This post is part 1 of a multi-part series on how to eliminate stress at work with strategies informed by modern scientific research and ancient philosophy. To get instant access to the complete series, as well as exclusive bonus content that I don’t share on the blog, click here to download the free guide.

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When I went into sales I threw my everything into it. Waking up at 5, working til 8pm or later, Monday through Friday, and working 5-10 hours on Sunday to prepare for the week.

The result? My performance was squarely, disappointingly in the middle of the pack.

I knew something had to change. So I set up some time to shadow with two of our company’s most successful reps.

They worked 35, MAYBE 40 hours a week. And, they weren’t working more “productively” – making more calls, or serving more customers – during those hours. Yet, they were raking it in. And they had fun doing it!

WTF!!!

Their success flew in the face of everything I knew about what it took to be successful. I thought that to be successful, you had to cram as much into your day as possible, to clock in early and to stay late, and to take on as many extra projects as you can.

Yet, the numbers don’t lie.

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It’s all too common for productivity “experts” to treat “time management” as a silver bullet for improving performance at work. Here’s the dirty truth – time management is overrated.

Think about the top performers in your workplace. It’s common for top performers to have a 10X or greater impact on their organization than average performers. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg has gone on the record stating that exceptional performers are “100 times better” than their merely “great” peers. These are the type of people we aspire to be. Freeing up an extra few hours a day isn’t enough to get us there.

In order to be a 10X or 100X performer at your day job, you need to get 10X or 100X more value out of the limited time you do have. Doing so requires ensuring that you’re working on the highest impact things, in the most efficient way possible, and in a state that will lead to your best work. Here’s how:

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It was just another afternoon at the office: I had finished lunch, wrapped up a meeting with our PR team, and was looking forward to having a productive, distraction-free rest of day. And then, out of nowhere, it happened – sharp pain in my chest and right arm, shortness of breath, lightheadedness. It seemed like I was having a heart attack, so I immediately asked for a coworker to take me to the hospital.

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There’s a reason that there’s thousands of books and blogs that talk about how people can be more productive. When you think about it, who doesn’t want to be more productive?

I know that when I first started working in sales, I devoured everything out there on productivity: books, blogs, podcasts –  the whole nine yards.

What I learned surprised me: 95% of what was out there was completely irrelevant to what I actually faced on a daily basis, first as a salesperson, and later on, as a marketer. Or if it wasn’t irrelevant, it was too impractical to implement. Or the impact was marginal at best, and not worth the effort required.

Knowing there had to be a better way, I’ve sought out to develop and codify what’s worked for me, and share that knowledge with the world.

But first, here’s where I think the experts are off:

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