Should you’re overwhelmed, intimidated, or pissed off by your to-do record or every day routine, this tiny trick would possibly assist. You simply must suppose slightly lazier.
One of many core rules of productiveness in Kendra Adachi’s e book The Lazy Genius Method is a reminder to at all times ask your self the “magic question”: What can I do now to make my life simpler later? Adachi developed the “lazy genius” technique to assist her, “be a genius concerning the issues that matter and lazy concerning the issues that don’t.”
How the magic question could make you extra productive
The concept behind the magic query is to encourage you to do the smallest motion now, then float on the waves of reduction you are feeling later when an related annoying job seems to be a lot simpler in consequence.
“The smaller the one thing, the simpler the answer. If you ask the magic query, you normally get a fairly fast win,” Adachi mentioned in a podcast episode concerning the idea. “If you get within the behavior of asking that query after which noticing how even the only solutions can positively influence your day and your time and your vitality and your perspective, you wish to hold asking!”
How the magic query works
I’ve been utilizing this system currently after I’m brief on time, vitality, or each. First, I acknowledge I can’t sort out a complete huge job proper now. Then I ask myself: what’s the smallest factor I can do to make the duty simpler after I come again to it later? Listed below are a number of private examples of this follow in motion from the final week:
- I don’t have time to register the children for bike classes proper now, however I can open the browser tab so it’s able to remind me after I come again to my pc.
- I don’t have time to fix a gap on this gown, however the thread is inside attain so I’ll thread the needle and stick it in my to do record for later.
- I don’t have the time or vitality to scrub out the automotive earlier than I choose up the children from college, however I’ll carry an empty laundry basket to the automotive so it’s there to fill after we get dwelling.
When to ask the magic query
Ask your self the magic query in these situations:
What’s developing in my routine that’s tiring or irritating? Adachi mentioned she hacked her household’s after college routine by throwing collectively a snack plate earlier than she picked up the children. Strive asking the magic query about your morning routine, bedtime routine, laundry course of, or weekly meal planning. The place do you end up getting caught or pissed off in these routines? Is there a small factor you are able to do now to make it simpler later?
What did I not end on my to-do record as we speak? Even when I didn’t full a job as we speak, I like the concept that I could make the tiniest little bit of progress and are available again to it later.
What’s a looming job or undertaking I’ve been avoiding? Do you will have these initiatives or duties that migrate by the months of your calendar as a result of you may by no means appear to get began? Ask the magic query, and out of the blue you’ll end up Getting It Completed.
You solely have a couple of minutes to spare and might’t full a complete job. What do you match into these 10-15 minute gaps in your day (apart from well-deserved TikTok breaks)? If I do know one thing will take an hour however I solely have 10 minutes, I attempt to do one thing tiny to assist me out with a future job, like lookup a cellphone quantity, write an inventory of questions, or set a reminder alarm.
Adachi compares the magic query to organising dominoes and toppling the primary one. That first step provides momentum to the following, and the following.
(No stress, however I’ve observed that for notably intimidating duties, doing one small step cuts the strain so I’m capable of sort out the second and third step straight away. The magic query may also help you accomplish greater than you anticipated, whether or not that’s now or later. Simply doing the small first step is setting you as much as crush that job later.
