Family Time
Sometimes, being productive with a family is hard.
Whether its in-laws, siblings, parents, children or even your partner, it can difficult to coordinate, plan, or adjust to other people.
Now, as a non-parent adult, I definitely realize I’m nowhere near knowing the time commitment that a child is and I don’t have any older parents requiring my assistance with activities of daily living but nevertheless this is my truth for my situation.
Coordination is hard.
Everyone has their own priorities, their own desires, their own wants.
Person A wants to do X activity. Person B wants to do Y activity. Person C wants to do Z activity. And we only have a certain timeframe, a certain monetary restriction, a certain activity tolerance to do them.
For me, I think the big thing about it is knowing my balance and knowing my limits. Trying to be accommodating, forgiving myself for sometimes needing my own space to do the things I want to do, and then sometimes breaking my promises to myself in order to adjust to the family needs.
In this particular case, I’m sacrificing some of my productivity writing time to spend time with family.
Productivity comes at a price. You prioritize achieving specific goals at the price of attending to others. You prioritize your wants and needs as well as your aspirations before other peoples.
So naturally, there will be times when you want to prioritize other things ahead of your currernt desires.
And that’s okay.
No need to beat yourself up over it.
No need to feel like a failure.
No need to feel like you didn’t achieve, that you messed up, or that you should regret your choice.
Just continue on your life journey. Pick it back up again another time. But be conscious that you actively decided on that plan of action.
I think the reminder I’m writing here is that sometimes in the quest for productivity, we will naturally pit everyone and everything that isn’t in favour of our work and productivity goals as against them.
My family is preventing me from being productive.
It’s because of my family that I didn’t achieve that goal.
And that’s a terribly slippery slope of a mentality to have.
I choose to spend time with my family over my pursuit of productivity. I choose to allow myself to rest and relax to build the relationships with the people I love. I choose to show my love to the people who care for me through an investment of time and energy.
Much like a successful company is built from the blood, sweat and tears of a committed workforce, the relationships you foster and/or do not foster are equally a result of the time and energy you spent building them.
So this week, it’s quality time with family.
Video Game Music - Why You Should Have A Playlist
Music is such a powerful tool. It can brighten a mood, calm your heart, energize you and connects people. It is so self-explanatory and apparent that celebrity culture and idolization of singers and musicians is a fairly universally accepted cultural norm.
Sold out concerns, festivals, fame, glory. All of it exists.
Music is worth it.
But do we ever consider the power of music for productivity? What it can do to focus our attention?
And if not, what kind of music should we be listening to?
Now, let’s be clear.
Although many people listen to background music during tasks that require sustained attention, there is still no consensus about its effect on performance. It’s still inconclusive with contradictory findings. Some studies argue the benefits and some argue the negative influence of music. The verdict is still debated.
But…
Here’s why I listen to music.
Think about it.
Now, mind you, not ALL music is good for productivity. And there’s definitely some subjective or personal variation in what music is beneficial to productivity but consider the following to find out why video game music is the perfect focus music.
1. HEIGHTENED ALERTNESS
You know how some productive tasks are kinda mind-numbing? How your mind can just wander away and 20 minutes you catch yourself down some random wikipedia rabbit hole that has nothing to do with your planned work?
Well, music can help with that. Kiss & Linnel (2021) found that background music increased the portion of task-focus states by decreasing mind-wandering. However, there’s a sweet spot. Too much heightened alertness (or arousal as it’s termed in journal articles) leads to too many external distractions.
We want that sweet spot. And music can uplift you from low arousal mind-wandering.
2. NO LYRICS
Shih YN, Huang RH and Chiang HY (2012) actually did a study on this and found if background music is played in the work environment, music without lyrics is preferable. Better yet, attention performance scores were better if no music was present at all.
Lyrics are great for normal entertaining music but for productivity, you want no lyrics.
Music with lyrics is a more complex stimulus than instrumental music alone. More complexity can result in higher levels of engagement or alertness and then you’re too susceptible to external distraction. Your mind is drawn to other thoughts, external stimuli, You don’t want to think about the lyrics, be distracted by rhyming patterns or start making contextual associations. The music is supposed to help you focus on the work and not distract from it.
3. SOMETIMES SILENCE ISN’T AN OPTION
Silence is great. But sometimes, silence isn’t an option. I live in the city and sirens, cars honking and yelling people are common. Furthermore, I like to sometimes work at coffee shops. They’ve got their own music, the clanging of cups and cutlery and the chatter of other patrons.
To get into the zone or flow state quickly, familiarity and routine is important. With coffee shops, sudden noises, and inconsistent quiet, headphones and a focused playlist is perfect.
4. FAST-PACED, ENERGETIC TEMPO
The goal is increasing your alertness, so a decently paced playlist is important. Slow pace obviously dampens energy levels. It can be effective for calming you or relaxing you but for productivity work, it may not be best.
SO WHY VIDEO GAME MUSIC?
Well, video game music has a few things going for it.
Video game music typically is primarily instrumental. Theme music, menu music, fight music. The intentional behind video game music is to provide thematic support for the world or environment without distracting you from the main content of the game.
So intentionality-wise, it is designed to live in the background, not distract you from your puzzle, your fight, your strategy.
Secondly, video game music is typically upbeat, and mid-to-face paced. Sure, there are exceptions for cinematic sad scenes and such, but I’d argue for most action, puzzle, adventure or strategy games, the pacing of the music is fairly quick. This is engaging, energizing and stimulating. That reduces mind-wandering.
Thirdly, having a staple video game music playlist provides consistency. On occasion, you might not get a quiet work space. You might find yourself in a coffee shop for the radio or lyric-heavy music. You now know that music with lyrics can detract your attention, so opting for a familiar video game playlist is preferred.
To me then, it’s a solid platform or foundational tool to set me up for success. It brightens my mood, keeps me energized and focused and let’s me settle into work ready to tackle the project at hand.
References
Kiss, L., Linnell, K.J. The effect of preferred background music on task-focus in sustained attention. Psychological Research 85, 2313–2325 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-020-01400-6
Shih YN, Huang RH, Chiang HY. Background music: effects on attention performance. Work. 2012;42(4):573-8. doi: 10.3233/WOR-2012-1410. PMID: 22523045.
Consequences - Your New Best Friend.
“When you choose an action, you choose the consequences of that action. When you desire a consequence you had damned well better take the action that would create it.”
― Lois McMaster Bujold, Memory
One of my friends asked me how I continue to keep myself accountable to complete weekly blog posts for the last year or so. I’ve written 60 blog posts and to me, besides enjoying the creative endeavour and self-expression, I’ve simply decided it is important to me. I’m pretty proud of myself for being able to do it, and although lots of other people successfully manage to maintain a blog, here’s my view on it and how I’ve successfully kept it consistently updated.
WHY ARE CONSEQUENCES IMPORTANT?
Consistency is key. We’ve all heard that before, but how do people maintain consistency? I think the question about maintaining accountability is worth exploring. Many people struggle with self-accountability and I figured that I might as well share my perspective on the issue.
How do I maintain the accountability?
For me, it’s a simple answer.
I simply don’t negotiate with myself.
I don’t let myself have that mental conversation, the negotiation, the rationalization of why it’s acceptable to miss a deadline.
And I prioritize it because it’s important to me.
As you get older, you learn about consequences, the reactions and effects of an action or condition; in addition, the effects of an inaction.
In our adult lives, things that are typically consequential and therefore prioritized are work-related.
If I don’t do X task, I’ll get fired and won’t get paid.
If I work hard and work overtime or finish the project on time, I’ll get paid quicker or get a tip.
If I show my boss that I’m good at my job, I can ask for a promotion and make more money.
And although these societal expectations and norms for climbing the corporate ladder are largely engrained in our minds, we can also think outside of these expectations for ourselves.
Cause that’s just it, these are arbitrarily determined tasks that are deemed important for us to accomplish.
HOW TO LEVERAGE THE IDEA OF CONSEQUENCES FOR PRODUCTIVITY
So for me, knowing the fact that I can likewise decide on other arbitrarily important tasks, I can use that to my advantage.
I can decide to prioritize X task. I can decide it’s a non-negotiable. I can decide that it needs to be done.
Then after all that, there is only one thing to do - to execute it.
Consequences are a huge part of that process for keeping me accountable.
Why? Because unless I act in a manner consistent with my words or beliefs, it won’t get accomplished.
Here’s how I do it.
Know deep down inside myself that I truly want it.
This only works if I am the type of person to be able to clearly and definitively know I want it. If you aren’t this kind of person, are more wishy-washy, or are still wondering about whether you do want to achieve this task, then it may not be a good technique for you.
Establish that you want to accomplish this task or project by a certain timeline.
Setting an arbitrary final due date is important. Getting good at establishing dates allows you consider timelines, project aspects, and better understand the scope of the project.
Decide on daily and weekly goals to achieve.
Monthly goals are too long-term and easy to procrastinate or negotiate with yourself. Weekly and daily goals keep the sense of urgency and importance relevant and in the front of mind.
Establish a list of negative and positive punishment for yourself.
Figure out some things that you don’t want to do or would rather not do immediately. Chores, regular un-fun necessities and even things you are looking forward to that you would be motivated against losing are good.
Things like un-fun chores (taking out the garbage, cleaning, laundry, errands, paying bills) are a good consequence. You eventually need to do them anyways so your consequence is of low true punishment and is actually also productively contributing to your life.
As we get older, I find that people have a reduced tolerance for discomfort or not getting what we want.
As we get older, we have financial power, we have the autonomy to decide what we want.
It makes sense that we have a lowered tolerance for not getting the things we want, especially in the short-term (e.g. cravings for a certain restaurant or type of food, buying an article of clothing) because long-term goals, everyone needs to be more patient with (e.g. buying a house, retiring).
But when you are school-aged, it is normal to not go to parties, need to study, not get to hang out with friends because you have to study. These are normal proceedings for you as a kid because your parents dictate that school work needs to be done first before play.
When you get older, because you work, you feel that you are entitled to do these things. Why should I have to skip a fun social event with friends? Why should I have to work so hard? Why should I have a consequence or “punishment”?
It all circles back to what I decided in the beginning.
I’ve simply decided it is important to me.
So, for me, consequences are good. They keep me accountable. They hold me to what I say to myself.
If I say I want X, I have voiced to the world and to myself that X is important and worth prioritizing.
I don’t like saying I want X if it’s on a whim, not REALLY important because that ultimately devaluing the word in my mind.
It devalues the impact or sincerity of my words.
It also devalues the weight of my words - even if they’re just to myself.
And in a world where everyone can have a hot take, say words and then retract those words, the weight of words is something I deem worth caring about.
So the next time you’re struggling with completing something or holding yourself accountable. Ask if you truly want to achieve that thing. Ask if you are a person willing to make your words or desires a reality. Establish a consequence for not achieving it. And then go execute!
The Eisenhower Matrix
I thoroughly enjoyed the Todoist article here that my post is based on, so definitely check it out for a more in-depth review of the concept.
But here’s the quick and dirty of it.
Humans suck at prioritizing.
We fall for the urgent things and prioritize them even if they aren’t necessarily important or the most rewarding tasks.
If we take a split second to reconsider, we can better evaluate and prioritize the important tasks with bigger reward.
But it’s sorta a knee-jerk reaction.
Here’s what to do.
When you are generating a list of to-do’s, categorize them as important or not important and urgent or not urgent.
Organize your to-do list accordingly into 4 categories.
Urgent and Important
Not Urgent and Important
Urgent and Not Important
Not Urgent and Not Important.
Now there’s a few things you can determine from this list about what matters and what you should prioritize.
Next, it can also let you audit your priorities and what maybe you can try to do more of.
Q1 - Urgent and Important
For example, if everything you do is urgent and important, it can lead to increased stress, burn out, and the sense that your days are out of your control. Spending all day putting out fires will quickly rob you of energy and passion for your work. You may even find yourself seeking mindless escapism in the not urgent and not important quadrant.
Indulging in a little escapism is fine to recharge and relaxation but if the majority of your to-do list is in this quadrant, then maybe you need to rethink it.
Q2 - Not Urgent and Important
Spending a majority of your time in the Not Urgent and Important section is the sweet spot. Live here. It’s an opportunity for growth, development and pursuit of your goals without the time crunch that putting out fires brings.
Q3 - Urgent and Not Important
The Urgent and Not Important section is all the urgent issues that don’t need your time but often demand it. If there’s a way to delegate these to someone else, offload them.
Q4 - Not Urgent and Not Important
Finally, the not urgent and not important tasks. It is the quadrant of potential excess and immediate gratification that ultimately leaves you feeling unfulfilled. It’s still a quadrant and still has a role in your life but it is important to be intentional with your time and activities there.
Here’s a cheatsheet to quickly assess.
Break It Down. Projects, Daunting Tasks, and Whatever Else.
A typewriter broken down into its individual parts.
We’ve all heard stories about accomplishing massive projects. Some Elon Musk-like prodigy workaholic works ridiculous hours and creates the next biggest invention of the century.
It can seem like a daunting and all-encompassing task but not everyone needs to work themselves into the ground to get it done and secondly, more people than you can imagine are accomplishing huge projects on a consistent basis.
Everyone can accomplish this.
It’s all about perspective, consistency of work and persistence.
Break down your big, multi-step, complex projects and goals into manageable pieces.
Break them down.
As small as you need.
Sometimes, it can be smaller than you need.
Smaller can make accomplishing it easier, and that endorphin rush of completing more stuff can be a boost as well.
Look. Everyone has large, ambitious goals and projects to get done.
But, when faced with a big project or task, it can be daunting, paralyzing, overwhelming.
It can feel so overwhelming that it can be demoralizing. That you avoid thinking about it.
Maybe you just shut down. Go turn on the TV. Binge a Netflix show instead.
By setting priorities, breaking the bigger project into smaller tasks, the work is more manageable and more achievable.
FOUR IDEAS FOR BREAKING DOWN TASKS
Examine the parts of the task. Figure out step-by-step what you need to do. And I mean step-by-step. The clearer you know what needs to get done, the easier it will be to realistically achieving.
Break down tasks into 30-minute jobs. People can’t work for 5 hours straight. Having items managed within 30 minutes can help keep you motivated, hungry to keep going, and generate a decently sized list of accomplished things. If your one step is “Clean the house” versus “Clean the sink”, “clean the toilet”, “clean the bathtub”, “clean the mirror”, “clean the countertop”, “clean the linens”, “Put the laundry in the washer”, “Fold the clean laundry”, it can be much more demoralizing that after 3 hours “clean the house” still hasn’t been completed. Smaller, achievable jobs lets you feel a sense of progression and accomplishment.
Breaking down tasks lets you further categorize them into urgent vs. non-urgent and important vs. non-important. Piggybacking off the introduced concept last week, the Eisenhower Matrix builds prioritization and delegate-able tasks. This lets you work more efficiently, set priorities for yourself, and target the things that matter most.
Say it aloud. Talking about your steps out loud can force you to organize your thoughts and ideas. No one even has to be in the room with you to listen. The main thing is that by articulating it verbally, it forces you to make a coherent thought or plan. The idea must be grammatically and thoughtfully filtered into speech so it must be made more concrete and not live in your head as an abstract concept.
And yeah, I get it. Reading this from me makes sense intellectually but it can still be a hard thing to do.
For me, I think it can also be helpful to realize what other things can be accomplished with a little persistence and dedication.
So here’s some massive things you can do by taking smaller daily routines seriously. Or…you know….other unbelievable facts that are the accumulation of daily or regular production.
1. Just read 20 pages a day, you can complete eighteen 400 page books in a year.
20 pages per day x 365 days per year = 7300 pages per year. 7300/1225 = nearly six War And Peace length books. 7300/552 = thirteen The Book Thief length books. 7300/279 = twenty-six Pride and Prejudice length books.
I suck at reading consistently. I enjoy it but never make time for it. This statistic shocked me. I don’t think I’ve ever read more than 5-8 books in a year so finding out I can complete 18 books in a year, that’s crazy.
2. Your body creates about 320lbs or 145kgs of poop a year - just a little more than the weight of an adult panda.
With an average daily amount of about 14 ounces (400 grams), the total poop production in a week's time would be about 6 lbs. (2.8 kilograms). In a year, a single person would yield about 320 lbs.
I’m pooping out over twice my weight in a year. But you don’t realize it because it’s just a small amount each time. Now imagine whatever giant project you as a giant turd. You just need to poop a little out each day.
3. Literally anything Dr. Stone Makes in Dr. Stone Manga
He makes sulfa drug in a stone age techless world. How? He has a roadmap with each step needed.
4. Working the 40-hour work week.
Let’s say that the average Joe works 40 hours a week, from the age of 20-65 and gets two weeks of vacation every year (I grabbed this information from an American site - hence the crappy vacation accumulation). In that time, average Joe will have worked a total of 90,360 hours of his life working for the man. Now, 40 hours a week is a manageable number. 90,000 hours doing anything makes it feel like you could accomplish anything with that amount of time.
People say it takes 10,000 hours to master something. You could master 9 fields.
So when in doubt, boil down whatever you’re doing into steps. Small steps make light work. Light work over a long duration make huge accomplishment.
Busy Work vs. Productive Work
In this post, I’m going to talk about busy work and productive work. I find myself sometimes engaging in busy work for the sake of busy-ness but later on conclude it’s not contributing to my productiveness. At the end of the day, when I’m auditing my day or thinking about where all my time went, I come to the realization that I should’ve done work sooner, why I was procrastinating up until this point and where I could’ve performed better.
This is a post to audit, keep myself accountable and have a reference for evaluating for myself what I am engaging in.
Exploring this distinction between productive time and busy time has reminded me how to distinguish the two and hopefully it can help you too!
So first off.
You can be busy and productive. Those are not two mutually exclusive ideas. However, there is an important separation. You can be busy without being productive. You can also be productive and not feel busy.
There are people who can somehow meet all the deadlines, do all the necessary things and excel without feel overwhelmed. Meanwhile, there can be people who are constantly busy, overworked, over-stressed, and just cannot seem to feel accomplished, met goals or moving forward.
The follow-up to that is that some people cannot independently identify whether something is important. Or don’t know how to advocate for what is important versus what is not.
Here’s a cheat sheet on how I think about it and I’ll go into each category separately later on.
| Busy | Productive | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy is... | Frantic | Focused |
| Fueled By... | Perfectionism | Purpose |
| Founded In... | Working Harder | Working Smarter |
| Achieved by... | Being Good At Everything | Being Great At Few Important Things |
| Necessity... | Depends | Yes |
ENERGY IS…
Where is your energy coming from? If you feel scatterbrained, flustered, all-over-the-place, racing along, chances are you are feeling busy. If your mind is racing a mile a minute, there’s so much to do, and it feels like you’ve got your hand in everything, you are busy.
People who are productive are focused. They can also be involved in many things but there is a single focused reason for it. They can label what they are gaining, achieving, and aiming for with each project. They know what they contribute to that project and why they are needed or involved.
FUELED BY…
Busy people are fueled by a need for perfectionism - a need to get things just right. If you nit-pick about every detail, you can certainly generate a list of all the things that need fixing before it is ready. Whether it’s a project, a song, a program, a presentation, a performance, or a product. It needs to be perfect before it is ready to be scrutinized, available for public consumption and public criticism.
If things aren’t perfect, it isn’t released.
Flash forward 1 month later and it still isn’t ready.
Productive people are aware it isn’t perfect. But that’s not the point. The point is that it’s available. For example, an imperfect product is released as version 1 on the market. Sure there are problems with its design, there’s issues worth investigating further, but it’s still a product that is available to be purchased.
If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late. - Reid Hoffman
FOUNDED IN…
Working hard versus working smart. I don’t think think these are mutually exclusive. People can work smart and hard. People can work not smart and not hard as well. But I think it neatly captures the main feeling behind busy, frantic work and focused, prioritized work.
Hard work is the muscle, gusto, power through and persevere mentality. If you can’t figure it out, throw yourself at it and spend more time to figure it out.
And sure, that is a way to get things done. But is it the most productive way.
Working smarter is the notion of optimizing your workload to what is needed as well as what can be accomplished efficiently. Sure, at first there’s a much larger cognitive load and it can be much more mentally-taxing at first, but a lot of the solutions that come from working smarter make the process easier.
When I think of working smarter, I always consider scripts for data mining. A non-techy person would be doing it manually, pulling information from single database to single database and compiling the data manually. It’s hard work. But maybe put in a couple more hours and you can brute force complete the job.
A working smarter option would be to write a script to automatically complete the task. Sure, the initial buy-in and required cognitive load to write the script initially is much greater but the payoff means the laborious, tedious work can be offloaded.
“I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” -Bill Gates
ACHIEVED BY…
When thinking about someone who is working hard, knowing that they are approaching things in a perfectionistic way, bottled in a frantic energy, there is a sense of needing to do everything right - that everything must be looked at and every nook and cranny must be reviewed.
This by nature leads one to aspire to be good at everything. Every aspect of the project. Every aspect of the job must be some arbitrary level of correct. By trying to get everything just right, that makes you extremely busy because you have to spend time on everything. And by spending time on everything, you lose focus on what exactly is the goal.
By being productive, you can understand your specific focus and recognize you are not necessarily equipped to address the issues outside this specific scope. You are great at one thing. And everything else falls to the side. It can be done by someone else. It can be done better by someone else, who is great at that one specific thing instead. So again, focused, specific work not frantic or scattered.
NECESSITY…
When I consider the necessity level, I think about the Eisenhower Matrix.
If you don’t know what the Eisenhower Matrix is, the quick and dirty is…you have 4 quadrants:
Urgent and Important
Non-urgent and Important
Urgent and Not-Important
Non-urgent and Non-Important
Productive work should live in the quadrants 1 and 2 - Urgent and Important or Non-urgent and Important.
That isn’t to say you should absolutely not do anything in quadrant 3 or 4 because mental health, recharging, resting and avoiding burn out activities can definitely fall into non-urgent and non-important activities - you know….to have a happy life…but your work should be focused and important with ranging degrees of urgency
If you are spending too much time in the urgent and not-important category, you may be invested in busy work but it may not be relevant to what you deem important and it may not be focused
So the next time you are evaluating your day, making your list of things to do, deciding what to spend your 24 hours a day doing, ask yourself the following questions.
Is this item important work?
Is this item clearly defined and focused?
Can this item be offloaded to someone better suited for this type of work?
Is there a smarter way to do this?
Is this task necessary?
I think there are always going to be times where it lands 50/50 or you answer one way at a certain time and then later feel that your answer has changed. I think the main take away is to start asking these questions more regularly. Being consciously participating in deciding and designing your day, your to-do list, your work schedule is the important part. Because if you are passive about it, you can find yourself busy but not necessarily productive.
Loosely based on the concept by Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, which suggests 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. Working smarter to identifying that 20% of vital work maximizes the upside.
Perspective-Taking
Perspective - “a specific attitude or manner through which a person thinks about something”
Everyone brings their own specific attitude and view of the world based on their upbringing and personal experience.
Your experience differs from my experience and therefore your views differ from mine.
Perspective can make you see things in the worst possible way or the best possible way or anywhere along that spectrum.
It can beat you down to your lowest low or it can boost you up to your greatest high.
It can make you resilient as f*ck or insecure and hopeless.
For me, the experience of working in the public health sector and having daily interactions with people when they are in their most vulnerable states both mentally and physically is something I am immensely grateful for.
I don’t often speak about my day job or my day-to-day on this platform but specifically for the context of perspective-taking, it is a constant reminder of my priorities in life and keeps my ego/greed in check.
Being grateful that I can sit upright and maintain my sitting balance.
Being grateful that I can take the stairs or use the washroom independently.
Being grateful that my family and loved ones have thus far been healthy and whole.
Being grateful that I can express myself, my wants, and my needs.
Being grateful that I am independent in meeting my wants and my needs. I don’t need another person to manage those on my behalf.
On a day-to-day basis, I interact with and engage with people who don’t or no longer have the capacity or ability to do so, so I truly feel grateful for the self-autonomy.
This type of experience grounds my perspective. I am able to hold or imagine other people’s perspectives and as a result, not get too tunnel visioned on my own perspective. I can imagine the same situation from another perspective.
Introduction to Acceptance
And I think because of my work and interactions, I’ve grown to understand that life is too short. There are too many variables, too many potential problems, too many freak accidents to stress about to not prioritize my own happiness as well as to feel grateful for my situation.
Accepting things that I cannot change such as health or genetic issues, accepting the choices and decisions of the past, and focusing my energy towards my current situation, my current choices and the things that I can exert control over today is a. much more productive use of my time.
Why The Intersection of Acceptance and Perspective-Taking Matters
As I’ve gotten older, the intersection between accepting my situation, acknowledging my biased perspective and recognizing the lucky position I have has magnified.
Being able to accept who I am fully and knowing the privilege I have in my position (socio-economically, physically, mentally, geographically, and all the rest), I have to make the most of it.
And after going through the list of all the ways that I am so fortunate, the one conclusion is I have to be extremely happy and grateful.
How grateful am I to even be in my current position.
How much worse could it be for me.
Why It Matters for Productivity
Perspective-taking and Acceptance are everything.
It gives you humility.
It gives you patience.
It gives you understanding.
It gives you freedom of choice without analysis paralysis.
It puts into perspective your current situation with all its ups and downs and lets you focus in on what you can impose your will on. It lets you move forward in action rather than mope and complain.
It lets you feel grateful for your mistakes, your shortcomings, your learning opportunities and your obstacles to overcome.
It also lets you take someone else’s perspective to realize that what another person may want or need is not what you necessarily want or need.
And that’s okay. It’s more than okay.
It’s my authentic personal truth.
What that translates to for productivity is staying humble, knowing that sure, maybe you’re not as productive as others or are only in the infancy of your productivity journey, but being grateful that you’re in the position you are today in your productivity.
It also means that you are okay with your personal truth.
That it’s okay to want to be more productive.
That it’s okay to want to do more work when you want to.
That it’s okay to not want to veg out on the couch and instead work on that side project you’ve left on the side of your desk.
For me, I find a lot of happiness in being able to sit at a coffee shop to work. Whether that’s writing an article, taking a course, or cranking out a blog post. That’s my happiness. I much prefer that to reading fiction, lying on a beach or watching mindless television.
And the bottom line is…if it makes you happy, just do it!
My attempt at finding a stock photo where someone looks happy doing work. Guess it’s a niche photo market haha.
🌊Be Water, My Friend 🌊
I’m currently reading the book “Be Water, My Friend - The Teachings of Bruce Lee” By Shannon Lee. The book is written by his daughter who certainly in her own right had to define and redefine herself separate from this all-engulfing figure that is her father.
She takes his philosophical teachings and writings, exploring them in a more explicit, digestible way and talks through her own interpretation of his thinking.
For the few people who haven’t heard the “Be Water, My Friend” quote, here it is.
From a martial arts standpoint, the notion is to be flexible, to adapt, to take what is given by an opponent and to adjust. To have the capacity for pliability and malleability but also destructive, brute and unstoppable force.
The concept can further expand to a life philosophy. To adapt and adjust to the world around you, to be open and flexible and welcoming to all but also steadfast. A certain sense of calm, stoic self-understanding that is both powerful and stable, yet adaptable and self-assured in resilience.
I am thoroughly enjoying the philosophical writings and allowing my mind to wander but just felt the desire to jot down some thoughts of some meaningful quotes. I’m not yet done the book but plan on reading it a few times.
“Water may flow swiftly or it may flow slowly, but its purpose is inexorable, its destiny sure.”
There’s a certain sense of intention or purpose. Of destiny and unbending law to water’s movement. It flows from higher altitude to lower altitude. It follows the law of gravity. It participates in cyclic patterns of evaporation and condensation. There’s a defined, innate purpose to it that is not questioned, is not doubted, is simply fact.
There isn’t an expiration date, a time limit, a question of arriving to a destination early, on time or late. There is no self-doubt, self-question. Simply, existence as water. And it’s powerful to recognize, especially since the metacognitive function of people causes so much self-doubt, lapse in identity, existential crisis.
I think for myself, I can get so caught up in what others think. In whether I am doing a good job. Whether I have things I should do better. As a son. As a husband. As a professional. As a friend. As <insert another categorical label>. I constantly think about these things and aspiring to simply exist and do what I can do without questioning those aspects or insecurities is a refreshing and valuable perspective.
“When man is living, he is soft and pliable; when he is dead, he becomes rigid. Pliability is life; rigidity is death, whether we are speaking of the body, the mind, or the spirit. Be pliable.”
I know that I can be quite rigid and stubborn in my ways. In my thinking, in what I want to do, in deadlines I set for myself. Because I try to be so logical in how I act, I feel like if I understand a certain logic to things, it is hard to convince me otherwise or it is hard to stray from that logic, because there’s a clear thinking process to my actions. But, it’s important to remember that flexibility makes me human and it is an innate feature of existing that I shouldn’t take for granted. Recognizing that my subjective interpretation of a certain logic is fallible, that I can readjust, tweak, modify, or embrace the changes that come up in life. I am able to change the flow of things, change myself, change how I think, change what I think because I am alive and I should appreciate, enjoy and lean into that flexibility.
We’ve all heard the idea of the unbending tree that breaks and the flexible or swaying bamboo or new growth that does not resist and therefore does not snap.
Well, we as people are similar. Being flexible to the times, to technological changes, to changes in mindset, to changes in sociocultural standing. Flexibility in thinking, in openness to opportunity, to changes in our physical world, and to changes in our mental and spiritual states. These are all legitimate reasons to change and to be stubborn, headstrong, and at times blind to those logical processes that can impact my reality is foolish akin to the inflexible tree.
Being able to adjust, adapt, reflect, and embrace this change is important to thriving as a human and it is something that we can only do when we are alive. So why not use the features, these properties that I have while I can still use them.
“From now on, drop all your burden of preconceived conclusions behind, and “open” yourself to everything and everyone ahead. Remember, my friend, the usefulness of the cup is in its emptiness.
This almost feels like a random shower thought.
Like…OMG, a cup is useful as a cup because it can hold things! So it’s only useful when it’s empty!
But it is true that a cup’s value is in its openness, its emptiness and in its ability to accept what is given.
There’s value to the lack of fullness.
And I think in general, we have an under-appreciation for and disregard for things that do not present their value overtly. It is much more difficult to see value as the absence of something because we are trained to see the inherent value in things whereas the inherent value of a cup is in its relations and interactions with others.
There’s a value to having the time and space to accept something, to a sponge, to take in and hold the properties of stuff around you.
And maybe that’s something worth exploring and valuing more. Maybe we need to recalibrate our valuation of people, objects, and ways of living that are able to not inherently provide value themselves but provide value via their relationships with things.
In the rat race that is productivity and time blocking, there can be value in leaving space empty, in keeping oneself open and embracing to the distractions, the chaos, the unplanned, and the unexpected. There can be value in social time, in networking, in events that may not necessarily straightforwardly contribute to your craft.
At least that’s how I interpret it.
I don’t exactly have a final thought on the book or on Bruce Lee’s teachings at this point. I’m still in the middle of my first read-through but I think its a challenging yet fruitful exercise to read this way. To analyze. To challenge. To think it through over and over. To try to get those little gems that leave a lasting impression on me.
Hope it was fruitful for you too!
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect. Practice Just Makes Permanent.
Forget the concept that ‘Practice Makes Perfect’
Perfect practice makes perfect
Practice simply makes permanent.
Years and years of being told practice makes perfect has been a lie!
I can practice something incorrectly my whole life. And get really good at doing it wrong.
And although imperfect practice is better than no practice, it may not lead to you eventually getting it perfect.
It is only through reiteration, slightly adjusting, tweaking, and modifying that you eventually get to perfect.
You have all experienced it yourselves and witnessed it in other people.
Learning any new skill is hard work.
It starts off filled with mistakes, blunders, and can feel stiff and awkward. But over time and practice, it gets better and easier.
Imagine a toddler taking their first steps.
Clumsy, unbalanced, stumbling and uncoordinated.
Flash forward a year or two and it’s a coordinated movement.
Flash forward another 5-7 years and it’s a well-oiled machine. An automatic process.
But it’s only the best of the best who continue to improve and reiterate and modify. Only the sprinters, the runners, the endurance athletes who hone their running mechanics to be optimal, to be most efficient, reach the pinnacle of running movement skill.
There are a lot of amateur and casual runners who run their entire lives but will never achieve optimal running form or efficiency despite running regularly.
From a neuroanatomical level, this process of brain communication involves nerve impulses transmitting an electrical signal. It passes from neuron to neuron in the brain and spinal cord until the signal reaches the intended muscle. At first, the connection is weak, redundant, a little inconvenient or a little less straightforward.
I like to imagine it’s the same as after a recent snowfall. There is no tracks, no trail, no path. It’s hard to walk. It’s a blank canvas when you first start.
But as we practice, you can see how the muscle movements become smoother, it feels more natural and comfortable. What practice is actually doing is helping the brain optimize for this set of coordinated activities, through a process called myelination. Myelination is the process of making those transmitted nerve impulses faster and stronger. The signal can travel faster and more efficiently. The signal remains strong.
Let’s revisit the snowy metaphor. Imagine having walked a path in the snow at least once now. It becomes easier to follow that same path again. The snow is already packed down where steps have already flattened it. It’s easier to see retrace your steps along the path.
And the more you do these same motor actions, the more efficient your body gets at sending these same signals over and over again. The more you do the same coordinated motor sequences, the easier it gets.
This also goes for your thinking.
The same associations and connections between thoughts can become ingrained as meaningful connections. You start to think about the same things because the connections you make between different ideas becomes a stronger and stronger association.
It’s the same as walking the same snowed path over and over. The path is flattened out and easily navigated. It becomes hard to even stray away from the path because of how smoothed out it is for you.
When it comes to productivity, efficiency, working, and creativity, you can imagine the role of routines, the stagnancy that can occur with reliance on unconscious or automatic habits and the slow process of rewriting or starting new habits. Without even realizing it, you can be practicing the same imperfect but permanent thinking patterns. You may become ‘stuck in your thinking’ without even realizing it and shy away from new or different ways of thinking because it’s a struggle, it’s slow, or it doesn’t come as easy.
There’s a physical reason for that, that you now know, in your brain. That myelination pathway for efficient nerve signal transmission may not be as relevant for new or different thinking. So it may be slower, it may be harder at first, but it may be closer to the ‘perfect’ state you are seeking rather than an imperfect but practiced state.
And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with embracing and accepting the efficiency bump that myelination gives you and that practice gives you.
I think it’s important too to acknowledge and understand the possible ‘side-effects’ of that just to be awarre.
It can provide solace and patience in yourself when you are starting something new.
It can teach caution with biases and preconceived notions. Why do we always do _________ this way? Am I shying away from trying a new or different method simply because this way is easy?
It becomes just as important to intentionally recognize the habits, patterns of thinking, and spend the time and effort to tread new pathways in the snow to steer ourselves away from pre-existing paths.
In that case, giving yourself the time and space to go slow, to practice the correct way to make sure the laid out path is perfect or as close to perfect as you can get it.
Audit Yourself.
Audit WHAT you are doing.
Audit WHERE you spend your time.
Audit HOW you feel.
Audit WHETHER your daily actions matches your annual plan, your 5-year plan, or your 10-year plan.
WHAT IS AUDITING?
Auditing yourself is a way of intentionally analyzing and evaluating your life, your routines, your habits, your thoughts, and determining what is important to prioritize, change, restructure, or stop doing.
Are you happy? Are you doing something you enjoy?
Who are the good people in your life? Do you spend enough time with them?
What’s changing? What would you like to stay the same?
What are you doing for others?
What’s next?
How is your routine? Do you have the right balance of structure and spontaneity?
Thinking about these things is so important because you can go an entire lifetime WITHOUT thinking about them.
Many times in life, traumatic, sudden or unexpected events in your life can force you to confront these issues. But if you don’t have those events happen, you can cruise through life on autopilot.
You hear about midlife crises, sudden changes in careers, and complete 180s on people’s life trajectories.
And sure, that’s one way to do it. But what about designing your life for yourself and your wants.
AUDITING IN TIME MANAGEMENT
Everyone only has 24 hours a day. The most productive person is still working with 24 hours a day just like the least productive person.
So what you do during those waking hours becomes vitally important. Being consciously aware and intentional with your time is the only way to controllably influence that.
Think of it like a financial budget.
Budgets are supposed to be flexible, to build in buffer room, to allow you to know how much money you are spending, where you are spending it and whether that is money well spent on things you actually want. It also helps you know when you are in credit card debt, how to pay it back in a reasonable way and how much money you are saving for future long-term needs.
Auditing your time is similar. It can be flexible, allowing you intentionality in your time allocation, knowing how much time you are spending on each aspect of your life, where you are spending it and whether that is time well spent on things you actually want to develop or focus attention time towards. It can also help you know when you are overextending your time on fruitless endeavours.
IMPLEMENTATION
Based on what you figure out about your time management and use of time, you can recalibrate and re-prioritize your time.
Want to spend more time developing your relationship with your spouse, your parents, your children, your friends? Carve out time for that.
Want to spend more time working on your health? Time block for exercising, meditating, yoga, or a run.
This lofty design is the foundation of good habits and routines.
Then blink your eyes and a month has gone by and you’ve reshaped your life. Sure, it’ll still be hard but you’ll have a planned time for each of the things that actually matter.
Biased Productivity - Is it Killing Your Sense of Accomplishment?
Perspective can shift your whole view of the world.
“Productivity Is Never An Accident. It Is Always The Result Of A Commitment To Excellence, Intelligent Planning And Focused Effort.”
This week was a definitely chaotic week for me.
Unplanned events.
A scattered schedule.
Appointments sprinkled through the week.
Although ‘productive’ in a sense that I am accomplishing need-to-do things, for whatever reason, i struggle with defining these need-to-do’s as productive.
Why is that?
Why do I see these things as unimportant, not note-worthy or worth patting myself on the back for?
Now, I definitely am one to want to share productivity tips, discuss efficiencies in my workflow and how to adapt them for your own lives, but I also think it is important to recognize shifts in mentality and even discuss my own mental hurdles that I am working on.
In this case, doing groceries, doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, running errands, attending appointments, and the rest of those necessities.
They seem like obstacles that take me away from being productive.
Whereas they should be acknowledged or counted as moments or acts of productivity.
More than anything, I think this introspective moment has shined a spotlight on my own judgments and biases. That I see household chores and work as an obstacle or barrier to “success” and “achievement”.
Initially, after reading that Paul Meyer’s quote, I was inspired to write a blogpost talking about how my productivity was derailed, that I never was able to complete my habits, my daily rituals, my routines and that was the reason I was unproductive.
Instead, I feel the need to say that I was productive. That I did accomplish things that were focused effort, that were not an accident, and were a commitment to excellence. Simply, not the excellence I was biased to acknowledge or see - because these habits are so engrained in me.
The habits to cook healthy meals at home instead of eating out.
The habits to eat simply, not too heavy on the fats, oils, sugars, and salt.
The habit to care for my home and my personal care. To have clean clothes, to have a clean home.
Although under-appreciated, these domestic tasks can springboard a sense of productivity, of accomplishment, of value that maybe I wasn’t identifying.
And maybe, in those moments where I shun these tasks for the more glorified ‘work’ productivity that I am biased to desire, I under-appreciate the productive work my family does to support me. To feed me. To upkeep my personal care.
I think that little shift in perspective and view of productivity can do wonders for me to acknowledge and value my time caring for my home. Sure, it can be an intangible or difficult to measure in terms of monetary value, but I have no doubt that neglecting these aspects of my life would ultimately be a detriment to my productivity. Eating unhealthily, sleeping late, drinking soda, missing exercise, wearing dirty clothes, living in filth, not having healthy snacks or foods to eat are a recipe for long-term disaster, limit the longevity of the productive journey and this is my first step towards acknowledging and re-calibrating my valuation of these domestic accomplishments.
I hope that translate or resonates for you too.
To pat yourself on the back for accomplishing those things.
To acknowledge that those duties or tasks are note-worthy, are praise-worthy, are valuable.
Priorities CAN Change
For about the last half-week or so, my wife and I have been petsitting for friends. They have a little doggo and we’ve been helping out while they are away for a couple days.
I’ve found it fascinating how your life and priorities can change quickly as a result of the changes in your day-to-day life. Jump back 2 weeks and I didn’t have to care for another living creature. I didn’t need to worry about someone else peeing or pooping or being kept alive. I didn’t need to worry about noise
You’ve got a whole routine going and BAM, your priorities and needs can change in an instant.
I’ve got a couple thoughts about it.
It’s Okay To Change.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with recognizing and adjust your priorities as your goals and wants change.
I imagine having a child, becoming the caregiver for a loved one, having a change in career or life perspective, as well as simply being unsatisfied with the life trajectory you currently see yourself heading towards as valid reasons to shift.
There are absolutely an infinite number of reasons that readjusting your priorities is appropriate, respected, and necessary.
I’d argue that in the entrepreneurial and tech-world, they are glorified as ‘pivoting’. Being flexible. Adjusting to the market.
It’s Also Okay to Not Change.
There are many reasons to stay the course as well and resist the forces of change. Whether that be injuries, relationships, hurdles and obstacles that require overcoming, moving to a different city, or financial reasons, there are always reasons to remain disciplined, staying true to yourself and true to your path.
Again, there are absolutely an infinite number of reasons to double-down, stick to your guns, dig in your heels and stay the course.
This can be glorified as ‘staying true’, ‘being real’, ‘not changing’, ‘steadfast’, ‘relentless’, ‘not taking No for an answer’.
It’s About You.
I ultimately believe it requires an open honesty with yourself, your wants, your needs, your goals, and knowing whether you will regret those decisions or hypothetical scenarios in the future.
Are you the type of person to look back in hindsight, hold regret, connect every turning point with a past decision. If so, then you have to take autonomy for your decision making whether it’s for the better or for the worse but know that YOU decided.
If you feel some type of way about changing for others, changing for circumstance and see that with a negative connotation or interpret it as not staying true to yourself, then maybe readjusting isn’t for you.
The main thing is holding yourself accountable and acknowledging you have the control.
If you feel that changing for the moment, being adaptable for others, reprioritizing your needs and feel comfortable circling back to your own wants or needs 5-10 years later when it aligns better with your life, maybe readjusting is the answer to address your current needs.
We glorify both options and we always hear about the ridiculous accolades and one-in-a-million success stories from both but we never have a great, grounded perspective.
I just wanted to put my mellow, middle-ground perspective on the idea. That there isn’t a wrong answer. That it is a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophesy and it can at times be a mental thing instead. If you changed your priorities but deep down didn’t want to, you’ll blame that change as the reason you didn’t succeed. You’ll hold that grudge and potentially burn some relationships along the way.
If you commit, grit your teeth, and put yourself into a do-or-die situation and you’re the type of person to thrive under that pressure, you’ll see it as staying authentic and true to yourself, believing in your aspirations and dreams, and manifesting them. You didn’t need to readjust. You just needed to double-down.
The best advice I can give is just knowing yourself and your lens. How will your mind spin the situation? How will you think about it in the future. And what are you willing to do to make your choice the ‘correct’ choice for you.
Productivity Is Not a Requirement
Productivity Is Not a Requirement.
You do not need to be productive 24 hours a day.
It isn’t necessary.
And although I do love being productive, it’s an important thing to remember and ground yourself in to allow yourself to rest, allow yourself to relax, and allow yourself to accept.
If you think that every CEO or productivity guru is max productive all waking hours of the day, you’ve got it completely wrong.
Hustle culture is a huge space on social media outlets. People have quotes, motivational videos, show you bank statements and all their success and money promoting the work culture and nonstop grind. Typically, there’s a one-up nature to these posts where I’m getting some advantage over the competition by living a more extreme version of life. Whether that means waking up at 4AM while others are sleeping, taking meetings until 10PM, or whatever else lets you get ahead.
I think the two things to remember are as follows:
You don’t need to be productive all the time to be happy.
“Successful” and “Productive” people also relax.
Those two thoughts are intertwined but I think there are key distinctions that warrant considering them two different thoughts.
Happiness and contentment don’t require you to be productive all the time. Finding YOUR OWN personal balance on how productive you like to be and how that makes you happy is the MOST important. If you aren’t happy or your happiness suffers because of your desire for productivity, is it worth doing?
“Success” is more than productivity. Similar to how people can make mistakes or bad choices and not be bad people, people can do productive things without that becoming their entire identity. You can still enjoy your existence, be who you are, have your own interests and hobbies while still being productive sometimes - not all the time. In my personal life, I’ve met many successful people who do one specific thing or provide a service in a niche extremely well. But they can also relax, shut off, disengage, rest, waste time, and do so many unproductive things in their off time because they have a balance. You don’t need to work yourself to the bone to be considered a ‘success’ because ‘success’ should be defined by your happiness more than your wealth or efficiency.
You can be productive some times and then not productive other times. And that’s 100% okay. You don’t need to do more work on the weekend if you don’t want to.
I think it’s simply finding the balance that works best in your life.
Gary Vee, CEO of VaynerMedia has his garage sales. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts plays squash. Deloitte’s Punit Renjen is a runner. There are benefits to a balanced life that are not necessarily visible from a productivity standpoint but they ARE ABSOLUTELY a part of balance, happiness, and mental health.
Productivity is more about working efficiently during the time you do spend on work.
And ultimately, the goal is happiness. So if you are happy in the first place, carry on!
You Can’t Optimize What You Aren’t Doing
Now what do I mean by that?
For me, it’s in the form of one of my hobbies - woodworking.
I’m new to woodworking but now spend a bit time watching youtube videos, reading books and thinking about woodworking.
I want to figure out the best way to do woodworking in a small apartment, do all the research for necessary versus unnecessary tools and all the rest.
And only recently, did I start a woodworking project I had read about and wanted to do several months ago.
And it dawned on me that I was thinking and theorizing for so long without actually doing any woodworking.
You cannot optimize what you aren’t doing.
You cannot be more efficient, save time, learn more effectively, or anything else, if you aren’t actually doing the task you are wanting to do.
You can only optimize once you are actually completing the task.
In hindsight, that makes absolute sense, but this is just a reminder to myself and to anyone out there that you can’t sweat the details or the process if you aren’t even doing the action.
You can’t think about video editing and adobe premiere pro skills if you aren’t filming footage.
You can’t efficiently think about lighting, color tones, camera angles, ISO, aperture, and shutter speed if you aren’t taking photos.
You can’t think about gaining skills in muscle ups, planches, L-sits, and all the rest, if you aren’t exercising or trying them.
(if you happen to notice these are oddly specific skills and interests, these are my particular interests haha)
So your best plan of attack is to simply do. Act. Do the thing you want to do. Don’t think about the best way yet.
Just Do It.
The rest will come in due time.
It may come sooner or it may come later.
It’ll only come though if you are doing the thing.
It won’t come if you stop doing the thing and focus all your time and thinking about the thing though.
So...
Just Do It.
No wonder Nike’s slogan resonates with such a hustle, grind, action mindset.
What Kind of Person Are You?
Time and time again, I find examples that reiterate the importance of personal understanding.
It is an asset without comparison.
You may have heard public figures like Gary Vee preach self-awareness.
I jump directly onto that same band wagon.
Where he refers to it as self-awareness, another interpretation of the same concept is self-honesty or self-acceptance.
Knowing yourself, how you tick, what sets you off, what motivates you, what doesn’t motivate you.
These nuggets of truth are critical in planning, designing and manifesting the life you want because only by knowing what motivates and doesn’t motivate you are you able to leverage yourself for yourself.
You are absolutely your biggest critic and biggest believer.
If you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything. Look at all the greatest athletes, entrepreneurs, surgeons, CEOs, philanthropists. There’s a sense of self-belief.
If you don’t believe in yourself, you cannot accomplish anything. You won’t take the leap of faith necessary, you won’t commit to your goals and deadlines.
Your opinion matters the most in pushing you forward but also matters the most in holding you back.
So design your life around your understanding of yourself.
Design Your Life.
This extends to all facets of your life, all decisions you make, all mistakes you make, all regrets you may have and all accomplishments you achieve.
Now obviously designing your desired life is a huge working project. Pick a few things. Don’t try to do it all at once. Pick 2-3 things and focus your time and effort into optimizing them. Once you’ve got them covered or planned, then move onto 2-3 more things. Then by the end of a year, you’ll have optimized your life in 5-10 things!
Compare Lives.
Ever wonder why some people are go-getters?
Why some people somehow hold themselves accountable, make arbitrary rules they can’t break or make life-altering decisions so easily?
Many athletes decide on rules that fuel their passion and hone their skill.
My opinion is that they’ve come to some sort of understanding and acceptance of how they think and act.
They are unapologetically embracing their own ticks and utilize those to leverage the best outcome.
On the one hand, many people have an idea how they WANT to act and think.
I can WANT to be a great basketball player or make lots of money in the NBA.
But I KNOW deep down that my physical attributes make that an impossibility.
I also KNOW I wouldn’t have the interest or dedication to make 2,000 shots a day - even if it’s fun, even if I like basketball, I wouldn’t have that level of dedication for basketball. If it’s hot and humid or pouring rain in Vancouver, I’m hiding out indoors.
Know Yourself. And The Results Follow.
Now for me, I know I am motivated by punishments, deadlines, and stress. I personally like feeling my back against the wall and persevering, so I design a lot of my deadlines to induce that level of stress. Sunday blog posts? I write the majority of my posts on a Saturday night.
Some people respond well to financial commitment.
There are literal apps and websites where you stake your goal with a monetary commitment so if you don’t achieve your goal, you say goodbye to your money like https://www.stickk.com/.
You might even ask, why Kris do you know this?
Again, know yourself.
I’ve looked these apps myself to design an accountability system that resonates with me.
That’s also the reason I don’t look for good rewards, rest and relaxation awards and similar things - because I know that I am not motivated by those things.
Sometimes that honesty about recognizing what truly works for you versus what you want to work for you is a challenge, especially in the short-run, but I think in the long-run, it can be a true asset.
You develop a confidence and clarity in knowing how you think, act, and respond.
You know how best to meet deadlines and represent responsibilities clearly for yourself and ensure you excel to your capabilities.
Sure, it may not be the vision that you might have started out with, but I think there’s authenticity and self-acceptance in that, that may create a new vision.
So sure, you may find that you respond better to punishments and self-imposed deadlines with a monetary loss if you don’t achieve the goal. And you respond better to that then positive reinforcement.
So what?
In my mind, you get the goal achieved nevertheless and you get to keep pushing forward with your growth and skill development.
🤷♂️ But that’s just my opinion. That’s just how I think.
What about you?
Digital Catchall
Ideas can be fleeting.
They can be a thought in the shower.
A random idea that pops into your mind while you’re trying to sleep.
Or even a strike of lightning on your morning commute while stuck in traffic.
They are elusive.
Ephemeral.
Like a spectral, unfocused haze or mirage.
<insert unfocused hazy picture>
They can happen whenever and wherever.
The question is, do you have the means to capture it?
Look, If you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted, in one moment, would you capture it? Or just let it slip? - Eminem
Now obviously Eminem wasn’t referring to productivity hacks but I think it’s an interesting thought and worthwhile discussion.
Do you have the means to jot down, express, collect, and inventory your interesting thoughts or worthwhile pursuits?
Enter the digital catch-all.
Now, by no means, does it have to be digital. I just personally don’t carry a pen and paper everywhere but if that’s you or if that’s a staple of your EDC, then you can certainly cancel out the ‘digital’ aspect.
But like I said...
Enter the digital catch-all.
WHY.
A place to document your thoughts is important.
Your ideas are important.
With a system in place, I can easily trust my process, forget about something and rest assure I can recall it later.
That way, I can be in the moment with what in the moment takes priority.
For example, if I am driving and having random inspirational ideas generated, I obviously want to recall those ideas but recognize the importance of paying attention to driving. After all, in order to act on those amazing ideas, I need to arrive safely at my destination.
Another example. What if I have a brilliant idea but I’m out with friends and socializing. I can’t ditch them to randomly go down some path of self-reflection and introspection. After all, my friends are important and I want to spend time with them. A simple fix would be to quickly jot the idea down. A variant would be to step out to use the washroom and jot it down if it’s rude to pull out your phone in front of them (as texting on your phone for even a few minutes may seem disinterested or uninvested in the face-to-face time with a friend).
WHAT I USE AS MY CATCHALL
Written
1. Apple Notes
Easy peasy for you apple lovers out there. Built into the Apple ecosystem and synced with your iCloud. A little less organizational power but you can make folders.
2. Notion
Powerful nested folder capabilities and pages within pages within pages. Definitely much better for long term notes with tags, dates, categorization,
3. Things
To-Do Lists. I’m less likely to use this for idea expansion but for simple or daily to-do needs with deadline alarm functionality.
4. Evernote
Used to use it but transferred over to Notion. Similar in the fact that it has pages, tags and categorization but I find that it’s a little less agile and malleable if organizational needs change.
5. Google Keep
Google ecosystem note-taking with colours. Not the most expansive or complicated but akin to Apple Notes and a good cross-platform option.
Auditory
1. Voice Memos
Whenever I can’t write anything down (aka when I’m driving), I use voice memos on my apple watch. Just a catch-all so it’s saved somewhere other than my mind. Because for me, a 30-50 minute drive will definitely cause me to forget what I was thinking.
Visual
1. Phone Camera
A picture is worth 1000 words as they say. A picture that you can draw on, write associated notes, highlight/underline/cross out surely must be worth 10,000 words.
I just use the native markup tool in Apple Photos app to circle, write text, add descriptions, add arrows and whatever is needed.
2. Scannable
I use scannable to scan documents. I can save them as pictures or PDFs, send them as email attachments, or directly save them into google drive folders.
HOW I USE MY DRAWER
Now, the key is to set aside intentional time to review your catchall. Whether that be photos, written, or audio, you need to have dedicated time to actually listen to, categorize or organize your thoughts for functional use.
Try it out! For me, it’s a good way to know what I want, keep track of good ideas, and I started relying on it more and more. The more I could capitalize on these good ideas, the more often good ideas seemed to flow.
Say Your Goals Out Loud
Speaking Up To Yourself - An Authentic Conversation
Give voice to your goals out loud.
No one has to be there. No one else has to hear.
It can just be you, the computer, and the imaginary voice you are reading this text aloud in your head with.
But I think there is value in hearing yourself describe, state, express what you want.
Use this blog post as permission to do so.
Your parents aren’t reading this.
Your partner isn’t reading this.
Your teacher isn’t. Your best friend isn’t.
No one is here but you.
Voicing one’s goals aloud is something I believe you need to do to truly have an honest and authentic introspective moment.
It can certainly feel silly to talk to yourself but the mindset shift it can bring is monumental.
Story Time - A Personal Anecdote
For me, I reflect fondly on a decision I made clear to myself to apply for the International Baccalaureate Program.
This was a decision I made in Grade 8 entering high school.
At the time, there were few schools that veered beyond academic and applied streams. Nowadays there’s e-Learning programs, AP programs and all the rest.
But I remember wanting to apply and being questioned whether I was ready, able, or intelligent enough to succeed in the program.
I had to have a frank and open conversation with myself about whether I was capable.
As a Grade 8 student, how the hell would I know if I’m ‘ready’?
Heck, even as a 32 year old now, how the hell do I know if I’m ‘ready’ for anything else in my life - a kid, a dog, a larger mortgage, a career change, a leadership promotion?
But I remember making a conscious effort and talking aloud about my choice.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I remember having to speak with my French teacher to discuss why I should be allowed to apply and how I would succeed (I needed teachers to give their approval).
That act of saying out loud what I wanted to do and my goal made it real for me.
The Consequences - Good & Bad
What’s the point in saying your goals or intentions aloud? After all, if you think it, what’s the difference keeping it in your head versus putting it to speech.
Well, it can be one of the first steps to self-belief. It can also be one of the first steps to figuring out if you are full of it and don’t actually believe.
To me, I use it as a barometer for what I want and what I believe I can accomplish. I know myself and I know deep down when I’m bullshitting myself or if I believe. It’s harder sometimes to see or know it in other people but for yourself, you can know deep down.
I know when I can’t do something but if I committed enough time, I could eventually accomplish it.
I also know when I can’t do something and no amount of self-discipline or banging my head against a wall in persistence won’t accomplish anything.
To me, it’s a way to evaluate whether I can commit to a goal or if I’m flip-flopping.
Again, no one else has to be in the room to hear you. No one else is going to think of you as a liar, a fraud, a loser, a delusional or an unrealistic person.
Stop with the negative thoughts but be realistic about whether your actions can match your words.
This is just about you and yourself.
The reason it’s important to say it aloud is because it holds you accountable. You aren’t just thinking. You’ve made things real by putting audible words into the air.
On the one hand, saying things aloud can help you realize how delusional you are, and how dissociated your words are from your actions.
On the other hand, talking about it to yourself will also inject clarity, boost creativity and stimulate productivity.
You know how the best way to gauge whether you know something is to try to explain it to someone else?
The reason is talking aloud forces you to organize your thoughts, your delivery, your rationale, and your understanding.
Talking to yourself about your goals does the same thing - except the audience is you.
So Talk It Through
Your voice has power.
And its power, believe it or not, impacts others but more importantly - yourself.
Speaking your truth, owning it authentically and being open to how that organizes your thoughts can give you clarity and an appreciation for your own aspirations.
Niksen - The Art of Doing Nothing
Niksen - the life concept to do nothing, to be idle or doing something without any use - is an interesting idea to someone like me who is trying to optimize productivity.
To sit and relax and watch the clouds.
To watch the tide come in and out.
To watch the wind blow amidst the plants
The idea of niksen is an interesting contradiction when you try to apply it from a productivity lens. Why should one ‘waste’ time letting their mind wander.
How is that helpful?
Well, I think a global pandemic showed the world the need to de-stress, to veg out, and to relax.
Burnout, especially, is a real thing and if people don’t build good habits to support internal balance or release of tension, it’s an unsustainable lifestyle.
Sure, different people will have different tolerance levels for the absolute total amount of stress but everyone has their breaking point.
We saw it through the COVID19 pandemic.
Up to 47% of US Healthcare workers are planning to leave their positions by 2025.
So clearly, constant and elevated stress is not sustainable.
So although niksen may not be seen as a means of short-term productivity, I think it is a means of sustained and long term capacity and resilience.
Being bored is okay. Being bored is good. Being bored can let you generate creative solutions, seek alternatives, let your mind do its thing. Being bored can let you settle down, downshift, slow down.
Here are some of the things I like to do that I think de-stress me.
Wake Up 40 Minutes Early to Enjoy Coffee At Home.
Start with a slow morning. Having the ability to make a fresh cup of coffee (via aeropress), sit and enjoy it at the dining table and think quietly. To wake up slowly.
Listening to Vinyl
I picked up the interest of listening to vinyls. Yes, mp3s and Spotify do the job great but there’s something ceremonial and calming about playing a vinyl record. About changing records. About changing songs. It slows down the process. It makes me much more intentional and I am playing an active role in the experience.
Schedule Free Time
You will never ‘find’ free time. You absolutely have to schedule time for everything that is important to you and scheduling free time is included in that as well. So schedule time to do nothing. Allow yourself permission to let your mind wander. Because there are benefits. There’s a whole life philosophy revolving this disengagement.
Driving
This may not resonate with everyone, but I enjoy driving and my commute to work is a 45-60 minute commute. It’s gotten to a point where it’s an autopilot experience and I can de-stress and disengage from the brainy duties and responsibilities of my life.
Do It Guilt-free
Now this is a.tough one but a necessary part of the de-stressing process.
Drop the guilt.
Slowing down isn’t necessarily a step back in productivity.
Formula 1 drivers have to downshift to navigate turns and hazards. Going slower can in the bigger picture save you from driving yourself into a wall.
Remember that taking short breaks and vacations are elements of—not detractors from—success.
And by intentionally and confidently valuing and incorporating periods of stillness, you'll ensure the longevity of enhanced productivity—and well-being.
Easter Weekend and Vacation/Work Balance
Happy Easter break everyone!
Hope you are enjoying your vacation time and able to spend it in the way you like!
DO I WORK OR REST?
For me, I find vacation time or holidays to be a challenging time.
For context, I am currently on vacation in golf and wine country with my in-laws, wife and her sister. I also don’t play golf and am allergic to alcohol.
Anyways, the reason I find vacation time challenging is because I enjoy keeping my mind occupied and thinking about productivity.
With vacation, there’s an inherent expectation that you shut off.
You stop. You rest.
If you want to keep working, want to do more, or like keeping busy, I think there’s a concern that you’re a workaholic, that you’ve embodied this alpha hustle mentality, or something in between.
There’s a pressure to spend time with family or friends, socialize, rest, de-stress, disengage, and for me, that sometimes is not something I want to do.
I like continuing to work. I like maintaining a schedule for working. I don’t feel like I need a rest.
SO WHAT DO I DO?
So I would challenge your sense of productivity and vacation time. Vacation time doesn’t have to be a time for rest. Just like how productivity doesn’t have to mean hustle culture or working every waking hour. I think productivity means doing something that you feel is worthwhile invested time. In that same vein, vacation means having the time to focus on things you enjoy and allowing yourself time to enjoy them.
Look how happy he looks staring at his computer!
RE-FRAMING VACATION🌴
So what exactly is vacation time and what exactly is productivity?
I think there’s a fine balance.
But I think most important aspect is that one recognizes their self-autonomy in the whole situation.
I can decide.
I can decide when I want to work.
I can decide when I want to focus on family or friends.
And I don’t need to justify why or what to anyone.
For me this weekend, that looked like a split between time with my family and time on my computer working. I wouldn’t say I’ve got the balance right every time.
It’s a sort of moving target that I adjust to daily but I think it’s a balance that everyone needs to determine for themselves.
The main thing, though, is knowing, embracing and accepting what you want to do and not feeling guilty about it.
I work when I want to work.
I spend time with family when I want to spend time with family.
If I want to work during vacation time, I don’t feel guilty about it.
If I want to spend time with family even though I’m on a roll productivity-wise, I don’t feel guilty about it.
And I decide. For myself.
A Slow Burn. And That’s Okay.
I’m going to get a little personal here.
I applied for a new position at work. I had the experience, I had the skillset, but I didn’t get the job. Compared to the competition, I wasn’t the best fit for the organization.
It sucks.
But I think it also is a good time to re-evaluate my current situation, re-prioritize my career goals, shelve one passion and take on another right now. I’ve got a lot of them.
And That’s okay.
My wants are persistent and a bump in the road isn’t going to deter me.
My passion is a slow burn or ember.
It is not an intensely bright blaze - nor does it have to be.
Because a bright blaze burns quick. It is a fleeting moment.
Ever try to start a fire with just tissue paper, a couple of dead leaves and some twigs.
You ain’t starting shit with that setup.
But what about an ember or hot, smouldering coal.
A smoulder can last the test of time.
It can catch wind.
It can persist.
When the right factors align, the wind can breathe life into it.
It feels kind of poetic but I’d like to imagine that I can pick up the challenge or seek out the opportunities once again once the situation presents itself.
In the meantime, I can pursue other passions, other interests, other roles at work to scratch another itch of mine.
It can be important to recognize and acknowledge the benefits of slowing down or taking your time. On the one hand it can be frustrating that I didn’t get the job to advance my career path in the quickest manner possible.
It can feel like a step backward, a detour, time wasted.
It can also be a time to reflect,
to scratch another itch,
to pursue another passion while this door has closed on me.
There is no rule that says this door has to remain closed on me. It can open again later. I can bust down the door when I’ve got the right tools and come back. I can later on decide I don’t want what’s behind door #1 and decide to look behind door #2.
