All posts tagged productivity

A new way to work: How to focus and get things done

By on August 29, 2011 in Ideas with 7 Comments

Our team is testing a new way to work.

Most people know that I hate meetings. It’s become a running joke around the office actually.

I don’t just hate meetings to hate them. I hate them because most of the time they are unproductive, poorly run, and just a waste of valuable time.

With that in mind, you will probably be surprised that this new way to work involves several people in a room all day. Sounds like a meeting, right?

Here’s the thing: We’re not together to meet. We’re together to work. Big difference. And, we’re only working on one thing. Just one.

So when someone says, “We need to write a script for that video” or “Hey, we need an outline for that,” it doesn’t get assigned as a follow-up item. Instead, I fire up a Google doc and start writing. Clayton joins in and begins to edit in real time. Simultaneously, Christy is designing a mock-up of our new resource, Pablo is tweaking part of the webpage that this new video will live on, and Zac is…well, Zac had to leave early.

Last week was the first time we tried it, but the results were very encouraging. Solid productivity. We accomplished a lot by intentionally focusing our combined effort on one thing.

Want to be more productive? Get up early.

By on August 22, 2011 in Ideas with 5 Comments

People sometime ask how I get so much done.

In addition to my full time job at The Soderquist Center, I do a lot of freelance video projects, I helped start and run a website called WorshipVue, I co-founded Transparent Ministries, I write this blog, try to be a good husband, and I’m working on another little startup you’ll be hearing about soon.

Am I a workaholic? Um, maybe.

Do I have superhuman powers? Not that I know of.

Have I figured out how to clone myself? Creepy.

My secret is this: I start early in the morning. Really early. Like 5:00AM early.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “But I’m not a morning person!” Well, I’m not a morning person either. Really, I’m not.

About a year ago, my wife Mandy started getting up really early to work on her doctoral courses and to prep for class. She was carrying a full load of both at the time (Just FYI, she does have superhuman powers). I started getting up when she got up and using those early morning hours to work.

My usual routine is to get up, take the dogs out, eat something, and be sitting at my desk in our study no later than 5:30AM. I work until about 7:30 and then get ready for the day.

What I discovered, crazy as it sounds, is that I’m more productive at 5:30AM than any other time during the day. My head is clear, everything is quiet, and the distractions of the day haven’t infiltrated my thoughts.

Now contrast 5:30AM to 10:30AM. I’m at work in my office. A constant stream of people walk by my window. I hear two or three conversations going on outside my door. Someone sends me an email and then comes by to make sure I got it. On average (I’ve timed it) someone pops into my office at least every 15 minutes. Some days it’s more like every 5 minutes.

I don’t say all that because it’s bad. I want to be available to people. They need me to be available. So I just reserve my “in the zone” work for the wee hours of the morning.

I accomplish more meaningful work in those two hours than I will the entire remainder of the day.

It’s not easy to drag myself out of bed that early. But I guess if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Maybe you should try it.

How the co-founder of Flickr manages email

By on February 9, 2011 in Ideas with 3 Comments

Found this at Zurb and thought it was interesting enough to share.

Email is our best friend and worst enemy. Most of the time it can be a productivity killer, especially if you do any kind of creative work.

This is how Caterina Fake, Co-Founder of Flickr manages email:

Painfully aware

By on November 18, 2010 in Ideas with No Comments

People know I hate meetings. But I don’t hate meetings just to hate meetings.

I hate meetings because I’m painfully aware of what I’m not getting done by sitting in a meeting.

Painfully aware of the mounting to-do list as a result of a meeting.

Painfully aware that it’s going to take time after a meeting to get back into the zone.

You see, lost productivity is not just the time spent in the actual meeting, it’s also the recovery time your brain needs to get back in the zone for real work.

Your brain requires 15 uninterrupted minutes to fully engage and be at full capacity to do real work (by real work I mean creative, strategic thinking).

Really think about this…How often do you get 15 minutes of uninterrupted time at work?

For me, it is absolutely impossible to be uninterrupted for more than 3 to 5 minutes if I’m sitting at my desk. We have an open office environment, which is great, but it is totally not conducive to accomplishing deep, productive work.

The solution? Find a place where you can be alone and get in your zone. I usually find an unoccupied conference room or work from home.

Don’t blame your working environment. Change your working environment.

Are you painfully aware?

Insecurity Work

By on June 17, 2010 in Ideas with 3 Comments

I’m feeling very unproductive lately. Feels like it takes me forever to get anything done. Do you ever hit a slump? My assessment is that I’m too distracted. Too many ideas, not enough discipline.

I’m reading a book called Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky. The book was recommended by my friend Sean Womack.

A particular section hit me right between the eyes today. The author refers to my little problem as “Insecurity Work.” Here’s what he says:

As you introduce your ideas to the world, you are bound to become anxious about what the world thinks. You will want to frequently observe the progress you are making and confirm the status of everything you’ve created. This is a normal tendency, even though the root of it is often an unfounded insecurity–a fear that you’ve overlooked something or will ultimately fail. While we all have different insecurities, most of us share a common approach to dealing with them: we seek information to make our anxiety go away. For some, this amounts to countless hours spent reviewing traffic reports for Web sites, scrutinizing bank balances and every transaction in your business, reviewing Twitter search feeds for your business, getting daily e-mails with every piece of data you can imagine–the list goes on. Basking in the data makes us feel better.

I call this daily (and in some cases hourly) habits “Insecurity Work.” It’s the stuff you do that has no intended outcome, does not move the ball forward in any way, and is quick enough that you can do it multiple times a day without realizing how much time is being wasted. While all of these actions are important once in a while, there is no rational reason to perform them so often.

Your constant need for assurance becomes a shackle on your productivity.

That is totally me! Ugh.

One small thing I’ve done is organize my bookmarks into three categories: Be Productive, Research, and Goof Off.

bookmarks

What about you? How do you stay focused?