Work Simply

Work Simply Plot Summary

Introduction

In today's hyper-connected world, we face an epidemic of busyness that steals our time, freedom, and sense of meaning. Many of us find ourselves constantly racing from one task to another, checking our smartphones at dinner, answering emails at midnight, and feeling perpetually behind despite working longer hours than ever. The traditional approaches to productivity—rigid time management systems and one-size-fits-all solutions—simply aren't working. What if the key to extraordinary productivity isn't about managing your time better, but about working in harmony with your natural thinking preferences? This personalized approach recognizes that each of us has a unique cognitive style that influences how we perceive information, make decisions, and organize our work. When we understand and embrace our individual productivity style, we can create customized systems that feel effortless rather than forced. The journey ahead will help you identify your personal productivity style and show you how to leverage your natural strengths to create a work life that feels energizing rather than exhausting.

Chapter 1: Discover Your Unique Productivity Style

At the heart of personalized productivity lies a revolutionary concept: your brain has a preferred way of thinking and processing information. Unlike traditional productivity systems that force everyone into the same rigid framework, recognizing your unique productivity style liberates you to work with your natural tendencies rather than against them. There are four distinct productivity styles, each with its own strengths and preferences. Prioritizers are analytical, fact-based thinkers who focus on logic, data, and bottom-line results. They excel at goal-setting and making quick, rational decisions. Planners thrive on organization, details, and structure. They create thorough project plans and never miss a deadline. Arrangers are relationship-oriented, intuitive, and emotionally expressive. They collaborate brilliantly with others and intuitively know what needs to be done next. Visualizers see the big picture, thinking holistically and creatively. They rapidly generate innovative ideas and juggle multiple projects with ease. Consider the case of Andi, a managing partner at a major consulting firm. Despite working 80-90 hour weeks, she was consistently missing deadlines and receiving negative feedback. Her primary productivity style as a Visualizer meant she naturally saw connections between ideas and thrived on variety, but she was trying to force herself into a linear, structured system that felt constraining. Once she recognized her Visualizer style, Andi reorganized her workweek around theme days—dedicating different days to specific types of work like client relationships, analysis, and team management. This approach gave her the variety she craved while ensuring she addressed all her responsibilities. This transformation wasn't immediate. Andi had to experiment with different approaches until she found what worked for her unique thinking style. She learned to schedule creative, big-picture work during her highest-energy periods and to use visual cues and color-coding in her planning systems instead of linear lists. To discover your own productivity style, pay attention to how you naturally approach projects. Do you immediately want data and facts (Prioritizer)? Do you create detailed step-by-step plans (Planner)? Do you reach out to collaborate with others (Arranger)? Or do you sketch out the big picture first (Visualizer)? The Productivity Style Assessment in the book provides a comprehensive way to identify your primary style. Remember, no style is better than another—each has unique strengths and potential blind spots. The key is recognizing your natural preferences and designing your work systems to leverage those strengths rather than fighting against them. When you align your productivity approach with your thinking style, work becomes more fluid, less stressful, and dramatically more effective.

Chapter 2: Master Your Time as a Precious Investment

Time is not merely something to be managed—it is your most valuable, non-renewable resource. Unlike money, which you can earn more of, time once spent is gone forever. This fundamental shift in perspective—from time management to time investment—can dramatically transform your productivity and your life. Randy Pausch, a computer science professor who delivered his famous "Last Lecture" after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, offered this profound insight: "Time is all we have. You can earn more money, but you cannot ever get time back." This perspective forces us to ask difficult but essential questions: Are you investing your time in activities that truly matter to you? Or are you giving it away without conscious thought? Consider Andi, a high-achieving professional who would automatically accept meeting requests without reviewing the agenda, take calls during time she had blocked for focused work, and had absolutely no personal time on her calendar. When I asked her to give me $60 for a pair of sandals I'd found online, she immediately refused. Yet when I asked for an hour of her time for a brainstorming session, she readily agreed. This revealing moment helped Andi see that she valued her money more than her time—despite time being the resource she could never replenish. To master your time as an investment, start by calculating its monetary value. Divide your annual salary by 2,080 (52 weeks × 40 hours) to determine the value of one hour of your professional time. This concrete number makes time tangible and helps you make more deliberate choices about how you spend it. Next, examine your calendar as if it were an investment statement. Does it reflect your true priorities? Is there time devoted to achieving your goals? How much time do you spend in meetings versus completing actual work? Is there time for strategic thinking or personal rejuvenation? Andi was shocked to discover that her calendar showed virtually no connection to her stated goals and priorities. To realign your time investments, consider using theme days or time blocks that match your productivity style. Prioritizers might block time in precise increments, while Visualizers and Arrangers might prefer theme days organized around categories of work. For example, Brigham, an event planning entrepreneur with a Visualizer style, dedicated specific days to team interaction, networking, administration, and strategy, with Fridays reserved as "Brigham days" for creative work that excited him. The most effective time investors also understand the importance of regular planning and prioritization. Monthly planning provides the big-picture view of goals and commitments. Weekly planning lets you process accumulated tasks and information. Daily planning focuses your attention on your top priorities before the day's distractions begin. Remember that your brain's decision-making energy is finite. Don't waste it by starting each day reacting to emails or social media. Instead, begin with your highest-value task—one that is aligned with your goals and contributes directly to your bottom line. By treating time as your most precious resource and investing it deliberately, you reclaim control over your days and create space for what truly matters.

Chapter 3: Create a Personalized Task Management System

Your brain is a terrible to-do list. Scientific research shows that memory starts to degrade whenever you try to hold multiple ideas in mind simultaneously. Remarkably, our optimal capacity is only three or four ideas at once—not the dozens or hundreds of tasks most of us juggle daily. This explains why important tasks pop into your mind at inconvenient moments, like in the shower, and why you sometimes forget critical responsibilities until the last minute. The solution isn't simply creating a to-do list—it's building a personalized master TASK list that works with your productivity style rather than against it. This process begins with the Think, Ask, Sort, Keep framework to create a system that frees your mind and ensures nothing falls through the cracks. Ben, an executive client, had to-do lists scattered everywhere—legal pads stacked on his bookcase, notebooks piled on the floor, Post-it notes framing his computer monitor, and even more notes bristling from his wallet. Despite (or because of) all these lists, Ben wasted precious time hunting for what he needed to do next, flipping frantically through legal pads when he had a few moments to complete work. The first step to solving this problem is Think—emptying your mind completely through a comprehensive brain dump. List every project, task, commitment, errand, and idea currently occupying space in your mind. Use the brain-dump trigger list to ensure you capture everything: started projects, promises to others, communications to make, errands to run, household tasks, upcoming events, and more. This exercise might take fifteen minutes to several hours, but the mental relief is immediate and profound. Next comes Ask—transforming vague projects into specific, actionable steps. A project like "Finalize PowerPoint for client meeting" becomes a sequence of concrete next actions: "Call Stacy for updated statistics," "Schedule time with Gary to create animations," "Circulate draft to team for feedback." Each action should start with a verb and be clear enough that you know exactly what to do, but not so detailed that it feels overwhelming. The third step, Sort, organizes your actions in a way that lets you quickly execute the right task at the right time. You might group tasks by tools needed (phone, computer, in-person), by location (office, home, store), by energy level required (high, medium, low), or by time needed (5 minutes, 15 minutes, 1 hour). Most people benefit from having at least one list of quick tasks (15 minutes or less) to convert waiting time into productive microsegments. Finally, Keep means maintaining just one master list. For Ben, this meant consolidating all his scattered lists into a single system. Your format should match your productivity style—Prioritizers might prefer a simple ruled pad with tasks listed by date; Planners often thrive with structured notebooks or digital task managers; Arrangers might use colorful Post-it notes or digital stickies; while Visualizers might prefer unlined notebooks, whiteboards, or mind-mapping tools. Remember that your task system should work for you, not against you. Jan, a vice president with a Visualizer style, used a six-by-six-foot whiteboard with color-coded projects. My freelance editor Karl, a Prioritizer, preferred a simple ruled pad with each task on a single line. My own system is a small tabbed notebook I carry everywhere, reflecting my Planner style. The goal isn't perfection—it's creating a personalized system that lets you consistently identify and complete your most important work with minimal mental friction. When you align your task management approach with your productivity style, you'll spend less time feeling overwhelmed and more time in productive flow.

Chapter 4: Design Your Space for Maximum Focus

Your physical environment profoundly impacts your productivity, creativity, and mental well-being. Yet many people give little thought to their workspace, simply accepting whatever cubicle or corner they're assigned. This passive approach ignores the powerful connection between space and performance—a connection that innovative companies like Pixar understand well. When Steve Jobs designed Pixar's headquarters, he insisted on placing the bathrooms in the center of the building. Why? He knew creativity thrives on spontaneous interactions among people with different talents and perspectives. By creating a central crossroads that everyone would eventually visit, he engineered "collisions" that sparked innovative ideas. The results were remarkable: a string of blockbuster hits, multiple Oscars, and employees willingly working twelve-hour days because "the workspace isn't boring." To design your own productivity-enhancing space, start by reflecting on the types of work you do. My colleague Keira, an executive coach, identified several distinct work modes: one-on-one coaching, seminar design, research and writing, on-site consulting, and administrative tasks. She then applied what I call the "kindergarten model" to her office design. Like a preschool classroom organized into activity zones (reading corner, art table, dress-up area), Keira created distinct zones in her office for different types of work. To the right of her desk are two chairs for in-person coaching with a small table and phone for virtual sessions. A bookcase with reference materials stands nearby for easy access during coaching. A small table behind her desk serves as the technology zone for computer work, while her desk surface remains clear for workshop design. Your workspace customization should also reflect your productivity style. Prioritizers thrive in professional, uncluttered environments with clean lines and minimal visual distractions. Planners prefer traditional, practical layouts with everything neatly organized. Arrangers need welcoming, comfortable spaces with personal touches and items that stimulate all five senses. Visualizers want colorful, varied, aesthetically pleasing surroundings with room to spread out and elements that inspire creativity. Of course, many of us face workspace restrictions—corporate policies, shared offices, or limited resources. But even within these constraints, you can make meaningful improvements. If you can't change wall colors, display personal artwork or photos. If harsh overhead lighting is an issue, bring in a small desk lamp. If ambient noise distracts you, consider noise-canceling headphones. The goal is to create an environment that supports rather than hinders your natural work rhythms. One particularly problematic trend is the open-space office plan. Despite their popularity, research consistently shows that open offices reduce productivity, impair memory, increase stress, and diminish job satisfaction. Workers in these environments report more illness, more hostility toward colleagues, and fewer meaningful conversations. If you're stuck in an open office, consider these coping strategies: establish "interruption hours" when colleagues know you're available, use headphones to create auditory privacy, or find alternative spaces for focused work. Remember that your organizational tools—from file folders and notebooks to apps and devices—are also part of your workspace. Select tools that align with your productivity style. Prioritizers prefer efficient, uncluttered tools in neutral colors. Planners love organizational supplies with clear labeling systems. Arrangers need visually appealing items in interesting colors and textures. Visualizers thrive with transparent containers, unlined notebooks, and colorful markers for capturing ideas. When you design your space to reflect both your work needs and your productivity style, you create an environment that energizes rather than depletes you. A thoughtfully designed workspace becomes not just a place to work, but a powerful tool for enhancing your focus, creativity, and overall performance.

Chapter 5: Harness the Power of Delegation

Delegation is one of the most crucial productivity tools available, yet many of us resist it or execute it poorly. Understanding why we struggle with delegation is the first step toward mastering this essential skill that can dramatically expand your impact and reclaim your time. Roxanne, an in-house counsel and senior vice president at a major nonprofit foundation, was working twelve to fourteen hours daily, her office door constantly revolving with colleagues seeking guidance. Despite acknowledging that this pace was unsustainable, she continued to resist delegating. Why? Like many high-achievers, Roxanne faced three common forms of resistance to delegation: psychological, organizational, and technical. Psychological resistance often stems from deep-seated fears about our value and identity. For Roxanne, delegation felt threatening because her sense of worth was tied to "doing it all." She believed she had to personally handle every task to prove her value to the organization. Yet when we explored this belief, she realized her true value lay in her judgment, experience, and legal expertise—not in completing routine administrative tasks. To overcome psychological resistance, start by identifying which tasks you should never delegate—those requiring your unique expertise or that bring you joy and meaning. For Roxanne, these included resolving complex legal concerns and interacting directly with donors. Everything else became a candidate for delegation, particularly tasks that weren't the highest use of her time or that someone else could do faster or better. Organizational resistance occurs when you lack the human resources needed for delegation. One client, Avery, solved this by hiring a student intern from a local community college when budget constraints prevented adding a full-time position. Other creative solutions include temporary workers, virtual assistants, cross-departmental partnerships, or outsourcing specific projects. Technical resistance stems from not knowing how to delegate effectively. Many have tried delegating only to receive subpar work, missed deadlines, or endless questions—experiences so frustrating they conclude, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." To overcome this, follow five key principles for effective delegation: First, be clear on the goal but open on the path. Explicitly define the purpose and desired outcome of the project, but avoid dictating exactly how it should be accomplished. This gives team members dignity and space for creativity. Second, set people up for success by checking your assumptions about their skills and knowledge. Avoid the "dump and run" approach where you hastily assign multiple tasks without adequate explanation. Instead, invest time in clearly explaining one task at a time, define realistic deadlines, and establish the limits of authority you're delegating. Third, understand your team members' productivity styles and delegate accordingly. A Prioritizer needs clear goals and facts; a Planner thrives with detailed timelines and processes; an Arranger wants to know who's involved and how the project affects others; and a Visualizer needs to understand the big picture and strategic importance. Fourth, communicate in a way that resonates with each team member's style. Use direct, fact-based language with Prioritizers; sequential, detailed instructions with Planners; warm, relationship-oriented communication with Arrangers; and big-picture, visually-rich explanations with Visualizers. Finally, follow up effectively by establishing check-in points before the deadline and providing clear, constructive feedback after completion. This demonstrates that you value their contributions and are paying attention to their work. When Roxanne began applying these principles, she delegated calendar management to an assistant and research work to her capable team members. The result? Her workdays became more manageable, her stress decreased, and she could focus on the complex legal issues where her expertise was truly irreplaceable. By mastering the art of delegation, you too can multiply your impact while reclaiming precious time for what matters most.

Chapter 6: Lead Effective Meetings That Actually Matter

Meetings dominate modern work life, consuming approximately 37 percent of the average employee's time. For executives, that figure jumps to a staggering 67 percent. Yet too often, these meetings lack clear purpose, start late, end late, and produce few meaningful results. The meeting culture consuming America is unsustainable and unproductive—but it doesn't have to be this way. Roxanne, a senior leader at a major foundation, discovered this hard truth in a particularly awkward situation. Running between back-to-back meetings, she ducked into the ladies' room for a quick break. While still in the stall, she heard her colleague Susan enter. "Roxanne, is that you? I recognize those red shoes!" Susan called out, proceeding to ask questions about a trust donation. Soon two more colleagues joined in, each with their own questions. When Roxanne pointed out the absurdity of conducting business in the restroom, Susan replied matter-of-factly, "Because this is the only time all day when you haven't been in a meeting!" The first step in revolutionizing your meeting culture is questioning the value of each meeting. Instead of automatically accepting every invitation, evaluate the meeting's return on investment for you. Will it help you achieve your goals? Does its purpose align with strategic priorities? Is attending this meeting the highest and best use of your time right now? If not, decline—remember, every time you say yes to one thing, you're saying no to something else. Consider meeting alternatives whenever possible, especially for informational meetings. Could the information be shared via email, voicemail, or an intranet post instead? One client's sales division solved this by having team members take turns attending monthly update meetings—two people would attend, consolidate notes, and email updates to everyone else, saving hundreds of hours annually. When a meeting is truly necessary, success depends on thoughtful planning. Create what I call a POWER agenda: Purpose (clearly state the meeting's aim), Outcomes (list specific desired results), Who (identify discussion leaders for each topic), Execution (leave room for action steps), and Responsibility (assign owners to each action item). Invite only the right people—the decision makers, influencers, resource people, and executors necessary to achieve the meeting's objectives. The optimal number of attendees varies by meeting type: information-sharing meetings can include many participants, while decision-making meetings work best with just 3-6 key people. Challenge the default one-hour meeting length. Consider the purpose, outcomes, and format to determine the ideal duration. One aerospace company revolutionized its culture with 15-minute standing meetings, extending the time only when absolutely necessary. Remember that the average adult's attention span is just 10 minutes—after that, you need to do something emotionally relevant to regain focus. To engage all participants, address the communication preferences of different productivity styles. Answer what questions for Prioritizers (goals, facts, data), how questions for Planners (process, structure, timelines), who questions for Arrangers (people involved, impact on relationships), and why questions for Visualizers (strategic importance, big picture context). Finally, maximize your meeting ROI through effective follow-up. For each action item, identify who has the "A"—accountability for ensuring its completion. Only one person can truly be accountable for a specific initiative. Then establish clear follow-up procedures: when is the action due, in what form, and how will updates be communicated? Lacie, a business development leader at a global construction company, applied these principles when pitching to a healthcare system. She realized her presentation answered only the what and how questions, neglecting the who (patients and families) and why (community health impact). By revising her approach to engage all productivity styles, she won the multi-million-dollar contract. By questioning every meeting's value, creating focused agendas, inviting only essential participants, optimizing meeting length, engaging all attendees, and ensuring clear follow-up, you can transform meetings from productivity killers into powerful tools for accomplishing meaningful work. Lead this revolution in your workplace, and you might become a hero to colleagues liberated from meeting dysfunction!

Chapter 7: Tame Your Digital Distractions

In our hyper-connected world, digital distractions have become one of the most relentless productivity thieves. The average person spends about 28 percent of their workweek managing email alone, with billions of business emails exchanged daily. Add in social media, text messages, and the constant pings from various apps, and it's no wonder we struggle to focus. Emily, a high-performing investment bank managing director, was drowning in 13,000 unread emails. Each day began with profound dread as she wondered what urgent requests she might have missed and who hadn't received a response. Despite expanding her work hours until she scarcely had an evening or weekend free, her email backlog barely budged. Even watching her beloved New England Patriots games had become impossible without simultaneously tackling work emails. The first step to regaining control is challenging the assumption that you must start your day with email. This common practice sacrifices your freshest, most energetic hours to reactive work rather than your highest-value tasks. When Emily experimented with starting her day on her top priorities just twice weekly, she noticed an immediate difference: she felt calmer, more relaxed, and began completing important projects that had previously remained perpetually unfinished. Next, establish boundaries around email checking. Instead of responding to every notification, designate specific times during the day to process messages—perhaps mid-morning, after lunch, and mid-afternoon. Communicate these times to colleagues so they know when to expect responses, and remind them that phone calls remain available for true emergencies. To process email efficiently, use the Email Agility Circle: Read, Decide, Act, Contain. First, read messages thoroughly once rather than skimming them repeatedly. Second, decide whether each message requires action. Third, take the appropriate action—either do it now (if it takes less than 3-5 minutes), delegate it, or convert it to a task. Finally, contain messages by moving them to appropriate folders rather than letting them clutter your inbox. Craft more effective emails by answering four key questions in every message: Who needs to respond or know this information? Why does this matter to them and the organization? What are the main points and key facts? How should recipients respond? When Emily applied this approach, the multi-round feedback loops that had plagued her communications virtually disappeared. Use subject lines strategically to improve response times. The subject line is your email's topic sentence—make it clear and specific. Consider standard formats like "Action Required—DATE," "FYI—Key Point," or "Reply by—DATE" to help recipients prioritize. For very brief messages, try putting the entire content in the subject line followed by "EOM" (End of Message) so recipients don't even need to open it. Finally, customize your email management approach to fit your productivity style. Prioritizers benefit from creating rules to automatically sort incoming messages and setting numerical inbox limits. Planners thrive with scheduled email times and systematic folder organization. Arrangers might try listening to music while processing email to make it more enjoyable, while Visualizers can use color-coding to quickly identify important messages. When Emily implemented these strategies, the transformation was remarkable. Her 13,000 emails were processed, she began responding promptly to important messages, and colleagues who had complained about missed deadlines now praised her responsiveness. Best of all, she reclaimed her evenings and weekends, watching Patriots games without her laptop open in front of her. By challenging email norms, establishing boundaries, processing messages efficiently, communicating clearly, and personalizing your approach, you can transform your digital environment from a source of stress into a tool that truly serves you. Remember, you control your technology—don't let it control you.

Summary

The journey to extraordinary productivity isn't about working harder or squeezing more hours from your day. It's about recognizing and honoring your unique way of thinking and working—your Productivity Style—and creating personalized systems that leverage your natural strengths rather than fighting against them. As we've explored throughout this book, when you align your work methods with your cognitive preferences, tasks become easier, stress diminishes, and your productivity naturally flourishes. Remember the wisdom of one client who transformed her approach: "I am clear on why I am here and how I am to serve." This clarity is available to everyone willing to step off the busyness treadmill and embrace a more intentional path. Today, commit to one personalized productivity practice that resonates with your style—whether it's redesigning your workspace, establishing email boundaries, or creating a master task list that truly works for you. Your journey to working simply and living fully begins with this first step, and the rewards—greater impact, deeper connections, and a more meaningful life—are immeasurable.

About Author

Loading...

Carson Tate

Carson Tate Personal productivity expert. Coach. Business consultant. Spiritual butt-kicker. Author of 'Work Simply' published by Penguin.

Read more