013 - Getting Unstuck! - ProductivityCast

013 Getting Unstuck! – ProductivityCast

Have you ever gotten stuck? Are you stuck right now? How do you get unstuck? Well, getting unstuck is tough, but it’s doable! In this cast, the ProductivityCast team discusses what gets us stuck and methods for getting unstuck.

Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening!

If you’d like to discuss this episode, please click here to leave a comment down below (this jumps you to the bottom of the post).

In this Cast

Ray Sidney-Smith

Augusto Pinaud

Francis Wade

Art Gelwicks

Show Notes

Resources we mention, including links to them will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.

What Designers of Task Management Apps Can Do to Catch Up with Pokemon Go by Francis Wade

50 Shades of Grey (if you didn’t get Augusto’s joke ? )

Getting Things Done by David Allen

OmniFocus 2

Todoist

Any.do

Habitica (f/k/a HabitRPG) (Let us know if you’d like to join Ray’s GTD Habitica Party!)

Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation

SuperBetterJane McGonigal, PhD (McGonigal’s TED talk)

Jerry Seinfeld / Don’t Break the Chain

Bullet Journal

Unstuck app

Tim Ferriss – “deconstruction of expert process”:

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSq9uGs_z0E
  2. https://tim.blog/2016/10/06/the-art-and-science-of-learning-anything-faster/

Human Senses

Raw Text Transcript

Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is h:mm:ss.ms to h:mm:ss.ms (e.g., 0:00:00.000,0:00:04.000 starts at 0.00 seconds and ends at 4 seconds in the cast’s audio).

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are you ready to manage your work and

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personal world better to live a more

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fulfilling productive life then you’ve

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come to the right place

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welcome to productivity cast the weekly

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show about all things productivity here

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are your hosts Ray Sidney-Smith and

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Augusto Pinaud hello everybody and

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welcome back to another episode of

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productivitycast the weekly show about

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all things personal productivity today

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on the show we have Augusto Pinaud Art

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Gelwicks and Francis Wade welcome

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everybody how’s it going good morning

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going great it’s going great thanks a

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lot

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awesome so excited to have everybody on

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for this recording because we’re talking

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about getting unstuck I wanted to I

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wanted to lead off with just what we all

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are thinking about when we talk about

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getting stuck in the first place and how

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and and what that means in the context

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of productivity art had come up with a

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really great suggestion which is that at

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the end of the episode

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we’re each going to rapid-fire give some

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of our own sort of tactical techniques

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for our you know sort of our quick

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tactics for being able to get unstuck

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when we ourselves get stuck so we will

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close out the episode with that but

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let’s let’s start with just your

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thoughts on what is getting stuck and

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what is getting unstuck then as its

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inverse I’ve found myself stuck in a

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serious way when I moved back to Jamaica

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brahmam living in the US all of a sudden

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I was unproductive whereas I used to be

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productive I used to lead before I moved

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back I used to lead time management

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programs and I thought I had that stuff

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together and I moved into an environment

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that was way more hectic than I expected

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way more dramatic way less predictable

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people we less trustworthy in terms of

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what they could deliver and I was

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totally at sea it was totally

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disconcerting and I couldn’t get

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anything done I went looking on the

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internet for answers and couldn’t find

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anything I had way more to do because I

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was doing all people’s jobs for them and

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I had no idea how to cook things were

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flying through the cracks and this is if

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I couldn’t remember

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to do anything that I needed to do and

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for the people who have never read those

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post of presidents it has always been an

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internal joke or at least for me between

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Francis and I I from the outside instead

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enjoy reading those posts incredibly I

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was born and raised in Venezuela so I I

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went the other way I felt is when I was

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I learned productivity in a place where

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it was completely unpredictable we’re

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getting to a meeting and the person who

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gives you the meeting decide not to show

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up and where predictability was almost

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non-existent so when I moved to the

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United States for me happen exactly the

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opposite it was like oh great

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so all these tools that I’ve been using

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for years now make sense and over the

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years they have evolved and change but I

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was always feeling more stock before I

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move here then then when I move and of

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course that change and I’ve been stuck

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and unstuck

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multiple times and actually just

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yesterday that this topic came you know

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pretty timely and we were privately

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joking via text messages because I was

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doing my with the review I noticed that

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I had 963 talk okay that is for me the

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definition of stock because the reality

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is there’s no way for me to tackle 10%

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of that in a day so that means even if I

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have a really productive day is going to

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feel as if I did nothing and the

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question is what you do after you and I

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will I’ll say that to the episode but

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that’s a question I want to leave open

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today for me stuck is usually one of two

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things

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it’s either I’ve got things pulling me

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in all different directions you get this

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mental image of an object with ropes

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tied to it pulling in all different

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directions and the object doesn’t move

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because everything is pulling equally

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but in different directions but also the

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kind of the lack of

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knowing exactly what the next step will

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be to get me back on track for a

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particular thing and not knowing that

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often will push me into a direction for

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something else leaving me stuck on that

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particular item and it’s easy to confuse

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stuck and procrastination I don’t think

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that they’re completely separate but I

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also don’t think they’re completely

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equal to one concede the other but I do

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want to take five seconds though here

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and I want to congratulate Francis’s

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Jamaican soccer team on their incredible

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upset win last night in the Gold Cup so

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now that I’m done with that

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another nope said it was kind of

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expected I made a note here as we were

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preparing for the show and I wrote down

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procrastination because I think I’m

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pretty much on the same page here with

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art which is to say that I see being

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stuck in and being sort of a fork in the

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road and one is avoidance and the other

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is sort of lack of resources or

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limitation of resources of some kind

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whether it be mental physical time

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energy money whatever it might be the

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the reality is that that that sense of

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avoidance that lack of resources causes

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some kind of stymieing of your personal

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productivity and I think that the end

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result is is the outgrowth of that

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becomes procrastination overwhelmed

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distraction all of those kinds of things

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that there is a deeper reason for

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procrastination for overwhelmed for

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those kinds of things and I believe it’s

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the getting stuck Ness that actually

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does that you know so it’s it’s a little

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bit of a tangential piece there I think

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that getting unstuck means for most

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people finding the resource being

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resourceful or committing commitment is

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really the the answer the key to me in a

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lot of ways to what unstuck means

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and maybe we’ll we’ll talk about that

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and and have a little bit of rhetoric

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around that concept once we get moving a

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little bit further on but I really do

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think that that a lot of it comes to

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this idea of avoidance so it’s a

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fear-based

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response I think being stuck and the

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answer is light to darkness you have to

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shine a light on it and and choose the

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sort of leaning into the positive I

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think there’s a common sort of framework

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here

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I think people start feeling stuck when

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they have symptoms they can’t get rid of

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so like you have too much email or

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you’re always late or you’re feeling

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overwhelmed or you wake up admin of the

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night and there’s stuff you need to do a

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just remembering it all of a sudden but

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there’s there’s a common set of symptoms

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that human beings who are trying to be

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productive sometimes face we get stuck

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when we can’t sort them out in other

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words we can’t figure out the root cause

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so we don’t know what to do they go from

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being accused to being chronic and in my

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work I’ve had two separate psychological

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causes from behavioral causes and it’s

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just the difference between having let’s

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call it a mental block versus a block in

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terms of behavior because there are the

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problems that I see because I focus on

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behaviors have to do with people who are

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highly motivated but still get stuck

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anyway so they’re there they have the

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right mindset but that doesn’t help them

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because they don’t know what to do or if

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they know what to do they don’t know how

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to execute it so I think that the causes

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fall into two buckets psychological

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causes or behavioral causes that’s my

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point of view I don’t know if there are

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two or is more like a 50 shades of grey

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and I hope that doesn’t mark the our

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podcast as explicit but sorry the joke

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needed to come out I think I remember

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what the first time I read I get instant

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dawn by David Allen I was in I was

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finally evolving from permanently level

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perspective to or more

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middle management position and and there

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is a couple of things I remember from

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that time I don’t remember it was on

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that famous DVD fast CDs or the book to

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be honest with you where it came but but

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I remember he mentioned that there are

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periods where he was planning like

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creation and then periods where he was

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doing like creation

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okay and and I I have experiment over

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the years moments where my system simply

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stopped working it has nothing to do

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with the system is not that I’m doing

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anything different it’s not that I’m not

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doing my will review or collecting or

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anything is just this system has been

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out outgrown the context that used to

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work don’t work anymore

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the way certain things are doing is not

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working anymore and in my life

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those are big being massive moments

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office cognizant assuming that something

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you say in English and and the reason

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it’s simple

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do you have is not necessarily that you

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are a boy you are avoiding the stuff

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even that you are to a certain spot

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because you cannot find them it’s really

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that you have the lack of resources

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because you outgrow or system your

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system you know and it takes a time to

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get to certain points to say okay this

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is what the system is I wish to tell you

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that when that happened and that has

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probably happened every three to five

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years in my case okay I then stop and go

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into this great time of thinking how I’m

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going to solve the issue of the system

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in practice what has happening actually

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what is happening right now is I hit

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myself to the wall enough times until I

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say ah yeah I leave it to you to this ok

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and then eventually I hit myself more to

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the wall and finally I decide time to

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change it to something that actually

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works yeah that you’re right on target

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with this I mean

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I’m writing notes furiously as we go

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through this because it just keeps me

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revisiting to a couple of the challenges

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that I’m literally running into right

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now you mentioned that your system

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stopped working I ran into this a week

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ago and I still haven’t gotten over

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being stuck on this particular issue the

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tool I use for task tracking just as not

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cutting it for me anymore and I finally

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figured out why it’s one aspect of the

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tool that just really isn’t doing it for

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me anymore so I’m kind of stuck on well

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what do I do

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do I stay with the tool because it’s not

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really that big of a feature but it

0:11:42.660,0:11:49.079
seems to be the one that drives me do I

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move do I change it and it couples to

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the second part of that that there’s

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something missing in this case it’s

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information I haven’t gone through the

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analysis to really decide what’s going

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to be the end result sometimes the thing

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that’s missing can be information it can

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be resource it can be material item it

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can be something there’s a delay that’s

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introduced outside of my control that

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kind of locks me into place and what I

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haven’t done in those situations is

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planned my way around it found the

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second route through the map to get to

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my end destination because there’s

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construction on the road I was planning

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to take so when I think about the

0:12:31.139,0:12:37.050
getting stuck part of this and how do we

0:12:33.089,0:12:41.069
get around this I have to go back to

0:12:37.050,0:12:43.470
those key drivers again taking a moment

0:12:41.069,0:12:46.170
to say okay am I doing this consciously

0:12:43.470,0:12:48.720
am i intentionally staying in this spot

0:12:46.170,0:12:51.240
or is this being forced on me and if

0:12:48.720,0:12:54.870
it’s being forced on me what’s forcing

0:12:51.240,0:12:58.410
it on me and how do I move that that

0:12:54.870,0:13:00.089
seems to be the hard part I think you

0:12:58.410,0:13:02.790
make some really great points art in

0:13:00.089,0:13:06.509
terms of the external or internal

0:13:02.790,0:13:10.040
factors that lead to stuckness right to

0:13:06.509,0:13:14.839
feeling like you’re stuck and for me

0:13:10.040,0:13:18.059
most of my limitations end up being

0:13:14.839,0:13:20.579
internal I want to do so many things I

0:13:18.059,0:13:22.949
have my hand in a lot of different

0:13:20.579,0:13:24.389
projects at any given time and when I do

0:13:22.949,0:13:27.509
any forward planning

0:13:24.389,0:13:31.290
I always presume that my eyes are bigger

0:13:27.509,0:13:34.110
than my stomach and yet I get to the

0:13:31.290,0:13:36.749
buffet table of life and I’m still

0:13:34.110,0:13:38.399
gorging myself and not capable of

0:13:36.749,0:13:40.470
digesting very well by the way

0:13:38.399,0:13:42.449
and so I think that’s where I become

0:13:40.470,0:13:46.079
most stuck is when I when I recognize

0:13:42.449,0:13:48.480
the fact that I don’t have 27 or 32

0:13:46.079,0:13:50.670
hours in a day I only have the same 24

0:13:48.480,0:13:54.029
and of that 8 needs to be in bed

0:13:50.670,0:13:56.790
sleeping and there are other obligations

0:13:54.029,0:13:59.309
to that get taken that get taken up in

0:13:56.790,0:14:01.649
that timeframe so I really I feel the

0:13:59.309,0:14:02.999
sense of resource limitation and and I

0:14:01.649,0:14:04.499
think there’s a good side and a bad side

0:14:02.999,0:14:07.439
to that that everybody has to sort of

0:14:04.499,0:14:10.199
take into account I I genuinely live

0:14:07.439,0:14:12.209
life with a with a sense of what Aviv I

0:14:10.199,0:14:13.889
don’t I don’t have the sense of

0:14:12.209,0:14:16.439
foreboding because I have those

0:14:13.889,0:14:19.170
limitations I really do value the fact

0:14:16.439,0:14:22.110
that somewhat of the getting stuck

0:14:19.170,0:14:24.569
process and getting unstuck is just sort

0:14:22.110,0:14:27.329
of the messiness of being a highly

0:14:24.569,0:14:30.209
productive person and so I do approach

0:14:27.329,0:14:32.459
this from a fairly positive psychology

0:14:30.209,0:14:35.160
perspective which is to say that there

0:14:32.459,0:14:37.889
needs to be some ups for there to be

0:14:35.160,0:14:41.459
downs and you need to make sure that you

0:14:37.889,0:14:43.410
are aware of that fact I think there is

0:14:41.459,0:14:45.989
an important element of what we are

0:14:43.410,0:14:50.069
discussing and when it comes in

0:14:45.989,0:14:52.619
particular to me okay and one is then

0:14:50.069,0:14:55.139
when you go as we were discussing a

0:14:52.619,0:14:57.509
little bit early if it looks like

0:14:55.139,0:14:59.009
avoidance and import it is avoidance

0:14:57.509,0:15:00.869
because I don’t know how to solve the

0:14:59.009,0:15:02.459
problem I don’t even understand the

0:15:00.869,0:15:06.360
problem and I feel I don’t have the time

0:15:02.459,0:15:08.309
to solve the problem but also it’s part

0:15:06.360,0:15:10.559
of lack of resources because obviously

0:15:08.309,0:15:12.929
the reason I break this is the money to

0:15:10.559,0:15:16.259
stop working is because I did not have

0:15:12.929,0:15:18.509
the right resources in place as our test

0:15:16.259,0:15:22.819
is going through that I’m going through

0:15:18.509,0:15:26.939
that even recently I have been in

0:15:22.819,0:15:30.419
OmniFocus since the first version of

0:15:26.939,0:15:33.869
OmniFocus okay and it’s been the system

0:15:30.419,0:15:34.560
problem down and I had a similar thing

0:15:33.869,0:15:36.930
as

0:15:34.560,0:15:39.180
as where there was a couple of things

0:15:36.930,0:15:41.730
that were frustrated I decide you know

0:15:39.180,0:15:45.060
what I’ve been in this system for way

0:15:41.730,0:15:48.990
too many years let’s move on so I did

0:15:45.060,0:15:51.120
the research clean up move home okay get

0:15:48.990,0:15:54.300
to the new house play in the new house

0:15:51.120,0:15:56.850
for 30 days and move back to OmniFocus

0:15:54.300,0:15:59.250
why because even that there is a couple

0:15:56.850,0:16:02.820
of limitations when I moved to the other

0:15:59.250,0:16:05.520
house I discovered a benefit outgrown

0:16:02.820,0:16:07.820
the limitations when I moved to the

0:16:05.520,0:16:11.400
other played in a beautiful platform

0:16:07.820,0:16:13.589
okay it solved that little issue but it

0:16:11.400,0:16:18.900
then create a bunch of other issues that

0:16:13.589,0:16:22.200
I wasn’t willing to deal with so it is

0:16:18.900,0:16:25.170
hard because in order to solve sometimes

0:16:22.200,0:16:28.380
these issues do you need to let it go

0:16:25.170,0:16:34.529
Baron up so the problem is obvious fell

0:16:28.380,0:16:38.310
out and I then I remember I used to have

0:16:34.529,0:16:40.940
had computer online and computer offline

0:16:38.310,0:16:44.670
why well because when I turned this one

0:16:40.940,0:16:47.430
traveling with the computer done this

0:16:44.670,0:16:49.320
early mean I was connected I travel a

0:16:47.430,0:16:53.190
lot to Latin America at that time when

0:16:49.320,0:16:57.540
Wi-Fi was not easy to find you know I I

0:16:53.190,0:16:59.370
travel with a long internet cable so I

0:16:57.540,0:17:03.600
could plug in into the wall and I still

0:16:59.370,0:17:07.079
get to the bed into my hotel room so all

0:17:03.600,0:17:07.980
those things changed really without me

0:17:07.079,0:17:10.920
noticing

0:17:07.980,0:17:12.810
okay and suddenly my offline list was

0:17:10.920,0:17:15.060
getting longer without any reason and

0:17:12.810,0:17:17.220
the reason was simple I was getting

0:17:15.060,0:17:21.449
internet everywhere so I was opening

0:17:17.220,0:17:24.240
that and it took me longer than maybe

0:17:21.449,0:17:26.730
truth to discover what the problem was

0:17:24.240,0:17:28.710
all the problems I’m always online the

0:17:26.730,0:17:30.900
problem is you know I used to have a

0:17:28.710,0:17:33.060
computer list because that makes sense

0:17:30.900,0:17:37.710
because they were things that I could do

0:17:33.060,0:17:40.410
in the computer when they iPad enter my

0:17:37.710,0:17:43.350
environment that computer line was

0:17:40.410,0:17:46.070
completely varied because I could go

0:17:43.350,0:17:48.120
from the iPhone to the iPad and back

0:17:46.070,0:17:51.179
undo almost

0:17:48.120,0:17:55.100
everything I needed to do so in a way

0:17:51.179,0:17:58.500
everything in my world turn it in

0:17:55.100,0:18:00.150
anywhere okay the problem is when you

0:17:58.500,0:18:02.580
put everything out anywhere now you

0:18:00.150,0:18:07.440
cannot find this stuff in lists because

0:18:02.580,0:18:10.049
your list is way too long and all those

0:18:07.440,0:18:12.450
moments what I’ve been feeling is that

0:18:10.049,0:18:15.779
feeling of a stock yes

0:18:12.450,0:18:19.529
I mean avoiding yes I have the lack of

0:18:15.779,0:18:22.529
resources to discover how to unsubtle e

0:18:19.529,0:18:24.870
firming I wish to say it’s different but

0:18:22.529,0:18:28.529
for me I need to let this problem

0:18:24.870,0:18:29.010
sometimes grow not consciously until

0:18:28.529,0:18:31.980
then

0:18:29.010,0:18:34.020
the reason or the issue that is

0:18:31.980,0:18:36.899
generating this problem is so obvious

0:18:34.020,0:18:39.330
that I cannot ignore it anymore so it

0:18:36.899,0:18:42.240
gets so big that it’s I finally see the

0:18:39.330,0:18:44.730
elephant in the room so sweet as we

0:18:42.240,0:18:46.649
switch gears I wanted to start off with

0:18:44.730,0:18:49.890
you art because you said that you’re

0:18:46.649,0:18:51.690
being stuck right now was conditional on

0:18:49.890,0:18:53.700
this particular feature and a few of

0:18:51.690,0:18:56.520
your task manager if you want to sort of

0:18:53.700,0:18:59.690
elaborate a little bit on what that is

0:18:56.520,0:19:02.010
and and what your process has been in

0:18:59.690,0:19:04.140
getting unstuck I mean you know what

0:19:02.010,0:19:06.539
what had what has been going on even if

0:19:04.140,0:19:08.850
it’s still in kind of real-time here for

0:19:06.539,0:19:10.830
you what what has been your process in

0:19:08.850,0:19:13.380
identifying what this specific feature

0:19:10.830,0:19:16.620
was that was present we’re missing that

0:19:13.380,0:19:18.539
is in the task manager and and what you

0:19:16.620,0:19:20.820
what you’re trying to do sort of going

0:19:18.539,0:19:22.890
as you’re moving yourself forward and

0:19:20.820,0:19:25.260
through this the challenge I have is

0:19:22.890,0:19:28.529
actually it it’s a bit of a strange one

0:19:25.260,0:19:31.020
the tool I use for my past track mean

0:19:28.529,0:19:34.320
I’ve used it for oh gosh almost nine

0:19:31.020,0:19:37.500
months now is to do it and to is seduced

0:19:34.320,0:19:39.330
is a fantastic task tracking tool gives

0:19:37.500,0:19:41.880
you great structure great integration

0:19:39.330,0:19:45.299
great capability and it has one neat

0:19:41.880,0:19:48.659
feature in it called Karma which allows

0:19:45.299,0:19:51.360
you to keep track of completion of tasks

0:19:48.659,0:19:53.429
by earning what they call karma points

0:19:51.360,0:19:55.409
and you actually go up in rankings and

0:19:53.429,0:19:57.120
their little internal rankings by

0:19:55.409,0:19:59.399
completing things and that’s nice from a

0:19:57.120,0:20:01.860
gamification standpoint but they’ll also

0:19:59.399,0:20:05.220
take karma points away from you

0:20:01.860,0:20:07.080
if things that are scheduled dragged on

0:20:05.220,0:20:08.700
which I always thought was a really nice

0:20:07.080,0:20:10.980
reinforcement point because the one

0:20:08.700,0:20:13.399
thing I hate to do is lose points love

0:20:10.980,0:20:16.980
to get points hate to lose points right

0:20:13.399,0:20:20.070
so I was actually using that as a core

0:20:16.980,0:20:22.890
motivator for getting tasks done that

0:20:20.070,0:20:25.559
was my way of getting unstuck on tasks

0:20:22.890,0:20:27.539
if I had things sit too long I saw my

0:20:25.559,0:20:29.399
score dropping oh my god this isn’t good

0:20:27.539,0:20:31.049
I don’t want that and that gave me that

0:20:29.399,0:20:33.570
little competitive push against myself

0:20:31.049,0:20:36.990
well here’s where I became stuck again

0:20:33.570,0:20:38.580
the gaps that they have in the ranks

0:20:36.990,0:20:41.340
within todoist

0:20:38.580,0:20:43.889
at the lower stages are pretty close

0:20:41.340,0:20:45.529
together to continue to reinforce but

0:20:43.889,0:20:49.799
once you get it to a high enough level

0:20:45.529,0:20:52.500
you have to complete 1,000 2,000 3,000

0:20:49.799,0:20:55.289
odd tasks before you see any significant

0:20:52.500,0:20:57.929
increase and I and it lost that

0:20:55.289,0:21:01.200
motivating factor to me I actually found

0:20:57.929,0:21:04.350
myself going a week without going into

0:21:01.200,0:21:06.269
to-do list and updating my tasks

0:21:04.350,0:21:09.240
not that I wasn’t getting stuff done I

0:21:06.269,0:21:11.159
just wasn’t utilizing my system because

0:21:09.240,0:21:12.960
I wasn’t getting the feedback loop that

0:21:11.159,0:21:14.490
I was originally counting on I could go

0:21:12.960,0:21:19.289
a week in lose points and it wouldn’t

0:21:14.490,0:21:22.639
affect anything so I when I look at that

0:21:19.289,0:21:25.889
as a as a way of becoming stuck in this

0:21:22.639,0:21:29.760
it’s because my system is doing exactly

0:21:25.889,0:21:31.440
what I expected it to do but it was also

0:21:29.760,0:21:35.389
doing something else for me that I

0:21:31.440,0:21:37.710
didn’t realize that had taken over my

0:21:35.389,0:21:39.510
personal motivation on getting things

0:21:37.710,0:21:42.389
moving forward and I look at that a lot

0:21:39.510,0:21:44.370
when you look at like analog systems you

0:21:42.389,0:21:46.080
look at digital systems anything like

0:21:44.370,0:21:48.779
that a lot of times people will be

0:21:46.080,0:21:51.750
looking at these systems to provide that

0:21:48.779,0:21:53.460
push that reminder I get it a lot in the

0:21:51.750,0:21:55.679
professional space where people will ask

0:21:53.460,0:21:57.720
about business process system and they

0:21:55.679,0:21:59.100
want an e email reminder when they’re

0:21:57.720,0:22:00.299
supposed to do this and an email

0:21:59.100,0:22:01.769
reminder when they’re supposed to do

0:22:00.299,0:22:03.570
that and an email reminder when they’re

0:22:01.769,0:22:05.370
supposed to do the next thing like and

0:22:03.570,0:22:07.260
that’s great but there’s going to be a

0:22:05.370,0:22:09.510
point where you stop paying attention to

0:22:07.260,0:22:12.809
those email reminders notification

0:22:09.510,0:22:15.539
fatigue sets in exactly and that’s we

0:22:12.809,0:22:18.049
get into that with all of our processes

0:22:15.539,0:22:20.639
people just by their very nature

0:22:18.049,0:22:22.710
repetitive notifications repetitive

0:22:20.639,0:22:25.679
reminders will eventually will become

0:22:22.710,0:22:27.419
blind too so I’m looking at it from the

0:22:25.679,0:22:28.979
standpoint do I start to switch to

0:22:27.419,0:22:30.960
another tool so I picked up a tool that

0:22:28.979,0:22:32.970
I’ve been using before which is any du

0:22:30.960,0:22:35.070
which has made some big improvements

0:22:32.970,0:22:38.369
over the years and started using it

0:22:35.070,0:22:41.340
again and here comes that motivator

0:22:38.369,0:22:43.590
again what’s motivating me to use it it

0:22:41.340,0:22:47.220
doesn’t have the gamification but it’s

0:22:43.590,0:22:49.349
new to me and being new to me gives me a

0:22:47.220,0:22:50.729
little bit of a kick to go and say okay

0:22:49.349,0:22:52.379
I’m going to do this I’m going to update

0:22:50.729,0:22:55.349
that because I like to play with it now

0:22:52.379,0:22:57.690
because it’s new a lot of people may add

0:22:55.349,0:23:01.559
new isn’t a motivator just make it work

0:22:57.690,0:23:04.200
but I think when we look at this as our

0:23:01.559,0:23:07.409
way to cross the hurdle I’m recognizing

0:23:04.200,0:23:10.859
that especially for me this new thing

0:23:07.409,0:23:12.450
will only last so long it’s only going

0:23:10.859,0:23:14.999
to go a few weeks and then it’s not

0:23:12.450,0:23:19.109
going to be new anymore so I have to

0:23:14.999,0:23:21.450
evaluate the tool now saying after four

0:23:19.109,0:23:23.669
weeks of using this what’s going to keep

0:23:21.450,0:23:25.619
me using what aspects of it are going to

0:23:23.669,0:23:27.809
keep drawing me back to that and that

0:23:25.619,0:23:30.090
applies to any system but I want to

0:23:27.809,0:23:31.139
circle back real quick to something we

0:23:30.090,0:23:34.129
were actually talking about in the

0:23:31.139,0:23:37.139
pre-show a little bit about this kind of

0:23:34.129,0:23:38.879
ebb and flow of life and I don’t want to

0:23:37.139,0:23:40.830
get too philosophical on this but I

0:23:38.879,0:23:42.989
think it’s very relevant to what we’re

0:23:40.830,0:23:44.789
looking at here most people when they

0:23:42.989,0:23:48.330
look at productivity they think

0:23:44.789,0:23:50.849
productivity is a continuous flatline of

0:23:48.330,0:23:52.739
execution or an increasing line of

0:23:50.849,0:23:54.859
execution if you were to graph it out

0:23:52.739,0:23:57.799
you’re always going up the chart

0:23:54.859,0:24:01.259
hopefully but that’s not realistic

0:23:57.799,0:24:04.739
productivity is a cyclic urban flow type

0:24:01.259,0:24:06.659
of process it’s fluid at times you will

0:24:04.739,0:24:10.049
have high productivity at times you of

0:24:06.659,0:24:12.509
low productivity it always changes so

0:24:10.049,0:24:15.379
when we look at our systems we have to

0:24:12.509,0:24:19.139
recognize that what we perceive as being

0:24:15.379,0:24:22.349
stuck may not actually be stuck it may

0:24:19.139,0:24:24.989
be just that trough in the wave that

0:24:22.349,0:24:26.909
we’re ready to come back up on but if we

0:24:24.989,0:24:29.009
get down in that trough and we recognize

0:24:26.909,0:24:29.309
that we’re never starting to have that

0:24:29.009,0:24:32.700
so

0:24:29.309,0:24:35.129
back up then we’ve got then we are truly

0:24:32.700,0:24:37.889
stuck and I know this is a big one for

0:24:35.129,0:24:39.749
you right metrics about this can be the

0:24:37.889,0:24:43.110
motivator metrics can be the thing that

0:24:39.749,0:24:44.669
push you up out of that hole so tracking

0:24:43.110,0:24:46.080
what you’ve gotten done and how much

0:24:44.669,0:24:48.419
you’ve gotten done and being able to

0:24:46.080,0:24:50.940
feel that whether it’s habit planners or

0:24:48.419,0:24:54.029
tasks tools or whatever getting that

0:24:50.940,0:24:55.889
feedback can be enough often to get you

0:24:54.029,0:24:58.110
moving forward again I know that’s what

0:24:55.889,0:25:01.529
it usually does for me what’s sort of

0:24:58.110,0:25:05.279
interesting about todoist is that so I

0:25:01.529,0:25:08.480
use a tool called a bit ago which is

0:25:05.279,0:25:11.100
actually an RPG game online for

0:25:08.480,0:25:13.919
developing habits I’ve used it for quite

0:25:11.100,0:25:16.200
some time and I actually run a GTD

0:25:13.919,0:25:17.669
community of what they call a party in

0:25:16.200,0:25:21.450
habiddig a which used to be called

0:25:17.669,0:25:25.830
habitrpg for anybody listening and it

0:25:21.450,0:25:28.200
sounds sort of weird but the habit RPG

0:25:25.830,0:25:31.379
became habiddig aheh bit ago is this

0:25:28.200,0:25:34.080
game and the reason I bring it up is

0:25:31.379,0:25:36.690
that the Karma you know sort of

0:25:34.080,0:25:39.600
construct that is in todoist habiddig

0:25:36.690,0:25:42.570
has solved that problem by allowing you

0:25:39.600,0:25:45.240
to reset your level so once you reach

0:25:42.570,0:25:49.169
level 100 they allow you to basically

0:25:45.240,0:25:50.999
keep all of your sort of you know energy

0:25:49.169,0:25:52.559
and power and all these other sort of

0:25:50.999,0:25:54.509
metrics that you’ve built up these

0:25:52.559,0:25:56.279
resources that you’ve built up but you

0:25:54.509,0:25:58.499
get to reset your level back down to

0:25:56.279,0:26:00.149
level one so that you’re and you’re able

0:25:58.499,0:26:01.529
to actually change your role so there

0:26:00.149,0:26:04.320
are these different roles you know

0:26:01.529,0:26:06.779
they’re mages and and warriors and all

0:26:04.320,0:26:08.970
this other you know fun stuff but the

0:26:06.779,0:26:11.639
idea is is that yeah you reset yourself

0:26:08.970,0:26:14.779
down to level one so that you can sort

0:26:11.639,0:26:18.389
of regain and rekindle the motivation of

0:26:14.779,0:26:20.039
building points that actually has a fast

0:26:18.389,0:26:21.690
feedback loop right because you’re

0:26:20.039,0:26:22.710
gaining lots of points really quickly

0:26:21.690,0:26:25.830
for all of the work that you’re doing

0:26:22.710,0:26:27.590
and I think that’s kind of tantamount

0:26:25.830,0:26:30.990
when it comes to personal productivity

0:26:27.590,0:26:33.720
dissimilar to skills mastery right where

0:26:30.990,0:26:36.330
skills acquisition where you you gain a

0:26:33.720,0:26:38.850
particular level of a vacuum on doing

0:26:36.330,0:26:41.309
another hundred hours of a particular

0:26:38.850,0:26:42.809
skill becomes rather easy because you

0:26:41.309,0:26:45.389
you go into the flows

0:26:42.809,0:26:47.399
date this being in the zone state as

0:26:45.389,0:26:50.519
they talked about in psychology that

0:26:47.399,0:26:52.440
you’re able to sort of have time melt

0:26:50.519,0:26:55.350
away you’re very focused you’re

0:26:52.440,0:26:57.269
developing new granular skills along

0:26:55.350,0:26:59.399
this road to mastery that’s all really

0:26:57.269,0:27:01.110
great and it’s very productive but when

0:26:59.399,0:27:03.289
it comes to actually tracking and

0:27:01.110,0:27:06.149
maintaining a level of productivity

0:27:03.289,0:27:07.710
again in line with what art was talking

0:27:06.149,0:27:10.320
about with regard to the ebbs and flows

0:27:07.710,0:27:12.179
of your productive life you also have to

0:27:10.320,0:27:16.919
take into account the fact that when you

0:27:12.179,0:27:18.799
hit a lull the tool if it’s supposed to

0:27:16.919,0:27:21.990
be motivating you through this this

0:27:18.799,0:27:24.659
gamification concept then it needs to be

0:27:21.990,0:27:27.659
able to be adaptive to that it needs to

0:27:24.659,0:27:30.749
be reflective of the fact that you’ve

0:27:27.659,0:27:33.090
you’re feeling stuck what in it can make

0:27:30.749,0:27:35.730
you more motivated so if the folks over

0:27:33.090,0:27:37.350
the great company doest you know we’re

0:27:35.730,0:27:40.169
listening they should probably think

0:27:37.350,0:27:42.059
about some way to have sort of a reset

0:27:40.169,0:27:44.909
button on the karma so that you’re able

0:27:42.059,0:27:47.970
to and I forgive me if you guys already

0:27:44.909,0:27:49.649
do but but the but the reality is I

0:27:47.970,0:27:52.049
think that’s probably some component in

0:27:49.649,0:27:54.210
there that you need some way to sort of

0:27:52.049,0:27:56.999
shake up the applecart so that you can

0:27:54.210,0:28:00.210
get remote evaded very quickly in it so

0:27:56.999,0:28:01.860
to all the Skyrim players out there we

0:28:00.210,0:28:06.539
were being productive till we took an

0:28:01.860,0:28:08.999
arrow to the knee so now that now that

0:28:06.539,0:28:11.940
we’ve got the productivity geek game

0:28:08.999,0:28:13.919
cast out of the way oh yeah there’s

0:28:11.940,0:28:17.159
there’s no level of that that’s going to

0:28:13.919,0:28:19.830
go away over the over time this like

0:28:17.159,0:28:23.159
totally tees up what we were talking

0:28:19.830,0:28:25.490
about about what are our tricks to you

0:28:23.159,0:28:26.850
know what what’s our pro tips on getting

0:28:25.490,0:28:30.210
unstuck

0:28:26.850,0:28:32.999
I wrote a three-part

0:28:30.210,0:28:36.179
3 part series on medium complaining that

0:28:32.999,0:28:39.649
the app designers task management app

0:28:36.179,0:28:41.759
designers weren’t doing enough

0:28:39.649,0:28:43.230
gamification and they weren’t trying

0:28:41.759,0:28:45.320
hard enough to engage users they were

0:28:43.230,0:28:46.879
sort of happy just to give you a

0:28:45.320,0:28:49.499
bare-bones

0:28:46.879,0:28:51.059
database of tasks and giving you

0:28:49.499,0:28:52.919
different ways to look at the tasks but

0:28:51.059,0:28:56.280
they weren’t taking into account the

0:28:52.919,0:29:00.990
fact that there’s not much fun in just

0:28:56.280,0:29:03.480
looking at a set of tasks and there’s so

0:29:00.990,0:29:05.220
much more that that if you set them

0:29:03.480,0:29:08.130
aside there’s a lot more that we can do

0:29:05.220,0:29:10.980
if we manage ourselves I think it has a

0:29:08.130,0:29:13.560
lot to do with understanding kind of how

0:29:10.980,0:29:15.270
humans work but understanding what makes

0:29:13.560,0:29:17.580
us work because at some point if you

0:29:15.270,0:29:18.960
master a game you really don’t want to

0:29:17.580,0:29:21.690
go back and play the same game all over

0:29:18.960,0:29:24.060
again you want a new game and sometimes

0:29:21.690,0:29:26.430
new software brings brings along with

0:29:24.060,0:29:28.460
it’s a whole new game a different level

0:29:26.430,0:29:31.260
allows you to play a different game

0:29:28.460,0:29:32.610
giving you the ability to reset the

0:29:31.260,0:29:34.890
level that you’re at allows you to play

0:29:32.610,0:29:37.560
a different game but if you’re the

0:29:34.890,0:29:41.550
player you can understand these

0:29:37.560,0:29:43.230
mechanics and go past the software and

0:29:41.550,0:29:46.680
actually invent these mechanics for

0:29:43.230,0:29:49.440
yourself it’s not easy to do and there’s

0:29:46.680,0:29:51.480
not a lot of help to do it but if you

0:29:49.440,0:29:54.540
can create your own games then you’re

0:29:51.480,0:29:56.340
the one who is sort of in the in control

0:29:54.540,0:29:59.510
and if the company takes away the game

0:29:56.340,0:30:01.610
or if the app goes out of existence

0:29:59.510,0:30:03.780
you’re still able to motivate yourself

0:30:01.610,0:30:05.640
because if you’re the one designing the

0:30:03.780,0:30:08.010
game then it’s it’s intrinsically

0:30:05.640,0:30:10.230
motivated as opposed to extrinsically

0:30:08.010,0:30:12.390
motivated and intrinsically is always

0:30:10.230,0:30:14.970
better because then you can move on to

0:30:12.390,0:30:16.740
the next kind of game it’s just not easy

0:30:14.970,0:30:17.370
to do it has to do is really new in

0:30:16.740,0:30:21.390
yourself

0:30:17.370,0:30:23.940
I tried creating a game about six weeks

0:30:21.390,0:30:26.610
ago it had to do with using a calendar

0:30:23.940,0:30:28.920
and following the calendar every day or

0:30:26.610,0:30:31.290
every minute of every day just about so

0:30:28.920,0:30:32.970
far I haven’t been able to make it into

0:30:31.290,0:30:35.940
a turn the behavior into a permanent

0:30:32.970,0:30:38.790
habit just because I really don’t know

0:30:35.940,0:30:41.180
how to translate it from the game I

0:30:38.790,0:30:43.650
create that is relied on software so

0:30:41.180,0:30:46.050
intrinsic behaviors which don’t rely on

0:30:43.650,0:30:47.850
external software so I don’t have a

0:30:46.050,0:30:50.730
permanent habit yet but I’m still

0:30:47.850,0:30:52.080
playing the game but it’s not enough to

0:30:50.730,0:30:53.670
play the game and they not have the

0:30:52.080,0:30:56.310
permanent behavior to go with it so

0:30:53.670,0:31:01.020
there’s a there’s a a subtle way in

0:30:56.310,0:31:02.790
which you can use metrics to detect how

0:31:01.020,0:31:05.190
where you’re playing a game but but but

0:31:02.790,0:31:06.720
also there’s sort of a very big game I

0:31:05.190,0:31:08.850
try to play all the time which segues

0:31:06.720,0:31:10.019
right into this business of getting on

0:31:08.850,0:31:13.110
stock

0:31:10.019,0:31:16.649
and the big game I play is what’s the

0:31:13.110,0:31:20.159
next upgrade for me to have in my system

0:31:16.649,0:31:22.950
put in place and our earlier booster

0:31:20.159,0:31:25.440
said that it’s it’s difficult to

0:31:22.950,0:31:28.320
sometimes detect when you need to make

0:31:25.440,0:31:32.279
an upgrade or make a change in either a

0:31:28.320,0:31:35.029
tool or a behavior and I agree it’s

0:31:32.279,0:31:38.190
really difficult to pay attention to

0:31:35.029,0:31:41.100
sort of the small signals that tell you

0:31:38.190,0:31:43.710
oh I have to make a change at the chip

0:31:41.100,0:31:45.929
had to look for a new program I have to

0:31:43.710,0:31:49.950
look for a new behavior I have to go and

0:31:45.929,0:31:51.299
find a new best in class Gaylor habit to

0:31:49.950,0:31:54.179
pay attention to some of the early

0:31:51.299,0:31:56.100
signals that tell us that it’s time to

0:31:54.179,0:31:58.080
start looking it’s time to start

0:31:56.100,0:32:01.230
considering it’s time to start breaking

0:31:58.080,0:32:04.409
down some behavior into small parts and

0:32:01.230,0:32:07.139
then adapting them that skill I find is

0:32:04.409,0:32:09.210
very very difficult and most most of us

0:32:07.139,0:32:11.549
flounder is we bounce our own thinking

0:32:09.210,0:32:13.619
if I get the next device that’ll do it

0:32:11.549,0:32:16.080
for me or if I read something on Google

0:32:13.619,0:32:18.809
if I read something on medium I’ll pick

0:32:16.080,0:32:21.210
up some new tip or next top ten tips or

0:32:18.809,0:32:24.799
something but those things really don’t

0:32:21.210,0:32:27.330
develop that ability to upgrade your own

0:32:24.799,0:32:29.610
system and that’s what we really need I

0:32:27.330,0:32:31.799
think I’m I’m curious about the various

0:32:29.610,0:32:34.200
tools that are available out there not

0:32:31.799,0:32:36.299
just digital tools but but all of the

0:32:34.200,0:32:39.059
various techniques and strategies that

0:32:36.299,0:32:40.529
are out there so that people who may be

0:32:39.059,0:32:44.190
coming from different backgrounds in

0:32:40.529,0:32:46.799
different spaces can approach this and I

0:32:44.190,0:32:50.820
wanted to start off with a sort of a big

0:32:46.799,0:32:53.999
one which is which is a a game again in

0:32:50.820,0:32:56.850
this sort of gamification space and so

0:32:53.999,0:32:59.850
that people understand that we’re really

0:32:56.850,0:33:01.769
talking about gameplay from a

0:32:59.850,0:33:05.999
perspective of productivity not because

0:33:01.769,0:33:09.029
it is it’s going to be fun okay so I

0:33:05.999,0:33:11.610
need to clarify a bit playing a game is

0:33:09.029,0:33:14.940
not about necessarily it being fun that

0:33:11.610,0:33:16.590
is a byproduct of going into it but what

0:33:14.940,0:33:18.720
you do have to have is what’s called a

0:33:16.590,0:33:21.330
looser attitude as it comes to

0:33:18.720,0:33:23.430
gamification looser attitude means that

0:33:21.330,0:33:27.090
you you accept the Arbour

0:33:23.430,0:33:29.840
cherri rules of gameplay in order to be

0:33:27.090,0:33:32.430
able to get into the game right so

0:33:29.840,0:33:34.560
naturally you’re going to have points

0:33:32.430,0:33:36.990
right you’re going to have to do

0:33:34.560,0:33:39.870
particular things in order for the game

0:33:36.990,0:33:42.480
to go into play and that’s just a

0:33:39.870,0:33:44.190
reality of it – to a great extent I have

0:33:42.480,0:33:45.780
a going back to sort of arts

0:33:44.190,0:33:47.700
philosophical discussion here I sort of

0:33:45.780,0:33:51.000
have a problem with the idea of using

0:33:47.700,0:33:53.310
the term gamification gameplay rules

0:33:51.000,0:33:56.100
play all of those things purely because

0:33:53.310,0:33:57.870
it sounds less serious right it’s sort

0:33:56.100,0:34:01.050
of like you know I use the task manager

0:33:57.870,0:34:03.000
Remember The Milk it is a fairly it’s a

0:34:01.050,0:34:05.280
it’s a game it’s a it’s a task manager

0:34:03.000,0:34:08.400
of levity right it’s we have a cow as a

0:34:05.280,0:34:11.610
logo the the Bob team monkey is our

0:34:08.400,0:34:14.940
mascot and you know it’s a fairly fun

0:34:11.610,0:34:16.800
comical brand but it’s a fantastic task

0:34:14.940,0:34:18.900
manager and some people won’t use it

0:34:16.800,0:34:21.390
because it doesn’t seem quote-unquote

0:34:18.900,0:34:23.520
professional enough for them and and

0:34:21.390,0:34:24.930
that doesn’t bother me I have no problem

0:34:23.520,0:34:27.060
with the fact that it’s one of the best

0:34:24.930,0:34:30.240
task managers out there as a GTD

0:34:27.060,0:34:32.340
practitioner and I use it and so this

0:34:30.240,0:34:34.470
idea of gameplay I think has a branding

0:34:32.340,0:34:35.760
problem and in gamification has a

0:34:34.470,0:34:38.760
branding problem because I think that

0:34:35.760,0:34:40.680
employers corporate enterprise has a

0:34:38.760,0:34:44.430
problem the idea of their employees

0:34:40.680,0:34:47.880
playing a game so for those who might be

0:34:44.430,0:34:50.160
listening just ignore the terminology

0:34:47.880,0:34:52.110
use the underpinning use the

0:34:50.160,0:34:55.440
infrastructure for greater productivity

0:34:52.110,0:34:58.320
and that is to say if we can if we can

0:34:55.440,0:35:01.470
use these gamification tools then we can

0:34:58.320,0:35:03.480
really be much more productive and so

0:35:01.470,0:35:05.400
getting to my point though which was

0:35:03.480,0:35:07.140
that there’s a program out there that

0:35:05.400,0:35:08.310
was developed by dr. Jane McGonigal

0:35:07.140,0:35:14.310
called SuperBetter

0:35:08.310,0:35:17.460
and dr. McDonald is a game she has a PhD

0:35:14.310,0:35:20.730
I think in game design and as a as a as

0:35:17.460,0:35:24.480
a neuroscientist and she has developed

0:35:20.730,0:35:26.700
this program and there is a a mobile

0:35:24.480,0:35:28.140
application for it there’s a very strong

0:35:26.700,0:35:32.370
community at SuperBetter

0:35:28.140,0:35:35.580
and she wrote a book about SuperBetter

0:35:32.370,0:35:36.850
and so I highly recommend that you read

0:35:35.580,0:35:38.860
the book because it

0:35:36.850,0:35:41.110
you want to develop this game for

0:35:38.860,0:35:43.210
yourself she gives you all the

0:35:41.110,0:35:45.250
fundamental components to be able to

0:35:43.210,0:35:47.950
develop the game and you’re developing

0:35:45.250,0:35:49.450
your own game in essence because you

0:35:47.950,0:35:51.280
don’t need to create you don’t need to

0:35:49.450,0:35:53.230
play somebody else’s game necessarily

0:35:51.280,0:35:56.050
you really need to create one that is

0:35:53.230,0:35:58.330
bespoke to the needs of your life so

0:35:56.050,0:36:00.520
that you can get unstuck and she really

0:35:58.330,0:36:02.470
helps you build resilience and all kinds

0:36:00.520,0:36:05.380
of other really strong psychological

0:36:02.470,0:36:09.550
factors that help you get out of being

0:36:05.380,0:36:11.800
stuck and continually stay in that state

0:36:09.550,0:36:15.100
of unstuck ness to the level that you

0:36:11.800,0:36:18.430
can so that’s one option I’ll jump in on

0:36:15.100,0:36:21.700
the analog side just because I love my

0:36:18.430,0:36:23.020
analog stuff too a couple of things that

0:36:21.700,0:36:26.260
you’ll hear on the analog side you’ll

0:36:23.020,0:36:30.460
hear about habit trackers often it’s

0:36:26.260,0:36:31.870
related to health things but just things

0:36:30.460,0:36:34.360
in general where you’re looking for

0:36:31.870,0:36:36.760
repeat processes Jerry Seinfeld is

0:36:34.360,0:36:39.220
actually a big advocate of using a

0:36:36.760,0:36:41.080
calendar as a habit tracker and having a

0:36:39.220,0:36:43.720
repeat cycle of just tracking the

0:36:41.080,0:36:46.600
execution of a specific activity so it

0:36:43.720,0:36:48.310
develops into a habit unfortunately a

0:36:46.600,0:36:51.940
lot of habit trackers can wind up

0:36:48.310,0:36:53.440
feeling to be as much work as the task

0:36:51.940,0:36:55.540
that they’re supposed to be if we take a

0:36:53.440,0:36:57.460
bit take something as simple as making

0:36:55.540,0:36:59.400
sure you drink eight glasses of water a

0:36:57.460,0:37:02.050
day if that’s something you prescribe to

0:36:59.400,0:37:04.570
using a habit tracker to track that can

0:37:02.050,0:37:07.000
give you that and a little kick in the

0:37:04.570,0:37:09.700
shorts to keep that moving forward but

0:37:07.000,0:37:12.880
it also becomes work like I’m at six I

0:37:09.700,0:37:15.580
got to do two more so balancing an

0:37:12.880,0:37:19.480
analogue based habit tracker with a

0:37:15.580,0:37:22.300
reward system that works for you can be

0:37:19.480,0:37:25.390
a great way to keep to get you unstuck

0:37:22.300,0:37:27.430
on things to be able to say okay I’m

0:37:25.390,0:37:29.560
going to be able to go through and do

0:37:27.430,0:37:31.150
this complete this activity and every

0:37:29.560,0:37:32.800
time I complete this activity that needs

0:37:31.150,0:37:35.260
to be done I’m going to track it might

0:37:32.800,0:37:37.780
have a tracker and once I’m able to do

0:37:35.260,0:37:41.350
that successfully on time for whatever

0:37:37.780,0:37:45.400
period that I’ve allocated I’m going to

0:37:41.350,0:37:47.260
get this reward for myself and I have to

0:37:45.400,0:37:50.770
go back to what you said right about

0:37:47.260,0:37:52.570
this branding issue around gamification

0:37:50.770,0:37:55.300
you’re absolutely right there is within

0:37:52.570,0:37:57.340
the corporate space this hesitancy if

0:37:55.300,0:37:59.620
it’s kind of a dichotomy because it’s

0:37:57.340,0:38:01.120
there’s popularity around the

0:37:59.620,0:38:03.430
terminology and the concept of

0:38:01.120,0:38:05.980
gamification it’s this cool thing to do

0:38:03.430,0:38:07.600
until you actually try to start doing it

0:38:05.980,0:38:08.860
with people because then they go oh no

0:38:07.600,0:38:10.240
that’s not professional that’s silly

0:38:08.860,0:38:13.590
we’re not going to do that and they

0:38:10.240,0:38:17.560
turned it into the classic staffing

0:38:13.590,0:38:19.240
evaluation type of methodology and it

0:38:17.560,0:38:21.850
even comes down to the phrases that

0:38:19.240,0:38:24.100
people will use the phrase gaming the

0:38:21.850,0:38:27.480
system is a negative phrase and

0:38:24.100,0:38:30.160
connotation right but if you spin it and

0:38:27.480,0:38:32.020
turn the systems into something where

0:38:30.160,0:38:33.520
there’s positive reinforcement

0:38:32.020,0:38:35.640
throughout their life cycle

0:38:33.520,0:38:38.200
whether it’s analog whether it’s digital

0:38:35.640,0:38:41.260
regardless that positive reinforcement

0:38:38.200,0:38:44.860
can help people get unstuck and help the

0:38:41.260,0:38:48.040
flow continue so when it the trick I use

0:38:44.860,0:38:49.840
on the analogue side is if you have if

0:38:48.040,0:38:52.570
you are like me and you keep a bullet

0:38:49.840,0:38:57.040
journal of various forms and you have de

0:38:52.570,0:38:59.250
pages in it hide a post-it note later on

0:38:57.040,0:39:02.650
in your day pages like a week later as a

0:38:59.250,0:39:05.050
reward to completing all the note

0:39:02.650,0:39:06.610
tracking up to that point and if you

0:39:05.050,0:39:08.890
reach that point and say hey that’s cool

0:39:06.610,0:39:10.780
I got my reward you know then at least

0:39:08.890,0:39:14.290
you’ve kept your progress going that’s

0:39:10.780,0:39:16.510
that achievement unlocked and I use that

0:39:14.290,0:39:18.550
just on the analogue side you know hide

0:39:16.510,0:39:20.920
little reminders to myself and successes

0:39:18.550,0:39:22.660
that I’m able to then you know feel good

0:39:20.920,0:39:24.820
about what I’ve been able to do and keep

0:39:22.660,0:39:28.710
the ball moving forward there’s one

0:39:24.820,0:39:33.310
thing I want to – – to that and I do

0:39:28.710,0:39:36.910
something similar to that and I have a

0:39:33.310,0:39:40.870
context that I call questions or

0:39:36.910,0:39:42.970
questions that I ponder okay and I need

0:39:40.870,0:39:47.770
to come some things that I want to

0:39:42.970,0:39:50.890
reflect and there are moments for

0:39:47.770,0:39:53.460
example you know so shared at the

0:39:50.890,0:39:58.740
beginning of the show to see me review

0:39:53.460,0:39:59.980
this weekend I uncover in over 900 tasks

0:39:58.740,0:40:03.100
okay

0:39:59.980,0:40:04.420
and I understood I’d being on a creator

0:40:03.100,0:40:07.850
crazy

0:40:04.420,0:40:10.910
BC mode so I know where all that is

0:40:07.850,0:40:13.580
coming and in fine I now need to polish

0:40:10.910,0:40:16.010
my system in order for the system to do

0:40:13.580,0:40:19.190
just all that and then being able to

0:40:16.010,0:40:22.070
produce the results but it comes to the

0:40:19.190,0:40:25.070
question if there is something better I

0:40:22.070,0:40:29.030
can do about getting to this point so

0:40:25.070,0:40:29.900
could I have you know notice the cows or

0:40:29.030,0:40:33.290
the stubbornest

0:40:29.900,0:40:35.660
on the task number 500 for me to get to

0:40:33.290,0:40:38.030
this house and I don’t know the answer

0:40:35.660,0:40:42.530
to that but what I have done for many

0:40:38.030,0:40:45.470
years is I go to this contact and ask

0:40:42.530,0:40:47.930
the question and then put it three six

0:40:45.470,0:40:50.840
and nine months out I created three

0:40:47.930,0:40:54.200
tasks put it there hide it and set the

0:40:50.840,0:40:56.870
system so it hide it on to that because

0:40:54.200,0:41:00.050
in three months most likely I will have

0:40:56.870,0:41:03.020
forget about but as soon as a question

0:41:00.050,0:41:06.340
comes out then I will be able to see at

0:41:03.020,0:41:09.310
the problem is retrospective with a

0:41:06.340,0:41:12.680
completely different level of client and

0:41:09.310,0:41:15.350
saying then if I go six months and same

0:41:12.680,0:41:19.850
thing if I go nine months even they are

0:41:15.350,0:41:23.030
mum and especially when I roommate a lot

0:41:19.850,0:41:27.830
about it that I even create on my

0:41:23.030,0:41:31.100
journal application and a specific tag

0:41:27.830,0:41:33.230
and then put the tag into this reminder

0:41:31.100,0:41:38.420
so that way is a clue for me to go back

0:41:33.230,0:41:40.400
to the journal and read back what I’ve

0:41:38.420,0:41:42.260
been thinking about it and what I was

0:41:40.400,0:41:46.160
thinking three six months back

0:41:42.260,0:41:49.160
because allows me to see patterns that I

0:41:46.160,0:41:51.380
was simply unable to see at the moment

0:41:49.160,0:41:53.660
everything was happening if you ask

0:41:51.380,0:41:56.540
about you know when we talked about all

0:41:53.660,0:41:58.460
these trackers I have used them all I

0:41:56.540,0:42:00.380
have tried them all and I have tried

0:41:58.460,0:42:02.840
them in many different ways with

0:42:00.380,0:42:04.850
different level of failure I wish to

0:42:02.840,0:42:07.400
tell different level of success but it’s

0:42:04.850,0:42:10.460
actually the same level of failure in my

0:42:07.400,0:42:13.220
particular case but when I have finally

0:42:10.460,0:42:15.530
been done with them and move on and keep

0:42:13.220,0:42:18.289
this question and then come back and

0:42:15.530,0:42:20.809
revisit them three months later

0:42:18.289,0:42:24.259
six months later say ah yeah this was

0:42:20.809,0:42:27.199
the reason this was failing so if ever I

0:42:24.259,0:42:29.359
decide to try it again and I have I need

0:42:27.199,0:42:32.059
to pay attention to these things so I

0:42:29.359,0:42:34.400
don’t make this a mistake and I try to

0:42:32.059,0:42:38.650
make new one I wanted to I wanted to

0:42:34.400,0:42:42.799
bring up a application that I have seen

0:42:38.650,0:42:45.349
several people in my community sort of

0:42:42.799,0:42:47.869
using and really appreciating which is

0:42:45.349,0:42:51.949
an app called unstuck and it’s a free

0:42:47.869,0:42:52.549
application and what happens is or how

0:42:51.949,0:42:54.349
it works

0:42:52.549,0:42:57.519
is that it acts as sort of a digital

0:42:54.349,0:42:59.390
coach for helping you get unstuck and

0:42:57.519,0:43:02.599
there’ll be a link to that in the show

0:42:59.390,0:43:04.519
notes for this episode and the way it

0:43:02.599,0:43:08.329
works is that you know you sort of come

0:43:04.519,0:43:10.219
to a stuck moment and then you try to

0:43:08.329,0:43:12.739
figure out how you’re stuck and it gives

0:43:10.219,0:43:16.039
you different reasons for being stuck

0:43:12.739,0:43:18.079
being that one one option is that you’re

0:43:16.039,0:43:20.329
acting like a tunnel visionary they call

0:43:18.079,0:43:22.519
it do you need to take your blinders off

0:43:20.329,0:43:25.009
are you acting like an ad-lib er are you

0:43:22.519,0:43:27.439
faking it instead of making it are you

0:43:25.009,0:43:29.630
being an avoider and what do you keep

0:43:27.439,0:43:31.519
doing that putting off that you should

0:43:29.630,0:43:33.469
be doing right now and so you choose

0:43:31.519,0:43:35.659
these mechanisms these answers to these

0:43:33.469,0:43:37.669
questions to get you to a place where

0:43:35.659,0:43:40.749
then you can take action to overcome

0:43:37.669,0:43:44.209
those particular points and with that

0:43:40.749,0:43:46.759
plan that work plan now you can now

0:43:44.209,0:43:48.979
start to get motivated and deal with

0:43:46.759,0:43:51.289
with the changes that are necessary in

0:43:48.979,0:43:52.939
order to get back to being productive so

0:43:51.289,0:43:55.219
just just so you know there are

0:43:52.939,0:43:57.650
applications out there like this that

0:43:55.219,0:43:59.719
can be very very useful it’s sort of

0:43:57.650,0:44:01.779
genius in its simplicity and that it

0:43:59.719,0:44:04.039
just takes you through this workflow of

0:44:01.779,0:44:07.369
getting you from a place of feeling

0:44:04.039,0:44:10.689
stuck to getting unstuck so just know

0:44:07.369,0:44:13.369
that that’s out there I use a version of

0:44:10.689,0:44:16.179
terms of practical practical approaches

0:44:13.369,0:44:19.599
a version of of Tim Ferriss is

0:44:16.179,0:44:22.609
deconstruction of expert performance

0:44:19.599,0:44:24.289
process I guess and I discovered it

0:44:22.609,0:44:25.699
after after I wrote my book and thought

0:44:24.289,0:44:27.169
but I should have I should have included

0:44:25.699,0:44:29.749
this because it would have it would have

0:44:27.169,0:44:31.369
made some things clearer but as you guys

0:44:29.749,0:44:31.970
probably know he goes around and he

0:44:31.369,0:44:33.880
chases

0:44:31.970,0:44:38.150
the best performance in any particular

0:44:33.880,0:44:41.900
area or niche or and then he does what

0:44:38.150,0:44:44.140
he calls the SFC which is I’m looking at

0:44:41.900,0:44:47.090
the website deconstruction selection

0:44:44.140,0:44:48.800
sequencing and stakes but essentially

0:44:47.090,0:44:53.260
what he’s doing is he’s looking to find

0:44:48.800,0:44:55.910
the inner workings of a high-performance

0:44:53.260,0:44:58.370
have a high-performing skill or habit

0:44:55.910,0:45:00.830
and that’s something I tried to do also

0:44:58.370,0:45:02.150
if I read about someone who’s having

0:45:00.830,0:45:04.190
success doing something I’ve never

0:45:02.150,0:45:06.770
considered or thought about and

0:45:04.190,0:45:08.630
therefore they won’t do I try to follow

0:45:06.770,0:45:10.670
a process similar to the one he

0:45:08.630,0:45:13.100
described where I tried to figure out

0:45:10.670,0:45:16.280
what are the behaviors that observable

0:45:13.100,0:45:18.550
behaviors that actually physically take

0:45:16.280,0:45:21.350
place that underlie this particular

0:45:18.550,0:45:23.810
habit or practice it’s a bit tedious

0:45:21.350,0:45:25.670
because it takes a bit of work to try

0:45:23.810,0:45:28.010
and find out what you the underlying

0:45:25.670,0:45:29.780
behaviors are and sometimes I can’t even

0:45:28.010,0:45:32.810
find out based on the description that’s

0:45:29.780,0:45:34.510
that’s being given that converting a

0:45:32.810,0:45:37.910
high-level behavior into its smallest

0:45:34.510,0:45:40.130
component parts so I can then try them

0:45:37.910,0:45:42.320
and together and see if they work that’s

0:45:40.130,0:45:46.310
that’s one tool I use the way in which I

0:45:42.320,0:45:49.370
get unstuck typically is through the

0:45:46.310,0:45:52.090
sensory stimulation not necessarily over

0:45:49.370,0:45:55.100
stimulation but I really do believe in

0:45:52.090,0:45:57.110
stimulating all senses in order to bring

0:45:55.100,0:46:00.530
my system back online it’s sort of like

0:45:57.110,0:46:03.590
sort of a reset but I try to touch all

0:46:00.530,0:46:04.700
of my primary five senses so those of

0:46:03.590,0:46:07.010
you who don’t know we have more than

0:46:04.700,0:46:09.080
five senses but the five typical that we

0:46:07.010,0:46:12.490
talk about what I really try to do is is

0:46:09.080,0:46:15.530
try to engage all five senses in

0:46:12.490,0:46:17.570
whatever it is that I’m attempting to do

0:46:15.530,0:46:19.880
and I think that’s really important in

0:46:17.570,0:46:21.350
the course of your day you don’t

0:46:19.880,0:46:23.450
particularly think about all those

0:46:21.350,0:46:25.400
things but I what I’ll do is I will

0:46:23.450,0:46:27.650
actually say okay well it’s time for me

0:46:25.400,0:46:31.850
to just do some pausing and planning and

0:46:27.650,0:46:34.580
I will find all the things that will

0:46:31.850,0:46:36.230
engage me you know whether that be the

0:46:34.580,0:46:38.600
right scent you know citrus has a

0:46:36.230,0:46:40.640
tendency to really engage me and you

0:46:38.600,0:46:42.860
know sort of wake me up and so that’ll

0:46:40.640,0:46:45.140
that’ll engage my olfactory senses I’ll

0:46:42.860,0:46:46.640
be able to have a habit

0:46:45.140,0:46:49.640
bull or something that will help be

0:46:46.640,0:46:52.760
crunchy and fun and get my tactical and

0:46:49.640,0:46:54.370
my taste systems in place engaged all of

0:46:52.760,0:46:57.020
those senses getting up and walking

0:46:54.370,0:47:00.050
anything that’s gonna get me engaged

0:46:57.020,0:47:02.120
with all of my senses in and toward

0:47:00.050,0:47:05.300
whatever whatever it is that I need to

0:47:02.120,0:47:06.530
do even if that’s a minor deviation from

0:47:05.300,0:47:09.140
the thing that it is that needs to be

0:47:06.530,0:47:11.990
done right so taking a walk but it also

0:47:09.140,0:47:13.670
gives me a sense of space away from what

0:47:11.990,0:47:15.890
it is so that I can think about well

0:47:13.670,0:47:18.440
what is it that I need to really do here

0:47:15.890,0:47:20.360
am i doing the wrong or right actions

0:47:18.440,0:47:22.460
toward the outcome that I’m looking for

0:47:20.360,0:47:24.080
so I just think that engaging all of

0:47:22.460,0:47:27.530
your senses is a really good practice

0:47:24.080,0:47:28.760
for getting unstuck for me I kind of

0:47:27.530,0:47:31.190
cheat a little bit with my task list

0:47:28.760,0:47:34.760
what I do is anytime I see a task that

0:47:31.190,0:47:37.610
fits two criteria one that’s not part of

0:47:34.760,0:47:39.290
the critical time path of things that

0:47:37.610,0:47:42.590
need to be executed but it still needs

0:47:39.290,0:47:46.100
to be done and second if the task can be

0:47:42.590,0:47:48.440
completed in ten to fifteen minutes if

0:47:46.100,0:47:51.560
it meets those two criteria I will tag

0:47:48.440,0:47:53.870
it with the tag click start and what

0:47:51.560,0:47:56.000
that does is that it has no bearing on

0:47:53.870,0:47:57.710
the actual project execution but it

0:47:56.000,0:47:59.510
helps me get out of the trough because

0:47:57.710,0:48:01.760
what I can do then is I can go back and

0:47:59.510,0:48:04.430
if I feel like I’m stuck I can do a

0:48:01.760,0:48:06.110
search for kickstart find a task that I

0:48:04.430,0:48:07.970
know I can get done quickly and that

0:48:06.110,0:48:10.010
will help move the ball forward it

0:48:07.970,0:48:11.750
doesn’t matter when I get it done just

0:48:10.010,0:48:14.990
as long as it gets done and go ahead and

0:48:11.750,0:48:17.150
do it and usually I can do one or two of

0:48:14.990,0:48:18.970
those if I’m doing Pomodoro sprints I

0:48:17.150,0:48:21.470
can do two of them within a sprint to

0:48:18.970,0:48:23.720
get to feel like I’m accomplishing

0:48:21.470,0:48:26.930
something again and get rolling forward

0:48:23.720,0:48:29.150
but by hiding those in my list I know I

0:48:26.930,0:48:30.410
always have them available it’s kind of

0:48:29.150,0:48:31.910
like the little bag of candy in your

0:48:30.410,0:48:33.230
desk drawer you need something real

0:48:31.910,0:48:35.180
quick you pop it out pop in your mouth

0:48:33.230,0:48:37.040
and keep going same thing here I mean

0:48:35.180,0:48:38.930
these are little task sweets that I hide

0:48:37.040,0:48:41.060
for myself to be able to get it and get

0:48:38.930,0:48:45.830
moving forward I do a couple of things

0:48:41.060,0:48:48.620
one of them is once a month I do what I

0:48:45.830,0:48:51.410
call a low priority day and I plan it

0:48:48.620,0:48:55.700
block my calendar and it’s a day where I

0:48:51.410,0:48:58.010
do only low priority stuff that have

0:48:55.700,0:48:59.080
fewer importance that otherwise will

0:48:58.010,0:49:01.840
never get

0:48:59.080,0:49:06.160
and what that allows believe it or not

0:49:01.840,0:49:08.770
is remove a lot of junk out of the

0:49:06.160,0:49:11.890
system and junk on the sense if you stop

0:49:08.770,0:49:14.080
that anyways any did it okay but because

0:49:11.890,0:49:17.890
it’s no priority to no importance low

0:49:14.080,0:49:22.270
everything we just stay on your system

0:49:17.890,0:49:25.210
way too long and it is like if you allow

0:49:22.270,0:49:27.520
me the analogy is like some stop on your

0:49:25.210,0:49:29.650
fridge you know you open your fridge and

0:49:27.520,0:49:31.360
see them with bag of your eyes I need to

0:49:29.650,0:49:34.210
clean that proper work close the fridge

0:49:31.360,0:49:36.400
as fast as you humanly can so that the

0:49:34.210,0:49:39.220
connection and doesn’t come to the brain

0:49:36.400,0:49:41.230
say oh do it right now so you close the

0:49:39.220,0:49:43.440
fridge and it is a same thing in your

0:49:41.230,0:49:46.870
system there are certain things that are

0:49:43.440,0:49:50.800
low priority low importance that then

0:49:46.870,0:49:53.920
stay there for way too long okay that

0:49:50.800,0:49:57.340
what it does is one and all yourself

0:49:53.920,0:50:00.430
every time you see them but second makes

0:49:57.340,0:50:02.710
you less efficient because what happened

0:50:00.430,0:50:06.430
is you start creating resistance towards

0:50:02.710,0:50:09.190
opening your system the second thing I

0:50:06.430,0:50:12.100
do is similar to this kicker idea I have

0:50:09.190,0:50:14.730
this backlog idea so when you get when I

0:50:12.100,0:50:19.450
get to reviews like the one I have

0:50:14.730,0:50:23.230
yesterday where I had 963 pack three now

0:50:19.450,0:50:24.970
where I can you know be even if I do you

0:50:23.230,0:50:27.850
know focus on nothing else other than

0:50:24.970,0:50:31.060
that this week to be able to be good by

0:50:27.850,0:50:33.430
private so what means is I need to go

0:50:31.060,0:50:35.740
and look on those tasks from a different

0:50:33.430,0:50:39.040
perspective in a more critical one and

0:50:35.740,0:50:42.760
then I start working into removing some

0:50:39.040,0:50:46.270
of these lower important things out of

0:50:42.760,0:50:49.870
the the context that I’m looking at and

0:50:46.270,0:50:52.960
then blocking time on my calendar to get

0:50:49.870,0:50:55.600
rid of this backlog so what I tend to do

0:50:52.960,0:50:58.330
is I try to create blocks of an hour

0:50:55.600,0:51:01.480
into my calendar cost money is like

0:50:58.330,0:51:04.840
human we can and then work into that

0:51:01.480,0:51:07.330
backlog to get it clean and keeping on

0:51:04.840,0:51:11.230
what I will call the active system

0:51:07.330,0:51:12.820
quote-unquote and contact the stuff that

0:51:11.230,0:51:15.340
is time-sensitive

0:51:12.820,0:51:18.550
because what happened when you get to a

0:51:15.340,0:51:22.330
certain level of tasks like I’m just

0:51:18.550,0:51:24.700
describing is you get a really hard time

0:51:22.330,0:51:28.630
identifying what is time-sensitive on

0:51:24.700,0:51:30.940
what it’s not and you tend to avoid

0:51:28.630,0:51:34.630
getting into the system because of most

0:51:30.940,0:51:38.860
emotional factors so taking the time to

0:51:34.630,0:51:41.620
move a lot of stuff out of your jewelled

0:51:38.860,0:51:45.190
to this backlog and putting a time where

0:51:41.620,0:51:48.070
you’re going to clean it up allows Joran

0:51:45.190,0:51:50.350
countries to say okay well yes we are

0:51:48.070,0:51:53.110
overwhelmed just we have more stuff than

0:51:50.350,0:51:55.240
we should have but there is a plan and

0:51:53.110,0:51:58.420
there’s organized stuff and there’s

0:51:55.240,0:52:00.460
something there that subtly gain more

0:51:58.420,0:52:02.110
important or more priority than what I

0:52:00.460,0:52:04.870
originally thought when I did the

0:52:02.110,0:52:07.360
evaluation I know exactly where to go to

0:52:04.870,0:52:09.940
find and retrieve it and move it to a

0:52:07.360,0:52:12.460
different place I like that I like the

0:52:09.940,0:52:14.230
idea of recalibration so give some more

0:52:12.460,0:52:16.330
details to both what I do to deconstruct

0:52:14.230,0:52:19.210
the behavior so after I’ve read about it

0:52:16.330,0:52:22.060
a bit or as much as I can I use a common

0:52:19.210,0:52:24.610
tool 9 mapping to figure out what the

0:52:22.060,0:52:26.800
component behaviors are I use the rule

0:52:24.610,0:52:29.230
of that rule that the behavior has to be

0:52:26.800,0:52:33.310
something that’s observable by a video

0:52:29.230,0:52:35.250
camera so it has to be available to the

0:52:33.310,0:52:39.130
naked eye so not psychological all

0:52:35.250,0:52:41.350
observable and then I use a modified

0:52:39.130,0:52:43.810
sort of issue tree where I take the

0:52:41.350,0:52:47.020
behavior and break it down into its

0:52:43.810,0:52:48.700
parts and I ask the question is this the

0:52:47.020,0:52:50.980
minimum set of behaviors that are

0:52:48.700,0:52:53.440
required in order to to produce the

0:52:50.980,0:52:54.970
grand behavior minimum number of small

0:52:53.440,0:52:57.340
behaviors required to produce the grand

0:52:54.970,0:53:00.310
behavior so I use those two tools in

0:52:57.340,0:53:02.920
tandem and I have placed the YouTube

0:53:00.310,0:53:04.630
video where Tim Ferriss walks people

0:53:02.920,0:53:07.360
through this and I link to link to that

0:53:04.630,0:53:09.820
system in in the show notes so folks go

0:53:07.360,0:53:11.860
ahead and check that out so thank you

0:53:09.820,0:53:15.490
guys this has been a fantastic episode

0:53:11.860,0:53:18.600
for talking about getting unstuck I feel

0:53:15.490,0:53:21.820
like people can now approach the

0:53:18.600,0:53:24.670
stuckness identifying you know awareness

0:53:21.820,0:53:25.970
of being stuck and using tactics like

0:53:24.670,0:53:28.640
novelty and

0:53:25.970,0:53:31.010
Awards which folks know I’m a pretty big

0:53:28.640,0:53:33.470
fan of positive behavioral interventions

0:53:31.010,0:53:35.090
and so I think I think a lot of what

0:53:33.470,0:53:36.859
we’re talking about ends up being very

0:53:35.090,0:53:38.750
very powerful for those who do feel

0:53:36.859,0:53:41.300
stuck and want to get unstuck

0:53:38.750,0:53:43.040
so this closes out another episode of

0:53:41.300,0:53:45.980
productivity casts the weekly show about

0:53:43.040,0:53:48.170
all things personal productivity and so

0:53:45.980,0:53:50.260
thank you thank you guys for joining me

0:53:48.170,0:53:52.609
here on the show today

0:53:50.260,0:53:55.190
that’s it for this episode of

0:53:52.609,0:53:58.040
productivity cast the weekly show about

0:53:55.190,0:54:02.680
all things productivity with your hosts

0:53:58.040,0:54:02.680
ray Sydney Smith and Augusto pinaud

0:54:09.019,0:54:11.079
you

 

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