The Morning Routine Experts Recommend for Peak Productivity What’s the best way to start your day so that you really get things done? Laura Vanderkam studied the schedules of high-achievers. What did she find? Almost all have a morning routine. I’ve interviewed a ton of top experts about their productivity secrets: Tim Ferriss, Cal Newport, Dan Ariely, Charles Duhigg, and others. But you’re busy. So many readers have written to me saying what my friend Jason always does: “I don’t have time. Okay, time to round up what the experts have said and build a roadmap. 1) Stop Reacting Get up before the insanity starts. When I spoke to productivity guru Tim Ferriss, bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, what did he say? Here’s Tim: I try to have the first 80 to 90 minutes of my day vary as little as possible. Most of us get up and it seems like things are already in motion. So of course you aren’t achieving your goals. You need to wake up before the insanity starts. (For more from Tim Ferriss on what the most productive people do every day, click here.)
How To Start Keeping A Journal | The Kirk Report At some point you have probably already read somewhere about the importance of keeping a trading journal. In other words, taking time each and every day to write down and store your thoughts, observations and actions concerning the market and your trading activities. This exercise is done not only to keep those stored for future reference, but also as a self-evaluation tool to track your development. Given the complexity of the market, it is impossible for most us to recall simply from memory what we’ve learned, how we’ve acted in certain situations, and more importantly the best tactics to employ in specific market conditions and situations. If you ask most successful traders they will tell you that keeping a journal can be helpful. So, why don’t traders keep good journals or not at all? Looking back, I was very fortunate. This also raises the third issue I see – most traders don’t really know or understand really what a trading journal should include and so they don’t even begin.
How to Hone Your Creative Routine and Master the Pace of Productivity by Maria Popova “When you work regularly, inspiration strikes regularly.” We seem to have a strange but all too human cultural fixation on the daily routines and daily rituals of famous creators, from Vonnegut to Burroughs to Darwin — as if a glimpse of their day-to-day would somehow magically infuse ours with equal potency, or replicating it would allow us to replicate their genius in turn. And though much of this is mere cultural voyeurism, there is something to be said for the value of a well-engineered daily routine to anchor the creative process. Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind (public library), edited by Behance’s 99U editor-in-chief Jocelyn Glei and featuring contributions from a twenty of today’s most celebrated thinkers and doers, delves into the secrets of this holy grail of creativity. It’s time to stop blaming our surroundings and start taking responsibility. Step by step, you make your way forward. Donating = Loving
Keeping a Writer's Journal: 21 Ideas to Keep You Writing Keeping a Writer's Journal: 21 Ideas to Keep You Writing by Sheila Bender Return to Creative Nonfiction · Print-Friendly Version Keeping a journal is one of the best tools to practice trusting your writing and to make sure you keep writing. You can keep a journal in a cheap or an expensive notebook, on scraps of paper dropped into a box, in computer files or in letter form. Just as long as you write as much and as often as you can without editing yourself and you have access to the words you've written, you are keeping a journal. If you haven't been journaling or doing it as often as you wish, think about where you write and when you are likely to have time to write. It may seem intimidating to develop the journal-keeping habit, and you may be thinking defeatist thoughts already, such as "I can't do this regularly forever. Make a specific commitment for a month. Next, make a commitment to the same system or to a new journal-keeping system for an additional month. Idea 1: A Travel Journal
The Science of Productivity. “It is not enough to be busy… The question is: what are we busy about?” ~ Henry David Thoreau Busy is already a given in our twenty-first century stampede. Busyness has multiplied by all kinds of parallel realities. It used to be just made of flesh. Meet Lady Productivity, our century’s muse. How do you assess your productivity? Contrary to what we tend to believe and try, productivity can’t be increased only by willpower, ability, or the amount of time we spend on a project. Optimal productivity boils down to a healthy balance between work and play, activity and rest. The brilliant creators at AsapSCIENCE, try to decode productivity in this animated science bite: Created by AsapSCIENCE in collaboration with Sparring Mind. Review, Rewind, Remember… Tips to boost your productivity: 1. What works for you? What doesn’t? What could? What’s the first step? Take it now? More creative, compact curiosity by AsapSCIENCE: >> Could Zombies Exist? >> The Scientific Power of Naps. >> What’s behind an orgasm.
graphic design 1920s 1930s 1940s 1960s 1970s in paper ephemera This brochure is another example of a series of brochures issued by the South Manchurian Railway as part of a beautiful series in the second half of the 1930s (previous). This brochure “Hsinking” was issued in 1935 to promote travel to Hsinking the capital of Manchuria. The artist signed it either in a Chinese character or with his own symbol but I cannot identify it. I particularly love the smaller letters embedded in the larger letters. As noted previously, I do not know the back story on the creation of this brochure series. The South Manchuria Railway ( or 満鉄 “Mantetsu”) was created by Japan after its victory over Russia in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War to develop Manchuria. Travel Brochure: Hsinking, South Manchuria Railway, 1935, Cover click for more images… Tagged as: 1930s, art deco, booklet, brochure, design, ephemera, graphic design, japan, manchuria, mantetsu, railroad, smr, south manchuria railway, travel brochure, 満鉄 南満州鉄道 Along Manchurian Railways, 1937 Artist Unknown, cover
How Keeping Things Simple Makes You A Productive Entrepreneur Running your own business is a complicated affair; making it successful can be even more complicated. If you don’t have a plan to be productive and keep focused, the details that you are responsible for can quickly overwhelm you. In fact, one of the biggest failings of new entrepreneurs is to get so caught up in an avalanche of unimportant details that more important priorities get left unattended on the table. What can you do to be a productive entrepreneur, focused on what really matters? Get up early, so that you don’t lose those most productive early hours. Start your day with a bang. here is some great advice from some highly productive people: Work fast – don’t waste time with the many distractions waiting to tempt you. Think faster, too. Original source – Funders and Founders
Visualizing Wifi This is one of those things I’ve always wondered in the back of my mind. How far does a WiFi network actually reach and what would it look like? How come I have reception in one spot and not in another? Well a team from Oslo including Timo Arnall, Jørn Knutsen, and Einar Sneve Martinussen set out to answer just such a question by creating visual representations of actual Wifi networks to spectacular effect. Utilizing long-exposure photography and a four-metre long measuring rod with 80 LED light points they were able to “reveal” cross-sections in wireless networks. We built the WiFi measuring rod, a 4-metre tall probe containing 80 lights that respond to the Received Signal Strength (RSSI) of a particular WiFi network. See the full photo set and read much more about the project here.
Benefits of Simplicity to Productivity Simplicity is often perceived as boring, unattractive and unremarkable. Majority of people want something striking and complicated. But as Leonardo da Vinci has said, Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Different to the common belief, simplicity is not boring, unattractive or unremarkable. The Misconception of Being Productive The common error of people who aim to succeed at something is the tendency to make the process complicated, such as over analysis and accepting responsibility beyond one’s capacity. Take for an instance when an individual or company spends too much time planning and perfecting a product. However, being productive neither needs too much analysis nor working long hours. The Benefits Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! If you want to be more productive with minimal effort and stress, learn how to simplify and stay focus. 1. Simplicity aids clarity; the directness of expression and purpose. 2. The majority of people are incapable of staying focused. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Cahokia The Rule of 3 The rule of 3 is a very simple way to get results. Rather than get overwhelmed by your tasks, you bite off 3 things you can accomplish. This puts you in control. If nothing else, it gives you a very simple frame for the day. 3 is the Magic Number When I explain parts of my new book to my friends, they seem to really latch on to this rule of 3. The Rule of 3 AppliedHere’s how the rule of 3 applies to time: 3 outcomes for the day3 outcomes for the week3 outcomes for month3 outcomes for the year The outcomes at each level support each other and help guide your results. The Forest from the Trees Having 3 outcomes at each level (day, week, month, year) helps you see the forest from the trees. Outcomes Over ActivitiesDon’t confuse activities with results. Yearly Goals If you find you get lost in your goals or if your goals are too complex, try the rule of 3. get to my fighting weighttake an epic adventureship my productivity book Start your day with the rule of 3. My Related Posts
29 Incredibly Useful Websites You Wish You Knew Earlier There are so many wonderful websites around, and it is difficult to know each and every one of them. The below list provides some of those websites that I find particularly helpful, even though they are not as famous or as prevalent as some of the big names out there. 1. BugMeNot Are you bugged constantly to sign up for websites, even though you do not wish to share your email? 2. This nifty little website tracks whether the emails sent by you were opened and read by the receiver. If you are on a constant lookout of free full length movies, then Zero Dollar movies provides a collection of over 15,000 movies in multiple languages that are available to watch for free on Youtube. 4. Livestream allows you to watch and broadcast events live to viewers on any platform. scr.im converts your email address into a short custom URLs, that can be shared on public websites. 6. TinEye is a Reverse Image search tool which is as accurate as Google’s Reverse Image search tool. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
Working remotely & Getting things done 4) Keep on Learning “You need to read this book!…” If Warren Buffet can still make time to read, I figure I can do that too, especially when engaging in those longer commutes. My colleagues love to read, they always have great recommendations, When I find something interesting, I go ahead and YouTube proof it: Do I enjoy this topic enough to spend 5–10 hours reading about it? Speed-watching a video (2x speed) on the topic helps me find out, Ok, that’s my kind of book! Kindle reading is awesome! Equally awesome, I recently got addicted to Audible.com: Most audio books I found are 6 to 9-hour long, You can listen to them at 3x speed… Going through an entire book through a flight, or a single afternoon: Be advised that 3x listening requires your full attention… 5) Concentration flow How long should you spend on any given task? “Timeboxing allocates a fixed time period to each planned activity” Also, I love to listen to music when I’m working. “focus@will is a new neuroscience based music service”