productivity

Productivity Tip: Crank up the music -- I don't do this enough, and when I rediscover this, I always seem to ask why I don't do it more.

The Law of Horizontal Surfaces: Given enough time, any horizontal surface will collect clutter.   The speed at which that clutter collects is directly proportional to the total area of the surface.

I've been thinking on my schedule throughout the week (again) -- trying to fill in the blocks that are meaningful to me, and then surrounding that with the stuff that I have to do.   I like the idea of a slower start to my day, but also starting in a way that provides some inspiration. I think I need a good stack of design magazines sitting around, and my day begins by working through those while drinking my morning coffee. Perhaps I even do this outside, so I can enjoy the sunshine and listen to the birds.

Time off is a good thing. I generally need to take some time off to realize this. I'm not sure the minimum amount of time needed, perhaps a week or so. Generally after a few days, my enthusiasm to get back to work rises and I'm kind of eager to get back to things. My thinking expands and I start to think about big ideas again. That desire to "take over the world" begins to creep back into my mindset. Whenever I'm off, I begin to think that I need to do this more often. Perhaps when I'm able to, I just take an automatic week off at the end of every quarter. Just some time to step back from everything, reassess my goals, and regain my ambition.

When you have a hard time getting going, just hit some small, easy to accomplish things. Get something off your list, check that checkmark, and see if you can get some momentum going.

"I remember my grandfather telling me how each of us must live with a full measure of loneliness that is inescapable, and we must not destroy ourselves with our passion to escape the aloneness." ​— Jim Harrison

I firmly believe that doing just a few things here and there is an effective strategy for getting shit done over the long term.

I feel that there is an optimal mix of activities that makes me feel accomplished, happy, and fulfilled. The trick of course is finding the right mix and sticking to it.

My productivity hack of the day -- occasionally get up and run in place for a minute or two. This seems to wake me up a little bit and gets the blood flowing.