**Bạn đang lãng phí 80% thời gian của mình (và đây là cách giải quyết) — Transcript & Summary | SozAI** Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/wasting-80-percent-time-solution/ Learn how to stop wasting 80% of your time by measuring output, setting realistic deadlines, and protecting your flow state for max productivity. ## Key Takeaways - Measure your work success by actual output, not hours spent. - Set deadlines based on the physical reality of task completion time to avoid wasted effort. - Eliminate unnecessary steps and focus on delivering finished products quickly. - Protect your flow state to maintain deep focus and maximize productivity. - Consistent optimization based on data leads to faster progress toward goals. ## What the video covers - Truong Phuong shares his system to maximize work output with minimal energy, debunking the myth that discipline or intelligence is the key. - He emphasizes measuring performance based on actual output rather than hours worked to avoid 'phantom effort.' - Phuong explains Parkinson's Law and how work expands to fill the time allotted, leading to wasted time if deadlines are too long. - He introduces Elon Musk's method of setting deadlines by calculating the physical minimum time required to complete tasks. - Phuong illustrates how breaking down tasks into smaller timed steps can drastically reduce completion time, using video production as an example. - He stresses cutting out unnecessary steps and focusing on final deliverables to boost productivity by 5 to 10 times. - The video encourages viewers to analyze their own goals and output to optimize performance continuously. - Phuong hints at the importance of protecting flow states to maintain deep focus and high productivity. - The system combines ruthless mindset shifts, output measurement, urgent deadlines, and flow state triggers for exponential productivity gains. - By adopting these principles, viewers can improve their work efficiency and life progress two to three times faster. Answers ## Questions about this video What is the main reason people waste 80% of their time according to the video? People waste time because they do not measure their work by actual output and allow tasks to expand unnecessarily due to long deadlines and redundant steps. How does Elon Musk set deadlines differently? Elon Musk sets deadlines by calculating the physical minimum time required to complete a task under ideal conditions, eliminating all unnecessary waiting and administrative delays. What does the video suggest about discipline and intelligence in productivity? The video suggests that productivity is not about being more disciplined or smarter, but about having a system that maximizes output with minimal energy. ## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown 00:00 Speaker A Hello, I'm Truong Phuong. I'm 23 years old, a fresh graduate from the Foreign Trade University, currently running a business with 10-figure annual revenue, doing YouTube, and still going to the gym and playing badminton five days a week. People looking at me often ask how I can balance all those things at the same time. And they always assume the answer must be discipline. But I'm here to tell you that it's not like that. I am not more disciplined than you, and I am not smarter than you either. The only difference is that I've found a system that helps maximize work output with the least amount of energy spent. 00:15 Speaker A I handle an entire week's workload in just a single day. And once you understand this, you will realize that you have been working completely incorrectly all along. In this video, I will hand over the entire system to you, from ruthless mindset and measuring work output, to setting urgent deadlines according to Elon Musk's law, and steps to trigger absolute flow states every morning. I will guide you through everything from the smallest changes to the turning points that will 10x your productivity. Let's get started. Principle one, measure and optimize performance based on actual output. Have you ever been in a situation where you worked a lot, were extremely busy, but at the end of the day, looking back, nothing was actually finished? Honestly, I have been there too, and this is called the "phantom effort" phenomenon. There is a hard truth that society and the market only pay you based on actual output. That is, your actual work results. That's right, it doesn't matter how hard you work or how many hours you spend sitting at your desk. Society only pays you based on the final work product. 00:29 Speaker A How many videos you upload, how many sales posts you create, how many job applications you send out. Actual output is the only and most accurate thing to measure your work performance. 00:36 Speaker A For example, there was a period when I worked a lot, spending the whole day glued to my laptop. But at the end of the day, when I look back and ask myself, "Which tasks were actually finished today?" I realize that nothing is finished. Because for the 10 to 12 hours prior, all I did was jump from one project to another. Everything I look back on is still left unfinished. 00:50 Speaker A My actual output at the end of the day is zero. And when I realized this, my strategy completely changed. At the end of the day, I no longer ask how many hours I worked hard, but rather what actual output I completed today. Only when I finish a sales pitch and hand it over to my client. Only when I finish filming a YouTube video to give to my editor, and only when I’ve supported my entire list of students, can that day be considered a success and am I allowed to go to sleep. No more excuses, no more ambiguity; all performance is calculated and measured solely based on actual output. And the great thing is that changing my strategy like this gave me incredible freedom. Because now I’m no longer stuck asking, "Wow, why do I work so much but get so little in return?" At this point, everything I’ve truly accomplished is represented by raw numbers. I can easily evaluate and measure how much progress I’ve made toward my set goals. I know what else I need to do to reach the results. And especially, if I want to do better the next day, I have data to rely on for optimization. For example, if the actual output today wasn't as expected, I can easily see it, ask why, and find solutions so that the actual output can truly be produced the next day. And so, one day, two days, a week, a month goes by, and I can more easily optimize my performance and get closer to the goals I’ve set in life. Similarly for you, what goals do you have regarding finances, work, studies, or health? Ask yourself what amount of actual output you need to produce to reach those goals. So, how much actual output have you really completed today? How will you optimize everything better over the next six months? I believe that with such a mindset, measurement metrics, and a system, our lives will improve at least two to three times faster. Principle two: set deadlines based on physical reality. Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. The concept here is simple: when you set a time frame to finish any task, it will naturally expand or contract to fit that specific period. Suppose drafting a report for your boss inherently takes only two days to complete. But if you say you need a week to finish it, suddenly a lot of redundant work or trivial details will appear, making it take a full week to complete. This phenomenon occurs because every human being harbors procrastination and invisible fears. And that is why you need to focus on identifying and cutting out this excess time. Apply the Elon Musk method. Elon Musk is no stranger to us. The richest man in the world and his way of setting deadlines is as follows. 01:06 Speaker A When approaching any task, Elon always proactively asks: in ideal conditions, how much physical time would it actually take to complete? For example, when Elon and his team were building rockets for SpaceX, project managers reported that assembling the hardware would take at least several months. Elon immediately asked, "Physically speaking, how much time do the atoms need to bond together? If we have enough machinery, equipment, and everything runs smoothly without human error, what is the actual time required to finish?" As a result, when recalculated, the time to complete the rocket was compressed from several months down to just a few weeks. Thanks to this, the SpaceX team was able to eliminate all meaningless waiting periods and cumbersome administrative processes to bring the project to its true maximum physical speed. And the same goes for me; a while back, when I watched many famous YouTubers online, I noticed that on average, they produced about one video per week. So I thought the production process must take a full seven days, dragging on from Monday to Sunday. But later, after hearing about this law, I truly sat down and asked myself: how much time does it actually take to complete a video? That was when I was surprised to discover that if you break it down into steps, a video only takes five minutes to outline, 15 minutes to write a draft, 15 minutes to add evidence or data, and another 15 minutes to finalize the script. And filming the video, including makeup, takes about 30 minutes. This is also the part I hate the most. Another 30 minutes to film the video and five final minutes to send it to the editor. In total, producing a video only takes three hours. Just three hours, not seven long, drawn-out days. And that was the moment I realized that I had been wasting 80% of my time in a redundant and meaningless way all along. I immediately adjusted my plans, and that was the moment my content creation process became much easier. I cut out almost all the unnecessary steps, like setting up an overly elaborate background or fussing over my makeup to make it look a little more glamorous. 01:21 Speaker A In reality, those things don't make the video any better. I just focused and rushed to finish a final product within three hours. And that sense of urgency boosted my productivity by at least five to 10 times. In short, work will stretch based on the time you allot to it. So next time, be careful when setting deadlines. Before starting anything, spend at least one to two minutes answering this question. How much physical time does this task actually take to complete? What are the small tasks involved, and in an ideal scenario, how many minutes should each take to complete? Be honest and simply stick to that deadline. The third principle: be uncompromising in protecting your flow state. Flow state is when you are completely immersed in your work, focused to the point of forgetting time, space, and all surrounding distractions. And the crazy thing is, research shows that when you enter a flow state, your productivity increases fivefold. This 01:37 Speaker A right, it doesn't matter how hard you work or how many hours you spend sitting at your desk. Society only pays you based on the final work product. 01:47 Speaker A How many videos you upload, how many sales posts you create, how many job applications you send out. Actual output is the only and most accurate thing to measure your work performance. 02:00 Speaker A For example, there was a period when I worked a lot, spending the whole day glued to my laptop. But at the end of the day, when I look back and ask myself, "Which tasks were actually finished today?" I realize that nothing 02:13 Speaker A is finished. Because for the 10 to 12 hours prior, all I did was jump from one project to another. Everything I look back on is still left unfinished. 02:22 Speaker A My actual output at the end of the day is zero. And when I realized this, my strategy completely changed. At the end of the day, I no longer ask how many hours I worked hard, but rather what actual output I completed today. Only 02:38 Speaker A when I finish a sales pitch and hand it over to my client. Only when I finish filming a YouTube video to give to my editor, and only when I’ve supported my entire list of students, can that day be considered a success and am I 02:50 Speaker A allowed to go to sleep. No more excuses , no more ambiguity; all performance is calculated and measured solely based on actual output. And the great thing is that changing my strategy like this gave me incredible freedom. Because now 03:07 Speaker A I’m no longer stuck asking, "Wow, why do I work so much but get so little in return?" At this point, everything I’ve truly accomplished is represented by raw numbers. I can easily evaluate and measure how much progress I’ve made toward my set 03:23 Speaker A goals. I know what else I need to do to reach the results. And especially, if I want to do better the next day, I have data to rely on for optimization. For example, if the actual output today wasn't as expected, I can easily see it 03:40 Speaker A , ask why, and find solutions so that the actual output can truly be produced the next day. And so, one day, two days , a week, a month goes by, and I can more easily optimize my performance and 03:55 Speaker A get closer to the goals I’ve set in life. Similarly for you, what goals do you have regarding finances, work, studies, or health? Ask yourself what amount of actual output you need to produce to reach those goals. So, how 04:13 Speaker A much actual output have you really completed today? How will you optimize everything better over the next 6 months? I believe that with such a mindset, measurement metrics, and a system, our lives will improve at least two to three times faster. Principle 04:29 Speaker A two: set deadlines based on physical reality. Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. The concept here is simple: when you set a time frame to finish any task, it will naturally expand or contract to fit that specific 04:50 Speaker A period. Suppose drafting a report for your boss inherently takes only two days to complete. But if you say you need a week to finish it, suddenly a lot of redundant work or trivial details will appear, making it take a 05:09 Speaker A full week to complete. This phenomenon occurs because every human being harbors procrastination and invisible fears. And that is why you need to focus on identifying and cutting out this excess time. Apply the Elon Musk method. Elon Musk is no stranger to us. 05:31 Speaker A The richest man in the world and his way of setting deadlines is as follows. 05:38 Speaker A When approaching any task, Elon always proactively asks: in ideal conditions, how much physical time would it actually take to complete? For example, when Elon and his team were building rockets for SpaceX, project managers reported that assembling the hardware 05:54 Speaker A would take at least several months. Elon immediately asked, "Physically speaking, how much time do the atoms need to bond together? If we have enough machinery, equipment, and everything runs smoothly without human error, what is the actual time required 06:10 Speaker A to finish?" As a result, when recalculated, the time to complete the rocket was compressed from several months down to just a few weeks. Thanks to this, the SpaceX team was able to eliminate all meaningless waiting periods and cumbersome administrative 06:25 Speaker A processes to bring the project to its true maximum physical speed. And the same goes for me; a while back, when I watched many famous YouTubers online, I noticed that on average, they produced about one video per week. So I thought 06:38 Speaker A the production process must take a full 7 days, dragging on from Monday to Sunday. But later, after hearing about this law, I truly sat down and asked myself: how much time does it actually take to complete a video? That was when 06:53 Speaker A I was surprised to discover that if you break it down into steps, a video only takes 5 minutes to outline, 15 minutes to write a draft, 15 minutes to add evidence or data, and another 15 minutes to finalize the script. And 07:06 Speaker A filming the video, including makeup, takes about 30 minutes. This is also the part I hate the most. Another 30 minutes to film the video and 5 final minutes to send it to the editor. In total, producing a video only takes 3 07:20 Speaker A hours. Just 3 hours, not 7 long, drawn-out days. And that was the moment I realized that I had been wasting 80% of my time in a redundant and meaningless way all along. I immediately adjusted my plans, and that 07:38 Speaker A was the moment my content creation process became much easier. I cut out almost all the unnecessary steps, like setting up an overly elaborate background or fussing over my makeup to make it look a little more glamorous. 07:50 Speaker A In reality, those things don't make the video any better. I just focused and rushed to finish a final product within 3 hours. And that sense of urgency boosted my productivity by at least 5 to 10 times. In short, work will 08:04 Speaker A stretch based on the time you allot to it. So next time, be careful when setting deadlines. Before starting anything, spend at least 1 to 2 minutes answering this question. How much physical time does this task actually take to complete? What are the small 08:20 Speaker A tasks involved, and in an ideal scenario, how many minutes should each take to complete? Be honest and simply stick to that deadline. The third principle: be uncompromising in protecting your flow state. Flow state is when you are completely immersed in 08:37 Speaker A your work, focused to the point of forgetting time, space, and all surrounding distractions. And the crazy thing is, research shows that when you enter a flow state, your productivity increases fivefold. This means you can finish work that would normally take 08:56 Speaker A four hours in just one single hour. You could complete a whole week's worth of work in just one Monday. And of course, everyone in this world, myself included , longs to be in this flow state day and night. Then I would surely have the 09:14 Speaker A superpower to get so much done and practically change the world. However, unfortunately, scientists have observed and concluded that the brain can only handle a maximum of 2 to 4 hours of absolute focus per day. If you try to 09:30 Speaker A force yourself into a flow state longer , you will easily burn out, or worse, suffer cognitive exhaustion. In reality , the average person can only enter this flow state for 5%of their working time. That's right, they only achieve 09:46 Speaker A true, absolute focus for a very small fraction of time. The remaining 95%of the time is spent with moderate focus and consumed by other tasks. For example, studying, reporting, or administrative work. But don't worry, there's good news. Actually, if we can 10:03 Speaker A fully harness just 2 to 4 hours of flow state each day, we can already accomplish a great deal of important work. That is why, for me, I have an immutable principle. I will protect the first four hours of my day at all costs 10:20 Speaker A , as that is the ideal time for me to enter a flow state. During these hours, I only dedicate myself to the most important tasks for my business. For example, like strategizing or creating content, without letting any other 10:36 Speaker A distractions interrupt. This is important, so just try to imagine it. Creation has given you a powerful VIP card every single morning. But unfortunately, it only lasts for exactly 4 hours, and every time you swipe the card to enter this focus room 10:52 Speaker A , you’ll process work as fast as an F1 supercar. However, the rules are extremely strict. Just by accidentally clicking on a Facebook notification, this VIP card will be immediately deactivated. You will be kicked back to the waiting room with the sluggish 11:10 Speaker A working speed of 95%of the world, losing your chance for that day entirely. That is why you must protect your 4 hours of absolute focus every day. Here are three principles you can refer to. First, set a clear time frame 11:27 Speaker A ; like me, from 7 to 11 AM, I make it clear to my team that there will never be meetings or discussions during this time. And that is the time when no one can reach me. I disconnect from all 11:39 Speaker A social media and only respond to work after 11 AM. Second, focus on important tasks. Strategize to optimize the scriptwriting process, and don't do trivial work. And here is the key: to enter a flow state and stay there, the 11:54 Speaker A work needs to be clear and well-defined . Break down goals into manageable challenges, not too easy to be boring and not too hard to make you discouraged. Finally, repeat it until it becomes a habit. The truth is, the 12:07 Speaker A flow state is a state that is very difficult to achieve. Hearing about it today doesn't mean you will surely enter this state tomorrow, but for me, it took a very long time to be able to switch this state on every morning. I 12:21 Speaker A also used to be a distracted monkey, working while checking social media, checking messages, and so on. But the key is that every day, I try to find a way to activate this state. Today might only be 30 minutes, but later I’ll 12:34 Speaker A try to optimize for 1 to 2 hours. And especially, how not to break the streak . If you break the streak, you’ll have to work two to three times harder to get back into the flow of focus. So 12:48 Speaker A for me, I have a strange rule where I often go to coffee shops to work, and even on holidays or weekends, I’ll still go. Even if I'm not working, I'll go there just to sit and read. In short 13:01 Speaker A , the flow state is what you need to achieve to increase your productivity. But don't try to change your entire workday all at once. Tomorrow, just pick one most important task, turn on " Do Not Disturb" on your phone, and 13:15 Speaker A protect your first 90 minutes of the day to focus on it. Make those 90 minutes your own inviolable sanctuary. 13:23 Speaker A Since the DJI battery is dead, I’ll wrap it up here. If you enjoyed this content, please give me a like and subscribe. This is a huge motivation for me to continue making videos in the near future. Okay, thanks everyone. See 13:36 Speaker A you. Topics: productivity time management output measurement Parkinson's Law Elon Musk deadlines flow state work efficiency task optimization Truong Phuong content creation Study this video - [Flashcards from this video](https://sozai.app/tools/ai-flashcard-generator/?from=transcript&id=76387) - [Quiz on this video](https://sozai.app/tools/quiz-generator/?from=transcript&id=76387) Free, made by AI from this transcript. No signup. --- This is the markdown twin of https://sozai.app/transcript/wasting-80-percent-time-solution/ — the same content, without the markup. Published by SozAI (https://sozai.app). Reuse and quotation are allowed with attribution and a link back. Machine-readable index: https://sozai.app/llms.txt · data API: https://sozai.app/api/