Reading Time: < 1 minI spend a lot of time working on my note-taking system, as it contains thoughts on future blog posts here, podcasts, books to read, and much more. It’s taken a long time to put together, but it’s become an amazing tool for me. I create regular backups of it just in case, but what would […]
Productivity
Where do you want to find your notes?
Reading Time: 2 minNote-taking systems have changed a lot over the years. Like most people, I was a “sort notes by topic in folders” kind of guy for a long time, but back in 2020 I switched to Roam Research and it changed my whole philosophy of how to store notes. I’ve changed systems a few more times […]
Assumed execution
Reading Time: 2 minI’ve shared a few times how the trust I have for my team can make my life so much easier. Specifically, if I email any of them with a task or question, I can just let it go and be confident that it will be taken care of (or that they’ll respond with follow-up questions, […]
2D versus 3D content in meetings
Reading Time: 2 minOne eye-opening insight from Juliet Funt’s book “A Minute to Think” was her concept of 2D versus 3D content when it comes to communication. More specifically, she shared the problems that arise when we mix the two up and use the wrong form of communication for the type of content that we need to share […]
Using Sectograph to visualize my day
Reading Time: 2 minA few weeks ago I stumbled upon this article by Anthony Spadafora on Tom’s Guide, where he explained how he’s using a smart display alongside his main desktop computer. That led me down a trail of various similar ideas, and I ended up using my Pixel Tablet in a similar way. Here is a quick […]
The Yellow List
Reading Time: < 1 minI’ve mentioned before that we use the EOS / Traction model in our agency, and it’s been awesome. There are a lot of great pieces that we’ve implemented from it, but one of my favorites is the concept of the “IDS List” (Identify, Discuss, Solve). In short, it’s a place to leave ideas until a […]
Throw a jacket on your calendar
Reading Time: 2 minSomething I’ve tried to do over the years, with marginal success, is to schedule more white space on my calendar. It seems somewhat counter-intuitive (isn’t “white space” the opposite of “scheduling”?), but it’s often the only way to make it happen. In recently reading Juliet Funt’s book “A Minute to Think“, she had a great […]
Multitaskers are the worst at multitasking
Reading Time: 2 minA lot of what I write on here is about me, and this post is a great example of that. While I know that true multitasking is a myth, it’s still something I sometimes spend too much time trying to streamline. In his book “Lost and Founder“, Rand Fishkin shares this: David Strayer, professor at […]
Your calendar must be telling the truth
Reading Time: 2 minI’m a stickler for my calendar. If I’m on a call and someone asks if I’m available next Thursday, I want the calendar to be able to tell me exactly how that day is looking. Problems arise when I fail to put something on there (“No worries, I’ll just remember that”) and then lose track […]
Is the meta work worth it?
Reading Time: 2 minOne of the big challenges of productivity is determining what meta work (the work around your work) is worth your time. For me, a big one is playing with productivity tools; while I might find some gains in new tools, I also tend to spend a lot of time tinkering with them. I internally consider […]