A collection of notes on Work.
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.Parkinson's law
The fisherman replied, "Oh, just a short while."
"Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?" The businessman was astonished.
"This is enough to feed my whole family," the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, "So, what do you do for the rest of the day?"
The fisherman replied, "Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night."
The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
"I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches."
The fisherman continues, "And after that?"
The businessman laughs heartily, "After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich."
The fisherman asks, "And after that?"
The businessman says, "After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!"
The fisherman was puzzled, "Isn’t that what I am doing now?"
/classic Brazilian story
work knowledge
- Find your passion and figure out how to get paid for it.
- Do whatever you want to do, but be the best at it.
- Strive for simplicity and competence, but embrace the messiness along the way.
- Under-promise and over-deliver, and own up to your screw-ups.
- Doing what everybody else is doing feels like the safest thing to do, making it the most competitive, and thus the riskiest.
- No one is on their deathbed is wishing they spent more time at work.
- Never stop learning.
work habits
- Doing the right tasks is more important than doing your tasks efficiently.
- Write down your goals. Break them down into manageable tasks.
- Tackle one task at a time, and group similar tasks together.
- You're more attentive in the morning, tackle hard stuff then.
- If you can't do it in 8 hours, you can't do it in 10.
- Don't forget to stretch, and drink plenty of water.
- Keep a record of your time use.
work charisma
- Always look a person in the eye when you talk to them.
- Always stand up to shake someone's hand.
- Be conscious of your body language.
- Ask more than you answer.
- First impressions matter.
- When you walk, look straight ahead, not at your feet.
- Never hit anyone unless they are an immediate threat.
- No matter their job or status, everyone deserves your respect.