I have done well to stay away from new productivity apps the past couple of years. I'm still using Things as my main repository of projects and AoR (areas of responsibility) — this has not changed since Things 3 arrived and I wrote about it [https://thesweetsetup.com/apps/best-personal-gtd-app-suite/] for The Sweet Setup. The biggest change in recent years has been the use of pen and paper for daily planning and tracking. I still do this today (currently with a Do Journal from Baron Fig, but I'…
All posts in planning
A lot of smart peple are blocking off entire days in the week in order to focus. Untouchable days [https://hbr.org/2018/03/why-you-need-an-untouchable-day-every-week], so to speak. But I hear you saying to yourself, “A day doesn’t feel like it would be enough.” I’m with you. So too is John Baluch. Rather than regular untouchable days, he schedules think weeks. Okay, in his case, it was a longer think weekend … but the idea is the same: > Taking the time to think is a powerful thing, regardle…
I recently enjoyed a couple of good episodes of Whims That Work. In this one, hosts Drew Coffman and Joe Buhlig touch on goals and whether or not they’re a good way to approach life. So much of this episode touched on things that I discuss a lot here: goals vs. habits, notebooks, commonplace books. As I listened during my run, so many related resources came to mind: * On habits and goals, no one I know of has written as consistently as James Clear. So much of what Drew mentions here about…
Forget about goals. Instead, focus on habits. This is a common refrain of late. The likes of James Clear, Shawn Blanc, and Nir Eyal all make the case for habits being greater than goals. I won’t go so far as to tell someone to not set goals. But I do agree that habits are what will enable you to meet your goals. I still like to set an end destination in mind, but I’ve finally begun to see how powerful — and vital — the habits and routine are for getting to the finish line. What has made the mo…
While I’m not crazy about the term “lifestyle design”, this post has some good tips. Srinivas Rao opens the piece by defining the problem of people wanting to “hack their lives”: > When people think of the words Lifestyle Design images of working from a laptop, location independence, The Four Hour Workweek and digital nomads pop into their head. What they don’t think about is the actual work that goes into those accomplishments, all of which are a byproduct of days and environments that have be…
Happy Monday, everyone! I wanted to remind you that The Focus Course is open for registration as of today. Shawn and his team have refreshed the course and added new content (including the recent Focus Summit videos). For all those who sign up early on, there is also the chance to win some cool prizes. Register here [https://thefocuscourse.com/?ref=10] Full disclosure: as a guest of the Focus Summit, I benefit from referring people to sign up for The Focus Course. I hope that you’ve been read…
Things don't always work out as planned. Be prepared for that.
A new year means a new journal. A look at the Baron Fig Planner.