Blending skills in new ways. | From The Head Of Zeus Jones
(via heyitsnoah)
Tag Results: productivity
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.
It seems to me that the right approach is to think as you act, to learn while you practice, to develop systems and frameworks through doing.
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
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.
Jason Fried keynote @ Big Omaha 2009
- Failure Is Not Necessary
- Business Plans are Guesses (and worthless)
- Interruption vs. Collaboration
- Harness By-Products
- Sharing Knowledge
- Focus on What Doesn’t Change
- Inspiration Expires Quickly
“Short-term rewards are meant to sustain, to keep the status quo. It is during the pursuit of extraordinary achievements that traditional short-term rewards fail.”
Read the full article at Behance Magazine
Every action taken (or not taken) either pushes your idea forward or holds it back. Sometimes we ignore the intangible elements of productivity, namely self-awareness, discipline, and confidence. You must manage yourself as you manage ideas. If you stop and think about it, your ability to make ideas happen is dependent on you and…the ball.
