A Meaningful Life

Some time ago I wrote about transition time costs and how they are a big cost to personal and business efficiency. Problogger Darren Rowse was right on the money today in his post about batch processing tasks together to get efficiency in his blogging business. I think he misses the “why” it works but the crux of the strategy is there. The approach can apply to managing businesses, finances, sales, marketing and even getting the chores done around the house. Just about any area in your life can benefit from the batching strategy.

I often do a spring clean through folders, bookmarks, contacts and now my twitter account. I could use the time savings excuse not to do it but I know it’s an excuse. Small amounts of time spent on cleaning pays wonders in productivity. The kicker is that great clean mind feeling. It’s so much easier to work.

Yesterday while working on some demo/marketing slides for Saasu I realised how many web-pages, screenshots, images and thumbnails that 8 years of business will accumulate. It made life very slow and very difficult, surfing the directory structure and filtering. It took half a day to do something that should have taken an hour. So post our next release it’s getting a spring clean.

Clean out some people

Likewise my twitter account. I cleaned out people. Yes, that sounds horrible. If you aren’t following me then I cleared you out. Main reason is that I like twitter for the conversation and will push not to have it become a marketing soapbox. A little marketing is ok, but balance is required. After all the real world soapbox is pretty dead, and that’s because it wasn’t a conversation.

Time cost vs. benefit of the clean-up

There is a peak where productivity gains are lost relative to time spent cleaning. So the short sharp super clean is the way to go.

Minimalism is a great antidote for messy

The simplicity of minimalism is so rich. When you distil out the very best ideas and possessions from your life and concentrate your thoughts and energy on them then their richness grows immensely.

If you’re messy your probably impacting others

Just look at messy teens sending their parents nuts. That problem pervades the world and no doubt is a major factor in parent/teen relationship problems that are all too common.

Last word

Stay messy, if you like it. I saw a pig once who was damn messy and he looked very happy, happier than me I’d say. So there’s nothing wrong with being messy if your happy in it and it doesn’t impact others.

My new years resolution is very low key. It is to add a little more rigour and discipline to life.

People tend to go for big ticket resolutions but it takes a revolutionary change in your life to have them happen. We all know they don’t, humans just fail badly honouring their New Years resolution promises and commitments.

Here’s a few reasons why my resolution is low key:

• Low key resolutions are far more likely to happen. Small regular wins are better than big fat zero’s.
• 98% of your actions are habit which simply wont change on a shallow statement of resolution.
• It is inauthentic to promise yourself something that you know you wont do.
• You simply can’t stop and change your life based on a date. A “date” has no real power, it’s a word.
• What humans commit to do and what we really commit to do are very different things.

The last one is the crux of the matter. As an example many people commit to less chocolate or coffee. The reality is that we are very committed to satiating feelings. The pleasure of quelling that feeling is what we are really committed to.

What you secretly commit to in your life trumps your resolutions every time.

Resolutions that work are revolutions. Revolutions require shock or structure to make them happen.Roughly 40%-50% of people have a new years resolution to get their finances in order. The next biggest is weight and fitness at 20%-30%. To have any of these happen means massive life upheaval so the vast majority of us will no doubt fail because the is no significant difference in our daily lives to have the change happen. There is no shock factor present or there is no structure in place to have it occur.

Pick something small. Get a win on the board. Then step it up by preparing the structure, systems and resources you will need for your larger personal revolution to occur.

Procrastination is easily my biggest weakness and I always delay working on it. Yes, that was humor. I even delayed writing this post for a year at least for fear it needed to be perfect. However I was inspired by a great read on the Pick The Brain blog.

This post is far from perfect so I’m actually using one of the weapons below that defeated Procrastination. That weapon had me hit the publish button. Read on to find out which weapon I used.

Tiny Tasks

Like a virus many tiny tasks can eat away at the enormity of a big task. Breaking big tasks into a multiplicity of small doable tasks to overcome that enormity you created with that little shoulder devil saying “that’s too big, do it later”. Recognise and admit it is the enormity of the task that is stopping you.

BANJO

It stands for “Bang A Nasty Job Out”. I love this one (thanks Pick The Brain). In a nut shell knowing you have nasty tasks ahead stops you working down your list. Getting the nasty one done solves this problem. Personally I think a more realistic approach for a procrastinator is to use the previous weapon in conjunction with this weapon for a more reliable way of taking out the enemy.

Endorphins

Wow these little guys kick some you know what. They arrive shortly after exercise and for me they always inspire me to take action, get stuff done and help me fell good about things that might in another mood send me into a spiral of procrastination.

Don’t do it, just strike it off the list

Do you have to do this thing you are procrastinating about. If you keep delaying it maybe you really aren’t committed to doing it. One example for me is painting (the artistic kind). Been procrastinating about it for years before I realised I’m obviously not that desperate to do it if I haven’t started. It’s probably just a mental desire. So now it’s on my maybe later list.

Road block removal

You find reasons, dependencies and blocks that allow your mind to justify not doing something. Interestingly this technique also counters the guilt associated with not getting something done. So the trick here is removing the excuses you come up with via a method outside your normal way of being. Get help from another person, delegate the thing that is stopping you, pay someone to do that part which will free you up to do the rest.

I first realised this was happening to me many years ago when I was doing up my house. I stopped at plastering, seemed to hard and nothing happened for months. Then I spent a pitiful $200 to get the few holes and section of a wall plastered and I was off and running again.

Deadlines

Here is a weapon that can be used lethally against procrastination. Tell lots of people about your commitment to do X and that you plan to have it complete by Y date. Then schedule it in your calender. Then ask your partner or close friends to call you on word to do it in the event of likely failure or post failure. Ask them to tell you you are procrastinating on this. Lastly as a bonus ‘hammer it home’ weapon, create a financial loss out of not having it done by your deadline. Just a token financial loss like a friendly bet or a forfeited deposit can work a treat.

This one isn’t for everyone but in many people the procrastinator in them is easily defeated by their desire to win a bet, to be right, to prove themselves to others. It is driven by trying to look good and be admired.

The setup

All through history people win games, battles, arguments and all kinds of competitive situations through “the setup”. Create a setup that has you win in this battle to achieve this task that you keep procrastinating about. Put some conditions, variables, resources to bear on the outcome so only one thing can eventuate - success. Thinking a few moves ahead like in a chess game can help.

Say you want to start going to the Gym. Having a friend go with you is a setup technique. It’s harder to pull out or say no on the day. Extend this by having them pick you up. Go further and pay for the session in advance. Yes its a setup but its enough to channel you into action.

Sleep

Of all the things that saps enthusiasm, lack of sleep is the one. Well slept, is well kept, in the game of life. How can you expect to play hard against ‘team procrastination’ if you go out partying the night before. All that will happen is that you will wake up hungover, unmotivated and feeling very sorry for yourself to the point where the only thing that will be crossed of your list that day is “make coffee”.

Reward

All intelligent species respond to rewards. If you don’t get something for doing something you are procrastinating about then I ask why do it? What is the reason? I’m not proposing a selfish way of being, I’m just being realistic on this. What’s in it for you? Survival, happiness, making others happy? Create a reward. If it is a job for someone else then concentrate on how it will help them, they will appreciate it and you can bask in your good Samaritan sun. Bask away and don’t be ashamed of it!

Martyrdom

Sometimes a task can be crappy, dangerous or boring. Worse still you get no reward at completion for doing it. I suggest creating a reward called Martyrdom. Take it on, bring it on and state your position to others who won’t (with your chest out). Be the Martyr, just do it. Be like the guy who volunteers to take “point” in the jungle war scene and gets the medal. Be the person who takes the dive for the team victory and gets lifted up on their shoulders. It sounds bizarre but I assure you when you come out the other side and the nastiness is over others and even yourself will say. I did the yards, I played the position no one wanted to play, I got the job done. You will feel very alive.

Anxiety reality check

Is this your root cause of procrastination? Historically procrastination and anxiety go hand in hand. You are anxious about something and accordingly find ways to avoid, delay and distract yourself from that something. In severe cases people avoid living life in a normal way. I get anxious and I try to remember to remind myself that anxiety only has a home is in my head. Anxiety isn’t a physical thing, it’s not made of atoms. It is mind created, possibly has genetic or medical reasons for being there but it doesn’t change the fact it isn’t real and can’t be touched. Remembering that helps me reduce its impact. It can feel very real and significant for many and if so get to the Doctor they are the professionals on this one.

Near enough IS good enough

This is tough but quite often procrastinators are actually perfectionists in disguise who won’t start or finish something for fear of the result being less than perfect. If this is you then dwell on this. Doing nothing about ‘X’ is so far away from perfection that you would be a fool not to do something about it.

So suit up, get your weapons together and kick procrastinations butt!

I tried not keeping a list for a couple of weeks. This was a bit weird for me. I’ve always run lists even though I often get distracted from them. Still it is there in the back of my head like a personal assistant ready to remind you of the tasks at hand.

Lists in investment banking were essential. Lists helped mitigate monetary and legal risks by ensuring important things weren’t forgotten. Such as booking all the components of structured transaction. Missing one component could be fatal. You could also use them to waterfall trading priorities based on risk mitigation and/or monetary return.

I was going to do no-lists for a month but stopped today. I felt I had enough to know I want to operate with them. However, there were a couple of interesting things that showed up for me. Here’s what I found out.

1. Prioritisation Weakens

I didn’t prioritise as well without my list. Lists definitely help me with this. You need a cracking memory to keep a mental note on what order things should be done and by when.

2. Memory Lets You Down

You do forget the odd thing you need to do. I remembered most things but I slipped on some and one was quite important. So to keep in integrity with people the list is a good structure that helps.

3. List Free Isn’t Liberated

I wasn’t any happier, liberated or spontaneous than normal without a list. It felt the same in fact, only with a little more anxiety in the form of “Have I missed something?”.

4. I Still Got a Lot Done

Well this one was predictable. List don’t change the quantity of work you can get done. Good prioritisation probably has some efficiency payoffs but it wasn’t noticeable for me. It’s in my nature to work full days anyway. The list can’t do the labour, I have to, so it makes sense.

5. Old Jobs Completed At Last

This was the best outcome of not having a list. I did a few things that had been at the back of my mind that never made the important list. It felt good to clear them, a lot like fixing a very old software bug that doesn’t really impact anyone but annoys the crap out of you.

6. Not Adding Any New Things Shortened My List

This is probably my favourite outcome. I added some things today but not as many as would have been there if I were adding things every day over the last two weeks. So the take away is being more ruthless about what goes on the list. I liken it to only permissioning important email - it can only help.

7. You Adapt To Not Having A List

I found myself relying more on Trac (our internal ticketing system) and also on Email search. Email started to become a surrogate todo list.

I find that when a list is used for planning my day I get a lot more done. The most unproductive days in my life are random unplanned ones. However at the same time they create expectation about how much I should have done once the day was over versus the actual outcome. This can lead to disappointment and the worst emotion of all, guilt.

The To Do List Hot Tip

I was taught a great tip that when I heard it it was like an epiphany. Mark the items on you list that you plan NOT to do in the immediate future. Yes it works, it takes all that expectation and guilt away leaving only those items on your list that you will honestly have a chance of attending to in the immediate future. It’s so simple and perfect.

My derivative version of this tip

I just have a short list on my desktop of the things I’d like to get done today. I’m into simplicity and order. I guess it is one of the reasons I like Japanese gardens. The rest of my to do’s are in our Trac system for work related ones or in a Google Docs spreadsheet for all my home and family things.

It doesn’t have to be on paper

I like mental lists. On weekends a paper list feels like a list of chores, something that has power over me. Mental lists are better in my opinion. I’ll go over it several times a day. “Ok, what’s next, if i do ‘x’ now then ‘y’ will take half as long” etc.

Saturday night I got a call from a friend. “Let’s go fishing”, he said. I knew I had a lot to do around home on Sunday so this invite compelled me to get a mental list together of how I could make that day a success. I was going to have to pack a lot into 16 hours. So I did my mental list. Go fishing, clean the house, do some hard landscaping and swim with the kids. It might not sound like much but the landscaping was a lot of work. I got it all done but best of all I did extra things like putting the washing away and going for another swim/spa before bed. I bet if they were on my list I wouldn’t have got to it or if I didn’t quite get to do them I would have been disappointed.

Side Note: There’s nothing more satisfying than packing a lot into a day. I liken it to the difference between being in the stands at a football game versus being on the field playing in the game. The difference is participating fully in life.

You MUST have fun things on your lists

If your list is about stuff you have to do and don’t really want to do your doomed to fail completing things on your list when planned. Fun things on your list bring balance to the list. After all, it is your life you are doing!

I posted my thoughts on interruptions in business life today on our Saasu Blog. If you feel the barrage of interruptions like I often do then take refuge in my post called Business Interruptus. Better still get the RSS into your reader or homepage of choice and you won’t miss my posts there.

Yep, still addicted but I have cut back to an average of 3 cups per day. In the first week when I started my “conscience effort to eliminate” my tally was 1,3,2,2,5,3,3. Then I stopped counting. I took the Falkayn’s advice and tried some healthy snacks. I am definitely drinking more water and eating more fruit. It does help. Yesterday I only had one coffee and that was because my day was broken up so I believe this points to changing routine a little can help disrupt the habit. I will work on this over coming weeks.

I realised the other day I had no plan or structure for quiting coffee. Landmark Education taught me a crucial lesson some time back that has helped me build Saasu.com. You have to have a structure and a plan to break a habit, because habits are a natural act in your way of being in life. You’re getting something out of having a habit so you need to replace it or put a structure in place that messes with its hold on you. Just to give you an idea of how bad my habit has been. Some days I’d have 6-8 real coffees, the kind you buy from a shop. When I was trading at Deutsche Bank and had to work US or Europe markets at night from home till late the next day was very tough. Coffee was my savior. I’d arrive at work around 6:45am and have had 3 by 9:30am usually. Not good. So here’s my plan. I’ll let you know how it goes… - Need to get lots of sleep so I’m not tired the next day - Need to replace the habit/urge with water and herbal tea - Exercise more to counter tiredness - Eat less to counter tiredness - Fight the 3pm o’clock sleepy monster with a vengeance