Welcome to the second installment of the Art of Productivity series. Today we will explore part two of the text, what Sun Tzu called “Waging War” and what the Art of Productivity calls “Creating a Trusted System”.

Sun Tzu begins part two with a discussion of the economic costs of warring with another state. The price of war is in the chariots, armor, weapons and food that an army needs to travel and fight. The price of creating a trusted system is measured in the productive use of your time, the resources at your disposal, and your personal energy level.

There is a finite amount of time, energy, and resources

It is important to make the best use of each. When you create your system, all of your current “open loops” need to be organized and cataloged. This catalog of Projects and Next Actions is where your lists of things to do will be organized into Contexts. Knowing where you are in terms of Context will allow you to make the correct decision when you ask yourself, “What should I be doing right now?”

Going to War | Create a Trusted System

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Sun Tzu said: In the operations of war, There are in the field 1,000 swift chariots, As many heavy wagons, And a hundred thousand armored soldiers, With provisions enough to carry them into the field, The expenditure at home and at the front, Including entertainment of advisors, Small things such as glue and paint, And sums spent on chariots and armor, Will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men. ~ If you start fighting and are slow to win, ~ Then men’s weapons will grow dull And ardor be damped. Laying siege to a town will exhaust your strength. The resources of the State will not support a long campaign. Now, when your weapons are dulled, Your ardor damped, ~ Your strength exhausted, And your treasure spent, Other chieftains will spring up to take advantage. Then no man, however wise, Will be able to avert the consequences. Though we have heard of stupid haste in war, Cleverness is never associated with long delays. There has never been a country that benefited from prolonged warfare. Only one who hates war can be relied on to carry it out.

~ In a trusted system, Being productive means making decisions. You will have to process thousands of inputs, Creating a Workflow system that works for you. You will need an In-box, This is where everything enters the system, The inputs that consume your time, Projects need resources, Actions take energy, There are some inputs that you do not need, ~ A more complicated system is more difficult to execute. The system that is not invisible will cost more time and money, Long “To Do” lists will demoralize you, Only handle each thing once, Duplicating effort wastes your time. Do not fail to choose the correct Context ~ You will waste time searching for resources, Make sure your energy level is appropriate to the task Or the task will remain unfinished. Do some things yourself, Delegate the rest, If you don’t trust your system you won’t use it. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, You cannot keep everything in your head. You may make a wrong decision, Learn from your mistakes. ~ You do not have to do it all. ~

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Feel free to discuss and share your thoughts in the comments. I am looking forward to the conversation.A public domain version of the Art of War (.txt file, .html file) can be downloaded here. (from Project Gutenberg)