Mike Vardy is an accomplished, self-professed productivity and procrastination expert, as well as regular contributor to GTD Times. With his humor and wisdom, we hope you enjoy his perspective on doing things…eventually.
Mike Vardy is an accomplished, self-professed productivity and procrastination expert, as well as regular contributor to GTD Times. With his humor and wisdom, we hope you enjoy his perspective on doing things…eventually.
This is a Community Contribution from Mike Vardy
I’m a fan of gadgets. I love shiny new objects that promise to deliver bigger, stronger and faster results. The problem with a lot of these shiny new objects is that there is a learning curve for most (if not all) of them and even when the knowledge is set firmly in place, they are only part of the equation. It’s the other part that often lets us down. That other part is us.
We often get bogged down in the details, mired in a slew of hidden tasks that pile up in our electronic folders and leave us with our heads spinning. And as a bit of a technophile myself, I’ve had it happen to me on several occasions. When this happens, I turn over my trusted system to a device that I can trust with its implementation: paper.
Paper is a powerful device in its own right. It is simple in both design and execution. You write something down, and [Read more →]
This is a Community Contribution from Mike Vardy
Some people need silence to be productive. Some people need music. Some people need an extreme amount of light. Some people don’t need anything specific. Some people don’t need anything at all.
To anyone who falls into one “some” category, they are not likely to fall into another. There’s a subjective nature to working environments. The same goes for distractions.
Community Contribution from Mike Vardy
I’m about to state the obvious.
We’re all human.
Ergo, we make mistakes. Like creating words like “ergo.”
Beyond “The Royal We,” we’re individuals. I’m sure you didn’t create the word “ergo” but I am pretty certain you’ve made other mistakes. I know I’ve made my share. For example, starting off this article as I have. That’d be one.
Another I make is getting off track rather than Getting Things Done. Hey, it happens to the best of us, right? [Read more →]
A Community Contribution from Mike Vardy
As the first quarter of 2010 passes us by, I’m going to ask it: How many of you have stuck to your “resolutions” that you made at the start of 2010?
I’m betting that some of you – perhaps most of you – have faltered on them in some form or another. It’s to be expected. In fact, it can be preferred.
I’ve heard David Allen say you need to make a bunch of resolutions – essentially goals – and the real challenge is making some of them stick. When I first heard this, I couldn’t believe it. I mean – c’mon – surely we should have some focus on what we want to get out of ourselves and the year ahead. Why not hone in on a few resolutions from the onset? [Read more →]
It certainly has been a while since I’ve written anything for GTD Times, so long that one might think I’d fallen off the wagon. Not true – somewhat. It’s not as if I’d fallen and couldn’t get up – it was that I was buried and couldn’t dig out.
Like most of you, I have a lot going on. Between my writing and the regular day job (the one that I enjoy a ton and it pays regularly), I’d taken on a couple of speaking engagements and started work on a book. Apparently, I also have a wife and daughter. I found I wasn’t doing my Weekly Review because my weeks seemed to blend into each other. Then when I did sit down to do it, I’d felt shameful because I had made limited progress in several areas, but hadn’t finished anything to completion. That’s when I realized I had fallen into the dangerous realm of “professional crastination” – or procrastination for short. [Read more →]
I recently discovered that the musical I’d been working on for the past several years was no longer going to be viable. Not because it wasn’t a good story, or even a good idea. It’s because someone beat me to it.
I was surfing the web and discovered that not only had someone written a similar play, they had named it almost exactly the same and it was a smash hit! Talk about a body blow. I’d spent the last few years working on it sporadically, and now it was never going to see the light of day. [Read more →]
During a recent marathon of Aaron Sorkin’s great short-lived series “Sports Night” (a marathon that I started by watching both seasons on DVD, which further proves my self-starting skills) I came upon an episode entitled “Moving Day.” As the whip-smart Sorkinian dialogue washed over me throughout the rest of the marathon, it got me thinking about the meaning of the term on a variety of levels. The deduction: every day can and should be a Moving Day.
In the context of the episode the goal was for Sports Night (the fictional show) to move up in the ratings, something they’d strived to do since their first day on the air. In our own lives we should be doing the same, elevating our game as often as we can – every day. [Read more →]
A community contribution by self-professed productivity expert Mike Vardy
We’ve all heard the benefits of taking naps or practicing meditation during your workday can result in one being more productive. We’ve also heard how these things aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive – sometimes (often by accident) they go hand in hand. However, depending on your work environment these suggestions may not be applicable…or even possible.
I’m certain that many employers wouldn’t take it too kindly if you were seen napping – break or otherwise – on site. That may not be fair, but welcome to life. I also know that achieving a meditative state can be difficult, unless you work in a church, monastery or perhaps a library. What I would suggest to replace napping and/or meditation is that you look back to your youth, back when you were in grade school. Remember what it was like to have recess. [Read more →]
We’ve all heard the infamous quote from Benjamin Franklin. He’s one of history’s most revered individuals. We’ve even found a way to make his stance on his “13 Virtues” into a means of feeling a sense of accomplishment in our daily lives. He was smart, articulate and an innovator.
But I’m sorry, Ben. Your quote no longer applies.
Now, I’m not saying that aspects of it don’t apply – there is a certain basic need to ensure time is not wasted or it will cost money. There’s no argument there. The truth is that time that isn’t well spent can also cost you money – sometimes even more so – because there’s going to be something lacking.
Without focus, thoughts and ideas are scattered. Actions remain incomplete. Projects wither and die. I’ve had it happen to me on several occasions in the past; I’ve had so much on the go and no sense on where I’m going that I end up either lost or nowhere at all. And that’s nowhere to be.
I’ve also heard arguments that the only way one can achieve focus is to avoid multitasking. This is a bit of a fallacy. The truth is, you need to be able to show that you can handle many tasks – and yet can focus on one task at a time. This allows you to remain both viable and reliable, which are two very valuable qualities to have in your arsenal.
The only way anyone can achieve this on a consistent basis is by putting a system in place that allows both to occur. GTD does this admirably well, provided that you “get clear” when adopting it. Taking the right amount of time – focused time – to fully and properly put the system in place will get you on the road to being more productive.
If nothing else from this sinks in (which means you REALLY need to focus), remember the following quote, courtesy of yours truly:
Now I’ve got your attention…
Mike Vardy is a regular contributor to GTD Times. With his great sense of humor and self-professed productivity expert credentials, we hope you enjoy his perspectives on GTD!
Anyone who is entertaining the idea of implementing some form of productivity system in their business (or life, for that matter) will have a lot of resources at their disposal. The Internet alone has nearly 15,000 sites that mention GTD and personal/professional productivity, so right there you’ve got as much surfing to do as the Big Kahuna. As far as books go, you could read thousands that touch on the subject of productivity as well. So, once your eyes stop bleeding, where do you begin?
That’s the biggest hurdle of all.
The more options you have to entertain, the more options you feel that you have to entertain. This is counter-intuitive to what GTD and productivity is all about. While you can spend countless hours reading, researching, adopting and implementing – you are only more educated on different means of getting things done. And that’s all you’ve gotten done. Way to go!
David Allen’s system is tried, tested and true. Many follow it. Others find it too complex; too overwhelming to adopt in one fell swoop (which you really have to do to fully benefit from the system) so they either don’t do it right or let it slide unintentionally. There are other, more “zen-like” approaches to productivity, which get the job done in a different way. You can use software, a Moleskine, the back of a napkin or a Hipster PDA. You can write with any number of instruments, from bullet pens to clutches to nothing at all. You can use multiple things if you want. But, remember, sometimes you don’t want what you need – and vice versa.
(If the rest of that paragraph didn’t confuse you, I bet the last line just sailed by. And it probably made sense.)
The first hurdle is one of the biggest; the size of the rest are often determined by the hurdles around them. To get past this first hurdle, however, you need to get past the multitude of options and go with the one thing that you know best.
You.
Know your habits. Know your strengths. Know your weaknesses. The more you know how you’ll handle working towards a more productive lifestyle, the easier the hurdle will become. Keep in mind, adopting a more productive lifestyle will definitely lead you down “the road less traveled.” Making the right choice on what system is the best for you will make the trip a hell of a lot easier.
Welcome Mike Vardy as our newest contributor to GTD Times. With his great sense of humor and self-professed productivity expert credentials, we hope you enjoy his perspectives on GTD!
