ReWork

every request, you’re saying everything is high priority. And when everything is high priority, nothing is. (Funny how everything is a top priority until you actually have to prioritize things.)
    ASAP is inflationary. It devalues any request that doesn’t say ASAP. Before you know it, the only way to get anything done is by putting the ASAP sticker on it.
    Most things just don’t warrant that kind of hysteria. If a task doesn’t get done this very instant, nobody is going to die. Nobody’s going to lose their job. It won’t cost the company a ton of money. What it will do is create artificial stress, which leads to burnout and worse.
    So reserve your use of emergency language for true emergencies. The kind where there are direct, measurable consequences to inaction. For everything else, chill out.

CHAPTER
CONCLUSION
     

     
Inspiration is perishable
    We all have ideas. Ideas are immortal. They last forever.
    What doesn’t last forever is inspiration. Inspiration is like fresh fruit or milk: It has an expiration date.
    If you want to do something, you’ve got to do it now. You can’t put it on a shelf and wait two months to get around to it. You can’t just say you’ll do it later. Later, you won’t be pumped up about it anymore.
    If you’re inspired on a Friday, swear off the weekend and dive into the project. When you’re high on inspiration, you can get two weeks of work done in twenty-four hours. Inspiration is a time machine in that way.
    Inspiration is a magical thing, a productivity multiplier, a motivator. But it won’t wait for you. Inspiration is a now thing. If it grabs you, grab it right back and put it to work.
Thank you for reading our book
    We hope it inspires you to rework how you do things. If so, drop a line to [email protected] and let us know how it’s going. We look forward to hearing from you.

CHAPTER
RESOURCES
About 37signals
    37signals
www.37signals.com
About 37signals and our products.
    Rework site
www.37signals.com/rework
The official book site.
    Signal vs. Noise
www.37signals.com/svn
Our company blog about business, design, culture, and more.
    37signals video
www.37signals.com/speaks
Presentations and rants by 37signals.
    Subscribe to 37signals newsletters
www.37signals.com/subscribe
Newsletter about new products, discounts, and more (sent out roughly twice a month).
    Stuff we like
www.37signals.com/stuffwelike
A list of books, sites, and other things that we enjoy.
    E-mail
[email protected]
37signals products
    Basecamp
www.basecamphq.com
Manage projects and collaborate with your team and clients.
    Highrise
www.highrisehq.com
Track your contacts, leads, and deals. Always be prepared.
    Backpack
www.backpackit.com
Organize and share information across your business.
    Campfire
www.campfirenow.com
Real-time chat and file and code sharing for remote teams.
    Ta-da List
www.tadalist.com
Ta-da List makes it easy to create and share your to-do’s.
    Writeboard
www.writeboard.com
Writeboard is a collaborative writing tool.
    Getting Real
gettingreal.37signals.com
This book by 37signals will help you discover the smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful Web-based application.
    Ruby on Rails
www.rubyonrails.org
An open-source Web framework created by 37signals.

Acknowledgments
    Very special thanks go to Matthew Linderman. Matt was 37signals’ first employee in 1999—and he’s still with the company today. This book wouldn’t have come together without Matt. In addition to writing original content, he helped merge the distinctly different writing styles of the coauthors into a focused, cohesive book. He made it look easy, but it wasn’t easy work. Thank you, Matt.
    We also want to thank our families, our customers, and everyone at 37signals. And here’s a list of some of the people we know, and don’t know, who have inspired us in one way or another:
Frank Lloyd Wright
Seth Godin
Warren Buffett
Jamie Larson
Clayton Christensen
Ralph Nader
Jim Coudal
Benjamin Franklin
Ernest Kim
Jeff Bezos
Scott Heiferman
Antoni Gaudi
Carlos Segura
Larry David
Steve Jobs
Dean Kamen
Bill Maher
Thomas Jefferson
Mies van der Rohe
Ricardo Semler
Christopher Alexander
James Dyson
Kent Beck
Thomas Paine
Gerald Weinberg
Kathy Sierra
Julia Child
Marc Hedlund
Nicholas Karavites
Michael Jordan
Richard Bird
Jeffrey Zeldman
Dieter Rams
Judith Sheindlin
Ron Paul
Timothy Ferriss

Copyright © 2010 by 37signals, LLC.
    All rights reserved.
Published in the United