Work

ARC — a framework for work

You don’t want to do something.

The reasons may be manifold. They might be interesting, insightful. You could dig them up with 5 whys.

Let’s put them aside.

Start and finish

Start. Go wide, be creative, let your imagination run wild!
Finish. Go narrow, put your head down, cut the useless mercilessly out.

Both are fundamental modes of work.

Break your own rules

We all have rules. No more than two coffees. Only exercise in the morning. Go for a run on Sunday.

Whatever they are, they serve a purpose.

Or, served.

What you avoid becomes hard, what you do becomes simple

Have you heard of myelin?

It’s a fat that insulates synapses in the brain, optimizing the circuits that govern any action or thought we have.

Feedback eliminates uncertainty & risk

When an archer shoots, their feedback is hitting the target or missing it. What if a device attached to the bow beeped when the angle and direction would be just right? Hitting the target would be nigh certain.

Imagine your computer only played music

The computer is an amazing versatile tool and also a time sucking machine.

A while back I decided to write by hand in the evening. I put my laptop out of my immediate line of sight (and thus out of mind), put on a chill remix and…

What’s a smart way to deal with this?

Stuff comes at you every day, fast. How do you handle it well?

You can dive in. Like a boxer bob and weave, punch and take hits. Into the fray.

Maximum context communication

How many messages or emails do you read? How many are clear right away?

How many do you have to figure out?

In communication, we tend to commit the error of thinking the other person is like us. We think they know everything…

Close the intent-action gap

The moment you define a task, a timer starts running in your mind.

It measures if you did what you set out to do. It tracks if you are a doer. It only stops when something is dealt with.