Fairy tales

Do not work 12 hours with your head. Review: "less, but better", martin byaugo, jordan milne. About inspiration and new ideas

Do you go to work? Do you like her? No? Why go there? Few people think about wasting their lives in vain. You want to live well and you are confident that in order to receive a good salary, you need to work hard. As Steve Jobs said: "You have to work not 12 hours, but with your head." Find out how to properly manage your time below.

Do what you want

Do you think that the phrase “you have to work not for 12 hours, but with your head” is incorrect? Then you are definitely going to the wrong job. For some reason, many believe that the more time a person spends on their activities, the more effective they are. This is not true. A person can work productively only 4-6 hours a day. 8 hours is not overkill, but it is not productive time either. If a person concentrates on something and thinks about improving his activities, then the insight will come to the person soon. Businessmen are a good example. It seems to outsiders that they work very little. A businessman spends 3 hours in the office. The rest of the time he meets with clients, talks with suppliers, etc. And what does he do for 3 hours behind closed doors? He plans his work and thinks about new concepts. When a person enjoys the kind of activity that he has chosen, there is no need to force yourself to work productively. This happens involuntarily.

What does the phrase “you have to work not for 12 hours, but with your head” in English? Do not work 12 hours a day. Use your head. Rewrite the quote and post it prominently. Let it inspire you to new achievements.

Don't trust your memory

To test the correctness of the phrase “you have to work not for 12 hours, but with your head,” you need to try to work productively. The first step every person should take is to create a note on the phone or a physical notebook. What for? All smart thoughts or deeds that suddenly come to your mind should be written down immediately. This will help conserve your energy resource. You will not have to then for half an hour remember a good idea that came up during breakfast or taking a shower. If you have promised something to someone, write it down right away. There is no need to lay out or organize such records at once. Your job is to get rid of the obsession that you have to think about during your productive work hours. There is no need to think about anything while relaxing. A person should completely focus on his activities. As you could already read above, in the original the phrase "you need to work not 12 hours, but with your head" on English language sounds like: Do not work 12 hours a day, use your head. So try to follow this statement. Do not strain your brain all the time; do it during working hours.

Plan your life

Do you think it is difficult to control the ship? Of course it's difficult. But this process becomes much easier when the captain has a map, a navigator, and landmark beacons along the way. Now let's draw a parallel with life. Imagine that the sea is your allotted time, and fate is the ship. Accordingly, you are the captain. To navigate the ship to the shore to which you want, you need to have a map. Without it, it will be difficult to understand exactly where you are heading. Keeping in mind that you have to work not for 12 hours, but with your head, make a plan for your life. Think about what you want and what you are striving for. Each person wants to eventually become happy, have a good and beloved job, family, children and home. Once your wishlist is ready, think about the path you need to follow in order to achieve the desired result. You may need to take courses, learn a language, or move to another city. When you have an action card in your hands, life becomes easier.

Plan your day

It is good to have a life plan, but it alone is not enough. You need to learn to perceive every day as something separate. When a person divides months into weeks, it seems that there is still a lot of time to complete what he started. And when the time is divided by 24 hours, then it becomes sharply limited. Plan every day. Getting out of bed will be easier if you know exactly what to do in the afternoon. If a person does not have a plan of action, he will allow himself to lie a little longer, then watch TV and leave the house only at lunchtime. In this case, half a day will be wasted. But the morning is the most productive part of the day. Some people misinterpret the phrase “you have to work not for 12 hours, but with your head”. The original interpretation is "I have a lot of time, so I can spend it as I please." But with this approach, it is difficult to find those very cherished hours of productive work.

Summarize

The phrase “you have to work not 12 hours, but your head” by Steve Jobs has become popular. But people do not quite understand how it should be applied. A person must not only work, but also periodically sum up the results of his activities. If this is not done, it is not entirely clear whether the development vector has been chosen correctly. Each person should make it a habit to write down their successes and achievements on a monthly basis. This approach will motivate the person to work actively for the next 30 days. The ideal option is to take stock every week. The more often a person stops and looks at what he is doing and where his time is going, the better he will be aware of this. Summing up, he will be inspired by his successes, analyze failures, and will always be aware of upcoming affairs and events.

Take the time to study

In the routine of daily activities, you can lose yourself. As Steve Jobs said: “You have to work not 12 hours, but with your head”. So think: what do you want from this life? Perhaps you work in a job you hate and want to change. What is needed for this? Get knowledge in the area in which you see yourself. Sign up for courses. something new. You can not only completely change your field of activity, but also develop in the area in which you work. You need refresher courses first of all, not the director. Thanks to new knowledge, you will be able to work more efficiently and keep abreast of modern trends and technologies.

Afraid of overlooking your work, family, or friends? For what a person really wants, he always has time. It is not necessary to sacrifice people and communication with them. You can donate to something else, such as watching a TV series or watching a movie.

Rest fruitfully

To be productive, you need to take some rest days from time to time. And this should not be an evening spent at the computer, but something like a change of scenery. Best of all, a person rests in nature. Take your friends and go with them to the forest for a barbecue. If you have two whole days, you can arrange for yourself an excursion to a neighboring city or go somewhere farther.

A change of scenery helps to relax and gain new experiences. You will see new places, make new acquaintances, and help your brain relax. This kind of rest will be much more productive than a day spent lying on the couch. Physical activity helps oxygenate your brain, which helps you think better. So do not neglect a good rest, and if there is an opportunity to go on a trip, go.

Delegate tasks

It is impossible to keep everything in your head, and it is also difficult to do everything yourself. If you are constantly engaged in a routine, you will not have time to do something really important. So feel free to delegate tasks. If someone can help you, let them help you. Sometimes a person will have to pay for help, but believe me, your time is more expensive. For example, you might not spend most of your day cleaning if you are not enjoying the process. Hire a housekeeper who will visit you twice a week and keep order for a reasonable fee. You will free up time for what you think is really important. You can spend your free time not only for work, but also for leisure.

Don't promise what you won't

You have to work not for 12 hours, but with your head. Many have seen a photo of this phrase on social networks and business magazines. But few people thought about what can be done to work with their heads. Start by promising yourself not to make promises to others if you're not going to do something. Some of the humility cannot refuse work that they cannot or do not want to do. What does this lead to? Wasted time. It's one thing to help a friend once, and it's another to do it all the time. Don't let people ride you. If you don’t want to do something, be direct about it. Do not be afraid of offending others, be afraid that you end up cheating yourself by wasting time on what others want from you, not listening to your true desires and not fulfilling your destiny.

There are so many books on productivity that you probably won't be able to read them in your entire life. But there are not so many really worthwhile works. I recently read the book Less is Better. You have to work not for 12 hours, but with your head ”and expected that behind the beautiful wrapper there was not any interesting content hidden. Fortunately, in reality everything turned out to be different and the book came out just right.

Martin Byaugo

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

Less is Better is a collection of dozens of essays written by the authors with help from entrepreneurs and productivity experts. The book covers several topics - time management, remote work, harmony between "personal" and "work" time, personal efficiency.

Most of all, I liked that the essays were written as concisely as possible, without unnecessary water. Agree, I don't want to cut the oceans of clever, but little related to the essence, thoughts of the authors at all. 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 is better" is perceived as a whole book, and not a canvas of unrelated pieces.

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

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

About time management and productivity:

Forget about the schedule from 9.00 to 17.00... Work during the hours that are most rewarding 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 people keep thinking about work even when they come home is because they cannot stop and determine their daily rate for themselves. Therefore, they constantly think about what remains to be done in general, and not what remains to be done today.
So instead of an "everlasting to-do list" try making today's to-do list every day. Do what you set out to do. And then, with a sense of accomplishment, go to school for the children, go on a long-awaited trip or party as much as you like.

About inspiration and new ideas:

All the successes that I am most proud of have been achieved in a state of calm and lightness when everything worked out by itself and I worked much more efficiently than my usual level.
This is why our brightest ideas more often visit us for a walk, and not at the computer.

Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come
Victor Hugo

Do you know at least someone who would be successful with a classified idea?[...] To seriously think that everyone around is just waiting to steal your idea - it smells like megalomania Share your ideas with others profitable... You will receive valuable feedback and advice that help you develop your idea further.

About business:

As a rule, when one of your employees clearly does not cope with their duties, he not only knows about it, but also he himself is dissatisfied with this situation. So it will be better for both sides if they go their separate ways.
To grow a successful business, you need to nurture great people. How? By listening to them.
Don't waste time writing a business plan; instead of this write plain text on one page- outlining the vision, values, a few key metrics, and three immediate planned steps for your potential company - and then get down to business. Call customers, 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 (so 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 (the book has 15 pages in total) [available passage for reading: 4 pages]

Martin Byaugo, Jordan Milne

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

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

Dedications

To my friends and Rainmaking partners for making our collaboration 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 an excellent 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 myself. And to Martin for being the best example of the effectiveness of the methods described in this book.

Jordan

Myths about hard work and self-sacrifice

Life used to be easier. We could draw on some fundamental truths.

● The harder you work, the more you earn.

● Success requires sacrifice.

● It's hard to be successful.

● You have to choose: either your family or your business.

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

● It is impossible to be in time for everything.

● It is necessary to give all the best.

● The winner is the one who works the most.

● Than large quantity the hours you work, the higher your result will be.

● Entrepreneurship is a job for several years without a vacation.

● There is a weekend for family and friends.

Today these statements are no longer considered truths. We are on the verge of a new reality. Welcome to the century victories without defeat .

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

First readers, our online consultants and others who have provided us with invaluable help and support: Sergei Turko, Fred Pullin, Seren Hohen, Annie Milne, Brian Milne, Isla Milne, Avali Milne, Monica Pereira, John Terry, Anders Byaugo, Mathias Mel Dalsgaard, Arthas Bartas, Sapumal Jayaratne, J. Winslow, Antonio José-Ballerius , Karen Cordingli, Kren Hansen, Marnie Galison, Prasad Chugule, Peter Tatishchev, Yannick B. Pedersen, Roxanne Varza, Gregg Vanurek, Henning Davernet, Ole Hueyer, Stever Robbins, Robert Gass, Prashant Raizada, Per Koelendorf, Jesper Helssen Andersen, Rasmus Ankersen, Prakash Idnani, Mikael Bodeker, Soren Khogor, Jesper Kleet, Nikolai Frisch, Martin Markussen, Eileen Sutton, Jacob Ahlgren-Ussing, Linda Hickman, Jesper Cro Jorgensen, Mike Mikalovaldöniem, Angoika Ronne Jensen, Kim Johnson, and Münte, Martin's five-year-old daughter, who helped with the selection of the cover.

Our 25 role models: Chad Trautwein, Markus Moberg, Thorsten Widt, Henrik Lind, Randy Komisar, Nick Mikhailovsky, Katherine Fake, Peter Megbeck, Christian Stadil, David Cohen, Derek Sievers, Ben Way, Stephen Glenzer, Bill Liao, Tony Shey, Jake Nickonell, Maxim Spee , Martin Torbor, John Vechi, Jason Fried, Klaus Mayer, Sophie Vanderbrook, Brad Feld, Mitch Trower, Narayana Murthy.

Winning Without Losing Command: 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 Skierbeck, Natasha Larsen and Anine Hagemann (translation), Nana Christiansen (text), Ela Rudzinska (accounting), Jesper Klingenberg and Patricia Hepe (design).

Rainmaking partners: Karsten Koelbeck, Morten Christensen, Morten Bjerregor Nielsen, Mads Mathisen, Kasper Wardrup, Alex Farset, Kenneth Cyber, Mats Stigselius.

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

New double optimum

So that life is not in vain

"I am a loser". Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart and the richest man in America from 1982 to 1988, spoke these words on his deathbed, realizing that he was barely familiar with his children and grandchildren, and his wife remained with him, it seems, only out of a sense of duty. Throughout his life, he was focused on succeeding in business, and having achieved what he wanted, he realized how much he had to sacrifice for this. 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 used to thinking that people in high positions, endowed with power, burdened with a bunch of deeds and obligations usually fall into this trap. In fact, what happened to Sam happens to a wide variety of people, in all positions, in all industries. This is a problem faced by entrepreneurs, corporate workers and government officials; it applies equally to the president of the company and the ordinary employee. The 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 the most important thing in life for them, most people will answer without hesitation: family, friends and health. What is one of the most commonly cited causes of broken relationships and ruined health? That's right, work.

In Japan, so many people die as a result of overwork that the Japanese have even coined a special term for this - "karoshi", which means "death from overwork." It is clear that karosi is an extreme; however, even less extreme degrees of work overload have a serious impact on 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 huge amount energy. You also need to be truly committed to building a large, sustainable and reputable business. Is it possible to find the time and energy to accomplish such a daunting task, while living a happy, fulfilling and harmonious life - a life that you will not have to regret later on?

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

New double optimum

Fresh news from the forefront of business: today - perhaps for the first time in history - we have the opportunity to pay maximum attention to family and friends, while building a successful career and fortune from scratch. We no longer have to come home from work when our children are already asleep, no need to refuse a friend's offer for a beer on Friday or go to football on the weekend. Six to eight weeks of annual vacation, spent traveling the world, interesting non-work activities that give us energy and open up new perspectives - today it is not just a reality, but also necessary condition to achieve labor 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 "Bypass the competitor" is not the only possible way. Today, it is already possible to achieve the optimum in both 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 obsolete.

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 - on at least one key point - with the Dalai Lama: the meaning of life is to get as much happiness from her as possible. Happy people are kinder to others and more useful to the world than dissatisfied people. When we are happy, we have more energy and more desire to help others. Since we will all leave this world one day, and we all adhere to the same biblical principle “naked I came out of my mother’s womb, naked and I will return”, the only logical conclusion from this is this: our task is to live as many happy minutes as possible in our life, hours and days.

What does our happiness depend on? Nearly all studies show that, in addition to genes, parenting, mate choice, and other intimate relationships, work is among 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 forbidden to spend more than an hour a day on any activity that could be described as work, our happiness would be just as questionable.

For most of us, the “optimum of happiness” is somewhere between 30 and 60 working hours per week. The lower end of the scale is usually relevant to those who are not overly passionate about their work or who have many other interests. The upper part is for those who are working on their own project, working with people who energize it, or have no other big goals in life.

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

The law of diminishing marginal productivity

Let's look at an example. From the course of economics, many of us know law of diminishing marginal productivity(also: law of diminishing returns). It states that an increase in one of the factors of production, while the others remain 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 of the need for the second, but the third is definitely superfluous - the plant can simply rot. If you had to go on vacation to ask someone to take care of your flowers, you probably said a phrase like: "Just don't fill them."

Formulated in the early 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.

Operations planners have respected this law for over 100 years. After the Second World War, he had another group of adherents - advertisers. The first 1000 ads have a very strong effect, the next 1000 are mediocre, and the last 1000 don't even pay off.

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

What is your optimum efficiency?

We've all had moments - in school, work, career, or business - when we felt we had reached our limits. We all had periods of intense work, after which we, having given our best, simply fizzled out, losing strength and motivation, and it took us several days, or even weeks, to recover. Seth Godin, an American entrepreneur, marketing guru, blogger and bestselling author, describes how one day, early in his career, he sat in the office for a month, working nonstop to meet the deadline. He succeeded - but after that Seth fell ill and took to bed for six months. He exceeded his efficiency optimum — that limit on the number of hours he worked per day, after which his productivity gains began to decline. In the billing period, in one month, its productivity increased, but in seven months, it drastically decreased. So how do you determine your optimum performance? How many hours per week should you spend in the office for your work to start yielding optimal results? thirty? 70? 100?

You will say: it depends on the content of our work. And you will be absolutely right. If your work assignments are routine, do not require intense thought, collaboration or creativity, then you can most likely stay efficient 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 the air traffic controller sits in front of the monitor for 100 hours a week, this will not lead to anything good.

Some people work too little in relation to their optimum efficiency, others too much.

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

However, many of us still believe that we will achieve more by working 70 hours a week instead of 50. This logic applies to many industrial plants where machines are used that can solder 10 parts per hour or pack five boxes of tea bags for half an hour. However, to solve the problems facing businessmen, a completely different logic is required.

It's not enough for them to trade a few hours at the desk for a few hours on the couch - it's not that simple. The point is not about the relationship between "work" and "not-work". In general, one should have 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 make our talents and dreams come true.

We have much more in common with athletes, musicians and sculptors than we do with workers in a traditional factory or office. But even athletes and artists are faced with declining - and ultimately negative values - of their marginal performance. No one knows better than artists and writers that inspiration is needed to create a masterpiece. But you can't get inspiration just by sitting in front of a canvas or at your desk for 100 hours a week. Something more is required. Balance is the key to success.

Is balance for the wimps?

Throughout this book, we will talk a lot about balance, which means how you envision 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 an optimal way for yourself.

By now, you must be thinking, “Balance - it sounds so boring, mundane and defeatist. Balance is not for me; I want to live a vibrant life full of ambitious 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 another couple of minutes of your time and listen to us. Why? Because, perhaps, balance is the key to that very bright and interesting life that 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;

- the ability to serve some great purpose.

It takes a lot of effort to combine all these components and give each of them a sufficient place in our life. It takes thoughtful approach and strategic thinking. A balance is needed.

No matter how interesting our work is to us, it is unlikely that we will be happy if it takes up all our time, leaving no room for anything else. Indeed, for happiness, we still need to love and be loved, develop our minds, gaining a variety of knowledge and experience, develop our body, go in for sports, communicate with friends - old and new.

On the other hand, if we devote only ten hours a week to work, and the rest of the time to have fun, lounging in front of the TV, hanging out in clubs and squandering money, we may later regret that we did not achieve the goals that we ourselves set themselves. Whether we like it or not, either balance or imbalance reigns in our life, and no one but us can influence this. Balance is not for the weak, balance is for the strong and determined. And we'll tell you how to achieve it.

Superhero or Martyr? Neither one nor the other is no longer in vogue

So, if the lot of the strong is balance, it turns out, the "superhero" boasting that he slept two hours a day all week because he was working on an important project - is no longer an example to follow? 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 ultimately loses more than he gains, saving on sleep, leisure and sports.

Don't get us wrong: striving for maximum results is certainly still worth it. Breaking your personal speed record in a charity marathon, learning a new skill (no matter how difficult it is), designing and delivering a flawless sales pitch is great. But exceeding the limit of your strength, reducing the 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 then they have the right to feel sorry for themselves a little. And if we manage to arouse self-pity in those around us with our whining and complaints, this strange masochistic pleasure only intensifies. But let's face it: is that cool? Almost all of us have an elderly aunt who serves as the clearest example of this behavior. Is this our example to follow?

These tendencies are always easier to spot in others than in yourself. Take a closer look: surely among your acquaintances there are those who are too keen on the role of "superhero" or "martyr". A friend who prides himself on his workaholism; a colleague who feels sorry for herself for self-sacrifice. And for sure you can almost always unmistakably guess in this person a "superhero" or "martyr" before he even finishes the first phrase. 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 have something in common, besides the fact that we are both businessmen. We were united by the desire to develop a new paradigm of action for ambitious entrepreneurs and top managers, to find new way be successful in business without sacrificing happiness in your personal life.

Together we traveled 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 that changed our understanding of the correlation between success and self-sacrifice. And soon we found that a trend was forming, a sincere pursuit of more balanced and humane business practices.

Most of them have built their businesses in the last decade. Using fundamentally new methods and strategies in their work, they managed to exceed the efficiency of the average entrepreneur many times, while not sacrificing the quality of their life at all. In the process of starting their businesses, they were able to maintain excellent relationships with their family and friends, travel the whole world and enjoy all the interesting things that life has to offer. And what is even more surprising - these businessmen do not own small family enterprises, but industry giants, companies with multimillion (or even billion) capital. They just managed to find their double optimum.

You need to work not for 12 hours, but with your head - it's hard to disagree with this phrase of Steve Jobs. Everyone would like to work less and get the same amount, and even more. But how do you beat the endless overload and the 12-hour workday? Authors of the book Martin Byaugo and Jordan Milne - the creators of the super successful Rainmaking company and a dozen successful startups - have found the answer to the question of how to succeed in business without risking health and without sacrificing personal life. Following the advice of the authors, you will learn to live fully and harmoniously, while simultaneously opening new frontiers in company management and significantly increasing your personal efficiency. The book is intended for businessmen and executives who want to reach new horizons for productivity.

* * *

The given introductory fragment of the book Less, but better. You need to work not for 12 hours, but with your head (Martin Byaugo, 2013) provided by our book partner - the company Liters.

How to drive efficiency

15 strategies that will boost your performance

What if you do not fit into your own schedule, you cannot achieve the goals that you have set yourself? The first thing that comes to mind for many of us in this situation is to devote more hours to the tasks being performed. But it’s like pushing a broken down car uphill instead of thinking about how to start the engine.

Of course, you can stay in the office until late. But is it going to help much? By increasing its work time 20%, we can, at best, be able to do 20% more work - and then assuming that fatigue does not slow down our pace. The question is what should be done to increase its efficiency by 10, 100 or even 1000 times?

For this we need a new set of strategies. This chapter describes the most powerful strategies the authors have developed to help you grow at a rapid pace.

1. Find your soul mate

Martin Byaugo

Ancient Greek myths tell that at the beginning of time a person was a bisexual creature, both a man and a woman. He had four arms, four legs and two heads, so he was twice as strong and smarter. From this, people became proud and even conceived to encroach on the power of the gods. Then the gods punished them, dividing them in two and scattering them around the world. Since then, every half-person - woman or man - is doomed to search for the lost half, without which he feels weak and lonely.

In business, as in love, it is important to find your soul mate. No, we, of course, do not suggest that you screw your co-founder with duct tape - and nevertheless, there is something to think about. By launching your project alone, you are putting yourself at a huge disadvantage. You have only half the intelligence and strength needed to create a thriving business. It's not that you're doomed to forever looking for a soul mate, but your chances of success are much lower.

What do Adobe, Apple, Canon, Cisco, Garmin, Infosys, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, and Sun Microsystems have in common? Yes, these are all hugely successful startups that have grown into global business icons - but these are not the only similarities. Each of these companies was founded by at least two entrepreneurs.

Would Bill Gates have achieved a lot if Paul Allen had not been with him? Could Narayana Murti create Infosys by himself? Most likely no. But when Murthy teamed up with six of his co-founders, together they created one of India's largest technology companies. This allowed all seven to become billionaires and sit on the boards of directors of the largest companies and organizations in the world, including HSBC, Unilever, the UN Foundation, INSEAD, Wharton and the Ford Foundation.

Perhaps you are one of the thousands of talents hoping to bring their ideas to life by taking a warm seat aboard one of the world's leading startup accelerators? And you must be convincing yourself that a lone wolf bravely trying to build a business on his own is more likely to be noticed and appreciated. The facts, however, suggest otherwise. Going by yourself is more likely to lower your chances of participating in major accelerators like Techstars, Y Combinator, or Startupbootcamp. Both Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, and David Cohen, co-founder of TechStars, argue from their own experience that the chances of success for a startup with a single founder are slim - so no leading accelerator will take on such a project. Do you expect to skip this stage and go directly to a venture capitalist? But venture capitalists generally follow the same policy.

Paul Graham recently wrote an essay entitled 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups. And what do you think is the first mistake this legendary entrepreneur and investor advises to avoid? Launch the project alone.

Tip # 1: Build a Team of Talented Co-founders

2. Catch the wave

Jordan Milne

You not only see how it approaches, you can feel it. The reverse flow goes under you, and then the flow changes. You start to paddle fast. The anticipation is growing. You hear the rumble of the water. Suddenly it picks you up and starts to pick you up. You take a few more strokes, harder. Your heart starts to beat faster. With the last, decisive stroke, you feel the power of the water under you and begin to straighten up to stand on the board. And… here it is! Nothing beats the moment you catch a wave. Now everything is going like clockwork - you glide easily on the water, cutting off turns. You feel her strength beneath you. You don't know how long it will last, but you feel an intoxicating delight. And when the wave finally settles, dropping the last spray onto your board, you are happy and proud that you managed to catch it.

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