Simple “Bright Line” Time Management Rules to Live By
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In 2015, New Zealand’s average house prices were going up rapidly. In Auckland, prices jumped by over NZ$100,000 in a single year. Kiwis were demanding action to keep prices down, and the government knew they needed to do something.
So they decided to target a clear culprit: the short-term property flippers. People were profiting big off of New Zealand properties, by swooping in, buying, renovating and selling for high prices in short time-frames.
At the time, you only paid tax on profit if you admitted you bought property specifically to sell it later on. But intent is hard to prove, so investors could just say, “Well… I wasn’t planning to flip,” and walk away tax-free.
The government needed a clear-cut rule, so they introduced the Bright-Line Test: if you sell within two years of buying, you pay a bunch of tax on your profits. By 2016, quick flips dropped noticeably. I should note that it didn’t do much to fix housing inflation. But it did stop quick flipping!
The bright-line test comes from the concept of a "bright-line rule." A clear, unquestionable rule that sets specific expectations. Bright line rules can help you to make faster, clearer decisions in everyday life, reducing your decision fatigue and helping to make getting things done feel easier.
Let’s talk about some simple bright line time management rules that you can implement to make getting things done feel easier.
1. If I open an email, I always delete it or label it.
If you feel like you waste a lot of your free time scrolling through TikTok or Reddit, here’s a tiny change to make that is guaranteed to cut your daily scroll short. It’s an easy-to-implement daily practice (try it for about a month to really see the impact): Set up a delight alarm.
Here’s how it works:
Create an Apple shortcut. Set a timer that goes off 5, 10 and 20 minutes after opening (Your app of choice - TikTok, Reddit, etc). This timer can be silent, it just needs to appear on-screen. When this timer goes off, ask yourself:
How delighted do I feel right now? Then rate your delight from 1 - 10.
Your answers will track something like this:
5-minute timer: I’m at an 8! TikTok is so delightful, I’m having a great time.
10-minute timer: I’m more like a 5. Lots of hot takes, my mind is feeling tired.
15-minute timer: I’ve sunk to a 3. I’m not enjoying myself much, but I still feel an urge to keep on scrolling…
The more you do this, the more you’ll start to notice when you feel “full” of social media. The more you quickly you can notice that you’re feeling “full” when you’re scrolling - the more easily you’ll be able to stop the daily doom scroll.
2. Only have three options for breakfast.
As David Allen says:
“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.”
If you want to increase your productivity, create a system that makes remembering the tasks that you need to do easier with an easy, one-click capture process.
I’m talking about a one-click, easy way to capture the:
To dos that pop into your mind at random (“Ugh I have to take that bag of clothes to thrift shop”)
Ideas that hit you when you’re doing your weekly clean (“I desperately need to start a book club focused on books about difficult women throughout history”)
Movie / TV recommendations from friends (“It’s time to finally watch the wire”)
Articles to read later (“I need to read and implement MuchelleB article on 20 tiny ways to be more productive…”)
3. Never start a task without a clear end time.
A lot of procrastination can look the same on the surface (you, lying on the couch, scrolling, feeling guilty, struggling to get anything done)…
But they need to be treated in completely different ways. For example, there’s:
Overwhelm / analysis paralysis procrastination (There’s so much on your plate that you don’t know where to begin)
Resistance procrastination (You have stuff you need to do that you’re dreading… so you do nothing)
Low-energy procrastination (You had the WORST sleep, sooo… you’re gonna scroll instead of work on your business)
Low-focus procrastination (Your mind is SO scattered that you feel like scrolling is the only thing that can keep your attention)
To 10x your productivity, create an if-then plan for each “brand” of procrastination. Here’s an example of my if-then plan for overwhelm / analysis paralysis procrastination:
IF you experience overwhelm / analysis paralysis procrastination (as in, you have SO many things on your to do list that you don’t know where to even begin, so you’re doing nothing instead) THEN…
Brain dump all of your “problems”, then turn them into “projects” (every problem is a potential project).
Rate them all by how much getting them done will impact your sense of calm from 1 - 10.
Organise them in alignment with their rating.
Brainstorm “bandaid” solutions for each task (e.g. instead of clearing out the whole garage, create a pathway).
Break down your highest-impact task and start.
4. I never do last-minute
In the well-known study titled “The Progress Principle”, led by Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile, they found that:
"Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work.” Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer
Twenty-six project teams from seven companies participated in the study (about 238 individuals) leading to nearly 12,000 diary entries being analysed.
When they looked at the participant's worst and best days (measured by mood, emotions and motivation levels), they found that their “best days” contained progress 76% of the time. Only 13% of their best days contained setbacks.
On days when people made progress (on meaningful work), the participants would show a more upbeat mood and expressed more joy, warmth and pride. They were more motivated and had more positive perceptions of their work and team. Progress had a dramatic effect on overall productivity.
So much so, that managers were heavily encouraged to start tracking four things: Catalysts, Inhibitors, Nourishers and Toxins. These are things that you can start to track for yourself to have a dramatic impact on your own productivity.
Catalysts: Do you have clear and meaningful long-term and short-term goals? Do you have sufficient time to focus on them? Do you have sufficient resources to focus on them?
Inhibitors: Is there any confusion regarding your long-term or short-term goals? Do you feel constrained in your ability to focus on them? Do you lack any resources?
Nourishers: Do you have respect, encouragement, and support (from yourself or others) when it comes to your long-term or short-term goals?
Toxins: Did (you or others) discourage or disrespect your progress?
Using this framework, create daily action plans centred around progress by asking yourself:
What can I do to strengthen the catalysts and nourishers (e.g. make sure that short and long-term goals are clear and meaningful and ensure that I have time and resources to focus on my goals)?
What do I do to reduce the inhibitors and toxins (e.g., make sure that I respect and encourage myself when it comes to my progress)?
5. I never end my work day without planning the next.
For one week, write down every single task that you do on one big list. At the end of the week, evaluate each task by addressing the categories below:
Value Assessment
How valuable is this task to me (or: how valuable is this task to my customers?)
What are the direct and indirect benefits of completing this task?
Impact Evaluation
What would be the impact if I stopped doing this task?
If nothing changed and I stopped this, would anyone notice or care?
Delegation/Automation
Who (or: What, given the rise of AI automation) else might be able to accomplish this task?
Is there someone else in my life or team / company better equipped to handle this task?
Could this task be delegated without compromising quality or outcomes?
What tools, software, or AI solutions exist that could automate or assist with this task?
If this task NEEDS a person, are there any parts of it that could at least benefit from AI?
Optimization/Simplification
If I only had half the time to complete this task, how might I approach it?
Is there a template, checklist, or framework that could simplify the process?
What would a “minimum viable product” (MVP) version of this task look like?
Have I researched best practices or consulted others who may already do this task more efficiently?