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Life Lessons on Productivity

Since posting a summary of my initial learnings on productivity and personal organization, I've had plenty of time to continue reflecting on the subject and acquire new learnings. Many of the insights this time around have come from simply observing life and taking note of principles that already exist around me.  While "book learning" is always valuable, life learning holds many valuable lessons as well.

I confess that I do not share the following principles with you as master, but rather as a student. I have much room to grow. But I hope that in sharing, they can be of some use to you.

So without further ado, I give you the following life lessons on productivity:

Add an Exponent

Remember back in math class when you had to learn about exponents? By adding an exponent next to a number, it rapidly became much bigger. Take 5 for example. Left to itself, it's not much. But when you add an exponent, say 6 for example, it suddenly becomes much more. For those uninterested in doing the math, 5^6 = 15,625!

Delegation is like adding exponents next to your name. When you empower others around you to operate in their strengths and you give them real responsibility, it helps you become way more productive. Delegation saves you time and energy while simplifying your life. And when done right, it gives others the opportunity to step into something that adds value to their lives as well.

So, remember to add an exponent next to your name, and watch your productivity soar.

Start with the Coffee

I'm no expert in the kitchen, but I do know a thing or two about timing. For example, if you're planning on making a big meal, you don't just start everything all at once. Different things require different timing. The goal of course is to have everything ready all at once. I've heard from some who take cooking much more seriously than I, that this is the hardest part. If you start something too soon, it gets cold or loses some of it's appeal. If you start something too late, then you're wasting time waiting on it while the other foods are ready to go.

Let's talk about breakfast. I'm the kind of person who likes my coffee scalding hot (my motto: If it can't hurt you, it's not hot enough), so I try to start the coffee first thing in the morning so it has time to brew and sit on the warmer long enough to get to that near-dangerous temperature. When I was living the bachelor life, I would sometimes go all out on breakfast, making eggs, pancakes, toast, sausage, and sometimes even a pop tart or two! Now that I'm married, my wife helps me make better choices, but I learned from that experience to always start with the coffee. The goal was to begin with what would take the longest to finish.

The same, of course, is true in life. When it comes to prioritizing when you begin working on a particular task or project, timing matters. The more time something is going to take to complete, the sooner you want to get it started. In the same way you wouldn't sit down for a full breakfast and then get the coffee started, you wouldn't want to begin a process right when you need it done. Rather, you want to begin a process so it's done when you need it. And the only way you can do this is by starting it sooner rather than later.

What process do you need to get started in your life so it's done when you need it?

Get Threefold Feedback

A few months ago my wife and I were visiting a nearby town to see a parade and hangout for the day. Parking was crazy. Being the determined man that I am, I refused to pay the 5 bucks for parking and instead chose to find us a free spot somewhere along the road. As luck would have it, I actually did manage to find us a spot pretty close to the parade route, but it was a tight fit and required parallel parking.

Now, I've been through Driver's Ed and parallel parked plenty of times before, so I didn't think this  would be a problem. I pulled up alongside the car next to us and began backing in. Simple right? Well, not exactly. You see, even though I learned the "technical" way to do it, I still prefer to go by feel. The merger of man and machine if you will. However in this particular instance, that was not working out so well for me.

My wife, being the acute observer that she is, offered a helpful reminder of the technical way to get it done, but by this point I was determined to do it my way. After several failed attempts, I finally managed to get in the spot, but not without ignoring advice that could have saved us both time and frustration.

Thankfully, my wife and I were able to have a conversation about it afterwards, and I was able to recognize that I had completely shut myself off to her feedback in that moment. Because I had already begun the process and I was the one driving, I didn't feel a need to listen to what she had to say, even though she was right.

Feedback isn't always fun, which is why we sometimes avoid it, but it's one of the fastest ways we humans can grow. When embraced wholeheartedly, feedback can be like a "shortcut" to growth, helping us avoid repeating the same old mistakes over and over again and helping us become more aware of our blind spots.

When we think about feedback, we typically think about it as something we receive after the fact. However, in the story above, it actually occurred during the event itself. In some ways that made it more challenging. Sometimes we even receive feedback on something before it happens, which can be extremely helpful for avoiding costly mistakes in the first place.

Which leads us to a core truth behind the Threefold Feedback Principle - all feedback is not created equal. There are essentially three levels of feedback which we can either choose to embrace or ignore at our peril: good, better, and best. Typically, the higher the level of feedback we get, the more challenging it is to receive. However, with this higher level comes the potential for greater helpfulness as well.

The three levels of feedback are:

Good: Afterwards

This is where most feedback happens, and is often the "easiest" to receive.

Better: During

Receiving feedback during the fact is rarer and and often times more challenging to embrace, but can save one from wasting time proceeding on the wrong course. Conversely, it can also be more encouraging than feedback after the fact if it helps one maintain the proper course.

Best: Before

This is the rarest and most challenging level of feedback because it typically occurs only when someone is proactive about pursuing it. However, because it happens before an action or decision is made, it can save the hearer much wasted time and energy. Feedback before the fact requires the most humility because it involves the least autonomy.

To increase your productivity, actively pursue all three levels of feedback from trusted sources. But remember that the most time and energy is usually saved when we pursue feedback before or during the fact, rather than simply waiting until afterwards.

How open are you to receiving feedback in your life? What level (or levels) of feedback do you typically pursue?

Take What You Should When You Can

This past summer I was out for a walk at our local park and happened to notice a Great Blue Heron which had just landed in the river across the way. Blue Heron's are a fairly common sight around my area, so seeing one was no big surprise. But this Blue Heron was different than any one I had ever seen before.

Right there, before my eyes, it began doing the strangest dance along the river that I have ever seen. It was incredible. It began moving its feet back and forth and flapping it wings up and down and bobbing it's neck in a strange motion...almost as though it had it's own soundtrack going on, and was completely oblivious to everything else.  Maybe it was playing. Maybe it was some sort of hunting ritual. But whatever it was, it was completely pure. As an outsider looking in, I felt privileged to witness something so seemingly rare.

I immediately reached for my camera phone to take some video of the event, but because I was fairly far away, the bird appeared small on the screen and it was hard to see much detail. Unfortunately, I didn't have zoom either. So instead of just filming it from where I was at, I decided to try to sneak a bit closer to get a better video. But just as I got close to the distance I wanted, the bird noticed me and immediately froze. Opportunity lost.

As I walked home, I reflected a bit on the experience. I had a chance to capture something rare and beautiful in a less than ideal way, but chose instead to try and capture it in a perfect way. In doing so missed out on capturing it at all. It reminded me a little bit like the way I can live my life if I'm not careful.

The desire to get an ideal, perfect version of something can actually prevent us from getting it at all. You could call it perfectionism or overly-high standards or a variety of other things I imagine. But whatever you want to call it, the pursuit of the ideal can often keep us from getting what we should. We can set the bar so high that our goals are unattainable, even for us.

A bad video of the Great Blue Heron dance would have been better than no video at all.

Which leads to the following principle: take what you should when you can. If you wait until all the conditions are perfect, you're liable to be waiting forever or just miss out altogether because conditions are rarely perfect and opportunities rarely last forever. If you have a chance to take an opportunity or buy a product or experience something new, and you know you should, then don't wait.  Do it. Take what you should when you can.*

What opportunity is in front of you right now that you know you should be taking? Don't presume upon the future or wait until everything is perfect. Act now, otherwise you risk missing it.

* As a Christian, I feel it's important for me to note that we should begin by looking to God to help us discern the "what" and the "when."

Trust What's Old, Try What's New

I like technology. I especially like new technology. The thing about new technology is that there is always something coming out that promises to do it better than everything else on the market. The makers of these products try to convince the consumer to place their trust in the new product and abandon the old.

This can be very tempting, especially because sometimes the new product is better than the old and can save you time, energy, and money while also improving also your user experience. Who doesn't like a true upgrade?

Unfortunately, experience proves that often times the latest and the greatest isn't all it's cracked up to be. That new computer has a steeper learning curve than you expected, or lacks support for a product you need, or actually takes more time to get things done on than your previous one did. Yes, it may be better for some, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's better for you.

There's a difference between trusting and trying. Trusting is about throwing yourself fully into something with the belief that it will hold up. Trying is about testing something to see if it even will hold up.

In general, when it comes to technology, if you're faced with the choice between trusting something new, flashy, and untested vs. trusting something old, less flashy, but proven, opt for the latter. Most of the time, reliability and reputation trumps innovation and potential. That doesn't mean you can't try what's new. It just means you shouldn't automatically put your trust in it.

This, of course, is true for more than just technology. It's true for people, systems, education, purchasing decisions, and a whole host of other things as well. There's nothing wrong with trying and testing the latest and greatest, but there's a big difference between trying and trusting. If you're wanting to make an upgrade, try before you trust. Hang on to what you have and see how the new thing works out. Trust what's old, try what's new.

What thing in your life needs an upgrade right now (weight, finances, relationships, technology, job, etc.)? If you can, resist the temptation to just abandon the old in favor of the new. Trust what already works, and try what's new. You'll be glad you did.

Use 3P Motivation

I'm a runner, but perhaps not in the true sense of the word. I don't do it because I have this deep love of running and feel compelled to get out there everyday and work up a sweat. I run because it's the cheapest, most efficient, and most convenient form of cardiovascular exercise available to me. If I want to have fun while exercising, I play racquetball or some other competitive sport that I enjoy.

However, I do enjoy running sometimes, and part of the reason for this is because it's taught me a lot about myself, about life, and about how much the mental side of things plays into success.

For example, I've noticed that I run much further and faster when when I'm surrounded by other runners or there are a lot of people around me. The reason for this is simple: social reinforcement. If I know people are watching me run, it adds an extra level of motivation to run my best. Is it logical? No. Most of the people who see me run probably don't care how fast or how far I'm running. But as human beings, we're hardwired to want to perform better when we know others are watching. We have much stronger mental motivation to push ourselves when others are watching vs. when we're all alone.

I remember in Middle School we learned all about negative peer pressure. The police officer talked to us about saying "no" to drugs, and we learned that just because our peers were doing it didn't mean that we should too. Peer pressure can be a powerful thing. No doubt some of my classmates chose to use drugs in part because of the social pressures involved.

However, just as there's negative peer pressure to do the wrong thing, there's also positive peer pressure to do the right thing. When I'm running and I have other athletes (peers) around me, that's positive social pressure for me to do my best. I like to think of positive peer pressure as 3P Motivation (get it?).

3P Motivation can propel us to go further and faster in many areas of our lives beyond just running. So why not leverage it? If you want to grow in being more effective or efficient at something, share your goals and your journey with others. Invite people in. Let people see your progress. Just knowing that others are watching you can make a huge difference in your performance.

Of course, you don't want your primary motivation to be driven by people pleasing. That's not what this is about. You should have your own sense what you want your life is to be about and what your goals and dreams are. But after you have these, why not invite a trusted group of people around you to help you achieve your dreams? With 3P Motivation you'll have that extra layer of encouragement to keep moving forward, and if you're like most people, you'll go further and faster with others around you than you ever will on your own.

What areas of your life are you trying to improve on your own? Consider inviting people into the process so you can have positive social reinforcement. It just may be the boost you need.

You Bring Me Back to Life

Made some time to play around with GarageBand a bit more today. It's been awhile since I got out the ol' M-Audio Keyboard! This is a musical idea I was exploring; it could serve as the structure for the beginning of a full song. I'm calling it "You Bring Me Back to Life" since that's one of the phrases that went through my head while composing. Nothing fancy of course - I'm still learning the basics.

Coldplay fans out there may notice the blatant rip-off of the percussive orchestra. ;)