Let's face it, sometimes it's not easy to stay focused at work. There are so many distractions, especially if you're at a computer all day long like I am. Although it's tempting to spend the day goofing off and not getting much done, I find that at the end of a day like that, I am always unhappy. And I'm pretty sure I know why: not only do I feel guilty about being unproductive, but the work didn't go away! I've only made the next few days more hectic and stressful.I hadn't realized it until I wrote it down. Being unproductive makes me unhappy. So, I suppose it would stand to reason that being productive will make me happy! (or at least happier)
Last night I read an article called 18 Ways to Stay Focused at Work and have implemented a few of the suggestions so far today, including:There are some other great tips in there that I'm going to work on incorporating into my daily routine as well.
- #1: Creating a task list for the day
- #3: Time "Boxing" - alot yourself a specific amount of time for a task, then move on, even if you haven't finished it
- #5: Don't check personal email first thing in the morning...build momentum instead!
- #8: Use headphones without music
Well, my time box gave me 20 minutes to write this post, and I have 1 left, so I'd better move on to the next box. It's a personal call that should only take 5 minutes (shhh....don't tell anyone), but I don't have to feel bad about it because I've already gotten so much done this morning!
Try some of these out yourself, and post your results below in the comments.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Productivity = Happiness?
I just wrote this for my company's blog:
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
I'm looking for ideas
Let's say you have a lot of things you want to get done. None of them are absolutely crucial, but you'd like to do them all. Where do you start? Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with things that I need or want to do, and while my mind jumps back and forth between them, all that ever happens is that I create new problems to solve.
Does anyone have any personal tips about how they manage many different ideas and tasks at once? At this rate, sometimes I think I'll just be that guy who came up with lots of cool ideas but never actually implemented any of them....
Does anyone have any personal tips about how they manage many different ideas and tasks at once? At this rate, sometimes I think I'll just be that guy who came up with lots of cool ideas but never actually implemented any of them....
Getting it right
How many times does it take to get something right?
Well, I guess that's a trick question, because we can pretty much always improve.
Last night, I started my go karting league (the kind that makes you wear a helmet and goes 40 mph, not like the ones at your local mini-golf course). By the end of the night, each person had raced 100 laps on the same track.
Although it takes a mere 20 seconds to complete, there are so many subtle ways to shave off a few hundreds of a second here, maybe even a tenth of a second there. It's crazy to step back and realize how excited you can get over 2 hundredths of a second. I can't think of any other place in my life where 1/50th of a second is even noticed.
Still, throughout the night, lap times kept improving. 30 laps was not enough time, neither was 70, or 100. By the end of the season, I will probably have driven 400 laps around the same 20 second course. Will I have mastered it? Not even close.
Maybe that's just like life. I'll make up a term here, we'll call it "levels of mastery". When I've gone in on the weekends to just drive a race or two with random people, I usually win. I thought I was pretty good. Now, I'm with a whole new set of people, and everyone knows what they're doing. Now, I have to pay attention to things I never did before. The tiniest details make all the difference.
Maybe there's something you want to be better at in life, and once you get there, you realize that you're now better than say 90% of everyone else. But to start moving up through that next 10%, you need to be aware of, and master a whole set of new problems that you didn't even realize was there. If you happen to make it to the top 10% of that group, you're going to need to figure out what else there is if you want to get past that next group of people.
Getting to the top 1% is not easy. But, like everything, it's really just a series of small steps. And you have to really want it.
Well, I guess that's a trick question, because we can pretty much always improve.
Last night, I started my go karting league (the kind that makes you wear a helmet and goes 40 mph, not like the ones at your local mini-golf course). By the end of the night, each person had raced 100 laps on the same track.
Although it takes a mere 20 seconds to complete, there are so many subtle ways to shave off a few hundreds of a second here, maybe even a tenth of a second there. It's crazy to step back and realize how excited you can get over 2 hundredths of a second. I can't think of any other place in my life where 1/50th of a second is even noticed.
Still, throughout the night, lap times kept improving. 30 laps was not enough time, neither was 70, or 100. By the end of the season, I will probably have driven 400 laps around the same 20 second course. Will I have mastered it? Not even close.
Maybe that's just like life. I'll make up a term here, we'll call it "levels of mastery". When I've gone in on the weekends to just drive a race or two with random people, I usually win. I thought I was pretty good. Now, I'm with a whole new set of people, and everyone knows what they're doing. Now, I have to pay attention to things I never did before. The tiniest details make all the difference.
Maybe there's something you want to be better at in life, and once you get there, you realize that you're now better than say 90% of everyone else. But to start moving up through that next 10%, you need to be aware of, and master a whole set of new problems that you didn't even realize was there. If you happen to make it to the top 10% of that group, you're going to need to figure out what else there is if you want to get past that next group of people.
Getting to the top 1% is not easy. But, like everything, it's really just a series of small steps. And you have to really want it.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
How do you make a goal stick?
Make it into a competition of course!
After reading the article about the group of people who didn't buy anything new for an entire year, and then the blog of a guy who tried to feed him self for a month on $30, I felt like I could learn something from these crazy people.
So my friend and I made a deal. No eating out for an entire month.
Oddly, this is something I've been trying to get out of the habit for a while now. Apparently it wasn't going to matter how many times I told myself. I just wasn't committed to.
Technically I'm not even 3 days into the competition, but I have already learned that, for me, accountability to other people far outweighs my accountability to myself. It this true for anyone else out there?
I already know that the month will be successful because I don't want to admit defeat to her in the "vast competitive landscape". I'm already trying to come up with a plan for next month.
After reading the article about the group of people who didn't buy anything new for an entire year, and then the blog of a guy who tried to feed him self for a month on $30, I felt like I could learn something from these crazy people.
So my friend and I made a deal. No eating out for an entire month.
Oddly, this is something I've been trying to get out of the habit for a while now. Apparently it wasn't going to matter how many times I told myself. I just wasn't committed to.
Technically I'm not even 3 days into the competition, but I have already learned that, for me, accountability to other people far outweighs my accountability to myself. It this true for anyone else out there?
I already know that the month will be successful because I don't want to admit defeat to her in the "vast competitive landscape". I'm already trying to come up with a plan for next month.
Laugh at your problems
While driving on Friday, the bumper sticker on the car in front of me read:
Maybe that's what we all need in our lives. When we've got a problem, we just need someone who has real problems to tell us, "So?". Kinda puts it in perspective doesn't it?
Laugh at your problemsThe interesting part? It had special Handicapped license plates.
Everyone else does
Maybe that's what we all need in our lives. When we've got a problem, we just need someone who has real problems to tell us, "So?". Kinda puts it in perspective doesn't it?
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Staying in shape
I ran today for the first time in 7 weeks.
The thing is, I never used to run, but was "forced" to so that I would recover faster from an injury. After 6 weeks of running, it was going great, and actually, I was hating it less than I thought.
Tonight was a different story. The first lap was a piece of cake, but then it started hitting me on the second lap...I was losing my breath. Cramping set in on the third lap. It wasn't so long ago that it didn't even hurt like this on the twelfth lap. How had I fallen so fast so quickly?
Well this may seem like an obvious connection (you get out of shape when you aren't active), it occurred to me that we overlook this phenomenon outside of the wide world of sports.
If I regularly keep my room organized, it stays organized. If I need to use it for something, it's easy. And the cleanup is a snap, because most of the work is already done.
When you sit down and write everyday, it gets easier. The practice makes you better. Your writing muscles stay in shape.
When you keep in touch with friends, it's easier to stay in touch. Feeding it everyday makes for a much healthier relationship than one that gorges itself every few months.
The hardest part is getting your life into shape. After that, happiness is routine.
The thing is, I never used to run, but was "forced" to so that I would recover faster from an injury. After 6 weeks of running, it was going great, and actually, I was hating it less than I thought.
Tonight was a different story. The first lap was a piece of cake, but then it started hitting me on the second lap...I was losing my breath. Cramping set in on the third lap. It wasn't so long ago that it didn't even hurt like this on the twelfth lap. How had I fallen so fast so quickly?
Well this may seem like an obvious connection (you get out of shape when you aren't active), it occurred to me that we overlook this phenomenon outside of the wide world of sports.
If I regularly keep my room organized, it stays organized. If I need to use it for something, it's easy. And the cleanup is a snap, because most of the work is already done.
When you sit down and write everyday, it gets easier. The practice makes you better. Your writing muscles stay in shape.
When you keep in touch with friends, it's easier to stay in touch. Feeding it everyday makes for a much healthier relationship than one that gorges itself every few months.
The hardest part is getting your life into shape. After that, happiness is routine.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
The Year of the Can
I generally don't make resolutions. I never have. And maybe that's part of the problem. If you never set goals and expectations for yourself, how will you ever achieve them?
Maybe the whole concept of "New Year's Resolutions" frames it improperly. We all know it's a big joke. Everyone says they're going to lose weight. Everyone joins the gym. People say they're going to do this and that, but they don't. We just say these things. We don't actually commit to them.
So this year I am going to commit. I am going to stop listing reason why I haven't done things, and instead list of what I am doing to get there. Not just what I intend to do. What I am doing.
I've heard lots of people preach this lately, and it's truly simple. Set goals. Even outrageous goals. Then immediately start taking steps towards achieving them. Don't make excuses. Don't put up obstacles. Replace the passive thinking with action.
The gurus will say that we all choose our own happiness and level of success. It's hard to believe, isn't it? Why would anyone chose to be unhappy? People everywhere are doing it everyday. We choose to listen to that little voice in our head, the one who says we will fail. Hell, lots of us have real people telling us that all the time...."but what happens if..?"
Yeah....and....? Then I'll just fix the problem and keep going. It's horribly cliche, but you can't have success without failure. In fact, when you do succeed, you'll wonder "now, why was I so worried about failing?" The only time failure will hurt you is if it makes you stop trying all together.
Forget excuses. Lose "can't". This year, I'm going to focus on what I can do to get there.
Maybe the whole concept of "New Year's Resolutions" frames it improperly. We all know it's a big joke. Everyone says they're going to lose weight. Everyone joins the gym. People say they're going to do this and that, but they don't. We just say these things. We don't actually commit to them.
So this year I am going to commit. I am going to stop listing reason why I haven't done things, and instead list of what I am doing to get there. Not just what I intend to do. What I am doing.
I've heard lots of people preach this lately, and it's truly simple. Set goals. Even outrageous goals. Then immediately start taking steps towards achieving them. Don't make excuses. Don't put up obstacles. Replace the passive thinking with action.
The gurus will say that we all choose our own happiness and level of success. It's hard to believe, isn't it? Why would anyone chose to be unhappy? People everywhere are doing it everyday. We choose to listen to that little voice in our head, the one who says we will fail. Hell, lots of us have real people telling us that all the time...."but what happens if..?"
Yeah....and....? Then I'll just fix the problem and keep going. It's horribly cliche, but you can't have success without failure. In fact, when you do succeed, you'll wonder "now, why was I so worried about failing?" The only time failure will hurt you is if it makes you stop trying all together.
Forget excuses. Lose "can't". This year, I'm going to focus on what I can do to get there.
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