The Freedom Compass - Michael Hyatt’s Free To Focus
I’m currently reading Michael Hyatt’s Free to Focus. The tagline is “a total productivity system to achieve more by doing less”. I’ll publish a full review once I finish it, but I wanted to share this interesting idea with you in the meantime.
The Freedom Compass
Hyatt’s basic premise of “achieve more by doing less” relies on people doing more of the work they love, and less of what they don’t love. He makes a strong case that working within the “Desire Zone” is what makes people truly productive, and able to focus. It doesn’t take much research for this to make sense. Most of us can remember projects in which we’ve gotten completely lost, reaching a flow state.
Drudgery Zone
This is where we’re neither passionate nor proficient. These tasks are a grind. Things take us way too long, we’re prone to distractions, we’re constantly frustrated. For me, this is taxes. Hyatt encourages us to pass these tasks to others who are proficient in them. They’re a waste of our time and a waste of company money.
Distraction Zone
This is where we’re passionate, but not proficient. Tasks like these are the ones we should avoid, because they suck our time. For me, graphic design sits in this realm. I like doing it, but I’m not very proficient. While it might be a quick, cheap fix in the short run, it’s a time and money waster in the long run. Finding a reliable, quick graphic designer would be much more profitable.
Disinterest Zone
This is where we’re proficient, but not passionate. I’m beginning to realize that I have many tasks falling into this zone every day. While doing things we are competent at brings a certain level of satisfaction, it’s not where we’re ultimately most productive. Hyatt encourages readers to limit the amount of tasks done in this zone, and take on more tasks in the Desire Zone.
Desire Zone
This is where we’re both passionate and proficient. When we work within our Desire Zone, we lose track of time in a good way, because we’re 100% zoned in. True productivity and focus come when we work in this zone. For me, copywriting, on-set production, and creative development fall in this zone.
The Development Zone
This is where a task moves from one zone to another one through development. Hyatt concedes that we can develop skills and passion over time. There are often things we are good at that we can become passionate about. Or, there are things we are passionate about that we can become more proficient at. For me, this is financial bookkeeping. I’m starting to get better at it, and am becoming increasingly interested in financial analysis.
What About You?
An easy way to find out where your tasks fall on the Freedom Compass is to create a simple x/y axis. Write out all the tasks you’ve done in the past week, and then map them to various points on the axis. Then make a plan as to how to avoid the Drudgery Zone, do fewer Distraction and Disinterest Zone tasks, so you can do more Desire Zone tasks.
I’ll publish a full review once I finish the book, but if this idea is interesting to you, go pick up the book. It’s written for the digital age and reads like a breeze.
