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Is doing more faster really better? When is slow good for productivity? That’s what the ProductivityCast team seeks to find out in this cast on productivity and the need for speed!
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In this Cast
Show Notes
Resources we mention, including links to them will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.
- Weekly Review (GTD)
- 4AM – Augusto Pinaud
- “Effective Utilization” (primarily in consulting)
- Ray’s Unschedule video tutorial (based on The Now Habit by Dr. Neil Fiore)
- PROCRASTINATION, DEADLINES, AND PERFORMANCE: Self-Control by Precommitment by Dan Ariely and Klaus Wertenbroch
- Francis’s paper, Reducing the Risk of Un-Productive Team Members
- Mindset by Carol Dweck, PhD
- The pace of life in 31 countries
- Reducing the Risk of Un-Productive Team Members
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, PhD
- I’m So Busy I Must Be Important
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
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welcome everybody to productivity cast
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the weekly show about all things
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personal productivity we are back with
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another action-packed episode of
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productivity cast I have with me on the
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show today
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Augusto Pinaud Francis Wade and
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Art Gelwicks we’re going to be talking about
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productivity and the need for speed you
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know I’m a New Yorker as some people
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know and as a New Yorker I’m frequently
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told that I speak really fast and I tell
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them that I just am more efficient with
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communicating but but you know what’s
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really interesting about this is that I
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think that I think that there are
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different ways in which at least in
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English people tend to see language
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being communicated faster or slower for
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example the British speak faster than
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Americans they tend to think Americans
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speak very very slowly with a drawl and
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and I’m I’ve always been curious about
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the the sort of linguistic cultures that
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have developed because of that and but
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today but I really want to focus on for
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us all is really the importance of speed
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in a productivity system that one is
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developing what are the issues that we
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tend to encounter when we when we do go
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for speed over say any number of other
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things that could be quality it could be
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aesthetics it could be functionality and
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and then finally first all to talk a
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little bit about our own techniques for
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getting more done and less time using
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speed techniques in our own productivity
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systems and where we might have some
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positive consequences and maybe some
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negative ones as well along the way good
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morning everybody
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this is a good tip nuts and I want to
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mention a couple of things one regarding
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the language of what answered your
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question I am born and raised in
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Venezuela
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we Venezuelans tend to speak really
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really tough years ago I married a lady
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from Mexico and in Mexico of people
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being Spanish was much much slower to
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the point that if I talk to my parents
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and I get home and I speak with my wife
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she can know when I had I had speak with
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my brothers or my parents because she
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said that my speed increased tenfold so
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I still thinks a matter of Christians if
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you don’t understand me faster you just
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need to pay more attention but I made
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mean agreement with the new yorker here
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I did study Spanish underneath the
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Colombian woman so so I must I must fall
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into that category of very very slow
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Spanish Spanish it’s funny because I go
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to the other extreme I may live and have
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grown up outside of Philadelphia but my
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family is all from the south so
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conversations with my family when you
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get going they can take a half hour just
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to get one thing across but because once
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you add that drawl in and you start to
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wonder why those northerners are fast
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and why are you talking so fast and just
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relax then things just take forever but
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but that said I sadly in productivity we
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tend to try to apply the speed at the
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wrong time and and what I’m saying what
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I’m trying to say with bad is people
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don’t think about a speed up their
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productivity only they only think about
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speed up their productivity when they
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feel overwhelmed or very feel their list
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has grown up or they feel that the
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manifestation Amin where people start
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considering speed up their productivity
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and in my experience
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and what I have been able to coach and
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teach people that is exactly the moment
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to do the opposite to do the most
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counterintuitive thing you can do that
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is slow down and the reason is simple do
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you still have the same amount of 24
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hours but we know 24 is more like 16 and
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when you try to speed up what happened
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is unconsciously you tend to grab the
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long hanging fruit so you feel that
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you’re crossing out of your list more
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piping’s the speed is not about what you
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are crossing but how many of them are
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you crossing how fast are you trying to
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get to clean to have a clean slate and
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when you reach those points when you’re
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overwhelmed when your system has too
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many when did you feel you are in a
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negative spot that is exactly the moment
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to do the counterintuitive that is slow
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down because basically now every
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movement or every task that you peak has
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a much bigger impact than when you have
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time when you are not feeling not having
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any of those feelings that is the moment
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where you know in GTD terms you may need
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to do a weekly review every day you may
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need to look at your list you know two
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at the time and pick two things and then
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real valid after those two things are
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done and if I believe your system need
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to be able to allows you to speed up I
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also think people tend to speed up at
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the right at the wrong moment
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I’d agree and and I think I think that
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you know in order to get to a point of
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you know use the running analogy you
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know you sort of you need to accelerate
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to a point of speed which means you need
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to go slower before you get faster right
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you just do don’t go 0 to 60 or in human
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running speed you know 0 to 15 miles per
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hour as an elite runner out the gate on
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the gunshot and
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I took it I take this sort of concept of
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need for speed and productivity from a
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more broad perspective which is to say
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that many of the the people that I come
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to contact with they are suffering from
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procrastination and distraction and
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overwhelm and and all of these various
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productivity inhibitors and topics that
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we’ll cover over the course of time
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together but the big problem for me is
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that most of those things go away when
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people start recognizing that they’re
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going to die and not to be morbid here
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but the reality is is that you know you
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only still have so many years on this
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planet in this particular life so why
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would you waste it why would you
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squander that time and I think there’s
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an immediacy there’s there’s a sense of
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urgency that I unfortunately had you
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know a brush with death when I was eight
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years old the idea of of spending and
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enjoying and taking advantage of every
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moment of life it just seems to be a
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part of my fiber now and I wish that
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every person could experience that sense
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of passion to be productive while I
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don’t recommend everyone to have a brush
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with death early on in life I I do think
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that that sense of urgency is really
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something that’s very important to
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wanting to get things done and it’s not
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necessarily for me it’s you know
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productivity isn’t about getting more
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done in less time but it’s getting the
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right things done in the right amount of
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time and the idea that you don’t have a
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sense of forward momentum for life in
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general I think it’s really key in in
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either you know detracting from your
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productivity and then the antithesis
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being a beneficial advantage to it
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people who have an experience of not
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having enough speed or being slow part
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of their experience comes from making
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too many errors which means that they’re
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they’re doing the same thing over and
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over again or they’re trying to repair
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and a mistake they made like for example
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they needed a task and then do it proper
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the first time because they weren’t
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totally focused on it or they scheduled
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the task and put it on a list didn’t get
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to it and then had to scramble at the
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end my sense is that sometimes it has to
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do with people’s not executing the right
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task at the right time and as a result
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they end up sort of just before the
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deadline having to rush it goes back a
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little bit to what I’ve also said about
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wanting people to slow down in order to
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accomplish more I think the most
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accomplished people don’t have this
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sense of being in an emotional rush
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because they’re better organized so for
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me having having a rush is a it’s a
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byproduct of not being as organized that
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is you could be and he said that’s what
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works in my own experience I always look
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at it as the fact that I need to slow
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down just ever so slightly to let my
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logical rational mind take hold and do
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some planning assess a situation do some
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planning identify what needs to be done
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from that plan and then and then I can
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run off do you find that people who
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procrastinate and then sort of go up
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against a deadline do you feel like they
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they are stuck in an emotional state and
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therefore can’t engage their logical
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rational mind when they get to that
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place yeah I think it’s I think it’s if
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you if you go past the the word
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procrastinate and just look at their
0:10:25.210,0:10:29.440
practices and their habits so if they
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have a habit of jumping into work first
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thing in the morning for example it
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doesn’t occur to them that they are
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procrastinating on anything they’re just
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they’re working they’re working hard no
0:10:37.480,0:10:41.440
what they’re not doing is that they’re
0:10:38.830,0:10:43.870
not planning so that takes them up
0:10:41.440,0:10:46.810
against a deadline and causes and causes
0:10:43.870,0:10:48.880
a problem but it it’s not that they in
0:10:46.810,0:10:50.830
their minds that they’re doing anything
0:10:48.880,0:10:53.830
wrong it could feel as if they’re
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working really really hard so it’s not
0:10:53.830,0:10:58.960
not so much a matter of procrastination
0:10:56.140,0:11:03.930
or even of doing anything wrong per se
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it’s that though there there has to be a
0:11:03.930,0:11:07.690
period of time if you want to be
0:11:05.890,0:11:09.490
extremely productive
0:11:07.690,0:11:12.100
in which you are engaging your rational
0:11:09.490,0:11:14.260
mind as you said it’s better if it comes
0:11:12.100,0:11:16.600
earlier in the day than later that’s I
0:11:14.260,0:11:19.120
guess the general principle but if you
0:11:16.600,0:11:20.380
don’t have the habit then you wouldn’t
0:11:19.120,0:11:22.930
even know what you’re missing
0:11:20.380,0:11:24.730
does that make sense that makes sense
0:11:22.930,0:11:26.170
and I want to add to that you know or
0:11:24.730,0:11:29.560
make emphasis is something really
0:11:26.170,0:11:32.380
important but Francis mention is because
0:11:29.560,0:11:35.080
it’s so counterintuitive what we are
0:11:32.380,0:11:37.930
discussing people think oh but if I work
0:11:35.080,0:11:41.050
hard then it will be better or if I stay
0:11:37.930,0:11:43.900
late then it will be better because
0:11:41.050,0:11:45.910
there is a problem in the in general
0:11:43.900,0:11:49.450
again is one of those counterintuitive
0:11:45.910,0:11:52.960
things okay in productivity that people
0:11:49.450,0:11:57.190
think if you ask hundred people right
0:11:52.960,0:11:59.680
now will you have more time tomorrow the
0:11:57.190,0:12:01.480
answer the majority will answer a
0:11:59.680,0:12:05.200
resounding yes
0:12:01.480,0:12:08.200
and then it’s a lie no you will not have
0:12:05.200,0:12:10.960
more time tomorrow unless you start
0:12:08.200,0:12:13.180
blocking time today if you want to take
0:12:10.960,0:12:15.430
two weeks pop in a trouble
0:12:13.180,0:12:18.160
you are late already to take off for
0:12:15.430,0:12:21.100
that week otherwise the amount of things
0:12:18.160,0:12:23.800
you have the amount of agreements you
0:12:21.100,0:12:26.830
have make are already most likely going
0:12:23.800,0:12:31.240
to run over those two weeks and that’s a
0:12:26.830,0:12:35.320
promise where things are giving you a
0:12:31.240,0:12:38.890
problem to begin with the other thing is
0:12:35.320,0:12:40.780
I will going to start working more yes
0:12:38.890,0:12:44.380
but the problem is after you start
0:12:40.780,0:12:46.690
exhausting yourself you are much much
0:12:44.380,0:12:52.570
more less effective you know when I
0:12:46.690,0:12:56.100
wrote the 4 a.m. book that was one of
0:12:52.570,0:12:59.170
the arguments I discussed as an old
0:12:56.100,0:13:01.240
member of the owl Club as I used to call
0:12:59.170,0:13:03.640
it ok read the people who start working
0:13:01.240,0:13:07.690
at 11:00 p.m. and then I stay until 3:00
0:13:03.640,0:13:10.480
a.m. I did that for a long time until I
0:13:07.690,0:13:13.180
discover off but if I go to bed and wake
0:13:10.480,0:13:15.790
up at 4:00 when that means you happen
0:13:13.180,0:13:19.060
what happen is between 4:00 and 6:00 I
0:13:15.790,0:13:21.580
can accomplish two or three times what I
0:13:19.060,0:13:24.790
used to be able to accomplish eleven
0:13:21.580,0:13:26.500
three I’m the time is irrelevant when I
0:13:24.790,0:13:28.420
wrote that book and put the title a lot
0:13:26.500,0:13:30.100
of people came in jail or I will not
0:13:28.420,0:13:33.100
wake up at where iam doesn’t matter wake
0:13:30.100,0:13:34.750
up at five the argument is figured it
0:13:33.100,0:13:38.530
out how you’re going to manage your
0:13:34.750,0:13:41.950
energy because that’s a big element of a
0:13:38.530,0:13:44.080
speed up speed up has nothing to do with
0:13:41.950,0:13:47.500
crossing more stuff out of that list
0:13:44.080,0:13:50.170
it’s about crossing faster the right
0:13:47.500,0:13:54.280
things on that list and that require
0:13:50.170,0:13:57.070
from my perspective two things one that
0:13:54.280,0:13:59.590
you have the right amount of mental
0:13:57.070,0:14:01.960
energy because if you are exhausted
0:13:59.590,0:14:03.820
you cannot tackle the importance if the
0:14:01.960,0:14:06.130
important thing should not put water on
0:14:03.820,0:14:08.620
the plant the important things is
0:14:06.130,0:14:10.840
defined about murder unless you have
0:14:08.620,0:14:14.350
mental energies you will not be able to
0:14:10.840,0:14:16.930
do and second call those times that you
0:14:14.350,0:14:18.910
need to speed up not only you need
0:14:16.930,0:14:23.830
mental energy but you need to have a
0:14:18.910,0:14:26.890
much much time control about what is on
0:14:23.830,0:14:29.590
your system then when you have time when
0:14:26.890,0:14:31.600
you have time no problem you know you
0:14:29.590,0:14:33.430
can pick three tasks that are wrong and
0:14:31.600,0:14:35.950
then it doesn’t matter I will do the
0:14:33.430,0:14:38.050
next ones better when you don’t have the
0:14:35.950,0:14:39.810
time and you are on those levels from
0:14:38.050,0:14:43.690
those moments that you need to speed up
0:14:39.810,0:14:46.150
every time could you pick this against
0:14:43.690,0:14:49.660
another one because you don’t have the
0:14:46.150,0:14:53.110
time so you need to pick wisely and the
0:14:49.660,0:14:56.380
only way to pick wisely is to be really
0:14:53.110,0:14:58.810
aware of what of everything that is on
0:14:56.380,0:15:01.870
your system and how picking type tasks
0:14:58.810,0:15:04.030
pay will affect there are other options
0:15:01.870,0:15:06.700
that you have you know it’s interesting
0:15:04.030,0:15:09.550
when we think about the time management
0:15:06.700,0:15:11.230
piece and time is constantly referred to
0:15:09.550,0:15:13.330
as one of the one of the finite
0:15:11.230,0:15:15.100
resources we have we’ve had we’ve
0:15:13.330,0:15:17.290
identified that as we’ve talked through
0:15:15.100,0:15:19.750
this but there’s a term in the
0:15:17.290,0:15:22.120
consulting space in the management space
0:15:19.750,0:15:24.160
that you’ll hear called utilization and
0:15:22.120,0:15:28.210
utilization is often used as a measure
0:15:24.160,0:15:30.100
of effectiveness of that specifically
0:15:28.210,0:15:32.530
related to billable time if you’re in a
0:15:30.100,0:15:34.720
in a consulting type of role I like to
0:15:32.530,0:15:35.140
use the term effective utilization when
0:15:34.720,0:15:37.300
you
0:15:35.140,0:15:40.750
based on the amount of time you actually
0:15:37.300,0:15:42.450
have to get work done which is the first
0:15:40.750,0:15:46.750
problem that people get into they
0:15:42.450,0:15:49.990
overestimate that number they then fail
0:15:46.750,0:15:53.170
to think about how much of that time is
0:15:49.990,0:15:54.850
then going to be effectively utilized to
0:15:53.170,0:15:56.860
accomplish the task they need and then
0:15:54.850,0:15:58.810
plan things accordingly so for example
0:15:56.860,0:16:00.370
if we go back to what was mentioned
0:15:58.810,0:16:03.040
earlier where we think about things like
0:16:00.370,0:16:06.579
out of a 24 hour day how many of those
0:16:03.040,0:16:09.970
hours do you actually have for execution
0:16:06.579,0:16:12.040
of productive tasks well if you take
0:16:09.970,0:16:13.390
your eight hours of sleep off which you
0:16:12.040,0:16:16.300
should because everybody needs their
0:16:13.390,0:16:19.300
sleep then you take off another 8 hours
0:16:16.300,0:16:20.950
of time not work-related just from a
0:16:19.300,0:16:22.540
planning purpose because you need time
0:16:20.950,0:16:24.339
in the morning to get things up and
0:16:22.540,0:16:26.649
moving you need time in the evenings for
0:16:24.339,0:16:28.360
your own things you need time for your
0:16:26.649,0:16:30.640
inter activities and your social
0:16:28.360,0:16:32.620
activities so now you’re down to a block
0:16:30.640,0:16:36.850
8 hour time very well how much of that
0:16:32.620,0:16:38.980
is actually effectively utilized you can
0:16:36.850,0:16:41.500
track through it you can track all the
0:16:38.980,0:16:43.540
starts and the stop a cab but what
0:16:41.500,0:16:44.620
normally happens is when you start to do
0:16:43.540,0:16:48.910
that all of a sudden you start to
0:16:44.620,0:16:51.160
realize that oh wait have five hours
0:16:48.910,0:16:54.279
maybe out of a given day that are
0:16:51.160,0:16:57.279
effectively being utilized to get work
0:16:54.279,0:16:59.110
done now that normally will result in a
0:16:57.279,0:17:01.360
panic oh my goodness I need to work
0:16:59.110,0:17:04.689
longer I need to work harder I need to
0:17:01.360,0:17:07.480
increase that number and my argument is
0:17:04.689,0:17:10.660
very simple no you don’t increasing that
0:17:07.480,0:17:12.910
number does not increase the effective
0:17:10.660,0:17:16.059
utilization all you’re doing is
0:17:12.910,0:17:18.280
spreading it out what you have to do is
0:17:16.059,0:17:20.799
you have to define your processes and
0:17:18.280,0:17:25.799
your systems to take maximum advantage
0:17:20.799,0:17:29.500
of that time that you’ve designated as
0:17:25.799,0:17:32.350
productively utilizable time for your
0:17:29.500,0:17:33.970
end goals it does take some tracking and
0:17:32.350,0:17:37.450
it takes some planning but it also takes
0:17:33.970,0:17:39.220
some personal honesty when you look in
0:17:37.450,0:17:44.160
the consulting space often you’ll hear
0:17:39.220,0:17:47.410
utilization numbers of like 75% 80% 85%
0:17:44.160,0:17:48.580
those are typical measures used on
0:17:47.410,0:17:51.700
consultants to say
0:17:48.580,0:17:53.230
how much of that time is billable to the
0:17:51.700,0:17:55.960
client you’re working with well if we
0:17:53.230,0:17:58.830
look at that for our own perspectives if
0:17:55.960,0:18:02.490
we’re working at let’s say 80%
0:17:58.830,0:18:05.260
utilization of our productive time and
0:18:02.490,0:18:06.850
it’s an eight-hour time block that we’re
0:18:05.260,0:18:09.279
thinking about well we’re really only
0:18:06.850,0:18:11.640
talking about six hours those end goals
0:18:09.279,0:18:13.659
if we don’t do that we’ll always
0:18:11.640,0:18:15.789
overestimate the amount of time we have
0:18:13.659,0:18:17.679
we’ll underestimate the amount of work
0:18:15.789,0:18:19.809
we need to do the two will be in
0:18:17.679,0:18:23.100
conflict and the thing that will suffer
0:18:19.809,0:18:25.960
is all of that incredibly valuable
0:18:23.100,0:18:28.149
personal time that is outside of our
0:18:25.960,0:18:30.820
work time that’s actually one of the
0:18:28.149,0:18:33.820
reasons why I so heavily have adopted
0:18:30.820,0:18:36.669
the idea of the unschedule which is from
0:18:33.820,0:18:39.100
the now habit by dr. Neil Fiore and I
0:18:36.669,0:18:41.139
will put a link to a video tutorial that
0:18:39.100,0:18:43.510
I actually have created for people to
0:18:41.139,0:18:46.419
use the unschedule to identify their
0:18:43.510,0:18:48.549
available hours and what discretionary
0:18:46.419,0:18:50.799
time they actually do have for this kind
0:18:48.549,0:18:53.110
of effective utilization so much
0:18:50.799,0:18:55.419
appreciated on on that level in terms of
0:18:53.110,0:18:58.389
those thoughts I wanted to shift our
0:18:55.419,0:19:00.070
conversation toward some of the issues
0:18:58.389,0:19:02.799
we encounter and I think we’ve started
0:19:00.070,0:19:04.240
to actually already discuss that but but
0:19:02.799,0:19:07.600
I wanted to talk a little bit further
0:19:04.240,0:19:10.120
about this topic and of what issues we
0:19:07.600,0:19:13.269
encounter when we go for speed and then
0:19:10.120,0:19:15.820
close out with the discussion about what
0:19:13.269,0:19:17.889
techniques we use in our own systems for
0:19:15.820,0:19:22.269
that so I’ll get started just very
0:19:17.889,0:19:24.880
briefly with my concept of the quality
0:19:22.269,0:19:26.950
over quantity perspective which is to
0:19:24.880,0:19:29.440
say that as Agusta was talking about a
0:19:26.950,0:19:32.440
little bit earlier you know leading off
0:19:29.440,0:19:34.840
of Francis’s thoughts you know my big
0:19:32.440,0:19:37.929
concern is that there is an impulsive
0:19:34.840,0:19:40.630
‘ti when it comes to human nature which
0:19:37.929,0:19:43.480
is that the short term rewards tend to
0:19:40.630,0:19:46.690
feel larger than the longer term rewards
0:19:43.480,0:19:49.600
and they also tend to have less effect
0:19:46.690,0:19:52.389
on us in terms of increasing the the
0:19:49.600,0:19:54.730
good endorphins right whether that be
0:19:52.389,0:19:57.940
oxytocin dopamine and serotonin and so
0:19:54.730,0:20:01.029
forth but the reality is is that we have
0:19:57.940,0:20:02.170
to really fight that urge sometimes to
0:20:01.029,0:20:05.410
go for speed
0:20:02.170,0:20:07.600
when the quantity of what we’re doing is
0:20:05.410,0:20:10.510
not necessarily the most effective
0:20:07.600,0:20:12.220
toward the quality of the outcome so we
0:20:10.510,0:20:14.050
need to really think about that and and
0:20:12.220,0:20:16.090
and this is it’s such a broad
0:20:14.050,0:20:18.370
philosophical approach I just I really
0:20:16.090,0:20:21.880
do think that people sometimes think
0:20:18.370,0:20:24.160
that they need to work really hard now
0:20:21.880,0:20:27.490
on something and then do nothing
0:20:24.160,0:20:28.990
afterward or wait a period of time you
0:20:27.490,0:20:31.060
know the procrastination that Francis
0:20:28.990,0:20:33.190
was talking about and then work really
0:20:31.060,0:20:35.560
hard toward the deadline or near the
0:20:33.190,0:20:37.360
deadline and in the end the quality of
0:20:35.560,0:20:40.590
what you’ve done is actually much lower
0:20:37.360,0:20:43.390
than the than what your standards are
0:20:40.590,0:20:46.750
but they’re built by all of these these
0:20:43.390,0:20:50.050
false assumptions false premises that
0:20:46.750,0:20:52.270
you are somehow doing better work closer
0:20:50.050,0:20:55.810
to a deadline than if you had metered it
0:20:52.270,0:20:59.290
out and really shot for quality there’s
0:20:55.810,0:21:02.110
actually research done on that very same
0:20:59.290,0:21:04.660
question there’s one one study that I
0:21:02.110,0:21:07.780
read that correlated students grades
0:21:04.660,0:21:09.700
with how much work they did closer to
0:21:07.780,0:21:12.010
the closest to the deadline and as you
0:21:09.700,0:21:14.620
can imagine students who waited until
0:21:12.010,0:21:18.040
the last minute performed more poorly
0:21:14.620,0:21:20.740
that thought of just kind of obvious to
0:21:18.040,0:21:22.980
anyone who’s been to college and tried
0:21:20.740,0:21:26.260
to study a whole lot to get good grades
0:21:22.980,0:21:29.290
but um but there’s another study that I
0:21:26.260,0:21:31.780
I read actually wrote the report which
0:21:29.290,0:21:34.450
is based partly on it dealing and it was
0:21:31.780,0:21:39.010
written for project managers and it had
0:21:34.450,0:21:43.690
to do with how well a project team
0:21:39.010,0:21:45.670
member budgets his or her time and this
0:21:43.690,0:21:48.130
researcher compared five different
0:21:45.670,0:21:50.020
methods I can’t quite remember all of
0:21:48.130,0:21:53.920
them but there’s some people who start
0:21:50.020,0:21:55.930
early and then finish finish slowly
0:21:53.920,0:21:57.550
people who do nothing in the beginning
0:21:55.930,0:22:01.690
and leave it all for the end people who
0:21:57.550,0:22:05.290
work at a constant rate people who start
0:22:01.690,0:22:08.230
early star sorry start slowly peak in
0:22:05.290,0:22:10.870
the middle and then end and slowly and
0:22:08.230,0:22:12.310
then people who start early and then at
0:22:10.870,0:22:14.260
the end they cramp up
0:22:12.310,0:22:16.660
rank up ramp up to the end
0:22:14.260,0:22:18.760
and they compared the different kinds of
0:22:16.660,0:22:21.640
productivity of these five people very
0:22:18.760,0:22:26.230
interesting study and it’s showed as you
0:22:21.640,0:22:28.990
may expect people who started early were
0:22:26.230,0:22:31.240
the most productive and the ones who
0:22:28.990,0:22:32.740
left it for the end or the worst people
0:22:31.240,0:22:34.870
to have on your team is because you
0:22:32.740,0:22:37.960
never knew what you were gonna get until
0:22:34.870,0:22:39.100
they were just finished at the end so
0:22:37.960,0:22:42.900
there’s there’s there there’s some
0:22:39.100,0:22:45.070
evidence that the the early planners are
0:22:42.900,0:22:47.230
more productive and it certainly are a
0:22:45.070,0:22:48.630
list of a pain in the butt to the other
0:22:47.230,0:22:51.580
people that they work with
0:22:48.630,0:22:55.210
you know secret to that Francis is that
0:22:51.580,0:22:57.550
I actually when I’m when I assemble a
0:22:55.210,0:23:00.430
new team you know at work
0:22:57.550,0:23:03.010
I will frequently ask people their work
0:23:00.430,0:23:04.510
styles and how they normally get a
0:23:03.010,0:23:07.810
project done and I usually use the
0:23:04.510,0:23:10.270
example of so you’re in a group you know
0:23:07.810,0:23:13.870
study environment or a group project in
0:23:10.270,0:23:16.180
in University and how who are you are
0:23:13.870,0:23:18.640
you the one who you know doesn’t respond
0:23:16.180,0:23:20.320
to people and gets you know stuff done
0:23:18.640,0:23:22.810
at the last minute and I give them the
0:23:20.320,0:23:24.400
opportunity to be be as honest and and
0:23:22.810,0:23:26.500
transparent as possible in that
0:23:24.400,0:23:30.370
environment and that way those people
0:23:26.500,0:23:32.620
can get the first deadlines and you know
0:23:30.370,0:23:36.670
sort of get the experience of being
0:23:32.620,0:23:39.580
successful because I genuinely believe
0:23:36.670,0:23:42.730
that if you are that kind of person you
0:23:39.580,0:23:45.130
likely had childhood experiences you
0:23:42.730,0:23:50.260
know adolescent experiences that that
0:23:45.130,0:23:52.990
taught you that being smart trumped hard
0:23:50.260,0:23:54.220
work and and there’s been quite a bit of
0:23:52.990,0:23:56.470
research on this right the you know the
0:23:54.220,0:23:58.840
idea that if we could tell children that
0:23:56.470,0:24:01.090
they’re smart and that their IQ is the
0:23:58.840,0:24:04.450
ultimate arbiter between success and
0:24:01.090,0:24:07.960
failure then hard work is a testament to
0:24:04.450,0:24:09.820
their stupidity so if if you are that
0:24:07.960,0:24:11.820
kind of person and you’ve been hearing
0:24:09.820,0:24:16.060
all your life that you know you’re smart
0:24:11.820,0:24:19.210
then you you see hard work as you know
0:24:16.060,0:24:22.030
me being stupid and and and that’s not
0:24:19.210,0:24:24.790
true and it needs to be quashed in your
0:24:22.030,0:24:26.720
own mind and giving people that those
0:24:24.790,0:24:29.090
little kinds of successes
0:24:26.720,0:24:31.809
helps to start the process for them to
0:24:29.090,0:24:35.840
be able to know that quality can be done
0:24:31.809,0:24:38.120
with hard work over time and come out
0:24:35.840,0:24:40.490
with a successful outcome on time and I
0:24:38.120,0:24:43.640
find that to be a productivity technique
0:24:40.490,0:24:46.490
that really really helps in the speech I
0:24:43.640,0:24:49.789
gave a speech on this topic to the PM a
0:24:46.490,0:24:53.179
couple years ago my advice was basically
0:24:49.789,0:24:58.400
try not to get the lazy try to get the
0:24:53.179,0:25:01.549
good that’s great that’s great
0:24:58.400,0:25:04.130
something like where assess what style
0:25:01.549,0:25:05.270
the person has an unknowing to them when
0:25:04.130,0:25:06.590
they tell you there’s that you can
0:25:05.270,0:25:11.929
figure out how productive they’re gonna
0:25:06.590,0:25:14.240
be but studies you mention is it’s quite
0:25:11.929,0:25:16.610
interesting that if we are referring to
0:25:14.240,0:25:18.650
the same on edges and there is a broken
0:25:16.610,0:25:20.720
eye of course the book escaped my mind
0:25:18.650,0:25:22.580
right now and it’s quite interesting by
0:25:20.720,0:25:26.450
Carol to Alec and his team of
0:25:22.580,0:25:31.039
researchers on this topic because
0:25:26.450,0:25:33.799
applies you know also to to us growing
0:25:31.039,0:25:35.870
up because like it or not we have been
0:25:33.799,0:25:40.640
on one side for both sides of that
0:25:35.870,0:25:43.549
equation I said earlier we tend to think
0:25:40.640,0:25:47.600
that we are going to have more time
0:25:43.549,0:25:51.260
tomorrow that is a big problem you know
0:25:47.600,0:25:53.900
it is a big issue because if we assume
0:25:51.260,0:25:56.419
that we are going to have more time that
0:25:53.900,0:25:58.039
also assume if we’re going to be able to
0:25:56.419,0:26:01.309
do more and we’re going to be more
0:25:58.039,0:26:03.770
effective more efficient but also hard
0:26:01.309,0:26:06.440
was failure there is a percentage of
0:26:03.770,0:26:08.480
that accusation and we can do and there
0:26:06.440,0:26:10.880
is a percentage after that point that
0:26:08.480,0:26:13.520
you’re not going to be impossible to
0:26:10.880,0:26:15.260
sorry you’re not you’re not a machine if
0:26:13.520,0:26:17.590
you come and tell me well that’s great
0:26:15.260,0:26:20.900
and the next week I need to perform at
0:26:17.590,0:26:26.690
135 percent well good luck it’s not
0:26:20.900,0:26:29.450
going to have okay and because of we
0:26:26.690,0:26:32.840
think we are going to have more time
0:26:29.450,0:26:37.850
when we try to do those things is when
0:26:32.840,0:26:38.840
we are drowning and if you’re drowning
0:26:37.850,0:26:41.210
and
0:26:38.840,0:26:44.180
instead of trying to move faster you try
0:26:41.210,0:26:47.570
to relax and float you have less chance
0:26:44.180,0:26:50.960
to drown that if you are instead trying
0:26:47.570,0:26:53.210
to now move your arms unless much faster
0:26:50.960,0:26:55.640
because what you do will doing that is
0:26:53.210,0:26:59.000
consumed much much energy much more
0:26:55.640,0:27:02.090
oxygen much more everything and the same
0:26:59.000,0:27:04.640
thing happens in product Hey
0:27:02.090,0:27:07.940
when you now go and say oh I need to
0:27:04.640,0:27:10.790
spit up and now I need to do seven 2008
0:27:07.940,0:27:13.130
yeah that’s a beautiful Theory except
0:27:10.790,0:27:15.710
that probably the only way to do that is
0:27:13.130,0:27:17.960
that you peak out of those 70 most of
0:27:15.710,0:27:20.030
them in my early need to be longhand
0:27:17.960,0:27:23.030
recruits or no brains related because
0:27:20.030,0:27:26.750
there is no other way to do so that is a
0:27:23.030,0:27:32.570
big issue but then we tend to think on a
0:27:26.750,0:27:36.200
speed on quantity and the reality is
0:27:32.570,0:27:39.110
that the relationship quantity speed
0:27:36.200,0:27:41.120
it’s not the real thing you know because
0:27:39.110,0:27:44.630
if you select out of your system and
0:27:41.120,0:27:48.380
delete all those things you’re anyways
0:27:44.630,0:27:50.500
going to have the same issues that were
0:27:48.380,0:27:54.260
causing the problem to begin with
0:27:50.500,0:27:57.140
low-hanging fruit things I don’t care if
0:27:54.260,0:28:00.380
you have 900 of them are not going to
0:27:57.140,0:28:03.110
produce value high level of anxiety that
0:28:00.380,0:28:04.700
is making you think oh I need to hurry
0:28:03.110,0:28:08.120
up I need to speed up a little bit
0:28:04.700,0:28:11.660
faster artists say that the number of
0:28:08.120,0:28:15.260
those it’s much much smaller and they
0:28:11.660,0:28:18.560
tend to be hidden between your system so
0:28:15.260,0:28:20.980
if you believe all those things that you
0:28:18.560,0:28:25.280
think you can be faster in the name of
0:28:20.980,0:28:28.270
quantity instead of quality you anyway
0:28:25.280,0:28:31.610
are going to end up with the same things
0:28:28.270,0:28:35.060
so it’s much better to stop or slow down
0:28:31.610,0:28:38.390
significantly so you can identify which
0:28:35.060,0:28:41.210
ones are those and then move them up so
0:28:38.390,0:28:43.850
the system can again they start moving
0:28:41.210,0:28:45.680
and working you’re right on the money
0:28:43.850,0:28:49.040
with that Agusta because when you think
0:28:45.680,0:28:51.440
about how much can you increase to get
0:28:49.040,0:28:52.770
greater productivity there’s a point of
0:28:51.440,0:28:54.660
diminishing return you
0:28:52.770,0:28:57.060
always have to look at the balance of
0:28:54.660,0:28:58.620
quantity and quality I mean when people
0:28:57.060,0:29:00.750
ask me what productivity actually means
0:28:58.620,0:29:02.490
I will typically answer that it means
0:29:00.750,0:29:07.280
doing the right things at the right time
0:29:02.490,0:29:09.630
in the right way and if you want an a
0:29:07.280,0:29:12.780
visualization for this picture making a
0:29:09.630,0:29:14.340
meal there are steps that you can do
0:29:12.780,0:29:16.050
while you’re cooking a meal to make
0:29:14.340,0:29:17.640
yourself more efficient doing all the
0:29:16.050,0:29:19.400
prep work and everything so you’re ready
0:29:17.640,0:29:23.100
to cook and those those types of things
0:29:19.400,0:29:26.190
but certain things take a certain amount
0:29:23.100,0:29:28.770
of time to happen you cannot make them
0:29:26.190,0:29:31.470
go any faster without diminishing the
0:29:28.770,0:29:34.190
quality of the end result and you have
0:29:31.470,0:29:38.160
to take that into consideration so
0:29:34.190,0:29:41.280
understanding where you can increase
0:29:38.160,0:29:44.040
your velocity without diminishing the
0:29:41.280,0:29:46.830
quality at the back end is really one of
0:29:44.040,0:29:49.260
the key tenants of productivity you
0:29:46.830,0:29:52.230
can’t increase everything it just won’t
0:29:49.260,0:29:54.270
work but there are key areas that you
0:29:52.230,0:29:56.070
can isolate and say oh okay I could get
0:29:54.270,0:29:59.430
more efficient here I get more efficient
0:29:56.070,0:30:02.910
there and have more time available for
0:29:59.430,0:30:05.730
the other parts of it but we really need
0:30:02.910,0:30:10.260
to get ourselves away from this mindset
0:30:05.730,0:30:12.840
of doing more means we’re being more
0:30:10.260,0:30:15.690
productive because there isn’t a
0:30:12.840,0:30:18.270
causality there we need to make sure
0:30:15.690,0:30:21.810
that we are doing the right things at
0:30:18.270,0:30:23.880
the right time in the right way to be
0:30:21.810,0:30:26.460
able to get to that quality of end
0:30:23.880,0:30:29.850
result that will make the difference for
0:30:26.460,0:30:34.290
us our selves and other people whether
0:30:29.850,0:30:35.580
it’s at work or at home you just defined
0:30:34.290,0:30:38.580
on the back end there aren’t the
0:30:35.580,0:30:40.500
penultimate definition of busyness in
0:30:38.580,0:30:42.870
terms of just doing things for doing
0:30:40.500,0:30:44.940
sake as opposed to doing the right
0:30:42.870,0:30:47.250
things at the right time with the right
0:30:44.940,0:30:49.740
resources there are so many more factors
0:30:47.250,0:30:51.690
when it comes to being effective that I
0:30:49.740,0:30:55.500
think sometimes people look to
0:30:51.690,0:30:57.540
efficiency and not that speed is one I
0:30:55.500,0:30:59.640
presume form of efficiency we can talk
0:30:57.540,0:31:01.560
about but the idea behind it is is
0:30:59.640,0:31:03.810
certainly sound I think that people
0:31:01.560,0:31:05.280
shouldn’t look to doing a bunch of tasks
0:31:03.810,0:31:06.119
that might be taking you in the wrong
0:31:05.280,0:31:07.859
direction
0:31:06.119,0:31:09.989
the way you could do you can do a lot of
0:31:07.859,0:31:12.449
work in the wrong direction instead of
0:31:09.989,0:31:14.309
understanding what direction you should
0:31:12.449,0:31:17.309
be headed finding that productive
0:31:14.309,0:31:20.639
compass and then and then going due
0:31:17.309,0:31:24.889
north effectively as needed I want us to
0:31:20.639,0:31:27.809
shift gears now in how do we utilize
0:31:24.889,0:31:29.459
some speed techniques in our own
0:31:27.809,0:31:31.619
productivity system and where do you
0:31:29.459,0:31:33.509
sometimes feel like you have dramatic
0:31:31.619,0:31:36.529
gains because of it and perhaps some of
0:31:33.509,0:31:40.859
the potential shortfalls from doing so
0:31:36.529,0:31:42.979
for me is a matter of two things so
0:31:40.859,0:31:46.229
there’s two things I use a subclinical
0:31:42.979,0:31:51.299
specifics one if I said if I do review
0:31:46.229,0:31:54.449
more often when I start feeling call it
0:31:51.299,0:31:57.239
overwhelm or they need to speed up for
0:31:54.449,0:32:01.319
those things the first thing for me is
0:31:57.239,0:32:03.779
go back to a review assistant because I
0:32:01.319,0:32:06.389
understand that if I get in all those
0:32:03.779,0:32:10.109
feelings that I need to speed up meaning
0:32:06.389,0:32:12.419
I have more tasks at the time I have to
0:32:10.109,0:32:15.749
do them I need to make sure that every
0:32:12.419,0:32:18.659
task I think is the best possible task
0:32:15.749,0:32:22.129
for the conditions I have on that moment
0:32:18.659,0:32:25.649
so on that moment I tend to go almost
0:32:22.129,0:32:28.049
task by task a top thing that I tend to
0:32:25.649,0:32:30.179
go is three by you know three tasks at
0:32:28.049,0:32:32.819
the time and no more so I go to my
0:32:30.179,0:32:35.399
system pick three of them and I start
0:32:32.819,0:32:38.759
just focusing on those three and
0:32:35.399,0:32:41.189
sometimes I do want and after that one
0:32:38.759,0:32:43.439
is finish up I need to recalibrate go
0:32:41.189,0:32:47.669
back to review let’s call it technique
0:32:43.439,0:32:50.459
number one the second one that I do is I
0:32:47.669,0:32:53.729
tend to do what I thought five years ago
0:32:50.459,0:32:56.579
was extraordinary our the story Murray
0:32:53.729,0:33:00.209
our is basically a time a week where I
0:32:56.579,0:33:02.129
just go and think I don’t work I don’t
0:33:00.209,0:33:04.619
work on my list I’m not trying to
0:33:02.129,0:33:08.729
accomplish a lot of things I’m trying to
0:33:04.619,0:33:12.209
think and I have discovered that when I
0:33:08.729,0:33:15.899
am on those moments where I feel I need
0:33:12.209,0:33:18.659
a lot more speed thinking it’s much more
0:33:15.899,0:33:20.020
effective for me and try to knock these
0:33:18.659,0:33:23.070
caramel
0:33:20.020,0:33:27.280
so when that happened I tend to AH
0:33:23.070,0:33:29.770
perforce that time to think and I
0:33:27.280,0:33:33.429
understand from an outsider perspective
0:33:29.770,0:33:35.080
sometimes people may have come to my
0:33:33.429,0:33:36.760
office and look at me like I tell you
0:33:35.080,0:33:38.770
were really busy but you are looking at
0:33:36.760,0:33:40.420
this on the bestest right now and I said
0:33:38.770,0:33:42.280
yep that’s exactly the reason I’m
0:33:40.420,0:33:44.160
looking at that message it’s a really
0:33:42.280,0:33:48.309
vision and it seems completely
0:33:44.160,0:33:50.380
counterproductive but what has happened
0:33:48.309,0:33:53.440
is sometimes you look at your system is
0:33:50.380,0:33:56.620
I need to solve problem a and you’re
0:33:53.440,0:33:59.170
thinking no problem a – away and after
0:33:56.620,0:34:01.540
you spend some time thinking you say oh
0:33:59.170,0:34:02.170
you see I will have done this three
0:34:01.540,0:34:04.600
tasks
0:34:02.170,0:34:06.700
– so Power Man when if you do it this
0:34:04.600,0:34:10.179
color way do you a much more permanent
0:34:06.700,0:34:12.310
solution a nice one for me if spending
0:34:10.179,0:34:15.790
time on that thing that I called
0:34:12.310,0:34:18.010
extraordinary hour it’s so useful for me
0:34:15.790,0:34:20.379
I have a sort of a strange answer which
0:34:18.010,0:34:22.360
is that don’t I don’t do anything no why
0:34:20.379,0:34:25.359
would I say that it actually gets to
0:34:22.360,0:34:27.129
something that you had said before rain
0:34:25.359,0:34:31.000
you’re asking about the emotional
0:34:27.129,0:34:34.300
experience of wanting more speed I find
0:34:31.000,0:34:38.020
that if I find that I think I need more
0:34:34.300,0:34:40.540
speed I’m usually wrong that really what
0:34:38.020,0:34:42.070
I need is something else kind of along
0:34:40.540,0:34:44.470
the lines of what I busto said which is
0:34:42.070,0:34:46.570
any better planning because if I feel as
0:34:44.470,0:34:49.090
if I’m falling behind it means it may
0:34:46.570,0:34:51.250
seem as if speeding up will help me to
0:34:49.090,0:34:53.859
catch up and usually in my case that’s
0:34:51.250,0:34:55.450
not true it usually is a function of
0:34:53.859,0:34:58.119
something else like I’m not planning
0:34:55.450,0:35:00.790
enough or I’m not planning my calendar
0:34:58.119,0:35:03.190
accurately enough it’s it’s what I’m
0:35:00.790,0:35:07.830
planning is way off of what I’m actually
0:35:03.190,0:35:10.570
doing in reality so the the the symptom
0:35:07.830,0:35:13.359
which is that I’m falling behind isn’t
0:35:10.570,0:35:15.940
solved by looking for more speed looking
0:35:13.359,0:35:18.490
for speed is in my case anyway a bit of
0:35:15.940,0:35:20.230
an error because it’s not the answer to
0:35:18.490,0:35:22.510
the problem I’m trying to solve it may
0:35:20.230,0:35:25.330
seem that way and at some point in my
0:35:22.510,0:35:26.980
life I think it was but where am right
0:35:25.330,0:35:28.359
know me with some more grey here and a
0:35:26.980,0:35:30.640
little more experience and some wisdom
0:35:28.359,0:35:32.800
that it’s morisoli well augusto is
0:35:30.640,0:35:33.730
pointing out which is sort of stepping
0:35:32.800,0:35:35.710
back to think
0:35:33.730,0:35:39.070
all been saying this stepping back to
0:35:35.710,0:35:42.369
analyze and think what is the best
0:35:39.070,0:35:44.470
intervention to make and for me it’s
0:35:42.369,0:35:47.619
it’s no it is it’s never a case of
0:35:44.470,0:35:49.000
wanting more speed that’s it’s usually
0:35:47.619,0:35:51.369
never the answer
0:35:49.000,0:35:53.800
to whatever symptom unwanted symptom I’m
0:35:51.369,0:35:56.200
experiencing now having said all of that
0:35:53.800,0:35:57.760
there is a whole nother angle I thought
0:35:56.200,0:36:00.970
I’d throw in which I think is important
0:35:57.760,0:36:02.140
but I do and is that I travel I noticed
0:36:00.970,0:36:05.410
this when I used to travel back to
0:36:02.140,0:36:09.490
Jamaica from the US what I would have to
0:36:05.410,0:36:11.950
do is mentally change my headspace
0:36:09.490,0:36:13.630
I’d have to slow down because the pace
0:36:11.950,0:36:15.910
of life in Jamaica is much slower than
0:36:13.630,0:36:18.100
it is in most parts of the US and
0:36:15.910,0:36:20.859
there’s a great great whole line of
0:36:18.100,0:36:22.690
study on this there’s one article the
0:36:20.859,0:36:24.910
one piece of research done on comparing
0:36:22.690,0:36:28.119
the piece of life between six countries
0:36:24.910,0:36:29.410
and they compared six things for
0:36:28.119,0:36:32.230
developed and undeveloped countries
0:36:29.410,0:36:33.730
Japan is in there u.s. Indonesia they
0:36:32.230,0:36:36.190
measured how fast it takes to get a
0:36:33.730,0:36:40.570
transaction done at the post office how
0:36:36.190,0:36:43.510
fast people walk in the cities and the
0:36:40.570,0:36:45.490
third one was how accurate are the
0:36:43.510,0:36:49.090
public clocks like the clocks you’d see
0:36:45.490,0:36:51.340
in a clock tower and sure enough Japan
0:36:49.090,0:36:54.250
was sort of like a clear winner people
0:36:51.340,0:36:56.650
walk the fastest the transactions are
0:36:54.250,0:36:59.500
the shortest and the public clocks are
0:36:56.650,0:37:00.910
the most accurate and here in Jamaica I
0:36:59.500,0:37:03.460
can tell you we have a problem with all
0:37:00.910,0:37:04.450
those three areas and the problems will
0:37:03.460,0:37:07.480
be going on for years
0:37:04.450,0:37:09.540
so what traveling does is it shows me
0:37:07.480,0:37:13.450
that there is ways to be more productive
0:37:09.540,0:37:15.550
and that my own culture can often be an
0:37:13.450,0:37:18.730
impediment and if I don’t travel enough
0:37:15.550,0:37:22.810
I actually can sense myself getting
0:37:18.730,0:37:25.119
stuck in sort of a piece that if I don’t
0:37:22.810,0:37:27.280
travel I would never escape from those
0:37:25.119,0:37:29.380
are a couple of things I do if if I
0:37:27.280,0:37:31.570
think about the process that I execute
0:37:29.380,0:37:35.070
probably the most important one it kind
0:37:31.570,0:37:38.170
of stems off of previous cast is the
0:37:35.070,0:37:40.840
resetting of my activities getting back
0:37:38.170,0:37:43.840
into that cycle of right thing right
0:37:40.840,0:37:47.870
time right way I have to mentally step
0:37:43.840,0:37:51.740
stop and say okay I’ve now devalued my
0:37:47.870,0:37:53.210
because I’m working a lot harder to get
0:37:51.740,0:37:56.420
things done that shouldn’t take that
0:37:53.210,0:37:58.910
level of hard work however and I’ll echo
0:37:56.420,0:38:02.930
what you were saying earlier ray there
0:37:58.910,0:38:06.050
are times that working smarter with air
0:38:02.930,0:38:07.940
quotes around it doesn’t actually get
0:38:06.050,0:38:10.730
the work done there are times where you
0:38:07.940,0:38:14.000
actually have to work hard to do it and
0:38:10.730,0:38:16.760
you have to allow time to execute that
0:38:14.000,0:38:18.980
fact and often that’s a procrastination
0:38:16.760,0:38:20.690
point yes I’m really gonna have to sit
0:38:18.980,0:38:22.430
and crank these widgets for the next
0:38:20.690,0:38:24.620
four hours to get this accomplished
0:38:22.430,0:38:26.210
there’s no fancy macro that I can write
0:38:24.620,0:38:29.060
there’s no code piece I can download
0:38:26.210,0:38:34.130
from the internet I’m just going to have
0:38:29.060,0:38:36.770
to do this work and being able to set
0:38:34.130,0:38:39.230
that expectation for myself and assign a
0:38:36.770,0:38:42.620
value to the time above but I’m about to
0:38:39.230,0:38:44.630
expend to do that helps me understand a
0:38:42.620,0:38:47.780
little bit the importance and
0:38:44.630,0:38:50.030
reprioritize the importance on the flip
0:38:47.780,0:38:51.110
side just as a thought that occurred to
0:38:50.030,0:38:53.060
me one of the things you have to be
0:38:51.110,0:38:55.070
careful of if you look at something
0:38:53.060,0:38:57.860
you’re doing and you’re constantly able
0:38:55.070,0:39:00.110
to cut pieces off of it and trim it down
0:38:57.860,0:39:01.910
and and streamline it and make it that
0:39:00.110,0:39:03.800
much more efficient and you have to
0:39:01.910,0:39:06.110
wonder well why was I doing it so hard
0:39:03.800,0:39:08.210
in the first place why was it taking so
0:39:06.110,0:39:10.250
much time in the first place is it
0:39:08.210,0:39:12.950
that’s how I received it and I was just
0:39:10.250,0:39:15.740
acting on it the way it was given or did
0:39:12.950,0:39:17.510
I not give myself the planning time as
0:39:15.740,0:39:20.150
has been mentioned on the call already
0:39:17.510,0:39:22.610
did I not give myself the opportunity to
0:39:20.150,0:39:25.940
think about this and we really don’t
0:39:22.610,0:39:29.240
spend enough time in that creative
0:39:25.940,0:39:32.450
process analysis giving ourselves that
0:39:29.240,0:39:34.790
valued the valued sharpening of the saw
0:39:32.450,0:39:37.190
in this particular case making sure that
0:39:34.790,0:39:39.800
we’re going to be efficient where we can
0:39:37.190,0:39:42.500
be efficient so for me I always have to
0:39:39.800,0:39:47.530
back up and say okay what’s an hour
0:39:42.500,0:39:51.740
worth and is this worth spending that
0:39:47.530,0:39:54.170
you know our currency on and how can I
0:39:51.740,0:39:57.380
get the most from my value the most
0:39:54.170,0:40:00.590
speed oriented thing I do is dealing
0:39:57.380,0:40:01.520
with inboxes and I think the technique
0:40:00.590,0:40:03.560
that really helps
0:40:01.520,0:40:05.600
me a little bit of a more I think this
0:40:03.560,0:40:08.150
is a practical approach type of
0:40:05.600,0:40:10.610
technique and is to be able to
0:40:08.150,0:40:12.920
centralize my communications as much as
0:40:10.610,0:40:16.820
possible what do I mean by that
0:40:12.920,0:40:19.850
what I do is I force almost every type
0:40:16.820,0:40:22.430
of communication into my email inbox
0:40:19.850,0:40:25.550
and you’ll say oh my gosh you’re crazy
0:40:22.430,0:40:28.370
Raymond but hear me out the reality is
0:40:25.550,0:40:30.920
is that if you have a voicemail box
0:40:28.370,0:40:32.600
where people leave voice based messages
0:40:30.920,0:40:34.070
I don’t know maybe some people listening
0:40:32.600,0:40:35.540
on this think this is a strange concept
0:40:34.070,0:40:39.590
but people still do this they leave
0:40:35.540,0:40:42.590
voicemail messages and I have those
0:40:39.590,0:40:44.870
forwarded to my email inbox I have text
0:40:42.590,0:40:48.560
messages forwarded to my email inbox I
0:40:44.870,0:40:50.210
have email from all of the various email
0:40:48.560,0:40:53.180
accounts that I have for work and
0:40:50.210,0:40:55.190
personal life faxes these are these are
0:40:53.180,0:40:57.590
paper documents people put in a machine
0:40:55.190,0:40:59.000
and then it scans a digital image of it
0:40:57.590,0:41:00.740
and then transmitted that emits that
0:40:59.000,0:41:03.080
over telephone lines and then that shows
0:41:00.740,0:41:05.300
up in paper printed on the other side I
0:41:03.080,0:41:06.860
know again this might be a very foreign
0:41:05.300,0:41:09.650
thing to some of our younger listeners
0:41:06.860,0:41:13.850
but people used to do this instead of
0:41:09.650,0:41:17.290
just emailing a PDF and so I actually
0:41:13.850,0:41:20.540
have a fax to email service that sends
0:41:17.290,0:41:22.730
documents to my email as PDFs and and
0:41:20.540,0:41:27.200
what this does writ large is that it
0:41:22.730,0:41:29.600
creates a one as few places for me to
0:41:27.200,0:41:31.160
have to process and I use the FIFO
0:41:29.600,0:41:33.440
method which is first in and first out
0:41:31.160,0:41:35.840
so I reverse my inboxes so the oldest
0:41:33.440,0:41:38.450
stuff shows up at the top and then I
0:41:35.840,0:41:41.180
just power through the things from the
0:41:38.450,0:41:43.100
top to bottom and that allows me to deal
0:41:41.180,0:41:45.200
with all communications as much as
0:41:43.100,0:41:47.540
possible all communications including
0:41:45.200,0:41:49.580
scanned Yale you know so as mail comes
0:41:47.540,0:41:52.580
into my office or other places they are
0:41:49.580,0:41:55.040
then digitized and then they’re emailed
0:41:52.580,0:41:58.130
into my inbox as well so I’m able to
0:41:55.040,0:41:59.810
deal with those things in the most
0:41:58.130,0:42:01.880
efficient manner for me which is I’m
0:41:59.810,0:42:04.850
used to and very comfortable with
0:42:01.880,0:42:06.700
processing email so just just a thought
0:42:04.850,0:42:10.040
for those folks it can feel overwhelming
0:42:06.700,0:42:11.990
at first and so for those who might try
0:42:10.040,0:42:14.510
to implement this you really do have to
0:42:11.990,0:42:15.140
think through the approaches creating
0:42:14.510,0:42:17.210
your own set
0:42:15.140,0:42:19.070
rubrics for how you’re going to deal
0:42:17.210,0:42:21.260
with different types of material all
0:42:19.070,0:42:22.910
coming into a centralized space right so
0:42:21.260,0:42:25.070
I’m not going to deal with that facts
0:42:22.910,0:42:27.950
coming into my inbox the same as I’m
0:42:25.070,0:42:30.380
going to deal with an email but the same
0:42:27.950,0:42:32.750
things apply in the sense that you
0:42:30.380,0:42:34.310
either need to respond to it or you need
0:42:32.750,0:42:35.810
to do something and then respond to it
0:42:34.310,0:42:37.520
and then you sort of create that that
0:42:35.810,0:42:39.590
umbrella I mean starting at the top
0:42:37.520,0:42:41.150
which is this is not useful this is not
0:42:39.590,0:42:43.910
actionable and I can just delete it
0:42:41.150,0:42:45.230
right and then oh this really has
0:42:43.910,0:42:47.120
something that I can respond to
0:42:45.230,0:42:47.540
immediately great I can respond to that
0:42:47.120,0:42:49.970
right now
0:42:47.540,0:42:51.620
and then finally I have something that I
0:42:49.970,0:42:53.390
need to respond to I need to do
0:42:51.620,0:42:55.190
something first and then respond maybe
0:42:53.390,0:42:57.350
perhaps with that outcome and so
0:42:55.190,0:42:59.240
therefore that’s going to be track
0:42:57.350,0:43:01.340
stacked and maintained so that I can go
0:42:59.240,0:43:03.980
ahead and continue processing my inbox
0:43:01.340,0:43:05.930
so I just use that premise of being able
0:43:03.980,0:43:08.270
to centralize as much as possible all
0:43:05.930,0:43:10.670
communications so that I’m not looking
0:43:08.270,0:43:12.290
in 40 different places and this of
0:43:10.670,0:43:14.840
course has the failing that there are a
0:43:12.290,0:43:17.990
bunch of chat apps now Facebook has
0:43:14.840,0:43:20.390
messenger whatsapp and every every
0:43:17.990,0:43:22.550
social network has its own private
0:43:20.390,0:43:24.170
messaging tool so you have a bunch of
0:43:22.550,0:43:26.810
inboxes in all of these types of places
0:43:24.170,0:43:27.800
you can’t get all of them centralized
0:43:26.810,0:43:29.570
yet
0:43:27.800,0:43:32.210
and I hope that we do get to that point
0:43:29.570,0:43:35.030
but as much as possible I really do try
0:43:32.210,0:43:37.850
to centralize we are now at the top of
0:43:35.030,0:43:40.280
our show time do you have any final
0:43:37.850,0:43:41.840
thoughts before we close out yeah we
0:43:40.280,0:43:47.300
need to finish the show so we kind of
0:43:41.840,0:43:49.100
speed up in productivity I don’t know I
0:43:47.300,0:43:51.680
think our utilization numbers are
0:43:49.100,0:43:52.400
probably pretty high today so I feel
0:43:51.680,0:43:55.100
good about that
0:43:52.400,0:43:57.500
me too yeah same here that closes out
0:43:55.100,0:44:00.530
another episode of productivity casts I
0:43:57.500,0:44:03.830
am glad we had this conversation about
0:44:00.530,0:44:06.200
speed I hope you all are and here’s your
0:44:03.830,0:44:09.020
productive life thank you thanks guys be
0:44:06.200,0:44:11.960
well everyone that’s it for this episode
0:44:09.020,0:44:14.390
of productivity cast the weekly show
0:44:11.960,0:44:17.090
about all things productivity with your
0:44:14.390,0:44:19.510
hosts Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto
0:44:17.090,0:44:19.510
Pinaud
I came across “Elogia de la lentitud” (Spanish – the English translation, “The Power of Slow”) by Carl Honoré on Twitter this morning. And, no worries if you don’t speak/read Spanish, Honoré has a TED talk, “In praise of slowness,” that discusses the global obsession with speed.
https://www.ted.com/talks/carl_honore_praises_slowness