Musings by Curio

The following “rules” are a combination of items gathered from various sources, including my own life experience. It's important to approach these structures with care, as humans can easily become entangled in them rather than focusing on the experience. The meaning of life is found in experiential living, not in dogmatic efforts to be perfect. However, to be successful, every human needs an individualistic routine tailored to their specific needs.

While I intend to incorporate each of these rules into my everyday life, I don't intend to be bound by them so strongly that they become unbearable. True freedom is found within a set of parametric rules outlining the boundaries of that freedom. A board game is fun because it has rules outlining the parameters of gameplay; without those rules, there would be no structure and no game to play. I view productivity the same way. Without parameters outlining objectives and methods of achievement, chances of success are lowered significantly.

Without further ado, here are my top ten rules that I do my best to incorporate into my daily life and habits!

📈 1. The Pareto Principle

This well-known but underused axiom tells us that 20% of the input typically produces 80% of the output. It can be found in various walks of life, including design, workflows, finance, and even religion.

💡 2. Most Important Task (MIT)

Determine the most important task of the day; this is the task that, if not done, will make your day fail. Break it down into smaller chunks if necessary until it becomes manageable, and then begin. Your MIT becomes the priority for the day; if you get nothing else done, you got the most significant thing done.

⏲️ 3. Take-5 Rule

Take a 5-minute break at least every 60–90 minutes, especially if you're stuck on a problem or working on something that is very taxing on the brain or body. Your brain will appreciate your effort to preserve it!

🗄️ 4. Five 'S' Organization Method

This method is best used for organizing any workspace for optimal efficiency. I learned this method when I worked in the production/manufacturing industries. It simply outlines the basic steps to organize any workspace:

• Sort—prioritize items in order of importance, use case, color, or number.
• Straighten—put your workspace in order every time you use it. This step is the actual work of deciding and measuring where things, items, or tools should appear in an order.
• Sweep—clean your workspace. A clean workspace can make for a healthier body and brain and allow for creative expression to flow.
• Standardize—make your default whatever order, patterns, blocks, methods, or rules work for you. Be flexible because things change, and you want to make sure you are always being as productive as possible.
• Sustain—keep doing it! Discipline is doing what is right when you don’t feel like it.

⌛ 5. Ecclesiastes 3:1-9

“There is a time” for everything. Be mindful of doing those things which it isn't time for yet.

🚀 6. The J.D.I. Rule

Just-Do-It! Determine the excuses you will have in the future and work on eliminating them as aggressively as necessary. Treat procrastination as the plague! If a task can be completed in less than five minutes, just do it!

⭐ 7. Prioritization Rule

Remember the priority of what is most important to you. For me, my priorities are explained as follows:

• God (1st)—God’s Laws, Eternal Principles, Ethos, Values, my own spiritual state, and God’s Mission for me must be first place; otherwise, everything else breaks down!
• Relationships (2nd)—Family, friends, and people that are relying on me to do whatever it is that must rightly be done.
• Myself (3rd)—My health and my personal goals: educational, career, hobbies, etc.
• Assets (4th)—Things, property, cars, and anything with tangible or intangible assets that provide real value for my life and the legacy I can leave behind.
• Money (5th)—Money is another word for currency. Money is what many have come to think of as value and assets, but in reality, REAL money is nothing more than a transaction of time and energy invested into an exchange of goods that we desire or need. We can grow our personal monetary wallet by doing something that someone else finds valuable; that is how fortunes are made and comfort is earned.

⏰ 8. My “8 By 3” Rule

We only have 24 hours in a day! This splits nicely into three segments:

• 8 hours of RE-Fueling: sleep and relaxation.
• 8 hours of Production: revenue stream earning and general productivity.
• 8 hours of Investment: conversations, relationship building, education, hobbies, etc.

⏳ 9. Remember the Purpose of Time

The purpose of time is the temporal delay of eternity to allow more people, more opportunity for Salvation. If we forget this, we lose our focus on what really matters in life and why we exist.

📋 10. Remember the Evolution of Execution (EoE)

1. Aggregate—find and locate relevant information. Beware of information overload and overthinking a specific scenario. Break the information acquired into various projects, tasks, and points.

2. Assign—Delegate tasks to someone else or to yourself and create the timelines.

3. Execute—Do the work!

4. Evaluate—Reflect and evaluate the work done. What worked? What didn’t? What went right? What went wrong? What could be changed?