Tired Of Wasting Your Time? (Watch This)

Summary

In this video, Sam Evans introduces the '8020 Power Grid' tool, which helps track weekly time allocation across various activities, categorizing them by monetary value per hour. The tool aims to increase productivity by encouraging viewers to focus on high-value activities and eliminate time-wasting habits.

Takeaways

• 📊 The '80/20 Power Grid' is a tool designed to track and categorize the value of time spent on various activities throughout the week.
• 🔄 The concept emphasizes the importance of doing less but doing it more effectively, rather than spreading oneself too thin across multiple tasks or distractions.
• ⏱️ Time is divided into categories with different monetary values per hour, ranging from negative values for detrimental activities to $100,000+ for high-impact decisions.
• 💡 The tool encourages self-observation and tracking of daily activities to understand where time is spent and to identify areas for improvement.
• 🚫 Negative activities, such as excessive drinking or hanging out with negative people, are likened to losing money due to their long-term detrimental effects.
• 📉 Zero-dollar activities include mindless scrolling on social media or watching non-educational content, which offer no return on the time invested.
• 💼 The script categorizes tasks like running errands or replying to emails as '$10 per hour' activities, which are necessary but not highly valuable.
• 📚 '$100 per hour' activities are suggested for personal and professional growth, such as solving client problems, reading, and taking courses.
• 💰 Higher-value activities like capital allocation, incentive engineering, and system building are placed in the '$10,000 per hour' and '$100,000 per hour' categories, indicating their potential for significant long-term gains.
• 🌱 The speaker shares personal anecdotes about eliminating negative habits and focusing on high-yield activities as a strategy for business success.
• 🔄 The iterative process of tracking, analyzing, and adjusting one's time allocation is presented as a continuous journey towards increased productivity and success.

Q & A

What is the main message of Sam Evans' video about productivity?

The main message is that productivity is about doing less, not more. Sam emphasizes that trying to do everything and using too many tools and methods can lead to burnout and achieving nothing. Instead, focusing on what truly matters is key.

What is the 8020 Power Grid tool that Sam Evans introduces in the video?

The 8020 Power Grid is a tool that helps track where your time goes each week. It categorizes activities based on their value per hour, allowing you to see how effectively you are using your time and where you might need to make adjustments.

How does the 8020 Power Grid categorize activities?

The 8020 Power Grid categorizes activities based on their perceived value per hour. It ranges from negative $100 per hour for activities that harm you, to $100 per hour for activities that are beneficial, and even up to $100,000 per hour for high-impact activities.

What are some examples of activities that Sam categorizes as negative $100 per hour?

Activities such as drinking alcohol, smoking weed, eating fast food, hanging out with negative people, worrying about what others think, avoiding problems, and breaking promises are considered negative $100 per hour activities.

How does Sam define activities that are worth zero dollars per hour?

Zero dollar per hour activities are those that provide no value or benefit in the long term. Examples include watching Netflix, checking Facebook and Instagram, scrolling through newsfeeds, and playing video games unless it's your job.

What are some $10 per hour activities according to Sam?

$10 per hour activities are basic tasks that are necessary but not particularly high value. These include running errands, buying groceries, cooking meals, cleaning, attending meetings, replying to emails, and social media messages.

Why does Sam emphasize the importance of eliminating negative activities?

Sam emphasizes eliminating negative activities because they not only consume time but also have long-term detrimental effects on your life. By removing these, you can focus more on high-value activities that contribute positively to your life and goals.

How can the 8020 Power Grid help in making better time management decisions?

The 8020 Power Grid helps by providing a clear breakdown of how time is spent each week. It allows individuals to see where they are wasting time and what activities are truly beneficial, enabling them to make informed decisions to improve their time management.

What is the significance of the long-term perspective in the 8020 Power Grid?

The long-term perspective is crucial because it helps individuals understand the compounding effects of their daily activities. While some activities may not seem impactful in the short term, their long-term consequences can significantly affect one's life, either positively or negatively.

How can one access and use the 8020 Power Grid tool?

The 8020 Power Grid tool can be accessed through a Google Sheet. Users can make a copy of the template, save it to their Google Drive, and start tracking their time weekly. It's a flexible tool that can be edited and shared with others.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Introduction to the 80/20 Power Grid

In this introductory paragraph, Sam Evans discusses the concept of productivity and the importance of focusing on doing less rather than more. He mentions his previous video on productivity and how it resonated with many people who felt overwhelmed by trying to do everything. Sam introduces a tool called the 80/20 Power Grid, which helps track time allocation and categorizes activities based on their value per hour. He explains that the tool can be used on a computer and encourages viewers to track their activities for a week to see where their time goes and how it aligns with their goals.

05:00

🔗 Accessing and Customizing the 80/20 Power Grid

Sam provides instructions on how to access and customize the 80/20 Power Grid using Google Sheets. He explains that viewers can download the tool by clicking a link beneath the video, making a copy of the Google Doc, and saving it to their own Google Drive. Sam also demonstrates how to add the tool to the browser toolbar for easy access and editing. He emphasizes the tool's flexibility, noting that it can be used on various devices and shared with others.

10:01

💰 Categorizing Time Investments

In this paragraph, Sam delves into the different categories of activities that one can engage in and their respective values per hour. He categorizes activities into negative, zero, and positive values, such as -$100 per hour for detrimental activities like drinking alcohol or hanging out with negative people, $0 per hour for mindless activities like watching Netflix, and $10 per hour for routine tasks like running errands. Sam emphasizes the importance of understanding the long-term consequences of daily activities and how they can impact one's life.

15:03

🚀 Moving Beyond Mediocrity

Sam discusses the importance of moving beyond activities that yield low returns, such as $10 per hour tasks, and focusing on those that can significantly improve one's life and business. He highlights the need to eliminate negative activities and focus on high-value tasks like solving problems for clients, managing pay-per-click campaigns, and creating content. Sam stresses that success is achieved by making better decisions and focusing on activities that compound positively over time.

20:04

🌟 High-Yield Activities and Longevity

Sam introduces higher-value activities that can yield up to $100,000 per hour, emphasizing the long-term benefits of these actions. He includes exercise, sleep, and relaxation as high-value activities, explaining that they contribute to a longer and more productive life. Sam also mentions the importance of surrounding oneself with smart and positive people, as their influence can be contagious and lead to personal growth. He encourages viewers to reflect on their daily activities and make conscious decisions to improve their lives.

25:05

💡 The Power of Delegation and Innovation

In this paragraph, Sam discusses the importance of delegating tasks and focusing on high-yield activities like capital allocation decisions, restructuring companies, and establishing long-term partnerships. He highlights the significance of incentives in driving human behavior and the need for strategic planning in business. Sam also emphasizes the value of innovation and the need to constantly improve products and offers to stay competitive in the market.

30:06

📊 Tracking Time and Making Informed Decisions

Sam explains how to use the 80/20 Power Grid to track time spent on various activities and make informed decisions about how to allocate time more effectively. He suggests mapping out daily activities and calculating the total yield based on their value per hour. Sam encourages viewers to eliminate negative activities and focus on those that yield the highest returns. He also provides a step-by-step guide on how to download and use the tool to track weekly time allocation.

35:07

🔄 Continuous Improvement Through Time Tracking

In the final paragraph, Sam emphasizes the importance of continuously tracking time and making adjustments to improve productivity and life outcomes. He suggests using the 80/20 Power Grid as an iterative process to analyze time spent on different activities and make necessary changes. Sam encourages viewers to engage with the content by liking the video, commenting with their thoughts, and subscribing to his YouTube channel for more helpful content.

Keywords

💡Productivity

Productivity refers to the efficiency with which an individual or system accomplishes tasks or goals. In the video's theme, it is discussed as being inversely related to the quantity of tasks taken on, suggesting that focusing on fewer, high-impact activities can increase productivity. The script emphasizes that trying to do everything leads to achieving nothing, highlighting the importance of prioritization.

💡80/20 Power Grid

The 80/20 Power Grid is a tool introduced in the video for tracking and categorizing time spent on various activities throughout the week. It is based on the Pareto Principle, which suggests that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. The tool helps viewers to visualize where their time goes and to make adjustments to focus on high-yield activities, thus improving productivity and life outcomes.

💡Time Tracking

Time tracking is the act of recording how much time is spent on specific activities. In the script, it is presented as a method for self-observation and a prerequisite for using the 80/20 Power Grid effectively. By tracking time, individuals can identify unproductive habits and reallocate their time to more valuable tasks.

💡Pareto Principle

The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, is a concept that states that a small proportion of inputs (20%) produce the majority (80%) of outputs. In the video, this principle is applied to time management, suggesting that a small number of activities will yield the majority of results, and thus, should be prioritized.

💡Categorization of Activities

Categorization of activities in the script refers to the classification of tasks into different value-based groups, such as -$100 per hour, $0 per hour, $10 per hour, and so on. This categorization helps individuals understand the value of their time spent on each activity and encourages a shift towards higher-value tasks.

💡High-Yield Activities

High-yield activities are tasks that generate significant results or value in relation to the time invested. The video emphasizes the importance of identifying and focusing on these activities to maximize productivity and life success. Examples from the script include solving client problems, reading books, and taking courses.

💡Compounding Effects

The concept of compounding effects in the video refers to how actions taken today can have increasingly larger impacts over time. Positive habits, like reading and exercising, are said to compound and lead to significant long-term benefits, while negative habits can lead to long-term detriments.

💡Capital Allocation

Capital allocation is the process of deciding how to distribute funds or resources within a business or personal life. In the script, it is highlighted as a high-yield activity, especially when referencing Warren Buffett's approach to managing his businesses, emphasizing the importance of strategic financial decisions.

💡Incentives

Incentives in the video are mechanisms that motivate behavior, either positively or negatively. The script discusses how powerful incentives can drive human behavior, using examples from China to illustrate how incentives can lead to drastic actions, and Warren Buffett's use of incentives in business management.

💡Systems and Machines

Systems and machines in the context of the video refer to automated processes or tools that can perform tasks efficiently, reducing the need for manual labor. The script encourages the creation of such systems to free up time for higher-value activities, which is a key strategy for increasing productivity and achieving success.

💡Delegation

Delegation is the act of assigning tasks or responsibilities to other people. The video suggests that effective delegation is a key skill for moving up to higher-value activities and achieving greater success. It is implied that mastering delegation can lead to significant growth in personal and business outcomes.

Highlights

The video emphasizes the importance of focusing on fewer tasks to increase productivity, rather than trying to do everything.

Introduction of the '80/20 Power Grid', a tool to track and categorize time spent on various activities.

The concept of assigning monetary values to activities based on their productivity and long-term impact.

Negative activities like drinking alcohol or hanging out with negative people are equated to losing money due to their detrimental effects.

Zero-dollar activities include mindless scrolling on social media and watching non-educational content.

The categorization of activities into $10, $100, and even $100,000 per hour based on their value and potential return.

The '80/20 Power Grid' is gamified to help users visualize and improve their time management.

Instructions on how to access and use the '80/20 Power Grid' tool through Google Sheets.

The tool allows for tracking time spent on activities that are detrimental to personal and business growth.

Highlighting the importance of eliminating negative activities to prevent them from pulling down overall productivity.

The video provides a step-by-step guide on how to download, copy, and customize the '80/20 Power Grid'.

The speaker shares personal experiences of eliminating negative habits and the impact on business growth.

The concept of compounding effects, where good and bad habits accumulate over time to significantly affect life outcomes.

The importance of focusing on high-yield activities such as capital allocation and incentive engineering for long-term success.

The video encourages viewers to reflect on their time management and make necessary adjustments for improvement.

The iterative process of tracking time, analyzing results, and making continuous improvements to time allocation.

A call to action for viewers to like, comment, and subscribe for more content on productivity and personal growth.

Transcripts

hey what's going on everyone and Sam

Evans here and last week I released a

video and it was called why productivity

is and the secret is to do less

not more and when I released that video

I basically told people hey look people

who are trying to do everything and

trying to use all of this fancy software

and to-do list stuff and trying to post

on 20 different social media accounts

like that's just it doesn't

work and if you're somebody that's

trying to do everything well you're

probably going to achieve nothing and I

released this video and it worked like

it seemed to resonate really well with

people it got a ton of comments a ton of

likes and tons of people were writing in

and saying Sam this is this is exactly

what I needed to hear and also we got a

lot of questions people were saying I

feel this pain like I feel like you know

all of my focus and attention is spread

really thin and you know I'm not getting

anything done and I'm working myself I'm

grinding myself out and I'm getting

burnt out and not really going where I

want to go and you know it this seems to

be a common theme among a lot of people

so I wanted to this week I wanted to

release a another video kind of a sequel

to that one following on on the same

sort of thing and I want to introduce

you to a tool that I use called the 8020

power grid so this tool is amazing what

it allows you to do is so it's actually

you know a tool that you can use on your

computer here I just printed that out as

an example and in this video I'm going

to give you the actual tool that you can

use on your computer but basically what

what this tool does is it allows you to

track where your time goes each week so

what I get you to do is imagine that you

have 100 units of time each week just

think of it as a hundred units just a

hundred things right and what you need

to do is you need to just track yourself

observe yourself for one week and just

track where your time goes keep a

notepad next to you and if you spend an

hour doing email just write email one

hour if you spend an hour driving

somewhere to the airport or doing

grocery shopping or preparing meals or

cleaning or whatever you know whatever

you do

write down what the activity is and how

many hours you spend doing it even if

it's sleeping and eating watching

Netflix it doesn't matter what it is

write it down and start tracking where

your time goes each week and what this

tool really enables you to do is it puts

it it puts your time units into

different categories you know one

category is - a hundred dollars an hour

so you literally by doing these

activities you're losing and an example

of that is like drinking alcohol or

smoking weed or like hanging out with

negative people or worrying about what

other people think about you you know if

you do these sorts of activities if you

invest one hour into that it's like you

lose a hundred bucks because you're

actually hurting yourself and harming

yourself it's not you know you might

think oh but I'm not actually losing

money you are you're really losing money

and you know some activities are like

zero dollars an hour things like

watching Netflix and checking Facebook

and Instagram and then some things are

$10 an hour things like running errands

buying groceries things like that $100

an hour

you know solving a problem for a client

or reading books and taking courses all

the way up to $100,000 in our activities

like capital allocation and incentives

engineering and things like that so

really what I've done is I've

categorized all the different types of

activities that you can do and I've put

them into different categories and said

I've assigned a value to them but how

much they're actually worth per hour

and what this 80/20 PowerGrid allows you

to do is track everything and then it

adds up where your time goes each week

and it gives you a total number and it's

really like gamifying your life and it's

it's really powerful and on this video

I'm gonna give you the actual tools for

free so that you can use it yourself

starting right away so what I'm gonna do

now is I'm gonna jump onto my laptop and

I'm gonna explain this tool and give it

to you so I'll see you on there now all

right so here we are on my laptop and

first of all you can see I've got this

8020 power grid sheet which is loaded up

so to download this there'll be a link

beneath the video so beneath

video there'll be a link click that and

it'll open up for you and it will open

up the 8020 power grid using Google

sheets and you can make a copy of this

it's the instructions are here it says

click here for the Google Doc so you can

click here and you can get the link but

to make a copy of it you go file make a

copy and then BAM and save it to your

own Google Drive you won't be able to

edit to this version because this is the

template and you know you won't be able

to edit it you don't need a request

permission for this you can just go file

make a copy add it to your own Google

Drive and then you've got your own one

and then what I recommend you do is you

just hover over this little padlock up

here and then you just drag it into your

tool bar here and then you can write you

can edit a d20 power grid BAM and now

you have it in your toolbar so that you

can remember to do it each day and then

you can get rid of it just like that so

you can have quick access to it and you

can edit this thing online using your

computer your laptop your iPad your

iPhone it'll sync across all the

different devices because it's

cloud-based its online and you can also

share it with other people you can share

it with your team and things like that

so it's totally customizable and you

know it's totally free too and very easy

to use so let me explain it so basically

what I've done here is I've categorized

different you know different categories

where your time can go so there's - $100

per hour tasks these are things like

drinking alcohol smoking weed eating

fast food hanging out with negative

people worrying what people think about

you avoiding problems that need fixing

and breaking promises letting people

down and doing stupid stuff and you

might think oh hey that's not true if I

go eat fast food I don't lose a hundred

dollars so this this is wrong well no

but what what you're not seeing is

you're failing to see the long-term

consequences of your actions today so if

you're like drinking alcohol and you're

eating fast food and things like that

hanging out with negative people you

might not notice you're not going to see

100

go out of your bank account but in the

long-term one year from now two years

from now geez even like you know 20 30

years from now you're going to be losing

tons of money for these decisions that

you make today so this is what this

sheet is about it's not about immediate

return on these activities it's about

like the long-term consequences of these

activities so there's actually people

don't understand this but there's

actually things you can do that cost you

money all of these things here are

negatives then these things which are

worth zero dollars per hour things like

watching Netflix checking Facebook and

Instagram scrolling through the newsfeed

you know watching YouTube videos that

aren't educational you know you're just

kind of mindlessly drifting and floating

through YouTube playing video games

unless you're a professional that is

employed to pay to play video games and

you actually make money for doing it and

that's your job well didn't it's fine

but this is I'm when I say playing video

games here I mean playing video games

when really you know you should be doing

something else and then following other

people's lives you know people are crazy

these days they literally just watch

other people's lives and I honestly

think that most people seem to care more

about other people's lives than they do

their own which is pretty messed up but

that's kind of what happens these days

and that's a zero per hour zero dollar

per hour activity then we've got $10 per

hour activities and these are like you

know minimum wage sort of activities so

like running errands buying groceries or

trips to any store cooking meals

cleaning doing dishes attending meetings

or phone calls and mowing the lawns

household maintenance replying to emails

and social media messages like direct

messages or comments and customer

support answering your phone and texts

even checking your voicemail editing

your website and check our spelling

everything perfectly this is a minimum

wage task

I make spelling mistakes all the time

and people always email me and they're

like Sam you made a spelling mistake and

I'm like yeah of course they did this

there's thousands of them I'm not that

worried about the spelling of

things I'm worried about the main thing

which is you know em do I have a

business that actually solves a problem

for people and is it succeeding in

solving that problem are my customers

satisfied and happy and is my company

making money and if that's all happening

then I mean who cares what if a word

spelt incorrectly these are these are

you know these are things which some

people would obsess about but they're

actually of pretty much little to no

value and then cold calling and

following up all $10 per hour activities

so you can see here that I've listed

both personal life and business stuff

because really it's all the same thing

you know we all we have is time and it

just goes into personal or business and

even put the way you spend your personal

time can be categorized to because

there's ways you can spend your personal

time that isn't working that is still a

good use of it for example you know

exercise or proper sleep and relaxation

unwinding that's actually a very

valuable exercise to do because you're

recovering you're resting that means

when you go back to work you're going to

be sharper however there's other things

you can do in your personal time like

hanging out with negative people eating

fast food smoking weed and drinking

alcohol and what's funny is you know

some people do all four of these things

at the same time and you know that's

that's like four negatives on top of

each other and you know so there's

there's good ways to spin your business

time and there's good and bad ways to

spend your personal time too so you want

to map all of it the time you sleep the

time you're doing everything track

everything not just your workday what

you do at home too then there's some now

we're getting up a little bit more into

like hundred dollar per hour activities

and the reason why most people never

really make more than like ten to

fifteen dollars an hour it's because

they can never get past this this

category here they're constantly stuck

down in these areas and if you're doing

- $100 per hour activities in you're

only earning $15 per hour of course

you're not going to have any money and

that's what what's incredible about this

you know you you want you it's all about

the sum total of your decisions that's

what your life is

you know no like your life isn't the way

it is because of any external

circumstance it's not the government

it's not like it's not the country or in

it's not anything it's all your fault

and good or bad you know some people

might have exactly what they want and

they're doing extremely well well cool

that was their doing they did that and

some people might really hate their life

and think it's it's totally messed up

well you did that to yourself you know

we all you know we all dictate like what

happens in our own lives it's all about

decisions and the decisions we make

every day every moment of the day and

through this 80/20 Power Grid it's

basically a way to look at the bad ones

and the good ones

look at where our time's going and make

sure that we are constantly trying to do

more of the good stuff less of the bad

stuff so $100 per hour activities are

things like solving a problem for a

client or a customer talking to a

qualified prospect writing emails to

prospects or clients managing

pay-per-click campaigns like Facebook

YouTube Edwards things like that

outsourcing simple tasks creating best

practice documents so that you know

creating instructions for a task so that

next time you give it to somebody you

don't have to explain it to them you can

just give them the instructions and they

can copy it right and then posting

content on social media and then reading

books and taking courses so these are

all hundred dollar per hour activities

and you might think well wait a minute

if I'm doing reading and taking courses

and I'm posting content how come I'm not

getting a hundred dollars in my bank

account when I when I read a book again

it's about the longer term well note

this is where most people fail they

completely fail to see the consequences

of their actions today in one year two

years three years four years they just

can't see long term so yeah if you like

you know if you drink alcohol now and

eat McDonald's now it's not gonna cost

you cost you really anything but in a

year or two from now it's going to cost

you a lot however if you start reading

books now

and exercising now well you might not

make any money immediately but in the

long term it's going to make you a

fortune you know it's all about how

things compound over time and most

people think that you know money is the

only thing that compounds it's not

everything compounds you know if you do

bad things like tea or to your health

and to your mind and to it all of that

or over time it's gonna compound fester

and get worse and if you do good things

over time they're going to compound and

grow and get exponentially better and

that is you know $100 per hour

activities then you've got thousand

dollar per hour activities things like

planning and organizing your day

negotiating with a hot prospect so this

is someone who's pretty much ready to

buy they just got a couple of questions

building sales funnels or building a

webinar and then delegating complex

tasks so instead of doing it yourself

briefing it to somebody else and getting

them to do it writing ad copy or sales

copy and creating pay-per-click

campaigns so creating them is a little

bit higher yield than managing them so

you can see here then creating in

judging tests and experiments and what I

basically mean here is split tests so

these are quite high value activities

but what would happen if we changed our

price from this to that what would

happen if we made if we changed our

headline from there to there what would

happen if we did this you know it's

thinking about it's brainstorming and

coming up with a with different tests

and experiments that you can do and in

conducting the experiments to see which

one's perform better basically using the

scientific method to advance further

towards your goal by testing hypotheses

and you know just continuing the the

improvements and then we've got building

and testing systems and machines and

then exercise sleep and relaxation now

you might be like wait a minute sim like

I don't know in a thousand dollars per

hour if I exercise sleep and relax

because we're I go to the gym I workout

if I sleep I don't make money yeah but

listen to this this one will make sense

it's about the long-term

if you exercise and you sleep well and

you relax properly you're going to live

longer if you just live one year longer

and do you think how much more money do

you think you're able to make if you're

working for one year longer you know

even if you're on minimum wage at

McDonald's if you just live for one

additional year you're going to make way

more than a thousand bucks so that's

what I'm talking about here by working

on these things you're able to not only

extend the length of your life but the

quality of it and how sharp and

productive you are for the entire

duration of it so you can see again it's

all about the long term and then hanging

out with smart people you know when you

hang out with smart people or people who

are smarter than you in positive and you

know people who are generally better

than you it at what you're trying to do

then their intelligence rubs are rubs

off on you it's kind of contagious like

a virus but this is on the other end of

the spectrum hanging out with a negative

people if you're hanging out with people

who who think like the world sucks and

you know nothing can be done and that

all we should do is just watch video

games and complain then that's going to

have a compounding negative effect on

you and it's going to pull you into a

dark horrible place however if you do

the opposite so that's negative 100 an

hour if you hang out smart people that's

positive 100,000 per hours so it's

really going to help same with

meditation

you know meditation allows you to get

your mind clear it allows you to think

straight and when you can think straight

you're more productive and you also are

able to better prioritize your time and

stay away from distractions and things

that you don't really want to do but you

don't seem to have the will or the

awareness to stop yourself from doing

them meditation helps you improve that

so meditation is a very powerful tool

and that's why I've put it in here at a

thousand per hour because over the long

term meditation will really help you a

lot of the world's billionaires do

meditation and if a you know a

billionaire a lot of them make more than

a million dollars an hour this is what

you've got to understand like a lot of

billionaires actually make more than mmm

in our so if a billionaire decides to

meditate for 30 minutes a day in a way

that's half a billion dollars so you

know would he rip it must be worthwhile

to do if they do that and they attribute

quite a lot of their success towards it

you see what I'm saying and then we've

got $10,000 per our activities this is

creating and improving your products

creating and improving your offers so

making your products better you know the

better your product is the better your

business is going to do and the better

your offers are the more value you're

able to offer to customers

and the more you know if you if you're

able to offer radically more value to

your customers than anybody else you win

so doing these things is very powerful

also improving your value proposition

negotiating major deals hiring and

firing team members cutting costs you

know cutting costs is a high value one

because once you cut a cost it it

doesn't cost you any more but if you

have a lingering cost that keeps billing

you again and again or every month or

whatever then over time that's going to

add up to a huge amount so cutting costs

and really analyzing your costs and your

business and in your personal life is a

very high-value activity a lot of people

think it's mostly about just making more

money quite often cutting costs can be

more powerful than making more and then

another one is reflection and honest

self analysis so truly just taking some

time to yourself completely quiet not

checking social media and stuff and

being like how can I improve what am I

trying to do how am I getting distracted

and how am i DV ating and wavering from

my plans and my intentions and how can I

fix that how can I get better

you know the people who reflect and

honest with themselves and conduct

really really really really truthful

self analysis and who are honest with

themselves and don't deny things and

don't hide from the truth they're the

ones who make the most progress and get

the greatest rewards in life also fixing

fixing repeating problems in eras so if

you have problems in your life that

continue to come up and they're like

they're coming up quite often it's like

a repeating pattern fixing one of those

things is worth a fortune

but not fixing here seeing a problem pop

up multiple times and not fixing it

that's m- so here it says avoiding

problems that need fixing alright

because quite often when we do this the

problem deteriorates more and more and

it starts getting worse and worse and

worse and worse and worse so fixing

errors and fixing problems is a big one

and cool I've got a cool quote which I

remember on this one and you know when I

forget who said it but basically if you

if you own a factory and you see a

worker in there who's every day sweeping

up dust you know you don't just want to

come into the factory each day and sweep

the dust way come in each day sweep the

dust away a really smart person will

seek to eliminate the source of the dust

so a really smart person instead of just

sweeping their dust away every day

though ask themselves where is this dust

coming from and they'll trace it and

they'll find it and then they will

eliminate it and then that sweeping no

longer needs to be done and then it

never needs to be done again so now you

can see how there's a huge long term

payback in yield from eliminating the

root cause of errors and fixing problems

that constantly repeat themselves

$10,000 per hour activity so I think

this is going to open your eyes what's

going to open a lot of people's eyes is

to you know what things have the highest

effectiveness in the long term and then

we've got $100,000 per hour activities

and I can imagine right now some people

might be like Sam no way is there things

that you can do that are 100 grand an

hour yes they are but remember that the

yield and the payback on these things is

over the long term it's not immediate

but over the long term it will pay back

more than this probably so capital

allocation decisions and salary and

incentive decisions

and this is really interesting because

Warren Buffett I'm sure everyone knows

who he is he's billionaire he's worth

like 86 billion or 90 billion or

something very successful he owns a lot

of different companies through his

investment vehicle called Berkshire

Hathaway

he owns dozens of different companies

now he lets CEOs and management teams

run their own companies even though he

owns them he lets the CEOs run them but

there's only there's only two things

that Warren Buffett will not let go of

and he won't negotiate with the CEO is

not allowed to control these two things

only Warren Buffett is allowed to and

those two are capital allocation

decisions in salary and incentive

decisions those if you know if Warren

Buffett may make sure that those are the

only two things he manages for every

business he owns and he's worth 86

billion you can imagine that these

things are very important hints $100,000

per hour or more so capital allocation

decisions is thinking where are we going

to invest our capital in the business or

in our life like should we spend the

money on ads should we invest in hiring

a team should we build our own software

should we spend money on graphic design

where should we allocate the money if

we've got 10 grand where should it go if

we've got a hundred grand or ten million

or a hundred million where do the

different millions go well those

decisions are very very important

capital allocation and then salary and

incentive decisions so probably one of

the most powerful human drivers is

incentives and you know when when humans

have an incentive to do something it

totally changes their behavior and I'll

give you an example in China they've got

this rule where if you run someone over

in your car and that you injure them and

they don't die you have to pay for their

medical care and look after them for the

rest of their life so what happens in

China is when people run someone over if

they don't die they will make sure that

they die they all drive over them again

and again and again and then make sure

they did and then driver

I'm not joking you can search that

google it it's quite horrific but that's

actually what happens now that's what

happens when an incentive is imposed

upon people you know if you say if you

do this you've got to do that well

people are going to make damn sure that

they don't have to do that regardless of

how horrific the act is so also in China

they I think they've gotten rid of it

now but they said you're only allowed

one child per family and so they had one

of the largest like black markets of

abortions and also what happened is

families would abort their our child

even if it was a girl because they

wanted a boy specifically because that

because then they could continue on the

family name

and so you know that's the sort of crazy

behavior that happens when different

incentives are in place so that's an

extreme example but I use an extreme

example to really make this point clear

to you humans will do disturbing things

good or bad when incentives are involved

so when it comes to creating salary and

incentive plans for Warren Buffett's

different companies he makes all those

decisions who is going to be on

Commission and who isn't and the people

who are on Commission how much are they

going to get what percentage like a

sales people going to be on commission

you know are the retail people going to

be on Commission and how much salary are

we going to pay to each different person

in the company those decisions Warren

Buffett will make himself and you and

your business those are extremely

important to their very high yield

activities also restructuring your

company thinking how could I restructure

it to make it more efficient more

effective and you know you how could I

restructure it to lower the costs and

all of that also establishing long term

partnerships so a partnership that might

last three to 10 to 20 years that's

going to have a yield for the long term

and sitting long term strategy and

direction the vision and mission for the

company and also architectural systems

or architecting systems and machines and

I spend a lot of my time doing this one

here

architecting systems and machines so

there's this quote from Henry Ford and

he says man without machine is a slave

and men with machine is the freemen and

there's a lot of truth in that back when

Henry Ford was starting Ford Motor

Company most most people did not have

cars they rode horses or walked now

there's not much freedom in that because

people have to go to different places

and if it's a serious job and it sucks

your time to travel

that's not very freeing and only the

wealthiest people could afford cars it

was out of reach of most people so Henry

Ford wanted to provide motor vehicles

for everyone he wanted to democratize

motor vehicles which he did with the

Ford Model T and what he's saying is

that a man with a car as a free man but

a man without one is is a slave and in

business this is true as well like if

you if you're constantly a slave to all

of these different tasks then you you

need to try and figure out how you can

automate it or build a system or a

machine so that can handle the task for

you and these are very high-value

activities because if you keep doing a

task repetitively every single day well

it's going to take time away from you

every day for a long period of time

that's a big suck of time but if you

decide to architecture a system or a

machine or an automation thing that can

do that task automatically every day

without you doing it well that means

every day you don't have to do it that

means every day you save one two three

hours or more and so really building

systems and machines that alleviate you

from time and work is extremely high

yield activity and I spend a lot of my

time at doing this each day and also

radical innovation so thinking about how

your company can offer radically more

value to customers than anyone else in

the marketplace these are all really

high yield activities so now that I've

explained these different categories and

given you different example

oops so how do you actually use it for

yourself well it sees down here where

does your time get spent each week and

the different activities you know this

one's obviously minus 100 zero hundred

per hour right and I've just put an

example in here like drinking alcohol so

let's say you you spend you track your

time for a whole week and you every day

you map down exactly what you did and we

or hours went so let's say I drank

alcohol for two hours I watched Netflix

for seven hours then let's say you know

I was following lots of people's lives

on Instagram and Facebook and it's been

like 20 hours doing this you know this

is probably most people spent probably

way more time following other people's

lives than 20 hours a week which is

pretty scary but it happens and then

let's say that they have to do mowing

lawns and household maintenance and

things and they spend no ten ten hours

doing that and then they solve a problem

for a client

oh that's already in here they say they

spend eight hours doing that right you

just plot in all the different tasks you

do and how many different how many hours

you spend on each task and you update it

over a whole week and then what this

allows you to do is it allows you to see

it gives you awareness and it gives you

vision into where your time actually

goes because what I've noticed as most

people seem to move through life into

they don't really track it they don't

really think about it objectively and

they just all kind of like a big blur

and they don't know where it goes and

then when they don't achieve what they

want to achieve they think oh it must be

the government's fault well maybe I'm

just not lucky and it's it's

your fault

and it's because you didn't keep your

eye on things and you didn't plan and

you didn't execute correctly you just

wasted your time and so this allows you

to get awareness into that and once you

have awareness then you're able to make

a change so you'll be able to see how

many hours you spend and what activities

you do that are in the - $100 per hour

category and then it tells you the total

hours you spend in here and then it

calculates how much yield you actually

get from that so if I spent two hours

drinking alcohol will I've essentially

lost $200 all right and then if you

spend seven hours watching Netflix 20

hours following other people's lives

well then I have spent 27 hours doing a

$0 per hour activities that means my

yield for this is $0 so if you spend all

of your time in these two categories

here you're there's no way there's no

outcome in life other than losing

because this is worth nothing and this

is worth negative so no matter what you

do you're losing if you spend all of

your time here it doesn't matter what

you do you're just plateauing you're not

going anywhere

and then here it's a it's $10 per hour

activities so if you spend a lot of your

time here well life can be mediocre but

nothing very exceptional or nothing even

remotely awesome is going to happen it's

just going to be dull and mediocre and

you'll never really be able to get out

of the struggle and then $100 per hour

now this is where you can finally start

to make some ground by actually starting

to do some hundred dollar per hour

activities and a huge revolution for a

lot of people is when they start doing

$100 per hour activities and they start

getting rid of the negatives probably

one of the most important things that

you can do starting out is not to try

and just do a bunch of the high-yield

things it's to get rid of the negative

ones get rid of these completely once

you eliminate the negatives that's the

most important thing because it's the

negatives that are going to pull on you

the most and I pretty much used to do

all of these things quite a lot so I

know what I know what it's like here

probably did a lot of these things all

at the same time probably all of them

all at the same time like pretty much

every few days so you know that's and

when I did that I was going backwards

fast and so the first thing you want to

try and do is a

eliminate this spend zero time here you

know I haven't I used to drink like

probably 30 beers a week or something

New Zealand is a huge on drinking

alcohol they're pretty much all they'll

colics and then you know I've completely

given up on it drinking alcohol and I

haven't even been drunk in like three

years and I probably have only had like

one beer in the past in the past year so

it completely eliminated there are

pretty much come I've eliminated pretty

much all of these things completely zero

so I've zero here then I've pretty much

eliminated all of the zero per hour and

all of the 10 per hour and even a lot of

the hundred per hour and honestly

probably a like even a lot of the

thousand per hour I've gotten rid of too

I get to spend a lot of my time up here

in the $10,000 per hour stuff at the

moment which is great there's how I've

been able to to really grow my business

to the point now where we're making

about 20 million a year and we're

actually going to make a lot more than

that this year but that's what our run

rate is at the moment so you know that's

how how am i able to do that by

eliminating these and by trying to spend

most of my time pretty much all of my

time here doing these now the reason why

my company isn't making more than 20

million as I still haven't learned how

to delegate these things and move my

time up here when I get to a hundred

million a year that's when I'll be

mostly up here and I will have built a

team to do all of this stuff down here

and it will have no detractors so it

allows you to see we are times going at

totals up every category and in the cool

thing it allows you to do is it gives

you a total yield so it tells you with

the sum total of all of your decisions

and actions how good were they because

that's basically what your life is it's

the sum total of all the decisions you

make over your entire life and you've

got to make a lot of decisions every

minute of every day all the time and

when someone's life isn't good because

they made bad decisions when someone's

good they make good ones and this is a

way to really get awareness into what

decisions you're making where your

time's going and you're able to fix it

so if I spend

you know here I've got minus 200 zero

then two hundred eight hundred a

thousand if you add all of those up we

get one thousand eight hundred and let's

say this is what I did for a month well

it might be kind of accurate you know

someone who does actually do this in a

month will probably make about 1,800 a

month because let's be honest most of

what they did here was nothing they only

did eight hours of work really eight

hours of of not that much work like in

an entire month the rest of the time was

wasted so that's how you use this tool

now if you want to know how to download

it you can just get the link beneath

this video so on our website

consulting.com there'll be a link

beneath the video scroll down there

click it and it will open up it's a

Google sheet which you can open with

Google Docs and all you need to do is

click file and make a copy and then

you'll be able to save it to your own

Google Drive remember you won't be able

to edit this version here you have to go

file make a copy save it to yours to be

able to edit it and like I said you can

grab this icon up here drag it into your

navbar click Edit and then you can call

this 8020 power grid and then every day

remember to start plotting and where all

of your time goes and once you start

doing this you can make a different one

for each week so I could go let's say

this is the first week I do it you can

go to placate and this might be the

second week like week two and every week

you can plot where your time goes and

improve it so let's say here was week

one I analyze where my time went I'm

shocked to see that most of my time is

wasted so I have the intention to fix it

the next week come in to the next week

track my time there's an improvement but

I'm still struggling to get rid of some

of these things so we go into week three

week four week 5 it's an iterative

process over time so you don't just do

it once and then that certain mean you

do it again and again and again I pretty

much try and track all of my time every

single week down to like 30 minute

increments to see where it goes because

the only way I can get further in life

is by moving where my time is spent if

you want to know why some people the way

more successful than others it's because

they spend more of their time over here

and less of their time it down here in

fact they will spend most successful

people will spend zero time down here

zero time in the in these categories

here nothing at all all of their time

will be up here that's the only way that

you get more successful is by doing that

and so I'm sure this tool is going to be

very useful for a lot of people I'm sure

it's going to help a lot of people and

now what I want you to do is if you've

enjoyed this video just click that like

button so like the video right now and

then let me know what you think in the

comments let me know whether you thought

this video was helpful let me know if

you if you think this video was useful

or if you've got any questions for me

about this at all just let me know in

the comment section below I'm going to

be checking all of the questions myself

personally not my team or anything like

that so post your comments below and

then finally make sure that you

subscribe to my youtube channel just hit

that subscribe button so that you can

see more videos like this and we release

them pretty much every couple of days

and you know with there's a lot of good

content on there so make sure you

subscribe so the thanks for watching

this video and I'll see you in the next

one