PRODUCTIVITY— Lessons learned
Here’s what we learned during our first “Timeless” mission on the elusive subject of Productivity.
One week into the first Timeless mission (remember), it’s time to share some of the cool stuff we’ve bumped into so far. We’ve received quite some reactions/suggestions, some people even got to uploading stuff in the database, way to go!
About that: if you’ve checked out the website and have some ideas/feedback, I’d love to hear from you. What did you like/didn’t like? How do you see this evolving? It’s an experiment, so we can most certainly use your frank and honest thoughts. Leave ‘m in the comments below!
[Wanna know more about the idea behind Timeless? Scroll aaaaall the way down.]
What have we learned?
I love how I’ve learned soooo much more in one week than I would have by myself. Below are 5 things that we discovered that I believe have some serious Timeless potential.
Check it out, and as Bruce Lee once said…
“Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own.”
1. GTD baby!
Massive gap in my list. You just can’t say productivity without talking “Getting Things Done”. It’s no longer a fad, but a tried & proven system that has produced results for a lot of people. Maybe it’s even Timeless? ;)
Now, instead of having to read David Allen’s whole book, our user BlackBelt uploaded some concise but awesome summaries of his philosophy.
- GTD in 15 minutes (by Eden Hamberg, 2013). Everything you need.
- Next actions: Both physical_and_visible (by Merlin Mann, 2004) Too short to pass on.
2. HABITS baby!!
So obvious: almost all things about “being productive” can be boiled down to maintaining a couple of good habits. But which ones? And how do you cultivate these? I definitely need some timeless advice on this topic or I’d be lost. What I’ve received so far:
- The power of habits — and the power to change them (by Daniel H. Pink, 2012)
Also by this guy: How to be happier, healthier, and more productive: it’s all in the timing. Great addition by our contributor GD ! - Or watch: The Power of Habit (TED talk by Charles Duhigg, the author of the bible on habits)
But maybe… It’s about not doing stuff? What habits should we eliminate?
- Here’s Tim again with a quick podcast on The Not-To Do List: 9 Habits to stop now. He’s consistent… And great for morning commutes.
3. PLANNING — SCHEDULING — TIME MANAGEMENT baby!!!
Although I’m not a huge fan of over-planning or living according to a schedule… This one really got me thinking:
- Fixed-Schedule Productivity: How I Accomplish a Large Amount of Work in a Small Number of Work Hours (by Cal Newport, 2009)
Again the philosophy is amazingly simple: set your schedule. Then do EVERYTHING to make that schedule work. It’s a backward way of thinking and I’m curious to experiment with it.
4. FOODZ baby!!!!
Again, the idea is too simple. Crap in equals crap out…
Eating well is a huge lever in a productive & happy life. But WTF there is a lot of noise out there. :) This might have to become a separate topic… Here’s some inital thoughts:
- What foods make my brain work best?
I loved watching this talk (Seth Roberts, 2012). He basically does hundreds of random experiments on himself and sees what works or not. - Biggest productivity hack (the minimalist Coder, 2016) Cool primer on ketogenic diet.
- 9 Brain foods that will boost your ability to focus. (A life of Productivity, 2013). Simple list, with links to the studies/articles included. Like it.
5. Wrapping it up
Instead of pinching one particular idea, we’ve also received some great “overviews” of how other people arrange their time/life. So let these people inspire you:
- Life Hacking (by Alex Vermeer, 2016). Just an amazing overview.
- The Ultimate Guide to personal productivity methods (by Doist, 2017). Something for everyone.
Big thanks to fjhendrix for the tips (who also hosts an interesting Medium page and recently published a very cool article: My Interwebz Reading Gems of 2017). Check it out!
Conclusion
I don’t have it all figured out yet, not even close, but it’s definitely fun to gather a lot of opinions and store them in one place. That’s basically what we’re doing at Timeless. I would really love for all of you to join in and give us some food for thought (everything is welcome!).
Be sure to check out the Productivity page to rate some of the articles above or upload your own!
Adios?
Most certainly not. Next week I feel like diving into ‘Creativity’, somewhat the polar opposite of Productivity. Or is it?…. Stay tuned, and until then, don’t hesitate to upload awesome shit into our database.
Your fellow Timeless geeks,
Gilles & Thomas
Why Timeless?
As you may know, we’re trying to find and preserve truly valuable content on the web. The first blog post gives some more context on the idea of an open database of “wisdom”. In short: we’re trying to separate the signal from the noise on the web. We’re not looking for the next hype or trend; we’re looking for principles that can be applied in many different circumstances.
Gameplan
First and most crucial step: find the wisdom. On today’s over-crowded internet, ruled by the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and other hype-machines… this could prove hard enough.
Here’s the plan:
- Every week, I start things off with my 5 all-time classics on a certain theme.
(Productivity, Decision Making, Health, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Relationships, … y mucho más!) - If you have great material on this subject, you can upload it into the database. Sharing is caring!
- We check out each other’s favorites and rate them on their timeless value.
- Subject by subject, we build up “hit-lists” of wisdom to preserve and expand.
- Maybe most importantly, we all learn a shit ton of each other in the process.
Visit the first version of the database: Timeless Wisdom
