Building the Success Habit

What you do repeatedly becomes a habit. You want to build the habit of success by making sure your daily behaviors end with a success.

One "success" that I'm working on is always completing the tasks on my daily todo list. I've gone through many, many cycles on my todo lists. I used to start with a short list and then think of other things I could add, and then I would add some more. Of course, some of the items didn't get done, so I would carry them over until tomorrow, which made the next day's list longer.

Usually after a week of this, the todo list would get too daunting and I would stop looking at it. This meant that what I had been doing, eventually, was practicing failure.

What I'm doing now is limiting the list. I'm writing up my list the night before, and only adding items I'm certain that I can complete. In this way, every day, I check off the items on my list, and I build the habit of success.

I can do other things, of course, but by making a short list the focus, I get the important tasks completed, and I build the habit of getting things done. And as I go, I learn what I can pack into a single day and I can slowly add more items.

Don't let your todo list grow out of control. Prune it, and manage it, and above all build the habit of finishing it every day.

Analysis Paralysis

As I said before, analysis paralysis is one of my favorite anti-patterns for getting things done.

The problem is, of course, some analysis is required, the question is when to stop. For me, setting time limits on the planning phase is a good way to compromise between "no planning" and "paralysis".

If you spend time each day reviewing your plans, you can identify areas that may require more though and schedule them, without ever going into the free form time sink that is perpetual planning.

A Virtue, Carried to Extremes, Becomes a Vice

I worked at a company once that would re-organize itself every few years, like clockwork. I think Scott Adams (Dilbert) talks about this phenomenon.

With me, I think re-organizing is just something I do when I don't want to work on the current task. It's a common way out for me, when I need to think more about something. If I stop to clean my office, it's not goofing off, right? And yes, my office usually needs cleaning.

Now, there are times when more thought is necessary. But, since you know that getting blocked is going to happen, you just need to have a plan for what the next task on the list is. If you just look around the room for something to do when you have you'll end up doing something that might not need to be done.

Once again, be aware of situations that might derail your productivity, and plan for them. You'll do much better than if you just react when they happen.

The World is Full of Wonderful Ideas

The one issue I really don't have a handle on yet, is my love for the new idea. As a new idea occurs to me, I have the urge to take it an run with it. This happens even though I am still not through with the last fascinating project that I thought up.

Unfortunately, it's much faster to think of an idea than finish a project based on it. So lately, I've been perpetually skipping from one idea to the next, without taking any of them to completion.

I think that an answer to this may involve going back to visualizing the current project every morning, to regenerate my enthusiasm for it. It also may involve scheduling time to evaluate, but not start, new project. But I'm still working on this one. Suggestions are welcome!

Managing Distractions

Like just about everyone in the modern world, I act like I have ADD. The cell phone rings, I answer. An instant message shows up, I read it. I check email fourteen times a day, and I always have blogs I could be reading.

By the time I've started working, I find it too late to deal with distractions. The key is to deal with them BEFORE I start working. Leaving the phone off during scheduled working times is an obvious first step. Another good step is making a commitment to a period of time without surfing, and without IM. Doing this before you start helps prevent those little interruptions that happen when you tell yourself "only one quick note", and three hours later, you are still IMing.

I'm working at home now, too. So I have to deal with all the additional home based distractions. Getting out (Starbuck's, Library, etc) can help deal with these.

Think of other distractions that may occur, and design strategies for dealing with them before you start working, and they will be much more effective.

Diving Too Deep

This work-avoiding habit is related to the previous one (Leaping Before Looking), but it's the next step.

When I tackle a project, I tend to pick an easy or interesting aspect of it, and dive right in. A great example can be found earlier in this blog, where I talk about learning Adobe InDesign. It was fascinating, and I spent a lot of time on it. Time that I should have been writing. But it was something new to learn, and I love that. But it wasn't the most effective place to start.

One of my more effective friends once told me that he likes to start a project with the most difficult part. That way, once he's done that, the worst is done, and it's all downhill from there.

I think I'm going to try that on my next project

Overcoming Procrastination

There's a nice article on overcoming procrastination on ThinkSimpleNow. I hadn't seen the blog before, but it's really good.

I'm reading through their archives now. (Oh drat, I think "reading productivity blogs" was one of the methods mentioned for procrastinating!)

Don't Leap Before You Look

In an earlier post, I talked about my preferred methods of "Not Getting Things Done", and listed my top six. My first was my tendency to pick the easiest (or most fun) part of the project, and dive right into that. This gives the impression of action, since I'm immediately doing things - sometimes working very hard - but it's not effective.

To attack my tendency to leap before I look, I'm working on stopping and visualizing the success of the goal that I'm working on. That's a pleasant activity, and just visualizing the success gives some immediate positive feedback to thinking before leaping.

And I find that broadening this line of thinking flows naturally. Once I've started thinking about the success of the goal, it's easy to think about all the aspects of that success. This allows me to gradually, and pleasantly work through defining the goal, and in the process defining the steps that I need to do to achieve it.

All of this is pleasant, so I don't have to force myself, and it feels very natural.

Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index

Gallup is now taking a daily poll of 1000 people in the US to determine their happiness. While you apparently have to pay to receive the data daily, this article shows some of the trends over this year.
So far this year, the happiness levels look relatively flat. It should be interesting to see how this trends over time.

My Favorite Ways to Not Get Things Done

1. Leaping Before Looking
   I have a bias to action that leads me to want to get started NOW.


2. Diving Too Deep

   Sometimes it’s not that I don’t see the forest for the trees, it’s that I start climbing the first tree I see, before I see the forest.


3. Allowing Distractions

   I’m social, so when the phone rings, I like to answer it. When I see a new book, I read it. Sometimes this leads to new books or a googlathon.


4. Trying to do Too Much

   I don’t have a lack of ideas, I have a lack of time. And I'll find myself switching from A to B to C without finishing anything.
   


5. Re-organizing

   If I don’t really want to work on something now, I can always decide that I need to clean out my desk, organize my files, etc.


6. Analysis Paralysis
   
I tend to decide that things need more thought. Frequently. And then do it again. I think it’s a sort of perfectionism (which is also a huge impediment to success).

Next, how I fight back!

NOT Getting Things Done

All of us have habits that prevent us from getting as much done as we could. The trick is to identify those habits, and work on eliminating them, or at least toning them down.

For most of us, this is actually MORE important than finding someone else’s system for getting things done, and using it. Your “don’t” habits have years of practice behind them. Your new “do” habits barely have a chance, if you don’t also work on your “don’ts”.

What are your favorite “don’t” habits?

Finding Your Lost Cell Phone

If you are like me, you may

1. Have only a cell phone
2. Be a bit disorganized

If you have a land line, and you misplace your cell phone, you can just call it, and listen for the ring. If you have no other phone, though...

But I do have internet access at home (cable). So what I can do is send a text message my phone via the SMS gateway for Verizon (##########@vtext.com), and in a moment it rings and I know where it is. I believe all of the major carriers (sprint, t-mobile, etc) have this ability. Wikipedia has a list.

That's all for now, gotta go, my refrigerator is ringing. :-)

Economics of the Middle Class

Today's book is Jim Rodger's A Bull In China. It's a overview of the business climate in China. It's an interesting read. I'm still reading it, but one thing already has my attention.

There's a discussion of the middle class in China, and an attempt to define it in terms of a dollar value. It occurred to me that it is not only meaningless, but ridiculous to try to measure someone's economic standing in terms of the exchange rate of their income to a foreign currency that they probably never use. (The number given is $1200/year). Especially since things like medical care, education and vacation time are not necessarily indicated by income, but more by government policy in some countries.

A more useful definition might be:

1. Poor: Possible malnutrition, limited medical care, no security. Limited access to education
2. Middle class: Adequate nutrition, access to some, but not all medical care. Ability to deal with some economic setbacks without loss of standing. Access to education. Working is required.
3. Rich: Adequate nutrition. Access to all medical care, education. Economically secure. Working is not required.

How would you define rich? Middle class?

I also recently read The Middle-class Millionaire, which describes people having assets between $1,000,000 and $10,000,000 as "Middle Class". Not a definition I would use.

Would you call the middle class?

If someone is living in country XYZ, and they have food and medical care, their children get a good education, does it matter in the slightest what their income translated into in US dollars?

Little Red Book of Selling

I just read Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Red Book of Selling, and I highly recommend it. I picked it up in the bookstore, and started reading. About ten minutes in, I felt like I had to go out and do some of the projects in the book, so I bought the book and left with it.

It's a quick read, and ou should read if, even if you are not in sales. It's the motivational part that I found most interesting. But we're all in sales, one way or another, so it's good to understand, no matter what your job is.

Toastmasters

I'm giving my first speech at Toastmasters this week. It's the "Icebreaker" speech. I've done it once before, but I wasn't "In Transition" at that point. The whole transition thing makes it much hard to talk about who I am, since it's changing pretty quickly at this moment.
On the other hand, writing a speech to give to a bunch of relative strangers about the state of your life does tend to cause a bit of introspection.

If you are not familiar with Toastmasters, you should check them out. They are a group that promotes public speaking, and one of the best (and cheapest) ways to improve your public speaking. This is also good for your self confidence, and your ability to express yourself, even when not on stage.

Northern California Chapter Meeting, National Speakers Association

I think this weekend has two main activities to it. There's the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association Meeting on Saturday. That'll give me a chance to talk to people that speak for a living, and then on Sunday, it's off to The Maker Faire.

If you haven't been to the Maker Faire before, and you are anywhere near San Mateo, CA, you really ought to look into it. The Maker Faire is one of the coolest things ever. Of course, as you may notice at the head of this blog, I have spent my life in high tech, so I have a slight bias. But where else can you find new forms of art (ok, Picasso did it first, but it's still cool), movement controlled flame throwers, and, of course, giant robots!

I don't think there's any sort of career path for me at the Maker Faire, but I have to admire the people there that pour so much energy and creativity into their arts! I think that's the lesson I need to pick up from the show.

Northern California Publishers and Authors 2008 Conference

The conference was very interesting. I got to meet Dan Poynter, who has written and published 76 books (so far!). I went to workshops on book design, and a very interesting one on spinoff products by Karl Palachuk

People don't realize how much of a writer's time needs to be spent on things other than writing (even for author's that are published by the mainstream press). It was a fascinating look behind the scenes of an industry that I might want to more towards.

Learning New Skills: Adobe InDesign & Lynda.com

I've been learning Adobe InDesign for the last week. Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing/page layout program. It's used for any sort of layout, magazines, catalogs, flyers, books, etc. It can be used to produce PDFs. for print on demand books, too.

It's a powerful program, but there's a tremendous amount to learn. I read through the Adobe InDesign CS3 Bible, but it's hard to get a feel for it while just reading. Then I found Lynda.com. Lynda's tutorials are great! It's much easier to follow along when you can see what is happening on screen. And the tutorials are much better than the generic youtube videos because they use a high resolution video, so you can actually read what's on screen.

Lynda is a pay site, but you can play the first hour of so of each title for free, which is quite useful in itself. It's $25 a month for access to everything. I think I'm going to end up signing up for a month or two, just to get through the forty-five hours of indesign videos they have. They have videos on everything from Outlook and Vista, to Photoshop and Maya.

I'm going to start redirecting my time spent reading fark.com to time spent learning on lynda.com. It's almost as interesting, and much more productive!

Northern California Publishers and Authors

I'm off towards Sacramento today. The Northern California Publishers and Authors 2008 Conference is this Saturday. Since one of my main interests is writing, I'm going to go hang around with some people who do it successfully, and see what I can learn.

I'm particularly interested in print on demand books. It's hard to get excited, for me, at the idea of working for a year on a book, taking a year to sell it, and another year to have it drift through the publisher's hands. It's much more interesting, and motivating, to realize that the day after I finish something, it can be available to anyone that's interested. Of course, finding the people that are interested is still an issue! :-)

But that's why I'm going to the conference, to listen to (and hopefully talk to) people who are doing this successfully already, like Dan Poynter.

Trip report in two days.

Changes

My life hit a speed bump a little while back, in the form of a layoff. That was my first one, not counting the dot com bust that took the whole company.

I suspect the reason I was laid off was that I lost my passion for what I was doing, and going through the motions doesn't really cut it at a fast paced start up.

I used to love to go to work, I enjoyed the technology for technologies sake, and lived for the new gadgets and releases that I played with in my spare time. But that was a while ago, and I think I have to face that as I've grown some things that were important to me no longer seem fascinating, and other things I used to avoid now fill me with joy.

For a few years now, I've been teaching a few classes a month, and that is always energizing and fun. And I've written for my own amusement for years, without seriously trying to publish. I think those are the places that I may start looking for my new vocation.

This should be interesting...