How many priorities do you have in your business and life right now?
If you’re struggling to gain traction, perhaps its your lack of focus that’s causing your lack of growth.
Productivity
Hopemine →
When you get a dopamine hit from the false first step of simply buying a product or watching a video that you hope will help you, but you stop at that point without ever taking action or applying anything new to your life.
Things that will destroy your goals
In order to accomplish your goals you need: (1) a clear goal; (2) a winning action plan; and (3) consistency.
Take away or invert any of those things, and you’ve eliminated the possibility of succeeding at your desired outcome. Here’s what they look like when inverted: (1) unclear direction; (2) random acts of productivity / busywork; (3) distracted / trying something new but moving on quickly.
The Clarity / Action Paradox
We know that clarity cures busywork. We also know that action brings clarity. When you’re stuck and lacking clarity, take action and just get started. But don’t get lost doing busywork disguised as procrastination.
How Kellogg’s 6-Hour work Day came (and went) →
Fascinating story about the rise and fall of the shorter-work-week. (David’s TL;DR version is here.)
Here at Blanc Media, Instead of 6-hour work days, we do 8-week work cycles. And I can attest that it boosts productivity, reduces overhead, and serves as a forcing function to keep us focused on only the most important goals for the business.
What if you could only use ONE APP on your iPhone?
So this is a completely random but fun experiment… but what app would you pick if you could only pick ONE?
I know, I know. It’s an impossible choice. I’d be so torn between several: camera, notes, music, messages, tasks…
And, as nerdy as it sounds, I think I’d pick the app Things. (The to-do list manager.)
Things is not my most used app at all. But… it’s super fast, very easy to use and navigate, and very versatile. I think it’d work as the single spot to keep all my ideas, reminders, projects, tasks, notes, etc.
I think I’d prefer the simplicity and speed over the missing features.
If it was a different device — say iPad or Mac, I’d pick a different app. I’d probably pick Ulysses as the only app I could use on my iPad. And Notion as the only app I could use on my Mac. (Or I would totally cheat and say Safari on Mac.)
The Mere Urgency Effect
Billy Oppenheimer put together an excellent summary of some pretty alarming findings from this research study. In short, when folks have a task list that is full of various “levels” of to-do items — some that are important, some that aren’t, some that are urgent right now, some that aren’t — folks end up prioritizing only the tasks that are urgent right now but are not very important at all.
(Inside the Focus Course, we have a simple framework for eliminating Urgency Mindset and the Urgency Effect for you and your organization.)
A quote I’m pondering about focus
“The more you try to do, the less you actually accomplish… Somewhere along the way, most leaders forget this. Why? Because smart, ambitious leaders don’t want to do less, they want to do more, even when they know better. … there will always be more good ideas than you have the capacity to execute.” — 4DX
Margin reduces stress and increases productivity
I recently came across this article showing how stress rises when you’re in back-to-back-to-back meetings. But the thing that really stood out to me was how individual productivity doubled as meetings were reduced.
If you’re in too many meetings, it may be a symptom of a bigger issue. When there are too many meetings it means there is a lack of clarity and focus. And so meetings end up becoming a short-term, band-aid solution for trying to develop vision and strategy and get things done.
- Make a decision about something
- Make progress on a specific work task / project that requires real-time collaboration
- Celebrate and connect as a team
P.S. Speaking of Margin… in a few weeks we will be kicking off our Margin Reset booster for the 300 members inside the new Focus Accelerator membership. ?
The Hierarchy of Productivity
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.
My current daily routines that I’m focusing on the most
- 90 minutes of writing each morning
- Only have my phone available from 12:30pm – 8:30pm each day
- Keep my phone outside my office during work hours
- 20 minute workout
Stop searching for quick wins. You’ll find them, but they never compound. →
Quick wins are rarely the elements of a long-term strategy.
Questions Matter
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:
- What should I keep doing that is producing good results in my life?
- What am I nervous / anxious about right now? Why?
- What should I stop doing?
- What should I start doing?
No system is perfect, all systems are helpful
There is no one-size fits all system for your tasks, time, and goals. But there are good things about different systems and tools that can help you.
A good system for managing your tasks, your time, and your ideas should hopefully include these elements:
- Allows you to clarify your priorities and act in order
- It’s something you understand and enjoy using
- It allows you to focus on the right things at the right time
- Efficiency: you’re able to do more in less time (instead of taking a long time to do very little)
- Anxiety and stress are reduced (not exasperated)
- You know if you hit the mark
- It’s repeatable and sustainable
If I had to pick just two: sustainability and enjoyment would be at the top of the list. Otherwise, you’ll never use what you’ve got.