Nicholas Bate

The Most Powerful Productivity Tips, 18

A list of TTD (things to do) is invaluable for guiding one’s attention.

Just ensure the list is not simply work, urgent.

Re-boot the list regularly with a personal compass re-fresh.

20 minutes on a Saturday is ideal. 

On Writing, 48

No excuses: back to the story so far and write.

Meet Molly. Great story. Great read. Fab fable. 

Rock-star good

It’s critical to get rock-star good at something. It could be playing loud music. It could also be making lasagne, delivering workshops, leading people, managing money, mowing the lawn, scuba diving….

But it is worth finding something to work at, to strive at, to graft at,  in order to discover the particular pleasure deep expertise brings. It’s a deeper and longer-lasting and often accumulative enjoyment: one which is different to that resulting from a beer, a movie or Frisbee in the park which although hugely fun comes and then goes.  This 'rock-star' pleasure is one which keeps you going day to day, which builds your moral, your confidence and makes you less dependent upon external factors to feel good.

If you get good at something you tend to enjoy it. If you enjoy something you tend to get good at it.  Which comes first? Doesn’t matter too much…just know there’s plenty of free pleasure out there from developing an expertise.

And getting really, really good at something and enjoying doing it might give you a revenue stream which you could hardly call work.  And that is worth putting a little effort into.

Pensieri

A collection of popular posts including:

• Hunter-Gatherer 21 Century: The Complete Two Score & Ten
• 22 Things They Still Don't Teach You At Business School

and many, many more.

Now in handy PDF format. Free. 

Download Pensieri 

Tuesday 36

1. 25 Mini Standards.
2. The Writing Primer.
3. Meet Molly is now out. A love story. A parable. A good read.
   
4. How to Start your Very Own Business.
5. Instant Productivity.
6. Seven choices.
7. 22 Essentials.
8. How to Create your Home Office.
9. plus The Start Up Myths
10. Stay STRONG
11. Crazy Bold Experiments
12. Just say NO to PPT
13. The Marketing Primer.
14. You, Only Better, the book. 
15. Redundancy
16. Hunter-Gatherer 21C
17. Tackling Stress.
18. Manage that career
19. Be Bold 101
20. You still haven’t read Being The Best?! 
21. Things They Don’t Teach at Business School
22. the secrets of success
23. Life Tips 101
24. Zen & Art of Cubicle Freedom
25. Carnage At Kodak
26. The Very Best Drugs You Need
27. Billions of Light Years Away In Another Galaxy
28. 22 Routes To Your Non Fiction Book
29. Lists For The Life You Love
30. How To Lessen E-Mail Pain
31. Professionalism 101
32. 21 Ways to Improve your Zoom Conference Call.
33. Productivity Primer
34. 101, redux
35. The Basic Basics.
36. Not a single one made the NYT best-seller list. 

The Most Powerful Productivity Tips, 17

Keep meetings short. Like a new author’s first manuscript: they need a good editor. 

A Book on a Sunday

allows you to travel. To escape. To become a better gardener, a more confident cook and even attempt to knit a Fair-Isle jumper. It will get you to think and think more and to ponder and sometimes have an epiphany. It will cause you to want to finally create that plan, write that long over-due real letter and go on that hike. Sometimes it'll get you to cry, to become a page-turner and/or laugh out loud.

Add music and decent coffee and perfect company and you may well have bliss on a Sunday.

A Good Book

Does need a little respect. 

The Early Walk

With David Kanigan. 

Music, music, music

You’ll find something new. And that you like. With Kurt.