Mike Vardy's Blog, page 111

The Need to Assess

“The only way to make a spoilt machine work again is to break it down, work on its inner system and fix it again. Screw out the bolts of your life, examine and work on yourself, fix your life again and get going.” ― Israelmore Ayivor

Yesterday was supposed to be a big writing day. It wasn't.

Today was also supposed to be a big writing day. It also wasn't.

Now I'm not facing writer's block (after all, I'm writing this piece only an hour before it went live). But what I am facing is a need to assess -- which is overriding my desire to write some of the deeper or more technical posts that I'd like to write.

Right now I need to assess a lot of things. I need to put everything I've got going on out there so I can see the big picture (essentially do The Big Paper Exercise) and move forward with less friction and more effectiveness. I know I need to assess because I can see it when I open up my task manager and -- more importantly -- I can feel it in my gut when I look at my task manager.

I'm so grateful that I've got this awareness, although it would be ideal to have it every time I look at taking things on. Sometimes when you're building something you want to either build it faster or focus on different areas instead of the areas that should be dealt with. Stopping the building process and assessing what you are really trying to build helps get you back on track so you can build...better.

So I'm done with writing for this week. Instead, I'm going to break myself down, work on my inner system and fix it again. That means adjusting priorities, shelving projects, and letting go of the things that don't matter in the grand scheme of things so that I can focus on the things that do.

A Lesson from "About a Boy" on Hyper-Scheduling

I recently read a piece in The Globe & Mail where one of the top tips to get things done was to "calendarize everything". I'll respectfully disagree on that one.

Why?

Well, when you schedule everything you've got -- locking down a time of day to work on things -- you give yourself no room for the flexibility you really need to get things done effectively. Efficiency is only part of the productivity equation...and it is not the most important part. Effectiveness is.

The idea of "hyper-scheduling" (which is what "calendarizing" can lead to) can be a huge problem. Just ask Will Freeman.

Who is Will Freeman? He's the main character in Nick Hornby's About A Boy (played by Hugh Grant in the film adaptation). He scheduled his day in 15 minute increments -- and for a long period of time it worked.

But then "the boy" happened...and things had to change.

Now "the boy" in the book/film comes in the form of an actual boy. But "the boy" can actually represent anything that comes along that can force you to alter your routine (or even approach). I've dealt with many of these throughout my life, and found that by hyper-scheduling regularly that I lacked the flexibility needed to get the right things done.

But hyper-scheduling doesn't just remove flexibility from the equation, it removes durability as well. Scheduling your day in fifteen minute increments is too small to be sustainable -- especially with the amount of "boys" that can enter your life at regular intervals. Now I'm not suggesting that the entire approach is incorrect. I'm a big fan of time chunking. But by going so micro, you aren't setting yourself up for long-term success. I believe the smallest increment of time you should ever spend on one chunk is thirty minutes. And scheduling each chunk to fill your day isn't ideal either.

During this talk by John Cleese, he says that you need two things to be at your creative best: time and space. Hyper-scheduling robs of you of both of those things, despite the fact that it sounds like it will give you both.

But if you focus on task over time, hyper-scheduling doesn't even get consideration...right?

Photo credit: dlritter via stock.xchng

Why I Don't Filter My Email Into One Account

The idea of putting all of your emails into a filter that brings them into a single email account has been widely lauded by many over the years. It means you only need to go to one place to check email, allowing you to get through your email that much quicker.

Or so it seems.

I stopped filtering my emails from separate accounts into one account a long time ago, because I found I wasn't getting through my email. In fact, I was spending too much time in email because of the setup. There were a few reasons behind that.

First off, I was checking all of my email at once, instead of the email I really needed to be checking. By having personal, professional, and other email addresses filtered into one inbox, I was seeing every single email I was receiving -- including personal emails during work time and work emails during personal time. By bringing all of my email into one place, I was splitting my focus unintentionally.

And if you're one of those folks who keeps personal and professional separate, but has a few emails that filter into your professional, the same thing can occur. Certain emails I send and receive in my direct professional account are designed to put me in a certain mindset, whereas emails going to my "info" or "sales" professional email accounts put me in another mindset. If you receive an email directly from my personalized professional email account, it means we've already established a rapport. Otherwise, you're getting one from my "info" account (for inquires, etc.) or from my "sales" account (for correspondence involving products I sell).

I have four email addresses, all of which are housed in my native email app of choice, which means I go to one place to check my email: that app. I can then decide within that app what email accounts I want to look at. I check the personal account during off hours (or when all other email is dealt with). I check my personalized professional first because those emails often are the most important -- or require the most thought when responding. The sales email account comes next, followed by the general information one. On some occasions, I go in and deal with one account and then get out of the app. Other times, I go through each one. It all depends on where i'm at and where my priorities lie for the day.

One of the biggest advantages to having your email accounts kept separate and unfiltered is that the setup time is quick and painless. No need for any filters in Gmail or any redirects or forwarding. Just add them to your native app (or, for example, simply use different logins for each Gmail account if that is what you're using) and you're good to go. For those who are struggling with getting through their email and aren't very tech-savvy or are edge cases like my fellow productivityists out there, this is a big plus. Keeping your email addresses separated removes a whole lot of friction from the process -- and less friction means more efficiency and effectiveness from the get-go.

(I'm still big on having a native email client, and using one allows for adding multiple email accounts in a fairly straightforward manner -- no matter what email service you're using.)

By keeping my email accounts functioning as separate entities, I'm not looking so much at Inbox Zero on the whole any longer. Instead, I'm focussing on getting the right email accounts dealt with regularly and accordingly. I suppose instead of my email being the inbox, my email app is the inbox. And I'm fine with that because I'm not getting stuck in email any longer. I'm getting out of email much faster and into the real work I need (and want) to do.

Sometimes keeping things separated allows you to keep things straight a hell of a lot easier.

Photo credit: OmirOnia via SXC.HU

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The Friday Five: 5 Apps Worth Checking Out

I thought I'd try something new here.

I'm calling it The Friday Five, and on the first Friday of every month I'll list 5 apps that I think are worth some of your time and attention. At first, the focus will be on iOS, Mac, and web apps, but as time goes by I'll hopefully wrap my head around some other platforms as well (namely Android) and feature them in the mix.

Here we go...

1. Mynd Calendar

Michael Schechter introduced me to Mynd Calendar, and I'm glad he did. I really like the layout and the integrations (Evernote, for one) that it features. There is so much visible on the screen (weather, distance traveled, etc.) and yet it is displayed so well in the layout that it doesn't seem overwhelming to me. I've only started using Mynd Calendar, and since I've tried a ton of iOS calendar options in my day, I'll be giving this one some serious testing before sticking with it for the long haul. (iOS - Free)

2. Yelling Mom

If you're not already using a task manager/to-do list app and are looking for one, then this is one of the more full-featured apps I've seen come out as of late. Yelling Mom recently added Evernote integration, which only adds to its appeal. The UI on this app is very clean on the surface, and even when you dive deeper into a task the interface doesn't appear as cluttered as some other apps I've seen. If you're looking for something that has a little more to offer than a simple list of tasks and are a fan of the swipe-based UI that is prominent in apps like Clear, Dispatch, and Mailbox, then take a look at Yelling Mom. (Unless you have mommy issues, that is.) (iOS - $1.99)

3. Grid

I've only started playing with Grid. It's a very unique project planning/brainstorming app (at least that's how I've been using it). I tend to use Evernote for most of this stuff (and Drafts to get it into Evernote in most cases), so while I'm not sure Grid will have a long stay on my iPhone, if you're not invested in anything for this kind of use case, it's definitely worth a try. (iOS - Free)

4. You Need A Budget

After trying nearly every Mac budgeting program out there (Moneywell, Money, iBank, etc.), I finally settled on YNAB. And I'm glad I did.

You'll get a 34 day free trial (perfect so that you can get more than a month's worth of perspective on your finances) and it's available on a variety of mobile platforms -- including the Kindle Fire(!) -- and also for both Mac and Windows desktop systems. As someone who hates dealing with finances, YNAB makes it more enjoyable and after using it since March we are finally (we as in "me" -- my wife has always been great with money) dealing with finances in a far more proactive manner. Give it a try if you've been searching for a solution...because it's a very good one. (Free trial, Mobile platforms - Free, Mac/Windows - $60)

5. Fish: a tap essay

Patrick Rhone has mentioned this one in the past, but I'm recommending it for you as an excellent weekend read. It won't even take a weekend to get through Fish, but I think that if you carve out a few minutes to read this piece by Robin Sloan sometime over the weekend, you'll find it was a task worth spending time on. (iOS - Free)

             

When to Hold On and When to Let Go

Gary Miller Jr. of A Better Guy (and the accompanying podcast, The Better Guy Show) dropped me a line a while back asking me the following:

"What criteria do you use to figure out if a project should go away or stay?"

Since I returned from my travels I've been giving that email quite a bit of thought.

Oddly enough, while I was at the World Domination Summit I walked away from yet another project...Workflowing (discussed here). So looking back at how I came to that decision has helped inform my answer to your question, which is as follows...

I trust my gut.

It's actually not that simple, but it's close. Whenever I feel overwhelm setting in -- and it does happen from time to time -- I take a look at everything I've got going on and really look at what I want to achieve across all spectrums (work fulfillment, family fulfillment, financial fulfillment, etc.) and assess accordingly. I try to get a sense of what will suffer if I continue or take on a project that I'm assessing and if something that matters more to me now suffers, then I look at both of them and make the call.

With Workflowing, I listened to my gut. I knew that I was spreading myself too thin with it -- and that it was more Schechter's baby than mine.1 In fact, I stayed on board with it for so long because I didn't want to disappoint him -- and I also saw the potential with it. But I knew the potential would never be realized unless I gave something up. When I looked at everything I wanted to do with my work (and using past experiences to help me come to a decision), I realized that Workflowing was the one that had to go.

Letting go of projects is hard. I've let some go completely and "backburnered" several over the past few years. I've tried a lot of ways to come up with ways of both hanging on and letting go, but after assessing everything I always turn to my gut. It rarely plays tricks on me -- unlike my mind.

Photo credit: Randell Monaghan

1We're actually going to discuss the topic of "quitting" on the next episode of Mikes on Mics, so that might add insight from Schechter as well.

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The Books I've Been Reading - August 2013

Even though I've been keeping myself busy with work, that doesn't mean I haven't had time to read. Here are some of the books that caught my attenttion over the last month as I read them.

The Suitcase Entrepreneur

I've had the opportunity to chat with Natalie online before and was really looking forward to receiving this book in its "author's cut" format. (Full disclosure: I backed the book on her Kickstarter campaign). And it didn't disappoint. The book hits the virtual shelves today and I give it a thumbs up -- especially if you've been looking to take your business to the next level and don't think you have the resources to pull it off. Natalie's words have a definite "drive" to them and they will inspire you to the point of action. And that's not just a great starting point...it's also kind of a big deal.

iPad Only

Augusto Pinaud and Michael Sliwinski have put together a book that further illustrates how far the iPad has come in its short existence. As someone who has tried -- and largely succeeded -- in using their iPad as a primary device, I went into reading this book in full agreement that you can truly go "iPad only" if you want. Whether you feel the same way or are curious if you can make the iPad go as deep for you as it can for so many of us, this book is worth picking up. You can get it from Amazon here.

Caesura Letters

James Shelley is an excellent writer and he has crafted together some stellar posts over at his Caesura Letters site. It's so good and his words there are so worth reading. Check it out for yourself here -- you won't be disappointed.

Start

I've been down part of the road Jon Acuff mentions in this book, but the message is still important for a lot of others out there. Jon is a gifted writer and speaker and Start is one of those books that feel as if you're having a conversation with the author -- a story is being told. The style reminds me a lot of C.C. Chapman's Amazing Things Will Happen, and this book delivers the goods as well. You can get it here.

As for what else is on my "reading radar", I can't wait to check out Todd Henry's new book Die Empty, scheduled to hit the shelves in late September (but you can pre=order it here on Amazon now -- and from what I've read so far, you should). Jeff Goins latest work The In-Between is in the mix as well, and I know Srinivas Rao is working on something as well that I can't wait to get my eyes on.

I pledged to read more in 2013 and I'm on track to match 2012 right now. A few more books under my belt and I'll beat last years' record -- and set up a lofty goal for 2014 in the process.

             

A Look Back at VoxPopCon 2013

Anthony Marco has quite the event on his hands...should he continue to foster it going forward.

Last month I returned to where I grew up -- Hamilton, Ontario -- to be part of VoxPopCon, an event that could be best described as a storytelling conference. Sure, there were elements of technology and new media thrown into the mix, but at its core every talk was more about the story behind all of that other stuff. Whether it was Joey Coleman offering his tale on how he became one of the most trusted people in Hamilton when it comes to the news to Andrew Currie dishing the goods on the story of The Devil's Advocates (with a special guest appearance by his former partner-in-advocacy Albert Howell), there was plenty to be told at VoxPopCon...and much of it kept me both informed and entertained over the three days of the event.

As for my talk, it was called The Role of a Lifetime, and in it I dove into my past a bit -- my story -- and I also got into how I've carved out a living doing what I do. It was my most personal talk to date, and I think it was one of my best as a result of that.1

One of the best parts about VoxPopCon was the stuff that happened around the event. This is the case for a lot of events that I've been to, but this time the stuff took place around a city that I was born in and left for the west coast back in late 1998. This wasn't the Hamilton I remembered. Things like a really cool Art Crawl on James Street (where a band played on the roof of local record shop Dr. Disc), a nightspot (Radium) that featured really cool beer (and a bartender that really knew his stuff -- including how to make a Boulevardier), and a tourism branch that really seems keen on building up the image of the city. I left Hamilton very impressed -- something I didn't really expect.

I also got to hang out with people that I hadn't seen since the last PAB I'd attended in 2011, and had a ton of great conversations with those I'd never met before.

And then there were the bonuses.

Getting to spend some quality time with my father on a couple of occasions, including grabbing some killer coffee at Homegrown Hamilton. (I'm glad I persuaded him to give something other than Tim Horton's a try.)
Spending time with my 95 year old grandmother and my aunt, something I won't get to do for much longer.
Hanging out with my mother -- and having her be there at the tail end of my talk. I've never been able to acknowledge her in a forum like that before, and I'm glad I got the chance this time around.

All of these bonuses added to the trip to VoxPopCon -- making it even more worthwhile.

VoxPopCon was a great event and I hope that Anthony can assemble a team to keep this thing going. As he said during the inaugural event, VoxPopCon is more of "a process than a product" and I'd like to see the process continue so that it can showcase more stories -- and showcase a city that seems much better in my eyes now than when I left it nearly 15 years ago.

1 The talks were all captured on video, so once I've got a link to share with you, I will.

Photo credit: John Piercy

             

Using Energy Levels as Contexts

Most of the time my work doesn't feel like "work" at all. But I know that it is because there are times when it definitely does. Like the times when I have to write when I don't feel like writing. But those moments come few and far between.

Still, there are things I have in my task manager that require more energy than others, and since locations are really not all that crucial to me considering I work and live at home, I tend to use energy levels as indicators when it comes to next actions and projects.

This isn't a new concept -- Sven Fechner over at SimplictyBliss discussed this as a key point in his talk at The OmniFocus Setup. But since OmniFocus doesn't handle multiple contexts, I have started to use energy levels in the app as my the main contexts for my tasks and projects.1

The question as to what contexts get assigned to what tasks is, as a result, dependent on how much energy I'll need to complete them. That kind of judgement requires some real honesty on my part. If I'm not honest with myself about what level of energy a task will take to complete, I'm likely to give it too much (or too little) weight. There's nothing worse than to give more things a "high energy" context even when I know they don't all deserve that context.

The projects often inform the context I'll be using when it comes to energy levels as well. For example, home-based projects require a different judgement regarding energy levels than work-based ones. If I feel more motivated to get outside and do some household maintenance, then I'd be looking at the high energy contexts for any projects that revolve around that project. If I'm feeling sick, then I'd be exploring all of my low energy tasks, regardless of project so that I at least make some form of progress.

Let's explore my "energy contexts" and what tasks often fall into each one.

Low Energy

Things like doing the dishes, scanning receipts, and reading are generally low energy tasks. Eve when I don't feel like doing the dishes, I'm not going to assign it a higher level of energy than "low" because I know that once I'm doing them the energy I'm expending is fairly low on the scale. Emails can (and do) fall into this context as well -- as do phone calls -- but not always. If I'm having to deal with a fairly invloved response of some sort, it might require more energy to deal with. That's why I don't have a task called "Read email" in my task manager. First off, reading email in that sense is more of a project anyway, and not every email I receive contains an action item.

It's interesting to note that by doing enough of these types of tasks I can often gear up to the next level of energy. It's almost as if these are "first gear tasks" and that they give my productivity engine the break it needs from time to time.

Other tasks that often get assigned this context include: Updating beer cellar in Evernote, doing laundry, and catching up on podcasts.

Normal Energy

I used to call this Medium Energy, but found that too many tasks were landing in the context simply because of a bad naming convention. By using "normal" instead, I'm gearing closer to the low end of the scale rather than the high end -- which is what I really need in order to clearly look at the tasks in the next context level.

Still, a lot of tasks do wind up here -- mainly communication-based ones or higher-end household chores (mowing the lawn, weeding, cooking, etc.) because they require that much more energy to do efficiently and effectively. I decided to go with "normal" rather than "average" because I felt that the latter devalued the tasks more.

Other tasks that often get assigned this context include: Editing the Mikes on Mics podcast, writing smaller blog posts, conducting my Weekly Review, and most general housecleaning.

High Energy

As expected, this is where the tough stuff lies. The big writing, the big planning, the big tasks that require a ton of focus and, obviously, a lot of energy to complete properly. The trick with this context is being really selective about what goes in here -- just as I do with the low energy context -- so that I don't give The Resistance a chance to rear its ugly head more than it already does.

I'm also likely to tackle these tasks only on heavy-lifting days -- I reserve my light-lifting days for tasks that live in the other two contexts.

Other tasks that often get assigned this context include: Working on a book/book proposal, writing guest posts/longer blog posts, and major household maintenance.

As I mentioned earlier, location doesn't mean a ton to me in terms of task management -- and I use location-based context for errands. In fact, errands are the only tasks that get contexts that fall outside of the energy level contexts at this point.

These energy-based contexts have served me well over the past few months -- and as I'm ramping up to work on some bigger projects and challenges I have no doubt that they'll become even more valuable to me in the future. If you find that your productivity is stalling -- or become stagnant -- you might want to give energy-based contexts a try and see if they'll give your efficiency and effectiveness a much-needed boost.

1 Other task management solutions do offer mutliple contexts -- or tags -- and I'd suggest pairing up energy levels along with any other contexts you are permitted to use in your application of choice. OmniFocus does allow for Perspectives to be created, which can be used alongside energy levels as well -- but I'm not going to dive into that this time around.

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Making Meditation Accessible

I'm big on mindful productivity, and this morning I took the ten minutes needed to watch this TED talk by Andy Puddicombe. Then I took ten minutes later on to do what he suggests in the video below.

I hope you'll do the same.

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The Flagging of Tasks

On Episode 40 of Generational, Eric Hess explained how he flags his tasks in OmniFocus:

"....of all of my list of things that are next to do, these are the things that actually I want to focus on today. They are simply ways to highlight individual tasks."

Flagging can be done in a variety of ways depending on how you choose to manage your tasks -- it's not limited to OmniFocus. Asana has Priority Headings (and you can mark tasks for Today, Upcoming, or Later if you want), Flow has flags, and others use a the idea of "flagging" in one form or another (and if you use paper you can simply add an asterisk to tasks that you're prioritizing most for the day). Leo Babauta talks about his Big Rocks and Josh Kaufman (among others) refers to MIT (Most Important Tasks) and using those almost compels you to flag regularly.

Flags can really help you when you feel as if you're letting some of the important stuff slide for the sake of getting more done overall.

Whether you have been using a task manager for a long time or are just getting started, having the option to flag tasks isn't a bad thing...when done in moderation.