Archive for the ‘Productivity’ Category
Zenhabits on Achieving Flow
Productivity blog Zenhabits addresses the issue of “flow,” or the state of mind that puts us in the zone as we engage in important work. The concept is frequently discussed in a number of different contexts such as productivity, sports, and spirituality. What might be less apparent is the discussion about how to achieve it.
The post presents nine different ways to achieve this “in the zone” feeling. Tip #4 is one I’ve found particularly useful:
Find your quiet, peak time. This is actually two steps grouped into one. First, you’ll want to find a time that’s quiet, or you’ll never be able to focus. For me, that’s mornings, before the hustle of everyday life builds to a dull roar. That might be early morning, when you just wake, or early in the work day, when most people haven’t arrived yet or are still getting their coffee and settling down. Or you might try the lunch hour, when people are usually out of the office. Evenings work well too for many people. Or, if you’re lucky, you can do it at any time of the day if you can find a quiet spot to work in. Whatever time you choose, it should also be a peak energy time for you. Some people get tired after lunch — that’s not a good time to go for Flow. Find a time when you have lots of energy and can concentrate.
Everyone has responsibilities in their work that require a lot more mind power than others. If we have the luxury of choosing how we spend our time, it is helpful to strategically schedule those brain-intensive tasks for the times of day when we are most inspired and have the most energy at our disposal.
What are other tips you’ve found useful for achieving this level of concentration and productivity?
NPR’s Talk of the Nation Tackles Procrastination
Dr. Timothy Pychyl and Dr. John Perry were guests on June 12th’s Talk of the Nation. The topic of the show was procrastination, a theme as common in conversations about productivity as the evil villain is in fairy tales. During the show, host Neal Conan and listeners related their experiences with procrastination while Pychyl and Perry offered advice and tools to counter it. The participants did well to keep the discussion stimulating, light, and humorous.
Many good ideas were explored, but there were a few points made that resonated strongly with my own experiences and with concepts discussed by some of my favorite thinkers in the productivity space, such as David Allen, Merlin Mann, and Steven Pressfield. Here are three concepts from the show I found particularly interesting:
Perfectionism has its benefits, but can fuel procrastination.
If you hold yourself to the unachievable standard of “perfect”, you may be reluctant to work a project to completion until you can present a product that is close to that. This becomes a problem when the epic path to perfection becomes the rationale for why you should put off starting for another day. I paraphrase one of my favorite teachers, who used to say, “There is never a final product, only a due date.” It is difficult to argue against holding high standards, but this must be balanced against the cost of not actually producing anything at all. Perhaps the key perspective here is to set the intention to achieve your vision of perfection and have the courage and humility to be content with the closest you can come to that by the time the work is submitted.
If you can’t win the battle against procrastination, at least do something useful in lieu of what you originally intended.
Even for the best of us, there are times when we have to concede that we may not meet the challenge of starting our work. During these times, the next choice we face is deciding what to do instead. Assuming that the time period in question is one dedicated to work (as opposed to family, recreation, or naps), the difference between choosing to do something even marginally defined as necessary (e.g., putting in that order to replenish a quickly diminishing supply of staples) and doing something that has no definition within your realm of things to do (e.g., taking your fourth self-tour of the new office filing cabinets) can have a significant impact on your sense of control. The difference lies in whether what you do next is meaningful and necessary or a randomly selected activity designed to avoid your original intention. The best implement in your toolbox for making this decision is a predefined list of these secondary, but ultimately necessary, tasks you can choose from when your procrastination and due dates give you permission to not start on your original intentions.
Counter procrastination by defining an intention in operational terms and breaking it into smaller and more doable tasks.
It has become such a universal mantra for productivity enthusiasts that it’s verging on being a cliche, but for the life of me I have yet to prove the idea incorrect. The more nebulous an outcome or the path to get there, the easier it is to stare at it, ponder its vastness, and then decide that the discomfort warrants more time away from it. The opposite also holds true. The more defined an outcome and the more granular the steps to achieve it, the more likely you are to act on it.
I once allowed an item titled, “Replace water heater” long-term residence on my to-do list. Visions of me with a water heater manual and an industrial size wrench justified enough non-action that “Replace water heater” gradually became the distant relative who overstayed his welcome. After weeks, I reluctantly changed the title to “Call home warranty company re: replacing water heater.” After one week, a new water heater, and very little additional effort on my part, I wondered why I suffered so long with lengthy heating times.
Interested in exploring more? Read on:
Asha Dornfest Picks Her Top 20 Parent Hacks
A few weeks ago Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks guest posted on Zen Habits about her top 20 parent hacks. Being a relatively new parent of a rapidly evolving 18 month old, I found Asha’s ideas inspiring and thought it might be useful to post some of them here.
Before I do that, perhaps more discussion is needed regarding the use of the word “hack.” What is being referred to has little to do with sawing metal or medical professionals of dubious repute. Rather, the word “hack” in the blogosphere usually refers to some modification of one’s daily routine to improve productivity and to reduce the stress caused by the modern information age. For me it’s a topic that never seems to grow old, particularly when you’ve got a toddler that joyfully grabs hold of the majority of your attention.
That said, here are a few of the ideas that I personally enjoyed reading. You’ll find the rest of them in Asha’s post.
Follow the Law of Conservation of Toys. Create a simple trade-in system to keep toy clutter to a minimum. Read more.
Digitize your kid’s artwork and school papers to reduce clutter. Hang onto those art treasures without having to save all of the bulky paper. Read more.
Getting organized: Do the small stuff NOW. Life with kids can feel like one distraction after another, and often, the little tasks we intend to do later never get done. Follow David Allen’s Getting Things Done advice: if it takes two minutes or less, do it now and get it off your mind. Read more
Kitchen timer: Multi-purpose tool of the gods! Bedtime, homework time, any time is timer time. Read more.
Getting Things Done in [Insert Interest Here]
Since it’s publication in 2002, David Allen’s personal productivity manual Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity has spawned a glut of efficiency-crazed sects. The path that connects the blogs and web articles I regularly visit during my daily reading routine typically leads me to discussions relevant to the business world and the trials of the modern knowledge worker.
The first three pages returned by a Google search on the topic consist mostly of overviews, primers, or technology-related results. I dug a little further and found material that brings the GTD discussion to more niche interests. Here are some of the interesting GTD-inspired articles and blogs I found:
Ryan Estrellado