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Productivity

Productivity 101
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Productivity 101

How to get great things done vs. a ton of trivial things

Ready to get some great things done? Fantastic. Step 1: Identify the great thing. Step 2. Say YES to your wildly important goal! Step 3. Say “No!” to basically everything else. Then know that it starts with energy management then goes to time management, focus, 4.5-hour workdays, the four disciplines of execution, the science of progress and relentless forward motion.
Deep Work
Philosopher's Notes

Deep Work

Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

by Cal Newport

Deep Work. It’s the key to how you get So Good They Can’t Ignore You—which, of course, is the title of another one of Cal’s great books. Big Ideas include Deep Work vs. Shallow Work, how to give your neurons a workout, cleaning up attention residue, the four rules of deep work, finding the routine that works for you and learning how to shut down completely.
The ONE Thing
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The ONE Thing

The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

The ONE Thing. What's yours? Gary Keller (his Keller-Williams real estate is THE largest real estate company in the world--I bet that was a ONE Thing goal at some point!) shares his wisdom in this BRILLIANT book. We'll have fun exploring a few of my favorite Big Ideas: dominoes + extreme Pareto and other goodness.
The Power of Full Engagement
Philosopher's Notes

The Power of Full Engagement

Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal

by James E. Loehr and Tony Schwartz

Loehr and Schwartz tell us we've gotta manage ENERGY not time if we wanna really optimize our lives. Their book is pure goodness. In this Note, we'll explore the four principles of full engagement, why we want to be more like sprinters rather than marathon runners, that there's a pulse of life and we need to honor it, and the power of positive rituals. And some other really Big Ideas on getting our Full Engagement on.
The 10X Rule
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The 10X Rule

The Only Difference Between Success and Failure

by Grant Cardone

Ready to 10X your thinking and your action? Fantastic. Grant Cardone is your man. In this high intensity, LET'S DO THIS! book you'll get fired up to go out and crush it. Big Ideas we explore include how to create goals, why MASSIVE ACTION is so important, how to starve fear, why obsession is a gift not a disease and how Smokey would smoke the tortoise and the hare.
The Effective Executive
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The Effective Executive

The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done

by Peter F. Drucker

Peter Drucker is considered the father of modern management. This book was originally published in 1967. It’s *remarkably* well written and lucid. And, of course, packed with Big Ideas on how to optimize our effectiveness. We cover the 5 key practices/habits of the effective executive: time (first things first; second things never!), contribution (what can you contribute?), strengths (make yours productive; make weaknesses irrelevant), concentration (the secret to effectiveness), decisions (boundary conditions help).
Flow
Philosopher's Notes

Flow

The Psychology of Optimal Experience

by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Flow. It's all about the science of optimal human experience. In this Note, we'll explore what the flow state is (hint: get fully engaged in an activity that matches your skills with your challenge) and we’ll look at some other Big Ideas on controlling the contents of our consciousness to get out of anxiety and boredom as we create more flow experiences in our lives. (Plus, you'll even learn how to pronounce "Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.")
Getting Things Done
Philosopher's Notes

Getting Things Done

The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

by David Allen

Getting Things Done. This is like the Bible of personal productivity. And David Allen is our wise sage, walking us thru the powerful systems to help us master the art of stress-free productivity. In the Note, we'll explore how to clear our heads (mind like water!), play the 2-minute game, get our inbox to zero and envision + plan for wil success.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Philosopher's Notes

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals

by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey and Jim Huling

I planned to read this book since Cal Newport referenced it in Deep Work. I finally did so in preparation to teach Productivity 101. It’s fantastic. If you’re a business leader or entrepreneur I think you’ll particularly enjoy it. Big Ideas we cover include the 4DX, the whirlwind, your Wildly Important Goals, Lag vs. Lead measures, the power of keeping score, and avoiding the blackhole of the magnificently trivial.
The 80/20 Principle
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The 80/20 Principle

The Secret to Success by Achieving More With Less

by Richard Koch

Did you know 20% of beer drinkers drink 80% of the beer? And that 20% of streets account for 80% of the traffic? And that most peeps wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time? And that 20% of customers/products usually account for about 80% of profits? Yepperz. In this Note, we’ll explore the 80/20 principle and how we can apply its power to every aspect of our lives to "achieve more with less."
Smarter Faster Better
Philosopher's Notes

Smarter Faster Better

The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business

by Charles Duhigg

Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning NY Times journalist (and Harvard MBA) who wrote the best-selling book The Power of Habit in which he walked us through the science of building better habits. In this book, he walks us through the science of being productive so we can be smarter, faster and better at everything we do. It’s a great book packed with fascinating stories and practical applications. Big Ideas we explore include the 2 keys to motivation, how to build your focus, the best way to set goals (think: Stretch + SMART), why disfluency helps learning and how productivity is all about choices.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Philosopher's Notes

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

by Stephen R. Covey

This classic has sold 15 million copies and was the first self-development book I read back in the day (1995 to be precise). In this Note, we'll take a quick look at all 7 Habits—from being proactive (huge!) to beginning with the end in mind, putting first things first, thinking win/win, seeking first to understand, synergizing and sharpening the saw. Lots of goodness here to help us develop our character to create our ideal lives as we most fully give ourselves to the world.
Organize Tomorrow Today
Philosopher's Notes

Organize Tomorrow Today

8 Ways to Retrain Your Mind to Optimize Performance at Work and in Life

by Jason Selk and Tom Bartow

Jason Selk is one of the world’s leading peak performance/mental training experts. Tom Bartow is one of the world’s leading financial advisor trainers. Together they provide a manual on how to “start every day with more focus, confidence, and energy—by learning how to set the right priorities." Great stuff. Big Ideas we cover: Your 2 top questions for tomorrow, the Zeigarnik Effect, the importance of Nailing it, why fight-thrus are the key to creating habits, your new mental toughness workout, and repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition...
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Philosopher's Notes

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How to Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done

by Jocelyn K. Glei

This is a quick-reading, smart, practical guide on how to, as the sub-title suggests, “Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done. My kind of book. I *highly* recommend it. Big Ideas we explore include rats + rewards (real vs. random), progress hacks to conquer the progress paradox, saying “YES!!!” en route to saying “No” plus the physics of emails and 21st century superpowers.
Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be
Philosopher's Notes

Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be

by Steven Pressfield

This is our sixth note on one of Steven Pressfield's books. Steven Pressfield is one of my favorite writers and human beings. His books, including this one, are both inspiring and beautifully pithy. If you’re a fan of his work, you’ll love this book. I’m excited to share a handful of my favorite Big Ideas, so let’s jump straight in!
15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management
Philosopher's Notes

15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management

The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympic Athletes, 29 Straight-A Students, and 239 Entrepreneurs

by Kevin Kruse

Kevin Kruse is a Forbes Leadership columnist and successful entrepreneur. He’s built and sold several multimillion dollar technology companies, winning both Inc 500 and Best Place to Work awards along the way. He’s also written a number of bestselling books. I got this book after a long-time student and Heroic Coach connected me with Kevin. Apparently my new friend was being interviewed by Kevin about his new book on creativity for a Forbes article. At the end of their chat, my new friend told Kevin that he should check out Heroic. And, apparently, he had JUST signed up for Heroic the day before. (Awesome.) This book, as per the sub-title and intro quote, is all about the top productivity habits of some of the world’s most productive and successful people. It’s written in a straight-forward, conversational style. There’s a reason it has over 1,400 reviews—it’s fantastic. It’s packed with Big Ideas. I’m excited to share some of my favorites so let’s jump straight in!
The Creative Act
Philosopher's Notes

The Creative Act

A Way of Being

by Rick Rubin

Rick Rubin is an iconic music producer. He’s worked with some of the most successful musicians in the world—from Adele, Tom Petty, and Johnny Cash to the Beastie Boys, Jay-Z, and LL Cool J. He’s also the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings and former co-President of Columbia Records. And, he’s a Transcendental Meditation practitioner who writes with the same lucidity as Yuval Noah Harari whose preferred flavor of meditation happens to be Vipassana. This book is the distillation of the wisdom he’s gained working on himself and his craft over the last forty years. It’s PHENOMENAL. I highly recommend it. From the minimalist cover to the short, pithy micro chapters (both of which inspired my book Areté), the book itself is a work of art. It’s packed with profound wisdom on how to create great art and how to make your life your ultimate masterpiece. I’m excited to share some of my favorite Big Ideas so let’s jump straight in.
Sharpening the Saw
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Sharpening the Saw

#30

/Building a Chainsaw

Stephen Covey‘s seventh habit of Highly Effective People is “Sharpen the Saw.”

Deep Work
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Deep Work

#36

How to Escape Shallowville and Go Deep

Cal Newport has a very big brain. He got his Ph.D. from MIT and is a professor of Computer Science at Georgetown. He also wrote one of my favorite books: Deep Work.

Multitasking Is a Myth
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Multitasking Is a Myth

#37

What We Do Is Really Task Switching — And that Has a Big Cost

Multitasking is a myth.

How to Schedule Your Best Work
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How to Schedule Your Best Work

#38

Match Your Mental Energy to Your Task

The creator of Dilbert wrote a great book called How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.

Speed Is a Force
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Speed Is a Force

#54

The Force Is with You - Use It Wisely

The very first thing Phil Stutz taught me in our very first session together was the fact that Speed Is a Force.

Time Blocks
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Time Blocks

#80

The #1 Power Tool for Great Days and a Great Life (You Using Them?)

Continuing our theme of making TODAY (and every day!) a Masterpiece Day, let’s take a quick look at Time Blocks.

How to Discover Your Deep Work Style
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How to Discover Your Deep Work Style

#128

Hermit. Bimodal. Rhythmic. Journalistic. (Yours?)

Deep Work.

Now, What Doesn’t Need to Get Done?
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Now, What Doesn’t Need to Get Done?

#153

Tip: Don’t Do Useless Stuff

Peter Drucker is known as the “Father of Modern Management.” Basically, he was the greatest business thinker of the 20th century.

The 80/20 Principle
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The 80/20 Principle

#162

What Works? Do More of That

Once upon a time (1897 to be precise), an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto was studying wealth and income distribution in England. He discovered that a small percentage of individuals owned the majority of land and wealth.

Parkinson's Law
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Parkinson's Law

#164

Reduce Time to Increase Output

If you’re into Optimizing, you’ve probably heard of something called “Parkinson’s Law.”

Flow
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Flow

#165

What It Is & How to Get in It

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is one of the world’s leading researchers studying the science of well-being. He co-founded the Positive Psychology movement with Martin Seligman and has written landmark books on Creativity and Flow.

How to Add a Month to Your Year
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How to Add a Month to Your Year

#177

In One Simple Step

Let’s go back to our Motivation Equation for Today’s +1.

Eliminate Delay
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Eliminate Delay

#178

To Increase Motivation and Jumbo Crushing

In our last +1, we revisited the Motivation Equation.

Thinking vs. Doing
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Thinking vs. Doing

#180

Lessons from a Beach Ball

In one of my coaching sessions with Phil Stutz he told me to write something down. (He often does that. 😃)

Energizers vs. Enervators
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Energizers vs. Enervators

#181

The Art & Science of How to Take a Good Break

We know it’s important to take good breaks. We want to work for a certain period of time (NASA says no more than 90 minutes or so) and then take a break. Repeat. Making waves as we oscillate from being on to being off.

Creative vs. Reactive
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Creative vs. Reactive

#201

Choose One Before the Other (If You Want to Actualize Your Potential)

Creative and reactive.

"Shut-Down Complete!"
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"Shut-Down Complete!"

#239

Your New End-of-the-Day Ritual

Continuing our theme of making sure we’re oscillating to optimize our energy, let’s focus on the end of our workday.

WIG vs. Whirlwind
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WIG vs. Whirlwind

#271

Which One Wins?

Continuing our Productivity 101 theme, here’s another gem from the 4DX guys.

Time Management Drucker Style
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Time Management Drucker Style

#273

The 1 + 2 + 3 for Effectiveness

Peter Drucker is considered the father of modern management. The greatest business thinker of the 20th century.

“It’ll Only Take a Minute”
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“It’ll Only Take a Minute”

#289

Yah, Right.

Here’s another gem from our Procrastination-Fighting SuperResearcher, Tim Pychyl.

Newton's First Law
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Newton's First Law

#294

As Applied to Your Life

A few +1s ago, we briefly mentioned Newton’s First Law of Motion. Let’s talk about it a little more.

Newton's First Law: Fine Print
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Newton's First Law: Fine Print

#295

Eliminate Distractions to Stay in Motion

In our last +1 we talked about Isaac Newton and his First Law of Motion. Recall the basics: An object at rest will stay at rest. An object in motion will stay in motion.

Single-Mindedly One Touching
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Single-Mindedly One Touching

#372

What’s Important? Start. Finish. (Repeat.)

Here’s another Big Idea from Brian Tracy that you’ll find echoed among all the great productivity gurus.

Parkinson’s Law + 80/20 Principle
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Parkinson’s Law + 80/20 Principle

#377

= Productivity Magic

Continuing our theme of how to Optimize our productivity, let’s talk about an Idea from Tim Ferris.

Covey’s Big YES!!
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Covey’s Big YES!!

#812

Makes It Easier to Say “No”

In our last +1, we had fun hanging out inside Peter Drucker’s (and I quote) “VERY BIG waste paper basket.

Covey Discipline Quiz!
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Covey Discipline Quiz!

#813

1? 2? or 3? (You Might Be Surprised!)

In our last +1, we jumped inside Stephen Covey’s big “No” waste paper basket. Right along with Peter Drucker and his.

How to Meaningify Your Work
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How to Meaningify Your Work

#1095

In One Simple Step…

In our last +1, we talked about making a Purpose upgrade—going from a grand conception of one “big purpose” for life (Purpose 1.0) to finding micro-moments of purpose all day every day (Purpose 2.0).

High Quality Work Produced =
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High Quality Work Produced =

#1179

Time Spent x Quality of Energy x Intensity of Focus

Back in the day, we chatted about Cal Newport’s Deep Work Equation.

Astonishing Productivity
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Astonishing Productivity

#1180

Some Math on How to Create It

In our last +1, we had some fun playing with Cal Newport’s Deep Work equation. We modified it from:

The INFINITE Power of CONSISTENCY
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The INFINITE Power of CONSISTENCY

#1190

(Energy x Focus x What’s Important Now) ^ Consistency

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that, if we could figure out how to take 30 EXPONENTIAL steps, we’d be able to hop in a rocket and go around the Earth two DOZEN times.

Focal Point
Philosopher's Notes

Focal Point

A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double your Productivity, and Achieve All Your Goals

by Brian Tracy

Brian Tracy is one of the classic modern self-development teachers and he's literally a Big Idea machine. In this Note, we'll have fun learning about the importance of taking responsibility in our lives and staying flexible (and, of course, some Ideas on how to do so!). We'll also check in on the importance of managing our time well by "one-touching" stuff and maintaining our optimism in the face of challenges.
Head Strong
Philosopher's Notes

Head Strong

The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

by Dave Asprey

Dave Asprey is a fascinating guy. He’s a professional bio-hacking machine whose publicly-stated goal is to live to 180. We covered his last book called The Bulletproof Diet and our kitchen’s pantry is filled with a bunch of his Bulletproof products. In this book, he unveils his best bio-hacks for, as the sub-title suggests, “activating untapped brain energy to work smarter and think faster.” Big Ideas we explore: Your brain on energy, kryptonite dust (what’re yours?), mitochondria (one QUADRILLION!), EZ water (how to drop into that spot between a gas and a liquid), and junk light.
Take the Stairs
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Take the Stairs

7 Steps to Achieving True Success

by Rory Vaden

When you appraoch a set of stairs and an escalator what do you do? If you're like 95% of the world, you hop on the escalator but Rory Vaden tells us if we want true success in our lives we need to quit looking for shortcuts and Take the Stairs! In the Note we'll look at how to quit being a Should-head, embrace the Pain Paradox and get our Visioneering on.
Making Life a Masterpiece
Philosopher's Notes

Making Life a Masterpiece

by Orison Swett Marden

Orison Swett Marden is a brilliant old-school writer who mixed a passionate optimism in our potential with an equally passionate commitment to integrity, grit, perseverance and all things good. I like him. In this book he shows us how to make our life a masterpiece by becoming the captain of our own ships, doing first-class work, and finding an hour a day to optimize as we achieving true success.