Prepare for a highly concentrated dose of insights that will prove both enlightening and uncomfortable 먹튀. This was my own experience, at least. My review of the early manuscript for Manage Your Day-to-Day raised some glaring concerns in my own mind about my productivity and mindfulness.
These new perspectives caught me off-guard?I realized that much of my most valuable energy had been unknowingly consumed by bad habits. My day-to-day practices had devolved to a point where I was at the mercy of everything around me?everything but my goals and true preferences.
It was clear that I was long overdue for a self-audit of how I manage my time in a rapidly changing work environment. So much has shifted in just the last few years: My calendar and documents are now all in the cloud. I have more devices, apps, alerts, and utilities than ever before. And with the new ability to work anywhere, the outcome of the work I do has unintentionally changed. Meanwhile, I’ve been out there in the thick of it, working hard but never taking stock. If you keep playing without any time-outs, your game starts to slip.
Of course, every great leader must face his or her demons in order to overcome them. I’ve always known this, but I wasn’t aware of any immediate problems. But these days the demons are more insidious; they’re the everyday annoyances, the little things that suck away our potential to do big things.
OWN THE PROBLEM
I’ve spent much of my career promoting strong business practices in the creative industry. Throughout my travels for Behance and in researching my book, Making Ideas Happen, I have spoken with countless creative people and teams about their projects and careers. With designers, writers, and entrepreneurs of all kinds, I have tried to advocate for the roll-up-your-sleeves productivity and management skills required to push ideas to fruition. My mantra has always been, “It’s not about ideas, it’s about making ideas happen.”
Frequently I am asked to speak at conferences and companies about “creativity.” I always respond with the preliminary question, “Do you have ideas?” The answer is almost always “Yes, but…” followed by a series of obstacles like: “We work in a big company and it’s hard to pursue new ideas,” “We get overwhelmed with the day-to-day stuff and struggle to make progress on new stuff,” or “Our leadership asks for innovation but keeps getting in the way.”
Alas, when folks want to talk creativity, what they’re really seeking is help with execution, ways to take action more effectively. Once the true problem becomes clear, the blame quickly shifts to the ecosystem. The company is either too big or too small. The management is screwing things up. Or it’s the “process” that gets in the way.
It’s time to stop blaming our surroundings and start taking responsibility. While no workplace is perfect, it turns out that our gravest challenges are a lot more primal and personal. Our individual practices ultimately determine what we do and how well we do it. Specifically, it’s our routine (or lack thereof), our capacity to work proactively rather than reactively, and our ability to systematically optimize our work habits over time that determine our ability to make ideas happen.
DON’T JUST DO, RETOOL YOUR DOING
Often I’ll ask a great team about the last time they had a meeting to discuss how they work. Aside from the occasional mention of an annual off-site, I usually get a null response. Why? Everyone’s too busy doing stuff to take a pause and make some changes to how they do stuff. I’ve never seen a team sport without a huddle, yet we’ll continue working for months?if not years?with clients and colleagues without ever taking a step back, taking stock, and making improvements to our systems.
As individuals we’re even worse off; we never have off-sites with ourselves. Seldom do we stop doing what we’re doing to think about (and rework) how we’re doing it. The biggest problem with any routine is that you do it without realizing it. Bad habits creep in, especially as we naturally acclimate to a changing work environment, and we end up working at the mercy of our surroundings.
