Finding Your “Sweet Spot” Of Effectiveness
Where do you add the most value?
Finding Your “Sweet Spot” Of Effectiveness
Articles about Process
A Framework For Choosing The Best Idea
A Framework For Choosing The Best Idea
Make the decision in a way that everyone can be onboard with.
Finding Your “Sweet Spot”
Finding Your “Sweet Spot”
What could you be better at than anyone around you? It's a question worth exploring.
Three Tactics From Getting Things Done That Transformed My Productivity
Three Tactics From Getting Things Done That Transformed My Productivity
GTD is a system for organizing and acting on the work that matters most. There are a lot of nuances to the system, and as a result many people get lost in the weeds and intricate details and get off track and stop utilizing it altogether. That's unfortunate, because there are many principles that can be borrowed from GTD and acted upon, even if you don't use the entire system.
Where You Get Stuck (And What To Do About It)
Where You Get Stuck (And What To Do About It)
There are some common "sticking points" that can stall your work's impact. You must push through them to take your work to the next level.
Why Authenticity Is The Key To Making Your Work Resonate
Why Authenticity Is The Key To Making Your Work Resonate
It’s noisy. Not physically noisy, but culturally noisy.
Everyone is clamoring for attention, and clanging their gongs trying to win a few seconds of your precious time. Clickbait, shock tactics, and distractions are so commonplace that they are now used even by previously “credible” institutions. It’s tempting to follow suit and fall into these tactics with your own work. Don't do it.
The Tyranny Of The Adequate
The Tyranny Of The Adequate
There are times when it’s wise to settle for the most reasonable answer, but don’t allow the daily grind to lull you into mediocrity.
Want To Improve Your Odds Of Success? Take More Shots.
Want To Improve Your Odds Of Success? Take More Shots.
Winning is often a game of percentages. Practice and hone your skills through unnecessary creation, follow your instincts for opportunity, and don’t be afraid to take shots and miss.
The Benefits of Keeping a “Commonplace Book”
The Benefits of Keeping a “Commonplace Book”
With the increase of information crossing your attention span each day, it's easy to forget even the most impactful experiences. Make every effort to capture these, and to ensure that they become a valuable part of your creative process.
Feeling Nervous About Your Work? Good!
Feeling Nervous About Your Work? Good!
Stretching always requires that you risk failure, which means you will probably feel a little over your head from time to time. Don’t mistake a little nervousness for weakness. Use it as fuel.
The Power of No
The Power of No
Many people allow their life to become cluttered with passive yes's, not active ones. They are living with a decision they made months or years ago, and are not making the effort to re-visit whether it's still the right decision. Sometimes you have to say "no" in order to re-focus your efforts.
Brilliance Demands Bravery
Brilliance Demands Bravery
If you make things and share them, your heart will at some point be broken. If you never share, it will harden. Your choice.
The Value Of Connectional Intelligence
The Value Of Connectional Intelligence
Last week, I had the chance to chat with Erica Dhawan, who is co-author of the new book Get Big Things Done. The book is about the age of connectedness, and how we can now accomplish things previously unattainable if we leverage "connectional intelligence".
A Simple Question That Will Keep You Inspired
A Simple Question That Will Keep You Inspired
If you want to remain productive, and you want to have ideas when you need them most, then the kinds of stimuli you allow into your mind are important. Because creativity is essentially the combining of existing pieces of inspiration in your environment into something new, the quality and relevance of inputs will often directly affect your creative output, thus either propelling you forward or impeding your progress.
Use Time Chunks To Master Distraction
Use Time Chunks To Master Distraction
Many of us lack the kind of latitude over our schedule that we’d like to have, but all of us have some discretion about how we spend our time. The best way to prevent distractions and make steady progress on your most important work is to dedicate predictable time to it.
Run Your Race, Not Someone Else’s
Run Your Race, Not Someone Else’s
Run YOUR race. Execute YOUR plan. Do YOUR work, not someone else's. Don't allow envy, spite, ego, or greed to derail you or cause you to chase a phantom ideal that was never meant for you.
Slow and Steady Does NOT Win The Race
Slow and Steady Does NOT Win The Race
Don’t be lulled into the idea that being busy and making progress is necessarily going to net you a win. You have to be intentional and deliberate about your activity, and you have to be willing to sprint when the occasion calls for it.
Learn To Say “It’s Not For You”
Learn To Say “It’s Not For You”
The work you do is a gift to the world, but that doesn't mean it's for everyone.
Don’t Allow Your Rituals To Become Ruts
Don’t Allow Your Rituals To Become Ruts
Simply changing your circumstances or your productivity system might inject a measure of energy into your work and give you a boost for a short while, but that increase in output will be short-lived if you aren’t committed to an outcome.
Are “Time Drains” Ruining Your Productivity?
Are “Time Drains” Ruining Your Productivity?
You have 168 hours each week. Some of those hours you will probably spend doing things you have to do, some of them doing things you choose to do, and some of them doing things simply on autopilot.