Float documentary looks wonderful…
In the ultra-competitive sport of elite, stunningly-designed indoor model airplanes, a wild-card newcomer threatens to knock a teammate off his world champion throne.
Float
Well, I never. I didn’t realise this was a thing. The trailer looks amazing and you can visit the official site here.
I remember making paper airplanes with my Dad when I was little. Nothing on this scale though.
Via kottke.org
“As I think about the future of the internet, I believe a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than today’s open platforms. Privacy gives people the freedom to be themselves and connect more naturally, which is why we build social networks.”
Mark Zuckerberg
Privacy was probably a word they needed to understand a little while ago.
The Washington Post has a good take on Zuckerberg’s lengthy post on, what else, Facebook.
I hope this is truly the start of Facebook getting its act together.
Reactions to Zuckerberg’s announcement were swift and skeptical.
The Washington Post
Errr… yeah.
“I can’t afford it.”
Seth Godin
“I don’t have the time.”
…almost always means, “this is not a priority.”
When we care, it’s amazing how much we can get done. One way to choose to care is to be clear about your priorities, which means being clear in your language.
And so we can say to ourselves, “I’d love to do that, but it’s not a priority.”
Remarkable work is usually accomplished by people who have non-typical priorities.
Looks like we are on the same page.
How you prioritise your time is key.
Aimless and low-value tasks vs direction and high-value tasks to achieve your goals.
Decisions and action lead to focus and progress.
Remember that this applies to every
I asked three quick questions back in 2017 to my newsletter subscribers:
The good news is that over forty people replied. The bad news is that I never looked at this in more detail. Until now.
I’m going to look at each question and the answers, one question at a time and on
So, question numero uno:
“What is your biggest challenge right now?”
Jon
75% of people answered question 1 in a similar way.
They were struggling for time.
“Time is a challenge.”
“I need more time to focus on more meaningful work.”
“Help finding time to work on the business rather than in the business.”
“Quality time with the family.”
“Crying out for personal time!”.
Time to spend learning or trying something new.
Wishing for some t
We all have 24 hours in the day. It’s what we decide to do with those hours which makes the difference.
There are countless articles and books on time management. Google “time management” and there are about 4,940,000,000 results. Gulp.
That’s a lot of reading.
Most of us are on auto-pilot a lot of the time. We spend our time by default without enough thought or planning.
Below are some of the things that have made a difference for me. I am far from perfect and have good days and bad days. Getting consistent with how you manage your time is key.
Also, make sure you use methods and systems that work for you. We are all different.
If I manage to do this, the day goes well.
How early is early I hear you ask?! Well, as early as you can. Yes, it’s hard in the winter when dark and cold, but if you can start your day at say 6 am or earlier, you are already ahead of most people.
Please note – I do this inconsistently. However, when I do, it works. Really well.
This time could be the only time you get in the day to think, calm your mind and ensure you are heading in the right direction.
When you have this quiet time (I completely understand that everyone has different circumstances like commuting and family), use it wisely.
Try not to reach for that addictive, tempting, sweet new smartphone you bought. Take a deep breath and put it out of reach and sight!
I try and plan the day and make sure I have time for the things that matter (see blocking out time below).
The things that will enable me to get nearer to the long term goals.
I also reflect on what I’m grateful for. It’s very easy to miss the small things. When you list all the great things that you are grateful for, it makes you more appreciative and happier.
Smartphones. Tech heaven or distraction hell?
You are possibly reading this on a smartphone of some description right now. After all, they are rather useful devices aren’t they?!
But man, they are addictive.
Have you got the reports switched on to show how you used your phone last week? These are available on both iOS and Android and can make shocking reading.
Being aware of how you use your smartphone and what apps are the time-killers is critical to
I suggest setting timers on the apps that you spend too much time in – you know exactly the ones. For me, that’s Instagram.
Then turn off as many notifications as possible. They are BAD! Ping, look at me. Bong, check me now! Apps are designed in a way to make you use them and make you go back to them. It’s that simple.
Phone addiction is serious and more and more people are realising this. Deleting apps (or limiting their use) and ensuring you are not disturbed is a key strategy for making more time.
No, that is not a mistake. I did not mean to say recharging the iPhone battery.
Your battery is way more important.
Life is hectic. Life is stressful. Your life is full.
You need to make sure you look after the number one thing that everything revolves around.
That is your health, both physically and mentally.
Apart from the obvious nature of this, you will also be in a better position to make the right decisions about how you spend your time, plus making the most of that time.
What works for me?
To make every minute count you’ve got to make every future minute count also. And that means living a life today that won’t leave you burnt out and broke in 5 or 10 years.
Shawn Blanc
Protecting your time is key.
Remember that your inbox is a task list created by someone else.
Be aware that it can take 20 minutes to get into a deep flow of productive work.
By having specific slots in the week where you work on specific projects, you get more done. This applies to exercise too, family time, personal learning. Make yourself accountable. Not everything is important.
You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.
Greg McKeown
Batching or batch processing is a powerful way of improving getting things done quickly and efficiently. Doing the same things together in a set period of time works.
If you have to make calls, do them all at the same time.
If you need to do some accounting, do it in one go.
The same should apply to email. Try not to dip in and out of your email. Do it once in the morning. Check it at lunchtime, answer anything important. Then check one more time before finishing work for the day.
I use something called Sanebox which I’ve mentioned before. I cannot recommend it enough for saving time with email overload.
You may also need to train other people to understand your new way of working. This will avoid them wondering why you haven’t replied to the email they sent 1 minute ago.
There is a famous post from Derek Sivers which sums this up better than I could ever do.
Saying yes to something can almost immediately trigger regret, fear, anxiety or that oh b*gger, why did I say that reaction!
People will respect you far more for saying no in a polite way than you saying yes and not being able to do it. This leads to people respecting your time.
It can also ensure that you have the time to focus on your bigger goals and objectives.
Last but not least, you have got to get real. You have to be brutally honest with yourself.
After all, a decision to do one thing, inevitably means that you won’t do something else.
You and you
You can do anything. You cannot do
One of my goals this year is reading more. An hour on social media vs an hour of reading a really, really good book should be an easy decision.
Yet Facebook or Instagram often win the battle for your attention.
There are countless examples of this. Above all, making the right decision, the hard decision on how to spend your time right now can lead to dramatic improvements in the future.
If you’d like to get some regular useful content and links to interesting reading, then please sign up for my newsletter.
You’ll be the first to know when I write about the results from the other two questions.
Please share what you do for managing time and whether you agree with some of my thoughts here.
Photo by Seth Macey on Unsplash
