When you write things and post them online, you become vulnerable. People may disagree with you. Tell you you’re wrong. Ignore you. The fear of how other people will respond can be paralyzing. So you have to decide: will I share things with the world or will I keep them to myself? As if the paralysis of human response wasn’t enough for a blog, I’ve started another project: a podcast. ...
This is part three of a three-part series on the productivity method called Getting Things Done developed by David Allen. I explained GTD in the first post. In the second post I shared my personal GTD tools and workflow. In this final post will explain the critical GTD component called the weekly review I’m bad at taking time to reflect. I enjoy the process, and I know it’s good for me, but blocking out large chunks of time to look around instead of moving forward is tough. But David Allen insists that those who use GTD to its full potential are faithful weekly reviewers. The weekly review is the time for you to get caught up, process everything, and prepare for the week ahead. Go into your office, shut the door, turn off your phone and close off communication to the rest of the world. Make sure you’re on the right path and that you’re not just grinding things out without knowing why you’re doing your work. Some people do it Friday afternoon. I walk through my weekly review on Sunday evening. The time isn’t important–making it a regular appointment with yourself is the key. ...
This is part two of a three-part series on the productivity method called Getting Things Done developed by David Allen. I explained GTD in the first post. In this post I’ll share my personal GTD workflow, and the final post explains the critical GTD component called the weekly review. I’ve used nearly every type of tool to organize my workflow and manage my tasks. I’ve used Moleskine journals of every size, Clear, Reminders, Evernote, my email inbox–you name it. But I’ve landed on the big daddy of Apple GTD systems to get things done–Omnifocus. ...
This is part one of a three-part series on the productivity method called Getting Things Done developed by David Allen. I’ll explain GTD in the first post, share my personal GTD workflow in post two, and the final post will explain the critical GTD component called the weekly review. People who are into productivity love talking about productivity. [footnote]Just as every successful blogger also writes about becoming a successful blogger. Or how writers write about writing. Very meta.[/footnote] I’m one of those awful people. I’m always on the lookout for new methods, apps and models for crossing stuff off my checklist. [footnote]And yes, I’m the kind of guy who writes things down I’ve already done just to cross them off the list.[/footnote] I’m a huge fan of Matt Perman’s work in What’s Best Next, but the precursor to Matt’s book and methodology Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen. I read the book last summer and I’ve been using the system in some capacity ever since. GTD is a flexible system of productivity that essentially helps you get all you need to do out of your head and into a system (physical or digital) so you don’t miss anything. There are five basic steps in the system: Collect Process Organize Review Do Allen’s mantra is, “Mind like water.” You want your mind to respond exactly as water does to an input: a tiny splash when a pebble comes in, but a massive wave when a boulder drops. Nothing more, nothing less. Then, right back to stillness, ready for the next input. He also notes that most people spend more time thinking of things instead of thinking about things. We’re constantly trying to rack our brain to make sure we’re not screwing something up instead of thinking about ideas, solving problems and communicating with clarity. So how does someone get started with GTD? ...
I’ve tried to learn guitar a half-dozen times. By try, I mean I’ve pulled my guitar out of its case at least once a year. And by learn I mean I want to instantly be able to play any song like an expert. The furthest I’ve ever made it was three days in a row of practice. My new record is 5 weeks (and counting!) What changed? Well for one, my level of effort. For the rest, these are my lessons of learning guitar that apply to pretty much anything. 1. Replace a bad habit with a good habit Every morning I used to wake up, check Twitter, Facebook, email and my RSS feeds. I’d blink and an hour had gone by, and at that point I was definitely awake. I hated wasting time in the morning–which is definitely my most productive time of day. So I decided that I’d spend that half hour each day practicing guitar instead of milling through gobbledygook 140 characters at a time. If you’re interested in habits, I recommend The Power of Habit. The audiobook version is fantastic. ...
Sometimes I get stuck in trying to think through a problem. I feel like I’ve hit a wall and I’m not sure how to work around it. I’m not the most experienced person to answer most of the questions I’m struggling to answer. But that person isn’t always reachable (or worth bothering!) So I take off my Jordan hat and put on my expert hat. And then I just try to think about it the way they would. How would Seth Godin connect with people and tell them about this thing? How would Niki respond when someone is a total jerk? How would my boss respond to that difficult question? If I can’t think of a particular expert, I just try to pretend I’m coming in as an outside consultant. If someone asked me what I would do in this situation as an outsider, what would I say? ...
As someone who highly values learning, growing and productivity, fiction can feel like a dirty word. But I’ve realized significant benefits from digging into fiction books over the last year, specifically Christian fiction (with a handful of dystopian novels thrown in). Why Fiction Rocks 1. Relaxing Reading fiction is engaging in passive learning. Instead of highlighting, dog earing and taking notes in fiction books, I feel the freedom to just read and let the words wash over me. After reading a string of non-fiction books, no matter how good they are, it’s nice to read a book without a pen in hand. 2. Expanding vocabulary I can’t remember the last time I read a book and didn’t have to turn to a dictionary to find the meaning of a word. I love it when an author uses such a precise word for a particular situation. We’re truly blessed in the English langauge to have so many specific words for certain scenarios. I use Terminology by Agile Tortoise (also the makers of Drafts for iOS) for looking up words and synonyms. 3. Looking for deeper meaning What I love about Christian fiction is finding pieces of the gospel wrapped in the stories. It’s as if there’s a whole other layer waiting to be explored in every well-written fiction book with new ideas to discover. ...
One of the most fascinating things in the world is how impressively good people are at lying to themselves. Humans are masters of rationalization (myself most certainly included). “It’s ok to eat that whole cake–I walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes this morning.” “It’s ok to spend money I don’t have–I should be getting a bonus soon.” “It’s ok to buy the latest, greatest whatever–my current one is going to die soon anyway.” Some of these lies are worse than others. But we rarely admit to ourselves that we’re lying. We turn our backs on truth and logic. Instead of facing truth or guilt head on, we rationalize. What is Rationalization? Here’s a definition snagged from everyone’s favorite encyclopedia, Wikipedia. In parenthesis on the page next to rationalization it actually says “making excuses.” That’s awfully clear. But here’s a fuller [definition](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalization_(making_excuses): Rationalization is…a defense mechanism in which perceived controversial behaviors or feelings are logically justified and explained in a rational or logical manner in order to avoid any true explanation, and are made consciously tolerable – or even admirable and superior – by plausible means. Essentially, it’s forcing illogical things into a logical box. We twist and turn, prod and poke until something that was once irrational becomes not just acceptable but perhaps even admirable in our own minds. ...
No one goes skydiving without going through training. It’s mandatory, it’s essential and it’d be pretty foolish to launch out of a moving aircraft without knowing what you’re doing. Employers that have a high emphasis on training have a high value on effectiveness, efficiency and keeping their employees. If your organization doesn’t “believe in” training, that should be a red flag. Here’s why training is essential for success. ...
Niki and I enjoy pretending that we’re coffee snobs.[footnote]I mean this in the most loving way possible. Snob is a term of endearment here.[/footnote] We’re not. A few things disqualify us: We occassionally drink our coffee with cream and not black. Strike 1. We most regularly brew Eight O’Clock coffee, Hazelnut variety. Not fair trade, not locally roasted, and flavored. Strike 2. We most often brew coffee via a standard, (yet convenient) drip coffee maker.[footnote]We love this coffee maker. It has no pot, so it’s most ideal if you have a sprayer attached to your sink to add water, but being potless is awesome.[/footnote] Strike 3. Now, I’ll make a case for us being moderate coffee snobs: We own an AeroPress and a French Press (but the latter is currently collecting dust). We use a burr grinder instead of a blade grinder (a cheap one, but it gets the job done). I drink close to half a pot of coffee a day. Starbucks isn’t our favorite variety of java. I hope that gets us at least partially into the graces of those who are true coffee connoisseurs. At any rate, I’ve searched around the Interwebs a fair amount to find a “Starter Guide to Coffee Snobbery” and I’ve come up short. Since I don’t fully qualify for full-on coffee snob status, I’d say I’m in a good position to take a stab at helping others climb the latter to fancy coffee drinking. Let’s go. ...