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There are so many things I want to accomplish…

I haven’t blogged much lately because I literally haven’t had time. My inboxes are blowing up, paperwork is in piles, projects are screaming to be finished. I probably have way too many things going on. Truth be told, there is no one to blame but me. I tend to throw a bunch of things at the wall to see what sticks. This is fun until a bunch of stuff starts sticking. That’s where I’m at. A lot of my projects are proving their viability and it’s a lot to keep up with.

With all of this stuff going on, I’m constantly asking myself these questions:

1. How do stay focused on getting the right stuff done?

2. What is most important?

3. Who can I find to do the rest?

We use this phrase at The Soderquist Center a lot…helping people get the right stuff done. I’m trying to live that out.

For me, I have to fight every day to separate the truly important from everything else.

This sounds so much easier than it actually is.

A lot of things seem important.

That email marked “High Priority.”

That form that needs to be filled out.

That new idea that sounds great in the shower.

These things are impostors, posing as important things.

I’m learning that focusing all of my energy on inventing the future, creating remarkable things, and challenging the status quo means that:

Emails will go unanswered.

People will get frustrated.

Unimportant things will get half-assed.

All for the sake of accomplishing the big stuff. The stuff that matters.

Stop reading this and just freaking start.

Let’s zoom out to a 30,000 foot view of the key metrics for our strategic objectives.

We leverage cutting-edge technology and award winning design to deliver innovative products and services for our clients.

If you work in the corporate world, you probably don’t see anything wrong with these sentences. Scary. I copied/pasted these from real company documents, so you may have even written them.

There is a word for this kind of stuff: Gobbledygook.

Most people in the corporate world use gobbledygook to sound smarter.

The problem is, using gobbledygook just makes it harder for people to understand what you really mean. People have to decode what you’re saying. They have to strip away the corporate mumbo jumbo to get to the core of your message.

There are at least two major problems with speaking in gobbledygook:

1. People literally don’t know what you’re talking about.

2. People don’t give a crap. Believe me, no one gets excited when they hear the word synergistic.

When you’re writing, try to write like you talk. I’ve really been trying to do this lately. It’s harder than you think.

Here’s the thing, if you can communicate exactly what you want in written form (emotions and all) you will be way ahead in a world where we live and die by emails, texts, blogs, Facebook feeds, and message boards.

I for one believe it is possible to express your intended emotions, tone, and personality in words. Many people will tell you otherwise. But it takes a whole lot more effort to do this correctly.

Do you agree?

I recently came across this music video from Listener called Wooden Heart.

The artist is Dan Smith. We went to John Brown University at the same time. Now I wish I’d gotten to know him better. His music inspires me.

This may not be your style of music, but listen anyway. It’s raw. It’s haunting. It’s powerful. Really listen to the lyrics.

Because our church is made out of shipwrecks
From every hull these rocks have claimed
But we pick ourselves up, and try and grow better through the change
So come on yall and let’s wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief
And fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach
Come on and sew us together, were just tattered rags stained forever
We only have what we remember

This is New York City through my camera lens, with a little help from Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. It’s a compilation of footage I shot during our trip to New York. New York is like Disneyland for a cinematographer like me. Loved the city and can’t wait to go back.

Geeky stuff:
Panasonic GH1
60p
Nikon 50mm 1.4
Canon EFS 10-22mm
Edited in Final Cut Pro
Color Graded in After Effects

Music:
Empire State of Mind
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys

Ignore this quote at your own peril:

This is not rocket science, but I found this feature in Apple Mail about a year ago and it has saved me a lot of frustration by grouping email threads together. I’m not sure if Outlook has this feature or not, but it should. Anyway, just something that has made my life a little easier and wanted to pass it along. In Apple Mail, just go to View –> Organize By Thread.