Unless you first know why you’re working, you can’t properly evaluate how you’re working.

And, as Oliver Burkeman asks, “What will your life have been, in the end, but the sum total of everything you spent it focusing on?”

Step 2: Cut. Once you have a clear view of where you are and what you want, it’s time to move to Step 2: Cut.

For the first action, you’ll Formulate. This will help you clarify what you want out of productivity. We’ll reframe productivity so it works in the real world, instead of the wrong side of the Looking Glass. Second, you’ll Evaluate, identifying and filtering your high-leverage activity from low-leverage busy work. You’ll also discover a tool that,

If we’re not careful, we can get stuck in the Disinterest Zone for years, maybe decades, simply because it’s what pays the bills.

For now it’s enough to say, the important question is not, Can I do this job faster, easier, and cheaper? It’s, Should I be doing this job at all? Getting clear on that question is more important now than ever, as technology gives us unprecedented access to information, other people, and, of course, our work.

Objective 1: Efficiency Ask a random stranger about the purpose of productivity and there’s a good chance you’ll hear something about efficiency.

The Distraction Zone is made up of things that you are passionate about but sadly have little proficiency for.

Step 1: Stop. I know what you’re thinking: “Stop? That can’t be the right word. Shouldn’t the first step in a productivity system be Go?” No. In fact, that’s where most productivity systems get it wrong. They jump right to showing you how to work better or faster, but they never stop to ask, Why? What’s the purpose of productivity?