Month / July 2016

In Good Shape

You wake, as you did this morning, intent on the work. Intent on the project, intent on it’s progress.

That is good. The work is important.

But the work is not all.

The body you inhabit can not function on work alone. You must care for the body in order to continue the work tomorrow.

It must be fed.

It must be exercised.

It must be rested.

It must be all these things, but, like the work, not too much.

These things have literal meanings – fed, exercised, rested – but also meaning beyond the literal.

Without proper balance you make tomorrow more difficult. You make the work more difficult. The body must be kept in good shape.

You have a responsibility to tomorrow.

by Colin Brosnan

Next List

You’ve been working on that project and now it’s done. Time to start on the next one. But what should you start?

Easier than trying to figure it out now is having it figured out ahead of time. Keep a list, a Next List. That way you can start the next project right away without any momentum slipping away.

The Next List can be as simple as a list on paper.

A Next List is not a to do list and you shouldn’t treat it that way. It’s a list of potential projects to start next. Pick the one that looks most interesting. It’s your list.

by Colin Brosnan

Next

After a lot of hard work you’ve finally finished that project.

What now?

Find a new project and start straight away. Start the next day or even the same day if you can.

You’ve built up all momentum with all that hard work. Over days, or weeks, or months, or years. It doesn’t matter how long that project took – it built momentum. Don’t kill the momentum, harness it, put it to new use.

You’ve finished that project. Start the next, now.

by Colin Brosnan

Change Something

You’re trying to work but it’s not happening. You’re distracted, not in the flow.

Just make a change.

Turn the music off. Turn the music on. Make it louder. Put headphones on. Take them off. Move seats. Move rooms. Move buildings.

Change something. It might allow you to get back in the flow.

by Colin Brosnan

Slow Down a Minute

No matter how busy you are give your mind time to calm down.

Put down your work for an hour or even a few minutes. Eat lunch away from your desk. Go for a walk. Sit on the couch and doze.

Give your mind time to run a little slower. It’ll be running at high speed again in thirty minutes.

But that bit of rest will do wonders.

by Colin Brosnan

Keep Your Eye on the Goal

You get busy. Urgent stuff you’ve got to do. Fine, it happens. But when it does don’t take your eye off your goals.

Your goals are never urgent. You can get to them any time. Or so you tell yourself. But if you don’t keep chugging away, keep taking those steps, even baby steps, you’ll never get to your goal.

What have you done in the last week to get you to your goal? The last month? The last three months?

Keep your eye on the goal.

by Colin Brosnan

First Draft

The first iteration is just a draft. Get it done as quickly as possible. Don’t spend too much time on it.

It should be changeable. Nothing that can’t be added to or deleted.

That first draft is important – but not so important that it should take you until the project deadline.

Maybe your first draft is some bullet points. Maybe it’s a rough sketch.

The quicker you get it done the longer you’ll have to edit, to revise, to improve. Go through as many iterations as possible as quickly as possible.

Once the deadline hits you’re stuck with what you’ve done.

Don’t get stuck with the first draft.

by Colin Brosnan