Categories
Organization Skiing

Most Productivity Advice is Bullshit

I’ve been having a productive time, up the mountain. I’ve achieved things at work, blogged regularly, sent out Technically Speaking with Chiu-Ki, made some progress on The Dark Place that is my personal inbox, I feel fit and healthy. I’ve achieved this by skiing for two hours weekday mornings (longer at the weekends) – hard, […]

Categories
life Organization Skiing

One of Those Days

I had one of those days last week. I woke up later than I wanted to, and it took me a while to get moving. Then just as I was getting started, I realized that I had to deal with some insurance thing, which was – of course – a complete pain. Eventually, I was out […]

Categories
Organization

Being Productive Offline

Normally I embrace flights as a chance to generally disconnect (who else is unenthused about in-flight wifi? Holla!). I read, sometimes I write, but I’m not too concerned about “achieving things”. Sometimes I try to find something to work on offline, typically at the last minute in the lounge and it’s not been very successful. […]

Categories
Career Organization

A Small Focus Hack

I decided that my word for 2015 was “ship”. Part of this is that it’s easy to flounder in an unstructured environment (which I did a bit at the end of 2014). The way I decided to solve this was to give myself structure, and goals. How do you measure bigger milestones though? It makes […]

Categories
life travel

Creative Solitude

Before I  left for South America I kept being asked “aren’t you going to be lonely” like loneliness is some terrible thing to be avoided at all costs. Since I’ve been here, people have been commenting “you seem to be very productive” and it’s true. I have been. I say, “I’m embracing a kind of […]

Categories
life Organization

Rest Day – Buffer Day – Focus Day

My friend introduced me to this concept recently and I’ve found it really helpful. Rest days: complete break from work (I call them “no computer” days). Buffer days: get through the myriad of small things that pile up. Focus days: move the needle on Big Projects. Some observations: Rest days need to happen before they are […]

Categories
life

R&R

To my mind, a good week contains: A day when I don’t speak to anyone. A day when I don’t take the tube. A day when I don’t touch a computer. The first two are easy, a day working from home will cover them (something that I have felt increasingly necessary for my mental well-being). […]

Categories
Books Organization

Thoughts on Being Productive

I’ve been reading Manage Your Day to Day (Amazon), which is a nice book on people’s personal approaches to productivity. It’s reminded me of some things, and given me some things to reflect on. I used to be really into productivity, but now I have some things that I keep in mind, and that works […]

Categories
email Organization Presentation

Do All The Things, GGD Sydney, August 2014

Kris Howard talking about productivity. About getting stuff done like a grownup. Used to put stuff off to the weekend, and then not actually do it. The goal of productivity is to spend less time doing the stuff you don’t want to do so that you can spend more time on the stuff you do […]

Categories
life Organization

Habits vs Tasks: I Want an App For That

I have this list of “habits” that I need to make time for, on a daily or weekly basis. For example: Get some exercise, every day. Read a book, every week, Weight train 2x a week. Do something for just for me, every day. Connect with a friend, every day. Do something outside (a long […]