Just sent a new edition of the learn create share newsletter out with a new creative challenge. Now time to record a sketchnote video!
What is an idea from a productivity book you’ve found helpful?
I remember next actions being fantastic for helping teenage me break through procrastination. Tasks that seemed so massive could be broken into chunks and then I just had to do the next step.
I still want @gr36 to write a productivity blog/series of post and call it “Gregging Things Done”.*
*Also applies to other Gregs. Feel free to steal.
🔗 Kings of Leon Will Be the First Band to Release an Album as an NFT
🔗 Kings of Leon Will Be the First Band to Release an Album as an NFT
The band is actually dropping three types of tokens as part of a series called “NFT Yourself,” people involved in the project tells Rolling Stone. One type is a special album package, while a second type offers live show perks like front-row seats for life, and a third type is just for exclusive audiovisual art.
Really interesting to see what NFT will do to the music industry and arts in general. It’s also very encourging to see that this isn’t DRM 2.0 but offering additional benefits. At the same time, bands have been offering extra add ons to superfans for a while. Perhaps NFT is a bit overblown. Regardless, the person behind KoL marketing should take a bow for the press this will get.
Do I need to interrupt them?
I communicate with my team through a combination of real-time messaging and email. Before I send a message, I try to ask myself “Do I need to interrupt them?”.
I say try because sometimes I forget to reflect on this point (sometimes because I DO need to interrupt them). Most of the time, the answer is “no” or “not now” (I asked my team when they are most productive and I try to guard those hours for them) but sometimes the answer is yes.
Depending on the answer to the question, I can work out if I should
- fire off a quick message
- send an email
- add an item to a task list
- or just wait. I know how annoying it can be to have the over eager colleague who has to share every idea, and I know I can fit that description to a tee. So I try to rein myself in so they can stay fully focused.
Of course, I’ve written this down as I just felt the pull to send a message and then realised, I can and should wait till the end of the day.
That’s at least one success for the day.
This may be the best image i’ve ever made for a blog post. also I hate drawing hands.
It’s amazing how no one objected to our messages about a social media initative for our internal company party, for Valentines day, for clean your desk day, for earth day (coming)…but when it comes to international women’s day, we didn’t follow the right procedure and that’s why people are upset…it’s almost like it’s the cause they object to…I’m sure they just “forgot” to complain about the other things. I mean…they’re not sexist, they have friends who are women.
If a consultant doesn’t use the word leverage at least once an email…are they really a consultant?
Currently catching up on CJ Chilvers site. Really like his new simple design and was surprised that it’s a squarespace site not Ghost. I wonder whether his issues with transferring posts to MB had to do with using Squarespace?
There is a Ben Gibbard’s signature guitar… I now have a new dream guitar (it’s not really my dream guitar, but I do want it.)
I would do a how it started how it’s going thing but I had to trade in my UK driving licence to get this one.
Oh boy! Mobile apps are coming to obsidian. I’d bet you’d have to use (and pay) obsidian sync but as long as the files are still plain text, this is an easy “shut up and take my subscription.”
I always intend to take a before and after haircut photo… today I actual took one!
After seven years of learning Polish, I still sometimes use the wrong gender adjective endings.
My two-year-old daughter just corrected me.
So how’s your Friday going.
I’m so done with Unsplash images.
I really hate seeing the same images over and over again as well as these prestine pictures of minimalist desktops. I vow to only use photos I take for my blog from now on.
Thank you for listening to my TED talk.
Yesterday’s walk with my daughter.
A return to time blocking
Back when I was a teacher, I was a huge believer in time blocking: planning your day and marking certain hours for certain activities. It made total sense for me back then. I knew when I’d be in a class, I could estimate my travel times, and setting boundaries on lesson planning helped overcome Parkinson’s law. But after transitioning to work for a corporation in marketing, I had stopped time blocking. At first I had tried to use time blocking principles, but I found the days were too changeable and I’d often have to suddenly drop what I was doing for something else. It didn’t seem to make sense.
Now I’m managing a team, this trend has got worse and yet I’ve decided to return to time blocking.
Why return to time blocking
Although I have less control over interruptions (with more coming from above and below), that is precisely why I need to block certain time for what Cal Newport calls “deep work”. If I am always in reactive mode, with inboxes open for any interruption, then I never really engage with my work properly. And while there is some amount of instability I’ll never be able to prepare for, I can predict certain parts of my week (for example, when I need to review some content before it’s published and when I’m more likely to be messaged). I also need to create some blocked off times and the only way I can do that is by planning. If I hope a time of concentrated, distraction free work time will magically arise, it never will. I have to make it.
Time to begin
So I’m using the daily plan bar in my Leuchttrum bullet journal again. I’m intrigued to see how this experiment goes but I’m hopeful. I know that there will still be interruptions and my plans will never be 100% realized, but I’m confident it will be better than going in blind.
I recorded some test footage with my new light today. It is a massive improvement over my previous lighting. Just trying to work out some practical issues for my next sketchnote video.
The test run of SPS has been fantastic! Basecamp was the perfect choice, in fact, I couldn’t have picked a better platform and I didn’t! Time for the next step.
Billionaire most likely to own a volcano base…Jeff Besos or Elon Musk?