Productivity Hacks – Making Time by Shaving Time If there’s one thing I learned in 2011, it was how to be ultra-productive. I’ve discussed productivity in detail before here on SPI, namely in podcast session #12: Mind Hacks, Physical Hacks and Work Hacks for Better Productivity and Getting Things Done (which was actually posted almost exactly 1 year ago) however, during this past year there was one major factor that contributed to my going beyond just being productive, and becoming ultra-productive: My son. With a kid, especially one who was in his 2nd year of life (from age 1 to 2), the time I had available to work dramatically decreased, as did the time I wanted to spend on work. My son has become the center of my life – in more ways than you can imagine unless you have a child of your own. Obvious productivity tips come into play, of course, such as: Getting rid of distractions in the work environment: noise, the dog, cell phone, etc. The Quick and Easy Math In total, that’s more than 14 hours of life (yes – life!) The issue is this:
3 Words That Guarantee Failure People who fail to achieve goals almost always signal their intent to fail by using three little words: "I will try..." There are no three words in the English language that are more deceptive, both to the person who says them and the person who hears them. People who say "I will try" have given themselves permission to fail. People who hear "I will try" and don't realize what it really means are fooling themselves, by thinking there's a chance that the speaker will actually succeed. People who really and truly achieve goals never say "I will try." Instead, they always say "I will do" something–or, better yet, "I must do" whatever the task is. As a wise (though fictional) guru once said: "Do, or do not.
How to Make a Complete Map of Every Thought you Think Last Update: 12.31am, Thur 7 Aug 2003 That's the title of a book I wrote. Guess what it's about! It's about how to make a complete map of every thought you think! But it has some other things in there; It talks about visual language, maps, computerized notebooks, theory of notebooks, yadda yadda yadda. I'm afraid it's not really written well, but if you are interested in the topic of intelligence augmentation and notebooks, I think you'll overlook it's obvious flaws, for an enjoyable experience. Resources This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License . Book Special thanks go to Adam Gurno for creating the PDF file! Support Materials Reviews Have you read the book? Work to Do See Also
The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time - Tony Schwartz by Tony Schwartz | 8:53 AM March 14, 2012 Why is it that between 25% and 50% of people report feeling overwhelmed or burned out at work? It’s not just the number of hours we’re working, but also the fact that we spend too many continuous hours juggling too many things at the same time. What we’ve lost, above all, are stopping points, finish lines and boundaries. Technology has blurred them beyond recognition. Wherever we go, our work follows us, on our digital devices, ever insistent and intrusive. Tell the truth: Do you answer email during conference calls (and sometimes even during calls with one other person)? The biggest cost — assuming you don’t crash — is to your productivity. But most insidiously, it’s because if you’re always doing something, you’re relentlessly burning down your available reservoir of energy over the course of every day, so you have less available with every passing hour. I know this from my own experience. 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3.
13 Strategies To Jumpstart Your Productivity Looking to increase your productivity? You’ve come to the right article. I don’t claim to be a productivity master (I always think there’s room for improvement), but I am very passionate about increasing productivity. I’m always looking for different ways to be more productive – stealing pockets of time where I can, deprioritizing the unimportant, getting system overhauls, etc. And I love it when I see my efforts pay off in the form of increased outputs at the end of the day. In this article, I have selected 13 of my best productivity strategies – tried, tested and validated. Here they are :D 1. Probably half of the self-help articles out there keeps telling us to set goals and set targets. I do regular goal setting to maximize my output. Be clear on what exactly you want to achieve. Further reading: 2. Does your work environment encourage you to work? Those of you who are employed can’t exactly choose the environment to work in. Further Reading 3. Further Reading: 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
5 Ways to Develop Independent Thought This is a guest post by Tom O’Leary. A classroom full of 10-year-old students is asked to solve a problem with children crossing the street on the way to school. The children come up with ideas that have been used successfully in other places: traffic calming devices, overpasses, fluorescent jackets and speed limits. All these ideas are conventional, exactly what the teacher wants to hear. Except for one. This idea may not be practical, popular, or even possible, but when it’s ridiculed by the class it might be the last independent thought that the student dares to express — the death of another independent thinker. Independent thought is not popular — it is absolutely, pricelessly, rare. This is a tragedy — independent thought is essential for progress. Logically, when we think like everyone else is thinking, the best we can expect is to achieve what they’re already achieving. Fortunately, you don’t have to be particularly intelligent or well educated to think independently. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Christopher Donohue: Information in a multi dimensional and empowered way By Christopher DonohueIt is such an exhilarating time in which a significant number of the global collective now have access to an abundance of information via the web and social platforms. However, some suffer from information overload. Many also think that information can only reside in books, online text or in documents (Word, Excel, presentations, and databases). But imagine information graphically represented, to help you break through the information flood and enable you and your team to focus on what information and tools are truly needed. Bottlenose assists with information overload with flexible, deep dive feed customisation options and via the sonar visualisation of topics. Written content © 2012 Christopher Donohue, FourBuckets.
Why Being A Perfectionist May Not Be So Perfect Are you a perfectionist? Do you spend a lot of time “perfecting” your work,so everything comes out the way you want it to? I believe all of us are perfectionists in our own right. I’m a perfectionist, too. And a dedication towards perfection undoubtedly helps us to achieve great results. How so? We become less efficient. However, the problem isn’t perfectionism. The problem is when the quest for perfectionism turns into an obsession – so much so that the perfectionist becomes neurotic over gaining “perfection” and refuses to accept anything less than perfect. The answer isn’t to stop being a perfectionist. Here are my 8 personal tips on how we can be healthy perfectionists. Draw a line. Are you a perfectionist? Image: doublej11 Read full content
How to Exercise an Open Mind - WikiHow Edit Article Edited by Sam Rawlins, Krystle C., Richd, Erika Altek and 105 others One hour of increased brain activity via innovative thinking or experiencing new stimuli can make you smarter, more energetic, more creative, more sociable, and more open to new experiences and ways of thinking. The key ingredients are to be open to new experiences and to make changes in previous ways of thinking about these experiences. Ad Steps 1Don’t allow yourself any dead time. 20Browse something that you are not familiar with the internet. Tips Become more like an inquisitive child. Warnings Exercising an "open" mind and "stimulating" your mind are different.