Focus focus focus!
Time isn't the problem. How you use time is.
Don't bother managing your time. Manage your focus. We use
pomodoros to sharply focus on achieving a goal every 25 minutes. If you focus on the activity you'll just wheel-spin and dig a hole. So focus on the goal - what you want to achieve.
To really focus you need clarity about what you're aiming to achieve. So have a really concise and expressive way to define the successful outcome (be it an acceptance test, a
vertical slice, or whatever).
Finally, getting stuff done is one thing. Getting the right stuff done is even better. So figure out what's important and focus only on that. Duh!
Links to this post
Get beyond the Now and into the Potential
Nido Qubein said something like:
The trouble with many plans is that they are based on the way things are now. To be successful, your plan must focus on what you want, not what you have.Many times I've witnessed vision and ambition constrained by a plan confined to how things are done now. It's almost like there's an invisible bubble defining how one 'can' and 'cannot' get stuff done (or not get stuff done :). Although, in reality it's more like what people 'will' and 'will not' do given their perception of what's permitted. "Oh that won't work here".
Providing your aims are to do the right thing I think challenging the status quo is right and proper and, in my experience, the consequences are seldom bad. It's nearly always all in your head and when people see results they usually join in. Personally I enjoy challenging the status quo and I consider it to be a healthy and necessary exercise to drive continuous improvement. And dare I say it, a little construction subversion, if that's what's called for, can be fun.
So, don't allow yourself to be held back by the Now. Look beyond into the Potential where anything can be achieved. Then go after it with courage, persistence and integrity.
Links to this post
We put a new Web site live recently. It's called
commutineer.com and it's a bit of
an escape from the drudgery of UK commuting. Commuters can have conversations, share news, rant, be cool, flirt, and stand out in the crowd. They can form tribes around topics, stations, rail lines and networks. And earn vitality points, compete for top spots in the day and the chance to become the top commutineer. While on the move, commuters can do most of this with text messages from their mobile phones (standard mobile rates apply :).
It's got some ways to go and we've got lots more ideas but we wanted to push an early cut live to get some feedback from real users. We've been developing the functionality iteratively so there are some 'cheap' features on the site that we'll be enriching and improving over time.
If you commute in the uk, please join the mutiny and register to become a
commutineer.
We'll be handing out freebies around London in the coming weeks and we're also sponsoring
Boffoonery, a comedy event to help raise money for
Bletchley Park, but we'd really appreciate your help to spread the word. Tweet about it. Put it on your Facebook profile. Please tell your friends about
commutineer and ask them to tell their friends too. Many thanks.
You can also
follow our progress on twitter as we continue to improve the site.
Links to this post
