Do you ever feel like your day is slipping through your fingers, one unchecked email at a time. In today's Quick Win episode, I'm joined by Professor Adam Alter, the New York Times bestselling author of books including Irresistible and Anatomy of a Breakthrough. Adam is someone who thinks deeply about how he uses his time, and in today's show, you'll learn how to make sure small tasks never hold you back from achieving your big goals. My name is doctor amanthe Immer. I'm an organizational psychologist and the founder of behavioral science consultancy Inventium. And this is how I work a show about how to help you do your best work. On today's quick Win episode, we go back to an interview from the past and I pick out a quick win that you can apply today. In today's show, I speak with Adam Alter, where I ask you about his favorite time saving hack.

Do you ever feel like your day is slipping through your fingers, one unchecked email at a time. In today's Quick Win episode, I'm joined by Professor Adam Alter, the New York Times bestselling author of books including Irresistible and Anatomy of a Breakthrough. Adam is someone who thinks deeply about how he uses his time, and in today's show, you'll learn how to make sure small tasks never hold you back from achieving your big goals. My name is doctor amanthe Immer. I'm an organizational psychologist and the founder of behavioral science consultancy Inventium. And this is how I work a show about how to help you do your best work. On today's quick Win episode, we go back to an interview from the past and I pick out a quick win that you can apply today. In today's show, I speak with Adam Alter, where I ask you about his favorite time saving hack.

My favorite time saving hack is it's actually something I wrote about in my last book, which is I think I'm perhaps a little pathological on this front. I go a little too far, but I don't let little tasks or little niggles hang around very long. I'm sort of known, I think for responding to emails absurdly fast, even to the point where perhaps that encroaches on my ability to get really deep work done across big stretches of time, because I turn my time into confetti doing that. Perhaps, but I don't let things linger. I like to get the little things out the way, and I found that over the years when I stop doing that to try different approaches, I get slower and less productive in every other respect. And so that sort of immediately try to get these small things out of the way approach has been very effective for me. And I think one of the reasons for that is that when you leave things, they get bigger and they might demand a minute to deal with. Now, first of all, they occupy a lot of psychic space if you don't deal with them, and so they end up being massive distractions. That's at least how my brain works, and so getting them out the way is a good idea from that perspective. But also they often grow in scope and magnitude, and so I find that almost every time I have an engagement, a consulting engagement, anything like that, the longer the time horizon, the less effective I am. Overall, My efficiency declines, and so that sort of get in there quick, do it, get it done, move beyond it approach has been very very effective for me.

My favorite time saving hack is it's actually something I wrote about in my last book, which is I think I'm perhaps a little pathological on this front. I go a little too far, but I don't let little tasks or little niggles hang around very long. I'm sort of known, I think for responding to emails absurdly fast, even to the point where perhaps that encroaches on my ability to get really deep work done across big stretches of time, because I turn my time into confetti doing that. Perhaps, but I don't let things linger. I like to get the little things out the way, and I found that over the years when I stop doing that to try different approaches, I get slower and less productive in every other respect. And so that sort of immediately try to get these small things out of the way approach has been very effective for me. And I think one of the reasons for that is that when you leave things, they get bigger and they might demand a minute to deal with. Now, first of all, they occupy a lot of psychic space if you don't deal with them, and so they end up being massive distractions. That's at least how my brain works, and so getting them out the way is a good idea from that perspective. But also they often grow in scope and magnitude, and so I find that almost every time I have an engagement, a consulting engagement, anything like that, the longer the time horizon, the less effective I am. Overall, My efficiency declines, and so that sort of get in there quick, do it, get it done, move beyond it approach has been very very effective for me.

How does that work? So I can see in email that would work by just responding to things using a single touch approach, I guess to emails, whereas many of us will open the same email ten times before we actually do something with it. How does it work outside of the inbox?

How does that work? So I can see in email that would work by just responding to things using a single touch approach, I guess to emails, whereas many of us will open the same email ten times before we actually do something with it. How does it work outside of the inbox?

So I use Workflowy, which is a very very simple list and I've been using it for as long as I think it's been a product that was on the market, and it's the most simple to do list system that there is that I've found. And I organize the list. It's very easy to reorganize the order of things. I organize it from smallest to biggest, and so whenever I have a spare moment, I'll just go to that list and say, well, what's at the top there? And that's always the smallest thing and usually the most short term thing, And so I'm constantly kind of shooting down these smaller things that then are out of the way and they clear the way for the bigger things. So although doing that, I think does encroach on my ability to have say an unbroken four hour stretch doing whatever I want to do. On balance, those four hour stretches become more available because I've got those small things out the way in spare moments here and there. So it's got this paradoxical effect. It does sort of shred your time into smaller bits. But I think it also has this effect because you're constantly moving those things aside of leaving just the big tasks left, and I find that's really useful.

So I use Workflowy, which is a very very simple list and I've been using it for as long as I think it's been a product that was on the market, and it's the most simple to do list system that there is that I've found. And I organize the list. It's very easy to reorganize the order of things. I organize it from smallest to biggest, and so whenever I have a spare moment, I'll just go to that list and say, well, what's at the top there? And that's always the smallest thing and usually the most short term thing, And so I'm constantly kind of shooting down these smaller things that then are out of the way and they clear the way for the bigger things. So although doing that, I think does encroach on my ability to have say an unbroken four hour stretch doing whatever I want to do. On balance, those four hour stretches become more available because I've got those small things out the way in spare moments here and there. So it's got this paradoxical effect. It does sort of shred your time into smaller bits. But I think it also has this effect because you're constantly moving those things aside of leaving just the big tasks left, and I find that's really useful.

I'm thinking about my own inbox, and I feel like there are always emails that I just sit on or procrastinate over, or just seem too complex or really they're an email, but they should just move to the to do list. Like, what are the specific strategies that you're using, maybe some of the less obvious ones to actually clean out your inbox daily.

I'm thinking about my own inbox, and I feel like there are always emails that I just sit on or procrastinate over, or just seem too complex or really they're an email, but they should just move to the to do list. Like, what are the specific strategies that you're using, maybe some of the less obvious ones to actually clean out your inbox daily.

I don't know that they're less obvious, but what I have three places where things go. They never sit in my inbox for long. That's like short term or working memory. I think of it this way. I think of it as working memory, short term memory, and then long term memory. That's sort of the equivalent of what's going on. But for me, short term sorry, working memory that immediate burst of hey, here's something to do. That's the email inbox, and I don't want to have to deal with things in working memory. I want to file them away so that things from there are then put into my workflowy list, my task list, that's my short term memory. So you know, twenty times a day, maybe I'll quickly go and take a glance at that and say, well, where are we up to? Sometimes, if I'm really busy, I'll start numbering things, or say this is for Monday, this is for Tuesday, this is for Wednesday, and so on. But then there are some things, like you described, it just kind of sit there. They're like anchors and they never go anywhere, and they can be there for months or years. Even for those, I move them out of workflow and they become calendar reminders. So I'll say something like I don't want to have to keep looking at this. I certainly don't want it in my email. I don't even want it in workflowy anymore because it's just clattering my mind. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to just kind of put a big snooze button on that and I'll have it pop up, say once a week for the next four weeks, and if it pops up and I happen to have a bit of time slack, I will then address it there. And I find that to be really useful because I think for me a lot of what this is, this sort of productivity approach, is about leaving as little clutter in my head as possible. Because my biggest enemy is multitasking. I cannot do it. I think it's a myth. Anyone who claims to be able to do it. I'd like to know more about that, because for me, it's a nightmare. And so I really need to be very focused when I do something, even in very short bursts. And so all of this is in the service of that. It's about saying put that on the back burner, and that even on the long term, long term memory back burner, where I don't even want to think about it till it pops up as a reminder in a week or two or three.

I don't know that they're less obvious, but what I have three places where things go. They never sit in my inbox for long. That's like short term or working memory. I think of it this way. I think of it as working memory, short term memory, and then long term memory. That's sort of the equivalent of what's going on. But for me, short term sorry, working memory that immediate burst of hey, here's something to do. That's the email inbox, and I don't want to have to deal with things in working memory. I want to file them away so that things from there are then put into my workflowy list, my task list, that's my short term memory. So you know, twenty times a day, maybe I'll quickly go and take a glance at that and say, well, where are we up to? Sometimes, if I'm really busy, I'll start numbering things, or say this is for Monday, this is for Tuesday, this is for Wednesday, and so on. But then there are some things, like you described, it just kind of sit there. They're like anchors and they never go anywhere, and they can be there for months or years. Even for those, I move them out of workflow and they become calendar reminders. So I'll say something like I don't want to have to keep looking at this. I certainly don't want it in my email. I don't even want it in workflowy anymore because it's just clattering my mind. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to just kind of put a big snooze button on that and I'll have it pop up, say once a week for the next four weeks, and if it pops up and I happen to have a bit of time slack, I will then address it there. And I find that to be really useful because I think for me a lot of what this is, this sort of productivity approach, is about leaving as little clutter in my head as possible. Because my biggest enemy is multitasking. I cannot do it. I think it's a myth. Anyone who claims to be able to do it. I'd like to know more about that, because for me, it's a nightmare. And so I really need to be very focused when I do something, even in very short bursts. And so all of this is in the service of that. It's about saying put that on the back burner, and that even on the long term, long term memory back burner, where I don't even want to think about it till it pops up as a reminder in a week or two or three.

If you're looking for more tips to improve the way that you work, I write a short fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things that I've discovered that helped me work better, ranging from software and gadgets that I'm loving three to interesting research findings. You can sign up to that at Howiwork dot co. That's how I Work dot co. Thank you for sharing part of your day with me by listening to How I Work. If you're keen for more tips on how to work better, connect with me via LinkedIn or Instagram. I'm very easy to find. Just search for Amantha Imba. How I Work was recorded on the traditional land of the Warrangery people, part of the cool And Nation. I am so grateful for being able to work and live on this beautiful land, and I want to pay my respects to elders, past, present and emerging. How I Work is produced by Inventium with production and support from Dead Set Studios. And thank you to Martin Nimba who did the audio mix and makes everything sound better than it would have otherwise.

If you're looking for more tips to improve the way that you work, I write a short fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things that I've discovered that helped me work better, ranging from software and gadgets that I'm loving three to interesting research findings. You can sign up to that at Howiwork dot co. That's how I Work dot co. Thank you for sharing part of your day with me by listening to How I Work. If you're keen for more tips on how to work better, connect with me via LinkedIn or Instagram. I'm very easy to find. Just search for Amantha Imba. How I Work was recorded on the traditional land of the Warrangery people, part of the cool And Nation. I am so grateful for being able to work and live on this beautiful land, and I want to pay my respects to elders, past, present and emerging. How I Work is produced by Inventium with production and support from Dead Set Studios. And thank you to Martin Nimba who did the audio mix and makes everything sound better than it would have otherwise.