ No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top five.”
If you split up your time and energy among many things, you won’t be great at any of them. To be great, you need to narrow down as much as possible, cutting off time and energy spent on areas that don’t make the cut.
via: http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-productivity-trick-2014-9
