The 25-5 Rule

Here we go, Community! Another week under our belts and the weekend is looking pretty tempting. I hope you all have had a wonderful week and for those of you in this epic heatwave, hope you’re staying cool.

I have a problem when I’m trying to get work done: Distractions. I start working on one thing, only to remember I need to finish up something else, and then wind up getting neither done. I’m good at starting projects but it gets tricky tying up those loose ends when I’m pulling myself in a bunch of different directions. Working from home has introduced another interesting twist where if I walk by a pile of laundry……you get the idea. As always, I have some help to offer those who experience the same thing. I’m going to introduce you to something called the 25 – 5 rule.

Although this rule is attributed to billionaire Warren Buffet, he has since said he did not come up with this lifehack. But for storytelling’s sake, let’s go with it. The story goes that Buffett had a talk with his pilot, Mike Flint about his ambitions in life. Buffet asked him to make a list of his top 25 career goals. He then explains to Flint that he’s to focus on goals 1 to 5 and not even touch goals 6 and beyond until he’s accomplished those first few. Why? It’s about reigning in your focus to a few things rather than a huge list. We can sometimes get caught up in all the things we want to do that we then accomplish very little. Tailoring your focus to a few things can make all the difference in your productivity.

Whether you have 5 things or 10 things on your list, focus on the first few and don’t allow yourself to do anything else until those are done. I’ve been using this rule all week and have to say it’s Friday and I’m on track to getting everything done! It has also helped my stress levels by just working on a couple of tasks.

To read the full article, click on this link: Why Emotionally Intelligent People Embrace the 25-5 Rule.

Try this out and let us know how it works for you, Community! Do any of you already practice something similar? What helps you focus? I look forward to seeing you in the comments!