Sharpen the Saw
November 14th, 2004 by Steve Pavlina
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Habit #7 in Steve Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is called “Sharpen the Saw.” Covey uses the common analogy of a woodcutter who is sawing for several days straight and is becoming less and less productive. The process of cutting dulls the blade. So the solution is to periodically sharpen the saw.
I’ve found that in practice, however, most people fail to understand what sharpening the saw really means. If you’re overworking yourself and your productivity begins to fall off, common wisdom says to take a break, maybe even go on vacation. However, that isn’t sharpening the saw — that’s putting the saw down. When you put down a dull blade for a while, the blade will still be dull when you pick it up again.
Sharpening the saw is actually an activity, just as the analogy suggests. Think about what it would mean to sharpen the saw of your life. Here are some saw-sharpening ideas:
- Exercise
- Improve your diet
- Educate yourself (read, listen to audio programs, attend a seminar)
- Learn a new skill
- Join a club
- Meditate
- Write in your journal
- Have a deep conversation with someone
- Set some new goals or review/update your old goals
- Organize your home or office
- Go out on a date
- Clear out a bunch of little tasks that you’ve been putting off
- Read this blog
Now the woodcutter can’t just alternate between cutting wood and sharpening the saw indefinitely. Downtime is needed too, but it isn’t the same as sharpening the saw. The woodcutter can become even more productive by sharpening the blade, studying new woodcutting techniques, working out to become stronger, and learning from other woodcutters.
Forgetting to intentionally sharpen the saw can lead to a feeling of burnout. If you merely alternate between productive work and downtime, your production capacity will drop off. You’re still working hard, but you don’t feel as productive as you think you should be. When you sharpen yourself regularly, you’ll find that you can flow along at a steady pace week after week without getting burnt out.
Whenever I feel burnt out or overwhelmed, taking a day or two off helps a little, but not very much. What yields a much greater benefit for me is attending a weekend seminar, reading an inspiring book, or having an interesting conversation. It’s common to see people return from a conference with a notable spike in motivation that lasts for weeks. But this isn’t really a break or a vacation — going to a conference is an activity, but it’s the kind that often increases energy and motivation.
How are your various blades doing? Your skills, your knowledge, your mind, your physical body, your relationships, your motivation, your commitment, your capacity for enjoyment, your emotions — are all of them still sharp? If not, which ones are dull, and what can you do to sharpen them?
November 14th, 2004 at 10:20 am
Steve,
I would really like to see a page on your site where you list all the books, tapes, CDs, etc. that you recommend. You could even add Amazon links and make a little money.
Thanks!
November 14th, 2004 at 11:08 am
the greatest problem with working 45 hours/week for “the man” is that you are forced to use a dull blade all week. you can’t in the middle of the day/week decide to do some other activity to sharpen your saw (like improving your skills in a certain area or whatever), even if this activty would significantly improve your motivation, commitment, and energy. the boss/team/schedule just want to see you cut lotsa wood, that’s all
for me I think this is the ultimate reason I am so attracted to running my own business.
November 14th, 2004 at 12:06 pm
This blog is superb, I was always waiting for new articles on old Dexterity, now I have them in shorther form on this blog every couple of days. Thanks alot and keep it on!
November 14th, 2004 at 2:24 pm
The concept you wrote about is one of Covey’s ideas I don’t agree with.
Yes, it’s good to train yourself, to go to conferences, eat well, etc.
But your article claims that this is the best choice when feeling burned out.
My experience has shown me countless times that it’s not so.
There are several activities that you can do:
1. work
2. sharpen the saw = train yourself to improve your work skills, work out at the gym, eat better food, etc
3. rest
4. do something really fun
5. do something that is mildly fun
For a productive and happy life, one must do activities 1, 2, 3 and 4 alternatively.
Activity 4 (having real fun) is crucial for not getting burned out.
Activity 5 (doing something only mildly fun) is EVIL. It wastes time, and doesn’t improve your state. It should be replaced with activity 4 (having real fun).
November 14th, 2004 at 6:16 pm
Having fun or cultivating other positive emotional experiences is a saw-sharpening activity; in this case you’re sharpening your attitude and emotional well-being, which can have a huge effect on behavior and results. This is especially effective if you spend much time around people with a predominantly negative attitude. Laughter has many health benefits, while depression is a major factor in disease. Norman Cousins’ book Anatomy of an Illness is a good example of how emotional renewal can positively affect the physical body… even safe a person’s life.
Everyone finds renewal in their own way. For some people it’s important to have lots of fun to renew themselves emotionally. Other people benefit more from meditation or spiritual practices. And still others will find renewal in playing challenging logic puzzle games.
The movie It’s a Wonderful Life is an example of one person’s experience of the process of renewal, showing how an emotionally depleted suicidal person can return to a state of security and happiness through a series of perspective-changing experiences. Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is another example. In these fictional cases the renewal process wasn’t self-directed; however, it’s certainly possible to initiate your own renewal when you first recognize that something isn’t right. For example, the musician Billy Joel did this by checking himself into a mental institution when he was suicidal (before he was famous), and this began his emotional renewal process.
November 14th, 2004 at 8:13 pm
I also would love to see a listing of the books and other resources you have made use of (as the first post said).
November 14th, 2004 at 9:07 pm
I originally tried to start typing up such a reading list, but I quickly found it impractical. I read about 50 books/year on some aspect of personal growth, and I’ve been doing this since the early 1990s, so the list would be over 500 books long. I often check out books from the local library, including audio books, so I don’t even have copies of them all. And I can’t just list the best books, since my opinion on which ones are the best changes every year, and this is highly subjective anyway. Virtually every book I read gives me at least one valuable new distinction. So I wouldn’t recommend any particular list of books per se but rather the habit of reading a book a week itself, an idea I learned from Brian Tracy’s How to Master Your Time audio program. I think this habit is far more important than any particular top 10 or top 50 list of books to read.
Tony Robbins mentioned in one of his books that he read over 700 books in the area of personal development. He’s probably way beyond that figure by now. I share his attitude on devouring information, since even one simple idea can catapult you ahead.
Currently I’m reading Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, a 10-year old book which is fairly dry but makes some interesting points. After that I’ll probably read some fiction (which I find is good for my imagination and visualization) — the last fiction books I read were Piers Anthony’s 7-book Incarnations of Immortality series, which I thought was excellent overall.
November 17th, 2004 at 1:55 am
Forget the books! Follow the leader: Steve Pavlina.
November 18th, 2004 at 8:16 am
I’m sure Steve wouldn’t appreciate me following him around at his home. Reading books is cheaper and more convenient. B-)
November 26th, 2004 at 10:12 am
Also, I think that blindly following “the leader”, regardless of his/her (proven) qualities
, is not the way to go. Rather than imitate your masters/idols, follow in their footsteps. Learn what worked for them, see if it works for you and adapt their teachings to your personal situation.