Urgency Is Overrated

How many hours are you really able to be productive in a day? Do you feel like the people you work for respect your time? In this clip from Chris's discussion with 37signals CEO Jason Fried, they discuss the importance of management and co-workers doing their best to respect each others time, so that they can achieve more and create a healthier work culture.
Watch the whole video here: • Is Remote Work The Fut...
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Host: Chris Do
Producer: Mark Contreras
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[@JakeHGuy]

So important. People shouldn't always have access to you, even members on your team. Your time should be respected.

[@StevenMelin]

Well said!

[@ashleytr]

I'm obsessed with this! I've never been able to articulate it well to others and find myself trying to justify not answering calls or emails because I'm "in the zone" which feels silly when said out loud. But people don't seem to understand that breaking that moment of focus and real productivity, even after a small interruption like a phone call, you can struggle to find that deep concentration again. Especially now that you have new thoughts, topics, and emotions going through your head. It's hard to get in that flow state and if you're constantly being pinged once you enter it, it can be really hard to get it back. Even more specifically as creatives! It's why writers famously like to rent out hotel rooms and hide their phones so they can get their work done in peace. But naming these various tasks as "fragments" really helps visualize the idea of a "broken" up day and emphasizes how that can be a hindrance. Very well put. I want to send this to everyone I've ever worked with. Great convo!

[@thefutur]

Thank you Ashley. try reading the book Remote.

[@Lacesout748]

I’m right there with you! I often thought am I crazy for feeling this way? It’s amazing how quickly this type of office culture can be normalized.

[@dtrelzmusic]

Facts/ 6-29-22

[@alk3345]

So true

[@mauriciobejota]

Check out his Ted talk and Basecamp books Remote and Rework 📚

[@ThomasMoen]

I have this video booked in my calendar as an recurring event, and watch it every 4 months. So important message, I try to live by it. Thanks for sharing.

[@ALMBusinessInstitute]

Oh my gosh … I so needed to hear this. I’m lucky to get 15 minutes to myself, once or twice a day. Having an hour to myself inside my business sounds heavenly. Note to self: Make it Happen!!

[@DariusTan]

So darn true! Our productivity is greatly affected by the number of hours our brain or body works. Take breaks when you feel you need to. Don't be too hard on yourself. You only live once! 👊

[@djriidotcom]

🤯 Probably one of my favorite episode interviews. Chris did such an excellent job interviewing Jason and extracted soooo much value for any business owner / creative. Have applied these principles to my own firm and have seen significant differences already.

[@thefutur]

Thank you Rii

[@Sellcourses]

Yes! Maintaining limited access to yourself at time is so important! It's something I struggled with as I grew but I feel like I've finally got clear expectations & the respect my time deserves! Thanks for this great video!

[@Lacesout748]

This topic is so on point for me. It’s far too easy to get caught up in the urgency. This has been my reality too long, working in a small team, wearing too many hats. I’ve tried expressing to my coworkers not every customer issue needs to be escalated to threat level midnight. It certainly has been a struggle to mentally compartmentalize a variety of types of tasks and drawing on various skillets. It isn’t sustainable. We need to make sure we are setting aside time for our own personal, mental, physical, and professional development. If you don’t respect your own time no one else will. Thank you for the reminder!

[@_nickthered]

I tell my team I want their jobs to be easy. No emergencies, if we have emergencies we are doing it wrong. We don't want to create more work for ourselves over time. We want to do things that build exponential value over time.

[@thefutur]

emergencies are usually a sign of poor management.

[@_nickthered]

@@thefutur What is it that makes them poor? I would say it's a sign of undirected management. Since It takes focus and discipline to avoid emergencies. Knowing what to focus on can save lots of time and money. Building focus and discipline should always be a teams first goal. Change the way you work so you can work without impediments.

[@AnthonyHadleyJr]

I’ve felt this so much in my life, but have not known the best way to communicate this. I appreciate this so much.

[@kevinkkirimii]

Jason's ethos resonates so much with me.

[@socialsimodesign926]

Loving it guys!We need to prioritize what is important to do and focus intensely on doing those things!👍😺

[@Sellcourses]

Yessss doubling down on what works!

[@radradco]

Jason Fried is a savant of the modern day worker. What he said should should be standard for all companies. Meetings are a great way to waste time. Productive meetings are ones that last ~15 to 30 minutes max and nothing more. Most meetings can be emails and shouldn't involve more than 3 people. If you can't get your work done in 8 hours, something is wrong either with your time management, or your workload (you're doing too much) or company culture. Ofcourse that goes without saying, in some asian countries, working overtime is the norm

[@thefutur]

Imagine if every company adopted this.

[@radradco]

@@thefutur The progress is going to be exponential! That's one thing this pandemic showed us is that we can get work done with less meetings.

[@sofianealloui]

To confirm this idea on my mind, I really needed this video, Thanks a lot ♥

[@thefutur]

Glad it was helpful!

[@LixtianShanghai]

10000% agree with him. As a strategy consultant. The ability to focus without disruption is EVERYTHING.

[@transformarecrescer]

Im deep learning about product development, strategy, shape up and jobs to be done. Im big fan of 37 signals since I read Getting real for the first time and starting leaning ruby. Im from data analysis side but I love to learning new things and help teams to do better and save time on their lives. Jason , DHH, Bob Boesta, Ryan Singer and now I will actively search for more content from Chris Do.

[@jacobwagler]

I love this so much! I’m going to put this into practice!

[@manestreambeauty]

Yes! Uninterrupted and continuous time to focus.

[@carlosmeganag]

This is excellent. Deep Work is rare and valuable. Thanks, Chris and Jason.

[@thefutur]

We agree!

[@DrDarwinSpeaks]

Thanks, great concept!

[@m.wasifzaki6663]

I listened to this in thefutur podcast! It was so enlightening!

[@thefutur]

Glad to hear

[@Sachin-jt8ib]

Chris you are the big brother, we never had. I love , how being introvert you are this confident.i want to have confidence like you even though i am an introvert.

[@thefutur]

Confidence comes from within. I’m still uncomfortable around strangers.

[@Sachin-jt8ib]

@@thefutur can you suggest me a video or book. To help me build confidence and stop thinking process, which is always going in my head(like how people will think about me, this hinders my everyday activity, mostly social places like office.) And this thing goes on and on in my head untill I feel tired. Sometimes I just say shut up in my head and but sometimes this voice doesn't shut up. By the way lots of love from india🇮🇳.

[@nftgamer5895]

tnx for this lovely video

[@prhasn]

Excellent perspective.

[@MarketingHarry]

Love the takeaway on urgency. Thanks for this discussion 👍

[@thefutur]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@NaveedAhmedWaghani]

Spot on!

[@DailyBranding]

Good one! I love your mic better btw :)

[@SusanCliftonArtist]

For the phone is the problem. I work at home but clients constantly interrupt. Sometimes I get up early to get things done before the phones starts to ring. Or unplug the phone and turn off ringer on cell.

[@thefutur]

I have mine on do not disturb. It can wait. Otherwise schedule your calls on one or two days.

[@sabrinalzbh]

This is amazing..

[@mauriciobejota]

I love Jason Fried & Chris Do 🖤

[@stephensampson6348]

I get the idea... I usually adopted a morning only routine for personal things, does that work or I should go more deeper. I know this productivity and time management is an ingredients of high performance individuals

[@t1mwesterhausen]

its so funny i see this video now, where i just started going back into my office to work, where i am without distractions. After over 1,5 years of home office i have completely forgotten how good flow state feels ;)

[@thefutur]

haha Tim! why return?

[@t1mwesterhausen]

@@thefutur Exactly for that reason. Within this week i had at least 5 hours of uninterrupted time every day, where i was able to work on my presentation deck without distractions. Honestly i don't know how many weeks it would've taken me if i had still been at home. Don't get me wrong i enjoy(ed) it and will still have 1 or 2 home office days a week, but my god have i been missing out on productivity. ;)

[@amsthe3rd]

Most people overuse the bathroom or take up smoking just to cope. Company support would alleviate the need to run away for dear life. Nice discussion!

[@transformarecrescer]

Hi Chris! I love the conversation but I need to ask you: how can I get a hat like yours ?

[@danliutikas]

This is true for an effective executive and for individuals who do not need to intersect with others in their work. The reality of many project teams are fluid, intersecting contingencies. The large blocks of time for such teams would create an array of bottlenecks and barriers.

[@ninghua5312]

I don't want to make myself sound negative, but my boss pushes everyone in the company to work at least 10 hours a day with all fragmented things around. I feel so much stressed and my ear got problem now. I've already put in my letter of resignment.

[@thefutur]

Good luck with the new job

[@milesjohnson7423]

THANK YOU! Urgency in fact is very overrated. I worked multiple jobs that live by this idea that downtime doesn't exist and that there's always something to do. And unfortunately it still plagues society today in and out the workplace. There are things to do, but they don't require the amount of rushing, time, and energy that society makes us believe. So glad I'm not in that environment right now.

[@thefutur]

very true.

[@KirstinWolf]

Yes! That’s amazing. If every company adopted this strategy… 🤯

[@barbiefigueroa]

I think this need to be busy and constant distractions stems from the traditional school system routine where you do a subject for an hour, then you’re on to the next subject and the day is long and fragmented divided among many subjects and never focusing on one thing long enough to get real world results… Then this pattern is brought into the work place so you can fill up 8 hours of time…sometimes shuffling papers to look busy just to pass the time… So we are conditioned not to value time from a young age… it’s like a residual programming we all need to de-school from.

[@thefutur]

we are not meant to context switch like this. I think you are right.

[@barbiefigueroa]

@@thefutur 🥰 🙏

[@khayuoo2922]

Awesome

[@RealLaone]

It gets even more annoying when they give you something to do just for the sake of having something to do when it doesn't really matter at the end of the day.

[@vassilisstergioudis]

I believe that people who work 14 hours a day are not necessarily spreading their work. There is also the psychological issue. People who feel lonely find a fake fulfillment in their work. Of course it's not real, it's something like drugs. And the next day they work 15 hours. Then 16. Until they break. I know that, I was one of those. Not God has blessed me with a wife and three kids and there is reason to live not just to work in your job but also to work on your relationship, on your children, on everything here on earth! Life is awesome! People should work 6 hours straight (with some breaks of course) and then go straight to their beloved ones! Please, do not work all day long. A man who someday did the same, but not now.

[@jdee2095]

What was your mentorship program called? Thanks

[@thefutur]

ours? The Futur Pro Group. thefutur.com/pro-group

[@VanRevival]

That’s what I have heard. If you can get 4 interrupted hours that is a big win! People who tell me they work 10-12 hour days I’m sure they are not fully focused and productive with their time.

[@thefutur]

Hi Van. Thanks for watching. Saw your comment on LinkedIn.

[@microMobilidade]

And an urgency is a symptom of something you need to stop and fix in a preventative manner so it doesnt happen again. If you are always busy its time to stop and start fixing things

[@thefutur]

Yes

[@CoreyHinde]

turn your phone off folks, and close off things you don't need right now. Focus.

[@thefutur]

FOCUS. follow one course until successful

[@ilariamast]

I decided to not put my telephone number on my website. I want to have control of how people interact with me so I left only a calendly link and an email form. Let's see if it works well or if people will mail me asking for a telephone call LOL!

[@thefutur]

People are people. They want to get on the phone all the time.

[@a1moshe]

everyone should read the book rework about basecamp and workflow

[@thefutur]

That and Remote

[@a1moshe]

@@thefutur ill check that out , thanks!

[@frictionless-commerce]

I love everything Jason has said over the last 10 years. But this one thing has always irked me … Are there companies that expect employees to work more than 40 hours a week? Are there employees who regularly work more than 40 hours a week? That seems insane.

[@chrislorenzo6916]

How can you take this seriously, the only thing that keeps my day interesting is chit chatting with my co workers in my mundane job. For many people like my self to get through 9 to 5 job socializing in the office is a huge benefit, I am sorry but nonone wants to be left alone for 8 hours.

[@disklamer]

A minute in I realized

[@thefutur]

what did you realize?

[@disklamer]

@@thefutur this video was eating into my discretionary time ;)

[@usernametaken3098]

@@disklamer L0000L

[@BeowolfNindoJournal]

haha and zero hours when you have kids 😂🤣😅

[@thefutur]

I know what you are referring to