996 Misleads London AI Trail

Here's but one workhack. Via those railing against the (admittedly misguided) 4-day-weekers. From a founder called Roei. Real name, strangely nominatively determinant as app brand ready. Whilst recounting his pride at once fasting for 85 hours straight, in part to "unlock another level of focus". Amid an overall drive towards "achieving optimal performance".

Proof I guess that each new generation feels they invent work ethic beyond that of their pitifully neglectful forbears.

"I front-load tasks that require the most cognitive effort to the start of the day. If I wake up and immediately check my emails, I’m wasting prime energy on a low-value task."

He'll just squeeze in the inconvenience of replying-filing-deleting somewhere later in his 14-hour workday. Maybe he's got his own 'agent' that does it all for him already.

I've blogged on 996 before. It is a false god. From a man that lived it. And, at the time, loved it. Crash. Burn. Wallow.

The irony lost on those currently in thrall to innovation so happily harnessed by distant ancestors to purposely unshackle from such routines.

Nose to the grindstone Nine-til-Nine, six days a week.

It is never the time expended. It is never the 'results' seen.

Yet there is a useful kernel in that email advice; 'even a broken clock ...' and all that.

Never have your first worktask of the day as checking your inbox.

Let's all agree on that.

This comes into view alongside when helping a youngster with much raw talent and enthusiasm make her first steps in Sales. We too had discussed the best way to go about getting started on, and make the most of, your day.

She'd already figured out for herself what worked best.

Without wishing to blind with science, I couldn't help but remark how it followed what many think the standard. As researched by the original Strategic Selling guys four decades back. There's three buckets.

You start off with those in your closing loop first.

Then you go prospecting, filling the top of your funnel.

Finally, you can attend to those sitting in your funnel to qualify out or move forward.

You may even hear those longer-in-tooth around salesrooms say "strongest first". Shortform for 'work strongest opportunities first'.

A line that appears is; "win those you can win first, then go hunt".

Despite AI trailblazers getting it wrong about efficiency, at least one has an idea when it comes to productivity. Are you the same?