Lately being productive has been a struggle. Maybe it’s because my schedule is much more relaxed than usual during the the summer months, or perhaps it’s because of some added stress coming from various sources…or maybe I’m just being lazy . Whatever the cause, I’ve found that how productive I am over the course of the day really depends on how I start things out.

I’ve noticed that if I shrug off the first few items on my plan for the day, I’m much less like to do any of it. If I just discipline myself enough to do the first few items though, I usually come pretty close to getting everything done. After that initial moment of decision to be productive, motivation just doesn’t seem that hard to come by.

So right now, starting my day out right is the biggest challenge for me. It’s not that I don’t want to get things done…in fact, most of the “tasks” on my list are things I truly enjoy (working on my master’s thesis, for example). It just seems like it takes a lot of effort to actually sit down and get started.

A few things I’ve implemented to help myself get off the ground in the mornings:

• I’ve been trying to establish a very regular routine: Get up, eat breakfast, morning meditation, start my tasks.

• I try to make my first task small and easy to complete.

• I’ve been making my second task my biggest one for the day, usually working on my thesis. Once I’ve completed my goal for the day there, everything else seems a bit more manageable.

How do you make sure you get off to a productive start each day? Share your thoughts and experiences in the forums.

Photo Credit: FreeWine

I’ve been away for a while, re-organizing my professional life after the death of a colleague.  My new responsibilities dramatically reduced my free time, and had a less-than-perfect effect on my personal life as well.  But, in the midst of the chaos, I have (again) started thinking about how to keep my work out of my business (forgive the pun).

I have a saying I use a lot – ‘I refuse to get stressed over leisure activities.’  What it means is that, in general, work is stressful enough.  Life, kids, the house – those are stressful enough.  When we do finally manage to squeeze in a little leisure, it’s a minor miracle.  So, in those moments, I try hard to ensure that whatever I have planned isn’t planned too tightly.  I don’t worry about being late.  I don’t worry about my appearance (too much).  I definitely don’t worry about the cost.  I want to enjoy the whole activity – “The journey is half the experience”, or whatever trite saying you want to use.

When work gets crazy, as it has for me, it often spills out of the office.  The text messages, phone calls, email via iPhone/blackberry…  heck, even what is in your head.  It is all distracting.  It all can detract from your rare leisure time.  Worse yet, for me anyway, it can bring stress into my leisure activities.  And that’s one thing I won’t tolerate.

So, what do to about it?  My current strategy is to try to take myself off the grid a little, but to abort the leisure activity if it seems stressful.  It isn’t doing anyone any good, so I just pack it in and try again another time.  Unfortunately, that hasn’t worked out very well.  I need a new approach.  I need a way to periodically and briefly divorce my professional life from my leisure time.  And that way needs to not involve drinking until I can’t remember I have a job.

Suggestions?  Let’s discuss it in the forums!

An important part of my productivity system is taking a little time at the end of each day to do a quick review of my tasks, brain dump whatever is on my mind, and plan the next day. I’ve found that best time for me to do this is about 10:30pm, right before I hit the sack at 11. The problem is, I’ve found that when the last thing I do right before I go to bed is stare at a computer screen for half an hour, I’m usually not very relaxed, my mind is often racing, and I have a little trouble getting to sleep.

In contrast, I’ve noticed that when I take some time to “unplug” before bed, I tend feel less stressed and quite a bit more calm when I go to sleep. So I’ve decided to take my task list completely offline for a while, and do my daily review/planning not in my office at my computer, but in the living room while resting in a nice, comfy chair.

I’ve already started implementing my daily “lo-fi ritual” and I’m already seeing some key benefits:

• It’s more social. I usually plan while my wife reads. While we’re not having a fully interactive discussion, it’s nice to just sit in the same room, listening to the same music together as we wind down our day.
• I’m learning how to better use paper tools. I recently invested in a whole slew of Circa stuff from Levenger, along with a Shirt Pocket Briefcase, and I’m enjoying learning how to best use these new tools. I’m rediscovering a love for hand-writing things that I thought was long gone. Paper may or may not be the most efficient process for me (I’m still learning) but for some reason I’m finding it satisfying and stress relieving to physically write down my tasks and thoughts.
• It’s more focused. Even when using my to do list & note applications full-screen, there’s always this temptation to check Twitter or my email. With just a pen and paper, I can really zero in on what I’m intending to think about.
• It’s easier on my eyes. I do most of my work each day at the computer. I do a lot of my “for-fun” activities (StarCraft, ftw) staring at a screen as well. By the end of the day, my eyes are tired, so taking a break is a welcome relief.

I’m sure I’ll discover even more advantages to making lo-fi notetaking and tasking part of regular routine and productivity system. Do you have a lo-fi ritual? Why not share in the forums?

Lately there seems to be a shift taking place in the blogosphere.

The more you read some of the mainstream blogs, the more you see the word “simplicity”.

I like the word “simplicity”.  Just typing it makes me fell less stressed.  Simple is of course the opposite of complicated.  Complication, naturally, increases stress.

The mantra we have started to march to of late is to simplify our lives.

I like the whole simplification push.  It is necessary. However, I do see some on the bandwagon to stop productivity in its tracks in the process.  I, for one, think that is not such a good idea.

Those that know me closely know that my thinking tends to gravitate toward the hybrid.  I am always piecing things together with ideas from several different places to make something work for me. Some of you will shreak when I say this, but my organizational philosophy is pieced together from several different schools of thought.  I personally believe that Stephen Covey speaks well to areas that David Allen does not spend a lot of focus time on, and vica versa.

For me, it is the same with simplicity and productivity.

There are some of us that no matter how well we organize and make our processes better, we still have way too much on our plate.  Then it becomes necessary to simplify our lives…eliminate some things…cut out unnecessary noise.

Simple processes are also desirable. Especially since simple processes breed effectiveness and efficiency.

But should we throw out the baby with the bath water on productivity?

Let’s look at these two terms and think on that.

In your dictionary, you will find this definition of the word simple…

1. easy to understand, deal with, use, etc.
2. not elaborate or artificial; plain
3. not complicated

On the other hand, the definition of produce is…

1. to bring into existence; give rise to; cause
2. to bring into existence by intellectual or creative ability

So, simple, an adjective is descriptive of a process or a task. Produce, however, is a verb. It requires action.

What does this mean for the people who are looking to not only get things done, but get the right things done when they matter?

It means that we should focus on simplifying the things we do as much as possible.  Why? Because we want to spend our time doing the right things with as little drag on the process as possible. Thus we focus on simple processes.  We also want to simplify in terms of our lifestyle. What do we need in life? What makes us happy? If something we do is not helping us achieve happiness and peace…should we be doing it?

The point is this…

Simplifying a process speaks to disciplining a process or procedure by which we do things.  Productivity is about disciplining ourselves to not just simplify that process or task, but to take action and be a doer.

Productivity and simplicity go hand in hand. Simplifying things makes us more productive.

Just remember, it is all about being done.

What are your thoughts?

Scott Ginsburg has a great column in the latest newsletter from Jeffrey Gitomer. In the article he discusses a double-handful of ways that you can make someone feel important, valued, and needed. These are, of course, important ways to develop and enhance your relationship with your team at work, even your family and friends.

If you don't write it down, it will never happen!

I was struck by three of these tips, involving the use of notes:

3. Take notes. Taking notes is proof. Taking notes keeps you mindful in the conversation. Taking notes honors someone’s thoughts. Taking notes is respectful. Taking notes increases someone’s self-esteem. Not to mention, if you don’t write it down, it never happened. Do you carry a notebook or jotter with you at all times?

4. Come back to notes. At a later date, refer back to the notes you took while listening to somebody. If possible, physically show that person the notes you took. Explain how you’ve applied their ideas since originally writing them down. How are you reinforcing the size of your ears?

5. Tell people to write things down. This practice takes note taking one step further. Next time someone says something powerful, instead of YOU jotting it down, tell HER to jot it down. It not only honors her thoughts; it gives her a chance to capture something valuable that she may not have recognized until you said something. How are you encouraging people’s inner poet?

Note-taking is an important skill for everyone, but I find it very interesting that Ginsberg suggests that we should encourage the note-taking skills of those we work and live with. The line, “if you don’t write it down, it never happened” (or never will...) is one of the gold nuggets in this article, and instilling this principle in those around you could go along way toward improving communication, teamwork, and eventual success.

What say you? Let’s discuss Note-taking and Relationships in the forum.

I gotta say, carving out time to pursue creative efforts is tough. Probably because art is not justifiable in terms of actual “usefulness,” unless you’re making something like furniture. I’d say art is one of the least pragmatic of disciplines simply because there’s not much perceived utility, whereas something like plumbing is seen as more useful. Which is understandable to a degree. A toilet that flushes itself every 5 minutes is more annoying than blank walls.

Art is really hard to quantify and qualify. (It’s really hard to price for this reason. It also explains why art is so expensive, since so much time goes into making it. Sadly, a lot of artists are making less than minimum wage on their work.) I can argue that creative endeavors go beyond ordinary utility or usefulness since they’re centered around a different kind of Value that is indeed difficult to quantify. You can’t deny the importance of art. Who would want to live in a world without music, art, or good food? It wouldn’t be worth much.

I think it’s this un-quantifiable-ness that makes it so hard to justify putting time aside to do creative work, just as it’s hard to sometimes justify taking time off. If you take a fishing trip, you’re not getting any work done, are you? But you come back refreshed, right? All too often, though, we wait until we’ve burned out before we do anything about it. That’s been my experience, at least.

So, setting time aside to work on my art is something I’ve personally struggled with for years. Since graduating from college in 2001 I’ve had difficulty setting time aside for doing art, although it’s the thing I want to do most. (Part of it is having a proper place to do it, but then again maybe I don’t want to do it badly enough?)

A few days ago, Nathan blogged about how he gets burned out he doesn’t take enough time away from “work.” While art isn’t necessarily a leisure activity, it’s just as necessary for people with that sort of drive. (Art is actually kind of anxiety-inducing, but it satisfies a sort of OCD desire to resolve an idea on canvas, in stone, or in music. That resolution in itself is very satisfying.)

I think the real solution is to set time aside for doing those creative things and sticking to it. I read a really great post recently that introduced me to this idea over at the Fine Art Views blog, where Jeffery Sparks talked about an artist who set aside time each evening to work on his art and get ready for his studio day, which was Saturday since he worked a day job during the week. I’ve attempted to do this, but I haven’t had any success due to all my current responsibilities at home. Then there are a number of distractions. When I was a bachelor, it was TV: reruns on Nick-at-Nite and Sci-Fi channel. Then as a newlywed it was just getting used to sharing a house with somebody and keeping things running, and now as a brand-new parent, it’s keeping the baby fed and the wife happy and the bills paid on time.

Like Nathan, I’m curious to know how you’ve conquered this, and if you’ve actually scheduled time to do your creative stuff. How did you make it work? Sound off in the forums.

I’m not a workaholic (that’s for sure) but lately I’ve found that it’s easy to for me use my entire day for work, work related tasks, or chores. Just a few weeks ago I realized I’d gone for well over a month without reading anything for fun! Worse, sometimes I’ll go an entire day and realize I haven’t had one real conversation with my wife.

To combat this problem (and it is a problem…what’s life without the people you love and stuff you love to do?) I’ve started instating some self-imposed boundaries  on my work habits, and I’ve actually begun scheduling out some time just for relaxing and hanging out (no computers allowed, unless video games are involved!!). I’ve had a lot of success in some areas…my weekly “date night” with my wife is a great example. We’ve both freed our schedules completely for Saturday evenings, and–barring some emergency or urgent engagement–the only thing we’re allowed to do during that time is hang out…watch movies, go out to eat, whatever. It’s a great way to catch up on the past week and relax in preparation for my busiest workday (Sunday).

I’ve also thought about scheduling in smaller blocks of time throughout each day as well, but this is a bit more difficult for me. There’s lots of anecdotal evidence on the web regarding increased productivity when people take regular breaks, etc. I think it will take substantial discipline to develop this habit for me; when I’m deep in “work-mode” I can easily go 4+ hours without a break. When I do take a short respite, it’s hard for me to tear myself away from something fun after only 15 minutes or so.  So, it’s a struggle to find the best “rhythm” for me. Should I take a fifteen minute break every two hours, thirty minutes every four? I don’t know…maybe trial-and-error is the best way to go here.

One thing is for sure though…as much as I love my job, my studies, and getting things done around the house, I get miserable real fast if those are the only things I’m doing. I think that although I may not get as much done in the beginning, making a conscious effort to put leisure activities at a higher priority on my lists will help bring a bit more balance to my life.

Do you schedule your leisure time? How do you find the right balance between work and break periods during the day? Do you find that regular “fun time” gives you a creative/productive boost? Let’s take it to the forums.

As we all know, life is about being our best in every role of our lives. So performing on the job is not the only important endeavor we should be concerned about.

Some of you young people out there are probably not as concerned about this as I am, but I am reaching the age where I need to focus a little less on living it up…and more on taking care of myself.

Health is an important part of our quality of life.

For many, it is enough to just get a 30 minute jog in and be happy with it. But if you are like me, you want to track progress. These days, the choices in terms of tools are vast. Again, your choice probably comes down to your preference of paper or something electronic.

There are forms that you can add to your paper planner that help you track everything from your nutrition to your jogging stats. You can even keep up with your resistance training by tracking your lifting.

There are also web based apps that will help you manage your health. My big cardio activity is cycling. We Endure is my tool of choice at this time.  It allows me to keep up with distance, total time, and calculates my average speed and time per minute.  We Endure helps me as I work toward my goal of averaging 100 miles in the saddle per week.

Mobile applications are available also for BlackBerry and the iPhone.  Most of these apps are used to track diet and nutrition.

The whole idea is this. We feel it is good to be able to track how we are performing on the job by keeping solid metrics. It only makes sense to track our performance as we manage our health with similar metrics.

What tools do you use as you work toward a healthier you?

Let’s discuss.

Last Saturday while waiting for lunch at the local Sonic Drive-In, I did a tiny bit of journaling about something that was on my mind at the moment. For whatever reason, I was thinking about the concept of value and what it means in terms of my day-to-day actions and activities. I suppose it arose out of my having just completed my normal Saturday morning routine, which consists of taking a trunk-load of garbage to the Cheatham County dump and filling up my car with gas for the week. Sometimes all these routines and chores just make me feel like I’m playing Whac-A-Mole: as soon as one chore is completed, there’s another one to be marked off in it’s place. Soon enough, the same chore comes back. But to what end? You know how it is: you have to clean the house again, do the laundry, mow the lawn, pay taxes, get a haircut, go grocery shopping, go to the gym, pay the bills, etc.

My point is not to bemoan the repetitive nature of these tasks, since many can be automated or outsourced (for a fee, of course) but I want to focus on whether any real value is created in doing them, whether that value is for me or for anyone else. And this is really directed at so-called “tasks” like catching up on Lost episodes or things that seemingly have value like organizing all your index cards. All too often I find myself filling up my time with “junk food” reading, whether it’s pointless magazines or websites or RSS feeds, things that don’t really add value to my life. Sure, there’s a place for all that, but if that’s all you do, you’re not doing much of value.

Personally, I’m trying to form the habit of asking myself, before I do anything, whether it’s on the job, at home, or elsewhere: “What value am I bringing to the world by doing this? Is what I’m doing bringing value to my life? My career? My family? How does it impact my relationships on a spiritual level, be it with God or those around me?” It’s interesting food for thought that has the potential to lead to a much richer, more productive, more creative life. It helps me find perspective when it feels like I’m just “doing chores.” It also helps weed out the unnecessary time-sinks.

Have you considered what kind of value you’re creating with what you do? What’s been the result? Please share over in the forums.

Despite the fact that I have a well-thought out, time-tested system for productivity, and a wealth of productivity related software and resources at my fingertips all the time, I really fell off the bandwagon this past week. While the main reason can truly be summed in one word (lazyness) there were several distinct areas where I failed to stay disciplined, and boy did my productivity (and thus my stress level) suffer.

• I left tried and true tools. I recently decided to try out some Moleskine Volant Extra Smalls as my capture notebook, and the fact is they’re just too small for me. I can’t really plan anything, take any kind of good notes, or make use of a full two-page spread. Cahiers and the larger Volant notebooks are much better for how I use them. Here’s the real problem, though: Even though I was aware that the Volants weren’t working for me, I kept using them! I hate to waste paper, but this was a mistake. I should have accepted the loss, given the unused Volants to my wife or a friend, and gone back to a tool that I know works for me.

• I fragmented my information repositories. Somewhere along the line I thought it would be cool to have a separate capture notebook for tasks only, and other notebooks for journaling and random ideas. The only one I’ve been carrying around is the task notebook (I leave the others in my man-bag). The result is that I’m jotting down less ideas and I have less access to information I want to have on hand. I gained some portability in the exchange (I use a thinner notebook for tasks only) but I’m really not conviced the trade-off was worth it.

• I stopped reviewing/planning. This is where I got really lazy. I had been taking a specific time at the end of each of days (at 10pm for half an hour) to process tasks from my capture notebook and plan the next day. This really helped to me to hit the ground running in morning and feel less stressed in general. Well, somehow I got out of that habit (it’s really been almost month since I’ve been consistent) and man, did I pay for it…pages of unprocessed capture lists, an overflowing inbox, and stressful planning in the mornings have wreaked havoc on my soul. Okay, that may have been a bit melodramatic, but seriously, I’ve been way more stressed than I need to be, simply because I’ve not been discplined to have a brief process/plan/review time each day!

The recovery plan is simple, thank goodness….I’m just going to do the opposite of all my mistakes . I’ve learned my lesson over the past few weeks, and this last week especially. I’m sticking to tools I know work for me…serious experimentation can wait ’till summer or vacation. I’m going to go buy a decent full sized Moleskine and consolidate my lists and journals, and I have to get back in the habit of regularly processing tasks and planning my day. A key strategy for getting back the swing of things on that front will be scheduling (duh!) my process/review/plan time.

If you feel like you haven’t been disciplined lately either, here are my sugestions:

• Write out the specific areas that you’ve been lacking in. Sounds like it should be obvious, but taking a just minute to put it down on paper will help you to solidfy where you want to improve in your mind and help you focus on the next step.

• Create an action list. For me, it was “buy new notebook” and “schedule planning period.” That’s it. You might be surprised at how small this particular todo list will be.

• Just Do It. This is really hard part. At some point, you have to move beyond simply planning, and into actually being disciplined in order to stick to your system. To help me stay motivated, I plan on setting some goals I know I will only achieve if I stick to my system, like creating an hour or two of extra time this week for leisure reading. I also plan to create reminders in the form of notes or something on my desktop that will help remember that in the end, I will be less stressed if I just take a little time each day to stay on the ball.

Maybe you’ve made some of the same mistakes I have…how did you get back on track? Let us know in the forums.