Category: Success Thinking

Marie Kondo’s Top Five Productivity Tips

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It is easy to find top 10 lists online with suggestions about productivity. Most of them offer similar advice, such as to tune out distractions or focus on one thing at a time. Marie Kondo, founder of the Konmari Method, recently shared her top five productivity tips. However, they featured items not normally found on the common lists.

For instance, her first tip focuses on the power of morning rituals.

I usually wake up around 6am with my children. When I get up, I open all the windows to let fresh air in and then burn incense. I strive to keep my home comfortable and filled with clear energy throughout the day, so starting my morning with these rituals keeps me on track.

Another tip that I found useful was about the importance of coordinating with your partner.

Sharing and discussing to-do lists is a productive habit for partners. When we got married, my husband and I wrote out every household chore in a shared spreadsheet. When I finished a task, I would put a check next to it – and when my husband noticed it, he would send a simple thank you note (and vice versa). This process helped us realize the number of tasks necessary to live comfortably together, and what kinds of tasks are best suited for each person. 

Read the other three tips on the Konmari website.

Six Things That Drive a Sense of Purpose

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For any organization to be successful, solid leadership is a key component. There are many factors that create a great leader, but one vital piece is a sense of purpose. That alone can be the difference between an average leader and a leader who truly inspires.

In an article titled, Purpose in Leadership: Why & How, on the Center for Creative Leadership web site, authors Stephanie Wormington and Paige Graham describe what they mean by purpose-based leadership:

Purpose-driven leadership means helping employees find personal meaning in their work and fostering a deeply committed workforce that thrives on shared goals and aspirations. Purpose-driven leaders model value-based decision-making, take time to learn what truly matters to their employees, connect work to a greater objective, and help employees understand their organization’s mission and find ways to personally connect to it.

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The authors proceed to identify six specific items that drive the sense of purpose. Purposeful leaders help their followers experience the following in their work:

  1. Utility: Work is practically relevant to our goals and aspirations, either now or in the future.
  2. Personal Development: Work facilitates opportunities for self-growth, developing either skillsets or mindsets in personally meaningful ways.
  3. Impact: Work empowers us to make a tangible and positive difference in the world, contributing to the greater good of society, our communities, or those close to us.
  4. Identity Reinforcement: Work reinforces our sense of self, aligning with the core elements of who we are.
  5. Intrinsic Interest: Work is inherently fun and energizing, offering enjoyable experiences that naturally appeal to our interests.
  6. External Rewards: Work leads to a desirable payoff, from a paycheck to a promotion.

Read the rest of the article to learn the two specific ways to cultivate greater purpose in your leadership.

The Three C’s of Courage

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In order to accomplish great things, one must be able to withstand adversity. While some problems are overcome through ingenuity or knowledge or training, oftentimes what will get someone to the goal is a strong dose of courage. The question is, how does one develop courage?

Speaker and author Kris McGuigan believes that courage is created through a combination of three “C’s”, Clarity, Conviction, and Consistency. In her book, The Requisite Courage, she describes each of the three “C’s” in depth.

The path to courage starts with clarity. As Kris shares in Chapter 3 of her book:

The source of courage comes from within. This is well known. But the lesser-known detail is that it literally comes from who you are. Inner strength comes from having clarity around who you are and what you want. Encourage a new path to your why to crystalize and focus your energy on that which feeds your mission. You have to gain clarity in order to gain momentum towards your next objective – even when that goal is to simply identify what the next goal post should be.

McGuigan goes on to describe conviction and consistency and how when they are combined together leads to fearless execution. Learn more about Kris and her book by visiting her website.

The Last-Minute Mindset

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Do you only work when a deadline is right in your face? For example, if there is two weeks until the work needs to be completed, do you wait until the final 24 hours to start. For the determined procrastinator it often takes an outside factor to get work done. It begs the question, why do they let this happen?

In an article from Stylist magazine, Katie Rosseinsky explores the procrastinator’s mindset to learn why they behave the way they do and how they can improve. The question is important as it relates to her own experience.

My last-minute mindset is something I’m well aware of, and yet whenever I’m presented with a deadline, I follow the same pattern: put the work off for as long as humanly possible, then cram it all into a condensed, chaotic period of ’productivity’, which often involves working late into the evening. Even if I make time, say, in the week coming up to the cut-off point to focus on getting this task done, I inevitably waste it.

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Proving she is not alone; she then points out the wide-spread reality of the procrastinator mindset.

A 2007 study published in Psychological Bulletin found that 15-20% of people chronically procrastinate, with 25% describing this as their dominant personality trait. And it doesn’t have to be confined to a work context; as Christmas approaches, many of us will once again come face to face with our last-minute tendencies when we end up doing all of our present shopping in a panicked 24th December dash.

For the rest of the article, Rosseinsky proceeds to explore why how this mindset works before sharing a few ways to avoid the temptation to wait until the last minute, such as:

So, how can hardened last-minute scramblers find a way to break out of this cycle, and is there any way of turning these tendencies into a positive? In the short term, Dignan suggests trying out the ‘two-minute strategy’. “If you can do something in two minutes, you’ve got to do it now.” Another tactic she often recommends to clients involves the humble egg-timer.

To learn more, please read the rest of Rosseinsky’s article.

Getting Stuff Out of Your Head

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Think for a moment – right now, is there something important that needs to be done for which the only reminder is in your head?

For most people relying on memory is the default way to keep track of all the things they need to do. This includes remembering deadlines, commitments, obligations, or simply keeping track of fun stuff to do someday. The problem is that our minds are a poor tool for this job. In fact, David Allen, founder of GTD, often says that our heads are “crappy office spaces.”

Consider how easy it is to forget something. In the morning you open the refrigerator and discover there are no eggs. After making a mental note to drop by the store on the way home you head off to work. After a busy day on the job, hitting the grocery store is long forgotten. The next morning you are once more reminded of the lack of eggs at breakfast and are forced to make yet another sketchy promise to hit the store on the way home.

According to GTD, the best way to remember something is to place it in a trusted system outside of the head. On a practical level, that means as soon as something comes to mind it is immediately written down on paper or placed into electronic storage. So long as the reminders are kept in a place that you frequently return to, these items will never be lost.

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What are the best ways to get stuff out of your head quickly? Below are common options:

  • Use your phone’s reminder app
  • Have a note pad on your desk or counter top along with fresh pens
  • Enable a digital voice assistant, like Alexa, to capture voice reminders
  • Use sticky notes to post reminders in prominent places

For electronic reminder systems, consider setting a day/time reminder that pops up at the right time. For example, a reminder set for arrival at the office can be helpful to knock out an item right away. Or a reminder that pops up before leaving work will ensure eggs are picked up on the way home. By offloading memorization, stress levels will drop as efficiency increases.

No matter the method, constantly get stuff out of your head and into a trusted system. You will be glad you did.

Systems vs Flexibility

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One of the keys to productivity is to create efficient systems. Whenever you run a process automatically it will be faster and more reliable, especially if a human does not have to be involved. However, are there times when reliance on systems can be to our detriment?

Darious Foroux explored this problem in a piece called Systems vs Flexibility: Why Rigidity is the Enemy of Modern Success. In the post, he first acknowledges the usefulness of systems. Then he points out that it is problematic to rely too much on them.

The problem with systems is that you risk binding yourself to your system. After all, it’s what you control. And if you’re a control freak, you can go nuts about your system. 

You’ll try to optimize every single aspect. So maybe you started off trying to get a raise; created a system and started executing.

But maybe your life changes or the economy changes and you shouldn’t be executing that system. You might need a new goal in your life. Or a new system. Probably both.

Later on, Foroux explores the notion of flexibility and how it can overcome the problems inherent in systems.

The more rigid you are, the more you risk breaking things. That’s true for your career, relationships, body, and mental health.

I’ve always been a flexible thinker. I have zero attachment to ideas and beliefs. That’s because I’m a pragmatist at heart. I wrote about my personal philosophy in my book, Think Straight. 

This strategy has generally made me flexible. I’m never afraid to make a change.

But I still get stuck inside my systems, whether it’s for work or in my personal life. If you can relate to this, I recommend taking a step back from your existing systems, routines, or habits occasionally. 

See it as a way to improve your flexibility and lower your rigidity.

Read the entire piece on Foroux’s web site.

Practicing Radical Open-Mindedness

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It is commonly understood that no one person has all the right ideas.

However, it is also very easy for most people to believe that they always have the best idea.

How do we overcome this paradox of thinking? According to Ray Dalio in his best-selling book, Principles, one aspect of the solution is practicing radical open-mindedness.

Why is this so important? His company, Bridgewater Associates, is famous for creating an idea meritocracy, designed to encourage the best ideas, not the most persuasive or good-enough ones, to rise to top. Radical open-mindedness is key to making this happen. According to Dalio:

Radical open-mindedness is motivated by the genuine worry that you might not be seeing your choice optimally. It is the ability to effectively explore different points of view and different possibilities without letting your ego or blind spots get in your way.

On pages 187-190 of Principles, Dalio proposes seven steps to keeping one’s mind open. They are listed below:

  • Sincerely believe that you might not know the best possible path and recognize that your ability to deal with “not knowing” is more important that whatever it is you do know.
  • Recognized that decision making is a two-step process: First take in all the relevant information, then decide.
  • Don’t worry about looking good: worry about achieving your goal.
  • Realize that you can’t put out without taking in.
  • Recognize that to gain the perspective that comes from seeing things through another’s eyes, you must suspend judgement for a time – only by empathizing can you properly evaluate another point of view.
  • Remember that you’re looking for the best answer, not simply the best answer that you can come up with yourself.
  • Be clear on whether you are arguing or seeking to understand, and think about which is most appropriate based on your and other’s believability.

For the last point, Dalio explains the idea of believability:

I define believable people as those who have repeatedly and successfully accomplished the thing in question – who have a strong track record with a least three successes – and have great explanations for their approach when probed.

To dive deeper into these seven concepts, grab a copy of Principles and jump to pages 187-190.

Why it is Hard to Get Things Done (and we don’t mean GTD)

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Even though we now have far more tools at our disposal to be productive in the office, more and more people are finding it hard to actually get work done. This may seem like a paradox, but there is an important reason why this is so.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article by Ray Smith titled, Workers Now Spend Two Full Days a Week on Email and in Meetings. In it, Smith points to a survey done my Microsoft that outlines worker’s concerns.

Researchers found that the 25% most active users of its apps—in other words, people who use Microsoft’s business software for much of their online work activity—spent an average of 8.8 hours a week reading and writing emails and 7.5 hours logging meetings.

Those figures don’t include time spent instant messaging, on the phone or in other, impromptu conversations with co-workers. In all, the average employee spent 57% of their time using office software for communication—in meetings, email, chat. The remainder of time, 43%, they used for creating things, such as building spreadsheets or writing presentations.

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Smith shares how this workload affects a worker’s ability to think big.

In a separate Microsoft survey of 31,000 people worldwide, nearly two out of three said they struggled to find time and energy to do their actual job. Those people were more than three times as likely as others polled to say innovation and strategic thinking were a challenge for them.

The study found that despite our assumption that more communication and collaboration lead to a better outcome, it seems this is not the case. Smith points out that one of the biggest hinderances to a productive workplace comes from not setting priorities for meetings and clearly considering who should attend.

Too often, meetings are scheduled without clarity on what they are supposed to achieve, said Rita J. King, executive vice president of workplace-consulting firm Science House. “The key is to not invite someone to a meeting unless you are absolutely certain that they belong there, and you can tell them why,” she said.

Learn more about the concerns expressed in the Microsoft survey and some strategies to solve them by reading the full article.

The Best Time to Get Feedback

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There is a funny paradox at the heart of creativity. Most people would prefer not to receive criticism of their work; however, the only way to know if the work is effective is to get feedback. Therefore, the question is when is the best time to solicit evaluations of your work?

According to Tiago Forte, the best time to get feedback is early in the creative process. As he wrote in a recent newsletter:

The fundamental difficulty of creative work is that we lack objectivity when it comes to our creations.

That’s where feedback becomes invaluable—a borrowed pair of eyes from a novice’s perspective. It allows us to step outside our subjective viewpoint and identify what may be missing in our work.

However, there’s a common mistake I see people make when seeking feedback: they wait too long, often investing months of effort before unveiling their work.

The trap in waiting for feedback is that you could be well down a road that leads to a dead-end, which wastes time and energy. I know from personal experience the pain of this mistake on a writing project from a few years back. As Tiago writes:

Receiving feedback on a small aspect of your work at an early stage is less confronting, allowing you ample time to make corrections.

Each bit of intermediate feedback becomes a valuable tool for refining your creation—making it more focused, appealing, succinct, or easier to grasp.

Therefore, don’t be afraid to share your work as early and often as possible.

Learn more about Tiago by visiting Fortelabs.com.