How A Simple Stop Watch Can Change Your Life (And Make You Rich)

In all my years studying the topic of time management and productivity, there is one simple, yet powerful strategy I’ve come across that has made the most dramatic impact on my productivity levels, which ultimately leads to more money. In fact, I’ve found that some of the sharpest, most successful entrepreneurs and top earners of our time ALL use it to some degree...

It’s called a stop watch. No, I’m not referring to some sort of exercise routine here. However, I am referring to a “productivity routine.” Most have never heard of this, which is why most struggle severely with time management, get very little done, and make very little money. This is especially true today with distractions flying at us from every imaginable angle.

If you do have an exercise routine, you most likely use a stop watch for certain things. If you work out with a personal trainer, he’ll most definitely use a stop watch to monitor your results. This is standard practice when it comes to an “exercise routine.” But why not when it comes to our “work routine?" Isn’t your “work routine” the MOST important routine of them all?

Three years ago I began using a stop watch (aka: my iPhone timer) to time my most important “revenue producing activities” each day. Meaning if I need to work on marketing, be on the phone, write an article (like this one) or whatever high priority action item needs to be done, I drop it into a window of “time” and assign a start time AND a finish time to it. The key here, and almost no one does this, is setting the “finish time” along with the start time. This way, things aren’t open-ended and don’t drag on forever.

It is proven that we as humans can only focus and work (effectively) on one task at a time, usually for no more than 45 - 75 minutes until a short break is needed to re-energize. As example, when I begin my day, I drop my most important “must get done” items into two 55 minute blocks of time. At 8am I start, set the iPhone timer to 55 minutes, and zero in on that one “must get done” task until the timer goes off. No email. No instant message. Cell phone on silent. No distractions. Absolutely NO multi-tasking. Multi-tasking is a myth. Those who multi-task the most make the least.

Now, when the timer goes off, I take a ten-minute “timed” break, grab a drink of water and move around a bit. When the ten-minute timer goes off, I set it again for 55 minutes and back into that “zone” I go. In my productivity training programs, I refer to it as your “Productivity Strength Zone.” When the timer goes off again after 55 minutes I take another short break.

What I’ve just explained here is an amazing and proven strategy of how just two hours of focused, “timed” work, with a stop watch, can often times allow you to get more done in two hours than most get done in an entire day. However, this is very uncomfortable at first and is usually rejected immediately by most. But don’t most struggle with time management?

There is something very powerful about the stop watch that “boxes you in.” When you work within this timed zone, it’s very energizing and very liberating since you’re not being pulled in multiple directions, never getting much accomplished. Try it on for size. But only if you’re looking for BIG time results...

- Andrew J. Cass

A seven-figure producer in two separate Direct Sales businesses before the age of 35, Andrew J. Cass is now the Network Marketing industry’s Premier Time Management & Productivity Expert. To find out how to get more done in less time while making more cash, grab a copy of his breakthrough FREE report: "Extreme Productivity Secrets -How To Conquer Overwhelm And Boost Productivity For Maximum Profits In Your Network Marketing Business" by visiting: http://productivity.betternetworker.net/