Review: “less but better”, Martin Biaugo, Jordan Milne. Review: “less but better”, Martin Biaugo, Jordan Milne How to work not 12 hours but with your head

Smaller, but better. You have to work not 12 hours, but with your head Martin Biaugo, Jordan Milne

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Title: Smaller, but better. You have to work not 12 hours, but with your head
Author: Martin Biaugo, Jordan Milne
Year: 2013
Genre: Management, personnel selection, Foreign business literature

About the book “Less, but better. You have to work not for 12 hours, but with your head.” Martin Biaugo, Jordan Milne

Many people believe that today the working day in many enterprises is too long, and there are even those companies in which people work almost 12 hours. And all this is for the benefit of the owners, not the workers themselves. Of course, there is a way out - to create your own business and work as much as you see fit, but there are also pitfalls here.

Those who open their own business are faced with the problem of organizing their time. After all, if you miss the smallest moment, you can lose absolutely everything. However, working all day long is fraught with consequences, such as lack of rest, personal life, and entertainment.

The book by Martin Biaugo and Jordan Milne “Less but better. You don’t have to work 12 hours, but with your head” will help you distribute your time in such a way that you can manage everything and at the same time live a full life. The name is based on the famous phrase of Steve Jobs, because it is from this person that you can learn not just to waste time on work, but to fully carry out what will bring income, joy, and real happiness.

You can even work around the clock, and at the same time accomplish practically nothing, but only ruin your life. As a result, you will exhaust yourself both mentally and physically, you will not enjoy your work, and you may even forget about rest. In the book “Less, but better. You need to work not 12 hours, but with your head,” you will find a huge number of tips and techniques on how to devote enough time to work in order to fully run your business and have time to live.

All successful people work not for monetary gain, but for pleasure, for the people for whom they develop products or services. And this is very important. When you find something you enjoy, when you just start having fun, you won’t have to think about time and income, because you will have these resources in abundance.

The book “Less, but better. You don’t have to work 12 hours, but with your head” by Martin Biaugo and Jordan Milne will be useful for everyone who doesn’t want to spend time in the office and just wants to start living. The tips that the author offers are very simple, but truly effective and useful. Once you start following the recommendations, you will see how much easier your work and life will become.

And one more problem that is touched upon in the book “Less, but better. You have to work not 12 hours, but with your head” - this is the quantity and quality of the work performed. Today people often put things off until later; over time, they accumulate and problems begin. It is important not to just complete a bunch of work in one go, but to do everything gradually, clearly thinking through each step. Then you won't even have to strain.

Martin Byaugo and Jordan Milne have collected all the valuable rules that a successful entrepreneur must follow every day in order to achieve maximum results in his life and work. After reading the work “Less, but better. You don’t have to work 12 hours, but with your head,” you will understand that even working a few hours a day, you can conquer the whole world.

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Martin Biaugo, Jordan Milne

Less, but better: You have to work not 12 hours, but with your head

All rights reserved. No part of the electronic copy of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for private or public use without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Dedications

To my friends and partners in Rainmaking for turning our work together into a daily celebration. To my wife Annika for her unflagging faith in me - even in those moments when I myself seriously doubted my ability to publish a decent book. And to my daughter Munte - for giving me a great incentive to start looking for a recipe for a harmonious and fulfilling life.

Martin

To my family and friends who want me to be happy, for the opportunity to choose the direction of my life. And to Martin for being the best example of the effectiveness of the methods described in this book.

Jordan

Myths about hard work and sacrifice

Life was simpler before. We could rely on some fundamental truths.

● The harder you work, the more you earn.

● Success requires sacrifice.

● Being successful is hard.

● You have to choose: either family or business.

● You can think about harmony in retirement or after the “deal of the century.”

● It’s impossible to do everything.

● You need to give it your all.

● The one who works the hardest wins.

● The more hours you work, the higher your results will be.

● Entrepreneurship means working for several years without vacation.

● Weekends are available for family and friends.

Today, these statements are no longer considered truths. We are standing on the threshold of a new reality. Welcome to the century victories without defeats .

The words and thoughts reflected on these pages would never have seen the light of day without the help and inspiration of many wonderful people. Thank you! We are grateful to you. There are too many names (please forgive me if there are any mistakes...) but we will try not to forget anyone:

The first readers, our online consultants and other people who provided us with invaluable help and support: Sergei Turco, Fred Pullin, Søren Hoen, Annie Milne, Brian Milne, Isla Milne, Avali Milne, Monica Pereira, John Terry, Anders Biaugo, Mathias Mehl Dalsgaard, Arthas Bartas, Sapumal Jayaratne, J. Winslow, Antonio José Arderius Baca-Balboa , Karen Cordingley, Kren Hansen, Marnie Galison, Prasad Chougule, Peter Tatishchev, Yannick B. Pedersen, Roxanne Varza, Gregg Vanurek, Henning Davernay, Ole Høyer, Stever Robbins, Robert Gass, Prashant Raizada, Per Köhlendorf, Clint Nelsen, Jesper H Andersen, Rasmus Ankersen, Prakash Idnani, Mikael Bodeker, Søren Hogor, Jesper Kleet, Nikolai Frisch, Martin Markussen, Eileen Sutton, Jakob Ahlgren-Ussing, Linda Hickman, Jesper Cro Jorgensen, Mike Mikalovits, Annika Delen Biaugo, Allan Rønne, Waldemar Rønne Jensen, Kim Johnson, and Martin's five-year-old daughter Münthe, who helped select the cover.

Our 25 role models: Chad Trautwein, Markus Moberg, Torsten Widt, Henrik Lind, Randy Komisar, Nick Mikhailovsky, Katerina Fake, Peter Megbäck, Christian Stedil, David Cohen, Derek Sievers, Ben Wei, Stefan Glenzer, Bill Liao, Tony Hsieh, Jake Nickell, Maxim Spiridonov , Martin Torbor, John Veci, Jason Fried, Klaus Mayer, Sophie Vanderbroek, Brad Feld, Mitch Thrower, Narayana Murthy.

Winning Without Losing Team: Bent Haugland (project management), Lelia and Nele Wollert (online community), Thomas Michaelsen Petik and Johan Bickel Lindegaard (web development), Thomas Holm-Hansen and Jonathan Friedman (assistants), Martin Skjærbæk, Natasha Larsen and Anin Hagemann (translation), Nana Christiansen (text), Ela Rudzinska (accounting), Jesper Klingenberg and Patricia Hepe (design).

Rainmaking Partners: Carsten Kölbäck, Morten Christensen, Morten Bjerregard Nielsen, Mads Mathisen, Kasper Wardrup, Alex Farseth, Kenneth Seiber, Mats Stigzelius.

And lastly - but certainly not least - our editor, Lawrence Shorter, author of the extraordinarily inspiring and extremely entertaining book The Optimist.

New double optimum

So that life is not in vain

"I am a loser". This phrase came from the lips of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart and the richest man in America between 1982 and 1988. He uttered these words on his deathbed, realizing that he barely knew his children and grandchildren, and his wife remained with him, it seems, only out of a sense of duty. All his life he was focused on succeeding in business, and when he achieved what he wanted, he realized how much he had to sacrifice for it. He devoted too little time and attention to other important aspects of life - family and relationships with loved ones. Unfortunately, Sam’s case is far from unique - many people, including much less successful ones, come to the same bitter conclusion at the end of their lives.

We are accustomed to thinking that usually people who occupy high positions, endowed with power, and burdened with a bunch of affairs and obligations fall into this trap. In fact, what happened to Sam happens to all kinds of people, in all jobs, in all industries. Entrepreneurs, corporate workers and government officials face this problem; it concerns equally the president of the company and the ordinary employee. Family breaks up, friends are lost, health is undermined - as a result, sooner or later a person begins to regret how he lived his life. When asked what is most important to them in life, most people will answer without hesitation: family, friends and health. What is one of the most commonly cited reasons for broken relationships and ruined health? That's right, work.

In Japan, so many people die as a result of overwork that the Japanese even came up with a special term for it - "karoshi", which means "death from overwork." It is clear that karoshi is an extreme; However, even less extreme degrees of work overload seriously affect all areas of our lives. And, in the end, most of us would like not only to avoid death in the workplace, but also, if possible, to live a happy and fulfilling life, to find time and energy not only to achieve success, but also to enjoy its fruits.

At first glance, it is very difficult to be a successful entrepreneur or business tycoon, while at the same time remaining a harmonious person. Each new business project is a small miracle, the launch of which, like launching a rocket into space, requires a huge amount of energy. In addition, you need to be truly dedicated to your business to be able to build a large, viable and reputable enterprise. Is it possible to find the time and energy to complete such a monumental task while living a happy, fulfilling and harmonious life - a life that you will not have to regret later?

The answer is yes. And we'll show you how.

New double optimum

Latest news from the front lines of business: today - perhaps for the first time in history - we have the opportunity to devote maximum attention to family and friends, while simultaneously building a successful career and fortune from scratch. We no longer have to come home from work when our kids are already asleep, or turn down a friend's offer to drink beer on Friday or go to the football game on the weekend. Six to eight weeks of annual vacation, spent traveling around the world, interesting activities not related to work, which give us a boost of energy and open up new perspectives - today this is not just a reality, but also a necessary condition for achieving work efficiency.

With the acquisition of new knowledge about human physiology and psychology, with the emergence of new tasks that require new skills from us, it becomes clear that the primitive old strategy of “Beat the competitor” is not the only possible path. Today it is already possible to achieve an optimum simultaneously in a business career and personal happiness - a new double optimum, as we call it. Personal life is no longer a direct competitor to work, which means that one of the oldest dogmas of business life—“success requires sacrifice”—is rapidly becoming outdated.

So what does personal happiness have to do with a business book? After pondering this question for a long time, we came to the conclusion that we agree - at least on one key issue - with the Dalai Lama: the meaning of life is to get as much happiness out of it as possible. Happy people are kinder to others and more useful to the world than unhappy people. When we are happy, we have more energy and a greater desire to help others. Since we will all one day leave this world, and we all adhere to the same biblical principle, “naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked shall I return,” the only logical conclusion from this is that our task is to live as many happy moments as possible in our lives, hours and days.

There are already so many books on productivity that you can hardly read them in a lifetime. But there are not so many really worthwhile jobs. I recently read the book “Less but Better.” You have to work not for 12 hours, but with your head,” and expected that behind the beautiful wrapper there would not be any interesting content hidden. Fortunately, in reality everything turned out to be different and the book came out just right.

Martin Biaugo

Martin is one of the founders of the startup factory Rainmaiking.

Fewer But Better features dozens of essays written by the authors with the help of entrepreneurs and productivity experts. The book covers several topics - time management, remote work, harmony between “personal” and “working” time, personal effectiveness.

What I liked most is that the essays are written as concisely as possible, without unnecessary fluff. Agree, I don’t really want to cut through the oceans of clever, but little relevant, thoughts of the authors. The creators of this book managed not only to convey the essence of the issues through stories in an interesting way, but also to structure them in such a way that “Less but Better” is perceived as a whole book, and not a canvas of unrelated pieces.

Byaugo and Milne introduce the concept at the beginning of the book double optium". The double optimum is the harmony between a happy personal life and effective work. It is this term that runs like a red thread throughout the book and harmoniously holds it together into a single whole.

I have selected my favorite excerpts from the book to help you understand its contents.

About time management and productivity:

Forget about the 9.00 to 17.00 schedule. Work during the hours that are most productive for you and take on the tasks that energize you at the moment.
Decide in the morning how much work you intend to complete today. When it is completed, you can forget about work until tomorrow. One of the reasons why people continue to think about work even when they get home is because they They cannot stop and determine for themselves their daily norm. Therefore, they always think about what remains to be done in general, and not what remains to be done today
So instead of a “perpetual to-do list” Try making a “to-do list” every day. Do what you set out to do. And then, with a sense of accomplishment, go to school to pick up the kids, go on that long-awaited trip, or party as much as you want.

About inspiration and new ideas:

All the successes that I am most proud of were achieved in a state of calm and ease, when everything worked out naturally and I worked much more efficiently than my usual level.
That's why our most brilliant ideas They often visit us while walking, rather than at the computer.

There's nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come
Victor Hugo

Do you know anyone who would achieve success? with a secret idea?[…] Seriously thinking that everyone around you is just waiting to steal your idea smacks of delusions of grandeur. Share your ideas with others profitable. You will receive valuable feedback and advice that will help you develop your idea further.

About business:

As a rule, when one of your employees is clearly not coping with his duties, he not only knows about it, but also I myself am dissatisfied with this situation. So it will be better for both parties if they part ways amicably.
To grow a successful business, you need to cultivate great employees. How? Listening to them.
Don't waste time writing a business plan; instead of this write a simple text on one page- outlining your potential company's vision, values, a few key metrics and three immediate next steps - and then get down to business. Call clients, work on a product, advertise it in the media or through Google Adwords

I can recommend this book to absolutely everyone - both those who have already read many works on productivity (this way you will repeat some questions and look at them from a different angle), and those who are just getting acquainted with the topic of personal effectiveness in the literature.

Current page: 1 (book has 15 pages total) [available reading passage: 4 pages]

Martin Biaugo, Jordan Milne

Less, but better: You have to work not 12 hours, but with your head

Dedications

Martin

Jordan

Myths about hard work and sacrifice

Life was simpler before. We could rely on some fundamental truths.

● The harder you work, the more you earn.

● Success requires sacrifice.

● Being successful is hard.

● You have to choose: either family or business.

● You can think about harmony in retirement or after the “deal of the century.”

● It’s impossible to do everything.

● You need to give it your all.

● The one who works the hardest wins.

● The more hours you work, the higher your results will be.

● Entrepreneurship means working for several years without vacation.

● Weekends are available for family and friends.

Today, these statements are no longer considered truths. We are standing on the threshold of a new reality. Welcome to the century victories without defeats .

Rainmaking Partners: Carsten Kölbäck, Morten Christensen, Morten Bjerregard Nielsen, Mads Mathisen, Kasper Wardrup, Alex Farseth, Kenneth Seiber, Mats Stigzelius.

And lastly - but certainly not least - our editor, Lawrence Shorter, author of the extraordinarily inspiring and extremely entertaining book The Optimist.

New double optimum

So that life is not in vain

The answer is yes. And we'll show you how.

New double optimum

What does our happiness depend on? Almost all studies show that, in addition to genes, upbringing, choice of mate and other close relationships, work is one of the top five determinants of happiness. At the same time, not only the content of our work and the people with whom we do it are important, but also the amount of time we spend on it. It's hard to be happy working 16 hours a day, 365 days a year.

On the other hand, if we were prohibited from spending more than an hour a day on any activity that could be described as work, our happiness would be equally doubtful.

For most of us, the “happiness optimum” is somewhere between 30 and 60 hours of work per week. Values at the lower end of the scale tend to be relevant for those who are not very passionate about their work or who have many other interests. The upper part is for those who work on their own project, work with people who energize them, or do not have other big goals in life.

Tragedy occurs when, in pursuit of success, we exceed our optimum happiness. At the same time, despite our best intentions, we simultaneously exceed our optimum performance - and thus lose doubly, ending up both less happy and less successful than we could be. Meanwhile, in the business world there are enough people who, working 10–20 hours a week, manage to be both happier and more successful. Perhaps you are just one of them.

Law of Diminishing Marginal Productivity

Let's look at an example. Many of us know from economics courses law of diminishing marginal productivity(Also: law of diminishing returns). It states that increasing one of the factors of production while keeping the rest unchanged gives a stable increase in productivity only up to a certain limit, after which this indicator begins to decline and, as a result, becomes zero or even negative.

In life, we intuitively apply this law all the time - for example, when we water flowers. The first glass of water is only good for the flower, we are no longer sure that the second is necessary, but the third is definitely unnecessary - the plant can simply rot. If you've ever had to ask someone to take care of your flowers while going on vacation, you've probably uttered a phrase like: “Just don't overwater them.”

Formulated at the beginning of the 19th century by the English economist, politician, millionaire and writer David Ricardo, the law of diminishing marginal productivity has become one of the fundamental principles of economics.

Production planners have held this law sacred for over 100 years. After World War II, another group of adherents appeared - advertisers. The first 1000 advertisements have a very strong effect, the next 1000 have a mediocre effect, and the last 1000 don't even pay off.

Athletes and their coaches understand this too. When Haile Gebrselassie, the Ethiopian long-distance runner, set the world record at the Berlin Marathon on September 30, 2007 with a time of 2:04:26, he had not trained around the clock for months and years. Instead, he chose the optimal number of training hours for himself, which allowed him to beat numerous competitors who spent many more hours on the treadmill than him.

What is your optimum efficiency?

We've all had moments - in school, work, career or business - when we feel like we've reached our breaking point. We've all had periods of intense work, after which we, having given our all, simply run out of steam, losing strength and motivation, and we need several days, or even weeks, to recover. Seth Godin, an American entrepreneur, marketing guru, blogger and best-selling author, describes how he once sat in the office for a month at the very beginning of his career, working non-stop to meet a deadline. He succeeded - but after that Seth fell ill and lay ill for six months. He had exceeded his optimum efficiency—the limit on the number of hours he could work per day after which his productivity gains began to decline. In the billing period, its productivity increased in one month, but in seven months it decreased catastrophically. So how do you determine your optimum efficiency? How many hours per week should you spend in the office to ensure optimal results from your work? thirty? 70? 100?

You will say: it depends on the content of our work. And you will be absolutely right. If your work tasks are routine, don't require intense thinking, and don't involve collaboration or creativity, then you can likely remain productive for more hours than if you work as an air traffic controller or heart surgeon. The less concentration and focus an activity requires, the longer we can do it. And vice versa - if an air traffic controller sits in front of a monitor for 100 hours a week, this will not lead to anything good.

Some people work too little relative to their optimum performance, others work too much.

We, entrepreneurs and project managers, are truly passionate people. We are not afraid to dream and make our dreams come true. At the same time, our work cannot be called routine. We can rather be compared to an air traffic controller, who must be on alert every second, make decisions in critical situations and act in strict coordination with other people to ensure work flow.

Yet many of us remain convinced that we will achieve more by working 70 hours a week instead of 50. This logic applies in many industrial plants, where machines operate that can solder 10 parts per hour or pack five boxes of plastic. tea bags in half an hour. However, to solve the problems that businessmen face, a completely different logic is required.

It's not enough for them to exchange a few hours at a desk for a few hours on the couch - it's not that simple. The point is not the relationship between “work” and “non-work.” In general, we should come up with some other term instead of “work,” because the new generation of businessmen and top managers does not “work.” We play, we do what we love, we realize our talents and dreams.

We have much more in common with athletes, musicians and sculptors than with workers in a traditional factory or office. But even athletes and artists experience diminishing—and ultimately negative values—of their marginal performance. No one knows better than artists and writers that inspiration is necessary to create a masterpiece. But you can't achieve inspiration by simply sitting in front of a canvas or at a desk for 100 hours a week. Something more is required. Balance is the key to success.

Is balance for the weak?

In this book we will talk a lot about balance, meaning by this word how you imagine your ideal life. No, we, of course, do not claim that we know better than you what you need - we only advise you to think about it, make a conscious choice and not be afraid to build your life in the way that is optimal for you.

Now you might be thinking, “Balance sounds so boring, ordinary and defeatist. Balance is not for me; I want to live a vibrant life, full of grandiose projects, dizzying successes and extreme adventures.”

Perhaps you are right, and it is better for you to immediately give this book to a gentle and sensitive person. And yet, we advise you to spend a couple more minutes of your time and listen to us. Why? Because perhaps balance is the key to the bright and interesting life you dream of.

For most people, an ideal life consists of the following components:

– good relationships with other people;

– professionalism in their field;

- financial freedom;

– physical and mental health;

– the ability to control and manage your life;

– an opportunity to serve some greater purpose.

It takes a lot of effort to combine all these components and give each of them sufficient space in our lives. It takes a thoughtful approach and strategic thinking. Balance is needed.

No matter how interesting our work may be to us, we are unlikely to be happy if it takes up all our time, leaving no room for anything else. After all, to be happy, we still need to love and be loved, develop our minds by gaining a variety of knowledge and experience, develop our bodies by playing sports, and communicate with friends - old and new.

On the other hand, if we devote only ten hours a week to work, and spend the rest of the time having fun, lying in front of the TV, hanging out in clubs and wasting money, we may later regret that we never achieved the goals that we ourselves they set it for themselves. Whether we like it or not, there is either balance or imbalance in our lives, and no one but us can influence this. Balance is not for the weak, balance is for the strong and determined. And we will tell you how to achieve it.

Superhero or martyr? Neither is in fashion anymore

So, if the strong are all about balance, then the “superhero” boasting that he slept two hours a night all week because he was working on an important project is no longer a role model? Exactly. As we gain new knowledge about how our bodies and brains function, it becomes clear that this approach to time management is not “cool,” but stupid. By the end of the day, the effectiveness of such a “superhero” decreases, and he ends up losing more than he wins, saving on sleep, leisure and sports.

Don't get us wrong, it's definitely still worth it to strive for maximum results. Breaking your personal speed record at a charity marathon, learning a new skill (no matter how difficult it may be), or developing and delivering a flawless sales presentation are wonderful. But exceeding the limit of your strength, reducing overall efficiency and undermining your health, is simply stupid.

Many of us prefer the role of a “martyr” rather than a “superhero.” Such people work 16 hours in a row so that they can then feel a little sorry for themselves. And if with our whining and complaints we manage to arouse pity for ourselves in those around us, the strange masochistic pleasure only intensifies. But let's face it: is that cool? Almost every one of us has some elderly aunt who serves as a clear example of such behavior. Is this our role model?

It is always easier to notice such tendencies in others than in yourself. Take a closer look: there are probably those among your friends who are too keen on the role of “superhero” or “martyr”. A friend who boasts of his workaholism; a colleague who feels sorry for herself for her self-sacrifice. And you can almost always accurately guess a “superhero” or a “martyr” in this person before he even finishes his first sentence. So, remember: your behavior is just as easily read by others.

In search of new ideals

Our project was conceived in the winter of 2009, when the two future authors of this book (Martin and Jordan) first met in Copenhagen. Then we discovered that we had something in common beyond the fact that we were both businessmen. We were united by the desire to develop a new paradigm of action for ambitious entrepreneurs and top managers, to find a new way to be successful in business without sacrificing happiness in their personal lives.

Together we traveled around the world for two years, meeting with hundreds of entrepreneurs in search of examples that fall into this special category - the category of people who combine a successful business career with a harmonious personal life. These people were wonderful exceptions to the rule, changing our understanding of the correlation between success and self-sacrifice. And soon we discovered that a certain trend was forming, a sincere desire for more balanced and humane ways of doing business.

Most of them have built their businesses in the last decade. Using fundamentally new methods and strategies in their work, they were able to exceed the efficiency of the average entrepreneur many times over, without sacrificing their quality of life at all. In the process of building their businesses, they were able to maintain great relationships with their family and friends, travel around the world, and enjoy all the fun things life has to offer. And what’s even more surprising is that these businessmen do not own small family businesses, but industry giants, companies with multimillion-dollar (or even billion-dollar) capital. They just managed to find their double optimum.