“Don’t ignore your fear. Acknowledge it. As soon as you know you’re going to give that speech or design that training program, take a quiet moment and experience the fear that comes with the importance of the project. … Resist the temptation to minimize your anxiety. That’s a false macho response and it lacks courage. It’s also counterproductive; it gives power to the fear, almost guaranteeing that it will haunt you and prevent your progress.”

Peter Bergman, from his article How to Start the Big Project You’ve Been Putting Off

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“We’re not meant to operate like computers. Human beings are designed to pulse between spending/renewing energy.”

Tony Schwartz

After a great vacation I’m fully refreshed and now ready to charge at full speed.  Don’t neglect the renewing energy phase.  As difficult as it is, the best thing you can do for your productivity, drive and creativity it to completely unplug.

The quote from Tony Schwartz was from a previous year’s 99% Conference.  Don’t miss out on the 2012 99% Conference since it will sell out fast!  I bought my tickets yesterday.

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Enter the Dragon: The Old Man Schedule

I’m doing it. No more playing around. I’m manning up. I’m doing the old man schedule.
—Matthew Smith, Squaredeye

Over the last few months I have attempted—unsuccessfully—to switch to a much earlier schedule built around highly productive early mornings, getting the most out of time with my family, and cutting out all of the late nights.  I always feel like I accomplish significantly more on the old man schedule, but I need to learn the ability to fight the urge to stay up late just to get “one more thing done”.

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The 1-Step Plan for Super-Productivity

Wake Up Early

Excellent article from 99 Percent on how rising early to start your day will lead to better productivity and a greater sense of control over your day.

When I interview creatives, I often ask them what advice they would give to the next generation, the up-and-comers. Curiously, there’s one incredibly important habit that nearly all of them possess that is almost never mentioned. So what is the secret ingredient in their productivity regime? It’s simple: They get up early.

Over the next two weeks I’m going conduct an experiment and try several techniques to shift my schedule to early mornings verses late into the night, define a consistent work schedule, boost my focus on one thing at a time, and get better at keeping a todo list. During this process I plan on writing about my personal reasons for the experiment, some of the techniques I’m trying and of course the results. Wish me luck!

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Where do you go when you need to get work done?

Jason Fried recently asked this question on signal vs. noise and the responses were quite interesting.

For me when I’m in a creative mode I need a lot of people around to help me really focus in.  I always feel far more productive when I’m in a busy public place, like a coffee shop, with a good pair of noise canceling headphones. Somehow the active act of ignoring all the busyness moving around me helps me to zone in and focus.

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Workaholism


From 37signals’ book REWORK, illustration by Mike Rohde

Our culture celebrates the idea of the workaholic. We hear about people burning the midnight oil. They pull all-nighters and sleep at the office. It’s considered a badge of honor to kill yourself over a project. No amount of work is too much work.

Not only is this workaholism unnecessary, it’s stupid. Working more doesn’t mean you care more or get more done. It just means you work more.

Workaholics make the people who don’t stay late feel inadequate for “merely” working reasonable hours. That leads to guilt and poor morale all around. Plus, it leads to an ass-in-seat mentality—people stay late out of obligation, even if they aren’t really being productive.

- Excerpt from 37signals’ REWORK released today, download PDF excerpt

There has been several times in my career where I fell into this cycle working countless nights and weekends.  Looking back a lot of what drives workaholism is insecurity in your work and approval from your peers.  When you fall into the cycle of workaholism it always takes far longer to make creative decisions, think critically and produce exceptional work.  In my personal experience, after putting in the long hours any ground I gained was usually lost the following day or week as I struggled with not having enough downtime for my mind to be fresh.

There is a distinct difference from being a workaholic and pulling the very rare all-nighter in an effort to sprint towards a deadline.  One will leave you constantly trying to make up for lost productivity with endless hours and the other gives you a sense of pride and accomplishment in launching a project.

Over the last few years I have actively worked at shifting mindset from working around the clock to working with intense focus and productivity.  As a result I have been able to accomplish more that I am proud of, and more importantly I have been able to spend far more time with family enjoying life.

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Routines, Systems and Spontaneity The height of sustainable creative process can be found at the intersection of routines, systems and spontaneity.  Mark McGuinness writes about the balance of these three core processes in an article for Behance Magazine. Routines - “a key that unlocks creative inspiration” through associative triggers Systems - creating systems so that nothing gets overlooked when your routines are broken by events Spontaneity - taking moments to wander from the usual routine to expose yourself to new experiences Via ilovecharts

Routines, Systems and Spontaneity

The height of sustainable creative process can be found at the intersection of routines, systems and spontaneity.  Mark McGuinness writes about the balance of these three core processes in an article for Behance Magazine.

  • Routines - “a key that unlocks creative inspiration” through associative triggers
  • Systems - creating systems so that nothing gets overlooked when your routines are broken by events
  • Spontaneity - taking moments to wander from the usual routine to expose yourself to new experiences

Via ilovecharts

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IdeaPaint helps you make ideas happen in the existing areas around your creative space or office. We recommend using IdeaPaint to boost productivity while brainstorming. By transforming your walls into useful space, you can track ideas, capture action steps, and bring order to the creative process.

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