Effective Meeting = 3 things, exactly 3 times, in 3 different ways

Whether it is a team meeting or one-to-one. List all the things you wanted to share arrange them (move small items as a sub-task to primary agenda item), then order them priority-wise, and now share only the first three things in that meeting. Repeat them thrice in three different ways.

Benefits

  • Reduces ambiguity on instructions or ideas shared.
  • High signal-to-noise ratio in your meetings.
  • Saves everyone’s time

P.S. Remaining things on the list may wait for the next meeting.

3 simple rules of note-taking

  1. Always write for your “future stupid self”. (Consider the future version of you who is going to read the note is stupid.)
  2. Write/rephrase in your own words (understand it, before you write, you’ll understand better when you write)
  3. Always include more context to the idea/note (eg: time, date, person, place, the current state of mind, mood, source, etc)

Remember. Your notes should be self-sufficient. A well-written note should avoid the necessity of referring back to the source and references.

2 minute rule – to avoid procrastination

The 2-minute rule tricks your mind to see the tiny portion of a big task that can be completed in 2 minutes, which feels easy to accomplish. Focussing for the 2 minutes helps in suppressing mental resistance like anticipation/fear of unpleasant outcomes, and self-doubts.

The initial struggle is the most difficult one to pass and it only exists for up to two minutes. Bait your mind with only 2 minutes of genuine commitment.