So I just realized that I’ve been a mechanical keyboard nerd for nearly a decade. (Wow.)
Anyway, I’ve got a plethora of keyboards in my office, and the one I have now is my favorite by far. It’s the Keychron Q2. My model is the Silver Grey A, with the knob, and blue switches.
Myth: “Taking the time to schedule my time is a waste of time — the schedule never works out perfectly anyway”
This common myth is tricky because there is some truth mixed in with it.
While it’s true that a schedule never works out perfectly (nobody’s does — the mess of real life always plays a factor).
But…
It’s okay if your schedule doesn’t work out perfectly. In fact, that’s normal. Your schedule is just a blueprint for how you’re hoping to spend your day. It keeps you moving forward and helps you stay proactive instead of reactive with your time. When things come up, take longer or shorter, etc. that’s fine. Just roll with it.
Least Important: Tips and tricks and hacks and shortcuts.
Very Important: Habits and routines. Your daily actions and behavior. Your system of execution.
Most Important: Vision and values. Your purpose, your priorities, your why.
Here are a few alternatives to what I call the “Just Checks”.
Take advantage of those moments of down time in between meetings, calls, or whenever. Allow your mind to rest for a bit or engage it by doing something active and positive.
My pal Brad sent me a box of these 10 years ago and the rest is history.
They say there are no stupid questions (only stupid answers). But not all questions are equal. A GREAT question can go a very long way in getting you to a GREAT answer.
Over the past year I’ve been compiling a massive document full of questions for life, business, and growth. Here are a few that have been especially helpful to me:
As you plan and prepare for 2023, consider the Law of Tradeoffs. If you are going to add a new goal or project or focus to your life, what will you stop doing in order to make space for it?
(Side note, a whole bunch of clever people are making their annual planning process easier and more fun by using this fantastic little notebook.)
At my grandma’s funeral several years ago, I remember reading her short list of the things she tried to live by. They were these short phrases:
Dual focus is trying to do two things at once and thereby limiting yourself from doing either well.
Here are a few ideas for how to avoid dual focus:
A few years ago I was in Nashville at the Tribe conference for writers and creators, and I took a ton of notes. They’re posted online for you to glean from here.
If you’re feeling suck on a task or project, ask yourself: What would this task / project look like if it were easy?
Clarity comes through action and experience. Thus, you should focus on getting started and taking action more than you focus on the perfect end result. Optimize for the starting line instead of the finish line.
Instead of committing to a giant, year-long undertaking. Commit to something small and simple so you can get started and get some experience. Then, when you have more clarity about what you are doing and working on, you can continue to mature and build upon that idea, or you can pivot.
There are 8 Laws of Focus. As we enter the final few months of the year it’s important to remember The Law of Tradeoffs.
As David Allen said, you can do anything but you cannot do everything. In order to give your perpetual devotion to any one thing it will require the perpetual neglect of many other things. Focus, therefore, requires tradeoffs.
You can only focus on so many things at a time. And you can only focus for so many hours during the day. Instead of ignoring the limitation on your energy, embrace it and find ways to routinize and automate the non-trivial areas of your life so that even when you are not giving them your full attention and devotion, they are not being fully neglected.
“We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short period, and underestimate what we can do over a long period, provided we work slowly and consistently.” — Gretchen Rubin