Blog Post

Be More Productive with the Rule of 3

Katherine Martin • Dec 07, 2015

This article was originally published on LinkedIn by Chris Bailey on Oct 28th 2015. Chris is a self-proclaimed Jedi Master at A Life of Productivity where he blogs about being productive.

For Some Strange Reason, Our Brain is Wired to Think in Threes.

As kids, we grow up immersed in stories that involve threes: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the Three Blind Mice, and the Three Little Pigs. In high school, when we’re forced to dissect books like The Three Musketeers for English class, we break down the plot into three parts—the beginning, middle, and end. When we become adults, we observe that good things happen in threes, and that the “third time’s the charm.” The Olympics awards three medals for each event—gold, silver and bronze… Well, you get the idea.

There is something oddly attractive about the number three which can help you a lot as far as productivity is concerned.

Good #ProductivityHacks are hard to come by. There’s no shortage of advice out there, but after you read it, you have to make all that time back, presumably by using the very tactics you’re reading about. If the productivity hacks don’t help you earn that time back—and then some—you’re really just looking at productivity porn.

Over the last decade, I’ve experimented with countless productivity hacks. Some of them have worked, many of them haven’t. But the one productivity hack that has produced the greatest returns for me is the Rule of 3.

Here’s the Rule of 3:

At the start of every morning, fast-forward to the end of the day and ask: When the day is done, what three things will I want to have accomplished?
Do the same at the start of every week.

That’s it.

The rule is simple, but deceptively so. I’ve found that the Rule of 3 helps me work more efficiently and earn back more time than any other productivity hack:

It fits with the way we think. For some reason that I haven’t been able to figure out, from childhood our brain is wired to think in threes.
It’s hard to keep in mind what’s important. While you won’t remember a whole laundry list of things to do when you’re in the trenches, you’ll remember your three intentions.
You decide what you don’t By picking the three main things you want to accomplish that day, you have taken the time to separate what’s important from what isn’t.
It only takes a minute. For every minute you spend using the Rule of 3, you gain back at least 10 minutes of productivity.
It helps you work more deliberately. Productivity is the process of working more deliberately, with intention. The Rule of 3 helps you to step back, determine what’s important, and then reflect throughout the day on whether you’re spending your time on the right things. The intention behind your actions is like the shaft behind an arrowhead. I haven’t found a better rule for setting intentions every day.
The rule lets you consider your limits. Each day you only have so much time, attention, and energy. Productivity is a process of understanding your constraints. The Rule of 3 helps you think about how much want to accomplish, and then, over time adjust to how much you actually can accomplish once you better understand your limits. At first, I overestimated how much I could get done when defining my three things; later I underestimated what I was capable of. Finally I settled into an equilibrium where I understood how much I could do every day. That awareness has become, as Steve Jobs might say, insanely valuable.

As you might expect with something so simple, the rule is ageless. It has been talked about by everyone from Leo Babauta of Zen Habits to Gina Trapani of Lifehacker. I first discovered the rule from J.D. Meier, the author of Getting Results the Agile Way . J.D. is Microsoft’s Director of Business Programs, where he and his team use the rule every day. When I asked J.D. why he thought the rule is so powerful, he said, “I originally focused on the Rule of 3 because when my manager asked me what the team achieved for the week, he didn’t want a laundry list. He was willing to listen to three compelling outcomes.” J.D. found that “three things was very easy to keep top of mind, without having to write it down or look it up.”

I’ve found the exact same thing.

When your aim is to work more deliberately and accomplish more over the day, the Rule of 3 is in a league of its own.

Chris Bailey blogs about productivity over at A Life of Productivity . He’s the author of the forthcoming book, The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy , which will be published in January 2015 by Crown Business.

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Katherine Martin

Origin Mortgages

Phone: 1-604-454-0843
Email: kmartin@planmymortgage.ca
Fax: 1-604-454-0842

Why Downpayment Source Matters

By Katherine Martin • 01 May, 2024

If you’re looking to purchase a property, although you might not think it matters too much, the source of your downpayment means a great deal to the lender. Let’s discuss the lender requirements, what your downpayment tells the lender about your financial situation, a how downpayment helps establish the mortgage loan to value. Anti-money laundering Lenders care about your downpayment source because, legally, they have to. To prevent money laundering, lenders have to document the source of the downpayment on every home purchase. Acceptable forms of downpayment are money from your resources, borrowed funds through an insured program called the FlexDown, or money you receive as a gift from an immediate family member. To prove the funds are from your resources and not laundered money from the proceeds of crime, you’ll be required to provide bank statements showing the money has been in your account for at least 90 days or that you’ve accumulated the funds through payroll deposits or other acceptable means. Now, if you’re borrowing all or part of your downpayment, you’ll need to include the costs of carrying the payments on the borrowed downpayment in your debt service ratios. If you’re the recipient of a gift from a direct family member, you’ll need to provide a signed gift letter indicating that the funds are a true gift and have no schedule for repayment. From there, you’ll need to show the money deposit into your account. Financial suitability Lenders care about the source of the downpayment because it is an indicator that you are financially able to purchase the property. Showing the lender that your downpayment is coming from your resources is the best. This demonstrates that you have positive cash flow and that you’re able to save money and manage your finances in a way that indicates you’ll most likely make your mortgage payments on time. If your downpayment is borrowed or from a gift, there’s a chance that they’ll want to scrutinize the rest of your application more closely. The bigger your downpayment, the better, well, as far as the lender is concerned. The way they see it, there is a direct correlation between how much money you have as equity to the likelihood you will or won’t default on their mortgage. Essentially, the more equity you have, the less likely you will walk away from the mortgage, which lessens their risk. Downpayment establishes the loan to value (LTV) Thirdly, your downpayment establishes the loan to value ratio. The loan to value ratio or LTV is the percentage of the property’s value compared to the mortgage amount. In Canada, a lender cannot lend more than 95% of a property’s value. So, if you’re buying a home for $400k, the lender can lend $380k, and you’re responsible for coming up with 5%, $ 20k in this situation. But you might be asking yourself, how does the source of the downpayment impact LTV? Great question, and to answer this, we have to look at how to establish property value. Simply put, something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it and what someone is willing to sell it for. Of course, within reason, having no external factors coming into play. When dealing with real estate, an appraisal of the property will include comparisons of what other people have agreed to pay for similar properties in the past. You’ll often hear of situations where buyers and sellers try to inflate the sale price to help finalize the transaction artificially. Any scenario where the buyer isn’t coming up with all of the money for the downpayment, independent of the seller, impacts the LTV. All details of a real estate transaction purchase and sale have to be disclosed to the lender. If there’s any money transferring behind the scenes, this impacts the LTV, and the lender won’t proceed with financing. Non-disclosure to the lender is mortgage fraud. So there you have it; hopefully, this provides context to why lenders ask for documents to prove the source of your downpayment. If you’d like to talk about mortgage financing, please connect anytime; it would be a pleasure to work with you.

Porting Your Mortgage

By Katherine Martin • 24 Apr, 2024

Porting your mortgage is when you transfer the remainder of your current mortgage term, outstanding principal balance, and interest rate to a new property if you’re selling your existing home and buying a new one. Now, despite what some big banks would lead you to believe, porting your mortgage is not an easy process. It’s not a magic process that guarantees you will qualify to purchase a new property using the mortgage you had on a previous property. In addition to re-qualifying for the mortgage you already have, the lender will also assess the property you’re looking to purchase. Many moving parts come into play. You’re more likely to have significant setbacks throughout the process than you are to execute a flawless port. Here are some of the reasons: You may not qualify for the mortgage Let’s say you’re moving to a new city to take a new job. If you’re relying on porting your mortgage to buy a new property, you’ll have to substantiate your new income. If you’re on probation or changed professions, there’s a chance the lender will decline your application. Porting a mortgage is a lot like qualifying for a new mortgage, just with more conditions. The property you are buying has to be approved So let’s say that your income isn’t an issue and that you qualify for the mortgage. The subject property you want to purchase has to be approved as well. Just because the lender accepted your last property as collateral for the mortgage doesn’t mean the lender will accept the new property. The lender will require an appraisal and scrutinize the condition of the property you’re looking to buy. Property values are rarely the same Chances are, if you’re selling a property and buying a new one, there’ll be some price difference. When looking to port a mortgage, if the new property’s value is higher than your previous property, requiring a higher mortgage amount, you’ll most likely have to take a blended rate on the new money, which could increase your payment. If the property value is considerably less, you might incur a penalty to reduce the total mortgage amount. You still need a downpayment Porting a mortgage isn’t just a simple case of swapping one property for another while keeping the same mortgage. You’re still required to come up with a downpayment on the new property. You’ll most likely have to pay a penalty Most lenders will charge the total discharge penalty when you sell your property and take it from the sale proceeds. The penalty is then refunded when you execute the port and purchase the new property. So if you are relying on the proceeds of sale to come up with your downpayment, you might have to make other arrangements. Timelines rarely work out When assessing the housing market, It’s usually a buyer’s market or a seller’s market, not both at the same time. So although you may be able to sell your property overnight, you might not be able to find a suitable property to buy. Alternatively, you may be able to find many suitable properties to purchase while your house sits on the market with no showings. And, chances are, when you end up selling your property and find a new property to buy, the closing dates rarely match up perfectly. Different lenders have different port periods Understanding that different lenders have different port periods is where the fine print in the mortgage documents comes into play. Did you know that depending on the lender, the time you have to port your mortgage can range from one day to six months? So if it’s one day, your lawyer will have to close both the sale of your property and the purchase of your new property on the same day, or the port won’t work. Or, with a more extended port period, you run the risk of selling your house with the intention of porting the mortgage, only to not be able to find a suitable property to buy. So while the idea of porting your mortgage can seem like a good idea, and it might even make sense if you have a low rate that you want to carry over to a property of similar value, it’s always a good idea to get professional mortgage advice and look at all your options. While porting your mortgage is a nice feature to have because it provides you with options, please understand that it is not a guarantee that you’ll be able to swap out properties and keep making the same payments. There’s a lot to know. If you’re looking to sell your existing property and buy a new one, please connect anytime. It would be a pleasure to walk you through the process and help you consider all your options, including a port if that makes the most sense!