Tag: productivity

A Bombogenesis and the 5-Minute Productivity Hack

Talk about some meta-ness.

Yesterday, we experienced what is known as a Bomb Cyclone or Bombogenesis. At least that’s what the media was reporting. Odd how I have been on this earth for multiple decades and never heard that term. Anyway, from 8:30 pm to midnight last night, after things had calmed down, my nephews and I went over to the nearby retirement housing building where my parents live and shoveled out about 12 cars.

Waking up this morning wasn’t something I was thrilled to do. So before getting up, I read a few articles on Flipboard. The one that stood out was Instagram Founder Kevin Systrom’s 5-Minute Cure for Procrastination. This immediately resonated with me because this happens to me frequently.

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Focus On The First 20 Hours Not the Other 9,980 Hours

 

If you want to understand the concept of friction, just read anything about how it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. If you want to destroy someone’s motivation, mention that little tidbit.

A couple of years ago, I came across this Forbes’ interview of Josh Kaufman, who espouses that it takes 20 hours to learn a new skill. For some people, even that’s a lot of time but it sure ain’t 10,000 hours.

Of course, we are talking about two different things here – learning a new skill versus becoming an expert at it. Based on apparent research, both are correct. However, everyone needs to think and start small. 10,000 hours is not small.

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The Importance Of Planting a Tree

No not a real tree – a proverbial tree.

In the chance you haven’t heard this saying, it happens to be one of my favorites. It’s an old Chinese proverb. (Is there such a thing as a new Chinese proverb?)

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

If you are human, especially one near the age of 50, you tend to think of things you didn’t do when you were younger.

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Do That One Extra Task Each Day

For those of you that keep a to-do list (which you should do), those lists can get pretty large. It’s probably the main reason why some people stop keeping a list. Your list can get to be never-ending.

I came across this article the other day and immediately loved it. Notice that the article is only about 170 words. Simple.

One way to make a serious dent in that big list is to do one extra task every single day. Mind you, it doesn’t have to be a big task.

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Progress Over Perfection

About 15 years ago, I stumbled across the term ‘Quantity Over Quality.’ At first, this went against everything I knew about work and life. What good is quantity if there is no quality? At the same time, I was talking to a friend about the concept and he said that in Alcohol Anonymous, they had a similar phrase – Progress Not Perfection.

Over the years, my use of the term has morphed into Progress Over Perfection.

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