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If you have watched any movie in which Bruce Lee starred, you are most probably amazed by his ability to beat a lot of his opponents simultaneously. His triumphs show a vast combination of physical skills built up through countless hours spent while training and also indicate a mental strength. A strength and a skill that you and I can use in different areas of our lives. We can use some of these lessons even in seemingly unrelated areas such as productivity.
Bruce Lee during his fights first and foremost showed a firm stability and attitude that reflects a deep feeling of control. He seemed to have a sense of control and a confidence that he is able to beat his opponents without having to underestimate them, or overestimate himself. The same can be applied in our lives. We can be determined and have a positive attitude that we can accomplish our most important tasks, yet not overestimate ourselves and expect to work twenty four hours a day. An overwhelming amount of tasks can burn you out, but underestimating your capability and potential can be harmful too. Simply, choosing wisely between the number of tasks you decide to do each day based on your priorities and values and doing them very well can make a huge difference.
Did Bruce Lee check his email while he was fighting, or while recording his films? Did he read the latest gossips, or check the latest postal letters that came to his inbox? I believe it is not necessary to answer these questions. They are more intended to be as rhetorical ones. These analogies can be also applicable in our day to day lives. While we are working, should we get interrupted because somebody has posted a comment in one of our posts on Facebook, or replied to our tweet? Should we open our inboxes twenty-five times a day and still expect to become the “Bruce Lee”s at our types of work? No matter how important you might pretend to be, you are not going to get any value out of these behaviors. You do need to be able to reply to your emails, but rather than opening your inbox countless times during the day, it is better to have a plan to check it only a few times a day. These way, you are more likely to be able to give the others the impression that you are not available twenty-four hours a day and that you do not reply immediately to each email that you get. I do accept that you need to recharge and have periods of times which are dedicated to entertainment, but these periods of times should be scheduled.
One final tip, and maybe the most important one is the issue of multitasking. Multitasking is terrible and can be described as a way of screwing up at a lot of things at the same time. Despite being surrounded by a lot of other people who were supposed to beat him, Bruce Lee used to fight only one person at a time. He used to fight only against the person who was closest to him and dedicating himself toward the goal of beating that one before doing anything else. After finishing that, he used to continue beating the other one that would choose to come trying to attack Lee or that Lee would go towards him. This way most of the times he was able to fight against a lot of people, simply by fighting against one at a time. This example can be intimately related with multitasking. Having a lot of urgent tasks to do gives you the impression that you should be simultaneously working at all of them. This is usually ended up being an ineffective endeavor, because we are then not satisfied with the results that we get. Become a master of productivity: Do one task at a time and do it very well.
There might be other lessons which a martial arts fighter like Bruce Lee could teach us, and these were only a few. To sum up, you can learn a lot of things from martial art fighters and become a lot more productive. Have a sense of control about the work that you do, focus on your most important tasks, do one at a time and do them very well. This way it is highly likely that you will do a lot more than you used to in the past.
