Tag Archives: productivity

More takeaways from Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work

Opening comment: I hope readers gain even half the value as I do from writing this down freehand and rehashing/posting it.

But feel free to throw money, coffee, good pastries, or an ‘I adopted a shelter pet!’ certificate my way. [I’m a pretty simple guy, really.]

So, more takeaways from one of my daily go-to books for changing/reinforcing my thinking:  Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work:  **

Become a Documentarian of What You Do.  

“Whether you share it or not, documenting and recording
your process as you go alonreading-at-desk-1200g has its own rewards. You’ll start to see the work you’re doing more clearly and feel like you’re making progress.” [It’s what I’m trying to do at jrmays.com.]

 

Be an Amateur  

“Because they have little to lose, amateurs are willing to try anything and share the results. They take chances, experiment, and follow their whims.” [I have a poster on my wall: If not now, when?  Works for me.]

“The world is changing at such a rapid rate, it’s turning us all into amateurs. Even for professionals, the best way to flourish is to retain an amateur’s spirit and embrace uncertainty and the unknown.”

Read Obituaries.

“Reading about people who are dead now and did things with their lives makes me want to get up and do something decent with mine.” [In his case, be a good dad and husband, create, curate, and share art and experience.]

He continues, “Take inspiration from the people who muddled through life before you–they all started out as amateurs, and they got where they were going by making do with what they were given and having the guts to put themselves out there. Follow their example.”

** Not aiming for anything –no commission, no pats on the back, no genuflections–other than to share good work by others.

I should be writing. Instead…

I’m cooking. Chile verde is on the menu. Didn’t have to be, but hey, we procrastinators have to/tend to follow the latest shiny object, which, in this case, was the stainless steel pot you see below.

A few realizations, however.

First-draft writing and cooking–

1. They often result in a mess, albeit unavoidable. [A minor victory: I left the dishes for later while I posted this.]

2. I often balk at taking that first taste. What if it’s hazmat material? And that look back at the first 500 words? I’d rather not see how awkward, nonsensical, and/or high-minded it is.

3. Giving the work time to develop–whether on the stovetop or in our mind–almost always improves the final product.

4. The experimentation doesn’t end once you turn on the heat. I’ll be dividing the sauce between a meat version and a vegetarian version. And my stories? New roadblocks and characters will inevitably show up.

chile verdeAnd in an ironic twist, by writing about another departure from my appointment at the keyboard, I’m actually following through on that same appointment. [Welcome to my world…]

Please refrain from comments reminding me about the dirty dishes. Let me bask for awhile. Thanks for reading.

 

Dabble Hour [Giving in to attention deficit]

A while back, I explored the possibility of Dabble Hour, a 60-minute foray [well short of a leap] into projects that continue to interest me.

So here’s a quick rundown of today’s Dabble Hour…a list of a few of my sidetracks over the last couple of hours. [Yes, it’s true, I cannot seem to stop at 60 minutes and this session sank beneath projects that interested me.]

The irony of this post is I started my day by reading/tweeting about Srini Rao’s piece about his productivity strategies despite his attention deficit. Before I go on, my favorite takeaway from the article was this–Ask yourself:

“If the only thing I got done today was this, would I be satisfied?”

I could now interject with a ‘Ooh! Squirrel!’, but that’s soooo played. [See Dabble #1.]

Here goes…

Dabble #1: [I liked this one because it sent me into ScreenFlow to do some video editing.]

 

Dabble #2: Text chat with my friend over the end of the Giants-Dodgers game.

Dabble #3 : Signing up for digitaldeepak.com. Frankly, I was too distracted to take note that it offered what I’m only marginally interested in. {Yep, I think I do have a problem.}

Dabble #4 :Reading the email offer to join LOVE 101 about optimizing my relationship. [Okay, then, I guess I won’t be giving into every distraction thrown my way.]

Time out: back to the text chat…We’re now reveling in the solid performance from a S.F. Giants rookie. Okay, chat complete.

Dabble #5 :Okay, I’ve just been assured in an email that I can make a living from my writing. Cool. I’m impressed that these reassuring people continue to invite me to their webinars. I do have to say–these sessions do offer valuable content. [Pretty sure they would be less than impressed with my ‘Wandering-Wednesday-on-Tuesday’ approach to writing success, however. Then again, maybe they would pay me to be their ‘don’t be like this guy’ guy. Now that’s a distraction I can get behind.]

I did go ahead and sign up for The 3 Most Profitable Ways to Making a Living Writing Today. I know I’ll show up. But will I stay with it? Jeff Goins presents well, is down-to-earth, and offers solid content and guidance. So, yep. I’ll be there for the whole session.

Conclusion: Thank God my boss is understanding about this. He thinks it’s time for lunch. He’s even buying!

 

The 15-Minute Experiment [follow-up]

I’m on the 15 minute clock right now, so let’s see how it goes…

set-timer-to-15-minutes-google

With a digital countdown hovering, I really did accomplish more than on other days.

For starters, I felt I needed to honor every minute of my three reading sessions. I actually finished articles and chapters, including one on Twitter use for reluctant writers [or is it writers who are reluctant to use Twitter…I’ll get back to you on that.]. Without the experiment, I would have skimmed the article and drifted away after five minutes. [I am, after all, a classic victim Nicholas Carr describes in The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brain.

One hitch in my schedule: I had forgotten that I had signed up for a publishing webinar. Still the experiment attuned me to making efficient use of my work time, so I made sure to nail down two ‘to-do’ list items and exerbiked while watching and taking sweaty notes on the webinar. Not a pretty thing, this drive for productivity.

I also felt compelled to dedicate 15 late-night minutes to a list item I hadn’t addressed during normal hours.

Interesting, however, is my much lower productivity level today, at least in terms of writing and publishing. [Of course, grinding through the formatting of my file for my ebook does leave me with a less-than-accomplished feeling. But grind away, I did.]

On the upside, I have written and mailed five personal notes, completely decluttered my kitchen counter, and dove into my closet to donate over a dozen pieces of clothing for  the local St. Vincent de Paul store. I’m hoping that will score higher at the pearly gates [yes, it is quite the assumption.] than publishing my Kindle book.

All in all, it won’t happen every day, but I liked the way I ratcheted up my focus and the effort is easy to replicate. I’ll be back at it next week and will integrate it with my one focused hour. I also intend to reduce my checklist to ‘Most Important Tasks’.

Curation Station:

The Power of Less by Leo Babauta

How to Be More with Less with Courtney Carver  Feb. 14 Unmistakable Creative Podcast

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains