# Aaron Lynn — Full Content ## About Aaron Lynn writes about productivity, AI, business and life design. https://aaronlynn.com/about/ ## Courses ### Next Level Productivity — $97 A modular, framework-first approach to managing your energy and protecting your focus — so the right things get done even when meetings move, priorities shift, and motivation disappears. Covers the 37-Minute Focus Method, the Anti-Fragile Calendar, Hero Mode, and the Perpetual Journal System. Sales page: https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/ ### Introduction And Do These Things First - Welcome to Next Level Productivity (5:03) - Do This First: Use Timeslices or Pomodoros (2:13) - Do This Second: Clean Workbench (1:33) - Do This Third: Get Some Banging Music Going (1:42) - Assignment: Prepare Your Context for AI (1:28) ### Quick Wins and Time Management Hacks - Introduction to Quick Wins, Time Management Hacks (0:41) - Work on Your Computer, Not Your Phone (1:53) - Use the Ultimate Productivity Hack (1:36) - Use AI for Your Everyday Problems (Personal Productivity Enhancement With Generative AI) (3:15) - Batch Your Tasks (0:59) - Set Deadlines (1:12) - Handle Digital Distractions by Filtering on Inputs (4:20) - Perform Hardcore Environmental Changes (6:36) ### Productivity Gear and Apps - Introduction to Productivity Gear and Apps (1:29) - Get the Best Productivity Gear (8:14) - Get the Best Productivity Apps (3:28) ### Intermission - Intermission Introduction (0:22) - Ask Why You Want to Be Productive (0:44) - Discover How to Get the Most Out of This Course (2:01) - Say Hello to Your Instructor (3:11) ### Classic Productivity Mindsets - Introduction to Classic Productivity Mindsets (1:01) - Develop Discipline, Habits and the Four Stages of Competence (3:07) - Differentiate Between Busy vs Productive (0:41) - Perform Deep Work: Single Tasking and Why Multitasking Is Bad (1:44) - Special Mention: Timeboxing (1:06) ### Hard Truths About Productivity - Introduction to Hard Truths (0:50) - Calculate Your Productivity Potential (1:48) - Pick 3 (5:04) - Life Is Your Biggest Distraction From Being Productive, and Your Biggest Reason for Being Productive (2:39) - Culture, Language, and the Default Build (4:42) - Take Right Action (1:12) ### Anti-Fragile Calendar System - Introduction to the Anti-Fragile Calendar System (0:49) - See How the Anti-Fragile Calendar System Works (1:25) - Set Up Your Anti-Fragile Calendar System (3:09) ### Energy Management - Introduction to Energy Management (1:38) - Set Up Hero Mode and Peak Hours for Productivity (2:12) - Get Optimal Sleep (9:45) - Break in Case of Emergency: Dealing With a Bad Night of Sleep (1:37) - Streamline Your Food For Productivity (12:50) - Wake Up with the Perfect Morning Ritual (2:25) - Wind Down with an Evening Ritual (2:06) - Working Out for Productivity (4:27) ### Personal Ops Documents and Advanced Productivity Mindsets - Introduction to Personal Ops Documents (1:17) - Write Your Purpose Document (2:44) - Write Your Values Document (4:21) - Write Your Motivation Document (2:51) - Handle Perfectionism (2:47) - Develop Willpower, Focus, Concentration (3:10) ### Personal Systems - Introduction to Personal Systems (0:56) - Organise With Task Management (4:58) - Consolidate Your Personal Knowledge Management (2:39) - Interlude: Understand Cascading Timeframes (1:20) - Set Your Goals and Vision (2:41) - Deploy the Perpetual Journal System, Part 1: Structure (7:50) - Deploy the Perpetual Journal System, Part 2: Setup (3:08) - Deploy the Perpetual Journal System, Part 3: Usage (4:35) - Deploy the Perpetual Journal System, Part 4: Reviews (0:42) - Create a Personal Coach CustomGPT (3:05) ### People and Delegation - Introduction to People and Delegation (0:23) - Handle People with a Better Mindset and Boundaries (4:24) - Structure Your Social Life System (3:28) - Delegate Personal Tasks (1:19) - Handle Messages From Others (Inbox Zero for Email, DMs, Notifications) (6:36) ### Work-Life Balance: Integrating Work into Next Level Productivity - Introduction to Work-Life Balance (0:19) - Extend the Perpetual Journal System to Work (1:51) - Handle Meetings Effortlessly (2:14) - Achieve Work-Life Balance with a Sense of Play (4:51) ### Scenarios - Introduction to Scenarios (1:21) - Office Workers with Commute (4:18) - Remote Workers (3:44) - Business Owners and Entrepreneurs (2:58) - Parents With Young Children (10:27) ### Closing - Course Recap and What To Do Next (1:45) ### The AI Playbook for CEOs, Business Owners and Leaders — $147 A practical, no-hype playbook for business leaders who need to make real decisions about AI — not watch another demo. Covers the 5-Step ROI Evaluation Framework, business process reengineering with AI, change management for buy-in, and a strategic future-proofing framework. Sales page: https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ ### Introduction - Playbook Overview and Course Outline (5:01) - Who This Playbook Is For (3:20) - About Your Instructor (5:17) ### Quick Wins: How to Use This Playbook - Fast Implementation Guide (2:51) - The CEO and Business Owner Fast Track (0:57) - The Business Leader Fast Track (0:54) ### Part 1: What is AI? - A Brief History of Business Technology (22:48) - Essential AI Concepts (19:42) - Key Players in the AI Landscape (5:07) - CEO Talk: What Generative AI Can and Cannot Do (9:52) - CEO Talk: Limitations of AI and AI Risks (10:03) - CEO Talk: Why Bother With AI? (6:26) ### Part 2: Implementing AI - How to Think About AI as a CEO, Business Owner or Business Leader (5:05) - Using AI as a CEO, Business Owner or Business Leader (9:15) - Business Process Reengineering With AI (11:52) - Collaborative AI: Integrating AI and Human Teams (18:49) - Change Management for Generative AI (10:16) - Knowledge Management With AI and ChatGPT (10:46) - Operations Management With AI (11:40) - Strategic Decision Making With AI (8:39) - A Day in the Life of an AI-Powered Business (6:54) ### Part 3: Mindsets, Frameworks and AI for the Future - Business Transformation With AI (8:57) - Assessing AI Tools and ROI (9:20) - Thinking Strategically About AI: Where It's All Headed and How to Think About It (6:08) ### Next Steps - What To Do Next (1:28) - BONUS: Greg Gibas Interview (29:25) ### The AI Agents, Automation, and Agentic Workflows Guide — $147 Build working AI agents for real business tasks — without code, without complexity. Covers the BIG MANGO framework for reliable prompt agents, the DECIDE framework for knowing when to build an agent, and 7 complete Zapier agent builds you deploy during the course. Sales page: https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/ ### Introduction - Introduction to AI Agents, Automation and Agentic Workflows (5:18) - Build Your First AI Agent in 5 Minutes: Create a Marketing Expert (12:55) - Hey JARVIS, What's An AI Agent? (7:34) - To Buy Or to Build, That Is The Question (2:47) - Meet Your Instructor and Connect (5:10) ### ChatGPT and Prompt Agents Masterclass - Introducing Prompt Agents (2:37) - Prompt Engineering for AI Agents: How to Write High Quality Prompts (5:43) - Prompt AI Agent Example: Build a Customer Service Assistant That Saves Hours (6:38) - Create Recurring Agents with CustomGPTs (4:36) ### Designing AI Agents - Introduction to Designing AI Agents (1:41) - DECIDE: Do I Even Need an AI Agent? (8:09) - Interlude: Master Flowcharts in 5 Minutes to Visualise Your Workflows (5:02) - The Matrix Has You: Agentic Design Patterns in the Real World (6:09) - Faster Horses: Transform Your Business with AI-First Thinking (8:54) - Evaluate and Improve Your AI Agents (4:26) ### Zapier Fundamentals - Introduction to Zapier Fundamentals (1:23) - Set Up Your Zapier Account (4:05) - Learn Zapier Basics: Triggers, Actions, and Workflows (8:56) - Unlock Zapier's Advanced Features (7:03) - Agent Example 1: Call Dossier Assistant + Zapier AI Agents Unpacked (13:15) - Adapt Existing Zapier Agent Templates for Your Business (3:44) ### AI Agents in Zapier - Introduction to AI Agents in Zapier (2:49) - Agent Example 2: I'll Be Back - Your Daily Industry News Agent (4:29) - Agent Example 3: Build a Customer Service Agent That Never Sleeps (11:32) - Agent Example 4: Generate Social Media Content Automatically (Multi-Agent) (8:37) - Agent Example 5: Gringotts Expenses and Receipts Agent (9:23) - Agent Example 6: Big Brother is Watching - Client Activity Agent (Multi-Agent) (12:08) - Agent Example 7: Analyse Resumes in Seconds (Multi-Agent) (12:51) ### What To Do Next - What To Do Next: Implement Your AI Agents With a 30-Day Action Plan (3:53) ### The Complete Claude, Claude Code and AI for Work Productivity — $147 From basic prompts to terminal AI tools — the most complete course on using ChatGPT, Claude, and AI for real office work. Covers prompt and context engineering, everyday office scenarios, CustomGPTs and Claude Projects, and terminal AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding work. Sales page: https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ ### Introduction to AI for Office Productivity - Welcome to AI for Office Productivity (4:13) - Which AI Model Is "The Best"? (5:05) - Optional: Meet Your Instructor (5:34) ### Prompt and Context Engineering for Office Productivity - Prompt and Context Engineering (0:58) - Principles of AI (4:35) - How to Write Killer Prompts (8:41) - Context Engineering and Creating Your Own Context (9:48) - Creating Your Own Prompt Library (1:13) ### Beginner: Everyday Office Scenarios with AI - Everyday Office Scenarios with AI (0:49) - Writing and Rewriting Documents and Emails With AI (10:30) - Summarising and Researching Information With AI (10:15) - Data Analysis with AI (Data-Fu) (7:18) - AI For Meetings and Calls (3:08) - Voice Notes With AI (6:23) ### Intermediate: CustomGPTs, Claude Projects and Notebook LM - CustomGPTs, Claude Projects and Notebook LM (0:30) - ChatGPT CustomGPTs (6:54) - Claude and ChatGPT Projects (8:13) - Google NotebookLM Projects (5:40) ### Claude Code for Non-Coding Work - Claude Code for Non-Coding Work (2:26) - Setting Up Claude Code (4:46) - Understanding IDEs and Terminal (1:47) - Understanding Markdown and .md Files (4:09) - Initial Claude Code Project Setup (8:06) - Using Claude Code For Office Work (25:40) - Claude Code SubAgents (20:07) ### What To Do Next - What To Do Next (2:03) ### ChatGPT for Managers — $97 AI prompts built for the work managers actually do. Covers the ABC framework for clear communications, SBII for tough feedback, delegation and recruitment, decision-making with AI as a strategic thinking partner, and a 30-day implementation roadmap for building your personal AI management system. Sales page: https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ ### Introductory Prompts and Quick Wins - Introduction to the Course (3:00) - Your First Quick Win: Writing Clear Communications Under Pressure (10:42) - Setting Up Meetings That People Actually Want to Attend (6:36) - Never Lose Another Action Item: AI-Powered Meeting Recording and Follow-up (6:43) - Optional: Meet Your Instructors (2:38) ### Managing People & Difficult Conversations - Giving Tough Feedback and Having Sensitive Conversations (6:40) - Handling Conflict and Interpersonal Issues Before They Explode (6:40) - Leading Your Team Through Organizational Change AI Agent-Style (8:26) ### Delegation and Recruitment - Getting Stuff Off Your Plate: What to Delegate (6:45) - How to Delegate Like a Pro (5:34) - AI-Enhanced Interviewing: Hire A-Players Every Time (6:07) ### Leading Through Decisions and Disruption - Decision Making With AI (7:41) - Communicating a Difficult Decision (6:46) - Easy AI-Enhanced SOPs and Knowledge Management (6:53) - From Crisis to Comeback: Building Your Own Crisis Management AI (9:39) ### Putting Together Your AI-Powered Management System - AI as Your $1000/Hour Business Consultant That You Only Pay $20/Month For (5:26) - Context Engineering + Building Your Personal AI Management System (11:14) - What To Do Next: Your 30-Day Implementation Roadmap (2:04) ### All Access Bundle — $397 All five courses (save $238, 37% off the $635 individual total). Sales page: https://aaronlynn.com/courses/bundle/ ## force-multiplication ### Your Next Hire Costs $200 a Month https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/your-next-hire-costs-200-a-month/ ![16-bit JRPG scene: a pixel hero stands mid-frame surrounded by orbiting glowing buff icons — a heart, a coin, a gear, a sword — while a bright new buff icon labelled +AI slots into the ring with a burst of sparkles.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6470/jrpg-hero-gains-ai-buff-stacking-with-other-multipliers.webp) _Stacks with everything you've already levelled._{.center} ## 1. Reach for the AI Before You Hire Solopreneurs have started using AI as a replacement for hiring. Not as a stopgap until they can afford someone, but as the actual replacement. Why? Think about the cost. A Claude Max 20x plan is $200/month. A basic VA is $500/month, and that's at the affordable end of the market. Then think about the speed. The AI needs maybe an hour of one-time setup per task, and after that it runs 40-50x faster than a new hire ever will. This happened with my own work recently. I had a VA helping me manage student support for my courses. She somewhat complained that it was becoming a lot of work. So... I sat down for an hour and pushed Codex to work out an automated solution for me. It ended up being some automated scripting in Chrome that handles everything end-to-end. And now my VA has nothing left to do 😬 So if you're a solopreneur or small business owner thinking about offloading something to a new hire... reach for the AI first. The best part is that you don't need to know how to build any of this. Tell the AI what you want to do, then ask it how it would do it. Have a discussion. Within an hour, you'll have a solution you can test. I show you how to work with AI like this in [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/) and [The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/). ## 2. Where AI Actually Fits on the Force Multipliers List Many years ago, I wrote about [force multipliers](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/force-multipliers/) — the implements in your life that will let you accomplish greater feats than you could without them. The list included things like solid mindsets, good health, systems, money, self-discipline, location, culture, personal-level technology and skillsets. Notice anything? The list predates AI entirely. So where does AI fit? It slots under personal-level technology, right alongside your computer, your phone and your washing machine. But here's what I've noticed lately: the other multipliers on the list are determining how quickly people adopt AI. Skillsets, like coding or technical fluency, determine how creative you can get with AI. Mindset and culture determine how open you are to learning new tools and changing how you work. Location determines whether you can even use frontier models. (Living in Hong Kong? No Claude for you.) And good systems are the big one: a documented process you can hand to a staff member is a process you can hand to an AI, and then automate even further with it. ## 3. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**4. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### You're 5x Faster With AI. So Why Does Work Feel Slow? https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/why-the-new-pace-feels-slow/ ![16-bit retro arcade racing scene: a sports car sweeps off a blurred high-speed motorway onto a sleepy town exit road, the HUD speedometer still reading 120 while the driver looks unimpressed.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6469/pixel-racer-highway-exit-velocitation.webp) _60 feels like crawling after an hour at 120._{.center} ## 1. Why the New Pace Feels Slow Something strange happens as you start to master AI tools: Work starts to feel slow again. I caught this happening to me recently, in the middle of an intense work sprint. I was starting to question if things were moving quickly enough, so I stopped and actually looked at what had shipped that week. It was somewhere around 5x the same period a year ago. Five times... and it felt underwhelming. To someone watching from the outside, that pace looks like witchcraft. From the inside, living with it every day, it just feels normal. It reminded me of an old Marvel comic where speed-based superheroes (think: Quicksilver) say that they actually experience everything at a normal pace, even when they are moving at super speed. So yes, this is your mind playing tricks on you. Your brain has simply adapted to the new normal. Psychologists call it hedonic adaptation — whatever improvement you get, your baseline quietly resets to match it, and the gain stops registering. The term usually comes up around pay rises and lottery winners, but it applies just as well to your output. It's also the same reason driving feels weird when you come off a highway. You've been doing 120 for an hour, you take an exit into a town, and suddenly 60 feels like crawling — even though 60 is actually pretty fast. _(The technical term for this is velocitation.)_ Your brain does exactly the same thing with your output speed. So what do you do about this? Honestly? You don't need to do anything. There's nothing to fix here. It's part of your brain's amazing ability to adapt to new situations, and just recognising what's happening is enough. You _could_ try to speed up even more. But that runs into two problems: 1. It may not be possible. 2. It may not be necessary. _(If you genuinely want to push the ceiling anyway, [hypertasking](https://aaronlynn.com/ai/hypertasking/) tackles the idea at a higher logical level.)_ What actually works is anchoring against external, objective measurement instead of what you feel. Objective measurement being: - What your stakeholders, manager or direct reports say about your output, - PRs merged or deliverables shipped, - Tasks and outcomes actually closed each week. If the external numbers say you're doing five times what you were doing a year ago, then nothing needs to change, no matter how slow it feels from the inside. ## 2. Hero Mode: Find Your Peak Energy Hours Before you reach for yet another AI tool to squeeze out more speed, there's another higher order lever worth pulling first: knowing when your brain is actually switched on. Here's the method: 1. Pick a normal working day. 2. At the top of every hour, rate your energy 1-10 and write it down. 3. At the end of the day, chart it and look for the peak block. That peak block is your **Hero Mode**. Mine runs from early morning to about noon. Yours might not — only around 10-20% of people are genuinely [early-morning types](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/waking-up-early/), no matter what the 5am-routine crowd tells you. Your Hero Mode might be 10am to 2pm, or 4pm to 8pm. Where does AI fit in? Your Hero Mode hours should go to your most judgement-heavy work. These days that includes reviewing and directing AI output — deciding what's good, what's wrong and what actually ships — which takes far more focus than people admit. Push the admin, the emails and the AI tasks that just need babysitting into your energy troughs. The full guide to [energy management and Hero Mode is here](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/energy-management/), and I walk through the whole exercise in detail in my [_Next Level Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/) course. ## 3. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**3. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### You're Fluent in AI, You Just Can't See It https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/youre-fluent-in-ai-you-just-cant-see-it/ ![1950s advertising-style illustration of a cheerful person happily writing a letter by fountain pen at a mid-century desk while a friendly chrome retro robot waits beside them holding a tray of neatly finished admin paperwork.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6468/writing-by-hand-retro-robot-ad.webp) _Ask about our revolutionary "do it yourself" plan._{.center} ## 1. Your AI Fluency Is Invisible to You Recently I sat down with some business friends I haven't seen in a while and was showing them how my typical work day looks now. They sat there watching intently, thought for a bit, then one of them said: "I don't really understand what you just did with Claude, but that output is really good. I know at least 10 different people who would pay for you to help them set this up and teach them how to use it." And that's what AI fluency looks like now — to the untrained eye, the process and the results are both magical. But here's the thing. **Your own fluency is invisible to you.** It's like touch typing or driving a manual. Once the skill is in your hands, you stop noticing that it's a skill at all. So how do you actually build fluency? Not by chasing every new model release. That's not learning, that's [feed consumption](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/filter-on-inputs/) — and it's a big part of what's driving the current wave of AI fatigue. I've always liked the saying that necessity is the mother of invention. So the next time you need to get something done, reach for Claude or Codex first. Spend some time working it out, create some skills or guides for the AI, refine a bit, test, then move on. If you already have a basic Claude Code or Codex setup (as I teach in [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)) you don't need a dedicated study session or "learning AI" time block to setup new skills. You simply create skills and workflows as you need to, then use them, then they become second nature to you. ## 2. The Clean Workbench Walk through any well-run manufacturing floor and you'll see the same ritual at the end of every shift: tools wiped down and hung up, surfaces cleared, the workbench reset for whoever comes in next. Knowledge workers almost never do this. We shut the laptop lid on 40 open tabs, six half-read documents and three abandoned drafts... and then wonder why the next morning feels heavy before we've even started. **That mental load you're carrying at 9am is often just yesterday's mess, still open.** The fix is a five-minute workbench reset at the end of each day: - Close every tab, app and window. - Clear your physical desk surface. - Write down tomorrow's first task before you shut the laptop. - Restart your machine when you get back in the morning. And this should apply to your AI sessions too. Run a `/handoff` skill at the end of the day, close all your sessions, and start fresh ones in the morning. Your AI will work better — a fresh context window means no context rot, no degradation, and no dragging yesterday's confusion into today's work. I teach the full clean workbench concept in detail in my [_Next Level Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/) course. ## 3. You Don't Have to Use AI for Everything There's an assumption creeping into a lot of productivity conversations right now: if AI _can_ do something, you _should_ hand it over. DO NOT buy into this. **There's no rule that says you HAVE to use AI for everything.** It just makes the mundane things a heck of a lot faster. Instead of automating by default, deliberately choose which tasks you keep doing by hand — based on what you enjoy, or what you want to stay sharp at. If you enjoy responding to your customers and clients personally, keep doing that. If you enjoy creating artwork by hand, keep doing that. If you enjoy writing by hand, keep doing that. Hand AI the mundane stuff — the formatting, the summarising, the admin work — and free up the time to do the enjoyable work properly. _(And if you'd rather go full throttle the other way and automate everything you can, [learn how to hypertask](https://aaronlynn.com/ai/hypertasking/).)_ ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**2. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**3. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Turn Your Journal Into an AI Coach That Knows You https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/turn-your-journal-into-an-ai-coach/ ![Papercraft scene: a stack of folded paper journals on the left, pages lifting and unfolding through the air, reassembling into a small origami human figure of a coach on the right who gestures thoughtfully.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6261/journal-pages-fold-into-paper-coach.webp) _Fold years of journalling into a coach that talks back._{.center} ## 1. Build a Personal Coach From Your Own Journals Rightly or wrongly, a lot of people use AI as their life coach/therapist. Now look, I'm obviously not going to convince you that this is a bad idea... but if you have to do it, at least do it properly. Don't just go to ChatGPT or Gemini and start banging away your woes — you'll end up with a bunch of generic advice because the AI knows next to nothing about you. What you actually want to do is feed the AI your actual history. Take your [daily, weekly and monthly journal entries](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/journals/) — plus whatever notes you keep on your purpose, values and motivation — and load them into an AI's knowledge base. Now when you sit down for a review, you have a coach that challenges your assumptions and surfaces your blind spots based on your actual life history. There are two ways to easily do this. The simple route is a CustomGPT or Claude Project: export your journal, upload it as markdown files into knowledge, then interrogate your own patterns. I walk through the exact build in my [_Next Level Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/) course. The more powerful route is to use a harness like Claude Code and to give it access to your journal files on disk. No export, no upload — it reads your whole history from the raw files and it's always current. If you have your journal in a markdown format like Obsidian, this is super easy — just select the folder. If you live in [Bear](https://aaronlynn.com/go/bear/) or Apple Notes, grab an MCP and hook it up. The secret here isn't in clever prompting, it's in giving AI access to your own records and history, so that it has the right context to coach you. ## 2. AI Makes Us Productive Producers... Or Does It? You are [what you produce, not what you consume](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/production-vs-consumption/). This is age-old advice, and today's AI makes it that much harder to follow. AI makes producing cheaper and easier, sure. But it also makes consuming cheaper and easier too, and consuming is the seductive one: endless summaries, feeds, another round of "research" that's really just reading with extra steps. What many people have failed to realise is that production only counts if it's **meaningful**. AI has made starting something so easy that most people end up with a graveyard of half-finished projects. This usually happens one of two ways: 1. They start something and realise they never needed it in the first place. 2. They start something and it starts to get outside of their comfort zone and experience levels, so they walk away. A simple way to think about it is this: AI has largely solved coding syntax. But it hasn't solved architecture, deployment and scalability. A client recently had AI convince him to build a web app without a database because "just a JSON file holding thousands of rows of client data would be fine". Sure... AI made it sound like his CTO was wrong, and he lacked the technical experience to tell that the AI was wrong. And that's how the graveyard fills up. So don't produce less, but make sure you're producing things that matter and actually see them through. Pick projects you'll actually use, and be humble enough to know when you're out of your depth — and when the AI is out of its. ## 3. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**3. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### AI Just Gave You an Hour Back. Where Did It Go? https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/ai-just-gave-you-an-hour-back/ ![16-bit JRPG scene: a hero holding a glowing +1 HOUR reward item stands at a fork — one path leads to a cosy save-point inn to rest, the other back to an overflowing quest board — deciding, on purpose, where the saved time goes.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6249/jrpg-hero-plus-one-hour-fork-inn-or-questboard.webp) _You earned the extra hour. The quest board wants it straight back._{.center} Two sides of the same coin this week — the time AI gives you back, and the time you're already throwing away. ## 1. The Time AI Saves Defaults to More Work AI just handed you back an hour. So where did it go? If you're like most people, it went straight into more work. [New research from UC Berkeley](https://fortune.com/2026/02/10/ai-future-of-work-white-collar-employees-technology-productivity-burnout-research-uc-berkeley/) tracked 40 workers at a 200-person firm over eight months. AI raised their output and their task variety... then quietly ate the time it saved. One of them put it perfectly: _"you had thought that maybe... you can work less. But then really, you don't work less. You just work the same amount or even more."_ [Harvard Business Review](https://hbr.org/2025/05/research-gen-ai-makes-people-more-productive-and-less-motivated) also discovered that generative AI lifts your performance on the tasks it helps with... but leaves you less motivated and more bored with the tasks that it doesn't. Talk about a double whammy. So what can we do about this? The simple thing is to decide where the time that we've saved from using AI tools goes. Does it go to rest time? Does it go to another project? Does it go to learning/professional development time? I wrote about this long before AI existed in [Recovery Time](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/recovery-time/): you must build recovery into your daily, weekly and quarterly routines, so the time gets scheduled as rest instead of silently reabsorbed into work. The most important thing here: respect your recovery time. No more "just one more prompt". ## 2. Mine Your Gap Time The dead pockets in your day add up to far more than you think. The commute. The waiting room. The ten minutes between calls. The thirty seconds as the AI churns through a prompt. Individually they seem inconsequential. Together, they add up to tens of minutes or even hours a week. And what do most people do with this gap time? They reach for their phone. [And they scroll](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/filter-on-inputs/). The easiest way to get around this is to never leave it to chance what you will do when you have momentary gap time. Instead, keep a pre-decided list of small items you can start and finish in a couple of minutes, such as: - Dictating a rough draft of something, - Reading a summary of something, - Making a minor decision. The modern version: - Grab [AudioPen](https://aaronlynn.com/go/audiopen) and dictate some notes. - Use the Gemini function in YouTube to grab the summary of that video on your watch list. - Spin up a remote Claude Code session to make a small decision in a project. Now if you happen to be sitting there waiting for AI to work through a prompt — that's administrative work prime time: clear your emails, approve some tasks in ClickUp or tick off low-level busywork. I call this [hypertasking](https://aaronlynn.com/ai/hypertasking/). More in my full guide on [gap time](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/gap-time/). ## 3. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**3. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Stop Shopping for AI Models https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/stop-shopping-for-ai-models/ ![Isometric 3D scene of a craftsperson mastering one well-worn power tool at a tidy workbench while a conveyor belt of shiny identical new gadgets, one crate tagged NEW MODEL, rolls past ignored.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6236/isometric-mastered-tool-vs-conveyor-of-gadgets.webp) _He stopped opening the boxes months ago._{.center} ## 1. Stop Shopping for AI Models Every week someone asks me which model they should be using. Claude or ChatGPT? Gemini or Kimi or DeepSeek? Honestly, it barely matters anymore. The frontier models are all excellent, and for everyday work the differences are marginal and largely becoming a matter of preference. The real gap between two people isn't which model they are using. It's how good their tooling setup is and how well they can operate it. And by tooling, I am referring to the harnesses like Claude Code and Codex, the skills and the memory systems. The data backs this up. The [St. Louis Federal Reserve](https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2025/feb/impact-generative-ai-work-productivity) found that 33.5% of daily AI users saved 4+ hours a week, versus just 11.5% of once-a-week users. [Gallup](https://www.gallup.com/workplace/704225/rising-adoption-spurs-workforce-changes.aspx) found that 65% of people say AI helps them, but only 13% use it daily. The difference is largely in fluency and experience gained through usage, not through which model they are using. So stop model-shopping. If you do mostly non-coding work, grab Claude. If you do mostly coding work, grab ChatGPT Pro (Codex). If you vibecode, grab Claude. If you're a creative, maybe add Gemini on top. Then pour that saved time and energy into getting your harness, tooling and workflow set up. That's exactly what I cover in [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/) course. ## 2. Don't Delegate the Decision, Delegate the Shortlist Making a decision used to mean running the options in your head. "Running future projection", as psychologists call it. Which art direction? Which name? Which layout? You'd try to imagine each one, picture where it led, then make a decision. AI changes that. You can now very quickly turn each of those imagined options into previews you can actually look at and share with others. I ran into this recently with a client choosing the art direction for the imagery on their website. Instead of describing styles and imagining how they'd feel about each one, we just had AI mock up several directions — different styles, dropped straight onto the design — and compared them side by side. The AI generated the options, and a human narrowed them down and made the call. And that's just about the right split. AI is brilliant at prototyping a shortlist for you, but you remain the decider. It works for naming things, designing things, creating meal plans, planning travel, thinking through big purchases — anything where the hard part was imagining the alternatives. Don't delegate the decision. Delegate the shortlist. ## 3. Momentum Is Engineered, Not Waited For Most people treat momentum like the weather — something that arrives when conditions are right, and that you sit around waiting for. Except that it isn't. Momentum is, in fact, manufactured. The snowball only rolls once you start pushing it. So your whole job is making [that first small push to start the momentum](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/motivation/#hack-1-solar-flaring--just-five-minutes), no matter what kind of day it is. And again, here's where AI earns its keep. The hardest push is almost always the cold start: the blank page, the empty PowerPoint, the project you keep circling but never open. So don't start from blank. Have AI draft a first version, and then take over once it's moving. You're no longer starting, you're editing. And that's all there really is to building momentum. More on this in [The Virtue of Momentum](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/momentum/). ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI Agents Guide — $147 — /courses/ai-agents-guide/ --- ### AI Can Do. It Can't Think. https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/ai-can-do-it-cant-think/ ![C-3PO and R2-D2 busily producing work at holographic terminals while a calm, experienced human operator assesses their output — droids can do, only the human can think.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6234/star-wars-droids-working-human-operator-judging.webp) _These are not the droids you're looking for._{.center} I've reached the age where people ask me for career advice. From the younger people — what should they study? Which jobs should they apply for? What will their careers even look like in ten years? And from the parents — how do they prepare their children for a world where AI will be everywhere? My sister asked me when she was visiting last month how she should prepare her five-year-old. I've given this a lot of thought over the past couple of months. And the answer right now is this: AI can DO, but it can't THINK. Give a model a task and it will write, code, analyse, summarise and design at a speed and scale that no human can match. That raw ability to _do_ things has become cheap and universal. What AI can't do is _think_. It can't set the direction. It can't weigh a trade-off with any skin in the game. It doesn't even know that it's a pile of text files pretending to be a personality. It can't look at its own output and know, in its gut, that something is off. That part remains human. My favourite way to think about AI as it exists now in LLM form is to think about droids from Star Wars. They have vast amounts of technical knowledge, are great at performing complex and specific tasks, and sound confident in what they are doing. But you cannot trust them to make gut judgements. They don't know what "good" or "bad" actually looks like — they only know what "done" and "not done" look like. Judgement cannot come from a model. It comes from real-life experience. From having done the work, having made the calls, and having lived with the consequences enough times. So here's what I've been advising people who ask for career advice. AI is taking over entry-level work. That's real, and I won't pretend otherwise. But it isn't time to panic yet. You will never be able to out-type the machine, but you can out-experience it. Your number one goal is to accumulate the one thing that it cannot — real-life experience. Get your reps in. Take ownership of tasks, projects and real work outcomes. Do enough work to know [the difference between good and good enough](https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/ai-doesnt-know-what-good-looks-like-you-do/). And yes, a lot of this now is spending time assessing AI output. Over time, this experience is what is going to set you apart from others, and make AI _more_ valuable in your hands than in others. Someone still has to steer the AI, and to assess the output. And if you're mid-career, here's the good news: you already have the moat. Twenty years of calls, mistakes and consequences is exactly the thing the machine can't download. Are people going to lose their jobs? On merit? No. A good operator with AI is worth more than ever. The machine needs a skilled operator — it doesn't run itself. That isn't the risk. The real risk is short-sightedness in management and leadership. Unfortunately there are business leaders out there who have decided to cut experienced people from their teams because a $200 Claude plan is cheaper... only to discover six months later that someone still needs to operate that $200 Claude plan. And if it happens to you, you can take heart knowing it's a failure of management judgement, and not a true assessment of your worth. The practical implication of this for younger people in or entering the workforce: [take whatever opportunities you can get](https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/opportunity-matters-more-than-merit/). Experience is the most important thing right now. And yes, some of the opportunities won't let you post on Instagram about your fabulous Starbucks-fuelled office life, or your cool remote-work-from-nature setup, or whatever else it is that constitutes bragging on social media nowadays. Just remember that it isn't just you or your generation, it's always been this way for young people entering the workforce. You take what you can get, and work your way up on your merits. Now, for my sister's five-year-old. If AI research continues down its current path with bigger and better large language models, then not much will change. _(If we have a breakthrough in AI from a different perspective then we will likely reach AGI and the singularity and that's a whole other discussion.)_ My sister is of the opinion that the child should stick to AI-proof industries, and in Australia those are mostly healthcare and trades. Fair enough. I actually told her that the most important skill to teach them is critical thinking. Technologies change. AI will change. Industries change. But critical thinking is invaluable no matter what they do. Critical thinking is the ability to think, to judge, to assess. To tell good from bad, and to step up and take responsibility for the outcome if it goes wrong. By the time her five-year-old enters the workforce, we will probably have JARVIS-level AI assistants or full-on walking-talking robots like C-3PO from Star Wars. They'll both be able to DO anything, but they still won't be able to THINK anything. ## Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**2. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**3. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. [**4. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**5. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### Hypertasking: Same Hours, 3-5x Output https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/hypertasking-same-hours-3-5x-output/ ![16-bit pixel art of a triumphant worker at a three-monitor arcade-stage workstation, finished tasks floating up like defeated enemies beneath a near-full productivity meter](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6084/hypertasking-arcade-workstation-pixel-art.webp) _HYPERTASKER vs. BACKLOG. K.O._{.center} ## 1. Hypertasking — The New Way of Working A few weeks ago I teased the idea of "no XP waste" — filling the gaps between AI prompts with actual work instead of scrolling Instagram. The [full article on hypertasking](https://aaronlynn.com/ai/hypertasking/) is now live. Here's the short version. The system runs on three segments. First thing in the morning, you do your deep focus work — no AI, no distractions. Thinking, writing, strategy. The stuff that requires your full brain. Second, once that window closes, you shift into AI-assisted work for the bulk of the day — prompting, delegating, letting it run. And in the gaps while AI processes? That's where you clear the low-level switchable tasks. Emails, admin, calls, errands. The things that don't require deep thought but still need doing. People running this are getting 3-5x more done. Not because AI does everything — because they stop wasting the 2-10 minute gaps between prompts. ## 2. "Isn't This Just Multitasking?" No. Multitasking is still bad. The research hasn't changed. But hypertasking is structurally different. You switch at self-initiated break points — AI doesn't interrupt you. The AI handles the heavy cognitive lifting, so you're not holding two complex thought processes in your head at once. You're delegating, not being interrupted. You choose when to check on your AI agents, not the other way around. And when you do switch, it's to low-effort tasks — you're never juggling four deep focus items simultaneously. The research backs this up. Salvucci and Taatgen (2008) call it "threaded cognition" — humans can manage concurrent tasks when those tasks draw on different cognitive resources. Delegation uses one resource, admin uses another, and AI handles execution. That said, you WILL still experience some multitasking downsides. Which is exactly why this next part matters. ## 3. The Cognitive Toll Is Real — And the Window Won't Last You're putting out 3-5x what you did before. Your brain is switching contexts, reviewing output, giving feedback, re-prompting — all day. The non-negotiables are simple but strict. Work in [timeslices](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/) — 37 minutes on, 8 minutes off. Get up and move. Protect at least an hour of genuine downtime every night, and take half a day off per week. Sleep, exercise, nutrition — four coffees is not a meal plan. And know when to slow down. Hypertasking is a systems tool, not a religion. One more thing worth noting: AI currently has the value of a $250,000/year employee for $100-200/month. That won't last. Maximise your usage now while it's practically free. [Full article here.](https://aaronlynn.com/ai/hypertasking/) If your productivity fundamentals need work first, grab [Next Level Productivity](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/). ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Stop Fixing One Thing at a Time https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/stop-fixing-one-thing-at-a-time/ ![Anime-style office worker holding an unfurled checklist scroll while several glowing translucent AI clones each tackle a different task in parallel around them.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6201/anime-office-worker-checklist-parallel-ai-clones.webp) _List out the issues, then let the AI get to work._{.center} This newsletter is all about the subtle mindset shifts that are taking place as AI becomes more embedded in our daily work. ## 1. Longer Review Sessions and Writing Everything Down First The instinct when working with AI is to find a problem, prompt a fix, wait, review, then move to the next one. This is sequential. One at a time. And this is the slowest way to use AI. What's better? No fixing as you go along. When you review something, document every issue, problem, bug, inconsistency, edge case in a single markdown list before touching any of them. No fixing as you go along, just capturing. Then hand the full list to the AI in one go. The AI will come up with a better plan as it can see which issues have the same root causes, and then fix them all at once. Practical rule: no fixing until everything is written down. The compound benefit of the full picture is worth the longer review time. ## 2. Running Multiple Intelligences in Parallel Once everything is documented, the next question changes. Instead of _"what do I fix next?"_ it becomes _"which of these can run at the same time?"_ That shift — sequential to parallel — is the single biggest productivity multiplier available with AI right now. Anything with no dependency on another task should run simultaneously. An orchestrator layer coordinates, individual agents execute. This DOES NOT mean having multiple chat windows open. What this actually means: You start one AI session and feed it your issues document, then tell it to create a plan that handles collisions and dependencies, then to execute that plan using as many backgrounded subagents in parallel as possible. I restructured my own workflow this way recently and estimate that clearing an issues list went from 1 week to 1 day. The bottleneck has shifted from "how fast can I prompt individual fixes" to "how fast can I review all the fixes that the AI is implementing simultaneously". That's the new mindset and skill: **Knowing how to instruct the AI to break work apart, plan it and manage it so it can run in parallel.** I cover further aspects of this in [The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/) course. ## 3. Verbum Verto — AI as a Universal Transformer Before code, you couldn't manipulate data at scale. Spreadsheets and programming gave us the ability to transform numbers, sort records, and run calculations — things that were impossibly tedious by hand. AI does the same thing for natural language. Paste a podcast transcript, get a bullet-point summary with action items. Paste a long email thread, get a decision log. Paste raw meeting notes, get a formatted brief for someone who wasn't there. Paste a blog post, get social media posts in your voice. Most people are still at the "calculator and Google" stage, asking AI to write things or answer questions. They haven't made the leap that AI is a universal format converter for language, the same way code became a universal format converter for data. Next time you have text in one format and need it in another, don't rewrite it. Transform it. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI Agents Guide — $147 — /courses/ai-agents-guide/ --- ### Your AI Gets Worse the Longer You Talk to It https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/your-ai-gets-worse-the-longer-you-talk-to-it/ ![16-bit pixel-art RPG scene: an exhausted, glitching hero with a near-empty HP bar on the left, a glowing save-point crystal tagged HANDOFF.md in the centre, and the same hero restored with a full HP bar striding into a fresh level on the right.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6199/ai-session-degrades-handoff-fresh-start.webp) _Your AI doesn't level up the longer you play. It quietly forgets the quest._{.center} ## 1. Start Fresh Most people leave AI sessions running far too long. It really... irks me when I see people in the Claude app have dozens of sessions dating back weeks and then going back to them because "that's where I was working on the project last..." As AI conversations stretch on, token usage climbs, the AI starts repeating itself, missing instructions, or hallucinating details it was getting right an hour ago. That's the nature of AI. Autocompact is supposed to help, but in practice, it's unreliable — and it quietly drops context you actually needed. The fix is intentional session hygiene. For long sessions, keep an eye on how much of your context window is used. When you hit about 70%, ask the AI to create a `HANDOFF.md` file — a structured document that captures everything from the session: what the goal is, what's been done, what worked, what didn't, and what's left to do. This also applies to if you're finishing up for the day. Then exit the session, start a fresh one, point it at the handoff file, and tell it to continue. OR better yet, use a dedicated `/handoff` skill so the process is one command. The AI reads the conversation, writes the handoff, and tells you the file path. Fresh session, full context window, no degradation. ## 2. The Handoff Skill So how do you actually build a `/handoff` skill? You don't. You steal an existing one, like mine: ````markdown --- name: handoff description: Use when the user wants to create or update a handoff document for continuing work in a fresh conversation, or when saying "handoff", "hand off", "save context for next session", or "write a handoff". --- # Handoff Write or update a handoff document so the next agent with fresh context can continue the current work. ## Process ```mermaid flowchart TD A(["User invokes /handoff"]) --> B{"HANDOFF*.md exists?"} B -- yes --> C["Read existing HANDOFF*.md"] B -- no --> D["Gather context from conversation"] C --> E{"Related to current work?"} E -- yes --> D E -- no --> D D --> F{"Related or new?"} F -- "related" --> G["Update existing HANDOFF.md"] F -- "new" --> H["Create HANDOFF-N.md"] G --> I["Tell user the file path"] H --> I I --> J(["Done"]) ``` ### Step 1: Check for existing handoff documents Glob for `HANDOFF*.md` in the project root. If any exist, read them. ### Step 2: Determine related or new If an existing `HANDOFF.md` (or `HANDOFF-N.md`) covers the same goal or work area as the current conversation, update that file. If the existing handoff is completely unrelated, create a new file with the next increment: - No existing file: `HANDOFF.md` - Existing `HANDOFF.md` is unrelated: `HANDOFF-2.md` - Existing `HANDOFF.md` and `HANDOFF-2.md` are unrelated: `HANDOFF-3.md` ### Step 3: Gather context Review the current conversation to understand: - What the overall goal is. - What has been accomplished. - What approaches worked and which failed. - What remains to be done. ### Step 4: Write the handoff document Create or update the handoff file with these sections: ```markdown # Handoff ## Goal What we're trying to accomplish. Be specific enough that a fresh agent can understand the objective without prior context. ## Current Progress What's been done so far. Reference specific files, commits, or changes made. ## What Worked Approaches and decisions that succeeded. Include enough detail to preserve useful context. ## What Didn't Work Approaches that failed and why. This prevents the next agent from repeating dead ends. ## Next Steps Clear, actionable items for continuing. Order by priority. Be specific — file paths, function names, concrete tasks. ``` **Writing guidelines:** - Write for an agent with zero prior context. - Be concrete: file paths, function names, commit hashes, not vague descriptions. - Keep "What Didn't Work" honest — include the reasoning for why it failed, not just that it did. - Next Steps should be actionable without re-reading the entire codebase. - If updating an existing handoff, preserve relevant history from prior sections and mark what's new. ### Step 5: Confirm Tell the user the absolute file path so they can start a fresh conversation with: > Handoff written to `/path/to/project/HANDOFF.md`. Start a new conversation and point the agent at that file to continue. ```` You can either save it in your `.claude/skills/` folder (or equivalent) as handoff/SKILL.md or ask Claude Code to set it up for you. One command, clean break, no lost context. ## 3. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### The Best Thing to Happen to AI https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/the-best-thing-to-happen-to-ai/ ![A handcrafted miniature diorama of a tiny desk and figure surrounded by small labelled drawers holding tiny paper scrolls, with one glowing scroll hovering above an open drawer, representing stored AI skills.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6197/ai-skills-workflow-diorama.webp) _A whole workflow in a shoebox (errr skillbox)._{.center} One of the best developments out of AI in the past year has been skills. These are commands that you call on inside AI harnesses like Claude Code or Codex, and to a lesser degree Claude Cowork. At the simplest level, a skill is a pre-written prompt. You write it once, save it as a markdown file, then call it with a slash command — `/skill-name` — and the AI runs the entire prompt for you. No more copy-pasting long instructions into chat windows. But skills go further than saved prompts. You can bundle Python scripts, JavaScript, JSON schemas and other technical files alongside the markdown, turning what would be a loose AI prompt into a deterministic, repeatable process. For example, bundling a Python script that calls an image generation API so you can pass in exact parameters like resolution and output format reliably every time. Skills can also be configured to accept what's known as arguments — information, file references or other inputs that tell the skill to consume the input and use it while running the prompt. You have likely already seen the skills pre-installed in your Claude Code or Codex setup. And you've probably seen people share them online via GitHub links. When you see a skill on Github that you want to try, you don't need to install it yourself — that's the old way. The AI-age way: paste the Github link into Claude Code and ask it to security-scan it, then install it for you. Skills can be installed at three scopes: 1. User scope makes the skill available computer-wide across every project. 2. Project scope locks it to a specific folder. 3. Local project scope keeps it in the project but only for you, which is useful on shared folders. If you'll use it across many projects, install it at user scope. If it's specific to one project, install it at project scope. Local project scope is really only if you have a lot of people working on the same shared project. Another mindset shift is that you should not be writing skills by hand. Instead, ask the AI to create skills for you. Describe what you want the skill to do, provide any constraints, and let it generate the markdown file and any bundled scripts. I recommend using the [Superpowers plugin](https://claude.com/plugins/superpowers) and the `/writing-skills` command — it walks through skill creation step by step, handles the frontmatter, and tests the result. _Bonus: My favourite skill right now is `/brainstorming`, also from Superpowers. It was originally designed for developers thinking through app features, but it works for EVERYTHING._ You can use it for development, for creative work, for problem solving, and even for creating new skills. ## Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI Agents Guide — $147 — /courses/ai-agents-guide/ --- ### 275 Interruptions a Day. And You Wonder Why Nothing Gets Done https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/275-interruptions-a-day-and-you-wonder-why-nothing-gets-done/ ![16-bit pixel-art video game scene of an office worker at a desk clutching a clock with a nearly empty health bar, swarmed by winged notification bells and cartoon enemy sprites — an angry calendar, a phone, envelopes, and a shouting boss — under a HUD reading FOCUS 003 and INTERRUPTS 275.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6180/office-interruptions-pixel-art-battle.webp) _Level 1: Answer Email. GAME OVER._{.center} ## 1. The Two-Minute Interrupt Loop The average knowledge worker is [interrupted every two minutes](https://speakwiseapp.com/blog/knowledge-worker-productivity-statistics) during core hours. That's roughly 275 interruptions a day. Each one costs 23 minutes and 15 seconds to recover deep focus. Do the mathematics: You're still recovering from the last interruption when the next one arrives. Remote workers get 22.75 hours of deep focus per week versus 18.6 for office workers. An extra half-day of real work, every week. The fix is treating interruptions as a finite resource. [Batch](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/batching/) your tasks and availability windows. Protect the hours that matter and let everything else queue. ## 2. AI Slippage There's a pattern showing up in teams that I cover in [_The AI Playbook_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/). Someone dislikes a task. They type _"generate me X"_ with zero context. They paste the output without reading it. Standards drop, and nobody says anything because _"the AI did it."_ This is a performance problem wearing an AI mask. The progression is always the same: task avoidance, lazy prompting, unreviewed output, and declining work quality. **AI-assisted is not AI-replaced — you still own the output.** The quality standard doesn't change because a machine wrote the first draft. If you're managing a team, watch for generic outputs with no review trail, and address it as you would any other performance conversation. ## 3. Nobody Can Plan Past Tuesday I keep hearing the same line from clients: _"Just ask me the week before."_ Five-day planning horizons. No commitment beyond what's immediately in front of them. And AI is making it worse — if you can generate output on-demand... why bother planning at all? Because planning was never about execution speed, it was always about priorities. AI makes everything fast, but it doesn't tell you what's worth doing. Try a weekly 15-minute planning ritual with a [30-day lookahead](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/journals/). Force yourself to think past next Monday. The ability to hold a month-long horizon in your head is even more of a genuine competitive advantage in the age of AI. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### You're Busy Every Day. But Nothing Moves https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/youre-busy-every-day-but-nothing-moves/ ![A tilt-shift miniature photo of a crowded open-plan office in full swing — dozens of people busy at cubicles, papers and paper planes in the air, a clock on the wall — while one overwhelmed man sits alone in a glass side office holding his head.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6148/busy-open-plan-office-tilt-shift.webp) _Maximum motion, minimum movement — the busiest office in the building still shipped nothing._{.center} ## 1. Scaling Bad Habits There's a version of productivity that feels incredible and yet produces nothing. You know it when you see it. The new folder structure. The automation that chains three tools together. The prompt library you'll "definitely use next week." Every day is full. Every task is demanding. And at the end of the month, nothing has reached the outside world. This is the productivity porn trap dressed up as deep work. It scratches the same itch — it's measurable, it's complex, it requires focus. But it has no audience. Nobody benefits from your fifth workflow automation until you've actually run the workflow it supports. Don't fall for the trap. ## 2. Ship First, Sharpen Saturday AI makes this worse. Harness-based AI tools like Codex and Claude Code are so capable at infrastructure work that you can burn entire days building custom skills, automation chains, and prompt libraries for processes that don't exist outside your head yet. The fix isn't to stop sharpening the saw. It's to put it on a cadence. Ship first. Then sharpen at the end of a project, or once a week on a Saturday. Not every day, and never in the middle of delivering something. ## 3. Agentic AI Without the Jargon There are [four agentic design patterns](https://www.stackai.com/blog/the-2026-guide-to-agentic-workflow-architectures) — reflection, tool use, planning, multi-agent. Most business AI workflows already use at least two of them without anyone realising. You don't need to understand what a "reflection loop" is to manage an agentic workflow. You need three questions: 1. What does the agent receive? 2. What does it produce? 3. What happens when it fails? I cover how to go from a theoretical agentic design pattern to actual workflows in [_The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/). ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI Agents Guide — $147 — /courses/ai-agents-guide/ --- ### AI Is a Multiplier. Make Sure It's Multiplying the Right Thing https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/ai-is-a-multiplier-make-sure-its-multiplying-the-right-thing/ ![A cork-board collage of torn paper, sticky notes, and hand-drawn wireframes surrounding a small central photo of hands typing on a laptop, mapping the messy multi-step process of building an app with AI.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6149/app-build-lifecycle-collage.webp) _Turns out there's more to shipping than just prompting AI._{.center} ## 1. The Productivity Formula There's a simple formula I keep coming back to: **Productivity = Resources x Leverage − Obstacles.** Resources are your time, energy, skills, and money. Obstacles are everything in the way — broken systems, unclear priorities, bad habits, missing information. And leverage is the thing that multiplies what your resources can produce. AI fits into one slot in that formula: Leverage. That's it. If your base resources are scattered and your obstacles are stacked high, AI just multiplies the dysfunction. Faster emails don't help if you're emailing the wrong people. Automated reports don't help if nobody reads them. Before adding AI to any workflow, ask one question: _"What obstacle exists here?"_ Remove the obstacle first. Then add the leverage. More on how in my [productivity stack guide](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/productivity-stack/). ## 2. The Disappearing Ladder Worried about AI taking your job? Don't be. [MIT and NBER tracked 25,000 workers](https://www.axios.com/2026/04/02/ai-jobs-mit-study-workforce-impact) across 7,000 workplaces and found zero effect on earnings or hours worked. For established professionals, AI is a rising tide. The real threat is quieter. [Entry-level tech postings are down up to 67%](https://fortune.com/2026/04/29/ai-agentic-entry-level-jobs-disappearing-yale-celi-sonnenfeld/). [39% of business leaders](https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/the-real-job-destruction-from-ai-is-hitting-before-careers-can-start) have already reduced entry-level hiring because of AI. The ladder is disappearing. Not from the top, but from the bottom. If you're a business owner, this is a planning problem with no clear solution at the moment. **Who's in your talent pipeline in three years?** Who are you promoting? Where do your future senior hires get the judgment and experience that entry-level roles used to build? ## 3. One Night Build, Three Days Polish Building an app overnight with AI is the easy part. Speccing it out beforehand — what it should do, how it should look, what edge cases to handle — that still takes time. And getting from "it works on my machine" to something you'd actually ship? User testing, design tweaks, copy changes, edge-case fixes. More days. The build itself? A few hours with the right harness setup. This is why I still chuckle every time a non-technical person tells me that they "built an app" using one prompt in Claude Code. AI can easily generate as much code as you ask it for. But the human judgment on either side of it — specifying what to build and deciding when it's done — is where the real time and experience actually goes. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### AI Is the Best Procrastination Tool Ever Invented https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/ai-is-the-best-procrastination-tool-ever-invented/ ![16-bit side-scrolling platformer scene where a business-casual hero runs past four half-built structures marked 12%, 34%, 7% and 41% completion toward a glowing new foundation on the right, with a HUD reading NEW GAME+ and PROJECTS: 47.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6159/pixel-art-platformer-unfinished-projects.webp) _Starting a new game, yet again._{.center} ## 1. The World's Most Productive Procrastination Tool AI is the best procrastination tool ever invented. Not because it wastes your time — because it lets you start things you were always going to abandon. New app idea at 11pm? Prototype running by midnight. Side project you've been "meaning to get to"? Scaffolded in an hour. Everyone hardcore into AI right now has a graveyard of half-built apps and dashboards that all started with AI-assisted excitement and stalled once the work stopped being novel. The barrier to starting has collapsed. The barrier to finishing hasn't moved an inch. Before you spin up the next AI-assisted project, define the finish line. Not _"build an app"_, but what does **done** actually look like, specifically? If you can't answer that in one sentence, don't start the project. ## 2. The Process Nobody Wants to Do Here's a stat worth sitting with: [79% of enterprises face AI adoption challenges](https://writer.com/blog/enterprise-ai-adoption-2026/) despite investing over $1M annually. Only 29% report significant ROI. Why? Because most companies are bolting AI onto broken manual processes. Automating a 10-step workflow that should be 3 steps just gives you a faster broken workflow. The fix isn't more AI. It's re-engineering first. From [_The AI Playbook_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/), the framework is four decisions applied to every step: eliminate, simplify, standardise, automate — in that order. You ask _"is this step necessary at all?"_ before you ever ask _"can AI do this step?"_ The CEO's (or COO's) job is that second step — the strategic decision-making. Not doing the re-engineering themselves, and not skipping it entirely. AI handles the mapping and documentation. The human decides what goes, what stays, and what gets automated. ## 3. Before and After My newsletter production process used to take roughly 10 hours end to end. Research, outline, draft, edit, format, schedule, distribute. After running the eliminate-simplify-standardise-automate framework across each step, it now takes about an hour. Not because AI can write newsletters, but because I eliminated steps that didn't need to exist, simplified the ones that did, standardised the repeatable parts, and only then automated what was left. That's a 90% reduction, and the output quality is better. Most businesses never get there because they jump straight to "automate" without doing the uncomfortable work of eliminating first. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### 95% of AI Pilots Fail. The Other 5% Do This https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/95-percent-of-ai-pilots-fail-the-other-5-percent-do-this/ ![16-bit pixel art of an open-plan office where four workers panic at error-filled screens under red exclamation and question marks, while a fifth worker sits calmly with a green checkmark, a glowing scroll and a clean dashboard beside a READ BRIEF? game prompt.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6147/pixel-art-office-read-brief-tutorial.webp) _95% of players skip the tutorial. Then blame the game._{.center} ## 1. The Productivity Paradox Is Back Companies have poured [$35–40 billion into AI](https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/most-companies-saw-zero-return-on-ai-investments/496144) and 95% have seen zero measurable return. Sounds damning. But we've been here before. In the 1970s–90s, computing power exploded while measured productivity flatlined for two decades. Economists called it the Solow paradox — _"You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics."_ Then organisations restructured around the technology, and the gains appeared all at once. Same thing is happening with AI. The gains are real — they're just not showing up where executives are looking. If you ask a skilled frontline employee whether AI has made them faster, you'll get a different answer entirely. AI should absolutely be speeding up your workflow right now. If it's not, that's a [skill problem](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/). ## 2. Context Engineering Beats Prompt Engineering Most people type a random request into an AI, get a mediocre answer, and conclude that the tool isn't that useful. The problem isn't the model. It's what you're feeding it. Context engineering means giving AI everything it needs before you ask your question — role, constraints, tone, examples, format expectations. You build this structured context once and reuse it across every session. It's the difference between handing a new staff member a blank piece of paper and handing them a detailed brief. Few-shot prompting — where you include examples of what good output looks like — consistently outperforms instruction-only prompting. Not by a little, but by a lot. This is what separates power users from casual ones. Not the model they pick, but what context they provide. ## 3. The XML Template You Build Once So how do you actually do context engineering in practice? You build a reusable prompt template. I teach an XML structure in my [_ChatGPT for Managers_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/) course that looks like this: ``` You are a [specific expert] [Background, constraints, current situation] [1-2 examples of ideal output] [What you actually want done] [How you want the output structured] ``` Build it once. Save it somewhere accessible. Paste it at the start of every new session. The five minutes it takes to set this up saves you hours of back-and-forth with a model that doesn't know who you are, what you want, or what good looks like. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Stop Trying to Keep Up With AI Every Day https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/stop-trying-to-keep-up-with-ai-every-day/ ![Pop art comic illustration of a man relaxing in an armchair with a coffee, reading a tablet inside a box labelled SATURDAY that neatly contains AI news speech bubbles reading MODEL, UPDATE, TOOL and NEWS, while chaotic smaller bubbles float ignored outside the box.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6106/saturday-morning-ai-catch-up-pop-art.webp) _One coffee, one hour, and the whole week of AI news is handled._{.center} ## 1. Don't Try to Keep Up Daily There's a lot happening in AI. Every day. New models, new tools, new workflows, new drama. Don't try to keep up with it daily. You'll never get any work done. Here's what I do instead: I block out 1-2 hours every Saturday morning. That's my AI catch-up window. I have a skill that summarises the articles and links I've been sent during the week. I go through that, review my own observations from using AI at work, and tweak my processes. Then I close the tab and get on with my weekend. The key is capping the time. AI news is infinite. Your attention isn't. A weekly batch is enough to stay current without drowning. If something truly game-changing drops mid-week, you'll hear about it. Trust that. For everything else, Saturday morning is soon enough. ## 2. Locus of Control There's a psychological concept called [locus of control](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/locus-of-control/). People with an internal locus believe they influence outcomes. External locus types believe life happens to them. Internal locus correlates with better career outcomes, health decisions, and general life satisfaction. You're more likely to act when you believe action matters. Here's the AI angle: **AI expands your internal locus of control into areas previously outside your individual capacity.** Tasks you couldn't do alone — build an app, analyse a dataset, create professional designs — you now can. The boundary of "things I can personally control" just got wider. This isn't about saving time. It's about expanding what you can personally make happen. The people thriving with AI aren't using it to work less. They're using it to reach further. More domains. More capability. More control over outcomes that used to require hiring someone else. ## 3. The Reactionary Trap There's a difference between being reactive to incoming requests and having a system that absorbs those requests and schedules them properly. Reactive mode feels productive. You're responding. Helping. Clearing things. But you're letting others set your priorities. The fix is a capture system that queues requests for review — not immediate action. Everything goes into the inbox. You process it on your schedule. You decide what gets done and when. With AI, this gets even more powerful. AI is brilliant at ingesting incoming requests, pre-processing them, summarising what matters, and surfacing what you need when you need it. No reaction required. You decide when to engage. Section 1 was about this applied to AI news. Same principle applies to everything: emails, Slack messages, support tickets, ideas. Capture. Queue. Process on your terms. That's how you stay proactive in a reactive world. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Grey Zone Is Where Productivity Goes to Die https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/the-grey-zone-is-where-productivity-goes-to-die/ ![Flat illustration of two climbers in a canyon: one in a blue suit ascending rapidly on a glowing teal AI-powered device, the other in grey climbing manually with a rope and chalk.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6108/two-climbers-canyon-ai-jetpack-vs-manual.webp) _Same canyon, same cliff — one of them just brought a rocket._{.center} ## 1. The Grey Zone Half-working. Half-resting. Doing neither well. That's the grey zone. You're scrolling your phone while "thinking about work." You're at your desk but watching YouTube. You're technically available but not actually engaged. The grey zone produces low output _and_ poor recovery. It's the worst of both worlds. The fix is simple but requires discipline: **either go full focus or fully switch off.** Quality work or quality rest. Never both at once. This gets confusing with AI, by the way. AI can produce high-quality output while you're not really paying attention. You fire off a prompt, it churns away, and you drift into half-checking your phone. But you still need to review what it produces. And if your brain is in grey-zone mode, you'll miss things. Even with AI, it's all about focusing on one task at a time — or [hypertasking](https://aaronlynn.com/ai/hypertasking/) if you know how. If you catch yourself in the grey zone, consciously pick one mode. Work or rest. Commit fully. Then switch cleanly. ## 2. The AI Elite vs AI Laggards New research from Writer surveyed 2,400 executives and employees on AI usage patterns. The gap is getting wider. AI super-users save **9 hours per week**. Laggards save 2 hours. That's a 4.5x productivity gap between people with access to the same tools. Super-users are 5x more productive and 3x more likely to be promoted. Here's the uncomfortable part: 92% of C-suite executives are actively cultivating this elite class. And 60% plan layoffs for non-adopters. What separates a super-user from a laggard isn't the tools they have access to. It's the investment in learning how to use them properly. The prompting. The context engineering. The workflow integration. If you're still casually chatting with ChatGPT instead of building real AI workflows, you're falling behind. ## 3. You Must Pay the Price Somewhere Every productivity gain has a cost somewhere else in the system. AI doesn't eliminate work — it shifts it. You save time on drafting but spend more on prompting and reviewing. You automate research but now need to verify hallucinations. You generate code faster but debugging takes longer because you didn't write it yourself. The "free lunch" narrative is misleading. This doesn't mean AI isn't worth it. The trades are usually favourable. But before you celebrate the gain, ask: **what's the new cost I'm now paying?** Time saved on output often becomes time spent on input and quality control. The AI elite from Section 2? They've learned to pay those costs efficiently. They have systems for prompting, reviewing, and verifying. They don't treat AI as magic — they treat it as a tool with known trade-offs. Know the price. Pay it deliberately. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### I Woke Up Exhausted. Still Got Everything Done https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/i-woke-up-exhausted-still-got-everything-done/ ![A chrome robotic hand passing a manila file folder labelled 'HANDOFF.md' to a human hand across a dark wooden desk, lit by a warm glow from the folder.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6118/robot-hand-passing-handoff-md-folder-to-human.webp) _Everything the AI forgot overnight, handed back in a single folder._{.center} ## 1. Focus and Energy Aren't the Same Thing I recently had a rough health month. Interrupted sleep patterns. Food poisoning courtesy of Southern Thailand. The works. And yet — every morning I woke up, I was motivated to get things done. Even when my energy was a 1 or 2 out of 10, my focus was consistently a 4 or 5. I sat down. Connected with why I was doing the work. And got to it. This happens when you have a strong [purpose](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/purpose/), clear [values](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/core-values/), and aligned goals. Energy fluctuates. Focus doesn't have to. The trick is separating the two in your head. "I'm tired" doesn't automatically mean "I can't concentrate." Often you can — you just need to give yourself permission to work slower. Worst case? Keep a backup set of low-energy, low-focus tasks ready. Admin. Filing. Light reading. If you really can't push through, at least you're not staring at a blank wall. But most days, you'll surprise yourself. ## 2. LLMs Have Anterograde Amnesia Here's something most people don't think about: LLMs can't form new long-term memories. Every session starts fresh. Unlike a human employee who gradually builds deep understanding of your business over time, your AI resets to zero every conversation. It's like working with someone who has anterograde amnesia — they can be brilliant in the moment, but they won't remember yesterday's meeting. This is why humans won't be fully replaced anytime soon. But it's also why **context engineering** — giving AI the right memory each session — is what separates power users from casual ones. The AI isn't learning your business. You're teaching it fresh every time. The better your systems for delivering that context, the better your results. Some people are trying to solve this with memory systems. Tools like Openclaw. GitHub repos full of experimental solutions. You can even ask Claude to build a simple memory system for you. But for now? The real skill is getting good at the handoff. Every session. Every time. ## 3. The Context Handoff Section 2 was the theory. Here's the practice. Build a system that lets you rapidly inject context at the start of every AI session. I use a combination of: - A `CLAUDE.md` file in every project folder — AI reads this automatically - Template prompts that include my goals, constraints, and current status - Saved conversation context I can paste in when continuing multi-session work The goal is to get AI back up to speed in under 60 seconds. It's extra work. But until AI develops genuine long-term memory, this is the price of using it well. More on context engineering in [_my Claude Code course_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/). ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Your AI Just Hit Its Limit. Now What? https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/your-ai-just-hit-its-limit-now-what/ ![Retro-styled vintage travel poster showing a suited man in a fedora striding away from an old computer displaying 'LIMIT REACHED' toward a sunlit scene of books, a notepad, and coffee, under a banner reading 'When AI takes a break!'](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6145/vintage-travel-poster-ai-limit-reached-analogue-backup.webp) _When the AI clocks out, the analogue tools clock in._{.center} ## 1. When Your AI Goes Down I burned through my entire 5-hour Opus 4.6 allocation last week. On a Tuesday. By 2pm. Two business documents. That's all it took. And it gets worse. Even when the model was available, it started ignoring context I'd fed it, hallucinating responses, and at one point returned something that looked like it had been machine-translated through three languages. Anthropic's forums are full of similar complaints. Usage limits running dry faster than ever. Model quality degrading mid-session. The people who've built their workflows around AI are discovering what happens when the infrastructure gets wobbly. Here's the uncomfortable truth: **if your main AI-dependent task gets blocked, there needs to be something meaningful ready to absorb that time.** Not busywork. Real work. Have a backup AI ready. I've found [Codex](https://openai.com/codex) (OpenAI's terminal offering) is just as capable — you just need to be more explicit with your prompts. And keep a running list of high-value tasks that don't require AI at all. When the limits hit, you switch tracks immediately. AI downtime is no longer an edge case. It's a planning variable. ## 2. AI Intensifies Work — It Doesn't Reduce It New research from Harvard Business Review tracked ~200 workers at a US tech company over eight months. The finding? AI tools consistently _intensified_ work rather than reduced it. Workers took on broader task scopes. They prompted AI during lunch breaks. They ran more things in parallel. All voluntarily. The result: more cognitive load, workload creep, and eventual burnout risk. The key quote from the study: _"You had thought that maybe because you could be more productive with AI, you save some time, you can work less. But really, you don't work less."_ The risk isn't underusing AI. It's letting it quietly expand your workload without boundaries. The fix is good old-fashioned productivity fundamentals. [Time management](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/time-management-stack/). Energy tracking. Hard limits on work hours. AI is a force multiplier — but it multiplies whatever you point it at, including your tendency to overwork. ## 3. The Backup Plan Is the Plan Tip 1 was about AI going down. Tip 2 was about AI making you do more. Both lead to the same place: **you need boundaries and fallbacks.** I keep a simple list in my task manager called "AI Down" — tasks that are valuable but don't require AI. Strategic thinking. Reading. Planning sessions. Offline writing. When Claude hits its limit or starts hallucinating, I don't scramble. I switch modes. The goal isn't to be AI-dependent. It's to be AI-augmented with a resilient base underneath. Build that base now, while things are working. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### AI Doesn't Know What "Good" Looks Like. You Do https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/ai-doesnt-know-what-good-looks-like-you-do/ ![Tilt-shift diorama of a handmade miniature office with two desks: on the left a calm figure reviews neat papers beside an organised filing cabinet, on the right a frazzled figure faces scattered papers and empty drawers, with 'CLAUDE.md' written on a small whiteboard on the dividing wall.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6075/diorama-two-office-desks-claude-md.webp) _Same tools. Different filing systems. Guess which one has CLAUDE.md._{.center} ## 1. Know What "Good" Looks Like Before You Prompt You can't direct AI if you don't know what a good result looks like. A marketing director who's written hundreds of campaigns will get great copy from AI. A random person prompting for "marketing emails" will get generic slop. The AI doesn't know the difference — you do. The "anyone can do anything with AI" narrative is dangerous. AI doesn't replace [expertise](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/talent-stacks-specific-knowledge/). It amplifies it. Domain knowledge + AI skills is the winning combination in 2026. One without the other leaves value on the table. Worried about AI taking your job? Your advantage is you know what the output is supposed to look like. Be the person who directs the AI, not the person the AI replaces. ## 2. Build a Memory System for Your AI Harness Every time you start a new conversation in your AI harness, you lose all context. You're back to square one explaining who you are, what your business does, and how you like things done. It's like hiring a new temp every single day. Fix this by building a memory system in your project folder: 1. Create a `CLAUDE.md` file (or `AGENTS.md` for Codex/OpenCode) in your project folder with your preferences, context, and how you work. 2. Add your style guides and templates. Link them from the main file so the AI references them automatically. 3. Add your [SOPs](https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) and process documents the same way. 4. After each session, update the file with anything new the AI should remember next time. That's the simple version. You can get more sophisticated over time — look up Claude rules and custom instructions if you want to go deeper. The result: your prompts get shorter. Output quality goes up. Feedback loops shrink. The AI gets smarter about _your_ work over time. This is the difference between explaining your business from scratch every morning and having a trained staff member who already knows your preferences, your tone, and your processes. I walk through setting up these AI memory systems step by step in [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/). ## 3. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### The Fourth Revolution Is Here. Most People Haven't Noticed https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/the-fourth-revolution-is-here-most-people-havent-noticed/ ![Art Deco poster of a composed executive seated at a grand marble desk with arms spread wide, directing a formation of geometric golden robots carrying tools like a pen, blueprint, and camera radiating outward beneath a large circular window.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6065/art-deco-executive-directing-robot-workforce.webp) _The delegation department is fully staffed._{.center} ## 1. The Fourth Revolution of Humanity Agricultural. Industrial. Information. **Intelligence.** We're living through the fourth major revolution of humanity and most people don't realise it yet. They're treating AI like a novelty search engine or a chatbot toy. The people who adopted the internet early — late 90s, early 2000s — built the companies and careers that dominate today. The same thing is happening right now with AI. I had lunch with a friend recently. He and his wife just had a kid, so he used Claude Code to build an iOS app that tracks his son's developmental milestones — what he's doing, when he hits them, the whole lot. My friend is a smart guy, but he's not a developer. AI was able to extend his intelligence and let him execute on something that would have taken ages or a small team of developers before. His take: those at the forefront will inherit the Earth. I believe he's right. You don't need to become a developer. But you need to understand what AI can do and position yourself on the right side of this shift. The train is leaving the station. The people waiting for pretty GUI phone or web apps to "start using AI" are already behind. ## 2. Harnessing AI: 2 Million People Know What 8 Billion People Don't ![A dot-grid infographic titled "Each dot is ~3.2 million people," where 2,500 squares represent 8.1 billion humans by their most advanced AI interaction — mostly grey for never used AI and green for free chatbot users, with a thin band of gold and a single tiny red square in the bottom-right corner marking the few million who use a coding scaffold.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6065/ai-interaction-dot-grid.webp) See that tiny red square in the bottom-right corner? That's the 2 million people who know what the other 8 billion don't — that the future of AI is in the terminal. You may have heard of Claude Code. Or OpenAI's Codex. These are known as coding scaffolds, terminal AI, or AI harnesses. I recently taught two friends (let's call them L & R) how to use Claude Code. Both are non-technical content creators. Neither had touched a command line before. We started with the basics — a Claude subscription, Homebrew, VS Code, and Claude Code. From there it was about understanding how the terminal works, how to write prompts that actually direct the AI rather than just chat with it, and how to work with files and folders as context. Within a couple of hours we'd moved on to running parallel sub-agents, creating reusable skills, and connecting external tools through MCPs. The shift was dramatic. They went from copy-pasting into ChatGPT one prompt at a time, to running multiple sub-agents that each handle a different task independently — each with its own context and instructions, producing consistent output without polluting the main conversation. R teaches leadership and management. He turned his entire course idea into a set of 8 modules, 50+ lessons and hundreds of slides with images, annotations and diagrams, all ready to record... in about two hours flat. And only because we had to wait for his Claude limits to reset. Most people are still editing documents one by one. Prompt, wait, copy-paste, next document. That's 2024 thinking. Think of it like [delegation](https://aaronlynn.com/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/). You don't sit with each team member while they work. You brief them, send them off, and review the output. Retrain your thinking from _"tool I chat with"_ to _"team I delegate to."_ I walk through the full workflow in [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/). And keep an eye out for my full article on hypertasking. ## 3. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### AI Doesn't Fix Bad Habits. It Scales Them https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/ai-doesnt-fix-bad-habits-it-scales-them/ ![Ukiyo-e woodblock print of a calm craftsman kneeling at a workbench sharpening a blade beside a glowing modern screen, while through the open shoji screen a distant figure wildly swings an axe at a large tree.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-6063/ukiyo-e-craftsman-sharpening-blade-workshop.webp) _The apprentice blames the chisel. The master sharpens it._{.center} ## 1. AI Amplifies What You Already Are AI doesn't make you productive. It makes you _more of whatever you already are._ If your systems are solid, AI is the ultimate [force multiplier](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/force-multipliers/). Work that took a week now takes a day. Three hours become one. You compound your output at a rate that would have been impossible two years ago. But if your systems are messy? AI makes them messier, at scale, faster than ever before. I laugh when people say _"AI helped me organise my day."_ Like... how? The AI doesn't know [your Hero Mode hours](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/energy-management/), your peaks, your troughs. It doesn't know when you actually get things done versus when you just _feel_ busy. And before you say _"but my AI has memory and it learns"_ — yes. It learns your bad habits. ## 2. Scaling Bad Habits Here's what this looks like in practice. I know a number of people who are very enthusiastic about AI. They all believe it's turned them into some sort of modern-day business superman. They use AI as a black box. They don't really know how it works. They weren't particularly productive to begin with. But now they _feel_ more productive because the AI is doing things, and even outsourced intelligence feels like progress. But they still have the same bad habits — they wake up late, or inconsistently. They have very slow starts. No real work gets done until 4pm. But now AI lets them chase _"just one more thing"_ — and before they know it, it's 9pm and they're still at their desk. Still haven't hit the gym. Still haven't eaten dinner. Still haven't done the work that actually matters... but they did spend 2 hours setting up that new AI tool. For them AI is simply the new rabbit hole. ## 3. Scaling Good Habits Now compare that to someone who had [good systems](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/productivity-stack/) before AI arrived. They know when to focus. They know when to use AI. They know when to hypertask. If the AI breaks, they can still do the work manually — or how to fix the AI themselves. The result? They knock out work in 3-5x less time. A week's work in a day. Three hours compressed to one. They finish earlier, not later. **AI is the ultimate force multiplier — but only if there's something worth multiplying.** This is exactly the thinking behind my [_Next Level Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/) course. Get your systems right first. Then layer AI on top. The order matters. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### 15 Minutes After Every Project. That's the Cheat Code https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/15-minutes-after-every-project/ ![Tilt-shift miniature photo of a man sitting alone with an open notebook in a glass-walled meeting room, a whiteboard covered in project notes and sticky notes behind him, surrounded by empty desks after a finished project.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5957/post-project-reflection-tilt-shift-office.webp) _Somewhere in that tiny conference room, someone's actually learning from what just happened._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: The 4-Hour Deep Work Limit You can't do 8 hours of deep work a day. Nobody can. The research is pretty clear: most people max out at about 4 hours of true deep, focused work. The rest? That's your shallow work window. Emails, admin, calls, errands. So stop guilt-tripping yourself for "only" doing half a day of real work. That half day is the whole day. The trick is putting those 4 hours where your [energy is highest](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). Morning person? Deep work before lunch. Night owl? Block your evenings. Front-load what matters. Fill the gaps with everything else. ## 2. Ops: 15-Minute Project Post-Mortems After every project, spend 15 minutes answering three questions: 1. What worked? 2. What didn't? 3. What would I do differently? Write it down. Then move on. This matters **even more** now because of AI. Your ability to get great output from AI depends on knowing what "good" looks like in your domain. Every post-mortem sharpens that mental model, and your prompts get better as a result. The person who learns fastest from each project compounds their AI leverage over time. 15 minutes of reflection now saves hours of mediocre AI output later. ## 3. Tech: Template + Claude Code + Walk Away Stop copy-pasting discovery call notes into ChatGPT one prompt at a time. Set up a proper proposal agent: 1. Create your proposal template as a markdown file — sections, pricing format, terms. 2. Write a style guide for your voice and tone. (Just rant for 15 minutes, transcribe it, and ask Claude to turn it into a style guide.) 3. Build a Claude Code skill that references both files automatically. The workflow: paste your notes, run the skill, walk away for a coffee. Come back to an 80% done draft. You handle the final 20% with personal touches and pricing decisions. 3-hour proposals become 15 minutes of review. I cover building these kinds of AI workflows in [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/). ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Opportunity Matters More Than Merit https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/opportunity-matters-more-than-merit/ ![Surrealist painting of a businessman in a suit rowing a small wooden boat across the cracked, bone-dry floor of a drained harbour, with beached fishing boats and the open sea beyond the stone walls.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5961/surreal-businessman-rowing-boat-dry-harbour.webp) _The harbour looked great on the pitch deck._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: Quantify Your Time Leaks Two hours lost per day doesn't sound like much. But do the mathematics: that's 10 hours a week. 400-500 hours a year. **That's 10-12 full work weeks gone.** And most people don't even notice. It's the "quick check" on social media that becomes 30 minutes. The context switching between incompatible tasks. The meetings that should have been emails. The responding to non-urgent messages immediately because your phone buzzed. Here's another one: Lose one hour of sleep a night and that's 350+ hours a year. Over 14 full days of lost sleep. [Track where your time actually goes for a week](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/time-tracking/). Not where you think it goes — where it _actually_ goes. Then enforce your boundaries ruthlessly. ## 2. Ops: Opportunity Matters More Than Merit I learnt this from a mentor who is self-made nine-figures wealthy: **A rising tide raises all ships.** The uncomfortable truth? Being in the right market at the right time beats being the best operator with the best team in a dying one. We've all seen average businesses thrive because they picked booming industries. We've all seen brilliant operators struggle because they chose saturated markets. Merit matters. But opportunity is the multiplier. Your job: Position yourself where the tide is rising. Then execute well enough to stay on the boat. Don't be the best rower in a harbour with no water. ## 3. Tech: Structure Your Data for AI Leverage If your information is locked in PDFs, slides, and spreadsheets that AI can't easily parse, you're leaving massive productivity gains on the table. Having key documents in AI-readable formats (like markdown) or connecting AI tools to proprietary systems through MCP servers changes everything. Tasks that used to take hours of clicking — like modifying multiple Google Docs — can now be done in a few minutes. Action steps: - Learn to love markdown. It's the plain text language of AI now. - Convert your key documents to markdown. - Learn about MCPs and how to connect your AI tools to them. - Then experiment. I cover markdown and more in [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/). ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### No XP Waste https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/no-xp-waste/ ![Bold black-and-red linocut print of a man in shirtsleeves writing at a desk while five printed document pages fan outward beside him, framed by a decorative carved border.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5939/linocut-writer-five-newsletters-fanning-pages.webp) _Five newsletters carved in one sitting._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: No XP Waste AI coding tools like Claude Code have reintroduced a weird new form of multitasking. You type in a prompt, the AI gets to work, then you have 2-3 minutes of waiting. So what do you do with that time? Most people pick up their phone and start scrolling. "Smarter people" do a brainteasers 🙄. Neither of those things are particularly productive. The actual answer? Restructure how your days look: 1. **Deep focus tasks** first thing in the morning. No AI, no distractions. Thinking, writing, strategy. 2. **AI/coding tasks** for the bulk of the day. These run almost continuously as you play whack-a-mole with Claude Code terminal windows. 3. **Filler tasks** in the AI wait gaps. Quick emails, Slack replies, small admin tasks. The goal: [no XP waste](https://hyperengineering.bottlenecklabs.com/p/no-xp-waste). Keep AI running close to 24/7, batch deep work to mornings when your brain is sharpest. Full article on this coming soon. ## 2. Ops: Set Client Expectations Before They Set It Themselves And now for something non-AI. The "always available" trap kills margins and sanity in service businesses. And you created it — by not saying anything upfront. Fix it in your first client conversation: - State your response window (_"I respond to emails within 24 business hours"_). - Define what counts as an emergency and how to reach you for one. - Set meeting booking rules — calendar link, minimum notice. - Clarify out-of-scope communication (weekend texts = replied first thing Monday). Clients respect boundaries when you set them early. They only push them when silence lets the precedent form. One sentence in your proposal saves hundreds of hours of boundary-pushing later. ## 3. Tech: Writing 5 Newsletters in 5 Minutes Why write one thing at a time when you can write five? Claude Code subagents let you run parallel tasks. I use a custom agent — `@newsletter-writer` — with my style guide baked in. One prompt can call it five times, one for each newsletter. Claude spawns five parallel processes. Output goes straight to separate files. ![Claude Code terminal spawning five parallel newsletter-writer subagents, each shown in a task tree writing a different CNT newsletter with its own tool-use and token counts.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5939/claude-code-five-parallel-newsletter-subagents.webp) The result: 5 newsletters in under 5 minutes, each about 90% ready to publish. ![Claude Code status line reading 'Brewed for 3m 1s', showing the whole five-newsletter run finished in about three minutes.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5939/claude-code-brewed-3-minutes-timer.webp) You still edit. But editing is faster than writing. In [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/), I walk through exactly how to set this up — including the custom agent configuration and style guide integration. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Confession Time — I Stopped Using AI Months Ago https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/confession-time-i-stopped-using-ai-months-ago/ ![Retrofuturistic illustration of a person in a silver jumpsuit at a chrome console reading glowing cyan terminal text, with an old desktop computer displayed in a lit museum case labelled 'artifact: chat interface, circa 2024'.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5956/retro-future-terminal-vs-browser-museum-artifact.webp) _In the future, nobody uses a web browser for AI. I checked._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: I Haven't Opened ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini In a Browser In Months I haven't opened ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini in a browser for months. Not Custom GPTs. Not Claude Projects. Nothing. Everything I do with AI now happens in a command line interface, where the AI has direct access to my files, documents, spreadsheets and entire project folders. Why? Because typing a prompt into a chat window and copy-pasting results back and forth is the 2024 way of using AI. It's like emailing yourself a document instead of just opening it from the cloud. CLI tools like Claude Code and Codex don't just answer questions. They read your files, edit your documents, analyse hundreds of files at once, and output structured results, all without you touching a browser tab. The gap between "AI in a browser" and "AI on your machine" is the gap between Googling a question and having a research assistant sit next to you with access to everything you've ever written _and everything everyone else has ever written._ Most people don't know this exists yet. When they find out, the browser-based AI era will look like the dial-up era of the internet. My latest course teaches how to get started with Claude Code step by step, for non-technical people. Grab it here: [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/). ## 2. Ops: Fractional Executives Part-time CFOs, CMOs and COOs are becoming the norm for small businesses in 2026. And for good reason. A fractional executive working 5-10 hours a week will vastly outperform a full-time outsourced worker, even at the same cost and fewer hours. These part-time executives are also more likely to be AI-savvy meaning that their expertise is vastly [force-multiplied](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/force-multipliers/) dollar-per-dollar. You're paying for strategic thinking, not task completion. When to consider it: - Revenue is growing but strategy is unclear. - You need specific expertise for a few hours a week or month. - You're preparing for a major change — succession, exit, acquisition. - You need experienced perspective on scaling. This is one of the best ROI hires you can make right now. ## 3. Tech: Claude Code for Content Analysis at Scale Need to analyse years of content, find patterns, or build a style guide? CLI tools like Claude Code process what would crash web-based AI tools. Here's what I did recently: - Analysed 87 newsletters. - Output a CSV of topic frequency + markdown summary. - Created a comprehensive style guide from 142 blog posts automatically. All in about 5 minutes. The key: Claude Code opens multiple AI chats in the background and consolidates the results. You'd need 40+ browser tabs to do this manually. One command. Walk away. Grab a coffee. Come back to structured data. I walk through exactly how to do this in [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/). ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### There Should Be Riots in the Streets... https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/there-should-be-riots-in-the-streets/ ![Retro 1950s-style advertising illustration of a smiling businessman at his desk presenting a glowing blue AI hologram, with a banner reading "Progress! Efficiency! Your future is here!" and a long line of worried job-seekers holding resumes visible through the window.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5922/1950s-ad-businessman-with-ai-partner-and-job-queue.webp) _Progress has never looked so cheerful — or had such a long line outside._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: Five Chronotype Subtypes You've probably been told you're either a "morning person" or a "night owl." Turns out, that's too simple. New research from [Nature](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-66784-8) (27,030 participants via the UK Biobank) identified five distinct chronotype subtypes, each with different brain structures, health profiles and behavioural patterns: - High-Performing Night Owl. - Vulnerable Owl. - Healthy Early Bird. - Female-Biased Morning Type. - Male-Biased Night Owl. The female and male-biased profiles are interesting because they come with health downsides. The two you want to be in are High-Performing Night Owl or Healthy Early Bird. The good news? You can shift towards those profiles. Lower your smoking and drinking, improve your health, and work on puzzle-solving abilities. The habits of the high-performing subtypes aren't just genetic luck, they're lifestyle choices. ## 2. Ops: AI Is Your New Team A traditional team costs hundreds of thousands per year in salaries alone. A 20X Claude Max subscription? $200/month. If you're a solopreneur or small founder, you can now do the work of an entire team yourself... if you know how to use AI properly. Layer on some traditional software tools and you can compete against companies 3x your size. It's actually not that complicated — grab a subscription, open up Claude, go through each area of your business and ask it what it can realistically help you with. This isn't a prediction. It's already happening. Companies are restructuring around AI capabilities instead of headcount. The question isn't whether AI will replace team members. It's whether you'll learn to leverage it before your competitors do. I cover how to deploy AI across your business and rebuild processes to be AI-first in [_The AI Playbook_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/). ## 3. Tech: Something Big Is Happening You've likely seen [this post from Matt Shumer](https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening) recently and it sums up what I've been thinking for weeks: _"If people really knew how much the working world has changed in the last six months, there would be riots in the streets."_ He's not wrong. The models released at the end of last year — GPT-5.2, Opus 4.5, and now GPT-5.3 Codex and Opus 4.6 — represent a qualitative shift. AI is now smarter than most human employees at most white-collar tasks. The only people freaking out are developers, because the tools right now are built for them and to replace them. I'm talking about CLI tools like Claude Code and Codex. Most white-collar workers are still using AI inside LinkedIn or at most ChatGPT on the web. They haven't seen what's actually possible. As expected with any viral opinion piece, a lot of people wrote rebuttals to Shumer. But the people saying that AI can't replace workers or who are complaining about how AI is a bubble, or will have zero productivity impact are using the free plans, $20 plans or older LLMs. As Shumer says, that's like buying an old flip phone Nokia and saying that mobile phones don't do anything when everyone else is using iPhones and Android devices. It's only a matter of time before smart developers and software companies bring Claude Code-style workflows and features into the mainstream workplace. I agree with Matt's recommendations from the article: - Upgrade to premium AI tools (Opus 4.6 or GPT-5.2). - Integrate AI into your actual work, not just casual queries. You can literally ask Claude what it can help you with and how. - Build a financial backup plan. - Dedicate one hour daily to AI experimentation. If you need a head start, grab my [_Complete Claude, Claude Code and AI for Office Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/) course. Bundle the experimentation into a few weekend hours if daily doesn't work — that's what I do. Once you start getting into it, you'll realise both Matt and I are correct. The working world changed while most people were sleeping. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### Find Your FURK https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/find-your-furk/ ![Film-noir photograph of a man in a fedora and suit hunched over a glowing laptop in a dark office at night, steam rising from a coffee mug, venetian-blind shadows across the room and a rain-streaked window with city neon behind him.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5913/film-noir-coder-at-laptop-rainy-night.webp) _Nobody stays at the desk this late unless the work stopped feeling like work._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: Find Your FURK Years ago a friend and mentor of mine introduced me to a concept called FURK: Fun + Work. This is when the work is so enjoyable and so rewarding (monetarily or otherwise, but usually monetarily) that you hit a flow state, peak productivity kicks in naturally, and time flies while value gets created. It's been a while since I experienced peak FURK. But recently as I've gotten more into software development, it's come back. That feeling where you actually look forward to sitting down in front of the computer and building something with your own hands, usually for the purpose of bringing something into the world. Find your FURK. ## 2. Ops: Let AI Build Your Asana Projects If you use Claude or ChatGPT and Asana, [grab the MCP](https://developers.asana.com/docs/using-asanas-mcp-server). You can plan a project with milestones and tasks in a markdown file, then tell the AI to create that in a project in your workspace. Be specific and steer the AI: - Give it the project ID - Tell it what are milestones and what are tasks - Specify dependencies - Detail what goes in titles, descriptions, due dates, assignees This used to take project managers a couple of hours after a meeting. Now it's done automatically with AI + MCP. Want to know more about using AI to speed up everyday office work? [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/) covers this in detail. ## 3. Tech: Social Media and Smartphones I'll say it plainly: social media combined with smartphones is one of the worst things to have happened to society. We've built an entire culture around constant comparison — status-seeking behaviour where fame and likes matter more than substance. Everyone thinks they are the main character who is and finds themselves performing for an audience that mostly doesn't care. It's capitalism's id — pure ego, quantified and gamified. The algorithms don't reward depth. They reward outrage, controversy, and infinite scroll. We've handed our attention spans to companies whose entire business model is selling that attention to advertisers. And yet, here's the uncomfortable truth: if you run a business, you have to be on social media. Your customers are there. Your competitors are there. Opting out entirely isn't an option. So you have to find your own approach. Use it without letting it use you. Post without doom-scrolling. Build an audience without becoming addicted to the metrics. [My take on this here.](https://aaronlynn.com/life/social-media/). ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Why Your Best Goals Fail Without External Pressure https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/why-your-best-goals-fail-without-external-pressure/ ![Graphic-novel-style illustration in navy and burnt orange of a focused worker hunched over a glowing laptop at a cluttered desk, with a giant clock marked "DEADLINE" looming overhead and casting a spotlight beam down on them.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5868/deadline-clock-looming-over-late-night-worker.webp) _Deadlines work even when you don't like them._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: External Commitments Beat Self-Discipline Like it or not, your best work happens when there's an external commitment forcing your hand. Self-directed goals are wonderful in theory. You tell yourself you'll write that book, build that side project, or finally launch that course. And then life happens. The conditions aren't quite right. You're tired this week. Maybe next month will be better. Meanwhile, projects with deadlines like client work, speaking engagements, and scheduled launches somehow always get done. Even when you're equally tired. **External commitments work because they remove the optionality.** When a client expects delivery on Friday, you don't spend Wednesday debating whether you "feel like it" or "this other thing is more important" or "I had no choice!". You just do it. So use this strategically. Create an external forcing function: - Book a speaking slot before you've written the presentation. - Announce a launch date publicly before you've finished the product. - Join a cohort with specific milestones. Yes, it feels uncomfortable. But you'll get it done. And that's the point. ## 2. Ops: Opportunity Matters More Than Anything Else I had a chance to catch up with a self-made friend who has done very well for himself in business (think multi-unicorn level). He mentioned something interesting: **In business, the opportunity matters the most.** We want to believe that other things determine outcomes. That hard work and good execution and a superstar team delivers results. But that's only part of the equation. The full equation is: Opportunity + Hard Work + Execution + Team This is because a rising tide raises all ships. You can have poor execution, a mediocre team and not even work that hard, but if you're in the right opportunity, you will still succeed. ## 3. Tech: Data Structure Unlocks AI Leverage AI tools work brilliantly with clean, structured, readable formats like markdown files and plain text. They work terribly with locked PDFs, proprietary formats, and information buried in email threads. **Having your information in AI-readable formats is going to be a key theme in 2026.** I started a project towards the end of last year to convert everything I have into markdown files — client notes, strategy documents, project briefs, personal journals and more. The AI can actually see the information, understand the structure, and provide useful analysis. AI reading 365 journal entries in 2 minutes to help me with my annual review seems like magic but it's really just good technology. Yes, APIs and integrations will eventually make this easier. But do you really want to wait for that? The productivity gains are available now if you structure your data properly. More on this in my new [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/) course. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Brute Force Your Way to Success https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/brute-force-your-way-to-success/ ![Stylised 3D character in a teal outfit standing triumphantly with arms raised atop a mountain of crumpled paper attempts, lit by a warm sunbeam.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5877/character-atop-mountain-of-crumpled-paper-attempts.webp) _Your hundredth attempt will always beat your first._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: Put in the Reps There's this romantic idea that success comes from one brilliant insight, one perfect execution, one flawless attempt. That's not how it works. Sometimes you just need to brute force your way through. Your tenth attempt will be better than your first. Your hundredth will certainly be better than your tenth. Just start. Then do it again. And again. ## 2. Ops: The Lost Art of Professionalism I recently saw _A House of Dynamite_ and there's a scene with the Deputy National Security Adviser joins a critical video call from the car, then hops out and runs to the White House with Airpods and phone in hand, while dealing with a shaky cell phone connection. Don't be that like him. Look, I get it. Remote work has made everything more casual. But if you're the founder or a senior leader, professionalism still matters. What does professional look like in 2026? - Show up to calls on time. Not 5 minutes late with an excuse. - Be stationary. Don't take important calls whilst walking around. Don't take them at cafes where it's loud. - Come prepared. Know what you want to accomplish. Your team notices. If you're scattered and unprepared, that gives them an excuse to be as well. ## 3. Tech: AI for Your Annual Review I did my annual review back in December with AI assistance. It used to take me two weeks. This year? Three days. I moved all my journals in markdown files: daily entries, weekly reflections, monthly summaries. AI can read through all of that in minutes. I had Claude analyse the full year and pull out: - Accomplishments I'd forgotten about. - Patterns in my behaviour (most productive in the mornings, less so after 3pm). - Goals I actually achieved versus what I thought I achieved. The AI spotted trends I would have missed. It reminded me of wins from January that felt like ancient history by December. In 2025 we could get away with saying that AI usage was for "early adopters". But in 2026 if you are not using AI at work and to push your personal productivity, you are now behind. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### If You're Tracking It But Not Improving, You're Wasting Time https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/tracking-without-improving-wasting-time/ ![Watercolour cartoon of a weary man in a bathrobe slumped in an armchair, buried under towering piles of printed health charts labelled sleep cycles, heart rate, steps and calories.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5879/man-buried-in-health-tracking-charts-cartoon.webp) _Your Oura ring can't fix your sleep for you._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: Don't Track If You Don't Improve People love tracking things. Sleep scores. Steps walked. Deep work hours. The data feels productive, like you're doing something meaningful. But tracking without action is just data collection. I wear an Apple Watch to sleep every night. But to put the data into action, I needed a different checklist of sleep environment factors I could test — different temperature, different pillows, different bedding, sleep times and so on. Without that, it wouldn't matter how many nights I scored "Excellent" or "High" or even "Poor" on my sleep score - that's just data. The point of tracking is to spot patterns, run experiments, and make changes. If you're not going to do anything with the data, stop collecting it. ## 2. Ops: Going Solo to Team Means Systems When you're a founder starting out solo, you can do things however you want. Your workflows, your shortcuts, your way of thinking about problems — it's all in your head. The moment you bring on even one other person? Everything changes. I recently taught a friend about agile development and writing user stories. His first question was — "Why do I have to do it this way? Usually I just have an idea in my head of what I want to create and just start and jump around until it's done." And that's exactly why you can't keep working the same way you did solo when you have a team. Your team isn't inside your head — they are out in the real world, working on things independently for you. Here's what needs to happen: - Document your core processes. SOPs are law. - Create communication protocols. When do people check in? Where do updates go? - Establish decision-making frameworks. Who decides what? The hardest part is accepting that your team won't do things exactly the way you would. And that's fine. Systems scale, what goes on in your head doesn't. ## 3. Tech: Adversarial AIs I believe that in 2026 we are going to see the rise of adversarial AIs. And no, I don't mean that Skynet is finally coming for us. I mean that smart AI users will be pitting AIs against each other as a way to prompt them to produce better output. Here's a simple example: - AI 1: Draft the content. - AI 2: Act as a sceptical reader and identify weak points. - AI 1: Revise based on feedback. - AI 2: Critique again. Rinse and repeat over multiple iterations. One AI drafts. Another critiques. They challenge each other, and you end up with something far better than any single AI could produce. Unlike human teams, AI teams don't have scheduling conflicts or personality clashes. They don't take it personally when they receive blunt feedback on their output. If you aren't using adversarial AIs yet, start! ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Strategic Planning: For Your Relationship, Your Business, and Your Devices https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/strategic-planning-relationship-business-devices/ ![Studio Ghibli-style illustration of a laughing couple taking a selfie on a grassy hillside, with a sleeping pig and a capybara resting on a pink blanket beside them.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5880/anime-couple-selfie-countryside-pets.webp) _Planning your future together beats winging it._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: Strategic Planning for Couples The missus and I have been doing quarterly [strategic planning sessions for our relationship](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/) for a couple of years now. The process: pick a nice location away from home, spend 2-3 days reviewing the past quarter and planning the next one. Cover your top 3 issues, review progress, discuss core values, and set objectives together. Most couples never talk about any of this. They argue that formal planning "kills the romance". But planning actually structures your romance. It creates alignment, keeps you accountable, and helps you understand what you each want from life. (Yes, I know. Spoken like a true consultant.) [Full guide here.](https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/) ## 2. Ops: Strategic Planning for Your Business Okay so even if you don't want to run your relationship with a strategic plan... you will want to run your business with one. Without one, people start working on things they shouldn't be. Processes aren't followed. Team members head in different directions. The result? Lower revenue, lower profits, things mysteriously "stop working". [Strategic planning](https://aaronlynn.com/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/) is systematic goal setting at a company level that creates top-to-bottom alignment. You start with your company core: mission, values, long-term objective. Then work downwards — what needs to happen in 3-5 years, this year, this quarter? Each person should see clearly how their daily work contributes to the company's objectives. If you've achieved product-market fit and are asking "what's next?", strategic planning is for you. ## 3. Tech: Work on Desktop, Not on Mobile Do your real work on your desktop or laptop, not on your phone. Your phone is fine for quick captures, reviewing notifications, and consuming content. But for actual work, be that writing, analysis, or deep thinking, you need a proper computer with a proper keyboard and screen. Why? Your phone is designed to keep you distracted. Every notification, every app, every interface element is optimised to grab your attention and pull you away. On your desktop, you have more control. You can block distractions, use proper productivity apps, see more information at once. You can access files and open multiple apps on the same screen. Use your phone for captures on the go. Knock out the actual work on your computer. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Why Hire When You Can Build an AI Workflow? https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/why-hire-when-you-can-build-an-ai-workflow/ ![An empty open-plan office at dusk with rows of vacant chairs and a single glowing laptop running code and dashboards on a long central desk, a city skyline visible through floor-to-ceiling windows.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5889/empty-office-lone-laptop-working-at-dusk.webp) _You can't have staff problems if you have no staff._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: MacOS Tahoe's Secret Weapon MacOS Tahoe comes with something most people have completely missed: a built-in Clock app. And it's brilliant for timeslicing. The new Clock app gives you a clean, simple timer that sits right in your menu bar. No third-party apps and no subscriptions. Set it for 37 minutes and start the timer. When it goes off, start one for an 8 minute break and then get back to it. ## 2. Ops: AI Workflows Are Replacing Staff It's here. Business owners are quietly building AI workflows instead of hiring people. And honestly, can you blame them? No sick days. No HR issues. No salary negotiations. No training that takes months. A well-built AI workflow runs 24/7, costs a fraction of an employee, and scales instantly. I'm seeing this across industries: - Customer support teams replaced with AI chatbots that handle 80% of enquiries. - Content writers are pretty much extinct given that AI can now draft, write, edit and publish. - Data entry staff replaced with automation workflows that never make mistakes. Companies are starting to change their process from "who do we hire?" to "which AI agent do we deploy next?". ## 3. Tech: Where to Build AI Workflows Right, so you're convinced. You want to build AI workflows instead of hiring. But where do you actually build them? Here are your options: [Zapier](https://zapier.com) — The easiest entry point. No-code, visual workflow builder. Start here if you're not technical. Grab my course [_The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/) for how to set up AI agents in Zapier. [N8N](https://n8n.io/) — Open-source alternative with more flexibility. Self-hosted is the way. Better for complex workflows. [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) or [Codex](https://openai.com/index/codex/) — For when you need a human operator-driven AI workflow that's extremely flexible. I cover this in [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/). For most business owners, I would start with Zapier. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI Agents Guide — $147 — /courses/ai-agents-guide/ --- ### Intelligence, Hard Work, and the Power Law in Your Niche https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/intelligence-hard-work-and-the-power-law-in-your-niche/ ![A cartoon-style wooden sailing ship with two wide-eyed captains at the wheel, comically leaping out of a blood-red sea into clear blue water.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5848/ship-leaping-from-red-ocean-to-blue-ocean.webp) _Sometimes the best strategy is realising you're in the wrong ocean._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: A Growth Mindset Still Matters Here's an oldie but goodie for the new year: growth mindset. Carol Dweck's research remains relevant because it addresses a fundamental truth: Believing that you can improve through effort matters. Yes, you need intelligence. And hard work. But the mindset matters most of all. I see this with clients and students constantly. The ones who treat challenges as learning opportunities consistently outperform those with more natural talent but fixed mindsets. It's not motivational fluff, but observable reality. So when you hit a wall this year, ask yourself: "What can I learn from this?" Not, "Am I capable of this?" The first question opens possibilities. The second one closes them. This isn't about pretending everything's easy. It's about recognising that your current abilities aren't your final abilities. You can develop new skills, understand complex concepts, and solve problems that seem impossible today. Start the year with this frame. You'll be surprised how much it changes your approach to everything else. ## 2. Ops: The Power Law in Your Niche Silicon Valley learned this early: a small number of investments generate the vast majority of returns. We're not talking 80/20. We're talking 96/4 in many cases. One or two winners fund entire portfolios whilst dozens of others fail quietly. Here's the question for your business: Does the "winner" in your niche take all? Are they capturing more market share every year? (Yes, they are.) And what are you doing about it? These are good questions for the new year because they force honest assessment. If you're not the dominant player and the gap is widening, you only have one real option: **Pivot:** Find a niche or model where you can be the winner. Ignoring power law dynamics won't make them go away. The early part of the year is the perfect time to assess whether you're building a winner or funding someone else's dominance. Make the call before the market makes it for you. More at [Exit Captains](https://www.exitcaptains.com/). ## 3. Tech: Context Engineering Is the New Prompt Engineering Everyone's obsessed with prompt engineering. But in the AI space, we don't talk about that anymore. Instead, we talk about **context engineering.** It's prompt engineering plus context about you, the problem, and supporting documents. The difference is significant. A generic prompt gets you generic output. But when you provide: - Background on your specific situation. - Relevant data or examples. - Clear parameters and constraints. - Your communication style preferences. You get output that's actually useful. Not something you need to completely rewrite. This is exactly what I teach in my [_ChatGPT for Managers_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/) course: How to structure your AI interactions with proper context so you get management-level output, not generic advice. The technical term doesn't matter. What matters is recognising that AI tools are only as good as the context you provide. Feed them rich, specific information about your situation, and they'll give you rich, specific solutions. This year, stop treating AI like a magic box. Treat it like a highly capable assistant who needs briefing before they can help you properly. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### Co-Working Spaces Are Sabotaging Your Output https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/co-working-spaces-are-sabotaging-your-output/ ![A man in headphones hunched over a laptop at a desk, trying to work while a full nightclub rages around him with laser lights, a DJ booth, and people dancing and popping champagne.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5851/co-working-space-turned-nightclub-laser-chaos.webp) _Modern day co-working._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: Co-Working Is Killing Your Output I get invited to co-work all the time. And I understand the appeal — meet some people, and bang out some work in a nice, modern, fancy, Instagrammable space. But let's be honest about what these sessions actually are: social meetups masquerading as "work". You're not going to sit down and do deep work when someone's ordering pancakes and bacon next to you. You're not going to maintain flow state when there's a "hey quick question" every 10 minutes. And you're certainly not going to outperform competitors who have three screens, zero interruptions, and zero commute time. **Here's the reality: you will get more done working from home in a single day than most people accomplish co-working five days a week.** Set up your home workspace properly. Get the gear you need. Eliminate the distractions. Save the social events for after work. Your output matters more than feeling like you're part of a co-working community — especially when that community is costing you hours of deep work every single day. I cover the best productivity gear and how to set up an elite workspace in my [_Next Level Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/) course. ## 2. Ops: Turn Videos Into SOPs in Seconds Creating SOPs doesn't need to take hours anymore. Here's what you should be doing: Record a screen recording of yourself performing a process, then drop that video into Gemini with this prompt: _"Watch this video and create a detailed SOP document that explains the process step-by-step. Include any relevant screenshots or key moments as reference points."_ Gemini will process the video, identify the steps, and output a structured SOP in minutes. You can refine it from there — add context, adjust language, include decision trees — but the heavy lifting is done. What used to take an hour or more of typing and formatting now takes five minutes of recording and two minutes of review. This works particularly well for repetitive processes your team performs regularly: client onboarding sequences, reporting workflows, or approval processes. Record it once, convert it to an SOP, and suddenly you have documentation you can hand to new team members or VAs. I cover this exact approach in my [_ChatGPT for Managers_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/) course. ## 3. Tech: Do People Really Trust Content Less Because of AI? There's this growing narrative that AI has destroyed content trust. The argument goes: _"People don't trust what they read anymore because they don't know if it's AI-generated."_ But here's the problem with that perspective: **most people don't know enough about AI to spot AI-generated content in the first place.** Switched-on people who work in tech or content live in a bubble. They assume everyone around them understands AI's capabilities, knows what tools exist, and can identify generated content. The reality? Most people still don't use AI regularly, don't follow AI developments, and can't tell the difference between human and AI writing or generated images. **So has trust actually decreased?** Not really. The average person isn't questioning whether the article they're reading or the image they're seeing is AI-generated. They're consuming content the same way they always have — trusting sources they already trust, ignoring sources they don't. The "AI trust crisis" exists primarily in circles where people understand AI capabilities. Everyone else is still operating in a world where they assume content is human-made unless explicitly told otherwise. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Why Nobody Can Plan More Than a Day Ahead Anymore https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/why-nobody-can-plan-more-than-a-day-ahead-anymore/ ![A comic-style illustration of a young man in a park telling a hooded, scythe-carrying Grim Reaper, via a speech bubble, "Can you call me just before to see if I'm free?"](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5821/grim-reaper-call-me-just-before-comic.webp) _"Text me just before ok?"_{.center} ## 1. Productivity: The Lost Art of Planning Ahead I've noticed something troubling over the past few years: people can't seem to plan more than a few days ahead anymore. Try making dinner plans with friends for three weeks from now. You'll get responses like, "Ask me the week before" or "I'll let you know closer to the date." This isn't just about social plans. Business people don't want to commit to calls and meetings because they're constantly reacting instead of strategising. Part of this is FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). People want to keep their options open until the absolute last moment, maximising opportunities and keeping every door open. But the real culprit is the instant gratification culture created by apps — food delivery in 30 minutes, same-day shipping, immediate responses to messages. **Planning ahead has become a lost skill.** Older generations who grew up without phones and always-on Internet had to develop planning skills out of necessity. You couldn't just fire off a quick text the day before. You had to commit, coordinate, and follow through. One of my Canadian clients has a great story about **making plans by postcard** to meet his friend on the steps of the Sydney Opera House at 2pm on a sunny day in November 1978. And yes, they both showed up. If you want to be productive and actually accomplish meaningful goals, you need to relearn that **planning a couple of weeks to a month ahead is normal, not exceptional.** Start small. Plan one thing for next month and commit to it. Then build from there. ## 2. Ops: AI Operators Are Changing How Meetings Work Here's something that's fundamentally changing how effective teams operate: A human "AI operator" assigned to the role during meetings. The concept is simple but powerful. When someone in a meeting asks, "What's our competitor's market share?" or "What did we decide about this last quarter?" — an AI operator can immediately search and provide the data. No more, _"I think it's around 30%... but let me check and get back to you."_ No more assumptions masquerading as facts. This transforms discussions from assumption-based to fact-based in real-time. The meeting keeps moving forward instead of parking decisions for follow-up. Want to see exactly how this works? I cover this in detail in my [_ChatGPT for Managers_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/) course. ## 3. Tech: Are We at the Limits of AI? Earlier this year, AI orchestration and development looked incredibly promising. Multiple AI agents working together, handling complex workflows, coordinating tasks like a well-oiled machine. It felt like we were on the cusp of something transformative. But now... what if we're actually at the limits of current AI models with no AGI along the way? The launch of GPT-5 was heavily panned and Sonnet 4.5 felt more like a replacement for Opus 4.1. It's a genuine question. If that's the case... we need to learn to do the best with what we have right now. The engineering challenge then becomes making AI agents act more like human employees within today's model constraints. Getting them to maintain context, handle handoffs properly, manage edge cases without breaking, and work reliably in production environments. **We're not there yet. Not even close.** Yes, we have functional AI tools that are incredibly useful. ChatGPT, Claude, and others solve real problems daily. But the vision of true AI orchestration — where agents seamlessly collaborate on complex, multi-step business processes without constant human oversight — that's still elusive. The gap between "AI can help with this task" and "AI can reliably own this entire process" remains significant. This doesn't mean AI isn't valuable. It just means we need clever engineering to bridge the gap, not breathless hype about capabilities that don't exist yet. If you're interested in understanding what AI agents can actually do today (versus what the marketing promises), I walk through practical, real-world implementations in my [_AI Agents course_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/). It's designed for business people, not developers, and shows you what's genuinely possible right now. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI Agents Guide — $147 — /courses/ai-agents-guide/ --- ### Life Is Your Biggest Reason to Be Productive. And Your Biggest Obstacle https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/life-is-your-biggest-reason-to-be-productive-and-your-biggest-obstacle/ ![An exhausted woman in torn clothes sprints inside a giant hamster wheel built from bundled dollar bills, chasing a "RETIREMENT" sign strapped to her own back as calendar pages fly around a dim room and a clock reads 3:00 AM.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5823/dollar-bill-hamster-wheel-chasing-retirement.webp) _Modern Productivity, circa 2025._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: Life Is Your Biggest Reason to Be Productive. And Your Biggest Obstacle. Here's the thing about productivity. You're being productive to make money. And you're making money so you can eventually stop needing to make money. That's the endgame — acquire enough wealth that work becomes optional, not mandatory. **The more productive you are, the faster you get there.** But here's the paradox. You don't live forever. Every minute spent grinding to accumulate wealth is a minute not spent enjoying life. Time you'll never get back. But without that wealth, you'll never really enjoy life either. You'll spend your entire existence worried about money, constrained by what you can afford. **So you're stuck in a balancing act.** Work too much now, sacrifice your younger years for a future that might never come. Don't work enough now, sacrifice your future for present pleasures you can't afford. The real skill isn't just being productive. It's knowing when to push hard and when to ease off. When to accumulate and when to live. There's no single right answer — but there is a wrong one, and it's not asking yourself this question at all. Want to maximise your productivity and reach that point sooner? I cover elite-level productivity strategies in [_Next Level Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/). ## 2. Ops: Where Is Your Business Headed? A quick question worth asking yourself from time to time: **Where is my business actually headed?** Not in the inspirational "mission statement" sense. I mean the realistic, practical sense. Are you building towards selling it? Planning to run it until you've accumulated enough FUM (F* You Money) to retire comfortably? Are you positioning it for acquisition, or is this something you'll operate for the next 20 years? Or, and this is worth considering given where we are with technology, is AI going to fundamentally change your business model in ways that make it obsolete? Could automation burn through your competitive advantage? Could the market shift underneath you while you're focused on quarterly goals? These aren't doomsday questions. They're strategic ones. **Most business owners get so caught up in the day-to-day operations that they never step back to ask the bigger question: what's the endgame here?** You're working incredibly hard, solving problems, managing teams, hitting targets — but to what end? Understanding where you're headed changes how you operate today. If you're building to sell, your priorities are different than if you're building for long-term lifestyle income. If AI is genuinely threatening your business model, you need to be repositioning now, not in three years when it's too late. It's worth asking yourself this question once a quarter. It takes five minutes, and could save you five years of going in the wrong direction. ## 3. Tech: Most People Are Underutilising AI By About 90% ![A stacked bar chart breaking down how people use ChatGPT across categories like practical guidance, seeking information, writing and technical help, with each topic's share of conversations labelled.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5823/how-people-use-chatgpt-topic-breakdown.webp) Source: Chatterji, A., Cunningham, T., Deming, D. J., Hitzig, Z., Ong, C., Yan Shan, C., & Wadman, K. (2025). How people use ChatGPT (NBER Working Paper No. 34255). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w34255 This chart comes from a recent study done by OpenAI, Duke and Harvard on common AI usage patterns. The vast majority of people are using AI like Google. Or Grammarly. That means quick searches, basic proofreading and other surface-level stuff. **That's not wrong... but it's leaving about 90% of the value on the table.** Here's what I mean. Using ChatGPT to search for a restaurant recommendation? Fine. Using Claude to channel the nuances of Master P's rhythms? Great. But if that's where your AI usage stops, you're using a Ferrari to drive to the corner shop. AI excels at: - **Structuring complex information:** Give it messy notes from three different meetings and ask it to create a coherent action plan. - **Drafting first versions:** Reports, emails, proposals, presentations. - **Reasoning through problems:** Not just answering questions, but helping you think through decisions. - **Automating repetitive workflows:** Not one-off tasks, but entire sequences of work. - **Learning and adapting to your style:** The more context you give it, the more useful it becomes. The difference between basic AI usage and advanced AI usage isn't technical skill. It's understanding what these tools are actually capable of doing. Most people ask AI for a quick answer then close the tab. Advanced users are having ongoing conversations, building custom prompts, creating saved workflows, and integrating AI into their actual work processes. If you're still using AI like a better search engine, you're in the majority. But you're also missing out. Want to tap into that other 90%? [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/) shows you how to use AI properly. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### AI Is Great But You're Probably Using It Wrong https://aaronlynn.com/force-multiplication/ai-is-great-but-youre-probably-using-it-wrong/ ![A comically shocked businessman in a suit grips the steering wheel of a car stripped down to just its engine, pipes and wheels, parked under a glowing Broadway-style marquee reading "AI Will Save You Money".](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/emails/newsletters/cnt-5831/skeleton-car-ai-will-save-you-money-marquee.webp) _60% quality AI output._{.center} ## 1. Productivity: AI Is Great But You're Probably Using It Wrong AI tools are absolutely transformative for productivity — but only if you use them properly. I see too many people treat AI like a magic wand. They throw vague bundles of words at ChatGPT, get mediocre responses, then complain that "AI doesn't work for my use case." The problem isn't the AI. It's how you're using it. **Think of AI as an incredibly capable assistant who needs clear instructions.** You wouldn't tell your assistant "do some stuff with that thing" and expect good results. Same with AI: - Define your exact outcome first. - Provide context and examples. - Be specific about format and constraints. - Iterate and refine the output. When I use Claude or ChatGPT for work, I spend time crafting the prompt properly. I tell it my role, the context, what I need, and how I want it formatted. The difference between a good AI output and a great one is usually just 60 seconds of prompt "engineering". Don't know how? My [_The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity_](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/) course walks through specific use cases and prompts you can use today. ## 2. Ops: The AI Quality Squeeze Here's the uncomfortable truth about AI in business right now. Everyone's heard the promise: use AI to cut costs whilst maintaining output quality. But what's actually happening? Clients expect lower prices because "you're using AI". You don't offer them. They then turn to AI tools, which deliver only about 60% of the quality of a service provider. **This is the squeeze.** You're caught between clients who want cheaper prices (because AI exists) and AI SaaS tools that are now your direct competition. The tools deliver mediocre results, but they're cheap enough that price-sensitive clients will try them first. If you respond by cutting your prices and quality to compete, you've already lost. You become the expensive version of a cheap tool. The only winning move? **Maintain quality and prove why human expertise + AI beats AI alone.** Use AI to enhance your service, not replace your judgement. Be transparent about where AI fits in your process. Invest cost savings into better outcomes for clients, not just margin. ## 3. Tech: Sonnet 4.5 Is All You Need (If You Don't Code) If you hop on any of the AI subreddits, you'll see post after post after post of people complaining about AI model quality, hitting their usage limits after 3 straight hours of AI usage (just what are they doing for 3 straight hours?!) and how they're going to rage-quit XYZ model in lieu of ABC model. Well... I've been testing Claude's new Sonnet 4.5 model extensively since its release. My finding? For non-code tasks, it's just as good as Opus 4.1 was. This is significant, because Opus was previously the go-to for complex reasoning, strategic thinking, and nuanced writing tasks. But Opus is slower and uses up tokens faster. Sonnet 4.5 gives you near-identical quality and you won't burn through your limits, especially if you're on Claude Pro or Max. It has become my default for research, writing, content editing, traversing across files and more. The only time I still reach for Opus is in my personal coach Claude project with extended thinking turned on because, you know, I really want Claude to roast my productivity. ## 4. Courses I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI: [**1. Next Level Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/)\ A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today's constantly interrupted world. [**2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/)\ This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier. [**3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/)\ A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs. [**4. The AI Playbook**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/)\ This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams. [**5. ChatGPT for Managers**](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/chatgpt-for-managers/)\ See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included. That's it for this week! — Aaron > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ ## productivity ### How to Identify and Use Force Multipliers In Your Life https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/force-multipliers/ During the First Opium War between Great Britain and Qing Dynasty China in 1839, the British used the Royal Navy as a **force multiplier** in their campaign. Their technologically-superior naval fleet let them manoeuvre steam ships up waterways against winds and tides, carry more guns per ship, and outrange Chinese fortifications with better cannons and artillery. It essentially let them sail right up to the strategic points and cities they wanted to capture and simply deploy their ground forces. Having a force multiplier like a technologically-superior navy, let the British use strategies and tactics that they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. In contrast, the Qing forces lacked a naval force multiplier. Their ships were technologically over a hundred years older than the British ships. In turn, this meant that their available military strategies and tactics were also a hundred years older. There are many examples in history of how force multipliers have turned the tides of battles and wars. In military terms, they are factors that give people or weapons the ability to accomplish greater feats of warfare than without them, and allow militaries to use strategies and tactics previously unavailable to them. But you aren’t reading this for the military history. I hope. Let’s look at how we can apply the concept of **force multipliers** on a personal level. --- ## What Are Force Multipliers? ![What Are Force Multipliers?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/force-multipliers/military-force-multipliers.webp) The term force multiplier comes from military science. Military examples include: - Technology. - Morale. - Diplomacy. - Training. - Intelligence. - Weather. - Geography. They impact both the strategies available and in turn, the tactics used. If we take the force multiplier concept and apply it on a personal level, we can think of force multipliers as the **factors in our lives that give us the ability to accomplish greater feats than without them**. This is another way of saying that **your impact in terms of results or speed is greater with the factor than without it**. For example, accomplishing two times the results with the same effort, or accomplishing the same result but in half the time. You can also think of force multipliers as anything that expands your [locus of control](/productivity/locus-of-control/). ## Examples of Personal Force Multipliers ![Examples of Personal Force Multipliers](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/force-multipliers/example-force-multipliers.webp) Let’s get to the good stuff right away — a list of personal force multipliers that you can use in your life. In no particular order: - Good mindset/inner game. - Good health. - Good systems. - Money. - Self-discipline. - A platform/personal brand. - Fame/infamy. - Location. - Culture. The hard truth is that some cultures achieve more than others. - Personal-level technology, like computers, phones, generative AI and modern appliances.[^1] - Skillsets, like coding, persuasion and languages. - [Looks and appearance.](https://www.ted.com/talks/cameron_russell_looks_aren_t_everything_believe_me_i_m_a_model?language=en) - Virtue. ## Why Are Force Multipliers Important? ![Why are Force Multipliers Important?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/force-multipliers/why-force-multipliers.webp) Force multipliers are important because they make everything easier. They also accelerate your results. You can get two times, three times and maybe even more the results, in less time. They also let you do things that you cannot without them. As a silly example, if you have a phone and want to communicate something to a friend, you can simply call them. If you don’t have that phone, you would have to go find them in person or send a letter. And of course, it goes deeper than that. If you are fluent in English, you have access to the English-language Internet which is a staggering _fifty percent_ of all major content online.[^2] Just imagine if you couldn’t understand _any_ of that. If you can code, you can write yourself small programs and scripts to automate things. For example, I recently wanted to learn the one thousand most common words in Mandarin. So I downloaded a list online, and wrote a small script to segment it into ten-word CSV files that I could import into my repetition app one file at a time. Without this script, I would have had to copy-paste each word one-by-one into the app. If you can use AI and AI harnesses like [Claude Code](https://claude.com/product/claude-code), you can direct them to write that script for you. Having a force multiplier like a particular skillset simply lets you do things that others cannot. You can think of force multipliers as force _factors_ in your life. They exist in the wider world regardless of if you pay attention to them or not — so _why not_ use them to your advantage? Force multipliers also fit into the larger system of your life. When you add or improve a force multiplier in your life, it impacts everything — your finances, your health, your learning and your relationships. Rather than have me explicitly tell you, have a think about this: **How has owning a smartphone allowed you to do more in the different parts of your life?** ## How Do Force Multipliers Work? ![How Do Force Multipliers Work?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/force-multipliers/strategies-tactics.webp) Force multipliers affect strategy first, then tactics second. If you like military history (or play _Command & Conquer_) then you know that: - Strategy is the “big stuff” like what you outfit your army with. - Tactics are the “small stuff” like how you command your army in a given battle. A personal example of strategy and tactics in say exercise, would be: - Strategy as the workout programme that you choose. - Tactics as how you perform individual exercises in a given workout session. This is another way of saying that force multipliers affect not only **what** you choose to do, but also **how** you are going to do it. Let’s look at some content examples. ### Example 1: Good health as a force multiplier Being in good health is a positive force multiplier.[^3] Good health gives you: - More energy through better sleep and a greater capacity to do “work”. - Physical capabilities through strength, cardiovascular fitness and good signalling molecules (hormones, neurotransmitters). - [Self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/). - Knowledge of nutrition and physical activity. This translates into better focus and attention in non-exercise areas. It also multiplies across the various [areas of our lives](/productivity/areas-of-life/) by giving you greater control and more options in each area. For work and career, being in good health gives you the ability to focus your attention at will, which means better performance and (hopefully) more money. For health itself, once you’re in good health it’s easier to _stay_ in good health for longer. For learning and personal development, having implemented the diet and exercise programmes required for good health, means you have the right beliefs and frameworks to learn and implement new things. It also means that you have the abundance of energy (and the clarity that comes from that) for learning new things. For your relationships, you’ll look better, feel better and have a better mood and vibe, which all help in social situations. Looking more physically attractive to members of your preferred sex doesn’t hurt either. For your play and downtime, you’ll have plenty of energy to party and play as long and as hard as you want. ### Example 2: Location as a force multiplier Geography and location can be a force multiplier. For example: - The San Francisco Bay Area has the confluence of factors required for technology startups. - Shenzhen has all the factors required for efficient electronics manufacturing and distribution. - Singapore and Hong Kong have the legal and infrastructure factors required for international finance and banking. - Ho Chi Minh City, Chiang Mai and Austin have the factors that help digital nomads succeed. Being in the right place for a particular career or business opportunity acts as a force multiplier because it gives you access to things that you don’t have elsewhere. This could be access to people and talent. It could be resources, knowledge and know-how. It could be favourable laws, regulations, tax codes or government support. It could simply be infrastructure, whether that’s factories or internet speed.[^4] All these factors help force-multiply your efforts in your career or business. Being in the right geographic location means it is easier to meet the right people in-person. It means it is easier to incorporate, file paperwork and navigate financial institutions. It means it is easier to find new roles or opportunities. It means it is easier and faster to get work done in general. ### Example 3: AI as a force multiplier In more recent years, generative AI and AI harnesses like Claude Code or OpenAI's Codex have emerged as a [force multiplier for modern office work](https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/). AI allows us to: - Understand any written, auditory or visual medium programatically. - Manipulate language, and code, and images using text instructions. - Implement practically anything in code, text or other mediums simply by describing it. Much like prior business technologies such as the personal computer and smartphone, AI acts as a multiplier for every type of modern office work and has [completely changed the way that modern knowledge workers operate](https://aaronlynn.com/ai/hypertasking/). It has allowed for a shift in both strategy and tactics in business. At a strategic level, AI allows us to pull a data dump and perform complex analysis on business data almost instantaneously, meaning that we can make better, and often unexpected or previously inaccessible, strategic business decisions. A simple example: a non-technical business operator in the past would have used a spreadsheet or purchased an off-the-shelf solution for simple customer management. With AI, they can instead create, host and run a custom CRM specific to their business needs. At a tactical level, AI has solved workplace implementation. In the hands of a skilled operator, AI can implement plans for research, writing, reports, spreadsheets, analysis and even entire business applications in a matter of minutes and hours instead of weeks and months. Another simple example: companies no longer need to conceptualise art direction. Instead, they can cheaply and quickly _generate_ multiple art directions and then assess them visually. ## What To Do Next Force multipliers are factors or things that let you do more than you could without them. You can start by writing out a list of the force multipliers you already have. It could be technology you have access to, your mindset and view of the world, or even your physical health. And then think about the force multipliers you would like to have and need to acquire or develop. And then use them! Photo by [Flynn Doherty](https://unsplash.com/@flinch?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), Nikolay Tarashchenko, [Denny Müller](https://unsplash.com/@redaquamedia?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Simbach](https://www.flickr.com/photos/simbach/). [^1]: Just imagine having to wash all your clothes _by hand_. [^2]: Wikipedia. _Languages used on the Internet._ [https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Languages_used_on_the_Internet](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Languages_used_on_the_Internet) [^3]: Yes, there are negative force multipliers too. [^4]: I’m looking at you [Australia](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/National_Broadband_Network). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Time Management Stack https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/time-management-stack/ The Time Management Stack is a toolkit of systems, mindsets, principles and skills that help you utilise your time more effectively. It is a subset of the [Productivity Stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/), with which it shares some parts. Time is the most valuable resource that we have. Once time has passed, we cannot get it back. And this makes time management critical for everyone, no matter what their life’s purpose is. [![The Time Management Stack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp) The Time Management Stack is a literal stack. It starts with a foundation of health and energy, and builds upwards. Let’s look at the stack in detail and see how it fits together. --- ## Time Management Stack Level 1: Health and Energy [![Level 1: Health and Energy](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level1-health-energy.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level1-health-energy.webp) At the base of the time management stack is your [health and energy](/productivity/energy-management/). This is shared with the [Productivity Stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/). Your health and energy is the foundation of your time management, because without a functioning physical body, you cannot do anything effectively. The first part of your health and energy are your **Rituals**. [Rituals are sequences of habits that you do daily](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/) to put yourself into the right emotional states and head-spaces to be productive. Think of them as the warm up and stretching you need to do, to access your stores of energy and physical capacity. The second part is **exercise**, which is about building your body’s capacity for energy and living longer.[^1][^2] The third part is your **diet**, which runs on the principle of [GIGO](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_in,_garbage_out). You can choose your metaphor here: - Your diet as the high performance fuel you need to run your body, or - Your body as a temple that cannot be worshipped at should it be defiled by junk. The last part of your health and energy is your **sleep**. Your body needs it. Your brain needs it. Your sanity needs it. Sleep is **the** foundation of all physical energy. A lot of time management (and other productivity) problems can actually be solved by just [sleeping properly](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/). ## Time Management Stack Level 2: Inner Game and Mindset [![Level 2: Inner Game and Mindset](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level2-inner-game-mindset.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level2-inner-game-mindset.webp) The second level of the time management stack is your [inner game or mindset](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/). This is the interplay of your purpose, values, beliefs and mental frameworks that help determine if you can utilise time effectively - or not. It is also part of the [Productivity Stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/). The first part of your inner game is your **purpose**. [Your purpose is the point of everything](/productivity/purpose/) - _why is it that you do what you do?_ Without a strong and defined purpose, time management is moot. The second part of your inner game is your **values**. [Your values are the high-level principles that guide how you act](/productivity/core-values/) - your “default settings” so to speak. Not all values are conducive with good time management. There is nothing wrong with that, so long as you have actively made that decision for yourself. It is known that values _simply are_ rather than being a conscious decision. This is partially true. If you know what your values are and decide that they are not conducive with what you want, you can decide to change them for the better. The third part of your inner game for time management is your **motivation**. If you are to be effective with your time you must [be able to self-motivate](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/). Whether this is through small hacks, mindset changes or otherwise, you must be able to do it. [“Motivation”](/productivity/motivation/) in this sense can be thought of as [getting yourself to do things when you don’t really want to do them](/productivity/procrastination/). The last part of your inner game for time management is **[Play](/productivity/play/)**. Whatever it is you do, there is no point doing it if it’s [all hard work](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/) and no fun. [A well developed sense of play](/productivity/excess-hedonism/) will also make everything _seem easier_, and also change your perception of how time passes. ## Time Management Stack Level 3: Systems [![Level 3: Systems](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level3-systems.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level3-systems.webp) The third level of the time management stack consists of your [personal systems](/productivity/systems-thinking/). The “foundation” within your systems are your **goals and journals**. Goals are _mandatory_ for anyone looking to manage their time more effectively, for the same reason that purpose is: if you don’t have something worth managing, there is no point. Goals consist of [setting effective goals](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/), and then [knowing how to get them](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/). [Journals are a system](/productivity/journals/) for tracking goals and other things in your life, from task to appointments, to thoughts to emotions to habits. The main advantage of journals is that you can work across multiple timeframes and you always have a recorded history to refer back to and reflect upon. Both goals and journals tell you what you need to focus on at a given time. They can also help you work out which goals to prioritise, so that you can achieve them in a rational and systemised manner. The second part of your systems is your **calendar and schedule** and how you manage it. This is simply the [proper management of your schedule and appointments](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/) both with yourself and others. The third part of your systems is your **task management**. This is [how you sort and manage your tasks and projects](/productivity/personal-task-management/) - the actions you need to take. It also includes how to use frameworks like the [_Eisenhower Matrix_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_management#The_Eisenhower_Method) or _[Getting Things Done](/go/book-getting-things-done/)_ to prioritise your tasks. The fourth part of your systems is your **information management**. We produce a lot of information nowadays. We need a way to filter it, track it and file it away for future use. Having [effective information and document management](/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/) helps with this. The last part of your personal systems is **[time tracking](/productivity/time-tracking/)**. I mentioned earlier that time is the only resource you can’t get back. So why aren’t you tracking it? Everyone should be measuring the raw hours they spend doing things to get a real indication of where their time really goes. ## Time Management Stack Level 4: People Management [![Level 4: People Management](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level4-people-management-v2.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level4-people-management-v2.webp) The fourth level of the time management stack is **People Management**. This may seem like an odd inclusion in the field of time management, but as human beings we live in societies and interact with each other - and use time to do so. The first aspect of people management is **[delegation](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/)**, or the ability to use other people’s time. There are many opportunities to do this in the modern world. Delegation is one of your most powerful [force multipliers](/productivity/force-multipliers/) - a way to accomplish far more with fewer, better-leveraged inputs rather than simply working more hours yourself. The second aspect of people management is [AI](/ai/). This may seem like an odd inclusion, but using AI Large Language Models is about effectively prompting what you need and want to the model, so that it can execute it for you. Delegating to AI models is practically the same as delegated to other people. The third aspect of people management is **[email/communication management](/productivity/effective-email-management/)**, or how we handle other people’s attempts to use _our_ time. You need to be able to effectively triage and manage emails, DMs and calls. This can be done through a clever mix of automation and prioritisation systems. ## Time Management Stack Level 5: Small Hacks [![Level 5: Small Hacks](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level5-small-hacks.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level5-small-hacks.webp) The final and top layer of the time management stack are the “small hacks”. _The bottom four levels of the time management stack are much more important to get right in the long term._ These “small hacks” can be thought of as the ornamentation on top of your already solid foundation of effective time management. They include: - **[Most Important Tasks](/productivity/most-important-task/)**, which is a way for morning people to build a cumulative psychological advantage in tackling their hardest/most important work first thing, everyday. - **Handling [destructive snacking and digital distractions](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/).** - **[Deep work and single tasking](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/)**, or the ability to get things done, with quality and one at a time. - **[Timeslicing and flowtime](/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/)**, which utilises a timer to help you compartmentalise tasks and schedule regular breaks. - **[Night/day before planning](/productivity/wtf-days/)**, which is exactly what it sounds like. - **Automation** of all sorts. Automation is a form of building time assets. - **[Gap time](/productivity/gap-time/)**, or making the most of lost transit and waiting time. - **[Batching](/productivity/batching/)**, or reducing the costs of set up and teardown by doing lots of repetitions of the same thing together. There are more “small hacks” than those listed. For example, solar flaring or the use of nootropics and stimulants. Just remember that these are the finishes that build on an already solid and developed four levels of time management. ## What To Do Next This article is designed to serve as reference point to the entire time management stack. Many of the parts of the stack already have guides up, and those are linked - you can take those and put them to work for you right away. For everything else, **grab a 100% free copy of _Evolution_ below**. It shows you how you can use systems like the Time Management Stack to live a better life in today's world. Photo by [Patrick Fore](https://unsplash.com/@patrickian4?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Gries, K. J., Raue U., Perikns, R. K., Lavin, K. M., Overstreet, B. S., D'Acquisto, L. J., Graham, B., Finch, W. H., Kaminsky, L. A., Trappe, T. A., Trappe, S. (2018). Cardiovascular and skeletal muscle health with lifelong exercise. _Journal of Applied Physiology, 125_(5), 1636-1645. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00174.2018 [^2]: Tucker, L. A. (2017). Physical activity and telomere length in U.S. men and women: An NHANES investigation. _Preventive Medicine, 100_, 145-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.04.027 > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Learned Extroversion https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/learned-extroversion/ At a recent group dinner, I mentioned that my partner and I are both introverts, which was met with some confused looks. I had to explain that we are **Learned Extroverts** — we are introverts who have learned to act like extroverts. Most people find it hard to believe that introverts can learn the social skills, expressions, and behaviours that extroverts naturally possess. At a high level, you can think of extroversion as the ability to have fun conversations and enjoy being around people. And if you want to be nerdy about it, it is the ability to: - Respond to conversation with a wide range of emotional responses. - Chain conversations together into a conversational flow. - Understand and make small talk about a wide range of culturally relevant topics. - Pull people into conversation, let people speak and lead, and merge social groups and topics together. - Move conversations forward when needed, and allow them to end when not. - Keep the energy levels of yourself and others high and engaged. - Read people. Natural extroverts learn all these skills simply in the course of growing up because they are driven to be around people all the time. Introverts do not have the same experience. To illustrate, an extrovert goes out every week, meeting say five people every time they go out. This happens from when they’re a teenager through to however old they are now. An introvert can go entire months without seeing anyone except their significant other and family. So over the course of say a year, an extrovert meets about 250 people, many of them new. An introvert meets _maybe_ 50 people, and that’s being generous. This means that every year, the extrovert accumulates **five times** more experience in interacting with other people, which, of course, makes them much more polished at it. But can an introvert learn the same social skills that an extrovert has? Absolutely. Here’s how. --- ## What Is Extroversion? ![What Is Extroversion?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learned-extroversion/what-is-extroversion.webp) It is useful to begin by defining what exactly extroversion (extraversion) is. There are two different views on this. **The scientific view** is that extroversion and introversion can be defined by the amount of stimuli required to elicit a physiological response in a person. This is popularly known as the “lemon saliva test”.[^1] Simply put, extroverts require more lemon juice to produce the same amount of saliva compared to introverts. **The more popular definition** of introversion/extroversion is whether being around other people energises or drains you. In this case, extroverts feel energised by being around others, while introverts typically feel drained, and have to recharge in solitude. This definition leads to the stereotype that extroverts are outgoing, social, and fun to be around, and introverts are quiet, brooding loners. In reality, introversion/extroversion is more of a gradient scale, and everyone falls somewhere on the scale: [![Introversion Extroversion Scale](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learned-extroversion/introversion-extroversion-diagram.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learned-extroversion/introversion-extroversion-diagram.webp) Learned extroversion, however, does not mean that you will enjoy being around others the same way that naturally extroverts do. It does not mean that you will need more stimuli to elicit a saliva response. It does not mean you will recharge your energy by being around others — you will still need to find your own alone time to recharge. **It simply means that to others, you will appear to socialise and interact with others like an extrovert.** ## Breaking Down What We Perceive as Extroversion Let’s take this one level further and break down what “socialise and interact with others like an extrovert” actually means. I believe it is two things: 1. Flow of conversation. 2. Higher energy levels in conversation and around people. The **flow of conversation** simply means that you are great at making small talk — on various topics, with seamless transitions between topics, and with the correct pop culture references. This also includes the absence of conversation killers and the ability to carry the conversation when other people are silent or don’t know what to say. **Higher energy levels** means being “outgoing” or “fun to be around”. It means expressing in a way that is perceived as louder, more assertive, more confident and more expressive. It means appearing comfortable in group settings and social situations. One interesting note is that natural extroverts always need to be around other people — they will proactively seek excitement and activity. As a learned extrovert, you will have no desire to do this. ## Learned Extroversion Skills Learned extroversion skills are really a subset of the [Basic Social Skills Stack](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/). [![Basic Social Skills Stack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/basic-social-skills-stack-png.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/basic-social-skills-stack-png.webp) Here are the ones that are relevant. **Verbal** - Small talk. - Relating. - Speaking with friends. Not so much speaking with strangers, as most introverts will remain introverted around strangers. - Social appropriateness. - Sarcasm. - Playfulness. - Not sympathy/empathy as, strangely enough, people do not look for these when assessing how outgoing someone is. **Non-Verbal** - Eye contact. - Body language. - Voice. - First impressions / physical appearance. - Not really physical touch, as most communication with friends and acquaintances will be verbal. **Sensory** - Social calibration. - Sensory intake. - Active listening. - Spatial perception. **Contextual** - Social etiquette and situational awareness. - Persuasion. - Leading. ## How to Learn Extroversion Skills ![How to Learn Extroversion Skills](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learned-extroversion/how-to-learn-extroversion-skills.webp) Some people may argue that introverts learning extroversion skills is “faking” it because it’s all an act. I do not believe this to be the case for a couple of reasons. First, extroverts have learnt these skills as part of growing up. You would simply be learning them in a direct and focused way as an adult. Second, introversion-extroversion is a gradient scale, so you are really just shifting yourself along that scale towards extroversion in terms of social skills. Before we dive into the specifics of each learned extroversion skills, you may be wondering exactly HOW these skills are learnt. **They are learnt through a combination of theory and practice.** **Theory** means that you conceptually learn about specific skills, through: - Reading books. - Taking online courses. - Attending classes like improv or standup comedy. As an introvert, theory is likely your strength, so lean into it with self-study and intellectually processing what must be done before going out to apply it. After you understand enough theory, you need to go **practice,** practice, and practice more. You need to have lots and lots of conversations — with friends, at your social hobbies, at meetups, and just being social by saying “yes” to as many social invitations as you can. The act of practicing will let you subconsciously correct many things without having to intellectually direct every correction. _Remember: You have to catch up with the five times greater experience that natural extroverts have accumulated._ You may not have to have as many interactions as they have had to become a learned extrovert, but you still have to have **enough** interactions to cross the “learned extrovert” threshold. Let’s break down each of the extroversion skills and look at the best way to learn each of them. ## Verbal Extroversion Skills ![Verbal Extroversion Skills](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learned-extroversion/verbal-extroversion-skills.webp) ### Small talk Small talk can be broken down into a number of sub-skills: - Listening to others. - Pop culture references. - Topic silos. - Conversational flow. **Listening to others** is best learnt by putting yourself in numerous small talk situations, and learning by seeing what is appropriate to say or not. **Pop culture references** refers to celebrity gossip, references to TV shows and movies, quotes, memes and so on. Despite the bad reputation that pop culture has amongst the educated, people like to talk about it. You don’t need to be an expert in all things pop culture, but you need to contextually understand the references and be able to insert some into conversation. These references will be “niche dependent”, to borrow a term from marketing. They will largely depend on the people you socialise with. For example, if you live in a non-Anglosphere country, they will have their own pop culture related to their own celebrities and media. If you socialise in specific communities like digital nomads, expat business people or say fitness enthusiasts, they all have their niche-specific pop culture references that everyone follows and is expected to know. Two easy ways to stay on top of these: 1. Subscribe to [r/popculturechat](https://reddit.com/r/popculturechat) on Reddit for Hollywood/Anglosphere references. 2. Curate your X/TikTok/Instagram feeds to deliver you updates. **Topic silos** refers to the fact that everyone is an expert in _something._ What you need to do is be able to talk about that topic in an interesting way. That doesn’t mean that when you speak with someone that the entire conversation is entirely about that topic, but that being an expert in a particular topic allows you to demonstrate your knowledge, expertise, and passion for the topic, the conveyance of which makes it compelling to other people. This also means recognising that other people have topics that they are experts in, and that you should allow them to speak about them and even indulge in them. Some social magic happens when you are an expert in topics that other people are interested in — you will find that your ability to connect with people and form relationships skyrockets. _Bonus tip: You can become an expert in some of these universally-interesting topics with some reading._ The last part of small talk is **conversational flow.** This means that when someone says something in conversation, you can: 1. Relate and move forward with the topic, using a “Yes, and” statement, flatly agreeing, or asking an open-ended question. 2. Reply with something playful or nonsensical like a joke, sarcasm, or a tease if in a dating context. 3. Respond with a physical touch, especially in a dating context. 4. Pivot the topic to something else. Doing this will require conscious attention in the beginning, but will become subconscious over time. ### Relating Relating is part of conversational flow, and basically the art of using statements, questions and the “yes, and” structure from improv comedy to make others feel heard and also progress the conversation forward. The best way to learn this apart from having lots and lots of conversations is to take improv comedy classes. ### Talking with friends Talking with friends is one of the skills in the learned extroversion skill stack, but the only way to improve at this is really to “say yes” to lots of social invitations from friends and to go interact with them. ### Social appropriateness Social appropriateness is highly contextual and dependent on the culture of where you are. You can learn some of this by reading books, blogs, and articles about the culture of where you are, but in-depth understanding only comes from living in a location for an extended period of time, and putting yourself in social situations. ### Sarcasm and playfulness Playfulness is a comedic skill learned from doing standup comedy or improv comedy. It breaks down into subskills like improvisation and callback humour. Sarcasm is a related skill, and I believe one that can only really learnt in the Anglosphere. It is picked up through conversation with others, and from watching standup comedy sets, especially in English. For whatever reason, other countries and cultures just don’t have the same highly developed sense of sarcasm.[^2] ## Non-Verbal Extroversion Skills ![Non-Verbal Extroversion Skills](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learned-extroversion/non-verbal-extroversion-skills.webp) ### Eye contact Eye contact simply means being able to look at people in their eyes during conversation. This is best learnt in Western/Anglosphere countries where eye contact is considered a mark of trust or confidence, and more people are likely to practice it. This contrasts with say, some Asian cultures, where eye contact skills are fairly poor as they are not culturally emphasised.[^3] Two suggestions for learning eye contact: 1. It is less strange to look at the middle point between someone’s eyes than directly into each eye. 2. There are YouTube videos available for practicing eye contact. ### Body language Body language is extremely difficult to learn on your own. Sure, you can read books about body language, but they only go so far. A common example of why would be: Crossing your arms is supposed to indicate strength and potentially confrontation. Or it could just mean that you’re cold. The best way to learn body language is to practice with a coach who can give you feedback on how to stand, sit, where to emphasise your body weight and positioning and so on. You can also try to model the body language of people in films, TV shows and the media who are perceived the way you want to be perceived. ### Voice The easiest way to strengthen your vocal skills is to work with a vocal coach. If you would like to play into the stereotypes: - Men should have a deep, booming voice, meaning that most men should drop their voices an octave or two and speak slower. - Women should either have a clear, bell-like voice, or a deep, husky voice.[^4] ### First impressions and physical appearance **First impressions and physical appearance** refers to the standard “be in shape by eating healthily and exercising” advice. It also means engaging a fashion consultant who can help you identify what outfits fit you well, and are also suitable for building your own style. This is not the same as following fashion trends which change over time, but developing a basic style that communicates what you want it to, and that you can call your own. Tidying up your physical appearance is usually an easy fix — it can be as simple as identifying what an extroverted version of you would dress like, as appropriate for your age and identity, compared to what the introverted version of you dresses like now. ## Sensory Extroversion Skills ![Sensory Extroversion Skills](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learned-extroversion/sensory-extroversion-skills.webp) Sensory Extroversion Skills refers to the ability to read the people and environment around you. As a natural introvert, you are already great at this because it is simply observation and assessment. ### Social calibration Social calibration is learning what cues from other people mean. As an introvert, you probably already pick up on all these cues, but you may not have the correct interpretation of them. For example, if someone turns away from you, is that: - Them being bored? - Being rude and breaking rapport? - Just needing to reach for something behind them? You can learn cues from theory (books/courses on body language), and then go out into the real world, and observe and test your observations. Social calibration also includes knowing what is appropriate to do or say depending on the level of familiarity or rapport you have with someone. The benchmark for understanding social calibration is when you start to notice other people doing or saying the “wrong thing” in social situations. ### Sensory intake Sensory intake is simply opening yourself up to the real world around you. It means getting out of your phone. It means when you are outside, don’t put in your headphones, and don’t scroll through social media. _Instead, observe the people and environment around you._ This is a super simple exercise of people watching, seeing what people are doing, who is watching them, and what observations you can make about them. Doing this will also help improve your **spatial perception.** ### Active listening Active listening is a whole topic in and of itself. Guide coming soon. ## Contextual Extroversion Skills ![Contextual Extroversion Skills](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learned-extroversion/contextual-extroversion-skills.webp) ### Social etiquette and situational awareness Social etiquette and situational awareness simply means “not being weird”. It means not overreaching in social situations. Overreaching is where people: - Say something inappropriate. - Ask questions that are a bit too personal. - Ask too many questions over text, or too detailed questions over text. - Assume familiarity and rapport where it doesn’t exist yet. You develop situational awareness when you develop good social calibration, and with it, you understand when to stay in rapport, and when to intentionally break rapport. ### Persuasion The best way to learn persuasion is to read marketing, sales, consumer behaviour and psychology books. I highly recommend starting with Robert Cialdini’s _[Influence](https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/006124189X)_. The rest is just practice. ### Leading Leadership is the ability to envision something and then supply action until it is done. This action can include recruiting other people to your cause. There are many types of leaders, so do not feel pressured to conform to any particular archetype. Some people lead quietly from the back, and some are the face of the vision, charging from the front. The main thing here is that others perceive you to be a leader. You do not need to hold an actual leadership role in your work or community for this. If you are doing well in life, and can convey this through all the other skills outlined in this guide, this becomes automatic. ## What To Do Next If you’re an introvert looking to become a learned extrovert, use this guide as your starting point. The skills in this short guide take time to learn and practice — potentially up to a few years. But once you’ve learnt them, you’ll know how to be “outgoing” and “social” on-demand. If you haven’t read the [Basic Social Skills Stack](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/) yet, I suggest reading that next. [^1]: Eysenck, S. B. G., & Eysenck, H. J. (1967). Salivary response to lemon juice as a measure of introversion. _Perceptual and Motor Skills, 24_(3_suppl), 1047-1053. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1967.24.3c.1047 [^2]: I have heard that German culture also excels at sarcasm, but I don’t speak German and don’t have any firsthand experience with it. [^3]: Though thanks to globalisation, confident eye contact is still impactful in those cultures. [^4]: Keeping in mind I’m not a woman so this is just my less-informed perspective. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Time Management for Consultants, Freelancers, and Solopreneurs https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/ A couple of months ago, I received an interesting set of questions over text from a consultant friend of mine. He had started taking on clients and was overwhelmed with doing calls, running his own consultancy and also fulfilling client work. I banged out some advice for him over text in-between sets at the gym, but wanted to expand on those in a guide for anyone in a similar situation. I have worked as a solo consultant for the past 4 years and have pretty much seen it all and done it all. This is my advice to my consultant friend, expanded into a detail guide that incorporates the best time management and productivity strategies and techniques so that anyone can use it — be they a consultant, freelancer, solopreneur, or small business owner. --- ## The Setting ![The Setting](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/the-setting.webp) Most consultants, freelancers, and solopreneurs are in their position because they have struck out on their own. On day one, things are great. You realise that you get to set your own hours, manage your own time, and be your own boss. This means that you can manage your own productivity and focus, and reap the benefits of not having to report to anyone — or does it? By day 100, you realise that: - Clients are basically part-time jobs. - **It’s hard to manage your time** because of a multitude of demands, from calls, to Slack, to email, to actual work. - You are both running a company AND working for clients. - You have advantages in speed and flexibility, but disadvantages in minimal delegation capabilities and minimal ability to scale. Which brings us to the question — what’s the best way to go about it? ## The Solo Mindset ![The Solo Mindset](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/solo-mindset.webp) Once you realise that clients you take on are basically part-time jobs, you realise that there is more to client work beyond just the actual work. You may bill them for hours, but there is always going to be a management and administrative overhead. It depends on the nature of your work, of course, but a good estimate is an extra 30 minutes of management overhead for every hour billed/worked. This includes things like emails, reporting, general chats and calls, business development and relationship building. At the same time, you are also still running your own business, meaning you have to meet legal requirements, do your own marketing, and manage your own administrative and financial tasks. The upside to all this is you have complete flexibility and control over your time if you set things up properly, as per this guide. The downside is you HAVE to work, otherwise there is no revenue. ## Tech for Solo Consultants, Freelancers, and Entrepreneurs ![How To Set Up Remote Working In Your Business](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-remote-work-setup/how-to-setup-remote-working.webp) You will need a tech stack to run your business. Think of your tech as “employees who never sleep”, and the cost of an app or two at, say, $50/month, will be less than the cost of a virtual assistant. You may already have some basic apps to start, usually those that are built into your computer and phone — a task list and a calendar. But it’s time to expand on those. Here is what you will need. ### Project management You need some form of project management beyond just personal task management. I like [Asana](/go/asana/). You are running a business, and it is absolutely worth separating your personal and business tasks at the project management level, though you can unify them later at the journal level (see below). The reason you want proper project management in place is so that you can eventually use contractors/freelancers/VAs to help you with business tasks, without having to provide them with access to all your personal and client files. [Project management is a whole topic in and of itself](/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/), but at the very least, make sure that administrative tasks like billing and client check-ins happen flawlessly on a recurring basis. ### CRM The term CRM actually refers to two different applications: 1. Sales CRM for new leads. 2. Client CRM for tracking current clients. If you have a busy sales pipeline, it is worth investing in a sales CRM or using a marketing automation suite that includes a CRM function. I use [ActiveCampaign](https://www.activecampaign.com/) for this and also like [Pipedrive](https://www.pipedrive.com). For your client CRM, I recommend using a simple area in your [Notion](/go/notion/) setup to track client projects and work history. ### Cloud storage There is absolutely no reason not to have cloud storage nowadays. It’s cheap, and automatically backs up all your data. I like [Google Workspace](https://workspace.google.com/) as it also includes docs and email. ### Knowledge base/wiki As mentioned, you should [store your internal client notes and information in Notion](/business/knowledge-management/). You should also [write your own SOPs](/business/how-to-write-a-standard-operating-procedure-sop-video/) and store them in Notion as well. These are even more essential as a consultant/freelancer, as you are doing mostly everything yourself, and don’t want to have to rethink the process every time. ### Journal I mentioned above that you should separate your personal and work project management tools, but that you should unify them at the journal level. This helps you stay on track daily and remain productive. More information in the [Perpetual Journal System](/courses/). ### Calendar A calendar will let you plan out your days and your meetings. Using a calendar is KEY to make sure that you never miss anything related to clients. [Grab my free calendar cheatsheet below for what apps I recommend](#cheatsheet), and [here is how you should have calendars set up in your business](/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/). ### Communication channels You should have clear communication channels with each of your clients. This could be DMs via [Slack](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software) or [Teams](https://g.co/kgs/6A9qr4n), or using the comment section in your project management tool. You will likely have to deal with clients who want to use WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, LINE and other personal messaging apps to communicate as well as most people are bad at separating their work and personal contexts. If you have to use the client’s tech stack, say their Slack workspace, that is fine too. ### All-in-one tools Are there any all-in-one tools worth considering for solo small business owners? I would recommend [Google Workspace](https://workspace.google.com/) for most people, as you get a professional email domain (you@yourcompany.com) as well as cloud storage, and access to Google Docs. I’ll also give a shoutout to [Daylite](https://www.marketcircle.com/) for Mac users. Hat tip [Ben Miura](https://www.niwadesigns.com.au/). --- Tech as a solo entrepreneur is hard. You need a tech stack capable of doing business, but you don’t have a full team to help you maintain it. But it can be done. If you set yourself up with the right apps from the start, you’ll have built-in scalability as your business grows. ## Breaking Down Your Workday ![Breaking Down Your Workday](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/breaking-down-your-workday.webp) Here’s how you should break down your workday. This is from the perspective that you work from home or at co-working spaces. There is no reason for a solo consultant to have an office — in most cases you will be doing things at a computer, online, or visiting client offices/sites. The first thing to understand is that your calendar is the most important part of managing your time. You should put everything into your calendar: - Your wake-up time. - Your sleep time. - Your meal times. - Your exercise times. - Your family time. - Any other regular times. I call this **Anti-fragile Calendar Optimisation,** as any volatility is easily handled by the system and actually allows you to emerge from it stronger. Everything outside these fixed times becomes potential work time. The next step is to take that potential work time and break it down even further. You will find that you have two simple categories for work time: 1. **Hero Mode,** which is heavy thinking, deep work, focus time. 2. **Cruise Mode,** which is administrative and project management time. Client work will fall into one of those two categories, depending on the nature of the client work. You want to put your Hero Mode time during [your most energetic time of day](/productivity/energy-management/), and Cruise Mode time during your less energetic times of day. ## Batching Your Calls ![Batching Your Calls](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/batching-your-calls.webp) As a solo consultant, you want to pick 1–2 days to do calls on, and try to batch all your calls into those days. This is borrowing an idea from larger companies where they batch their meetings into one day a week. It also works surprisingly well for solopreneurs. You may be asking why. The first reason is that there is a cost to switching between calls and focused work. You can think of it as switching between [extroversion](/productivity/learned-extroversion/) (calls) and introversion (focus). What happens when calls are spread out is that you start working on something, then get a calendar reminder for a call. You hop on the call, but your brain is in focus mode, so you have a suboptimal call. By the end of the call you are now socially warmed up, but it’s time to get back to focused work and so you end up less productive as you’re now in a talkative mood. This means less overall productivity because calls generally tire you out, especially video calls. The best option is to group your call days into 1–2 days a week. How can you do this? If you’re the one setting the calls, ask your clients to move them to your preferred days. If you are attending internal client calls, try to persuade them to move them to your preferred days 🙂 All your sales calls, follow-up calls, messaging, heavy email and communications should fall on those 1-2 call days a week. On those call days, do not try to do any focused work. Pick only your Cruise Mode tasks, and just do the calls. More than likely, your rhythm on those days will look like: Call, rest, prepare for the next call, call, rest, a bit of cruise mode work, call and so on. This makes your workweek look something like this: - **Monday:** Focus. - **Tuesday:** Calls. - **Wednesday:** Focus. - **Thursday:** Calls. - **Friday:** Focus. - **Saturday/Sunday:** Focus/Cruise. ## Other Parts of the Time Management Stack [![The Time Management Stack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp) If you’re familiar with the [Time Management Stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/), you may be asking what other parts of it apply to consultants and freelancers. I would like to say ALL of it, but I get it, you’re busy. We’ve already discussed your Journals and Calendar above. So here are the other highlights that I have found the most impactful for solopreneurs and small business owners. ### Sleep Your brain and body will thank you if you get your 7–8 hours of sleep every night. Sometimes, you won’t be able to because of late night calls, or simply too much work. In those cases, you simply need to push through, and catch up on sleep when you can. That being said, sleep as much as you can. This will rest your brain and give you optimum faculties for heavy strategic thinking, which you will need for your own business and your clients. ### Rituals Work out your morning ritual so that you can get up, run it, and get going at your work desk in less than an hour in the morning. Similarly, have a simple evening ritual that lets you disconnect from work and wind down to go to sleep. [Here’s how you can set up both](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). ### Play/Downtime Speaking of rituals, the most important part of your evening ritual will be [some element of play or downtime](/productivity/play/). You may be so busy with work that you’re tempted to work 7 days a week on the business. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But. I strongly suggest that you find out exactly how much downtime / play time you need to stay sane. I mean this — **slow burnout is a very real phenomenon.** You may be able to go hard with work for 2 weeks, 3 weeks, or even a month… But eventually, if you are not taking SOME time off, you will burn out. And this ends up as a “fuck this” episode where you cancel all your calls, fire some clients, and go on a 3-day bender. How much time off you need regularly is different for everyone. It could be: - 30 minutes a night. - A full hour for lunch. - Just taking Sunday off. Whatever it is, work out what you need and make sure you get it in. I’m not advocating “balance” because running your own business or professional practice is anything-but. **I am recommending downtime so that you stay sane, clear and rational in your business and life decisions.** ### Time tracking You will want to [track time](/productivity/time-tracking/) in your business, if not across your entire life. At the very least, you need to know the breakdown in: - Client work. - Administrative work. - Your own marketing efforts. - Time spent doing sales. It is good from a decision-making perspective to know how your business hours work and what they consist of. This will let you see where you may be under-billing clients, so you can iterate your rates for future clients. ## Extended Business Productivity and Systems ![Extended Business Productivity and Systems](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/extended-business-productivity-systems.webp) You may be wondering about business productivity and other systems you can use to better manage the _business side_ of your time. There are two things that are beyond the scope of this guide that I would focus on: 1. **Good Client Management** — streamlined onboarding, management and off-boarding with SOPs and automation. 2. **Getting an assistant.** [Here’s how you can do that](/business/how-to-hire-an-assistant/). ## What To Do Next We’ve covered the importance of having a calendar in this guide. The easiest way to get that set up is to grab my **Calendar App and Service Cheatsheet** for free. Enter your name and email below and then set those apps up: **Free: Calendar App and Service Cheatsheet** — Get the Calendar App and Service Cheatsheet — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/ If you’d like to dive deeper into any of the topics discussed in this guide, take a look at: - [Essential Apps for Remote Work](/business/remote-work-apps/). - [Knowledge Management: How to Systemise Your Business with SOPs](/business/knowledge-management/). - [How to Set up Your Business for Remote Working and Let Your Team Work Remotely](/business/business-remote-work-setup/). - [The Hierarchy of Communication for Your Business and Personal Life](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Next-Level Productivity https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/next-level-productivity/ _[Note: If you're looking for my Next Level Productivity course, please head over to the course page on Udemy here.](/go/nlp/)_ I recently caught up with a long-time reader and friend for lunch. He’s pretty organised and productive, but he’s always looking for more ways to optimise his work and life, so he asked: > Aaron, what’s new in the productivity world? And it had me thinking — there hasn’t been much innovation in the productivity world recently. Most apps, tools, and systems are just iterations of the same concepts. Everything you’ve seen in the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) or [productivity stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/). So… what do productivity masters do when they’ve maxed out their productivity? How do we take this to the next level? This compilation of next-level productivity techniques is the result. --- ## A Warning This is a guide to _next-level_ productivity techniques. This means that your _existing_ productive flow (as defined in _[Evolution](/courses/evolution/)_) is already excellent, otherwise none of this will work. For example, if you can’t turn your focus on and off at will, **The Molecule Man** technique will make you disorganised, scatterbrained and shatter your focus into a million pieces. If you aren’t already eating healthily and accurately, **The Lion** technique will be incredibly unhealthy for you. And what exactly is **good, productive flow?** This is where you’ve been spending at least 50% of your time focused on your goals, consecutively, for the past year. Yes, you’re allowed a few bad days every year. But 99% of the time, you must be switched on, and focused. ## Technique 1: Zero Point Tracking ![Technique 1: Zero Point Tracking](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/next-level-productivity/02-zero-point-tracking.webp) **Zero Point Tracking** is the idea that any kind of recording is friction. Ticking tasks lists, tracking workouts, writing journals… it’s all an extra step that you don’t need to do. **You can speed up your flow by not tracking.** This concept comes from the old school Internet marketing underground, where conversions were coming in so fast that many marketers simply turned off tracking because the increase in speed (and thus, conversions and revenue) justified not having tracking data to optimise with. Here are a couple of examples from daily life to illustrate. Let’s take [time tracking](/productivity/time-tracking/). Say you’ve tracked your time already for 6 months, or a year. You know what your time-wasters are, and what your habitual patterns are. You’ve set up an antifragile calendar system already. At this point — there’s no need to track. Tracking becomes an unnecessary step that slows you down. So instead of tracking, you simply do and flow. Now let’s look at [sleep tracking](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/). Wearable tech is all the rage now… but how many people actually use the data? And if no one actually does anything with the data… why do we keep on tracking? So what we can do instead is this. Track for a period of time. Then make changes and optimisations: - Reduce light in your bedroom. - Reduce noise in your bedroom (or add white noise). - Set the right temperature. - And so on. And then leave it all alone and just get on with having a good night of sleep. Stop worrying about “optimising sleep” further and expending time and energy on it. Instead, simply enjoy the benefits of already having tracked and optimised your sleep habits. Both these examples illustrate that you must have tracked the data first, to know what is not being tracked now. If you’ve say, never [written 3 outcomes for the day](/courses/) and decide that you don’t need to do that… you don’t have the unconscious competence of having focused on just 3 large outcomes for the day, and you’ll just end up not getting things done. Track first, implement changes, then change to **Zero Point Tracking.** ## Technique 2: Ride The Chaos ![Technique 2: Ride The Chaos](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/next-level-productivity/03-ride-the-chaos.webp) **Riding The Chaos** is about harnessing the power of momentum, extreme focus and obsession to make you _even more_ productive. The idea is modelled from a good friend of mine, who goes through periods of hibernation, followed by a massive burst of activity where he succeeds at everything. It is the idea that you can be impulsive, and if something strikes your fancy in the moment, you give in to it and do it. You throw your life out of balance to **Ride The Chaos,** enjoy the benefits, and then revert to equilibrium when you’re done. In order to achieve this, you need a [solid inner game setup](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/): - Your day-to-day life should not be a challenge. Things should flow productively already. - Your [long-term goals should be set up](/productivity/goal-getting/) and progressed upon already — with enough flexibility to pivot and adjust as needed. Here’s the system behind this. First, you put out feelers everywhere. This means having a habit of knowing whom to listen to, what to read, how to [filter on inputs](/productivity/filter-on-inputs/), and how to keep your long-term goals in mind. Then you go about enjoying life. Simultaneously, you are prepared to take action when an opportunity arises — this means having the skills, time and mental space ready to deploy. When a select opportunity arises, you strike hard and fast. You make a plan. You throw your existing schedule out the window. And you execute until done. Then, you shift back to hibernation. People looking in from the outside will think, _“What happened to THAT guy?”_ But that only happens because of the force and impact of execution that comes from **Riding The Chaos.** ## Technique 3: The Molecule Man ![Technique 3: The Molecule Man](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/next-level-productivity/04-molecule-man.webp) In Marvel Comics, **The Molecule Man** is a super being who [exists as the same being across all realities in the multiverse at the same time](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Molecule_Man). One person, many existences. When you’re at peak productivity with work, this is how you take it to the next level. This means purposeful multitasking, simultaneous work streams, and rapid task switching. In practical terms, it looks like this. You start working with [deep focus](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/) on the task at hand. You do it well. You see a [notification pop up on Slack](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/), which you effectively triage. This means that if someone asks you for something, you can pause what you’re focused on, send it to them,[^1] then jump right back into deep focus. If you know it’s going to be a long request, you know how to say, “I’ll get back to you on this in 2 hours”, then set a Slack reminder or add it to your task list, then get back into deep focus. In order to do this, you need a few things. First, you need highly developed productivity skills. This means deep focus, and the ability to task switch and hold tasks mentally while switching, and clean workbench skills.[^2] Second, are the artefacts and systems for productive work. This means: - A [task list](/productivity/personal-task-management/). - [Project management tools](/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/). - [Journals and your outcomes for the day](/productivity/journals/), so you know what your high-level focus is. - [Efficient technology channels](/business/remote-work-apps/) like Slack and Asana. - An effective setup and allocation of work hours and work days [according to hero mode](/productivity/energy-management/). Lastly, it means technological mastery of the above systems. You must know how to use your task managers properly. You must know how to use project management properly. You must understand [quick capture shortcuts](/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/). You should have a multi-monitor setup, so you _can_ have multiple workstreams visible at the same time. This is how you do **The Molecule Man.** ## Technique 4: The Lion ![Technique 4: The Lion](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/next-level-productivity/05-lion.webp) **The Lion** is the idea of eating one meal a day (OMAD). Why? I’ll leave the fitness and nutrition aspects to experts in those fields, but I expect the science behind it to be similar to that behind intermittent fasting.[^3] What I’m more interested in are the productivity reasons. Most people will feel sluggish after eating, regardless of what is eaten. So… not eating increases the window of creative and concentrated output you can achieve. And less time spent eating, means more time available to be productive.[^4] This technique is called **The Lion** because as I kid I remember watching nature documentaries where lions would eat a big meal, then lie down and sleep and enjoy their time afterwards. And as human beings, why shouldn’t we get to enjoy that too? Here’s what you need to do to set it up: 1. Have your calories in place for the day — and know exactly what you’re going to eat. 2. Have the ability to sit and eat all of that in one go. This is where having good food choices and calorie-dense foods helps. 3. Have a set meal time. 4. Have the discipline to get through the first bits of discomfort. It’s going to be tough to eat 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 3,000 calories in one sitting if you’re not used to it. 5. Have the mental fortitude and resistance to social pressure to eat breakfast, lunch etc. 6. Know how to say no to social commitments or not eat at them. This is cultivated through practice. 7. Have the flexibility to know when to eat with others, and how to be a Flexible Lion on given days. Once you have these set up, you can execute. You make your plan, you have your food ready, then you eat. _Bonus Tip: If you’re used to eating 3 meals a day, try cutting down to 2 meals a day first as an intermediate step,_[^5] _before proceeding to **The Lion.**_ ## Technique 5: The Spoiled Prince ![Technique 5: The Spoiled Prince](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/next-level-productivity/06-spoiled-prince.webp) **The Spoiled Prince** means you act like a spoiled prince from medieval tales and fables. This is the carefully cultivated art of ignoring low-level, inconsequential issues until they go away on their own… or until someone else takes care of it You can also think of this as _Selective Responsibility_ or _Selective Ignorance._ _A Warning: DO clean up after yourself._ But when someone else makes a mess that you know will become a problem for them down the line — it’s THEIR problem to solve, so long as it doesn’t affect you too much. This is best illustrated through examples. **“You’ll need to call me back to confirm in 3 days’ time.”** Get their name and the time you called them, and tell them you are noting it down. Add the callback time onto your to-do list and move on. **Your partner leaves dirty dishes in the sink.** They know they’ll need to do them, so you lovingly remind them and then get on with your day. When they come back later and complains about them not being done, you can lovingly remind them again. The dishes will get done. **Someone kicks up a fuss and creates unnecessary drama.** This is “storm in a teacup” nonsense. You can selectively ignore them for a few days, and let them resolve their own drama or take it to someone else. You just get on with your day. **You ask a client to do something for their own benefit, and they don’t do it.** Be professional, and remind them gently. If they still don’t do it, make note of when and how you told them. Then, when the results roll around and aren’t what they expected, you remind them that you advised them otherwise multiple times, and they didn’t act in their best interests, and that explains the results. **Your friends want to organise a dinner in a group chat, but everyone has “preferences”.** Instead of participating in the back-and-forth and so-and-so doesn’t eat this or “that place has no parking” nonsense… you simply be in the chat, let them talk it all out, and when a decision nears, nod in agreement, then show up and enjoy the meal. This is what it means to be **The Spoiled Prince.** ## What To Do Next And there you have it: **5 next-level productivity techniques that productivity masters use to be _even more_ productive.** These are all productivity superpowers, and there is no need to use all of them. Any one or two of them will already have a tremendous impact on your productivity. If you want more cutting-edge productivity techniques like this, I share 3 digestible tips in my newsletter weekly. You can sign up here: **Free: Your Best Work Has a Time of Day** — Hero Mode Hours is a short guide to finding the one or two daily windows when your brain is sharpest — and spending them on work that matters. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/next-level-productivity/ [^1]: If it takes 2 minutes or less. [^2]: i.e., no 100 browser tabs open, and the ability to open up to work on something, then clean up after yourself when you’re done. [^3]: Usual disclaimer: I am not a health professional so please consult one before making any dietary changes. [^4]: And let’s face it, most eating nowadays is accompanied by mindless screen time. [^5]: Also known as intermittent fasting. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Strategic Planning for Couples https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/ Today I am going to introduce you to the unholy coupling of business consulting and relationship advice that is **Strategic Planning for Couples.** --- ## How This All Started Late last year, my partner and I started talking more seriously about our future together, and I had a brilliant idea: **Take what I do for companies and teams, and apply it to the relationship.** And hence, **Strategic Planning for Couples** was born. I mean… what could possibly go wrong… right? 🙈🙊🙉 People talk about **#couplesgoals** on social media, but that’s just an idea. Very few have a framework for how to turn that into reality. In my work I speak with a lot of business people and a surprising number of them do a similar planning process, or have expressed great interest in doing something similar in their relationship. In fact, the topic was in such high demand, that I gave a talk about it at a recent business conference. ![Aaron Lynn at DCx Taipei](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/01-aaron-lynn-dcx-taipei.webp) But first, a warning: **This is not something you do with a casual boyfriend or girlfriend.** This is a process you do with someone you’ve chosen to be your life partner, and who you have a commitment to long-term goals together with.[^1] By the end of this, you will know how to strategically plan with your significant other, and as a bonus, you will also know how to strategically plan for your business as well. ## First Attempts ![First Attempts in Chiang Mai](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/02-first-attempts-chiang-mai.webp) My partner and I have talked about “planning for the future” for a couple of years now. But it was largely just talking with sporadic amounts of doing. It took us a while to begin the process of formally planning because we are both business people and workaholics. And as you know, business people tend to prioritise work over everything else, including their relationships. The first strategic planning session we completed was in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We had picked out a scenic, remote mountain cabin, hoping to be inspired by the nature around us as we talked about the future, goals, and KPIs. But about an hour after we arrived, we smelled smoke in our cabin. We looked outside, and it turns out the lychee farm next to the resort was burning their crops. And so within about two hours of our arrival, ourselves, our cabin and our clothes and belongings, all smelled like smoke. So we decided to cut the stay short, called our driver back and headed back to the Nimman area of Chiang Mai city the next morning. We then spent the next few days at the [Maya CAMP co-working space](https://maps.app.goo.gl/6HYLFWM39TLkL4vk9), and used a whiteboard and our laptops to produce this document: ![Completed Strategic Planning for Couples](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/03-completed-strategic-planning-couples.webp) And that was our first attempt at strategic planning as a couple. ## Subsequent Attempts Our second attempt was substantially better. Out of our first experience in Chiang Mai, we had learnt that the location should be: - Offsite, away from your usual environment and work. - Nice, meaning inspiring natural scenery or cityscapes. - Practical, meaning Wi-Fi and a whiteboard/tablet to work on. We wanted to pick somewhere nice, but practical, and settled on a resort at Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan. ![Subsequent Attempts at Sun Moon Lake](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/04-subsequent-attempts-sun-moon-lake.webp) Our subsequent attempts since have followed that same format: - Good location, offsite. - Natural scenery and/or cityscape. - Accessible food, coffee/tea and areas for “break out sessions” and breaks. ## The Couples’ Strategic Planning Agenda Here is the agenda for **Strategic Planning for Couples.** ### Agenda 1. **Opening over food:** Top 3 issues and themes. 2. **Review last quarter:** Good news, metrics, review, status update. 3. **“Team building”.** 4. **Core:** Purpose/why, values, 5-year/10-year vision, cashflow and finances. 5. **Strategy.** 6. **Next quarter:** SWOTT, quarterly objectives, critical numbers/KPIs. Let’s break this down in detail. ### Three Days of Strategic Planning The entire process takes three days. This is plenty of time to complete your strategic planning in. If pressed for time, you could fit it into 2.5 days, but this isn’t really a process that you should rush. This allows you to have a nice vacation for you and your partner every quarter, which is just pure couples/relationship time. I recommend beginning to discuss the planning, agenda and topics as you begin your trip — this will kickstart your creativity and planning faculties for the session. **Day 1** consists of dinner the night before. **Day 2** is when most of the planning happens. **Day 3** is where you complete anything left over, and share any afterthoughts together. It is also recommended to postpone all your other commitments during the planning session, and just focus 100% on the planning. It isn’t fun to have to hop on Zoom calls or reply to emails and Slack messages while you’re planning your future together. ### 1\. Opening Over Food ![Opening Over Food](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/05-opening-over-food.webp) The strategic planning session should kick off with a dinner for yourself and your partner, discussing your top 3 issues and themes. The top 3 issues are ideas you have independently prepared and thought about before the session, and want to discuss with each other. These do not have to be “serious” topics, but can be issues in the relationship, issues in life or anything really that affects the both of you. Themes are best thought of as philosophical seasons. The objective with these is to create alignment — to be on the same page with your partner about where your lives are at the moment. Is your life currently in a growth-inducing summer, or a declining winter? The first time that my partner and I did this was at the mountain cabin in Chiang Mai. Despite the venue not being the best, we still managed to cover both our top 3 issues that we wanted to discuss with each other and our themes. ![A succulent Chinese meal](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/06-succulent-chinese-meal.webp) The second time we planned this much better, having a [succulent Chinese meal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XebF2cgmFmU) at the resort at Sun Moon Lake. ### 2\. Review Last Quarter ![Review last quarter](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/07-review-last-quarter.webp) The first item on the agenda for Day 2 of your strategic planning session should be a review of the last quarter (3 months). This is straightforward. First, share any **good news** with each other: - What were your wins and accomplishments and lucky breaks over the last three months? - Include things that happened both intentionally and unintentionally. Second, review any **metrics** for the last quarter. This will mostly be around health numbers (weight, body fat), and finances (income, expenses, other financial metrics you track). Finally, finish up with a combination **review and status update.** If you had goals written down for the quarter, share how they went. If not, do a “status update” and talk in general terms how the quarter went at a high level. ### 3\. “Team Building” When a consultant runs a strategic planning session for a business team, the “team building” section is usually an exercise where everyone shares a childhood story, or a “here’s one fact you would never guess about me” snippet. With your partner, there is only one type of team building that counts: !["Team Building" for couples](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/08-team-building-bed.webp) Just kidding. The first time we wrote this into our agenda and came across it, we had no idea what to do. So we went to eat: ![Team building over food](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/09-team-building-food.webp) The second time we figured that the best “team building” for couples would be an open discussion over tea and food. So we went downstairs to the koi pond, ordered some oolong tea and snacks and talked unscripted. ![Team building over tea](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/10-team-building-tea-koi-pond.webp) ### 4\. Core ![Core Values](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/11-strategic-planning-core-values.webp) The “core” in a business strategic planning session is a review and elicitation of the company culture. Why does the company exist? What does the company value, and what does the team agree to adhere to at work? What are the big, long-term goals? For couples’ strategic planning, it is largely similar. You begin by discussing each other's **purpose/why:** What are your purposes in life? The first time my partner and I did this, we “knew” each other's purposes, but had never formally written them down. It turns out Aki’s purpose is Creativity. Mine is [Evolution](/courses/evolution/) — pushing myself and others to the [next level](/productivity/next-level-productivity/), then the one after that, and so on. Once you’ve written down your purpose the first time, you can simply review it in future sessions to see if anything has changed. The next step after purpose are your **values.** [Here is my process for deriving core values](/productivity/core-values/). During our first strategic planning session, neither Aki nor I knew what her core values were, so we went through the exercise above and elicited them. I had no idea that her top value was health, and that “influence” and “justice” were on her values list. In my case, I have always known what my core values are — but Aki pointed out to me that I was missing a core value that would allow me to relate to people. So we created one called “Connections” for me, and I have been heavily living it since. In practical terms, it is proactively organising to meet with 1-2 people per week every week, resulting in substantial growth for my network and friends group. Once you have your purposes and values written down, you can discuss your **5-Year and 10-Year Visions.** In business, these would be your BHAG and 3HAG. Your BHAG is your big, hairy, audacious goal. A long-term, 20-year vision for the company that it will likely never reach. The 3HAG is a 3-year, highly achievable goal that the company will 100% hit if it stays on track. For a couple, we turned this into 10-year and 5-year visions. We sat down, and described every aspect of our lives for the 10-year mark and 5-year mark. Everything from the time we would wake up in the morning, to going to sleep at night, across different weeks, months, years. There was a lot of discussion about how our visions lined up, and how they didn’t line up. This will only be lengthy the first time that you do it. From your second planning session onwards, this step is usually just a review and adjustment of the visions you have written down before. The last part of your core are your **cashflow and finances.** We talked about our assets, income, expenses, and liabilities. Despite both being financially responsible, this isn’t something we had ever done as a couple before. And much like your purpose, values and visions, once you have done this once, you will have a baseline for future comparison. ### 5\. Strategy ![Strategy](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/12-strategic-planning-couples-strategy.webp) In a business strategic planning session, **Strategy** is where you would bring out models like balanced scorecards, ICPs and five forces to come up with a better strategy for the company. For a couples’ planning session, you need to be creative. What we came up with were: 1. Force multipliers. 2. Motivation. **[Force multipliers](/productivity/force-multipliers/)** are actions or ideas that help accelerate other actions or ideas in your lives. For us, this was, for example, sticking to our exercise habits, adding in more cardio workouts, eating healthier and the tactical usage of coffee and green tea. We also discussed hiring coaches and specific business or professional skills areas. **Motivation** was more about using each other's brainpower to help solve motivation or mindset blocks. [More on that here](/productivity/motivation/). ### 6\. Plan Next Quarter ![Plan Next Quarter](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/13-plan-next-quarter.webp) The last part of your strategic planning session is to set up the next quarter for success. There are three items that should be done here. The first is a **SWOTT analysis:** - Strengths. - Weaknesses. - Opportunities. - Threats. - Trends. You will want to run this as a couple, to see what may affect either or both of you in the upcoming quarter. [Trends](https://coaches.scalingup.com/strengths-weaknesses-trends) are an addition to the traditional SWOT model that asks if there are any global or zeitgeist trends that you should pay attention to, even if they don’t impact you directly the way that opportunities and threats do. The second is simply your upcoming **quarterly objectives.** This is **setting goals.** You want to have 3 individual objectives each, and then 1–3 couples’ objectives together. This is because you are individuals with different jobs, businesses, hobbies, and interests. But you are also a couple. So it makes sense to have both. If you don’t know how to set goals, you can [follow my model here](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/). The last item is **critical numbers and KPIs.** You want to attach metrics and targets to aim for to each of your objectives so that you know when they are “done” or not. ## Following Through with Your Strategic Plan Now that you have created a strategic plan for you and your partner, you may be asking: What’s next? There is absolutely no point in creating a plan and then leaving it on the shelf to collect dust until next quarter. You need to follow through with this plan on a weekly basis, and there are two ways to do this. ![Weekly Sync Meetings](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/14-weekly-sync-meetings.webp) The first is with **Weekly Sync Meetings.** These are run like a normal company weekly meeting: 1. Good news. 2. Discuss priorities (quarterly objectives). 3. Status update. 4. Clear issues. 5. Action items. My partner and I run these every Sunday at 11am, as it helps us prepare for the upcoming week. If that time-slot is unavailable because of social or work commitments, we run it at a different time on Sunday. ![Issues List](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/15-issues-index.webp) The second is with an **Issues List.** This is for the “clear issues” item in the weekly sync meeting agenda above. You will want to set up a joint issues list in [Notion](/go/notion/) or another app, which is just a running list of issues you want to discuss with each other. These issues could be related to your goals, or could just be items that need to be cleared. Examples include: - Planning trips together. - Helping each other with work and business. - Mundane relationship items like buying a new car or sorting out a disagreement. They should be listed and burned down, just like an issues list from EOS. The last follow through item happens annually, which is that at the end of Q4, you should do an **“Annual Strategic Planning for Couples”** session, which is a longer, 1-week session for reviewing not only Q4, but the entire year. During this session, you will also set yourselves up for the following year. ## Benefits of Strategic Planning for Couples ![Benefits of Strategic Planning for Couples](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/16-benefits-strategic-planning-couples.webp) You may be wondering if it is worth taking three days out of every quarter to plan your long-term future with your partner. Here are some benefits that my partner and I discovered in creating and using this process. The first is that **most couples never talk about any of this** at all. Having this process helps you and your partner uncover common relationship problems, resolve them, and even prevent them. This is because most people get into a relationship without knowing what they want — they operate with trial and error. They argue that any formal planning kills the romance, and refuse to structure how they relate to each other. What that means is not only do they not know what they want — they also have no idea what their partner wants. Holding strategic planning sessions together, addresses all of this and **creates alignment** between both partners. Speaking of which, strategic planning is **a way to structure your romance.** You see #couplesgoals plastered all over social media, and think “how lucky are they” without realising that there is a way to make those goals happen — with a bit of planning. You too can have a successful relationship with fewer arguments, issues and drama, you just have to be willing to plan a bit. The planning sessions and weekly follow through also serve as a **reality check for the relationship.** Your partner will give you real-world, real-market feedback if you said you were going to do something and didn’t follow through, or if it isn’t working out the way you thought it would. This is a form of **keeping each other accountable.** I know that seems super simple, but having a weekly sync meeting and having it written down that you haven’t progressed on a goal or task makes it SUPER OBVIOUS that a different approach is needed. Lastly, by doing this, you will **understand each other a lot better.** You will be able to positively manipulate your partner into doing things that are good for them. You will understand what you have, what you don’t have, and what your partner has and doesn’t have as well. And you’ll be able to do all this through conversation, rather than through arguments and disappointment. In this way, you will push each other to be better. ## What To Do Next Set up a time for the end of the quarter and do a couples’ strategic planning session with your partner. If you want the agenda for the session, enter your name and email address below, and I’ll send it to you: **Free: Strategic Planning for Couples** — Get the Strategic Planning for Couples — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/ [^1]: In fact, that’s what I believe makes long term relationships work. Underneath all the love, intimacy and couply ideals, it’s an understanding that you have shared long term goals together, that make a relationship or marriage work. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Implement Habits https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/ A while back a reader asked me how I track and implement habits. Here’s the response I wrote back: > Hey reader, > > I don’t use any habit tracking or streaks apps, but here’s how I currently implement habits: > > I’d recommend purposefully engineering the order of habits you adopt. You want to go for the ones that give the most immediate rewards first. Exercise (endorphins) and morning rituals (good starts to the day) come to mind for me. > > Once you’ve learnt the process from an easy-to-adopt habit, it becomes easier to tackle harder habits. > > The mindset aspect is also helpful. Find out what your primary driver is and use it to your advantage. > > For me it’s standards, specifically my own personal standards, so I would tell myself for example, that a productive person sleeps 8 hours a night and is up by 5am. > > For others it may be something like status, so they would need to “brag” to others about how they’re part of the 5am club or always first in the office and show it off and use that to drive them. > > I’m not a therapist but those two things together form cognitive-behavioural therapy of sorts which is probably why they work 🙂 > > Hope that helps! Let’s break this down. --- ## Why Not Use Habit Tracking or Streaks Apps? > I don’t use any habit tracking or streaks apps For those unaware, habit tracking or streaks apps are from Jerry Seinfeld’s concept of “don’t break the chain”, where you do something daily and mark it off daily on your calendar to help you form a habit. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the technique or the apps, I’ve just never seen the need to specifically use an app to track this. _I don’t believe that it’s that much more motivating to see a bunch of “X’s” crossed out on a calendar on my phone._ ## Pick One Habit Per Quarter ![Pick One Habit Per Quarter](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/pick-one-habit-per-quarter.webp) > Pick one per quarter. Just one. This goes back to [JD Meier’s _Agile Results_](https://gettingresults.com/agile-results/).[^1] A major problem many people have is trying to do too many things at the same time. What happens is very slow, minute progress is made on each thing. This subjectively feels like NO progress is being made. And so there is an insufficient action-reward mechanism in place, and the habit is not adopted. **My recommendation is to adopt one new habit per quarter.** Now that doesn’t seem like a lot and admittedly isn’t very exciting or [Instagramable](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/). **But done right, that’s four habits a year.** And if you select the right habits to adopt, is _very_ beneficial for your life. ## Habit Frequency > Figure out if it has to be done daily, weekly or whatever time period and note that. [Some habits you form in the support of goals](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/). Other habits are just “good for you”. **But the frequency with which you perform each habit is not the same.** For example, in your personal life, exercise might only be three times a week, while eating right would be daily. In business, you might send outreach emails daily, but publish podcasts weekly. Whatever the habit is, you need to work out the correct frequency beforehand. ## Understanding the Habit via Information ![Understanding the Habit via Information](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/understanding-habit-via-information.webp) Habit frequency is important but you need to know more than that to successfully form a habit. The more you know about a habit, the more you increase the probability of successfully adopting it. You need to know: **1\. Habit technicals.** This is how to perform the mechanics of the habit properly, and will give you the peace of mind that you’re doing it correctly. It will also make sure that you’re receiving the full benefit from the habit, and that you’re not forming the _wrong_ habit. **2\. Rational reasons.** Knowing why the habit is rationally and logically “good for you” is extremely useful for motivation. **3\. Emotional reasons.** Having non-rational, emotional reasons for adopting a habit _in addition to the rational ones_ also helps motivation. For example, “to make me look good to others”.[^2] You can gather information about your habit through: - The general Internet, as a starting resource. - Specialist coaches or gurus in certain areas. For example if you want to know about productivity, personal development or managing businesses, [read my articles](/articles/). If you want know about fitness and nutrition, [read Andy Morgan’s site](https://rippedbody.com/). ## Use a Calendar To Track ![Use a Calendar To Track](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/use-calendar-to-track.webp) > Schedule it into the calendar as a reminder. The most simple way to make sure that a habit is practiced every day is to put it on your calendar at a specific time, and do it at that time. A calendar event with a reminder is a superior trigger to post-it notes, daily planners or even to-do lists.[^3] This is because [if you’ve set up your calendar correctly](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/), it will trigger a notification on your computer, phone, or watch. And it’s guaranteed that you’ll be in front of and paying attention to one of those devices at any given time during the day. ## More Complex Tracking > If some kind of complex tracking is needed I’ll make a Notion database and update it on my phone daily (or at the time period of the habit). But what about if you need to track a more complex habit, where simply “I did it” isn’t enough? An example of this would be [tracking a morning ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/), where you want to know how you felt when you woke up, and then how you felt after your morning ritual was completed. I recommend using something like a [basic Notion database](/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/) for this. You could also set up a section in your [daily journal entry templates](/productivity/journals/). ## Engineering the Order of Habit Adoption ![Engineering the Order of Habit Adoption](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/engineering-order-of-habit-adoption.webp) > I’d recommend purposefully engineering the order of habits you adopt. You want to go for the ones that give the most immediate rewards first. Exercise (endorphins) and morning rituals (good starts to the day) come to mind for me. Because you are only adopting one habit per quarter, **you want to engineer the order of habits so that you can see clear and immediate rewards.** This conditions you to realise that habits are good for you, and makes you more likely to continue to adopt future habits. I would select the habits that have chemical or mood drivers. Examples, as given, would be exercise and the resulting endorphins, or morning rituals and the “energised” feeling you experience after the ritual is complete. ## Tackling Harder Habits > Once you’ve learnt the process from an easy-to-adopt habit, it becomes easier to tackle harder habits. Some habits are harder to adopt than others. An example of a harder habit to adopt would be “no snacking during the day”. This is because: 1. Snacking usually equals sugar which your body naturally craves. 2. The motivational aspects are harder to see because you will rely on a mirror or scale to track “progress”, and that progress isn’t immediately obvious. 3. There is no set time for this particular habit, it’s something you have to enforce all day.[^4] _For difficult habits like this one, I suggest having a few more immediate-reward habits successfully implemented first._ Before tackling one of these habits, gather as much information as you can to really understand how the habit works and fits together, and what variables can affect its successful implementation. ## Mindset and Inner Game ![Mindset and Inner Game](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/mindset-and-inner-game.webp) > The mindset aspect is also helpful. Find out what your primary driver is and use it to your advantage. Handling your mindset and inner game when implementing habits means two things: 1. [Motivating yourself](/productivity/motivation/). 2. Removing fear and [obstacles](/productivity/resilience-mental-toughness/). **You need to work out your primary driver for motivation, and this is different for everyone.** There is no right or wrong, but it is incredibly useful for you to know what yours is. For example, it may be personal standards — do I measure up to my self-image? It may be status — do I look like the shit? The way to find this out is to [do a core values discovery exercise](/productivity/core-values/). **Your top value will be your primary driver for motivation.**[^5] It can also be useful to remove any fear or obstacles that stand in the way of adopting a new habit. This is because sometimes we can have the motivation and information and mechanics of a habit worked out, but there is simply a mental block preventing its successful implementation. _This could be a fear of worthiness, acceptance (from others), powerlessness or uncertainty._[^6] Dealing with these is simply a matter of identifying them, then performing some self-therapy to overcome them. If the issue is worthiness, I recommend a [perceptual positions exercise](https://www.trainers-toolbox.com/perceptual-positions-powerful-exercise-to-strengthen-understanding-and-empathy/) to rationally pick apart how silly it is. If the issue is acceptance/caring what others think, [read this](/productivity/standards/). If the issue is powerlessness or uncertainty, read up on [Stoicism and your locus of control](/productivity/locus-of-control/). ## Other Considerations > Do I need external accountability to successfully implement a habit? No, not unless external accountability is one of your drivers. The reality is some people do well with external accountability, while others don’t. There is no one-size-fits-all. > Should I “clear the path” with environmental reminders and triggers? Absolutely. An example of this would be setting out your gym clothes by the door or packed in a bag in the car the night before you go to the gym. > Should I create an artificial reward scheme to help reinforce the habit? This is not necessary. An example of this would be, “If I do this habit every day for a week, I can go out and have a nice meal”. The reward of the habit itself should be enough of a reinforcement. Otherwise... why are you trying to form that particular habit? ## What To Do Next ![What To Do Next](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/what-to-do-next-horizontal.webp) Habits are great. Just remember: - One habit at a time. - Get all the information you need, especially the frequency. - Use technology to help you track. - Start with the right habits. - Use mindset/[inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/) exercises to lay the groundwork. - Clear environmental obstacles if needed. - And... There is more to optimising your life and performance beyond just habits. In fact, habits are one small part of _Flow._ If you want to change the way you look at habits and performance in your life, grab a free copy of _Evolution_ below: **Free: Evolution** — Get the Evolution — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/ [^1]: Those were the days! [^2]: I use this simply as an example, not to advocate that you should care at all about [what others think of you](/productivity/standards/) [^3]: The issue with a to-do list is that if gives you the option to do the habit at ANY time during the day, rather than a SPECIFIC time, which is better for habit formation. [^4]: And thus in this case, should go into your [daily journal entry](/productivity/journals/) or on your [to-do list](/productivity/personal-task-management/). [^5]: If it isn’t, then you haven’t done the exercise correctly. [^6]: Credit: [Itamar Marani](https://itamarmarani.com/). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Design Your Own Morning Ritual [VIDEO] https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-design-your-own-morning-ritual-video/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlwf7bqAv28 Here's how you can design your own morning ritual. Start with the basics: 1. Water. 2. Toilet/bathroom. 3. Goals for the day. 4. Get ready. And then add in some advanced care: 1. Meditation. 2. Light exercise. 3. Breakfast. The **BIG THING** to watch out for is using your phone — don't be that person who sits in bed scrolling feeds for an hour. You can implement your morning ritual on a piece of paper or in a task management app. Put it all together and you'll have great, consistent starts to your days! > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Morning and Evening Rituals [VIDEO] https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/frequently-asked-questions-faqs-about-morning-and-evening-rituals-video/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSCA\_GpdOaw Here are the most frequently asked questions that I get about evening rituals. Do I have to do my rituals every day? Well... yes! What can I do if my rituals are taking too long? 1. Actually make sure they're taking too long. 2. Cut out the advanced components. 3. Make sure you're not delaying yourself by using your phone or getting distracted by something that isn't part of your ritual. What happens if I wake up late, go to sleep late, or travel across timezones? Do your rituals normally at the new time you wake up or go to sleep. Rituals seem hard to implement, what can I do? After the initial 1-2 week adjust period rituals will become habitual and second nature. I'm still have trouble getting to sleep or getting a good night of sleep. 1. A good morning ritual will help mitigate some of the grogginess or tiredness. 2. Implement more advanced items into your evening ritual. 3. Work on your sleep hygiene. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Design Your Own Evening Ritual [VIDEO] https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-design-your-own-evening-ritual-video/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYG86yNGlTc Here's how you can design your own evening ritual. Start with the basics: 1. Get read for tomorrow. 2. Toilet/bathroom. 3. Lights out. 4. Sleep! And then add in some advanced care: 1. Foam rolling/light stretching. 2. Read a paper book or e-ink device (Kindle). 3. Dim lighting to red or use blue blockers. 4. Sleep aids and supplements. The BIG THING to watch out for is using your phone — more than anything it will keep your mind and thoughts running and make it hard to fall asleep. You can implement your evening ritual on a piece of paper or in a task management app. Put it all together and you'll have deep, consistent nights of sleep! > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Locus of Control https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/locus-of-control/ Years ago, I found myself in a hot, humid, hole-in-the-wall noodle shop in the old town in Bangkok, sitting across from my Uncle Harry. I call him Uncle Harry because in Asian culture, everyone older than you is “Uncle John” or “Auntie Suzie”. Uncle Harry was in his early 60s. He was dark-skinned, and had a long and weathered face but surprisingly little white hair. He was quiet but projected presence and authority wherever he went. He had spent decades running one of the largest telecommunications companies in Thailand, from the time they were still selling pagers through to the very first mobile phone networks. Now he ran a small direct TV empire, selling everything from household cleaning products to “bust enhancement” undergarments for middle-class Asian housewives. I knew that earlier in life he had a reputation for being a bit of drinker — something leftover from years of entertaining clients and government officials late into the evening across Asia. Even now as sweatily we ate our boat noodles and drank our tea, he looked a bit red around the cheeks and ears. He said to me, “Aaron. In life there are three types of luck.” “The first type is given to you by the gods, your ancestors, and everything out there. That’s the stuff you go to the temple to pray for.” “The second you already know. That’s the luck you make yourself, with how hard you work, what business you do, and what woman you decide to marry.” “But there is another type of luck. It is called earthly luck. And that’s the luck that all of us — every single person on this planet — makes. It’s the sum of everything humans have built and created.” He continued. “You can’t do anything about the first type of luck. That’s up to the heavens. And you already know what to do with the second type. You work really, really hard and never give up. But the secret in this life, lies with the third type of luck. And that is to get as much of that third type of luck, that earthly luck, that you can.” I asked him how. He looked at me wryly and smiled. “By taking control of it.” What Uncle Harry was talking about with earthly luck, is what psychologists call our **locus of control**. --- ## What Is Your Locus of Control? Locus of control is a psychological concept about how strongly you believe you have (or actually have) control over the situations and experiences in your life. **It is the sum of things outside yourself and your behaviour that you can actually control or heavily influence that affect your life.** For example, if you look around your house… is it under your control? Are things the way that you want? Or are your house and belongings a mess, with items piled up everywhere? Are you in control of your house… or is it in control of you? Now technically speaking, you cannot control anything outside yourself.[^1] **But**, you _can_ influence certain things enough to the point where you are essentially in control of them. ## Why Your Locus of Control Is Important ![Neat and tidy house](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/locus-of-control/neat-tidy-house.webp) As Uncle Harry said, the more control you have over your life and the things in it… the more “earthly luck” you will have. And if success in life is accumulating as many advantages as you can and then capitalising on them, then you want to have as much “earthly luck” on your side as possible. This is why you must identify and expand your locus of control. That’s the mystical woo-woo side. **More practically, having a strong locus of control provides you with psychological benefits that improve your performance.** Not in a crazy “must control everything” kind of way, but in simply knowing that the mechanisms of your life are working the way that they should be, according to you. This gives you confidence, and peace of mind. It can also lead to happiness. There are real-world benefits to having a strong locus of control. You have control over where things are in your environment, and how they work. You’ll never walk into a room, or start a day thinking “what a mess”. ## What Happens When We Lose Our Locus of Control? ![The world is temporarily closed](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/locus-of-control/world-is-temporarily-closed.webp) The 2020 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns were a very real example of what happens when we lose our locus of control. Billions of people found themselves unable to go outside. Businesses were forced to close. Restrictions were placed on what we could do daily, and how we could go about it. It was widely reported that overwhelm, burnout, and depression went up around the world as a result. Many lost their sense of self-efficacy and motivation. It wasn’t so much the restrictions themselves, but what they meant — the loss of control over the direction of our lives. ## Locus of Control Models There are three ways we can think about our locus of control systematically. ### 1\. Environmental locus of control What do you control in your environment? There’s yourself and your behaviour, but that isn’t “earthly luck” — that’s the man-made type of luck that Uncle Harry was talking about. Outside of your own physical body and mind, what else is there? There’s your bedroom. Is it neat, organised, welcoming? There’s your house or apartment. Do you control it? Does your spouse or significant other? And what about the individual rooms — who controls your kitchen, lounge room, bathroom and hallways? There’s your home office, which has become ever-more important in the past couple of years. [_Tip: Most people who struggle with working from home either don’t have a home office or don’t have one they have control over._](/business/remote-working/) And then there are things outside of your home. What do you “control” in your neighbourhood? Your city? Your country? In the world? ### 2\. Control of areas of life Another way to look at your locus of control is across your [areas of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/). [![Areas of Life](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/locus-of-control/areas-of-life-circle.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/locus-of-control/areas-of-life-circle.webp) Let’s start with your **health.** Are you in control of your health and making your own food choices? Or have you placed control of it in the hands of food manufacturers and restaurants? Do you [proactively exercise](/productivity/true-life-hacks/)? Or have you placed control of your physical shape in the hands of the company you work for, gluing yourself to an office chair for eight hours a day? There is also your **wealth.** Do you control your financial resources — or does your debt and expenditure control you? With zero exception, everyone I know who has control of their finances and wealth is happier, whether they’re worth $10,000 or $10,000,000. Then there are your **relationships.** This doesn’t mean you need to “control” or dominate your relationships. It simply means that you need to have a say in their direction and development. Is your relationship with your spouse or partner a true partnership — or does one person call all the shots? The same goes for your family and friends. One-way relationships where one person dictates and the other simply listens… are not functional relationships. There is also your **[learning and growth](/productivity/implementation/).** Did your formal education stop once your schooling did? That’s putting control of your learning in the hands of the state… and its politicians. Of all the areas in your life, learning and growth is the easiest to regain control of. With the internet, almost anything you want to learn can be learnt online nowadays. And lastly there is your **[play and downtime](/productivity/play/).** Are you actually taking downtime that you enjoy and that recharges you? Or are you just passively consuming whatever big entertainment algorithms throw at you, whether that’s Netflix suggestions or what’s on your social media feed. ### 3\. Control of your time The last way we can look at our locus of control is through the lens of time. Do you have control of your schedule and time? Do you have a choice in how you spend your mornings, lunchtimes, afternoons and evenings? Or is that under the control of your employer, children, school… or something else? ## How to Improve Your Locus of Control Systematically ![How to Improve Your Locus of Control Systematically](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/locus-of-control/improve-locus-of-control.webp) Improving your locus of control can be done systematically. And it is simply done by taking the models above and improving them. ### 1\. Environment Improving control of your environment is **fun.** Start with your bedroom — clean it up, organise it and rearrange it to the way that YOU want it. Then move onto your living room. Then hallways. Then kitchen. Then all the rooms of your house, one-by-one until they are the way that YOU want. Then step outside, and see what’s next. Your garden? Your office? The world? You may decide to stop at the boundaries of your home. There is no need to control **everything** — just enough for your psychological well-being and benefit… your “earthly luck”. ### 2\. Areas of life Improving control over your [areas of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/) can be done in two parts. Your health, wealth, and relationships are the big part, and I suggest working on those one at a time. Each of these three areas has amazing parallels with the others, and once you improve your control over one, the others are simply a matter of time. Each should take about 6-12 months to get under your control.[^2] Your learning, growth and play are all secondary and these are easy fixes. [It’s simply about making decisions and being consistent with them.](/productivity/areas-of-life/) ### 3\. Time To improve your control over your time, check out the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/). ## Locus of Control in Business ![Locus of Control in Business](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/locus-of-control/locus-of-control-business.webp) The concept of locus of control applies to your business as well.[^3] **In the beginning,** you will have very little control over your business even though you will be doing almost everything. You don’t get to pick what you want to sell — you will be selling what the market wants to buy. And you will have to perform certain actions to make sales and service customers, even if they are not your core strengths. But **as your business starts to grow and succeed,** your locus of control expands. You get your first hire, and you “control” them so to speak. They expand your locus of control into new areas with their skills, abilities, and time. They also give you back control of your time… which you can reinvest into other things. As you start to gain authority in your market, you will be able to suggest to customers what they actually need, versus what they believe they need. And you start to develop your company the way you want, with its own mission, values and strategic plan. **As your business matures,** you as the founder will actually do less but control a lot more. You make the decisions — and others carry out the actions. It is like being an orchestral conductor: You don’t make a sound, but you control the entire performance. At this stage you can set up your systems and structure the way that you want, and build a business in your image. You become a leader in your industry and are able to innovate and create new products and offerings, rather than just selling what the market demands. ## What To Do Next As Uncle Harry said, the more control you have over the things in your life, the more “earthly luck” you will have. To improve your locus of control systematically you can begin with yourself, [your environment](/productivity/time-management-tools/), [your areas](/productivity/areas-of-life/), and [your time](/productivity/time-management-stack/). If you need help regaining control in your business, let’s talk. [Check out the different ways that I can help you here](/contact/). Photos by [Jonás Ceballos](https://unsplash.com/@jonas7?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Reinaldo Kevin](https://unsplash.com/@reinaldokevin?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Edwin Hooper](https://unsplash.com/@edwinhooper?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Randy Tarampi](https://unsplash.com/@randytarampi?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Alex Kotliarskyi](https://unsplash.com/@frantic?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: That is one of the tenets of Stoicism. [^2]: It will be work and it won’t necessarily be easy, but it is very real and possible. [^3]: I refer to self-funded businesses, not startups. Startups go by different rules. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Recovery Time https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/recovery-time/ No-one is immune to burnout. Even if you have steel-forged discipline, an iron will and the motivation to punch through any challenge… you need recovery time. And the best way to get recovery time, is to build it into your rituals and routines — into your productivity system. Here’s how. --- ## What Exactly Is Recovery Time? Recovery is the time that allows you to replenish your [productivity resources](/productivity/productivity-stack/) — your energy, your attention and your willpower. You naturally have recovery time in the form of sleep, which is [why sleep is so important](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/). But beyond just sleep, many people like to “gun it” when they’re awake. This could be the [busy business owner](/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/) who has to juggle clients, technical work and the overhead of running their business. It could be the college student trying to keep up their GPA, do extracurricular activities and work a side-hustle. In cases like these, **sleep alone is not enough for recovery.** ## Why Recovery Time Is Important and Why You Need to Build It Into Your Systems To see why recovery time is so important to your life, think of your resources as fuel tanks. [![Recovery and Resource Tanks](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/recovery-time/productivity-resource-tanks.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/recovery-time/productivity-resource-tanks.webp) You have a limited amount of energy, attention and willpower at your disposal. And as you go about your day, your fuel is spent and goes down. At the end of the day, going to sleep helps you refill each of these fuel tanks. But sometimes eight hours of sleep just isn’t enough to refill everything. This happens when we spend fuel at a rate that is faster than a normal night of sleep can refill it. And this is through no fault of our own — modern life is easier in many ways, but it is also infinitely more taxing on our mind, body and resources. And if we keep on expending more fuel than we intake, we burn our tanks down to zero and run on empty — which results in **burnout.** What needs to be done is to temporarily turn off the outflow of fuel from our system by having recovery time. ## Building Recovery Time Into Your Systems [![Recovery Flow](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/recovery-time/recovery-flow.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/recovery-time/recovery-flow.webp) Recovery time not only temporarily stops the outflow of fuel, but it also turns on the inflow of fuel in the same way that sleep does. Thankfully, this is simple to do as we already have a way to plan for recovery — by using units of time. ### Daily recovery time On a daily basis, I highly recommend taking at least **one hour of recovery time before bed** and just relaxing. You can watch something, read something, draw a bath or do whatever you prefer — so long as it is NOT work, and it does NOT drain any of your productivity resources. You want to simply disconnect from your responsibilities and wind down. Now some people will recommend “no devices before bedtime”. But that just isn’t necessary, so long as you’re using nightshift/warm screen dimming and [only doing things that relax you](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). This simple one hour a day is incredibly effective for people who are “always on”, like business owners. Taking the hour off will help you fall asleep faster and make your quality of sleep considerably better. This means that you will start the next day with more resources at your disposal. ### Weekly recovery time You may be reading this and are used to the idea of taking the weekend off. In that case, don’t worry — you’ve already got this one. But for those who like to hustle and work on weekends, this is for you: **Take at least Sunday off.** The idea of one day of rest a week may be religious in origin, but it is also just good common sense. Having one day out of seven to rest and get ready for next week increases your productivity for the following week. Here’s what happens when you don’t take Sunday off: - You power through, and find it difficult to do so because everyone else is relaxing and resting. - What you do this week blurs into what you do next week. - You have no time to take a step back, reassess and prepare for what’s coming next. If you were on a long cross-country drive, you would take a break every few hours for safety reasons to combat fatigue. Life is the same — not taking one day off a week is pushing up against your margins of safety. Some business owners reading this may be thinking “but there’s so much to do…” and wondering how they could possibly take the time off. I know, I’ve been there. I’ve done seven days a week on the office before. But if you just take that one day off, you will be **five times** more effective when Monday comes around. And that means better results for yourself and your clients. #### But I really want to work on Sunday OK, for the truly obsessed, here’s what you can do. Do “non-work” work on Sunday. This could be: - Household chores. - Miscellaneous errands you need to run or get done, like grocery shopping. - [Clearing your inboxes](/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/). - Wrapping up your journal entry for this week and planning for next week. These things will deplete your resources less than actual work, and may even add to some of your resources. And when they’re done, **take the rest of the day off.** ### Quarterly recovery time On a quarterly basis, it’s a great idea to get out of town. Take at least 2-3 days off, preferably 3-4 days if you can manage it. The change in your environment will help you slow down, disconnect, regroup and reassess what you need to do next. This is of huge benefit to business people and even professionals — you’ll get a new perspective on your situation and your mind and body get to take a break. Taking this quarterly break is one of the great secrets of preventing long-turn burnout. ## Tempering Recovery and Obsession ![Tempering Recovery and Obsession](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/recovery-time/recovery-obsession.webp) Regular readers will know that I’m a fan of [discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/), [10x](/productivity/10x/) and obsession. And so it may seem a little strange that I recommend building recovery and breaks into your routine. The reason for this is that I recommend building _some_ in, but not excessive amounts. If you’re taking more than two days off a week or months off at a time, that’s too much. If you “need” to go on a ski trip after every two weeks in the office because it’s “too intense”, that’s too much — and you’re not doing it right. But what about obsession? Well, when you’re working, you are **on**. Be obsessed. Go 10x. Be [focused](/productivity/pick-three/). [Just get things done](/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/). But when you’re taking recovery time or downtime, really disconnect and take a break. That means no calls, no email, no Slack — let someone else handle it. It will all still be there when you come back, I promise. ## What To Do Next If you are a busy business owner who’s overwhelmed and wishes they had more personal time, [head here to discover the 4 mistakes you’re making that are keeping you stuck in daily operations](https://app.monstercampaigns.com/c/vwkh0rrw4kaynmbp7iks/). If you are a busy business owner who’s overwhelmed and wishes they had more personal time, [head here to discover the 4 mistakes you’re making that are keeping you stuck in daily operations](https://app.monstercampaigns.com/c/vwkh0rrw4kaynmbp7iks/). Everyone else — build downtime into your systems. --- Photo by [Chase Chappell](https://unsplash.com/@chappelldigitalmarketing?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Virtues of Willpower and Volition https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/willpower-and-volition/ Imagine when something needs to be done, you could just do it — with no resistance, no excuses and no procrastination. You may not feel all that strongly about doing it, but you can just _get yourself to do it,_ on-demand. What could you accomplish? Almost anything you want I believe. That’s the power of the **virtues of willpower and volition.** --- ## What Are Willpower and Volition? Willpower and volition are the same. **Willpower** is the conscious control that you exert to do something, or to stop yourself from doing something. **Volition** is the virtue that describes the use of willpower. It is the faculty of using one’s will, and acting on-demand. Essentially, this means if you know something is good for you, you act on it. If you know that something is bad for you, can can refrain from acting on it. ## Why Are Willpower and Volition Important? The obvious advantage of willpower and volition is in being able to do more things that are good for you, and fewer things that are bad for you. Over time, these are small advantages that accumulate. When practiced daily, volition can lead to: - [Self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/). - The [creation of good habits](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/), and - The removal of bad habits. This is the ability to guide your own self-evolution and development, and the ability to step outside of your comfort zone on a regular basis. In turn, these things lead to progress across [every area of your life](/productivity/areas-of-life/), be it better health, wealth, relationships or anything else that you want. ## How to Live With Volition Daily Living with volition daily comes down to that split second when you decide to do something right now… or not. When that moment arrives, you simply [do the right thing](/productivity/right-action/). Even if it feels like a strain or extra effort, [you do it](/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/).[^1] ## A System for Living With Volition and Exercising Willpower [Willpower is a resource](/productivity/productivity-stack/). It is usually recharged when we [go to sleep](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/), or when we [go on vacation for some downtime](/productivity/play/). It is absolutely possible to run out of willpower if we overdo things. The best way to systematically live with volition is to approach it from two sides: 1. Use less willpower. 2. Increase your willpower capacity. ### 1\. Using less willpower Using less willpower can be done by setting up actions so that they require less willpower. This can be done through changing our environment and improving our personal systems. An example of this is automating repetitive and boring tasks like saving email receipts, or outsourcing tedious tasks like cleaning. You will still have to use _some_ willpower, but usually less. ### 2\. Increasing your willpower capacity Increasing your willpower is a matter of both mind and body. For your mind, you can and should practice using your willpower at every opportunity. Over time, you will simply become “one of those people with strong willpower”. You can also reframe the use of willpower as not “exerting willpower”, but “releasing your natural store of willpower”. For your body, you can work on [improving the energetic foundation](/productivity/energy-management/) of your [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) — working on your stressors, inner game, sleep, meditation and exercise. The stronger this energetic and physical foundation is, the more willpower you will have available. ## What To Do Next Willpower and its related virtue volition, can be built and developed by anyone. You can start by practicing volition daily. Then set up your environment to use less willpower, whilst increasing your physical store of willpower. To get started, read about the [time management stack here](/productivity/time-management-stack/) or [energy management here](/productivity/energy-management/). Photo by [Charles Deluvio](https://unsplash.com/@charlesdeluvio?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: That strain or effort is you using up some willpower. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Daily Reviews https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/daily-reviews/ One of the best ways to get a solid start to the day and to cleanly wrap up your days is with morning reviews and evening reviews. When you combine these together, they form a ritual of **daily reviews**. --- ## What Are Daily Reviews? A daily review is simply reading through your personal ops documents and goals. This reminds you of all the important things in your life top-to-bottom, in a 10-15 minute chunk. You do it once in the morning, which is your **morning review**. And once in the evening, which is your **evening review**. ## Why Are Daily Reviews Important? Daily reviews are important because we all have a vision of what we want our lives to be like. But sometimes it can be hard to keep this vision front-of-mind when we’re in the thick of things. Daily reviews give us the ability to zoom out and see the big picture, as well as the ability to zoom back in and see the details. Doing this: - Allows you to [know what you stand for](/productivity/core-values/). - Provides [emotional and motivational fuel and reasons](/productivity/personal-ops/). - Leads to [better health, finances, relationships and more](/productivity/areas-of-life/). _That is an **amazing return** in exchange for just 10 minutes of your time every day._ ## How to Perform Your Daily Reviews Your daily reviews should be performed twice every day. Your **morning review** is done in the morning, at the tail-end of your [morning ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). I like to do mine right before starting work for the day. Your **evening review** is done in the evening, at the tail-end of your work day. I like to do mine right after finishing work for the day, and then write [tomorrow’s journal entry](/productivity/journals/). ### Daily review process Here’s how to do your daily reviews. **First,** sit down and open up your journals and personal ops documents. **Second,** go through your personal ops top-to-bottom. This means reading over your: - [Mission](/productivity/right-tool-right-purpose/). - [Values](/productivity/core-values/). - [Reasons why](/productivity/motivation/). - Personal philosophy/affirmations. - [Virtues](/productivity/) and [vices](/productivity/) if you have them. This will remind you of the big picture — why you do what you do, your vision for yourself and what you stand for and believe in. **Third,** go through your journal entries in descending order. This could be: - 3-year journal entry. - 1-year journal entry. - Quarterly journal entry. - Monthly journal entry. - Weekly journal entry. - Today’s journal entry. Reviewing your journal entries will remind you of the specific outcomes, goals and processes (the what and the how) you have selected for yourself to move towards your bigger picture and vision. ## Implementing Daily Reviews as a System The hardest part of implementing daily reviews is having all the prerequisite documents and journals in place. Once you have a set of [personal ops documents](/productivity/personal-ops/) and [journals](/productivity/journals/), reviewing them is easy. You can also review these documents _at any time_ during the day when you need a reminder of who you are, what is going on and where you stand. This could be over breakfast, during your commute or while waiting for a meeting to start. ## What To Do Next Set up your personal ops. Then set up your journals. Then do your daily reviews, morning and night. If you want a full walkthrough of the entire process, [grab a copy of my productivity training course, _Next Level Productivity_](/products/resilient/). Photo by [P.O.sitive Negative](https://unsplash.com/@omidopari?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Setting Up Ongoing Processes https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/ongoing-processes/ Goal setting is great. So is [picking three areas](/productivity/pick-three/) of your life to focus on. But outside those areas and goals — what do you do with everything else? _What do you do with all the things you have to do but aren’t focused on right now?_ --- ## A Quality Problem to Have If you’re facing down the problem of “what do I do with everything else?”, some congratulations is in order. This is a quality problem to have. This means that you have clear goals and areas of focus for yourself, and that you know that the other parts of your life need to be maintained… somehow. Don’t underestimate the importance of this — many people focus hard on one thing and progress in that, only to have the rest of their lives fall to pieces. ## Ongoing Processes Everything in our lives outside our areas of focus need to be maintained. This is the treadmill effect.[^1] There is some effort involved in keeping things “in the same place” because if we do not, they decay over time. A simple example is our health. If we just leave it alone… that doesn’t work. We need food. We need exercise. We need to stop our bodies from wasting away. The best way to handle this is with ongoing processes, which I like to call [standards](/productivity/standards/). The idea is to _do the bare minimum_ to keep the various things in our lives going. We are not doing enough to progress those areas — just enough to keep them in a “holding pattern” of sorts. ## How to Set Up Ongoing Processes The easiest way to identify and set up ongoing processes is to use the [areas of life model](/productivity/areas-of-life/). You take your areas: - Health. - Wealth. - Relationship. - Family. - Social. - Play. - Learning/knowledge/evolution/spirituality. And [pick your main three areas](/productivity/pick-three/). And for everything else, you decide what your _bare minimum standards_ are for those areas — to maintain your current level in that area or even allow it to drop to a minimum acceptable level. An example would be if you aren’t focused on the social part of your life, you may say: - Meet with friends once a month, or - Have a meal or coffee with someone at least once a week. You then write these down, [in a standards document](/productivity/standards/), and be **crystal clear** on what to do in each area. **Remember: You are simply _maintaining_ the area, not trying to grow it.** ## Tips for Ongoing Processes I highly, highly recommend formalising these ongoing processes as standards in your life. You also want to keep your standards as simple as possible, so that they can run on autopilot. Ongoing processes are not the place for complexity — you don’t want to critically think about these areas all the time, you simply want them to run. ## What To Do Next List out the areas that you aren’t focused on right now. Decide what the bare minimum is that you need to do to maintain those areas. Write them down as standards. Then run them. Photo by [Superkitina](https://unsplash.com/@superkitina?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: As described by Nicholas Nassim Taleb. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Pick Three https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/pick-three/ We all have 24 hours in a day. Eight of those hours we are asleep. So how are we supposed to do everything we want in the remaining 16 hours? **The answer is, we don’t.** The answer is we **pick three things** that we really want to get done, and focus on those. --- ## Why Pick Three? ![Why Pick Three?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/pick-three/why-pick-three-mastermind.webp) In _[Evolution](/manifesto/),_ I wrote about a high-level mastermind that I attended in Bangkok many years ago. At that same event, one of the attendees introduced the pick three concept, based on his experience working with Fortune 500 CEOs and high-level business people. He said that if you want to do really well at something in life, you have to put a lot of time, effort and resources into it. By doing this we maximise our chances of doing exceptionally well at the three things we have chosen, because extraordinary results require extraordinary inputs. ## How Pick Three Works Pick three is simple. You take your [areas of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/): - Health. - Wealth. - Relationship. - Family. - Social. - Play. - Learning/knowledge/spirituality/evolution. And you pick three. For most people, sleep (as part of health) will be one of the three areas — so that’s one area gone already. From there, you choose two more areas to focus on: - For some this may be family and career. - For students, it may be learning and social. - For others, it may be health and career. And then those two areas and sleep will make their way into your [planning of goals](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/), [systems](/productivity/systems-thinking/), [outcomes](/productivity/systems-goals/), [habits](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/) [and more](/productivity/time-management-stack/). It’s a simple concept, and I go into its execution in detail in [_Next Level Productivity_](/go/nlp/). ## What About Everything Else? Now that you’ve chosen three areas to focus on, what happens to everything else? Well just because you aren’t _focused_ on an area, that doesn’t mean you don’t do anything in it at all. What you need to do is the _bare minimum effort_ to maintain that area and stop it from decaying. There are many ways to think about this. - Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls these **treadmill tasks** — do what you need to do to stay in the same place. - Tim Ferriss has a similar concept called **minimum effective dose**. - I refer to these as **[standards](/productivity/standards/).** For example, if [_play_](/productivity/play/) isn’t one of your three areas, you don’t really _need_ to watch TV or browse social media, but a little bit here and there doesn’t hurt. If _health_ isn’t one of your three areas, you won’t be working out five times a week, but a brisk walk a couple of times a week and trying to eat healthy is perfectly fine. Once you know what areas aren’t in your three chosen areas, you need to make your own decisions about what the bare minimum is to maintain your other areas. ## Why Pick Three Works Pick three works because of the raw hours and physics. You have 24 hours in a day. Eight are given up to sleep. With the 16 hours left, you use a couple to commute, shower and eat. **And whatever is left is all you have to work with for focus and progress.** If you divide this remaining time amongst many things, they will progress at a mediocre rate… or they may not progress at all. If you want to push the boundaries of your results, **you must pick three.** ## Advanced Pick Three Pick three works. It is eerily similar to the idea of having three points of focus at each [cascading timeframe](/productivity/cascading-timeframes/). And you don’t pick the same three areas _forever_. As your life circumstances change, your chosen three areas will change. Pick three is also a form of selective ignorance — a way to mitigate accidental impact events that you just don’t want to deal with. ## What To Do Next Write out your [areas of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/). And pick three. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### True Life Hacks https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/true-life-hacks/ I hate the term “life hacks”. It’s overused, and most things that are considered “life hacks” are simply common-sense or common techniques. So why this list? This is a list of the few things that I consider “true life hacks”. Things that have completely changed the paradigm of how I or somebody I personally know, lives or works. Here are the required criteria: 1. They have to be **amazing force multipliers**. They must _really_ make a difference, open up options and grant us huge amounts of leverage. 2. They have to provide **real savings in terms of resources,** be that time, attention, willpower, energy, money or otherwise. 3. They have to be **obtainable**. That is, they can be acquired by anyone given a base level of opportunity. They cannot be things that you are born with, like height or an inheritance. --- ## True Life Hack 1: Chicken Protein Smoothies ![True Life Hack 1: Chicken Protein Smoothies](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/true-life-hacks/chicken-protein-smoothies.webp) Yes, the first thing on my list of true life hacks are **protein smoothies made from blended chicken breast**. My understanding is that they boil the chicken breast, blend it into a fine powder and then mix it with flavouring to make a drinkable smoothie. And before you say YUCK 🤢, hear me out. ### The benefits of chicken protein smoothies Each bottle is about 500 ml (16 fl oz) and is equivalent to about 300 g (0.6 lbs) of chicken breast and two pieces of fruit. That’s 1.5 chicken breasts that you would buy from the poultry store — **that’s a lot of protein.** _Almost three scoops of whey worth._ And drinking a 500 ml bottle is **much, much faster** than trying to chew through 1.5 chicken breasts and two apples. Chicken protein smoothies are also **great for people who are lactose intolerant** or don’t like the taste of protein powder. While they’re ideally suited for people who are into fitness and health, they are still “real food”. Meaning that they can act as an **easy substitute for eating meat** or other protein sources. They are _especially useful_ for people in a bulking phase and trying to gain weight. Before discovering these, I had to blend a crazy one litre concoction of milk, peanut butter, coconut oil and scoops of whey protein to just get enough calories in. Chicken protein smoothies have ended up saving me: - **Time,** as they reduce my food preparation time. - **Money,** as they cost about $2.50, which is the same price as whey where I live. - **Willpower,** as I don’t have to think about what to eat — I just grab a bottle from the fridge and drink it. ### But how does it taste? That’s the million dollar question. To me, it tastes like a fruity yoghurt drink. I’ve recommended it to friends and people locally and all of them have either: 1. Loved it, or 2. Can at least tolerate it. Which is better than whey protein powder, which most people won’t touch. ### Where can I get chicken protein smoothies? Unlike whey, these are made fresh. I buy them from a company here in Thailand called [StayLean](https://www.instagram.com/staylean.food/), and have a set delivered once a week. I’ve heard there’s a company in Singapore than makes them too. For everywhere else, Google is your friend. ## True Life Hack 2: Weightlifting ![True Life Hack 2: Weightlifting](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/true-life-hacks/weightlifting.webp) The second true life hack is **weightlifting**. It’s tempting to say “the gym” or “exercise” but they really aren’t the same thing. I am specifically referring to resistance training with free weights — lifting barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells and more.[^1] There are many variations within resistance training. Powerlifters focus on squats, deadlifts and bench press. Olympic lifters focus on the clean and jerk and snatches and supporting movements. Crossfitters focus on a bit of everything. Anything that isn’t cardiovascular exercise (“cardio”) but has you lifting weights in the gym counts.[^2] ### The benefits of weightlifting Unlike cardio, weightlifting is a **two-for-one exercise**. You burn calories whilst doing it. And you also burn calories afterwards, as it increases your basal metabolic rate (BMR) for up to 48 hours afterwards.[^3] The **health benefits** are numerous: - It strengthens your musculoskeletal system. - It makes you stronger. - It hardens your central nervous system. - It _also_ improves your cardiovascular fitness. - Your life expectancy goes up.[^4] It also has a _ton_ of other health benefits — I won’t cite you all the studies, but [they are all linked here](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Strength_training#/Increased_general_physical_health). In the process of learning to lift free weights, you’ll also dramatically **improve your posture:** - You’ll be able to fix rounded shoulders with external rotation. - You’ll learn how to brace and strengthen your core to lift heavy loads. - You’ll learn how to stand straight and sit upright. - You’ll fix your anterior pelvic tilt and not look like you are slouching all day. Weightlifting also gives you **better energy levels**. It’s primarily an anaerobic exercise and over time, you become stronger and fitter. And this translates into more energy being available for other things — like being productive and getting work done.[^5] Weightlifting also makes you **look aesthetically better**. This means more muscle tone, less fat, broader shoulders (if you want), six-pack abs and more.[^6] This makes you more attractive to _everyone_, which is obviously great in a romantic context, but also makes all your other social interactions easier because _looks act as a social status hack_. Weightlifting is also **extremely time efficient**.[^7] I like to think of it as having both a global and local effect. There is a global effect where you do a lift, and your body figures out automatically how to burn fat and build muscle across your entire body. There is also a local effect where you can choose to emphasise certain muscle groups if you want. What this means is that you can practically spend 1-1.5 hours in the gym, 2-4 times a week and be done with it. Compared to doing long hours of cardio daily, this is extremely time efficient. And if it seems like a lot: 1. It really isn’t a lot of time compared to the benefits you gain, and 2. It’s useful to remember that hours of exercise per week correlates to a longer life expectancy. Weightlifting also has **meditative effects for the mind**. It is [worshipping at the church of iron](https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/articles/the-iron-by-henry-rollins/). It helps you learn to focus your attention on your body and the present, with what you are doing. It builds a mind-body connection, and [discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/). It builds your willpower: Every time you have a heavy weight in front of you and ask, “is it possible?”, and then lift it, you add to your [willpower capacity](/productivity/willpower-and-volition/). Weightlifting also **makes forming other habits easier**. This is because progress in weightlifting is fairly linear and teaches you the skill of progression and that if you put in the time and concentration, you will be rewarded. Lastly, weightlifting also **provides a time structure to your day and week**. I consider it a core anchor activity and [ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/), and something you can always fall back on when life goes off-course. (For more on this, see _[Next Level Productivity](/go/nlp/)_). ### What kind of person lifts weights? I’ve found that people who lift weights consistently have their act together. It takes a certain type of person to show up at the gym three times a week like clockwork, and lift _literal tons of stuff_ with no complaint. These are not the type of people who make excuses or [get lazy](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). I have also found that _nothing_ has improved my sleep quality or [energy levels](/productivity/energy-management/) more than regularly weightlifting. And the progress is **amazing** to see. You’ll feel it at first. Then you’ll see it. Then others will notice it, which can be extremely validating. At some point though, you’ll stop caring about what others think or notice and realise that you’re really [doing it for you](/manifesto/). And this completely changes your relationship with your body, your health and your energy levels. ### Where can I lift weights? You should start by working out exactly what you are going to do. My go-to resource for this has always been [Andy Morgan’s Ripped Body](https://rippedbody.com/). Then you need to find a gym nearby that has the equipment you need. Or if you have the space at home, buy your own equipment. The closer the gym is to you, the better, as that reduces friction in the process of going there. And then you just need to go, consistently. ## True Life Hack 3: FU Money ![True Life Hack 3: FU Money](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/true-life-hacks/fu-money.webp) FU Money stands for F\*ck You Money. It means having enough money or income to never have to work again. It means having enough money to say “f\*ck you” to requests or demands from other people. Most people misunderstand how this works. It is not simply having a lump of cash and having so much of it that you can never spend it all. It is having a large enough sum of money invested so that the _interest or return provided_ is enough to cover your cost of living and spending. For example, $10 million invested at 4% a year comes out to $400,000 a year which is a nice ~$33,000 monthly. ### Financial independence is not FU money Financial independence is not the same thing as FU money. Financial independence is simply where you are not dependent on active work to cover your cost of living. This can be decidedly modest — no debt, owning your own home (or two) and living an upper-middle class lifestyle. FU money is a higher level of financial independence. People with financial independence still look at price tags and live with a certain degree of frugality. People with FU money have a very different relationship with money, prices and costs. For them, almost any problem can be solved by simply putting money towards it. ### The benefits of FU money As Nassim Nicholas Taleb says, **FU Money is antifragile**. You can use it to **pay to make problems go away**. Something causes you friction? Pay to make it go away. Something annoys you? Pay to make it go away. It may seem convenient to say that, but it is true. Money makes the people who bring you problems, reconsider. This is because **people imbue money with value,** and by association, they conflate people with money with value. This isn’t objective reality (as money is just paper or 0s and 1s), but it is [intersubjective reality](/productivity/types-of-reality/). Just think about how much people want to know about the habits and mindsets of rich people like Bill Gates, Jack Ma and Jeff Bezos — even though many of their habits have nothing to do with their financial success. Simply having money means people listen to you more and hold you as having **higher social value**. This means more influence, more power and more authority. FU money also **grants you freedom**.[^8] You don’t have to show up at a certain place at a certain time, pretty much ever. This frees up your time, energy, willpower and attention to do whatever you want. ### How do I get FU Money? There are whole sections of the Internet dedicated to achieving both financial independence and FU money. I personally like MJ Demarco’s approach in [_The Millionaire Fastlane_](/go/book-millionaire-fastlane/). ## True Life Hack 4: High-Level Social Skills ![True Life Hack 4: High-Level Social Skills](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/true-life-hacks/high-level-social-skills.webp) Social skills is a broad term that describes the gift of gab or the ability to talk to people. It includes: - An understanding of social hierarchies and social trees. - The ability to read people and to assess social value. - The ability to use Sherlock Holmes-style deduction and calibrate your responses based on that. - The ability to act with all this knowledge and information. [Tom Libelt of Smart Brand Marketing](https://smartbrandmarketing.com/) calls it “persuasion”. It is not the same as just having lots of friends or connections. ### Benefits of high-level social skills _Almost everything we do in life has something to do with another human being._ Having high-level social skills means that **you will be able to get more of what you want, faster and easier**. High-level social skills give you optionality, abundance, freedom and choice when dealing with other human beings. This means that you can use less of every resource in whatever you do because you will be able to **persuade others to support your cause**. High-level social skills are also **great for your inner game**. Being able to navigate the world of people removes insecurity, protects your self-interest and lets you operate independently in the world of people. ### What do high-level social skills look like? I define high-level social skills as being able to “parachute into any city and build your own network of people”. This means that you can confidently belong anywhere and everywhere, and make it work. This makes everything in life _smoother_. Imagine having no insecurity and no fear of people or things that involve other people.[^9] Imagine being able to do business, make new friends, go on dates, negotiate, give speeches, attend parties and events and even undergo general chitchat and small talk with no friction, no fear and no issue. Imagine people just liking you for no real reason at all. ### How can I learn high-level social skills? You can start here with [basic social skills](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/). ## True Life Hack 5: Fame and Status ![True Life Hack 5: Fame and Status](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/true-life-hacks/fame-status.webp) There are two types of fame and status. The first is contextual fame and status, which is fame and status within a specific social tree or group. The second is general fame and status. **To be a true life hack, you must have general fame and status.** Here’s why. Contextual fame and status is specific to particular social tree. For example, a CEO of a company has “fame” and a high status within their company. But put them on the street, and they’re just a normal person. A DJ at a local nightclub has “fame” and a high status within that nightclub. But when he walks into say the company the above CEO works at, he’s a nobody. General fame and status is different. It comes from being in politics, popular culture, or as we mentioned above, from having money. It can also come from being in specific niches, industries or subcultures that have broad mainstream reach. For example, certain niches within social media sometimes crossover into mainstream media and this grants the influencers in them a degree of general fame and status. ### The benefits of fame and status Like money, **people conflate fame and status with value** and by association, people who have fame and status have “value”. This is another way of saying that people believe what Kim Kardashian says simply because she has fame and status. I believe that this goes back to our tribal nature as human beings and our tendency to follow charismatic leaders.[^10] When you have fame and status, like money, people listen to you. This gives you influence, power and authority. And this can be parlayed into money, opportunities and more. A simple example of this is that when a celebrity gives away their “diet secrets” or “success secrets”, we listen. This is not because these celebrities are objectively more fit or wealthy, but because they have fame and status. This is actually a logical fallacy as [being good at one thing doesn’t mean you’re good at everything](https://seths.blog/2020/09/the-absurdity-of-a-scrabble-hierarchy/). Another example would be influencers in subcultures being paid to promote often-unrelated products to their followers. Companies are happy to pay for the endorsement, as they understand that people listen to those with fame and status. ### Hating on fame and status I really want to dislike fame and status as a true life hack, as I believe it to be in direct opposition to having true value, authenticity and soul in the game. But there is no denying that because of human nature, it works. If you have an influencer or celebrity friend, hang out with them for a day. You’ll literally see them: - Get free stuff. - Have random people come up to them asking for photos. - Have all heads turn when they enter a room. - Have everyone be super, super nice to them simply because of who they are. ### Where do I get fame and status? I’m not the right person to ask about this 😉. ## What To Do Next Some of these true life hacks can be acquired right away. Some will take time. But all of them will completely change the dynamics of how you live your life. Photos by [Jp Valery](https://unsplash.com/@jpvalery?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Eliott Reyna](https://unsplash.com/@eliottreyna?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [REVOLT](https://unsplash.com/@revolt?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Bodyweight training is in-between. Most people I know who are into bodyweight training end up adding some sort of extra resistance weights at some point. [^2]: Bodybuilding is also resistance training, but the amount of time required for training makes it not particularly time efficient. [^3]: Stavres, J. R., Zeighel, M. P., Bayles, M. P. (2018). Six weeks of moderate functional resistance training increases basal metabolic rate in sedentary adult women. _International Journal of Exercise Science, 11_(2), 32-41. [https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2051&context=ijes](https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2051&context=ijes) [^4]: Reimers, C. D., Knapp, G., & Reimers, A. K. (2012). Does physical activity increase life expectancy? A review of the literature. _Journal of Aging Research, 2012_, 243958. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/243958 [^5]: There’s a reason that energy is the base level of the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/). [^6]: You are not going to get “too big” or “bulky” from weightlifting. People who say this have _no idea_ just how much work goes into building muscle and physique. [^7]: Especially compared to cardio. See [https://www.strongerbyscience.com/avoiding-cardio-could-be-holding-you-back/](https://www.strongerbyscience.com/avoiding-cardio-could-be-holding-you-back/). [^8]: See [Naval](https://nav.al/rich) for more on this. [^9]: Which is pretty much everything. [^10]: Grabo, A. E. _The evolutionary origins and psychology of charismatic leadership._ [https://research.vu.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/58473817/complete+dissertation.pdf](https://research.vu.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/58473817/complete+dissertation.pdf) > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Systems, Goals and How They Relate https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/systems-goals/ You may have heard the idea that systems are better than goals. This is only half the story. It’s not an either-or question — systems and goals are actually one and the same. Let’s find out why. --- ## The Problem With Goals Goals have a bit of a bad reputation nowadays. This is because most people just set “goals”. They write out single sentences like: - I want to focus more on my work. - I want to start a podcast. And then they leave it at that. These “goals” have no actions to take, no next steps and no definition. And they don’t work, as there is no clarity on how to proceed with the goal. Now some people do better, and add in actions. They end up with a single sentence and some action steps. But they still treat their goals as “once and done”… which is fine for _some_ goals, but horrible for others where we need to be generative. Someone may say, “I want to lose 5 kg” but this is not a once-and-done goal where you just drink a can of soda and eat a slice of pizza a day. To lose weight and maintain it, you need a system. ## Reconciling Systems and Goals as Outcomes The proper way to set up goals actually helps us reconcile both goals and systems and _reveals them as the same thing_. For clarity, let us call this “proper way” an **outcome**. An outcome has: 1. A single-sentence goal, its **title**. 2. A **due date** (optional). 3. A **target or targets**. These are milestones or benchmarks to hit. 4. A **process**. These are the steps that need to be taken to achieve the outcome and then go beyond. This is the **system**. **And this is why goals and systems are the same thing. You may set a “goal”, but you need to implement a system to achieve that goal.** [_Astute readers will note that this is not too dissimilar from using why, what and how for goal setting._](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/) For example, in saying “I want to lose 5 kg”, you need a system for eating, a system for exercise, and a system for maintaining your weight once that 5 kg has been lost. In saying “I want to start a podcast”, you need a system for producing episodes, including inviting guests, recording episodes, editing and mastering audio tracks, then publishing and promoting them — because you aren’t just producing one episode, you are producing many. If you say, “I want to focus more on work”, you will need a system for clarifying what you want to focus on, and a system for removing distractions. ## What Happens Once You Reach Your Goals? So what happens once you’ve completed your goals, and reached the targets or benchmarks set? If set up properly, the system that helped you achieve your goal keeps going. You can keep on dieting, keep on focusing, and continue producing that podcast. And that’s why systems and goals are the same thing. One is not better than the other. **Your goals are basically saying, “Create this system to do X and then run it in perpetuity”.** ## What To Do Next Don’t write your goals as single sentences. **Write them as outcomes, with a title, target, due date and process.** Make sure that the process is a system, and use it to get what you want… and beyond. For more on how to do this, here is a [guide to goal getting](/productivity/goal-getting/), which helps you set up systems to achieve your goals. --- Photo by [June Wong](https://unsplash.com/@junio_006?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Virtue of Silence https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/silence/ > Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. > > — Benjamin Franklin Silence? Speak only when it benefits myself or others? It seems strange to hold one’s tongue, especially in the modern-day. We live in a culture where talk and chit-chat are common place and it is possible to have endless conversations about nothing at all for hours at a time. There are multiple benefits to embracing silence as a virtue however. When we practise silence, we are also practising active and meaningful listening. We are really hearing what others say, and trying to understand them better. We are not just waiting for our turn to speak, but are also able to empathise.[^1] --- ## What Is Silence? There are many aspects to silence. ### Benjamin Franklin’s silence Benjamin Franklin’s silence is the classic definition that can be taken literally — **there is no need to be constantly talking.** When we speak, it should be with impact. We should not be chattering away for the sake of it. And it is perfectly fine to have silence set into conversations. You can just say nothing, smile and look at the other person expectantly. More often than not, they will fill that void by saying something. This lets you practise the virtue of silence, and grants you a certain control over conversations. ### Internal silence ![Internal silence](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/silence/internal-silence.webp)
Imagine a volume dial for your inner voice.
Most of us have internal dialogue running through our heads. This is our inner voice that speaks with us.[^2] Sometimes this inner voice is helpful, sometimes it is critical. What if we could ask our inner voices to also practise silence? There is a simple NLP technique that helps with this. **Imagine a volume dial for your inner voice. Turn it clockwise to increase the volume, turn it anticlockwise to decrease the volume.** This grants you control over your inner voice and when you want to hear it, and this is valuable. Over time, you can add in switches and sliders to change the qualities of your inner voice. You can make it funny. You can make it smooth. You can make it husky. You can make it sound like Morgan Freeman or Julie Andrews. And this changes what your inner voice says, and means to you. ### Silent inputs Silence is more than just what we say and how we speak to ourselves. It is also how others speak to us. Unfortunately, we live in a noisy world. We have tweets, DMs, emails and more coming at us all hours of the day. Benjamin Franklin didn’t have an iPhone, but he was onto something. There is no need to hear the constant chattering of others across our social networks all day. And the easiest way to do this is to simply not use them as much as we currently do. _Do not disturb should be the default on our devices._ We’ve popularised this idea as a “social media detox” but it really is just the practice of the virtue of silence. ## The Benefits of Silence ![The Benefits of Silence](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/silence/benefits-silence.webp) Silence leads to focus and a better clarity of thought. With fewer inputs comes reduced processing and clearer outputs. You’ll also automatically have better listening skills, which means you’ll have [better social skills](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/). If we combine these benefits together, we become smarter and more intelligent people. It’s perfectly OK to just listen and not speak — you don’t have to have an opinion about any given thing. Contrast this with most people who have an opinion about _everything_. When you do speak, your silence will lend what you say a tone of gravitas and authority — and this will be earned, as you will have given thought to what you have to say. ## Practising Silence Daily Like other virtues, practising silence daily is simply a matter of asking yourself: **Have I lived with silence today?** I have said only what needed to be said, when it benefited myself or others? Have I avoided mundane small talk and the voicing of opinions with little substance behind them? ## A System for Silence Silence is a mindset. It begins with accepting that it is fine to speak little or not at all on a given day. Ask yourself: **Can you go an entire day without speaking to or messaging anyone?** This will prove uncomfortable at first. And are you OK with silence from your social media, news, feeds [and devices](/productivity/notifications/)? You also want to practise internal silence, by quieting your inner voices. And when you do meet others, practise holding back your opinion and letting others speak. Give your opinions if warranted, but see if you can get away with just listening. ## The Silent Cockpit ![The Silent Cockpit](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/silence/silent-cockpit.webp) The virtue of silence is also the foundation of the silent cockpit technique. The silent cockpit is a term from aviation where pilots practise silence during takeoff and landing, as those are when the most errors and accidents occur during a flight.[^3] Applied to our own lives, we can carve out part of our day as a “silent cockpit”, usually in the morning. We simply remove all our distractions and focus on the task at hand, in silence, enjoying the focus and clarity that it brings. ## What To Do Next Silence is a [virtue](/productivity/) that lives alongside other virtues like focus, [volition](/productivity/willpower-and-volition/) and [taking action](/productivity/right-action/). You can [read more about those virtues here](/productivity/virtue-system/). But for now, embrace silence. Photos by [HARALD PLIESSNIG](https://unsplash.com/@pliessnig?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Mike Russell](https://www.flickr.com/photos/musicradiocreative/), [Keegan Houser](https://unsplash.com/@khouser01?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Chris Leipelt](https://unsplash.com/@cleipelt?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: We also realise just how much people like to talk about themselves. [^2]: Or in some cases, to us. [^3]: Technically it’s called the Sterile Cockpit and prohibits all non-essential activities during critical parts of flights. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Active Reading, Learning and Implementation https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/implementation/ There’s a dirty little secret in self-help and personal development circles: _A lot of people “read” books, just to say that they’ve read them._ Most of the time they never actually finish the book, and when they supposedly do… they don’t understand what they’ve read, they haven’t thought about it critically, and they certainly haven’t implemented it. It’s almost like they’re reading because “successful people read” and they want to belong to that class of people for status.[^1] If you’ve ever done this before, don’t feel bad — we’ve all been there. But it’s worth asking: Can we actually do something about it? **Can we actually read a book or watch an online course and really learn something from it?** Why yes, yes we can 😁. All we need to do is [be systematic](/productivity/systems-thinking/) about how we actively read, learn and implement. --- ## The Problem With Books and Online Courses ![The Problem With Books and Online Courses](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/implementation/problem-with-books.webp) I have some friends and acquaintances who when I ask them if they’ve read a particular book they invariably say yes. And this excites me because I like discussing interesting ideas and concepts. But then when I start talking about critical points, frameworks or ideas from the book… they draw a blank. They say, “I don’t remember that” or “I don’t understand”. This is because while they have _done_ the act of reading or watching, they have _not done_ the acts of learning, absorbing, thinking or implementing what they have consumed. **They are simply passively consuming entertainment in the form of books (or courses).**[^2] Whenever this happens, I sigh at the huge waste of opportunity and time. _If you are going to take the time to listen to an audiobook, read something or watch a course… it may as well benefit you in some way._ Why just go through the motions? If you just want to entertain yourself, you may as well be hedonistic about it and watch or read something you actually enjoy, rather than a book because “everyone else has read it”. And these friends and acquaintances of mine are not alone. Seth Godin estimated that [only 20%](http://fourhourworkweek.com/2016/02/10/seth-godin/) of his Udemy students actually completed their courses. The industry-wide complete rate for online courses is 3% 😳. _That means 97% of people are buying online courses and not finishing them._ The average [MOOC](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Massive_open_online_course) completion rate is 10%. And books? 35-60% of people actually complete the book, depending on genre.[^3] ## How to Actually Read, Learn and Implement Now that we know just how poor the actual learning and implementation rate is… let’s build a system so that it never happens to us. Perhaps something like this: [![How to Actually Read, Learn and Implement](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/implementation/read-learn-implement.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/implementation/read-learn-implement.webp) ### 1\. Have a growth mindset The first thing you need is a growth mindset. This is simply the idea that you can learn something and then improve your life with what you have learnt. If you’re reading this article, it’s safe to assume that you already have one. ### 2\. Track your consumption I highly recommend creating lists of some sort to track what you are reading or consuming. Like this: [![Tracking Consumption](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/implementation/track-consumption.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/implementation/track-consumption.webp) A simple list in Google Sheets or Excel is enough. ### 3\. Work out what it is you are reading, watching or listening It is worth clarifying what you are doing before you start doing it. Many people like to rush into doing, and often don’t stop to think a bit about exactly what is going on — and that leads to people “just going through the motions”. So take a look at what it is you have chosen to consume. If it’s **entertainment**, there’s no need to learn anything. Just enjoy it! If it’s **a subject of interest**, you might take a note here and there but mostly you will just consume it. These are subjects that you read to expand your knowledge but aren’t directly applicable to your life and what you do. For example, I might read a book about the Napoleonic Wars, but it has little to do with my work or personal life — it is simply “of interest”. If it is **something directly applicable**, then you want to implement [what you have learnt](/productivity/learning-systems/). For most people, these will be books, courses and other media related to business, skills or personal development. ### 4\. Consume the material Now that we know what we are working with, it’s time to actually consume it. Here’s what I recommend. #### Online Courses If you are taking online courses, do them one at a time. If there are transcripts, I usually read the transcripts as reading is faster than watching, even at 2x or 3x speed. If you need to clarify something from the transcript, then pull up the video and watch that section. #### Books I read more than the average person but I wouldn’t say that I read _a lot_ compared to prolific readers. My recommendation is to read many books simultaneously, but across different genres. This could be: - One business book. - One fiction book. - One personal development book. - One comic. All at the same time. The best advice I’ve ever read about reading is from [Ryan Holiday](https://ryanholiday.net/how-to-read-more-a-lot-more/): > Reading must become as natural as eating and breathing to you. #### Audiobooks and podcasts These are great if you have a commute. If you don’t have a commute… it’s really hard to find time to just sit down and listen, especially when reading is a faster and more effective learning modality. Some people like to listen while eating or while they’re at the gym, but I am not a fan of either. For this reason, I don’t listen to podcasts unless they come recommended by others. In that case, I’ll usually scale up the playback to 1.5x speed, then to 2.5x speed after a couple of minutes. #### While consuming material So what do you do when you are in the actual act of reading, listening or watching? The first thing is to **think critically.** Don’t take everything the author or creator is saying at face value — question it, see if it matches what you know, ask if it’s right or wrong. **Think, do not just passively consume.** The second thing is to **create semantic links.** If you read something and it reminds you of something else, note it down. I use a simple [c.f., notation](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Cf.). The third thing is to **liberally note and highlight.** If you’re into print books, then margin notes, post-its and [dog ears](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Dog_ears) are for you. If you’re into digital books then highlight and note away. I also like [Mike Schmitz’ technique from Bookworm](https://bookworm.fm/) — he creates a mind map on his phone whilst reading a print book. The fourth thing to do is to **practice the _Feynman technique_.** This comes from physicist Richard Feynman and is a method for better learning. You simply: 1. Identify the concept you want to learn. 2. Write out a step-by-step logical explanation of the concept, as-if explaining it to a layman. 3. Perform edit 1: Notice any gaps, go back, review material, and write them in. 4. Perform edit 2: Simplify language and reduce complexity. The easiest way to do this is to **imagine that we will have to explain this concept to others later**. ### 5\. Post-consumption implementation After you’ve read your book, listened to your podcast or watched your online course… then what? If it’s something of length and worth implementing, I recommend **creating a mind map or writing a short summary** of what you have just read or watched. This can be based on your notes and highlights, or just from memory. For shorter pieces like articles or podcasts this usually isn’t necessary. You should also **create an implementation list,** for both longer _and_ shorter pieces. This is a list of actions that you need to do. For example, if you read a business book, you can immediately go into your project management system and create a new project for implementation. For personal material, you can list out the principles, actions, beliefs and mindsets you need to adopt or think about. I also highly recommend **creating a review schedule** for longer material.[^4] This is where you review your mind map or short summary at these intervals: - Three days. - Three weeks. - Three months. - One year. - Five years. This can be easily set up in any task management app. ## Bonus: What About Book Summaries? ![What About Book Summaries?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/implementation/book-summaries.webp) I know many people who swear by book summaries instead of actually reading a book. My perspective is that books and courses are an opportunity to step into the author’s or creator’s perspective and see how they experience the world. Reading a summary robs you of that. It also robs you of the chance to make semantic links, to think critically and to intentionally learn something. What I **do** like summaries for is in deciding whether to read a book. I’ll use them alongside reviews to see if it’s worth investing time into a particular book or course. ## What To Do Next Reading, learning and listening are not passive activities. If you want to make the most of them, you must actively do them! Go forth, read, learn, listen… and implement. Photos by [Daria Nepriakhina](https://unsplash.com/@epicantus?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Madalyn Cox](https://unsplash.com/@madalyncox?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Aaron Burden](https://unsplash.com/@aaronburden?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: [Masterclass](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/what-is-masterclass-actually-selling/614200/) was actually founded on this premise. Hat tip to [Charles Ngo](https://charlesngo.com/) for pointing this out. [^2]: Not surprisingly, most of these friends and acquaintances are huge fans of “edutainment”. [^3]: Fiction books are on the high-end of that, non-fiction on the low-end. [^4]: Credit to Pete Sergeant of CareerJS for introducing this to me many years ago. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Virtue System https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/virtue-system/ If you read personal development books, you know that they tell you to be good, happy, proactive, decisive, wise, assertive, bold, fearless, independent, collaborative, ethical, willing to do whatever it takes… and more. And somehow, we are expected to be all these things all at the same time. **But nobody ever tells you _how_ to be all these things at the same time.** This seems like an impossible list of things to be and reconcile in our minds, let alone in our actual behaviours and actions. But there is a way. --- ## The Problem With Aspirations ![The Problem With Aspirations](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/virtue-system/two-directions.webp) Some people try to solve the aspiration conundrum by being everything at once — but this does not work. It is difficult to be independent _and_ collaborative at the same time. Others try to change their behaviours, capabilities, skills or beliefs — but this is not a problem that can be solved at those levels of thinking. > We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them. > > — _Albert Einstein_ That quote is commonly attributed to Albert Einstein, and he is correct. What we need is a form of higher-level change that trickles down and automatically takes care of our beliefs, behaviours and more. You may be thinking: Great, I have my [core values](/productivity/core-values/). But, all the things we want and aspire to be are not quite as high-level as our core values. And we’re limited to having around only five core values. **What we need instead, is a Virtue System.** This is a system that helps in our personal and character development, lets us work out what is important to us, and then pushes us to go live that. ## What Is a Virtue System? As I wrote about in [_Virtues_](/productivity/virtues/), a virtue is a behaviour, quality or demonstration of “high moral standards”. **A Virtue System is a list of these virtues in a document that is handwritten or typed out.** In practice, these virtues form the demands that we make of ourselves because we know that they are the right things to do. By living these virtues, we lead ourselves to happiness and a life of our own making. ## Setting up a Virtue System Setting up a virtue system is simple. We open a document in our digital note app or get out a sheet of paper. And then we select our virtues. These could be the classical Stoic virtues of _prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance._ They could be Benjamin Franklin’s virtues of _temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity and humility._ Or you can choose from the [full list of virtues provided at the end of this article](#list-virtues). Then you add them, one-by-one, to your own list of virtues. If you need to, you can define what they mean to you. And you can categorise them however you wish. At the end of this process, you will have a list of virtues that you can easily read over and reference at any time. ## The First Virtue Is Always Goodness ![The First Virtue Is Always Goodness](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/virtue-system/goodness.webp) The first virtue on your list will always be goodness, and it can be the hardest virtue to live. Most people do not live with goodness. This is not because they are evil — the vast majority of people do things with good intentions.[^1] It is because they are not willing to hold themselves (or others) to a high standard, even when it benefits themselves. Why? Because [people are lazy](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). They are apathetic. They make excuses. [They value status and prestige more than being good](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/). They will sell out for money, fame and resources. It does not help that modern culture depicts “breaking bad” as being cool. As Seth Godin says: > The first rule of the game — “All players must agree to not cheat.” And yet many people do so because it’s the easy way out. So, how do we live with goodness? Goodness is living with authenticity, with true independence. It is knowing what you stand for and being willing to live it, even to your own detriment. Past societies called this honour, which is a notably absent concept in today’s world. Being good is having what Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls having **soul in the game.** Most people today have _skin in the game,_ which is not bad. Entrepreneurs, business people, creatives and more all be hustlin’ which is a good thing. But very few people today have **soul in the game,** where they understand their principles and are willing to fight for them, even at their own expense. ## Using the Virtue System **To use your virtue system you simply refer to your list of virtues in the morning, as part of your [morning ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/).** **You also refer to it in the evening** by asking: “What virtues did I live today?” And know that it’s perfectly fine to not live every virtue every day — the point is that you lived _some_ virtues. You do not need to be or live all your virtues simultaneously at every moment of the day. You live them when you can, and that’s good enough.[^2] As you come across new virtues in your life, you simply add them to your list. ## List of Virtues for Your Virtue System Here is a list of virtues, pulled directly from my own virtue system. I have categorised them based on how I view them and practise them. You should re-categorise them _based on how you view them_ and practise them. ### Character trait virtues - Acceptance - [Agility](/productivity/agility-iterations/) - Appreciation - Being Inhuman - [Boldness](/productivity/boldness-courage/) - Brio. Enthusiasm, vigor, vivacity, verve. - Cheerfulness - Cleanliness - Contempt for death - Energetic / High energy - First-hand experience - Goodness - Greatness - High-mindedness - Hyper-competitiveness - Joy - Justice. Integrity. - Order. All my things have their places; each part of business and life has its time. - [Playfulness](/productivity/play/). Spontaneity, fluidity, physical movement, laughter. - Positivity - Prudence. Cautiousness, concern for the future. - Responsibility - Seriousness - Vigilance - Well-being. Character, luck. ### Keeping things going virtues - Acquiescence - Contempt for failure - Equanimity. Calmness and composure in difficult situations. - Grit / Perseverance - [Hard work](/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/) - Optimism - Persistence - Resignation - [Resilience](/productivity/resilience-mental-toughness/) - Reverence. Respect for the task at hand. - Self-efficacy. Belief in self, developing oneself. - Self-reliance. Ability to succeed at difficult tasks eventually. - Strength ### Lifestyle choice virtues - Abstinence - [Austerity](/productivity/austerity-and-minimalism/) - Chastity - Efficiency. Not wasting things, doing things right. - Essentiality - Frugality - Moderation - [Momentum](/productivity/momentum/) - Productivity - [Purpose](/productivity/purpose/) - Relentlessness - Simplicity - Sobriety - Temperance - Wealth ### Mind and attention virtues - [10x](/productivity/10x/) - Clarity - Deliberate analysis (of opportunity) - Discernment - Focus - Indifference - [Industry](/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/). Optimise time usage, no unnecessary actions. - Inner power - Patience - Perspective - Pragmatism - Rationality (logic) - Self-control - Self-examination - Self-perception - Serenity. Calmness, tranquility, not affected by trifles. - [Silence](/productivity/silence/) - [Volition. Willpower.](/productivity/willpower-and-volition/) ### Social virtues - Affection (for others) - Amusement - Assertiveness - Authoritativeness - Dignity - Grace - Gravity - Honesty - Humility - Kindness - Magnanimity. Wise giving, forgiveness. - Philanthropy. Belonging to a global community of humans. - Pull others up - Sincerity - Truthfulness - Warmth ### Taking action virtues - Adherence - [Boldness](/productivity/boldness-courage/) - Commitment - [Courage](#) - Dedication - Duty - Initiative - Leadership - Obligation - Resolution. Follow-through to completion. - [Right action](/productivity/right-action/) - [Self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/) - Urgency ## What To Do Next Set up your virtue system. Select your virtues. And use them daily to live, as you were meant to live. Photos by [Max Kukurudziak](https://unsplash.com/@maxkuk?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Justin Luebke](https://unsplash.com/@jluebke?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Myfanwy Owen](https://unsplash.com/@myfanwyo22?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: There is a small fraction of humanity that really is evil though. For example, narcissists. [^2]: Your really important virtues will form your core values anyway. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Aaron's Comprehensive Annual Review Guide https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/annual-review/ It’s that time of year — time to sit down, and perform your annual review. It’s time to reflect on what has happened this year, see what you can learn from it, and better prepare yourself for next year. There is no right or wrong with annual reviews, and doing _some_ kind of review is better than doing none. Here’s how I do my annual reviews, step-by-step, based on a format I have been using and teaching for over a decade now. --- ## Objectives of Your Annual Review It’s worth defining at the outset what we want our annual reviews to accomplish. Some objectives would be: - Review. - Reflect on the things you have done, or not done. - See what you can learn from this review and reflection. - Keep yourself on-track for your longer-term goals, vision and [purpose](/productivity/purpose/). - See if you are living true to your own self-interests, [standards](/productivity/standards/) and [values](/productivity/core-values/). - [Prepare yourself for the upcoming year](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/). ## When to Perform Your Annual Review The best time to perform your annual review is **during the last two weeks of the year**. For simplicity, **any time after December 15** is appropriate. Why two weeks? So that you can take your time, and think things through. You will likely sit down and write for an hour or so each time. You want to be able to space out your thinking and reflection to give yourself time to process and recall. ## A Review in Three Parts [![Annual Review Three Parts](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/annual-review/annual-review-three-parts.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/annual-review/annual-review-three-parts.webp) There are actually three parts to your annual review: 1. **The General Review,** covered in this article. 2. **The Bonus Round,** also covered in this article. 3. **Planning for next year,** which is not covered in this article but which you can [read about here](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/). ## The Annual Review Template Here’s a quick outline of the annual review and bonus round. ### Annual review ``` 1. Review Outcomes - Annual and 3-Year. 2. General Review. 3. More General Review based on quarterly and monthly journal entries. 4. Big Things that Happened & What to Take Away from them. 5. Areas of Life Ratings and Comparison. 6. Things to Leave Behind. 7. Things to Take Into Next Year. ``` ### Bonus round ``` * Review Mission and Purpose. * Review Values. * Review Reasons Why. * Review Morning Philosophy. * Review Virtues. * Review Vices. * Update Standards. * Plan for next year. * Implement any inner game from takeaways and newly set outcomes. ``` ## How to Perform Your Annual Review ![How to Perform Your Annual Review](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/annual-review/annual-review-relax.webp) Let’s go through each step of the annual review process. Your annual review is best done in a journal. This can be digital or handwritten — whichever you prefer, so long as it is easy for you to store and access. And remember: Don’t rush the review process. Sit down, get comfortable, and lie back on the couch if you need to. Grab a cup of your favourite beverage and relax. Then get started. ### 1\. Review your goals and supporting processes/systems Assuming that you have annual goals or outcomes written down, grab them and look over them. Did you hit your targets? Were any milestones reached? [How did the systems for each of these goals perform?](/productivity/systems-goals/) Simply see what was achieved and what was not. There is no judgement here, no right or wrong. Just write down what happened for each goal, your thoughts on it and how you feel about it. Do this for both your annual goals and if you have them, your 3-year goals across [your cascading timeframes](/productivity/cascading-timeframes/). ### 2\. Do a general review Now it’s time to do a general review. In this step, give yourself the permission to write down whatever comes to mind, unfiltered and unfettered. Get introspective and get your thoughts down. Here are some prompting questions: - Honestly, how did this year go? - What did you feel? - What did you experience? - What did you like? - What did you _not like?_ - What did you consider successes or triumphs? - What did you consider low points or failures? - What happened in the world, and how did it affect you? ### 3\. General review based on quarterly and monthly journal entries If you are using the [cascading timeframes model](/productivity/cascading-timeframes/) and [journal entries](/productivity/journals/) you will have quarterly and monthly journal entries. Take a break for a day after the step above, then read over these journal entries and _their_ review sections. **Then add to your general review.** Note down any accomplishments and wins. Note down any major impact events you went through. You can even break this down month-by-month or quarter-by-quarter if you like. This step is to cover things you may have missed when you were just writing down your thoughts in the previous step. ### 4\. The big things and takeaways Up to this step you have been reviewing generally, and now it’s time to be specific. Pick a few big things that happened this year. Anywhere between 3-10 major impact events that changed your life significantly. They could be personal, like a new relationship, the birth of a child or a change in career. They could also be general, like the 2020 pandemic. And just write about them — what happened and what would you take away from them? ### 5\. Areas of Life Review The next step is to specifically review each [area of our lives](/productivity/areas-of-life/). The areas are: - Wealth. - Health. - Relationship. - Family. - Social. - Play - Learning/knowledge/spiritual/evolution. For each area, give yourself a subjective rating of X/10. 10/10 means you are perfectly happy with the area. 1/10 means you are not happy with it at all. And then write about each area: - What did you do or try in the area? - What worked? - What didn’t work? - What do you wish had gone differently? - What are you going to do differently going forward? - Do you need to do anything differently going forward? If you’ve completed an areas of life review in previous years, you can compare your subjective ratings year-to-year to track your progress. And note that it’s perfectly fine to not have an area move year-to-year if it isn’t one of your [big three areas](/productivity/pick-three/) or if it’s in [treadmill/ongoing processes mode](/productivity/ongoing-processes/). ### 6\. Things to leave behind Now that you have done a general review, looked at your goals, looked at your areas and looked at major events, it’s time to be reflective. **Pick five things that you want to leave behind.** These could be: - Things you did. - Inner game structures or attitudes you adopted. - Things you acquired. Examples would be habits, people, beliefs or systems. There is no right or wrong here. Simply list out five things you don’t want to take with you into next year, and write down why you want to leave them behind. ### 7\. Things to take into next year Much like in the previous step, **pick five things that you liked and want to take with you into next year.** Again, these could be: - Things you did. - Inner game or attitudes you adopted. - Things you acquired. Examples would be habits, people, beliefs or systems. And of course, there is no right or wrong here as _these are personal to you._ ## The Annual Review Bonus Round ![The Annual Review Bonus Round](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/annual-review/annual-review-bonus-round.webp) The seven steps above are the main part of the annual review. What follows is a “bonus round”, for people who have [personal ops documents](/productivity/personal-ops/) set up. In this round you go through, review, and update if needed, each part of your personal ops documents. They are: - Your [purpose](/productivity/purpose/). - Your [core values](/productivity/core-values/). - Your [reasons why](/productivity/personal-ops/). - Your reminders/affirmations/personal philosophy. - Your [list of virtues](/productivity/virtue-system/). - Your list of vices. - Your vision of tomorrow. You should also [write a new standards journal entry](/productivity/standards/) for the upcoming year. Simply go through each document, think it over, assess and rewrite or copy over a new version for the upcoming year with any needed changes. ## Planning the Upcoming Year I mentioned that your annual review consists of three parts: 1. General Review. 2. The Bonus Round. 3. Planning for next year. At this point in the process you can plan your goals for next year, and if you do 3-year planning, update your 3-year goals as well. There is also one additional important step that you should do: **Do any necessary inner game work based on the takeaways from your annual review, and based on your newly set outcomes for the upcoming year.** This means if you need to change some beliefs, adopt new ones or develop some new behaviours, do so. This will help you prime your mindset for what lies ahead and give you a running start to the new year. ## What To Do Next Do your annual review. Do the bonus round. Then [plan for the new year](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/). --- Photos by [Inside Weather](https://unsplash.com/@insideweather?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), Liks Digital. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Hard Work and Industriousness https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/ > Industry: Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions. > > — Benjamin Franklin The modern versions of Benjamin Franklin’s virtue of industry are **hard work and industriousness**. On the surface, hard work and industriousness do not seem like a lot of fun. _Who actually likes to work?_ _And who actually wants to work hard?_ But if you think about it, being able to practice hard work and industriousness at will is a **huge** competitive advantage. It’s difficult, it isn’t popular, and other people would rather take the easy and often less effective path. Let’s see how we can practice the virtues of hard work and industriousness without burning up all of our willpower. --- ## Defining Hard Work and Industriousness Exactly what constitutes “hard work” differs from person to person. Here is my definition: - You have things to do, preferably things related to your [purpose](/productivity/purpose/). - You make a reasonable effort at doing them and actually try to get them done. - You get some of them done, you don’t get some of them done. - You [focus on the _effort and process,_ not the outcome](/productivity/boldness-courage/). Hard work and industriousness sit nicely alongside the [virtues of 10x](/productivity/10x/) and [taking right action](/productivity/right-action/). Working hard and being industrious implies that you are doing things that take [courage and boldness](/productivity/boldness-courage/). You are taking the shot where others will not, and doing things that other people may consider difficult. It is absolutely possible to outwork others, but we want to do it intelligently. As I said in [_Don’t Be Lazy_](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/): - You have to work 10x harder than everyone else. - You don’t get to take (all) weekend off. - You don’t get to sit back and binge on Netflix. - You don’t get to play video games. - You don’t even get to have craft beers with your buddies. ## The Importance of Hard Work ![The Importance of Hard Work](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/importance-hard-work.webp) Imagine yourself a year from now. You’re doing a review and looking back on your projects and life, what you have done, what worked out, and what didn’t work out. **Do you really want “lack of effort” to be the reason you didn’t accomplish something?** If you have done the best you can, that’s one thing. **But if you were lazy and did not put in the effort, that’s much, much worse.** The number one reason that hard work and industry are important, is because you never want a lack of effort to be your reason for failure. Practicing hard work and industriousness helps you beat back laziness. [You need to work both hard, and smart](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). People in today’s world are generally lazy. In fact, I garner that _most of them are too lazy to even define what laziness means to them._ Simply being willing to put in the work puts you a class ahead, which is a huge competitive advantage. People are lazy because we live in a culture that glorifies hacks, shortcuts, gaming the system and using street smarts. This is because people are not willing to put in the work or the reps. Yes, there is a place in life for hacks and being smart. If you see [smartcuts](/go/book-smartcuts/), take them. But taking them doesn’t mean you get to skip the work.[^1] ## How to Live Industriousness and Hard Work Daily ![How to Live Industriousness and Hard Work Daily](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/live-industriousness-daily.webp) The simplest way to live with industry is to **move from the time you wake up until the time you fall asleep**. Keep yourself busy, not just to keep busy, but with [actual outcomes](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/) and progress in mind. There should not be moments in the day when you sit there and say “I have nothing to do now”.[^2] You may think, “what do I do now?” and refer to your outcomes for the day, but you should not be sitting still. Remind yourself that hard work is something you have chosen about the way you live your life, so you have no right to complain about it. At the end of the day, you simply ask yourself: **“Have I worked hard and been industrious today?”** ## A System for Hard Work and Industriousness [![A System for Hard Work and Industriousness](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/hard-work-system.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/hard-work-system.webp) ### 1\. Define what hard work means to you We systemise hard work and industriousness by first defining what they mean to us. Hard work is about having a fair go and effort at the tasks you set for yourself daily. You may not get to all of them. You may not complete all of them. But you can confidently say that you made an effort, and hold yourself accountable to not having wasted time on other things during the day. ### 2\. Work hard on the right things We want to work hard and work smart. As much as possible, we want to work on things that [line up with our purpose](/productivity/purpose/) — because that way we know we are not wasting time. ### 3\. Industriousness is a virtue, but it is also a habit Industriousness and hard work are virtues, but they are also habits. The more you practice them, the easier they become. And thankfully, hard work is a habit with a fairly linear adoption rate, much like exercising or going to the gym. You don’t need to hack hard work to make it work — you just need to start doing it, and it will grow like a muscle does. Over time, your identity and beliefs will shift. You’ll go from “just normal” to one of those people who “just gets things done”. ## Taking Hard Work to the Next Level ![Taking Hard Work to the Next Level](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/hard-work-next-level.webp) Once you’ve established hard work and industriousness as virtues and habits, you can take them to the [next level](/productivity/next-level-productivity/). This is done by challenging yourself to do more than you think is possible. A couple of years ago I hit a point where I had everything optimised — [time](/productivity/time-management-stack/), [productivity](/productivity/productivity-stack/) and processes. And yet, because of the demands of my job at the time, it didn’t seem enough. So I challenged myself and asked: **How do I take this to the next level?** And in answering that question, I really surprised myself by being able to increase my hard work capacity _even more_.[^3] Simply asking the same question will get your mind flowing and you will be pleasantly surprised at what you’ll be able to do. ## What To Do Next Lose no time. Always do something useful. Work hard, and be industrious. Photos by [Andrew Malone](https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewmalone/), [Photoholgic](https://unsplash.com/@photoholgic?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Thought Catalog](https://unsplash.com/@thoughtcatalog?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Patrick Hendry](https://unsplash.com/@worldsbetweenlines?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: I sometimes get asked by male friends why I work out religiously and eat strictly and if it wouldn’t be easier to just use steroids. I tell them that I have nothing against steroids from an ethical standpoint, but that even if I were to use them, I would still have to eat properly and work out hard to make the most of them. [^2]: Unless you have mandated [downtime or play](/productivity/play/) scheduled in. [^3]: For those interested: It involved cleverly rearranging and batching my schedule so that I had _even more hours_ for productive work. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Use Voice Memos https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/voice-memos/ Voice memos are a quick and easy way to capture your thoughts and information when you’re on the go. Here’s how you record voice memos, and what you do with them afterwards. --- ## What Are Voice Memos and What Are They Used For? Voice memos are very simply using a voice recording app on your phone or smartwatch to capture audio. While some people undoubtedly use them to record interviews, music, lectures and other things, for productivity purposes you are **capturing audio notes for yourself**. You can use them to: - Take notes. - Create reminders. - Capture any general information. ## Why Are Voice Memos Useful? You may be wondering: _Can’t I just type a note into my task manager?_ Or: _Can’t I just use voice commands on my device to create reminders, notes and so on?_ One of the advantages of voice memos is that they are **fast**. You can often speak a few sentences much faster than you can type them out on your phone. ![Dictaphone](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/voice-memos/dictaphone.webp)
A dictaphone.
This is why back in the 1980s and 1990s, professionals would use dictation devices to record notes, rather than writing them down. Of course, we have smartphones now and don’t need separate dictation devices. Voice memos are also simply plain audio data, meaning they don’t have to be parsed or processed. If you’ve ever tried using voice commands to create reminders or set appointments, you’ll know that they sometimes-work-sometimes-don’t. Our current speech-to-text technology just isn’t that great. This may change in the future, but for now, it is still easier and more consistent to use straight up voice memos. Voice memos are also great for when you can’t type on your phone or computer. Some common examples: - When you’re in the gym. - When you’re walking around and it’s inconvenient to type. I also wear my smartwatch to sleep for tracking and alarms, and if I have a random thought whilst falling asleep, I’ll hit the record button and make an audio note. This means that I don’t have to reach for my phone. ## How Do I Use Voice Memos? ![How Do I Use Voice Memos?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/voice-memos/use-voice-memos.webp) Voice memos start as an app on your phone, and your phone likely already has a default app built-in. If you have a paired smartwatch, there is likely a corresponding voice memo app available as well. If you want to get fancy, you can grab [Just Press Record](https://www.openplanetsoftware.com/just-press-record/) which I will wholeheartedly recommend. As you go about your day-to-day and want to capture an audio note, you simply pull up the app, press record, and speak. You can make this faster by having a phone widget, the app on your phone home screen or a complication on your watch. Once you’ve captured your voice memos, you must process them. **It is important that you do this otherwise they will never be actioned and your voice memos will become useless.** How do you process your voice memos? Once a week, just sit down and [go through them like any of your other inboxes](/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/). Listen, then decide if you need to: - Action. - Make an appointment. - Store information. - Trash. ## Transcription Some voice memo apps have an automatic transcription function. If this works for you, great. I have an Australian accent with hints of British and American mixed in, so it doesn’t work all that well for me. If you are using transcription though, you must still remember to process your voice memos on a regular basis. ## What To Do Next Voice memos are a form of [quick capture, which you can read more about here](/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/). For now, grab your phone, and load up your voice memo app. Make it accessible. And record away! --- Photos by [Soundtrap](https://unsplash.com/@soundtrap?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Everyday basics](https://unsplash.com/@zanardi?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Agility and Iterations https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/agility-iterations/ When Apple launched their first iPhone in 2007, it couldn’t copy and paste text. It also had no app store, no wallpapers, no Siri, no notification centre, and no landscape mode. They built it on the premise of its core features — a phone, a music player and a web browser — and that was it. Over the years, they’ve added in these features and more, model after model. Not only is releasing a new phone every year good business, but it also makes for better products over time. The way that Apple iterated their iPhone is known as **agility**, which is a virtue. You can take this same concept and apply it to both your work and your personal life. --- ## Defining Agility Agility is a virtue. It is the ability to move quickly and easily. It also implies the ability to change direction quickly when needed.[^1] Agility applies across different timeframes. Within a day you want to be able to handle everyday events and fluidly change direction. Within a year you want have the ability to shift priorities and projects. ## Why Agility Is Important ![Why Agility Is Important](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/agility-iterations/agility-importance.webp) Agility is important because it creates flexibility and choice. This means that as you embark on a journey or a project, you have optionality and are not locked into a set path, especially if that path leads to failure. Agility lets you sense data and feedback and quickly adapt to it. Agility lets you start small, and raise the certainty level of achievement before you commit massive resources. **Practicing agility means that you are more likely to succeed in what you do.** ## Practicing Agility Daily Agility can be practiced on multiple levels. Within the work you do, it is practiced in the form of agile methodologies like [SCRUM](https://www.atlassian.com/agile/scrum) or [Kanban](https://www.atlassian.com/agile/kanban). Within your life, it is practiced as levelling up quickly from one level of life to the next. [(For more on this, see my manifesto _Evolution._)](/manifesto/) We simply get to the end of the day and ask ourselves: **Was I agile today?** **Did I respond to the changes and data that came my way and adapted and iterated my response accordingly?** ## A System for Agility ### 1\. Using Iterations **Iterations are how we practice agility.** The concept comes from business and project management theory. A long, long time ago,[^2] projects were run in a what is known as a **“waterfall” manner**. Like this: ![Waterfall Projects](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/agility-iterations/waterfall-projects.webp) This meant that every project was mapped out in stages. Features and requirements were collected upfront, indexed and prioritised. Then the project was developed. Then it was reviewed, released and considered “done”. Hopefully you can see the problem with this. Imagine eliciting all those requirements, doing all the work and developing the project… and then having no one use it three years later. All that work and time was wasted, for nothing. Modern projects do not look like this. **Modern projects are agile, and work in an iterative manner,** like this: ![Agile Projects](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/agility-iterations/agile-projects.webp) Rather than going through large stages linearly, agile projects go through small stages in a cyclical manner. You gather a few requirements, develop them, review them, then release them for use. Then you gather feedback. Then you use this feedback to gather a few more requirements, develop them, review them and release them for use. And so on. Each time that you pass through a set of small stages, that is an **iteration.** This means that any points of failure are picked up on faster. It means that the features and requirements developed are actually useful. It means that the users or customers of the project will actually use what has been produced, as they have bought into it from the very early stages. For businesses, iterations are important as they raise the certainty that customers or end users will actually buy or use a product. For our personal lives, iterations are important because they let us try a path or direction, gather feedback, and increase our chances of success before committing more resources. ### 2\. The Inner Game of Agility Agility is a virtue, meaning that it has an inner game component. To truly adopt agility, **we need to know that it’s OK to “fail”.** But that we also want to fail as fast as possible. We want to iterate — to test things in small increments, whether they are work changes, productivity system changes or lifestyle changes. **We need to believe that it is OK to release or test something that may only be 5%, 20%, 50% “done”,** and have others or the real world provide us with feedback on it.[^3] We also want to believe that **we can always make things better or add more features in the next iteration.** **We also need to untangle our education system’s emphasis on perfectionism.** The real world does not work like exams do. In exams, if you answered incorrectly, you were penalised. In the real world if you answer incorrectly, you just note the mistake and correct it.[^4] The next time you are faced with a project or process, be agile and practice iterations. See how you can move through all the stages of the project in a smaller cycle, to see what works first. Ask yourself how you can change one or just a few things at a time quickly, and run the entire process before changing anything else. For a coding project this may be deploying three features and releasing a beta first, instead of committing to 20. For improving your health it may be making a small change to your diet, before taking on a whole exercise and nutritional regimen. ## What To Do Next Be agile, and work in iterations. You can [read more about virtues here](/productivity/). Photos by [Carl Berkeley](https://www.flickr.com/people/38455623@N05), Alwin Kroon, [Andrea Lightfoot](https://unsplash.com/@andreaelphotography?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: i.e., “pivot”. [^2]: Or depending on your company, maybe not so long ago. [^3]: Though we also have to temper this against [accuracy](/productivity/speed-and-accuracy/). [^4]: The best students understand this, and “iterate” their exams by practicing test papers many times beforehand, and then finishing their exams and checking their answers multiple times during the actual exam session. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Right Tool, Right Purpose https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/right-tool-right-purpose/ Two of the most common questions I get asked are “How good is _random app_?” and “is it worth switching if I want to use it for _random purpose_?”. I often do a double-take because the person asking intends to use the app for a completely unrelated purpose. This is unfortunately more common than most people think. Perhaps it has something to do with how apps are marketed nowadays, but there is a lot of confusion around selecting the right tool for the right purpose, when it comes to apps and productivity. We don’t really see this confusion elsewhere — in the kitchen you would never use a chef’s knife to stir things or a wooden spoon to dice vegetables. So why do people try to do the same things with their apps? --- ## Why People Don’t Use the Right Tool for the Right Purpose ![Knowledge Work](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/right-tool-right-purpose/knowledge-work.webp) The main reason people don’t use the right tool for the right purpose is because they don’t understand how knowledge work actually works. In knowledge work, you may have: - [Writing.](/productivity/writing-system/) - Coding. - Graphics, including diagramming, photo editing and vector graphics. - Typesetting. - Spreadsheets. - Notes. - Communications. - And more. Not surprisingly, there are apps that correspond to each of these. We should really be trying to use an app for its intended purpose, and not try to wrestle to “make it work” for something else. For example, [Bear](https://bear.app/) is **great** for notes and information… but it isn’t really designed for writing. [Ulysses](https://ulysses.app/) is **great** for writing… but it isn’t designed for storing information. [Sublime Text](/go/sublime-text/) is **great** for coding and text notes… but not much else. Now some people may think, “but I can install so-and-so plugin and…” but now we are getting complex. We are trying to make an application work for a purpose that it was not created for. And yes, you technically _can_ use these apps for “off label” purposes, but it isn’t usually effective or efficient, and you will struggle with workarounds and add-ons. I see this frequently with task management and project management apps where people have complex custom scripts written to do something that the app was not designed for. Not only is that _not_ using the app for its intended purposes, that is creating a [fragile system that is liable to break under pressure](/products/resilient/). **It is much better to use the right app, for the right purpose.** ## Controversy: All-in-One Apps ![All-in-One Apps](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/right-tool-right-purpose/all-in-one.webp) You’ve likely seen a number of all-in-one apps floating around online. Whether it’s [Evernote](https://evernote.com/), [Clickup](https://clickup.com/), [Notion](/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/) or something else… these apps seem to be the newest, latest and greatest thing that will solve all our productivity problems. I like to think of these apps as [blursed](https://www.reddit.com/r/blursedimages/) — both blessed and cursed. On the one hand, simplicity (and cost savings) are good. On the other hand, most of the functionality within these apps is limited to “the basics”. For example, a proper task management app will let you organise your tasks into projects and have tasks be repeatable. Good luck trying to get that to work in Notion or Evernote without workarounds. If you go from a single-purpose app that was built for a specific purpose to an all-in-one app, you’ll discover these limitations quite quickly. Now if for some reason you don’t mind the limitations and you can make the all-in-one app work for your workflow, that’s great. There’s a certain elegance and simplicity to having everything in one place. But if we are truly aiming for productive flow, there are always going to be structural limitations to all-in-one apps.[^1] ## Right Tool, Right Purpose in Productivity ![Right Tool, Right Purpose in Productivity](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/right-tool-right-purpose/right-tool-productivity.webp) If we take our idea of using the right tool for the right purpose and extend it to the broader realm of productive flow, we see that it still applies. If you have a problem with motivation, you don’t use a time tracking system to solve that. You need a [motivation system](/productivity/motivation/). While many of the blocks of the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) can _assist_ with a range of productivity problems, often there is one specific system that helps with a given problem. For focus, you need a focus and distractions system. For lack of drive, you need good health and [energy management](/productivity/energy-management/), and [rituals](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). For prioritisation, you need a connected system of [purpose](/productivity/purpose/), [goals](/productivity/goal-getting/) and [journals](/productivity/journals/). ## What To Do Next Use the right tool (or app) for the right purpose. Want to know what some of these tools are? Check out my [resources page](/resources/), [essential remote work tools guide](/business/remote-work-apps/) and the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/). Photos by [Tiard Schulz](https://unsplash.com/@tiard?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Tim Gouw](https://unsplash.com/@punttim?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Kelly Sikkema](https://unsplash.com/@kellysikkema?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Fotis Fotopoulos](https://unsplash.com/@ffstop?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Like developer focus on certain features over others. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Virtues of Boldness and Courage https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/boldness-courage/ > Do. Or do not. There is no try. > > — Yoda As much as I love _Star Wars,_ this has to be some of the worst life advice given, ever. And that is because sometimes in our lives and our work, we know what we have to do… but we have an irrational fear of doing it. At those times we need to **channel our virtues of boldness and courage and just try**. And there is nothing wrong with trying. If we simply live in the dichotomy of doing or not doing, that paralyses us and stops us from overcoming our fears and trying. When you hear of boldness and courage you may think of action movies, epic legends and facing down mythical beasts. But boldness and courage are more about everyday heroism, about simply trying, even if we don’t have full conviction in ourselves yet. It’s about making the simple business decision to [delegate things and trust others](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/) to follow through on them. It’s about having a go and just asking for what you want. --- ## What Is Boldness and What Is Courage? Boldness is the willingness to take risks. It is acting with courage. Courage is feeling the fear and doing it anyway.[^1] Both are considered [virtues](/productivity/). Different cultures have different descriptions of boldness and courage. In Australia, we like to say “have a go”, which means to try. In general English usage, the word “trying” often has negative connotations, but it does capture the idea. Two particular metaphors I have come across and like are: 1. Taking the shot. 2. Flipping stones or turning stones. Taking the shot comes from sports, and is most commonly heard in basketball — you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, so take the shot. Flipping stones or turning stones is supposedly Greek in origin, and comes from the saying “leave no stone unturned”. Both mean the same thing: **In a given situation, just try. The outcome doesn’t matter, and trying is more important.** ## Why Are Boldness and Courage Important? ![Why Are Boldness and Courage Important?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/boldness-courage/importance-boldness-courage.webp) Boldness and courage are important because you miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take. When you try, you will receive _some_ sort of feedback. If you don’t try, there is no feedback and nothing changes. Some people object to this on the basis of risk or impropriety. But it is often easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. And for most of the everyday shots that we can apply a bit of courage to and take, the risks are inconsequential. Best case you make the shot — and get what you wanted. Worst case you miss — which is often the same as not having taken it anyway. ## What Do Boldness and Courage Look Like Daily? You can take any [area of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/) and apply boldness and courage to it. In business, courage could be making that sales call, asking for that raise, or delegating something and trusting the other person to see it through. In your personal life it could be pushing that last set in the gym, asking that person out or standing up for yourself and being assertive. At the end of each day you simply need to ask yourself: **Did I act with courage or boldness today?** **Did I take the shot?** ## A System for Boldness and Courage Boldness and courage are virtues and in the [realm of our inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/). This is because the physical actions are usually not the problem when facing down our fears — it’s our mental game that holds us back. It is absolutely possible to build layer upon layer of rationalisation for overcoming fears and exercising boldness and courage. But instead of a complex system, I have found the two aforementioned metaphors to be better. ### 1\. Taking the shot ![Taking the shot](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/boldness-courage/taking-the-shot.webp) Taking the shot comes from sports. In basketball, football or any similar sport, when it’s the right time, you try to score. It doesn’t _really_ matter if you miss or score — you tried. And if you hadn’t tried, you would not have scored anyway. ### 2\. Flipping stones ![Flipping stones](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/boldness-courage/flipping-stones.webp) Imagine yourself walking around on a nature trail, and you come across a creek. Along the creek-bed are stones. And as you walk, you flip each of them over. Small, big, smooth, rough, it doesn’t matter. If there’s a stone, you flip it. _It’s a fun, easy, childlike form of play that you can do._ You simply flip each stone over, see if what’s underneath is good for you, and if you want, take it home.[^2] If not, you just leave it and keep walking. I like this metaphor for boldness and courage because it is extremely neutral. This short-circuits any fear or excuses in the brain and helps us handle our emotions. ## Process Orientation You may see a parallel between boldness and courage and process orientation and yes, they are the same thing. If we focus solely on the outcome, we become “outcome oriented”, which usually leads to frustration. Boldness and courage define success as the act of trying, of performing the process. The outcome is a bonus. ## Calibrated Courage In the beginning we have to take lots of shots, often wildly. The reason for this is so we can get used to beating back our fears and acting with courage. But over time, our shots become more calibrated and our probability of scoring goes up. Meaning that even though we remain focused on the process, we will achieve our outcomes more often. Sports is the best example of this. A novice player can shoot a lot, but an experienced player has developed skill (through shooting a lot) and will score more for the same number of shots taken. ## Degrees of Boldness and Risk A common objection to the virtues of courage and boldness is the risk that they entail. Often these objections come from people who are happy to take wild risks and shots, but won’t do so in a low-risk common-sense environment. It’s not so much whether you will take risks or not, it’s about [how you handle risks in general](/business/risk-management/). Taking the shot is only risky if you decide to make it so. ## What To Do Next Take the shot. Flip that stone. Feel the fear, and do it anyway. Photos by [D A V I D S O N L U N A](https://unsplash.com/@davidsonluna?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [The Lucky Neko](https://unsplash.com/@theluckyneko?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Tim Mossholder](https://unsplash.com/@timmossholder?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: This is in contrast to bravery, which is doing something with no fear. [^2]: Except in Australia. Because all our [wildlife](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Drop_bear) wants to kill you. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Write 5,000 Words a Day https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/writing-system/ Writing and creative work is hard. Sometimes you sit there, pumped up and ready to get to it… and nothing happens. Pen does not meet paper. Words do not appear. And after what seems like a small eternity, when you finally start to write… it’s gibberish. Garbage. Unusable. But it doesn’t have to be that way. What if there was a way — a system — where you could consistently produce quality output, day, after day, after day? Well, there is. And I’m going to give it to you right now. This is the exact system that I’ve used over the past year to publish two long-form articles every week, without fail. **On my best days I write 5,000 words. On my worst days, at least 1,000 words.** And the great thing about this is that it’s a system. This means that anyone can do it, and that you can always fall back on the principles of the system to help get your writing done. No matter if you write for yourself, on Medium or anywhere else, you can use the same system to consistently produce quality output. Most articles about writing discuss how to improve expression or how to get more views for your articles. Some even discuss inspiration and creativity. But very few cover an actual process for how writers can consistently produce good work over time. So here it is — **how to write 5,000 words a day.** --- ## The Inner Game of Writing ![The Inner Game of Writing](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/writing-system/inner-game-writing.webp) Your inner game or mindset is the most important thing when it comes to consistently writing. Here are some beliefs that I believe are useful for consistently producing good work in quantity. ### Belief 1: Writing is a system and anyone can do it Writing is a system. Yes, we all have different levels of natural talent and acquired skill. But at the end of the day, with a basic level of writing talent or skill, **anyone** can operate a system that still results in consistently good output. Some people may object to the idea that a creative endeavour like writing can be systemised and turned into a routine. This is silly. By having a system or framework within which we can consistently produce creative expression, we are far more likely to actually produce work than without it. This is the approach that Steven Pressfield of [_The War of Art_](/go/book-war-of-art/) takes — you have a system for showing up and practicing the war of art. “Going to war” with your creativity means that you use routine and discipline, show up on time, put pen to paper and trust in your system for writing to get it done. As is commonly said, routine sets you free. ### Belief 2: Inspiration is perishable I learnt this from Jason Fried and DHH of [Basecamp](https://basecamp.com/). They say that **inspiration is perishable, so use it when you can**. I believe this is true — if you have a great idea in mind, you should use the [momentum](/productivity/momentum/) of that idea and ride the chaos and get your writing done during that time. Whenever you feel creativity arise, just go for it. And when you lack inspiration, you can fall back on belief #1, which is that writing is a system. ### Belief 3: Quantity vs quality Writing is a skill just like anything else. The more you practice it, the better you get at it. In the beginning, it is likely that quantity will be more important than quality for you. You just need to write many, many things and get in the practice. [As James Clear puts it](https://jamesclear.com/repetitions), when he started writing he would aim for producing two articles a week, so about eight a month. Of these eight, he expected two to be great, two to be bad, and four to be average. Not everything you write has to be _Pulitzer_ or _Booker_\-worthy. As your writing improves though, quality becomes more important than quantity. This is when you understand the form of your writing, and your routine, systems and habits around writing are established and strong, and you can take the time to step back and hone your craft and words. The truth that many writers don’t want to hear is that it is _hard_ to produce quality material at the pace of more than two long-form articles per week. If you want an example of this, check out writers who publish 5-10 articles a day on Medium. Occasionally they’ll produce an amazing piece, but most of it is frankly, poorly written and the ideas have not been well thought-through. Some of these writers are in their “quantity” phase and that is respectable and admirable. But at some point, we all have to slow it down to produce higher quality work. ### Belief 4: The best writing is not the most read The uncomfortable truth of all arts (and business) is that the best works (and products) are not the most appreciated or used. Just because you’ve created something amazing… it doesn’t mean that everyone else will recognise its value right away. This is doubly true in today’s day and age given the amount of information and stimuli that people are bombarded with daily. What this means is that while you may think your writing has amazing value (and it may very well have), **you still need to sell it**. As an artist this flat-out SUCKS because you believe that the work you produce should be able to stand on its own. But that just isn’t the way that the world works. Don’t take it from me — both Peter Thiel in [_Zero to One_](/go/book-zero-to-one/) and Ryan Holiday in _[Perennial](/go/book-perennial-seller/)_ [_Seller_](#) clearly and unequivocally state: Just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come. You not only need to produce great work… you also need to market it for it to be read. ### Belief 5: You can’t please everyone No matter how amazing, neutral or wholesome your work is, you will have haters. Some people out there are just broken in some way or another and want to make their opinions known, usually in a nasty way. Everyone who produces creative work, from the journeyman writer to best-selling authors, will come across haters during their writing career. The best way to handle them is to just accept that you can’t please everyone and to move on. Some people will love what you have to offer and some won’t, and that’s OK. There are no awards for arguing with haters, especially on the Internet. ### Belief 6: Writing is a small part of an overall process Most people think that writing is this amazing moment of inspiration where you sit down in front of a typewriter and thoughts suddenly flow from your mind to your hands to the keys and hundreds of pages of manuscript appear. The truth is the actual sit-down-and-write part is _maybe_ 20% of the process. The rest of the “writing system” consists of planning, editing, polishing, proofreading and more.[^1] ## Tools for Writing Some people are of the impression that a specific type of notebook, pen or writing app will make them an amazing writer. This could not be further from the truth. Nice notebooks, ergonomic pens and well-designed writing applications will make your writing experience _more pleasant,_ but that’s about it. My general advice is to pick whatever tools you like and are comfortable with and use them, as that will motivate you to write more. Let’s look into some specifics. ### Tools for planning We’ll talk about the different stages of the writing process in the next section, but these are the tools I like for planning. #### 1\. Mind maps Mind maps look like this: ![Mind map for this article](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/writing-system/writing-mind-maps.webp)
Mind map for this article
They are my preferred tool for research and planning articles as I can quickly rearrange ideas, writing flow and add/remove concepts as I need to. I like [Mindjet MindManager](https://www.mindmanager.com/en/), others like [Mindnode](https://mindnode.com/). There are many, many other alternatives available as well. #### 2\. Outlines Some people prefer outlines to mind maps and that’s perfectly fine. **They are literally a linear text document with some bullet points about the different concepts explored in a piece of writing.** This can be done in any word-processing application like Microsoft Word or Google Docs. #### 3\. Collections A collection is a compilation of papers, notes, post-its or ideas that you put together during your planning phase. These add up to the overall theme of the piece you are writing. For shorter-form pieces like articles or guides you probably don’t need a collection, but for something longer like a book or article series you will. Some applications like [Scrivener](https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview) have a collection feature built-in, but a folder on your computer or a paper folder works just as well. ### Writing apps and tools There are many different apps and tools available for writers nowadays — and that’s a good thing. I personally like and use [Ulysses](https://ulysses.app/) (which I’m writing in right now) as it has a typewriter mode, markdown support and publication features for Wordpress. I’ve also heard good things about [Scrivener](https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview) but haven’t used it for a number of years. Pen and paper or a typewriter also work if you want to go old-school. And of course, there’s nothing wrong with writing in Microsoft Word or Google Docs. ### Editing tools Editing tools are a more recent invention, and they essentially use algorithms to help you improve your grammatical and linguistic expression. [Grammarly](https://www.grammarly.com/) is the most heavily promoted editing tool online. I personally don’t use it as I think my grammar is pretty good, but I’ve seen it to be incredibly useful for non-native English speakers. [Hemingway](http://www.hemingwayapp.com/) is a tool that helps you clean up expressions, complicated sentences and adverb usage, supposedly as Hemingway would have done. I do run all my writing through the app — and then proceed to ignore most of the suggestions 🙂. [Ulysses](https://ulysses.app/) now has a built-in style editor powered by [LanguageTool Plus](https://languagetoolplus.com/). I haven’t used it extensively but it seems complementary to Hemingway and I’ll be running my writing through it as well. ### Standard operating procedures for writing The last set of “tools” I consider useful for writing are [standard operating procedures (SOPs)](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/). SOPs are written documents that outline how to complete a certain process, in this case the stages of the writing process. In practical terms this means that I have SOPs for research, writing, editing and all the other stages of my writing system. ![Writing SOPs](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/writing-system/writing-sops.webp)
Writing SOPs
These SOPs have checklists so that I don’t miss anything at each stage, and so that I know what to do next to push each piece of writing forward. They also make writing easier on the days when I have little inspiration — as mentioned before, routine sets you free. ## The Writing Process Here is the full writing process and system that I use to produce consistent output every single day. Remember: - Writing, editing and planning are not the same. - Routine is important, but just sitting down and putting pen to paper does not produce greatness. Unless you’re [Seth Godin](https://seths.blog/). - Writing is only about 20% of the process. This system is geared towards producing blog and online content but can be easily modified for writing other genres and forms — simply remove the “graphics” and “publication” stages and replace them with “typesetting” or what you require. ### Writing process overview [![The Writing Process](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/writing-system/writing-process.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/writing-system/writing-process.webp)
The Writing Process
#Stage
1Inspiration and ideas (anytime, anywhere).
2Research and development (40%).
3Writing (20%).
4Editing (30%). Broken up into first edit, tool editing, checklist editing, edits to infinity.
5Graphics (5%).
6Proofreading (5%).
7Publication/Typesetting.
8Marketing.
### 1\. Inspiration and ideas **Your inspiration and ideas come from everywhere.** Any conversation you have had. Anything you have read. Anything you have watched. Anything you have experienced. As a writer, everything you eat, live, breathe and do can be sourced to create ideas for something to write. It doesn’t matter where you get your ideas and inspiration from, but you must have a process for capturing and then developing them. I recommend a [quick capture/inbox system](/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/) for quickly jotting down ideas when they arise. Get them down first, and then work through them later. I get most of my article ideas when at the gym, reading books, having lunches/dinners/coffees with others and working with clients. ### 2\. Research and development Once you have your list of ideas, you need to select one and start developing it. Selection is dependent on what you are writing for (blog, Medium, magazine, book, otherwise) and I’ll cover my process for that in the How I Write section. But for now, you can take a selected idea and start developing it. This can be as simple as creating a folder on your computer to collect material related to the idea, and starting your choice of a mind map or outline. I recommend starting with a **brain dump**. This is where you sit down and get down all your thoughts related to the idea. It doesn’t need to be organised, edited or refined at this point, just get it all down. Once you have done this, one of two things will be clear. Either: 1. Everything’s already there and you just need to organise it a bit. Or, 2. You need to do more research. If you need to **do more research**, then do it. Look up your citations, research papers, perform fact checks and craft stories. _Note: Some pieces of writing require a lot of research, some will require none._ Once this research is done, go back to the brain dump step. **And continue alternating between brain dumping and researching until you’re happy with the initial outline/plan.** When you feel (yes, feel) that there is nothing more to research or get down on paper, then organise your outline or mind map so that’s it coherent and flows linearly. Why? **Because it is always easier to write something if you know what the end is before you start.** Remember, research and development is 40% of our writing process and you should be spending **the most** time on it. If you get it right, then the rest is easy! You will know that you are “done” with research and development when you can read through your plan, and see or hear the entire article unfold in your mind… before you’ve even written a word. ### 3\. Writing Finally — the actual writing process! I strongly suggest leaving at least a day between when you complete your research and when you sit down to write. This is to let your brain consolidate your ideas and thoughts while you sleep, which makes for better writing. You will want to use a [deep work setup](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/) for writing. This means: - Your favourite beverage on hand (tea, coffee, water). - Some good music, with noise-cancelling headphones if you need them. I personally prefer instrumental/soundtrack music for writing. - Adequate time set aside. This really depends on the length of your piece and its difficulty level. A good estimate is one hour per every 2,000 words you want to write. - No interruptions. Close the door if you have to. - Put your phone in another room or a desk drawer, out of sight. - If you have a smartwatch, silence the notifications. - If you have a writing app with a focus or typewriter mode, turn it on. Once you’ve set up your deep work conditions, it’s time to sit down and write. I personally use this setup: ![Aaron Lynn's Writing Setup](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/writing-system/writing-aaronlynn-setup.webp) I have my plan/mind map open on one screen, and type on my centre screen. When I’m not at my desk I’ll use my laptop and a tablet as a second screen. It is possible to alt-tab between an outline and your writing app, but it’s difficult, and second monitors are surprisingly inexpensive nowadays. If your piece is 5,000 words (or even 10,000 words) or less, I would try to complete it one sitting. And by that I mean one continuous “chunk” of your day, taking the necessary breaks for water, to use the bathroom, [timeslice breaks](/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/) and so on. It doesn’t matter if it takes you 3-4 hours to complete — wherever possible, it’s better to get it all down in one go to preserve continuity in tone and tempo. A couple of extra tips: - Try not to backtrack or edit as you write. Just get it all down first. You will have PLENTY of time for editing later. - If you are really unsure about something, add an annotation/note within the text and come back to it during editing. For example, I never link in full URLs while writing. - Learn to [write in Markdown](https://www.markdownguide.org/) if you are writing for the web. This lets you add bold, italics, headings and more as you write, making your editing and publishing job much easier later on. ### 4\. Editing Ah editing. This is where the “real work” of writing happens. Like writing and research, leave a day between when you finished writing and editing to let your brain consolidate what you have created. If you have a research assistant, proofreader or someone helping you with your writing… this is the stage where they can help you, at any time. Here are the specific sub-stages that I use for editing. #### 4.1 First edit The first edit is simply you sitting down, and reading through the piece as a reader would. Ask yourself: - What do you like? - What don’t you like? And make changes as you go along. Be liberal in adding things, cutting things and rearranging things. Fix any stylistic, grammatical or expression issues as well. If you get to the end and your gut feeling is that you don’t like what you’ve written — throw it out and move onto the next piece. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. #### 4.2 Tool edits The second sub-stage of editing is to use the various stylistic tools available to you. ![Hemingway App](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/writing-system/writing-hemingway.webp) I mentioned 3 earlier: 1. [Ulysses’ in-built style suggestions](https://ulysses.app/). 2. [Grammarly](https://www.grammarly.com/). 3. [Hemingway](http://www.hemingwayapp.com/). This is _completely optional_ and you simply run your text through the tool and edit as you see fit. Remember that these tools are built on imperfect algorithms, meaning that you don’t need to take on all their suggestions. If in doubt, use your own judgement, not that of the tool. #### 4.3 Checklist edit A checklist edit is exactly what it sounds like: **Using a checklist of sorts to edit your written piece.** This falls under the standard operating procedures that I recommended you create for your own writing process. Depending on what you are writing for, this could be: - Proper citation formats. - Links. - SEO considerations. It could also be stylistic items, such as: - Is your lede clear? - Is it clear who the article is for? - Is it simple to understand? - Could people skim this on their phone on the subway? - Does the writing deliver on its promise? #### 4.4 Edits to infinity I like to do a second read-through of completed pieces after all the above steps. This is very much like the first edit except your piece will be much more polished now. At this point you can continue reading and editing pretty much forever until you are happy with the piece, and for longer pieces of writing, many rounds of editing may be necessary. This is also a great time to have others help read over the piece for you. At some point though you need to decide that it’s “good enough” and move onto the next stage in the writing process. ### 5\. Graphics If your writing needs graphics, diagrams or illustrations, this is the time to create them and insert them. A tip I learnt from Mark Manson is to pick a general theme for your piece, gather lots of images related to that theme and then eliminate the ones you don’t want. ### 6\. Proofreading Proofreading is not the same as editing. Whereas editing is about style and expression, proofreading is about grammar, typos and other errors. **The best way to proofread is to have someone else do it for you.** If you can’t do that, then you _can_ do it yourself by reading your piece aloud, word-by-word. By this point in the process, there should be no major changes. By the end of proofreading, your writing is considered “done” and shareable with others — the rest is really just formatting and distribution. ### 7\. Publication/Typesetting/Marketing Technically, publication and marketing aren’t part of the writing process. Whatever your plan is to package and distribute your writing, this is the stage for it. Publishing could be uploading it to Medium, typesetting it as a book or posting it on your blog. Marketing is simply what you will do to distribute and have others read what you have written. ## How I Write The system above can be taken, modified and used to produce any kind of writing that you want. Everything that follows from here are idiosyncrasies that I’ve adopted to fit how I like to work and write. You don’t need to adopt any of these to produce consistent, quality output on a daily basis, and I simply provide them as a reference point or inspiration for how you can implement your own writing system. ### Write in batches I mostly write essays, guides and articles for my website and these vary in length from 700-5,000+ words. Because of this I like to work in batches of articles. **About once a month, I’ll sit down and look over the content ideas that I’ve captured and pick ten articles to start researching.** I have personally never understood the common concern of “running out of things to write about” because well… if you really understand and are passionate about a subject area, then you should be able to write about it pretty much forever. This means that at any given time, I have at least 10 articles that are in the various stages of planning, writing, editing, proofreading or publication. This is a form of [batching tasks for efficiency](/productivity/batching/). If inspiration strikes however, I will often add an extra idea to my pipeline and just start working on it. This is the idea that inspiration is perishable and that you should use momentum to your advantage. That’s how this guide came about actually — I was speaking with [my friend Tom](https://smartbrandmarketing.com/) and mentioned that I had just finished a 5,000-word article that morning, and he said “I’d read a guide on how to do that”. And so, here it is! ### Track using a Kanban board Kanban boards are a project and workflow management technique originally developed by Toyota for car manufacturing. In their modern form for knowledge work they look like this: ![Writing Kanban Board](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/writing-system/writing-kanban-board.webp) I use a Kanban board to track all of my writing. As you can see, there are different articles at different stages at any given time. The advantage of this is that I always know what is next for a given article: That editing comes after writing, that proofreading comes after editing and so on. Each of these articles has a corresponding folder on my computer where I store the mind map, images and collected information. Because I write primarily for my website, each article also has a category, an article type and even a unique identifier. The reason for this is that it’s much easier to say “tomorrow I’m going to write ART-101” than “tomorrow I’m going to write my article about writing”. The screenshot above is from [Asana](/go/asana/) which is what I use to manage all my work projects. Each article task in Asana doesn’t have much in it. There _may_ be an outline of the general article idea, and there are subtasks per each stage of the writing process. There is also a due date which corresponds to the publication date. Asana has a neat calendar view that lets me plan publication dates like this: ![Asana Calendar View](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/writing-system/writing-asana-calendar.webp) I have become quite efficient and effective with my writing which means that I am usually ahead on articles by 2-3 months. In terms of management I literally just move articles through each stage of the writing process until they’re done. ### Writing automation I am a big fan of workflow automation and I use this to help me write more efficiently too. In this case, I use [Zapier](/go/zapier/) alongside Asana so that when a writing task is added to my writing Kanban board: - It automatically receives a unique identifying number. - It has a folder created on my computer. - A templated mind map outline is copied into that folder, ready for me to start putting ideas into. _Note: This is completely optional and NOT necessary to consistently produce quality writing._ ### Content as #1 There’s the old internet marketing maxim which is that “content is king”. What marketers refer to is that a brand or company’s content is the most important thing in its long-term success and promotion online. I have a different take on this idea. As a writer, writing is **the most important thing** that I do. **Without fail, every single day I will work on something related to my writing.** It will not always be writing. Sometimes it is research. Sometimes it is editing. Sometimes it is publication and formatting. **But there will always be something every day,** and I make it a point to make it my [most important task of the day](/productivity/most-important-task/). This means it is the first thing I do every day, usually when I sit down to start work at 6am. With some [deep focus](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/) and this writing system, I can write 5,000 words a day because my systems, structure and routines are set up for it. (For reference, this article is at ~4,000 words and I’ve been at it for about 1.5 hours.) ## What To Do Next Writing doesn’t have to be difficult. With a proper system, I believe that anyone can train themselves to consistently produce quality writing and output, every single day. I’ve given you that system, in full, above. **Now it’s your turn to take it, modify it and use it for your own work.** Photos by [Patrick Fore](https://unsplash.com/@patrickian4?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Kelli Tungay](https://unsplash.com/@kellitungay?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Hat tip [Dr Clare Lynch of Dorris and Bertie](https://twitter.com/dorisandbertie). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Awareness and Self-Awareness https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/awareness-self-awareness/ A couple of days ago I stepped into the elevator at my apartment building, and held the door open for a couple of other people to get on. Two other people walked in. The first was a middle-aged salaryman, dressed in a business suit and returning from work with a briefcase in one hand and takeout in another. The second was a young woman, casually wearing a white t-shirt and shorts, busily swiping her phone. As I usually do, I politely asked what floors they were going to and pressed the elevator buttons and up we went. The elevator stopped at level 6, and the salaryman got off. My floor was next, so I patiently waited for the slowish elevator to continue. When we arrived at my floor, the young woman was still busy swiping her phone and promptly walked out to the door much to my surprise. I briefly said “I think you have the wrong floor” at which point she stopped, turned around, looked a little embarrassed, and hurried back into the elevator as I stepped off. Now I’m sure this has happened to all of us at some point. We’re so engrossed in swiping through eyebrow styles on Instagram that we have no idea what’s going on around us or where we really are. But why does it happen? It’s almost as-if as the years have passed by and technology has progressed, we’ve lost our in-built sense of awareness. But I believe there’s more to it than just that. Not only have we started to become less aware of the world around us, but many of us have also become unaware of ourselves and what we truly want for our own lives. Our sense of self has been lost and replaced by the contents of our phones instead. --- ## Defining Awareness and Self-Awareness ![Awareness and Self-Awareness](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/awareness-self-awareness/awareness-intro.webp) Awareness and self-awareness are two related yet also separate concepts. Let’s look at both. ### Awareness Awareness is knowledge combined with perception of a situation. It can also be thought of as a state of being conscious or cognisant of events or things. When we consider “awareness” in general usage, we usually refer to our surroundings and the other people around us. There is also “general awareness” of the world-at-large. People have different degrees of awareness. Some people are hyper-alert, and very aware of everything going on around them. Others remain blissfully unaware. It’s worth asking what an acceptable baseline for awareness is, and the answer is usually “it depends”. Is it necessary to be aware of the traffic laws in your country? Probably yes. Is it necessary to be aware of what your co-worker on the other side of the office is doing right now? Probably not. As the world has become more connected a new baseline of awareness has emerged. Everyone nowadays is expected to know what a phone is, what the Internet is, how to find things online, and how to do basic technology tasks like installing apps, checking email and messaging others. Everyone will also have specific knowledge that contributes to their awareness. Accountants all understand books, GAAP and financial statements. Civil engineers understand shear forces, structural integrity and fluid dynamics. Online marketers understand advertising models, growth hacking and customer acquisition. **But awareness is more than just about knowing things, it is also about being able to perceive them in a useful way.** This can be thought of as the application of knowledge, or **the ability to sense, know or feel out a situation and know if something is correct or not.** It’s great to have accounting knowledge… but you need to be able to apply it to real-world companies. It’s great to have online marketing knowledge… but you need to be able to apply it to campaigns and strategy. In the case of the young woman in the elevator, she knew how the elevator worked… she just lacked the perception in the moment to “use” it correctly. ### Self-Awareness If awareness is the knowledge and perception of the things around us, then self-perception is our knowledge and perception of ourselves. It is being conscious about what is going on in our own minds and lives. Having a general interest in personal development contributes to your knowledge base for self-awareness. Applying that knowledge to assess your own situation, life and thoughts is the perception component of self-awareness. This is being able to not only perceive the situations of others, but your own as well. For example: - What emotions are you currently experiencing? - Are you on-track with your goals? - Are you living your purpose? Or have you lost your way? - Is there any self-delusion going on? - Are you in the right… or the wrong, and just can’t see it? - Do you have a realistic assessment of your strengths and weaknesses? - Do you actually enjoy what you do? One way to shortcut this self-assessment is to use a mental model, like Dilts’ Neurological Levels for assessing your inner game. [![Dilts' Neurological Levels](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inner-game-mindset/dilts-neurological-levels.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inner-game-mindset/dilts-neurological-levels.webp) As you look down this model, it should be crystal clear what each component means to you — what your [mission](/productivity/purpose/), [identity](/productivity/personal-ops/), [values](/productivity/core-values/), beliefs and behaviours are. Being self-aware means that you know when an action violates one of your values. That you know the limits of your own capabilities. That you live with a sense of hedonism or authenticity, and act in a rational manner in line with your interests. Not being self-aware means you are unaware of your own values and what you stand for. That you overestimate or underestimate what you are capable of. That you act irrationally, out of emotion, and sometimes _against_ your own self-interest. ## Why Awareness and Self-Awareness Are Important ![Why Awareness and Self-Awareness Are Important](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/awareness-self-awareness/awareness-importance.webp) Both awareness and self-awareness are important. Awareness lets you function in the world. The more aware you are, the better you function. This is because you have more knowledge and a better perception of events, meaning that you are more likely to take the correct actions in a given situation. In practical terms, this translates as doing things that are in your best interests, often towards a goal or your purpose in life. When you are not aware, you cannot take these actions except by chance or accident. Taken to an extreme, without any awareness, it would be difficult to survive in the modern world without someone taking care of you 24/7. Imagine not being aware that a hot stove burns or that cars at a green light do not stop. Awareness, once developed, helps you live a better life. This is because being aware enables hedonism and flow, which means that you will have a higher quality life and simply enjoy it more. Awareness does this by making you cognisant of a situation or problem, and then letting you apply your knowledge or experience to the problem.[^1] When you lack awareness in a given area it is likely that you will find that area closed off to you. Two very obvious examples are: 1. If you cannot read/speak English, 60% of the Internet is unavailable to you. But awareness is more than just knowledge. It is also perception. Perception is important because it is our ability to feel, sense and calibrate our responses to the world around us, based on our knowledge. People who lack the perception to read social cues have a hard time communicating with others, and find that any relationships they build quickly fall apart. You may be thinking “Oh, but I read English, I don’t care about programming and I get along with others just fine”. Well, let’s take a more complex situation that affects us all, like diet and nutrition. Most people lack an awareness of how diet and nutrition actually works and interacts with their body and metabolism. I have friends who endlessly debate good carbs, bad carbs, if they should eat fats, how many meals they should eat, why it’s bad to skip breakfast, why Diet Coke is evil but normal Coke is good and so on. All these issues stem from a lack of knowledge of the basics of nutrition such as calories-in-calories-out, or how macronutrients work. This lack of knowledge is also often combined with low perception, which in this case would be determining their food’s macronutrient composition and weighing and measuring themselves on a consistent basis![^2] Awareness makes us better human beings and this makes us better at everything we do. Self-awareness on the other hand, is there to helps us develop ourselves… and to stop other people from messing with us. When you are aware of your own identity, values and beliefs… you know when someone has crossed a boundary or done something against your interests. Self-awareness stops others from leading you astray. ## Problems from a lack of awareness and self-awareness ![Problems From a Lack of Awareness and Self-Awareness](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/awareness-self-awareness/awareness-problems.webp) What happens when we lack awareness or self-awareness? Awareness itself is pretty simple. As mentioned, it is hard to function in society without basic awareness. Self-awareness is more complex. A lack of self-awareness makes it difficult for people to be on their purpose, as they likely don’t know what that purpose is. This is often displayed as a lack of direction in life, or constantly asking others to provide direction for them.[^3] These same people also live primarily [by consumption, rather than production](/productivity/production-vs-consumption/). This is because it is difficult to produce great work if you do not understand yourself well. A lack of self-awareness can also lead to difficulties with productivity and flow, and with enjoying life. If you don’t know what enjoyment means to you, then it is hard to experience it. When we put together a lack of awareness AND self-awareness… things get a little weird 🤓. This combination is actually responsible for a large portion of the strangeness that we see in modern society. If you’ve ever come across a conspiracy theorist, someone with irrational hyper-politicised opinions or other cases of fractal wrongness, this is the result of a lack of awareness and self-awareness. These people believe that their opinions are true and will preach them to anyone who will listen… but are oblivious that they make zero sense to everyone else around them. And it isn’t just the extremes — we often see people doing things that are weird, creepy and awkward because they are unaware that they are doing them. This could be anything from raging out of control at others, being unnecessarily cruel or demeaning to others or even just exercising poor leadership and decision-making skills. I tend to believe that these people are not intentional arseholes[^4] because most of the time it is their lack of awareness of the situation and themselves that have led them to the behaviours that we see. ## Causes of poor awareness and self-awareness ![Causes of poor awareness and self-awareness](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/awareness-self-awareness/awareness-causes.webp) Why do some people end up with poor awareness and self-awareness? The two are related. People who are not self-aware tend to have bad awareness. And people who have bad awareness tend to have little self-awareness. I believe that there are three factors that play into this. ### 1\. Technology The first factor is technology. This is best expressed as **too much time looking at screens**. When we look at something on a computer or phone screen, we’re really perceiving reality on a 2D or virtual surface. At a subconscious level, we know it’s “real but not real”. The more time we spend looking at recordings of real things on a “not real” surface, the more our brains become conditioned to see things this way. **And this carries out into the real world, where we start to see people and the physical world around us as “real but not real.”** This leads to poor awareness of the people around us, and we start to treat them the same way that we treat the people on our phone and computer screens — if we don’t like them, we think we can just “close the app” or “swipe them away”. [Social media in particular](/life/social-media/) has accelerated this dehumanisation effect. People are no longer real flesh-and-blood human beings. People have become representations that we like, love, hate and comment on. ### 2\. Social systems and structures The second factor comprises the social systems and structures we live in. Every country and culture has its differences, but globalisation has made us all live under similar economic and social structures, connected by the Internet. I regularly converse with readers everywhere from Chicago to Lagos to Tokyo and the issues around awareness and self-awareness have become less culturally specific and more global in nature. The first part of these social systems and structures is the **market economy**. If we leave ideology out of it, essentially the market forces us to view people and the world around us in terms of dollar signs. Instead of seeing people as people, we see them as a potential dollar value and what they can do for us. This is the same problem as seeing people on screens — we subconsciously dehumanise our fellow human beings and have a lower awareness of them. The second part of these social systems and structures is our **consumption culture**. **We live in a world where you win by buying lots and lots of the coolest and most expensive stuff.** This is [people defining their lives through consumption, not production](/productivity/production-vs-consumption/). This results in a very egotistic and status-centric view of the world, and anything else that others do is treated as a challenge to this status, which results in the poor treatment of others. I live in Thailand at the moment and every month there is a new video of someone driving a Mercedes or BMW[^5] who road rages against someone else in traffic, demanding that the other person apologise because, “Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you know how much this car costs? Don’t you know you’ll never be able to afford it?”. This is what happens when we live in a culture defined by consumption. The third part of these social systems and structures is **division based on caste**. This could be based in religion as it has historically been in India, or it could be based on politics, socioeconomics or race as it is in most of the world now. Whether it is the ongoing problems in the United States or elsewhere, the irrational divisions of caste have resulted in the dehumanisation of others. The fourth part of our social systems and structures is a **lack of education**. This is straightforward. If awareness is knowledge combined with perception, then a lack of education is a lack of knowledge and a lack of training in the ability to perceive things. We can see this plainly when people don’t understand themselves or others, or where people form opinions without using critical thought. **The hard truth is that not all opinions are critically sound, even if they are loudly voiced.** The last part of our social systems and structures that creates poor awareness and poor self-awareness is our **population size**. When there are more people, we see people as crowds, masses and statistics, not real people. This unintentionally makes us dehumanise them. In the chilling words attributed to Joseph Stalin: > If only one man dies of hunger, that is a tragedy. If millions die, that’s only statistics. ### 3\. Individual factors The third factor that contributes to a lack of awareness or self-awareness are the individual factors unique to each person. **Environment and nurture** is one part of this — how your parents, authority figures and others treated you as you were growing up. For example, if you grew up taller or more attractive than the average person in your country, you would have lived your entire life with people giving way to you, doing things for you or kowtowing to you simply because of how you looked. This would lead to a lack of awareness of others around you because you have been conditioned to simply having things done for you.[^6] Or if you say grew up in an affluent family where everything was handed to you on a silver spoon, you would expect the world to just hand you everything as you needed it. And for the most part, the world does. But when you come across someone who won’t, it can be quite jarring for both of you. The other part of individual factors is the **degree of overload** in your life. We only have so much [energy, time, attention and other resources](/productivity/productivity-stack/) to expend. When we spend these resources on the wrong things, we become “overloaded” and are unable to know or perceive the things we should or have to. And this, of course, leads to poor awareness. ## What We Can Do to Improve Our Awareness and Self-Awareness ![What We Can Do to Improve Our Awareness and Self-Awareness](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/awareness-self-awareness/awareness-improvement.webp) It may seem like there are many problems, issues and causes for the lack of awareness and self-awareness in the world. Trying to fix all of them would be us trying to change the fabric of modern society and everyone’s individual thoughts, which is impossible.[^7] If we set that aside, the solution to all of this is surprisingly succinct: **We aim to live better lives for ourselves, and awareness and self-awareness will follow.** This solution makes us focus on ourselves, and is self-contained as it is entirely within our control. To develop better self-awareness, we have to know who we are. This means knowing our [purpose](/productivity/purpose/), [identity](/productivity/personal-ops/) and [values](/productivity/core-values/). It means [developing our own standards](/productivity/standards/) and protecting our own interests. It means understanding [our own inner game](/productivity/). And it means going out and living all these things. To handle the lack of awareness in others we encounter, we need to walk our own path, be it through a system of true independence or by living life on our own terms through authenticity and hedonism.[^8] It also means knowing what our mission, identity, standards and values are, much like it does for self-awareness. It means being kinder to others.[^9] Just because others are unintentional arseholes, it doesn’t mean you have to be. It means developing the skills, knowledge and perception that help us navigate a society and world that is becoming increasingly crowded and busy. A lot of this is [productive flow](/productivity/time-management-stack/), but it could also be critical thinking or [social skills](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/). ## What To Do Next I hope this exploration has given you many things to think about. The first step in handling awareness is knowing. The second step is perceiving. And the best place to begin, is with yourself. Photos by [Creedi Zhong](https://unsplash.com/@creedi?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Christophe Hautier](https://unsplash.com/@hautier?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Ugur Akdemir](https://unsplash.com/@ugur?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Rikki Chan](https://unsplash.com/@rikkichan89?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Giu Vicente](https://unsplash.com/@giuvicente?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Fabiana Rizzi](https://unsplash.com/@fabianarizzi?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Experience being knowledge accumulated through past events. [^2]: For more on diet and nutrition I highly recommend [Andy Morgan’s site RippedBody](https://rippedbody.com/). [^3]: Sadly, most people actually live like this. [^4]: OK, maybe some of them are. [^5]: Or heck, even a Honda. [^6]: This is how unintentional arseholes are created. [^7]: Not to mention that you can’t control others. [^8]: For more on this, see [_Evolution_](/manifesto/). [^9]: Credit: JW. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Play https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/play/ Every minute counts. Everything is optimised. If it doesn’t further our goals, it doesn’t get looked at exist. In the efficiency-obsessed world we live in, this always-on sense of productivity and getting things done needs to be tempered by a sense of **play**. By some silly, childlike energy that just makes things _fun_. **This is a noncontradiction: Breaks and play actually make us _more_ productive, not less productive.** In fact, by incorporating play into our lives, we may find that it bleeds over into our productive time as well. And this can lead to a dream scenario: To be productive, and have fun at the same time. --- ## What Is Play? Play is a sense of fun, childlike excitement and energy. It is also an [area of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/). As an area of life, play is unique. Every other area in our life has some purpose or goal attached to it, be it more money, a loving relationship or some kind of learning. In contrast, play has NO purpose. It literally is just “for fun”. The fact that play exists as an area is important — it means that we need it to live a good and productive life. Play also exists as part of the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/), as such: [![Level 2: Inner Game and Mindset](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level2-inner-game-mindset.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level2-inner-game-mindset.webp) It fuels you alongside other concepts like purpose, values and motivation. If you’ve read [my manifesto _Evolution_](/manifesto/), you’ll recognise play as being part of the principle of hedonism. ## What About Breaks? Play can actually be thought of as existing in two parts. The **first part** is what we described above: **Actual play**. These are the things we do for fun, be it some cheap dopamine hits or indulging in a bit of old-fashioned hedonism. The activities that make up play will differ from person-to-person as we all enjoy doing different things. What you find fun, others may find tedious. And what you find tedious, others will find fun. There is no right or wrong with “actual play” — it’s more important that you get the actual playtime in. The **second part** of play is the **breaks**. Breaks are the minutes, hours and days when play happens. You can think of breaks as a “low level” of play. They don’t really add anything on their own, but they do give you a short reprieve from having to focus or burn productive energy. And everyone _needs_ breaks to remain productive and to recover their [depletable resources](/productivity/productivity-stack/). ## Play Makes You More Productive ![Play, Work, Flow](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/play/play-work-flow.webp) I mentioned earlier that play is a noncontradiction, and that it sits alongside being productive. The way this looks is that if you are busy, yes you should be [working 10x](/productivity/10x/), probably for six or seven days a week. But you can still make time for play. And as you develop your sense of play, you’ll find that it runs over into your productive time. The basis for this comes from Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s research on flow states: One part of getting into “flow” with your work is to have a sense of fun and play to it, which makes the work intrinsically rewarding.[^1] This is different for everyone. Some people don’t enjoy writing. But for me, bringing together complex ideas into simple explanations and then crafting that into communicable words is intrinsically rewarding. Some people don’t enjoy coding. But for naturally gifted programmers, overcoming technical challenges and building elegant programs that solve complex problems is intrinsically rewarding. ## How Play Can Benefit You The biggest benefit that play adds to your life is that it **helps you get unstuck**. When we are pushing ourselves to be productive and focused all the time, everything becomes serious and is tied to a goal, outcome or purpose. The effect of doing this for too long is that those things become **solid** and unchangeable — they become _stuck_. This is where no matter [how much effort or work](/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/) we seem to put into a goal or project, it just doesn’t progress. The counterintuitive thing we need to do here is to actually take a step back — and allow for some play. Introducing play into our lives helps us get unstuck in magical ways. We find that those solid concepts all of a sudden become fluid and start to flow again. Changing things becomes easier. Being agile, rapidly iterating and incorporating new ideas becomes easier. And we start to make progress on what we want again. You can also think about this as unleashing your inner child, your creativity or your subconscious. Getting unstuck leads to other benefits. We find that the activities we do become more light-hearted, fun and energetic. We find that we can inject some humour and brightness into periods of stress and tough times. We remind ourselves that no matter how bad the situation is, there are still some simple pleasures and cheap thrills that we can enjoy in life. ## A System for Implementing Play and Breaks Play can be divided into two parts: 1. Breaks. 2. Actual Play. The breaks provide the system and structure for the actual play. ### Taking breaks Taking breaks is the expected and minimal level of play that we need in our lives. The easiest way to implement them is to think in terms of [cascading timeframes](/productivity/cascading-timeframes/).
TimeframeBreaks
Within a dayUse timeslices to temper your working rhythm.
e.g., Work 25 minutes, break 5 minutes.
DailyWind down for 30-60 minutes as the last thing in your day as part of your evening ritual.
Get enough sleep.
WeeklyTake anywhere from a half day to three days off every week, depending on where you are at in your life and how intense your productive time needs to be.
MonthlyMonthly breaks will happen naturally as a result of your weekly breaks.
QuarterlyTake a 2-3 day break every quarter, preferably outside your home or city.
The purpose of this break is to go outside your normal environment and rest and recharge. You don’t have to sightsee or do any activities unless you want to.
Leave your laptop at home.
AnnuallyTake a 1-2 week vacation outside your city every year.
Travel is cool and gives you a different perspective on your own situation, as well as a chance to reset your habits and routines.
Take your laptop if you have to, but avoid using it as much as possible.
### Actual play Actual play is different for everyone. Some people find reading stressful, others find it blissfully relaxing. Some people receive massive enjoyment from watching TV, others find it just “meh” 🤷‍♂️. **You need to work out what play activities are enjoyable to you.** Here is a list of some play activities to get you started: - Reading. - TV/Web series. - Video games. - Cooking. - Eating out. - Time with SOs, friends, family. - Going out. - Any hobbies. - Any sports or exercise activities. - Outdoors activities like hiking, surfing or coastal walks. - Doing absolutely nothing. - Browsing social media.[^2] - Shopping. It’s worth working out what your “cheap thrills” are. These are the inexpensive (in terms of time and/or money) activities you can do that are disproportionately enjoyable. Examples include going out to the cinema, playing video games or reading romance novels. ### Putting breaks and play together During your breaks, pick a play activity and enjoy it. It really is as simple as that. ## A Final Note: Making Your Play Time High Quality ![High Quality Play](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/play/high-quality-play.webp) This entire guide has been about enjoying the other side of being productive — by not being productive at all. But if I put on my productivity guru hat and ask: How can I make this even better? We arrive at the concept of **high-quality play**. This is the idea that our days on Earth are limited, so when we have breaks or downtime or time off… why not do the things _we really enjoy_ rather than just things to take a break from work? For example, I’d much rather go white water rafting than sit and scroll my Facebook feed for 2 hours. The way to make our play activities and time higher quality is to ask: **How can I get even more enjoyment and fun out of the time I have set aside for breaks and play?** This will obviously differ from person to person but here are some of my personal examples. Instead of just trying to cook a new recipe… I’ll cook a new recipe and have some people over for dinner. Instead of reading only non-fiction… I’ll read fiction as well to experience the author’s perspective and worldview. Instead of spending a day off at home… I’ll take a short day-trip somewhere out of town and see something new. ## What To Do Next Here’s how you can get started with play: 1. List out what you like to do for fun. 2. Make sure you’re taking your breaks. 3. Have fun during your breaks and play time. If you want to go deeper into how play and work interact, [have a read of the time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/), or [pick up a copy of Csíkszentmihályi's book, _Flow_](/go/book-flow/). If you enjoyed this article, you’ll probably enjoy _Evolution_. It goes deeper into how play and hedonism are a crucial part of life, and how they sit alongside purpose and flow to help us live better lives. [It’s 100% free to download and you can get it here](/manifesto/). Photos by Mia Anderson, [Daniel Tuttle](https://unsplash.com/@danieltuttle?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), Michael Rivera 🇵🇭. [^1]: For more see _[Flow](/go/book-flow/)_. [^2]: Though I’d argue that this one is more habitual. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Push-Pull Notifications and Communications https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/push-pull/ The next time you pick up your phone, have a quick glance at how many unread notifications you have. I have seen friends and clients with literally hundreds of unread notifications and four-digit red bubbles. When we’re constantly bombarded with notifications to look at, it is no surprise that we become desensitised to seeing them and learn to ignore them. This is the result of having a **push mindset** when it comes to your notifications and communications, instead of a **pull mindset**. Here’s how we can change that. --- ## Defining Push and Pull Notifications Push and pull notifications are part of the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/), under the **people management** aspect. [![The Time Management Stack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp) The concept applies to our app notifications, our systems, our tasks and the people in our lives. Most of these notifications come through our phones, from people, organisations or companies that we are in contact with. **Push** is when apps or systems notify you. This could be as simple as receiving an email and your phone buzzing to indicate that you’re received it. It could also be people handing you tasks to do. **Pull** is when you decide to check if there’s something new. You can receive an email, but you wouldn’t know about it until you opened your email app to check. It is when you actively go out to find things to do. Push and pull can be thought of as a mindset, a skillset, and a discipline. ## Adopting a Pull Mindset Instead of a Push Mindset **In general, it is better to have a pull mindset when it comes to your communications and notifications.** This comes from being OK not knowing about things right away. For many people this can be challenging when they first try it because we live in an “always on” era where we’re supposed to be always contactable. But if you give it a go, you’ll find that it is quite doable and nobody will think any worse of you for it. And let’s face it — even if you receive a message right now, it’s not like you were going to reply to it right away… or ever at all. ## Communications You Should Push and Communications You Should Pull ![Tug of War](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/push-pull/tug-of-war.webp) Knowing what items to allow push for and what items to pull is the skillset part of push-pull communications. Here are some communications you should allow to be pushed: - Direct messages (DMs). - Mission-critical items, be they emergency support channels or VIP clients. For example, you can set up a system to selectively push certain emails into Slack messages. - Time-sensitive app notifications. For example, if you are ordering food through an app and want to know when your driver has arrived. Here are some communications that should be pulled instead: - Social media comments, likes, mentions, follows. - All email. Whether it is better to push or pull communications from people you know or work with is a bit more nuanced. In general, you want to reduce phone/messages/social media notifications, not answer numbers you don’t know and practice [effective email management](/productivity/effective-email-management/). But it’s also worth touching in with friends and people you know every now and then — that’s just being a good friend and human being. Typically speaking though, if there is something really urgent, people will find a way to contact you regardless. ## Practicing Effective Push-Pull Notifications and Communications Here are some example setups for push and pull for different types of people. This should address any concerns of “but social media is part of my job!” and other similar excuses for not wanting to adopt a pull mindset. ### Example 1: Normal working professional or business person This is the setup that I used when I was running a traditional consulting business. Notifications to push: - Work chat like Slack. - DMs from WhatsApp, Messenger, WeChat etc. - Calendar appointments. - 2FA notifications. - Food delivery and ride-share notifications. - Phone calls. Notifications to pull: - Email. - General app notifications, including games, shopping apps, reading apps and entertainment apps like Netflix. - Task and project management reminders. - Anything to do with social media. ### Example 2: Content creators and influencers This is the setup I have right now. Notifications to push: - Work chat like Slack. - DMs on messaging apps. - Calendar appointments. - 2FA notifications. - Food delivery and ride-share notifications. - Phone calls. - [Social media](/life/social-media/) comments and mentions. Notifications to pull: - Social media likes and follows. - Email. - General app notifications, including games, shopping apps, reading apps and entertainment apps like Netflix. - Task and project management reminders. ### Example 3: Customer service and support roles This is the setup that I have helped clients implement when they work in always-on support roles. Notifications to push: - Work chat like Slack. - DMs on messaging apps. - Calendar appointments. - 2FA notifications. - Food delivery and ride-share notifications. - Phone calls. - Email for support channel. - Social media for support channel. - SLA notifications. Notifications to pull: - All other social media. - General app notifications, including games, shopping apps, reading apps and entertainment apps like Netflix. - Task and project management reminders. ## What To Do Next Grab your phone, and implement a pull mindset today. You can read more about how communications fits into the [time management stack here](/productivity/time-management-stack/), and about the [business hierarchy of communications here](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/). --- Photos by [Anna Samoylova](https://unsplash.com/@hagalnaud?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Standards https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/standards/ > Any time you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you must do is to **raise your standards**. > > _Tony Robbins_ Standards are the system of how you live your life. They exist as a singular document that you can refer to and check in with daily, to hold yourself accountable. Here’s how they work. --- ## What Are Standards? Standards are our personal metrics and measurements for how we act, behave and live across the different [areas of our lives](/productivity/areas-of-life/). They are the list of things that we consider the **bare minimum acceptable** for ourselves. They may look like this: ``` * I will only spend time on things I enjoy or with people that I actually like. * Have no time to live or spend above my means. * I wake up at 5am, every day. ``` Organisationally, they sit as a document between our [personal ops](/productivity/personal-ops/) and our [journal entries](/productivity/journals/): [![Standards in Your Journal](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/standards/standards-journal.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/standards/standards-journal.webp) Your standards can also be thought of as your **personal code** — the rules that you set for yourself and follow in your life. They are also your **[ongoing processes](/productivity/ongoing-processes/)** — habits, behaviours and things you want to be consistently doing. ## Why Bother With Standards at All? Between having journal entries, [goals](/productivity/), [core values](/productivity/core-values/) and a [purpose in life](/productivity/purpose/)… why do we even need standards at all? As Tony Robbins states, standards provide the minimum benchmark for your life, and can be used to fuel change in your life. They act as a form of intrinsic motivation to drive you to not compromise the promises you have made to yourself. When you have your own set of standards, you start to care less about what others think of you because you already know that how you live is “good enough” according to yourself. ## Creating Your First Set of Standards Let’s get practical. To create your first set of standards, you need to open a new document in your journal, and then structure it like this: ``` General * Standard 1. * Standard 2. * Standard 3. Wealth * Standard 1. * Standard 2. * Standard 3. Health * Standard 1. * Standard 2. * Standard 3. Relationship * Standard 1. * Standard 2. * Standard 3. Learning/Growth * Standard 1. * Standard 2. * Standard 3. Social * Standard 1. * Standard 2. * Standard 3. Play * Standard 1. * Standard 2. * Standard 3. ``` “General” describes your overall life standards, and the remainder of the areas are the standards across each [area of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/). 3-5 standards per area is more than enough — don’t go too crazy with this. ### What does a standard actually look like? You can think of standards as the _bare minimum acceptable_ for yourself in each area. You can also think of them as what you aspire to be, but aren’t quite there yet. For example, a health standard may be: ``` I will wake up every day at 5am. ``` This doesn’t mean that you will wake up every single day at 5am sharp, but it does mean that most of the time you will. ### Where do my standards come from? Your standards are derived from your personal ops documents — your [purpose/mission](/productivity/purpose/), your [core values](/productivity/core-values/), your [reasons why](/productivity/motivation/), and your list of [virtues](/productivity/) and [vices](/productivity/). Remember that your standards are deeply personal **to you**. There is no need to share them with anyone else, and there is no need for you to conform to anyone else’s standards. ### Can you show me some more example standards? Sure. Here’s some example standards across each area: ``` General * Live my mission and purpose daily. * Be busy from the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep. Wealth * Live below my means. * Have 6 months of expenses saved. Health * Wake up at 5am every day. * Walk for 20 minutes every day. * Drink at least 2L of water every day. Relationship * Spend time, no matter how brief, with my SO every day. * Have 1 date night a week. Learning/Growth * Always be reading. Reading should be like breathing to me. Social * Only spend time with people I like. * Zero drama. Play * Practice high quality play, instead of mindless distractions. * Cook 1 new recipe every week. ``` These are only example standards. Standards are highly individual and what matters more is that the standards are **right for you**, your mission in life and your goals in life. ## Using Your Standards Daily Once you have a document of your own standards, you can use your standards daily. As such: - Read them in the morning. - Read them in the evening. - Reference them whenever you are [setting goals](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/) or reviewing goals you’ve accomplished. - Actually live them. By reading them daily, you know if you are meeting your own standards or not, and can adjust immediately. ## Reviewing Your Standards You should review your standards on a quarterly basis. This is just reading over them with some thought and checking that they’re still valid. You should write a new standards document every year during [your annual review](/productivity/annual-review/). Your standards for the new year may mostly be the same as the previous year… but hopefully you are raising some of your standards on an annual basis to become the person you want to be. ## What To Do Next Write out your first standards document. And then apply it — take your standards, and use them to [set your goals](/productivity/) across [cascading timeframes](/productivity/cascading-timeframes/). And then live them — that’s what our personal standards are for! --- Photo by [Hans Reniers](https://unsplash.com/@hansreniers?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Waking Up Early https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/waking-up-early/ Waking up early is not supposed to be difficult. There are **four factors** that _really_ matter if you want to wake up early on a consistent basis, and some of those factors are more important than others. If you’ve been through all the guides on how to sleep well and get better quality sleep but still haven’t been able to wake up early — I’m going to show you **specifically how to wake up early on a consistent basis.** --- ## Benefits of Waking Up Early Either you do or you don’t want to wake up early.[^1] Both options are fine, depending on your lifestyle and your goals. Most people strive to wake up early because of what it implies — you don’t wake up at 5am to watch Netflix. You wake up early to get your life together and to get things done. ## The Wake Up Early System There are **four factors that really matter** when it comes to waking up early consistently. In order of importance they are: [![Wake Up Early System](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/waking-up-early/wake-up-early-system.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/waking-up-early/wake-up-early-system.webp) 1. Your **family and social life**. 2. Your **sleep and wake times**. 3. Your **evening ritual** and personal care. 4. The compounding effect of **everything else**. ### 1\. Your family and social life More than anything else, your ability to wake up early on a consistent basis will be determined by your **family and social life**. For your family life, if you have young children who wake up in the middle of night or who don’t sleep early, it doesn’t matter how optimised your evening ritual or sleep hygiene is — you _will not_ be able to wake up early on a consistent basis.[^2] If you live with a partner who: - Sleeps and/or wakes up at a different time from you. - Likes to sit in bed and browse their phone while you’re trying to get to sleep - Has a loud alarm that goes off before or after your waking hours. - Tosses and turns and you’re a light sleeper. …no other techniques or principles matter — you _will not_ be able to wake up early on a consistent basis. To make waking up early work for you, you need to negotiate things with your partner. If they are committed to sleeping and waking up early at the same time as you — that’s great. If they can use the vibrating alarm on their smartwatch — that’s also great. If not, the only thing you can really do is sleep in different bedrooms 😶. For your social life, waking up early means turning down the majority of late dinners or nights out. You may get away with a couple of times a month, but there’s no real way around this. ### 2\. Sleep and wake times The second most important factor for waking up early is **the time you go to sleep**. People are usually impressed when I tell them that I wake up at 4:30am, even on weekends. But for some reason they are surprised to learn that I’m fast asleep by 9pm. **For some reason there is a disconnect between waking up early and going to sleep early.** The way to do this is simply to decide what time you would like to consistently wake up, and count back your 7-8 hours. Can you get away with not always sleeping early? _Only a little._ This means that sleeping late one night a week is OK, but you’ll do better if that’s only _one night a month_. And when I say “sleep early”, I really do mean lights-out-and-under-the-covers. I don’t mean “get into bed and play on your phone”. If you don’t do this, you will end up tired a lot of mornings and likely conclude that waking up early is not for you. ### 3\. Evening ritual and personal care The third most important factor for waking up early is your **evening ritual**. This is your wind down process towards sleep **at least one hour** before your sleep time. Your evening ritual is important because it helps you get to bed on time. [I’ve written a full guide to evening rituals which can be found here](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/), but the highlights are: - No electronic devices one hour before bedtime. - Do activities that relax you, not excite you. Don’t watch exciting TV/web series or read things that make you think and analyse.[^3] - Do things that signal that it’s time to go to sleep, like dimming the lights or drinking some chamomile tea. ### 4\. Everything else There are a number of other factors that play into your ability to wake up early. They are not as important as the three main factors mentioned above. In no particular order, here they are. #### Exercise When you regularly exercise you have [more consistent energy levels](/productivity/energy-management/). It’s also been shown that exercise helps you sleep better, AND helps your body wake up consistently on time.[^4] #### Food timing There is a lot of debate about whether eating a large meal before bedtime is good for you or bad for you. My personal joke about this is that lions on the savannah hunt their prey, eat it, then lie down and slumber beside it… so I should be able to do the same 🦁🥩. ![Lion Sleeping](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/waking-up-early/lion-sleeping.webp) The actual research though says that eating right before sleeping _reduces_ the quality of your sleep.[^5][^6] This doesn’t mean that you _can’t_ sleep, just that your sleep quality will be lower than it would be if you slept 2-3 hours after eating. **It also doesn’t mean that you can’t wake up early on a consistent basis, as the three main factors are more important.** My take? Eat your food, run your evening ritual, then go to sleep. Doing things in this order means you won’t waste time doing the usual late-night things like browsing your phone or watching TV/web series. #### Sleep supplements Supplements work differently for everyone regardless of if they are pharmaceutical or nutraceutical in nature. Do your own research, and take what is designed to signal your body that it’s time to sleep. Some options: - Melatonin. - ZMA. - Chamomile tea. Keep in mind that with any supplements, your body may build a tolerance over time. #### Your work What you do during the day affects your ability to get to sleep, and thus your ability to wake up early. There are two parts to this. The first part is to work hard during the day so that you’re tired both physically and mentally and actually want to sleep. If you’ve knocked out your goals and tasks for the day and feel like you’ve done a lot you’re more likely to “call it a day” and go to sleep early with a sense of accomplishment. This then leads to waking up early. The second part is the timing of your work. You don’t want to be working right before you have to go to sleep for a couple of reasons: 1. It’s the end of the day so you’ll have a lower cognitive ability. 2. Having pressing work issues on your mind makes it harder to wind down. Waking up early is already set up so that you can be productive in the morning — so take advantage of that, and go hard earlier on during the day,[^7] so that by the time you bedtime rolls around, you **will** want to go to sleep. ## How This Looks in Real Life Here’s how this can look in real life. You wake up at 4:30am, do your morning routine and get on with your work or activities for the day. You work hard and consistently throughout the day with a break at lunchtime to do some exercise. You eat dinner around 6:30pm, and wind down from 7:30pm onwards. By 8:30pm you’re in bed and the lights are out, giving you eight hours of sleep until 4:30am again. When you have late night social commitments, you try to limit them to once per week. And even then, you find that because you’re used to waking up so early… even after those nights out you’re up-and-at-it by 6am anyway. ## What To Do Next I believe that anyone can consistently wake up early… so long as they follow the four factors outlined above. Here they are again: ![Wake Up Early System](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/waking-up-early/wake-up-early-system.webp) Once you’re up early, you may want to run a morning ritual to make the most of your starts to the day. [You can learn about them here](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). Go forth, and wake up early ☀️. Photos by [Alex King](https://unsplash.com/@alexrhysking?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Dušan Smetana](https://unsplash.com/@veverkolog?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: I would consider anything before 6am as “early”. [^2]: I am not a parent so take this with a grain of salt. [^3]: I’ll also add: Don’t try to solve complex business problems right before bedtime. [^4]: Dolezal, B. A., Neufeld, E. V., Boland, D. M., Martin, J. L., & Cooper, C. B. (2017). Interrelationship between sleep and exercise: A systematic review. _Advances in Preventive Medicine, 2017_, 1364387. [https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1364387](https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1364387) [^5]: St-Onge, M. P., Mikic, A., & Pietrolungo, C. E. (2016). Effects of diet on sleep quality. _Advances in Nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 7_(5), 938–949. [https://doi.org/10.3945/an.116.012336](https://doi.org/10.3945/an.116.012336) [^6]: Crispim, C. A., Zimberg, I. Z., dos Reis, B. G., Diniz, R. M., Tufik, S., & de Mello, M. T. (2011). Relationship between food intake and sleep pattern in healthy individuals. _Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 7_(6), 659–664. [https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.1476](https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.1476) [^7]: This is also known as _front-loading._ > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Motivation https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/motivation/ A couple of weeks ago I was in Ari, a trendy neighbourhood in central Bangkok. As I walked down from the skytrain, there was an older gentleman passed out asleep on the sidewalk. He was balding, perhaps in his late fifties, and he was selling limes for about $0.75 for a pack of seven. As I passed by it hit me — I had seen him before, selling limes, last year. He would sit there from early morning to late at night, often falling asleep. To be honest, it didn’t look like he was all-there in the mental health department. When I had first seen him last year, the girl I was going out with at the time had asked me to buy limes from him because she felt sorry for him. And I did too. And it’s not just him. Whether it’s the hunched-over old woman serving food at a street side stall, or the farmer who sits in the back of a pickup truck for hours to sell his produce in Bangkok for literal cents… every now and then I see people in situations that are sad and to be honest, heart-wrenching 😢. Whenever I come across one of these people there’s a range of emotions that I go through: 1. I’m extremely grateful for what I have. 2. I’m p\*ssed off that we live in a world that is abundant and yet stuff like this still happens. 3. I get incredibly motivated to work hard on the right things and to get my act together more. **Which brings us to motivation.** Why does seeing something like this make me (and others) motivated to better our own lives? And is it necessary to experience or encounter human suffering to be motivated? I believe that it isn’t, and that there are other ways that we can generate our own motivation so that we can get what we want out of life and hopefully never find ourselves in similar situations. Here’s how motivation works. --- --- ## Let’s Define Motivation Our motivations are the reasons for our behaviours. They are the leverage that we use to get ourselves to do things. They are what remind us to do better, be more and to do what we must. They are what wake us up in the morning and get us excited to start the day. They are also what keep us going when things get tough. There are both negative and positive aspects to motivation. Motivation is also part of the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) at the inner game and mindset level. [![Level 2: Inner Game and Mindset](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level2-inner-game-mindset.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level2-inner-game-mindset.webp) ### What is the purpose of motivation? It’s worth asking — why do we need motivation in the first place? **We need motivation so that we can perform the actions that we need to, when they need to be done.** This could be: - Actions you have to perform. - Actions you should perform. - Actions you don’t really want to perform but still need to. - The supercharging of actions that you already enjoy performing. And we need to be able to perform all these actions consistently. As James Clear says in [_Atomic Habits_](/go/book-atomic-habits/), we need to be able to complete small actions consistently over time to see really changes in our lives. Motivation helps us with all this by minimising the excuses we make and reducing the friction in our actual doing of things. ## Nine Motivation Hacks You Can Use Right Now ![Motivation Hacks](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/motivation/motivation-hacks.webp) I want to explore motivation in detail in this guide, but also understand that some people just want things they can use **right now** to get motivated. So let’s get these out of the way. Most of these hacks are designed to reduce the friction of starting something and to generate [momentum](/productivity/momentum/), which is why they work. ### Hack 1: Solar flaring / “Just five minutes” **Solar flaring** is where you take the task that you have to do, and either: 1. Start on a small part of it, or 2. Start on something else that’s easy but related to the main task. As you start taking action, you complete the small/easy part, then move onto the main task and _explode_ into doing it. This is a psychological trick to overcome the initial friction of starting because once you are in motion you will likely stay in motion and continue on. The small part of the task or easier part of a related task gets your brain “in the groove” so to speak. The term “solar flaring” comes from a couple of friends of mine, and they describe it as a solar flare on the surface of the sun. It starts as a small anomaly, but then **explodes** with massive energy. A variation of this is to tell yourself that you will do the task for “just five minutes” to overcome the initial friction. But then you find that five minutes in, you’re ready to complete the entire task. ### Hack 2: Timeslices, pomodoros and flowtime I have a [full guide to using timeslices, the pomodoro technique and flowtime here](/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/). Whether it’s counting down or counting up, the rhythm of working for a certain amount of time and then taking breaks is effective and can help you get started on something and continue on with it. ### Hack 3: Reward systems You can create a simple reward system for yourself to motivate yourself to do something. **This is in the form of “if I do X, I can have Y”.** The most common one I see in the business world is: “If I just finish THIS, I can go home / call it a day.” You need to intelligently choose what that reward is, but for a final push on a piece of work or something you have to do, this can be quite effective. ### Hack 4: Get inspired or motivated Seeing other people overcome their challenges and succeed can motivate us to overcome our own challenges. This is why reading inspiring stories, watching moving videos or reading great quotes can help us get motivated. The reason this works is because by viewing or reading these things, we pump our own emotional state with excitement and drive — and this is motivation.[^1] It seems cheesy but it works. Just be wary that you _can_ become desensitised to this over time. Some examples that I like: - [https://www.facebook.com/shopify/videos/10153449077461881/](https://www.facebook.com/shopify/videos/10153449077461881/). - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyhOmBPtGNM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyhOmBPtGNM). - [r/getmotivated](https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/) on Reddit. ### Hack 5: Share what you’re going to do with others Sharing what you are going to do with others can work as motivation/pressure to actually follow through with it. According to Robert Cialdini, this works because of the principles of commitment and consistency. Personally, I think it works because it plays on either your shame or your guilt. Shame is more common in Eastern cultures, and is similar to losing face for not doing something you said you were going to do. Guilt is more common is Western cultures, and is the result of not meeting a standard or expectation. If you are shameless, guiltless or [emotionally rock solid](/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/), then this particular motivation hack doesn’t work as well. ### Hack 6: Substances and supplements Can things you eat or drink help with your motivation? Yes, they can. Some people like to **snack** while they work on something. They say it helps them get through the day and get things done. I think this is a slippery slope as eating has other effects, like adding calories to your food intake. And of course there’s **coffee**, which flat-out just works because of its caffeine content. My personal compromise is to drink a lot of **green tea**, which also has caffeine. There are also pharmaceutical-grade alternatives that absolutely work, like Adderall, Ritalin and Modafinil. All I’ll say is that they do work, but I don’t recommend them and don’t ask me any more about them 🙃. ### Hack 7: Environmental cues and design Seeing certain cues in your environment can help you overcome the last-minute friction you have for doing something. Technically, this is more in the area of [habit formation](/productivity/), but it also works quite well as a motivation hack. The possibilities here are endless, but here are some good examples. 1. Actual prompts like: - Documents on your desk that need to be worked on. - Post-it notes. - Task reminder notifications. - Calendar appointments. - A packed gym bag by the door or on the passenger seat in your car. 1. Deadlines. 2. Good music. I’m currently listening to [this playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/19zNiYQldLzflSDktc0Hek?si=Ne5cPDirSymwzBnlGp2Qsw) as I write this. Here are a couple more I listen to regularly to help with work: - [Classical Focus](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DXd5zUwdn6lPb?si=0U9hAkHxSYuxT3Tokxqs0Q). - [Instrumental Pop Covers](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5oxZIYU1L9N1CczN0C4JkM?si=f74Kx1ltQKGP6l4rB8egZA). - [This is AC/DC](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DXec50AjHrNTq?si=EhLUJA9ZR9WGAyJToX0Ezg). 4. Good lighting. I invested in some smart lights last year when I moved house. Apart from being very impressive for when I have company over, they also work as great environmental cues for doing certain things. This is how I’ve set them up: - Focus (almost white) lights on before sunrise when I’m doing early morning work. - Relax (50%-60% warm) lights on around 5pm just before sunset. This reminds me that the day is winding down but that it’s still productive time. - Red lights in the evening to wind down and get ready to sleep. ### Hack 8: Physical movement I learnt this from Tony Robbins. It looks like this: Video: Motivation — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr1iYH9nbyw The reason this works is because our physiology has a **huge** impact on our emotional state. And by pumping up our mood this way, we gain the energy we need to get started on something. Over the long term, being physically fit, having good energy levels and getting quality sleep makes motivating yourself easier as your energy will be good _all the time._[^2] ### Hack 9: Vision boards and reasons why These are our own personal list of reasons for doing things and for the things we want. We will look at both in detail in the next section. ## Applied Motivation: Setting Up Your Reasons Why and Vision Board Your **Reasons Why** is one of your [Personal Ops Documents](/productivity/personal-ops/). It is something that you review every morning and evening, or whenever you need to, to remind yourself why you do what you do. Some people refer to it as a **motivation page**. Some people like to assemble it as pictures instead of words, and that is known as a **vision board**. Here’s how I recommend structuring it: ``` Purpose: * Reasons related to your mission and purpose that remind you why you pursue them. Health: * Reasons related to your health. Wealth: * Reasons related to money, finances, wealth. Social: * Reasons related to your friends, extended family. Relationship: * Reasons related to your partner/SO. Learning/Growth: * Reasons related to your learning and growth. Family: * Reasons related to your immediate family. Experience/Lifestyle: * These are the general reasons not related to any particular area but are part of your vision for your life. * A popular example is: "The ability to travel however I want, whenever I want and see the amazing world around me." Dark Energy: * Reasons related to missed opportunities and potential. * Reasons related to where someone has done wrong by you. Material Things: * Things you want to buy/have in your life. ``` Your Reasons Why document belongs [in your journal](/productivity/journals/) or [personal wiki system](/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/) alongside your personal ops documents. ## Motivation Dichotomies and Non-Contradictions ![Motivation Dichotomies and Non-Contradictions](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/motivation/yin-yang-dichotomy.webp) Let’s go deeper into the structure of motivation and how it works. Motivation is best presented as a series of dichotomies. In the West, these would be considered paradoxes. There is an emphasis on looking at things in terms of black and white, right and wrong. In the East, these are known as non-contradictions. Oriental philosophies believe that paradoxes are fine and natural.[^3] This is where two seemingly opposite things exist together, in harmony. And this concept applies to motivation — two seemingly opposing aspects of motivation exist, and yet both serve to help provide us with motivation. The dichotomies are: [![Motivation Dichotomies](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/motivation/motivation-dichotomies.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/motivation/motivation-dichotomies.webp)
Motivation Dichotomies
1. Interval vs external motivation. 2. Pain vs pleasure. 3. Positive vs negative motivation. 4. Contentment vs hunger. 5. Own standards vs comparison. 6. Absent and present feedback loops. 7. Responsibility vs excuses. Let’s deconstruct each of these. ### 1\. Internal vs external motivation Do you drive yourself or let your external circumstances drive you? #### External motivation External (or extrinsic) motivation is the most common orientation in this dichotomy. **It is where we use and let circumstances outside our own minds encourage us to do things.** This could be benign, like friends or a mastermind group encouraging us to succeed. It could also be not-so benign, where something outside our control forces a situation upon us. There is nothing inherently wrong with external motivation, despite most performance coaches and consultants preferring internal/intrinsic motivation. External motivation can be as mundane as a work deadline. It can also be serious, like being laid off from work and having to find new employment. #### Internal motivation [Internal (or intrinsic) motivation](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/) is the ability to get yourself to do things with nothing but the power of your own mind. It can be thought of as [willpower, or volition](/productivity/willpower-and-volition/). Many performance coaches consider this the “ultimate power”, as you can generate action and momentum on-demand. Internal motivation usually comes from [the standards that we hold for ourselves](/productivity/standards/). If we get more specific, it happens when our [inner game](/productivity/) aligns correctly for a certain thing that we want to or need to do. This means that our mission, our identity, our values, our beliefs and our capabilities all line up behind a certain action or task. Like this: [![Arrows in the Same Direction](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp) A great example of this is from one of my friends who shall remain anonymous. She woke up one day and realised that she had gained 10 kg from overeating and under-exercising. She works in the health field, has never seen herself as an overweight person and values her health highly… so she decided to do something about it — and just did. That’s internal motivation. ### 2\. Pain vs pleasure I believe it was Tony Robbins who said that most people would rather avoid pain than seek pleasure. But when it comes to motivation, the reality is that both work. #### Pleasure Seeking pleasure is the less popular of the two. It is phrased as “I want chocolate” or “I want to be in better health”. It is seeking to improve your circumstances, and rarer than avoiding pain because it usually relies on intrinsic motivation. Whether it is wanting to be physically healthier, financially secure or just wanting to eat something in particular, wanting something in positive terms is using pleasure as motivation. #### Pain Avoiding pain is the more popular motivator of the two. It is phrased as “I don’t want migraines anymore” or “I don’t want to see him today”. My experience from earlier about seeing people in unfortunate and tragic (and honestly, inhumane) circumstances is an example of me wanting to avoid certain future pains. The pains can be emotional, physical or psychological. Avoiding embarrassment and not wanting to lose face is avoiding pain. Handling a medical condition that hampers your quality of life is avoiding pain. The fear of missing out (FOMO) is avoiding pain. ### 3\. Positive vs negative motivation #### Positive motivation Positive or “light energy” motivators are the happy reasons you do something. These reasons usually go alongside seeking pleasure. The clearest example of this is [your purpose](/productivity/purpose/), which is usually phrased in positive terms. My purpose is to live life at the highest level that I can, and to help others do the same. Other people have purposes to inspire others to do better and live better. Reminding ourselves of these positive reasons is how we can use positive motivation to get things done. #### Negative motivation Negative motivation is also known as “dark energy”. It is the recognition that sometimes the world is dark, and that bad things do happen and you don’t want them to happen again. This goes alongside the avoidance of pain. All the emotions that constitute dark energy and negative motivation go back to the emotion of fear — and in certain circumstances, can be a motivating force to keep you going. One of my mentors described it to me as having a lion made of dark energy chained to you at all times. You don’t need to let the lion out all the time, but when you do, the savagery of the motivational energy you get from it will leave you and others in awe. ### 4\. Contentment vs hunger Contentment is being happy with what you have. It is related to gratitude. Hunger is wanting and aspiring to be more. We usually associate hunger with its negative side — [consumerism](/productivity/production-vs-consumption/) — but it can also be seen as doing the right things for the wrong reasons. **It is possible to be content in some things and to hunger for other things.** This seems obvious when spelt out, but many people miss this. People who are “hungry” are not black hole consumption machines. One of my close friends is content in his relationship and family life, yet he works hard because he hungers for better circumstances so that his children can have a better start to life. That’s his motivation. Contentment and hunger can happily live side-by-side and there is really only a problem if you are content in _everything_. When that happens, you will find that your motivation dies. _Note: Happiness is not the same as contentment. It exists further down the chain, like this:_ [![Happiness Chain](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/motivation/hapiness-chain.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/motivation/hapiness-chain.webp)
Happiness Chain
### 5\. Own standards vs comparison #### Own standards Your own standards are the expectations you have for yourself. They affect your motivation by acting as a benchmark for when you are not living up to your own expectations, and push you to adjust. They are the basis of intrinsic motivation. #### Comparison Comparing yourself against others is the other side of this non-contradiction. You **can and should** intelligently and rationally compare yourself against others and _their standards_ every now and then. This can be motivating and can help you adjust your own standards. It is also necessary for living in the modern world. This is **not** the same as trying to meet the expectations of others to please them — because f\*ck that. Never live by the expectations of others or to please others. Comparison in this case is more about recognising that [intersubjective reality exists](/productivity/types-of-reality/), and that it is beneficial to recognise that it does. Here’s why. Imagine that you lived based purely on your own standards. At first this is not bad, as you would be intrinsically motivated. What would be bad is that you would have no idea what intersubjective reality is — are laws real? Do you need to use money to buy things? Taken to its logical conclusion, living purely by your own standards is a one-way ticket to non-achievement and potentially crazy-land. You don’t have to try this for yourself. Author and thinker Eckhart Tolle spent the better part of two years doing exactly this. [You can read about his experience here](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Eckhart_Tolle#/Inner_transformation). If you rationally compare yourself to others’ standards every now and then, you can answer questions like: - Am I doing enough? - Am I working hard enough? - Am I doing the right things? - Am I on the right track? At the same time though, too much comparison does not help you. There is no point always trying to keep up with the Joneses — doing so is simply placing your reference points for life in the hands of other people, which can only lead to unhappiness. Where you want to be is in the middle ground of non-contradiction between your own standards and referencing those of others. As a personal example, at time of writing [one of my high school classmates recently interviewed now-US President Donald Trump](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaaTZkqsaxY). I have no doubt that upon watching the interview everyone in our class had two thoughts: 1. Swan’s a legend. 2. The bar has been raised. None of us are beating ourselves up for not being the first to interview the President of the United States, but at the same time we are all looking at our own standards and asking if we’re really living them, and whether they need to be raised. ### 6\. Absent and present feedback loops One of the best motivators you can have is a positive feedback loop where you do something, then are rewarded for doing it. One of my friends who recently started working out more does this with her fitness tracker data — the number of calories she burns every workout goes up daily, and this acts as motivation to continue on. When you are starting on something new this feedback loop can be absent. But in your mind, you know that it’s absent because you’re just starting, and this acts as motivation to encourage you to do more and try more to make _some_ kind of feedback loop happen.[^4] It is also possible to have negative feedback loops, which act in much the same way as negative motivation. ### 7\. Responsibility vs excuses Every now and then you will make excuses for not doing something. No one is immune to this, not even me. A question I’m often asked about this is: **Should you beat yourself up about it?** i.e., should you take full responsibility for it? Some people go to one extreme and are **never** hard on themselves for failing to do something. Others go to the other extreme and are much too hard on themselves. I have some well-meaning friends who like to tell me that I take on the responsibility for situations too much, that there were extenuating circumstances and so on. These are the same friends who have problems “getting motivated” with almost everything — it’s almost always someone else’s fault to them. The correct approach is the middle ground, the non-contradiction. You don’t need to beat yourself up for failing to do something, but at the same time you cannot simply brush it off as the fault of others and not take your share of responsibility. It is worth recognising where you should have done better. But there is no need to damn yourself for eternity because of a failure to act on something. You can also frame this in more positive terms by simply examining where the responsibility lies for what has happened. Some of it will be with you. Some of it will be with others or the situation. People who have difficulty doing this have a deeper problem — something is broken in their [inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/). The danger of not being able to hold yourself responsible is a [detachment from reality](/productivity/types-of-reality/), and an inclination towards [excess hedonism](/productivity/excess-hedonism/) and [laziness](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). ## Standalone Principles of Motivation ![Hustle Culture](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/motivation/hustle-culture.webp) Up to now we have covered the dichotomies that form the structure of motivation, but there are also other standalone principles to motivation. They are: 1. Friction reduction and process design. 2. Hustle culture. 3. Sexual transmutation. ### 1\. Friction reduction and process design One of the more common reasons for why we procrastinate and “need motivation” is because the start of a process has friction. It thus goes to reason that reducing friction at the start of the process or in the process itself can help us generate the motivation we need to do something. The nine motivation hacks covered above almost all do exactly this — reduce the startup friction for doing something. The longer-term application of this is to use processes, systems and models that have little to no friction in them. Models like the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) and [productivity stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/), or processes like [batching tasks](/productivity/batching/). Simply having a frictionless system in place for something means that you’re more likely to do it. This doesn’t directly affect motivation, but nevertheless, it does help you get the task done. A good example of this is a [morning ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/) that acts as a default way to start your day. Simply having it means that you’re more like to follow it and more likely to start your day in a productive state of mind. ### 2\. Hustle culture If this guide was written 10 or 20 years ago hustle culture would not be a common concept. But thanks to the Internet, it is. Hustle culture describes people who are hardcore in their aspirations to do more, be more and outperform others. This could be university students starting businesses while studying, or adults working 9-to-5 and doing a “side hustle” for extra income. My personal take is that hustle culture is the modern-day expression of American individualism and the pursuit of the American dream. I use the word _American dream_ because it is instantly recognisable to most of us — the opportunity for prosperity and success, and a chance at upward mobility. I don’t use it because it is specific to the United States. And as I write this, the American dream has lost some of its shine in the US proper. But thanks to the Internet and social media, it is alive and well in other places, like China, where the “Chinese dream” is — surprise, surprise — about the opportunity for prosperity and success and self-made men and women.[^5] Some people may find hustle culture annoying but it is not a bad thing. Yes, it can be taken to extremes, and that _is_ annoying. **But it is a worthy addition to anyone’s motivational arsenal.** It is great to be around people who hustle. It is great to connect with people who hustle. And it is great to be someone who is doing things, going places, and aspiring to be more and do more.[^6] ### 3\. Sexual transmutation It has been said that the great driving force of civilisation is the human sex drive. This kind-of makes sense, given that our primary needs are to survive and reproduce.[^7] Great works of art, epic volumes of literature, amazing technological advances and entire civilisations have been built out of man’s desire to get laid.[^8] I’ll use the stereotypical example of a modern man to illustrate. He works hard to build his career and make money. He works out to look good. And he does all this to attract the woman of his dreams… even if she won’t give him the time of day at the moment. No. Other. Motivation. Required. It is not an exaggeration to say that a man will expend a **huge** amount of resources and do **whatever it takes** just to get lucky. Now this is interesting in theory, but how does this actually apply in real life to motivation and getting things done? There is a great deal of confusion around sexual transmutation, so let’s make it simple. The process looks like this: - Your biology and upbringing tells you what you are sexually attracted to. - This generates an incredible drive to get with that which you are attracted to. - Instead of wasting this drive through things like pornography or masturbation… - Take a breath, then focus in on the things you want to get done. **i.e., when you feel the urge to chase after someone, have sex with someone or log onto your favourite adult video site… just sit down and do some work instead.** It really is that simple. And if you do this, you’ll find that you have a near-limitless source of motivational fuel for whatever you want. #### A warning Human sexuality is a deep, dark, moist rabbit hole that can lead to existential crises and many questions that should not be asked. It can get really confusing, really dark and you really don’t need to go there. It is more productive and better for your motivation to keep it simple and to use what works. ## The Inner Game of Motivation As with most parts of the time management stack, motivation has an [inner game component](/productivity/). Having a strong inner game for motivation is the foundation for having intrinsic motivation. When your **purpose, identity, values and beliefs** all align, it looks like this: [![Arrows in the Same Direction](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp) Let’s look at each of these pieces and how they affect your motivation. Your **purpose** is something that you should believe in. When this is clear to you, you will find little resistance and incredibly drive in doing things, because they are meaningful to you. Your **identity** supports your purpose. It consists of many pieces, which are covered in this [guide to your personal ops](/productivity/personal-ops/). Your **values** should support your purpose and what you do. If they don’t, they can be changed. Or maybe what you are doing needs to be changed. [You should know what your values are](/productivity/core-values/) and how what you are doing relates to living them. There are literally **hundreds of useful beliefs** that can help with your motivation, and many are dependent on your personality and character. Beliefs are the icing on top of the cake when it comes to motivation — your purpose, identity and values are far more important. Here are some: - I am a generator of energy, not a consumer of it. - Good things tend to happen to me. - The journey **is** the destination. ## Virtues and Motivation [I write a lot about virtues](/productivity/) because I believe that they are important to living the lives that we want in today’s world. Collectively they act as a system for living — for reconciling the different things that we want to be and how we want to live. They are one of your [personal ops documents](/productivity/personal-ops/). With this in mind, some virtues are more important for motivation than others. And these are: - Being inhuman (dark energy). - Brio. - Cheerfulness. - Energetic. - Hyper-competitiveness (a modern virtue). - Responsibility. - Persistence. - Resignation. - Self-efficacy. - Strength. - [Momentum](/productivity/momentum/). - [Right action](/productivity/right-action/). - Resolution. The flip side of virtues are our vices, which you want to avoid. The ones that relate to motivation are: - Excuses. - [Laziness](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). - Desire. - [Excess hedonism](/productivity/excess-hedonism/). - Indulgence. - [Destructive snacking](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/). You may be asking, “This sounds great and all, but how do I actually apply these vices and virtues to be more motivated in my life?”. Here’s what that looks like. Let’s say it’s the end of the workday, around 5pm. You have a choice: You can call it a day and go home, or you can give things another couple of hours to push through and clear a few extra things. This is where you ask yourself: **How do I live virtuously here?** Perhaps you can channel some dark energy and **be inhuman** with the tasks you have to do. Perhaps you want to be the top sales person this month and channel your **hyper-competitiveness** into doing a few more calls. Perhaps you believe strongly in **responsibility** and take that on to push through. Perhaps you **resign** yourself that something absolutely needs to be done today and follow it through to **resolution**. Similarly, when you are not motivated, you can ask what vices you would be committing by not doing something. Are you: - Giving into **excuses**? - Being **lazy**? - Seeking out **desire** and **excess hedonism** instead of being responsible? - **Indulging** yourself? Virtues and vices are not just philosophical or abstract concepts — they are things you can strategically and tactically deploy to generate the motivation needed to do what you need to do, and more. ## What To Do Next This has been a long guide. You’ve learnt about motivation hacks, the structure of motivation, dichotomies, inner game, and even the human sex drive. **How do you apply this right now?** _First,_ sit down and create your own **Reasons Why document** or **Vision Board**. _Second,_ reference the list of **motivation hacks** as you need to. _Third,_ think about the **dichotomies and principles of motivation** presented. As you read over each one, think about how they exist in your own life and provide you with motivation. _Lastly,_ take a look at the systems, processes and models in your life. Start to build the dichotomies and principles of motivation into them so that they generate motivation for you. Most of the systems, processes and models that I write about already have these principles built into them and you can [find them here on the articles page](/articles/). Photos by [Justin Veenema](https://unsplash.com/@justinveenema?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), Alex. [^1]: The same effect is experienced when you attend a personal development seminar or event. [^2]: This is why health and energy is the foundation level of the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/). [^3]: For more, see the Chinese concept of [yin-yang](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Yin_and_yang). [^4]: You can also rely on the other motivation techniques in this beginning phase. [^5]: The American dream is alive. In China. (2018). _The New York Times_. [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/18/world/asia/china-social-mobility.html](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/18/world/asia/china-social-mobility.html) [^6]: If that’s what you want. To be fair, you can be quite happy without any of that. [^7]: Need. (n.d.). In _Wikipedia_. [https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Need](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Need) [^8]: Historically there has been a focus on the male sex drive but let’s chalk that down to a lack of gender equality throughout historical record. More realistically, it is the human non-gender-specific need to reproduce that has built what we have today. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Personal Ops Documents https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/personal-ops/ Your **personal ops documents** represent who you are and the direction of your life at a high level. They collectively form a system for keeping your life in check and on track. You can think of them as the articles of your personal constitution. If you want to pursue a life of your own choosing and making, you need written-down personal ops documents to guide you along the way. Here’s how you can set them up and put them to use. --- ## What Are Personal Ops Documents? Your personal ops documents are a set of documents that work together to describe your life at a high level. [![Personal Ops Documents](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/personal-ops/personal-ops.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/personal-ops/personal-ops.webp) In order of importance, they are: 1. Mission/Purpose. 2. List of values. 3. Reasons why. 4. Select reminders and affirmations. 5. [List of virtues.](/productivity/virtue-system/) 6. List of vices. 7. Long-term vision or vision of tomorrow. 8. Gratitude list. ## Why You Need a Set of Personal Ops Documents Most people wander through life aimlessly. Not only do they not have many goals, but they have no sense of who they are — their personality and identity are simply an arbitrary amalgamation of influences from childhood, their environment and the media. **Having a set of personal ops documents corrects this.** The simple act of writing down these documents brings clarity to who you are, and gives you the ability to easily change what your life looks like. Your personal ops documents also help you organise your life at a high level. They let you reconcile all the things you are and want to be, do, pursue and achieve. They are a systematic and iterable way to incorporate new ideas into the journey of your life as you come across them. They act as a system to help you keep your life in check and on track at a high level. Your personal ops documents also help summarise the high levels of your inner game, or mindset. [![Dilts' Neurological Levels](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inner-game-mindset/dilts-neurological-levels.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inner-game-mindset/dilts-neurological-levels.webp) Your personal ops documents cover your **mission,** **values,** and **identity** (through reasons why, vision, virtues and vices, reminders and affirmations). ## How to Create and Store Your Personal Ops Documents The logical place to store your personal ops documents is in your [personal wiki](/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/) or [journal](/productivity/journals/). Simply go in there and create a new notebook or tag called “personal ops”. Then create one of each of these documents: 1. Mission/Purpose. 2. List of values. 3. Reasons why. 4. Select reminders and affirmations. 5. List of virtues. 6. List of vices. 7. Long-term vision or vision of tomorrow. 8. Gratitude list. Like this: [![Example Personal Ops Documents in Bear](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/personal-ops/personal-ops-documents-in-bear.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/personal-ops/personal-ops-documents-in-bear.webp)
Example Personal Ops Documents in Bear
Here’s what goes in each document. ### 1\. Mission/Purpose Your **mission or purpose** is your entire reason for being. More than anything, it defines who you are. It is also one principle in the [triad of purpose, hedonism and flow](/manifesto/). [Here is my guide to discovering and defining your purpose](/productivity/purpose/). ### 2\. List of values Your **values** are how you aspire to live and conduct yourself. [Here is my guide to discovering and using your core values](/productivity/core-values/). ### 3\. Reasons why Your **reasons why** can be thought of as your motivation page. It is a list of reasons that serve as fuel to you keep going when times are tough, or when you waver from your mission or purpose. The reasons themselves are usually things that have happened in your life that you want to make up for, stop from happening again, or things that you want to happen in your life. You can read more about how to uncover your reasons why in my [guide to motivation](/productivity/motivation/), under Reasons Why. ### 4\. Reminders, affirmations and philosophy This is a document that contains **10-20 select affirmations, maxims or philosophical points** that you choose to live by. For example, here are some of mine:[^1] - Every circumstance in my life is a result of the choices that I have made and I take responsibility for them, and for any future choices that I make. - Today I will have to deal with people who are meddling, ungrateful, dishonest, jealous and surly. They are like this because they do not know good from evil, and it makes no difference — they cannot harm me nor stop me from doing what is right. - Zoom out from myself to the city, country, world, solar system, universe and beyond. Then zoom back in. Observe, do not judge. There is no right or wrong with these, and they sit distinctly separate from your values or reasons why. **They are simply things that you would like to remind yourself of daily.** ### 5\. List of virtues This is the list of **virtues** you choose to live by. [More on virtues here](/productivity/). ### 6\. List of vices This is the list of **vices** you choose to avoid in your life. [More on vices here](/productivity/). ### 7\. Long-term vision or vision of tomorrow This is a unique document — simply sit down and write out what you think your life will look like in five years’ time. Try to be both realistic but also aspirational. By doing so, you will be able to reconcile what you would like to happen with the acceptance that the world may not turn out exactly as you wish. I recommend dividing it up by your [areas of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/). ### 8\. Gratitude list This is a list of five things you are currently grateful for. These will be updated weekly. ## Using Your Personal Ops Documents Your personal ops documents are to be used **every single day**. If you have stored them in your personal wiki or journal, they will sync to your phone, [letting you review them whenever and wherever you are](/productivity/daily-reviews/): - As you eat breakfast. - As you commute to work. - As you wait for your morning coffee. I recommend reading over them both in the morning and in the evening. For the morning, make reading them part of your [morning ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/), alongside your outcomes and goals. If you don’t have a morning ritual, just read over them as early in the day as possible. For example, I usually read mine while I drink my litre of water in the morning. Doing this early sets the tone of the rest of the day and greatly increases the chances of you have an on-point, good and productive day. - Your **mission** reminds you of what you were put on this Earth to do. - Your **values** remind you of how you aspire to be. - Your **reasons why** remind you why it is you do what you do. - Your **reminders/affirmations, virtues, vices and vision** remind you of how you want to live. - And your **gratitude list** brings a moment of reflection and gratitude into your life, every day. In the evening, I recommend reading your personal ops as the first thing in your [evening ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). ### Practical personal ops usage Beyond just having them as reference documents, your personal ops can and should be used practically as well. The **first use** is when you need to make a difficult or major decision — use the various documents in your personal ops to help you make that decision. Your mission/purpose is particularly important for making major decisions. You can simply ask: **Which option best supports my mission and purpose?** And then choose that one. The **second use** is for planning goals across [cascading timeframes](/productivity/cascading-timeframes/). Your personal ops are the highest level of organisation in your life, meaning that they directly influence your long-term goals and your standards. In doing so, they also influence and guide your medium-term and short-term goals. The **third practical use** for your personal ops is to refer to your lists of vices and virtues daily as [part of your daily review](/productivity/journals/). By checking in on your virtues and vices daily, you can use them as a system for living the way you want. ## Review and Maintenance of Your Personal Ops You may write your personal ops documents for the first time now, but the contents won’t always be the same for the rest of your life. To review and maintain them, all you need to do is sit down for a few minutes, read over each document and decide if it needs to be updated (or not). The best way to do this is with [cascading timeframes](/productivity/cascading-timeframes/). In particular:
TimeframeReview
WeeklyGratitude list
QuarterlyVision of tomorrow
Reasons why
Reminders, affirmations and philosophy
AnnuallyMission/Purpose
Values
Adhoc
(As Needed)		Virtues
Vices
Any document if you've undergone a major life change
## What To Do Next It’s time to set up your own personal ops documents, namely your: - Mission/Purpose. - List of values. - Reasons why. - Reminders, affirmations and philosophy. - List of virtues. - List of vices. - Long-term vision. - Gratitude list. Once you’ve done that, make sure that they flow downwards and align with [your standards](/productivity/standards/), [your goals](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/) and [your journal entries](/productivity/journals/). [^1]: Observant readers will note that these are influenced by Stoicism. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Your Complete Guide to Cascading Timeframes https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/cascading-timeframes/ Cascading Timeframes is a model for thinking of and seeing the world in terms of time. It is a model for seeing your life as a continuum of time, with each given moment linking to past moments and leading to future moments. **Cascading timeframes lets you work out what you should be doing now, in a week’s time and even far off into the future.** Here’s how it works. --- ## What Are Cascading Timeframes? The Cascading Timeframes model looks like this: [![Cascading Timeframes Model](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/cascading-timeframes/cacading-timeframes-model.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/cascading-timeframes/cacading-timeframes-model.webp) Everything at the top level “cascades” or flows downwards towards the lower levels. This means that your [purpose](/productivity/purpose/), mission, identity and [values](/productivity/core-values/) all influence your long-term planning, which influences your next three years, one year and so on.[^1] **It means that what you do on any given day should be informed by and help you work towards what you want to be doing at higher timeframes.** The simplest example of this is with your goals: - Your purpose informs your long-term goals. - Your long-term goals inform your three-year goals. - Your three-year goals inform your annual goals. - Your annual goals inform your quarterly goals. - Your quarterly goals inform your monthly goals. - Your monthly goals inform your weekly goals. - And your weekly goals tell you what you should be doing today. Another straightforward example would be a personal or work project. If you have something you know should be done within a year, be it building a new outdoor deck or developing a new app for launch, you know that you can work backwards by quarter and months until you know where to start today. ## Why Are Cascading Timeframes Important? ![Why Are Cascading Timeframes Important?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/cascading-timeframes/why-cascading-timeframes.webp) Cascading timeframes are important because understanding the model gives you the **ability to think in terms of time**. This is (unfortunately) not something that most people can do. But once you learn how to do it, you will find that you can estimate what you need to be doing next week, next month and more with incredible ease. You will be able to see how what you do (or don’t do) today will impact things in one week and further down the line. Once you can do this, it means that _you will be able to readjust your day-to-day to make sure that you are doing things that contribute to the grander scheme of your life_. This means more productivity, more efficiency and less time wasted. You’ll also be able to work out what to do next with preternatural clarity. This results in better planning, better prioritisation and better organisation. And all these things can be considered [virtues](/productivity/virtues/). Thinking in terms of cascading timeframes also means that we are exercising our rationality as human beings, which is a good thing. It is also humbling to be able to remind yourself that what happens in the next five minutes will both add to the greater whole of your life... and is at the same time not _that_ important. ## Why Do Most People Not Think in Terms of Timeframes? ![Why Do Most People Not Think in Terms of Cascading Timeframes?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/cascading-timeframes/no-cascading-timeframes-thinking.webp) Most people don’t think in terms of cascading timeframes. This is because planning is typically hard for human beings, and isn’t something that is effectively taught in our education systems. It’s also because as human beings we tend to run on emotions. We make decisions in the here and now, and use emotions as the basis for what we want to do. We want that pizza **now**. We want to _not_ go to the gym **now**. We want to go out **now** because it sounds like fun, rather than getting a full night of sleep. Part of it is also that people don’t want to face the likely painful realisation that they can’t have everything they want _right now_.[^2] Modern culture tends to lean towards instant gratification and having more of everything — but the truth is you usually have to wait for a bit. There are many things that just take planning and consistent action to get, and the idea of that is a lot less interesting than being able to have it right now. ## How You Can Apply Cascading Timeframes in Your Life ![Applying Cascading Timeframes](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/cascading-timeframes/apply-cascading-timeframes.webp) The easiest way to learn and start to apply cascading timeframes in your life is by example. A couple of simple systems based on cascading timeframes that I’ve written about are: - [My journalling system](/productivity/journals/). - [Strategic planning for businesses](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/). The most straightforward application of cascading timeframes is in a business or professional setting, where you will simply be planning projects or work until it is completed. In your personal life, you can start by recognising what you can and can’t do in a given timeframe and how that affects future timeframes. This gives you the ability to realistically assess situations and make rational decisions for what to do today, this week, this month or longer. For example, I know from (painful) personal experience that moving and setting up for full productivity in a new city takes _at least one month_ of crazy logistical running around, and _about three months_ before I’m fully “settled in”. Once you start having some understanding of the model, you can get more granular and combine it with the [areas of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/) model. When you do this you can start to ask questions like: - What will my health look like in three months? - What will my finances look like in three years? You can also apply the model against anything that you learn. Say you learn a new productivity technique or a professional skill. Using the cascading timeframes model, you can work out both how much time it will take you to acquire that skill/technique, and also when you will start to see results from using it. ## What To Do Next The Cascading Timeframes model is not difficult in-and-of itself — you just need to practice and use it to learn it. Photos by [BENCE BOROS](https://unsplash.com/@benceboros?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Dose Media](https://unsplash.com/@dose?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), John Schnobrich, [Mike Kononov](https://unsplash.com/@mikofilm?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: These collectively are your [Personal Ops](/productivity/personal-ops/) and [inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/). [^2]: Which in and of itself is a realisation of our own mortality and fragility. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Why You Need to Turn Off All Your Notifications Now https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/notifications/ I have a confession to make. Sometimes, when I’m working, I leave my phone on the table, screen up. And when the screen lights up, my eyes dart over from whatever I’m doing to see what it is. And in that split second, my brain is happy — it’s getting its daily mandated shot of dopamine. But then something interesting happens. Depending on what’s on the screen though, my mood changes. If it’s a calendar reminder, my brain is neutral. If it’s a message from say an attractive lady friend, my brain fires off happiness — and a bit an ego bump. If it’s spam, my brain is annoyed. This is what app notifications do to us: **They hijack our attention and mess with our brain chemistry.** And this is why I believe that we should all be living notification-free. Do we _really_ need to know the split second someone presses like on one of our photos? And how on earth did people survive when they had to wait _six weeks_ for snail mail to arrive by boat? If we cut down our distractions and app-based notifications, just maybe, we will be able to… - Get more things done. - [Reclaim our attention](/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/). - Actually focus on what we’re doing. - Do more [deep and meaningful work](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). - Be [less stressed out](/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/) by things that steal our attention. - Restore some sanity into our busy, modern lives. --- ## What’s the Problem With Notifications Anyway? ![The problem with notifications](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/notifications/problem-with-notifications.webp) When phones became smartphones and we started to get apps on them, notifications were relatively benign. They started off as us wanting to know when people called or messaged us, and this was OK. But as with most technologies, there was a commercial aspect to it. And we went from receiving notifications about phone calls and messages to notifications about people liking our posts, reminders to purchase more in-game currency, or advertisements, spam and sales and marketing materials we didn’t opt into. All these things are designed to co-opt our **attention**. Like it or not these things seem here to stay, and the best approach is to turn off as many of them as possible so that we can go back to the benefits of no (or minimal) notifications. **This is not just theory** — it’s something I have taught to team members in companies I’ve run, and something that I teach to clients. It cannot be overstated how much more productive we are as knowledge workers when we aren’t being flooded with beeps, buzzes and red popup bubbles all day. ## How to Systematically Turn Off Your Notifications There are two options to turn off your notifications. One, you can go for the nuclear option and **just turn all of them off**. I don’t actually recommend this because there are some notifications that you **do** want to get. Two, you can do it systematically in stages and reduce your notifications to a **minimal setting**. Let’s look at how to do that. [![Minimising Notifications](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/notifications/minimising-notifications.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/notifications/minimising-notifications.webp) ### 1\. Select your devices The **first thing** you want to do is tally up the devices where you receive your notifications. This is usually: 1. Your phone. 2. Your computer. 3. Your tablet. 4. Your watch. Your tablet and watch notifications will usually mirror those of your phone. ### 2\. Set up your notification rules The **second thing** you want to do is to have some rules for what you want to be notified about, and what you _don’t_ want to be notified about. Here are my personal rules. You should be notified about: 1. Calls. 2. Messages, across all your messaging apps. 3. [Calendar appointments](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/). 4. Things that require your attention for a brief but urgent timespan, e.g., rideshare or food delivery messages. You should not be notified about: 1. [Task list reminders,](/productivity/personal-task-management/) as you should be _pulling_ those by referring to the app regularly. 2. Anything that’s just entertainment, including your streaming apps, games etc. 3. Any social media updates, likes, comments and so on. This is a big one that many people are unwilling to give up, and will even rationalise that it’s important “for work”. The better approach here is to _pull_ these notifications by checking the app on your computer as part of your work. 4. Any website push notifications. 5. Email. [The better approach here is to pull email](/productivity/effective-email-management/), rather than push it. ### 3\. Get granular with your notifications The **third thing** you want to do is to get granular with your notification setup. On iOS, this would mean deciding between banners, badges, notification centre alerts or lock screen alerts. For example, for my task manager I allow notification badges so I can see how many things I have due today, but I disallow actual banners or alerts as reminders. _Tip: Don’t use badges for email._ You can also go into each app and **mute certain types of notifications within the app**. For example, a lot of international messaging apps like WeChat or LINE will allow business accounts that send out commercial messages. You can choose to mute these so you won’t be notified when you receive them, but will continue to be notified for messages from friends and family. Another example would be LinkedIn or Twitter, which both give you granular controls for receiving DM notifications but muting updates and follows. If you are unsure about whether to allow notifications from a particular app or not, I would recommend turning them **off** to begin with. If down the line you discover that you need them, you can turn them back on again. ## The Next Level of Going Notification-Free Once you have set up your personal rules and system for managing notifications, you can take it to the [next level](/productivity/next-level-productivity/) by going notification-free while doing [deep work](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). **This very simply means putting your phone somewhere else and on Do Not Disturb when you are working.** ## What To Do Next Going notification-free isn’t meant to be complicated. It’s something you can do **right now** and immediately see a tremendous improvement in the quality of your life and attention. For more on managing your attention and distractions, you can read about: - [Doing deep work](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). - [Eliminating distractions and reclaiming your attention](/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/). - [Eliminating destructive snacking in your life](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/). - [How to work remotely and remain productive](/business/remote-working/). - [Push-Pull Notifications and Communications](/productivity/push-pull/). --- Photos by [Prateek Katyal](https://unsplash.com/@prateekkatyal?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Tsahi Levent-Levi](https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Goal Getting: Turn Your Goals Into Systems to Achieve Them https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/goal-getting/ Three percent (3%) of people set goals. Of that three percent, only eight percent (8%) of them actually do some form of **goal getting** so that they achieve their goals. It’s one thing to want something. It’s another to systematically work out a way to get it. Here’s a system to turn your goals from the things you want into the things you actually achieve. _Bonus: I put together a printable goal getting worksheet that you can download here for free. Just enter your name and email address below for the download link._ **Free: Goal Getting Worksheet** — Get the Goal Getting Worksheet — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/goal-getting/ --- ## How Most People “Break Down” Goals ![How Most People “Break Down” Goals](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/goal-getting/normal-break-down-goals.webp) The popular advice given by pretty much everyone is to “break down your goals into smaller goals”. And so people try this, and it usually looks like this: - I want to lose 10 kg, so… - I’ll lose 1 kg first, then 2 kg, then 3 kg and so on. Or maybe: - This project has 20 different parts to it. - So I’ll do part 1, then part 2, then part 3 and so on. What most people are doing is they are breaking down their larger goal into smaller units of measurement or smaller action steps. This is not bad. **But I believe that we can do better.** ## Goal Getting: A Different Approach to Achieving Goals Rather than simply breaking down our goals into smaller units or smaller action steps, we can take a different approach. And we do this by **turning our goals into systems**. _Note: You still have to start with [good goal setting](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/)._ [![Goal Getting System](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/goal-getting/goal-getting-system.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/goal-getting/goal-getting-system.webp) This **goal getting system** has six parts. **1\. Identify the area of life your goal sits in.** Every single goal will sit in one or more [areas of your life](/productivity/areas-of-life/): - Wealth. - Health. - Social. - Relationships. - Learning/Growth. - Play. It may sit in more than one area. If it’s a work goal, it’s related to your career and thus sits in the wealth area. **2\. Ask why you want this goal.** This step acts as a bit of an ecology check and also helps you clarify the _intention_ and [_purpose_](/productivity/purpose/) behind your goal. It gives your subconscious mind reasons to motivate you, and also helps your intuition work out what to do, thus increasing your probability of achieving the goal. **3\. Work out your factors of input.** Goal getting is a system, and the factors that contribute to the goal are the inputs. Factors are essentially things that you have (resources) or that you can do (actions) to increase your chances of achieving the goal. Some of these will be [under your control](/productivity/locus-of-control/) and some will not. You can even break down these factors into smaller factors and skew _those_ towards achieving your goal as well. **4\. Run the process of achieving the goal.** The process is the middle part of the goal getting system and it usually means giving something time or a number of tries. **5\. Measure the output.** The degree of success that you have in achieving your goal is the output of the goal getting process. **6\. Assess and iterate.** If you liked the output in step #5, then you don’t need to do anything else. If you didn’t, then it’s time to take a step back and assess your goal getting system — then make adjustments, and [run the system again](/productivity/agility-iterations/). ## Examples of Goal Getting Systems for Achieving Your Goals Let’s look at a couple of content examples to see how goal getting can work. ### Example 1: Weight loss ![Example 1: Weight Loss](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/goal-getting/example-weight-loss.webp) The traditional approach to weight loss is usually some variation of “I want to lose 5 kg” and then picking a diet and eating it until the goal is reached. But then what? Do you go back to your old eating habits? And what do you do next? A goal getting systems approach breaks the weight loss goal down even more and turns it into a system that works **forever**. Here’s how it looks step-by-step. **1\. Area.** Weight loss in the **health** area of life. **2\. Ask why.** This will be highly individual, but it could be: - Look good in clothes / fit into clothes. - Healthier bodyweight. - Healthier fat percentage. - Losing weight for a particular event (wedding, competition weigh-in etc). These whys will tell you what factors you need to pay attention to in the next step. **3\. Identify input factors.** There are a multitude of factors for weight loss. Here are some: - Diet. - Exercise. - Energy levels. There’s no point losing weight if you’re too tired to do anything with the results. - Mindset and motivation. - Support network. It is incredibly helpful to have supportive friends and family who understand your change in diet and [habits](/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/). It can also be helpful to have professionals like a trainer, doctor or nutritionist on-hand. Instead of just looking at one factor (weight in kilograms), you can look at all the factors above and adjust them _all together_ to achieve the goal faster. This could mean combining a **sustainable diet** with **adequate exercise levels** and using **energy levels and scale weight** as a measurement. It could also be doing some **inner game work** to work out what your weight loss journey will look like and how you will sustain it once you’ve reached your goal. When you put all these factors together, you have the beginnings of a weight loss or weight maintenance system for the rest of your life. **4\. Run the process.** Once you’ve worked out and set up the input factors, it’s time to run the process. For weight loss and most health-related things what you really need is time and food/exercise consistency, and to let your body make the adjustments. **5\. Measure the output.** After running your system you want to track and measure the output, in this case scale weight in kilograms. **6\. Assess and iterate.** After running the system for enough time, you can track your results and then adjust. Perhaps you need more exercise. Perhaps you need less food. Perhaps you need more sleep. Whatever it is, you make adjustments to your input factors and then run the process again. The great thing about this approach is that it also helps you establish a baseline for your results. What this means is that after you’ve achieved your particular weight loss goal, you know how to work out what to do next. You will know which factors to adjust to keep losing kilograms — or how to maintain your results. ### Example 2: Finding someone to date ![Example 2: Finding someone to date](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/goal-getting/example-dating.webp) For a completely different example, say you want to find someone to date. And maybe a long-term relationship and marriage is on the table. What do most people normally do here? They: - Have a super-detailed list of “ideal qualities in a partner” and try to find that in someone. - They get introduced or somehow meet people and go on dates. Maybe once a month. - Perhaps they hook up. - Something the other person does doesn’t meet their detailed list, so they’re disappointed. - They rinse and repeat this process month after month after month. A goal getting systems approach would be different. Here’s what it could look like. **1\. Area.** Dating and relationships sits in the relationships part of your life. **2\. Ask why.** In the example above, the “goal” is a long-term relationship with perhaps more as an option down the line. But because this is relationships, there will also be other reasons that vary from person-to-person: - Companionship. - Attachment (healthy or otherwise). - Physical affection. - Social status. - Etc. **3\. Identify input factors.** Nothing sounds less romantic than “identifying your input factors for dating” but here we go. Some things that matter for this particular goal would be: - Your level of attractiveness as perceived by others. - Your mindset around relationships. This is your approach to things like intimacy, vulnerability, non-neediness, attachment styles etc. - The dating market you find yourself in. i.e., who’s available around you. - What you want in your future partner (list of qualities). - Pure numbers. This is the number of people you meet, and the number of people you go on dates (and more) with. - Your network, if you want to meet people through friends or people you already know. It’s worth noting **which of these factors are under your control** and **which are not**. These are under your control: - Level of attractiveness. This is how you dress, how you present yourself, how physically fit you are. - Mindset around relationships. - List of qualities. - Asking for introductions. - The number of people you meet. Some people may say “but I can’t change THAT”… well, you can. It may take time, but most of the input factors into dating _are_ changeable and _are_ under your control.[^1] The main factor that isn’t really under your control is other people’s reactions to you. No matter how much our inner teenager would like it to be so, we just can’t wish others into falling in love with us 😶. **4\. Run the process.** Finding a person to have a relationship with is a process, not a single destination. And you have to run the process… meaning you have to meet lots of people and go on a lot of dates.[^2] A lot of this is just pure numbers and probabilities. If someone goes on one date a month, they meet twelve people a year. If another person goes on _twelve_ dates a month, they meet _one hundred and forty-four_ people a year. Who do you think has the greater chance of meeting someone compatible with their list of qualities? And more than that, who do you think will have a more realistic assessment of what is actually important on their list of qualities… and not? **5\. Measure the output.** The output for this goal is straightforward: Did you find someone to date, or not? **6\. Assess and iterate.** This final step is where having a goal getting system really pays off. In a more traditional approach, if you’re disappointed with a date you really just try again. But if you look at it systematically, **you make an adjustment to your system (iterate),** _and then_ you try again. This could mean adjusting how you dress. It could be adjusting the type of dates you go on. It could be adjusting where you meet new people. It could be adjusting your list of qualities.[^3] ## What To Do Next Goal getting is a system for turning your systems into goals and actually achieving your goals: ![Goal Getting System](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/goal-getting/goal-getting-system.webp) Take a goal, and run it through the system. Iterate until you get it. And then enjoy having a system that can consistently produce results in that area of your life, forever! To get started, download my free, printable goal getting worksheet here: **Free: Goal Getting Worksheet** — Get the Goal Getting Worksheet — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/goal-getting/ In case you missed it, you can read about [how to set effective goals here](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/), and [how to discover your purpose here](/productivity/purpose/). Photos by [Ashtyn Renee](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ashtynrenee/), [Helena Lopes](https://unsplash.com/@wildlittlethingsphoto?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Daniel Park](https://unsplash.com/@qkrwngh13?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Danielle Cerullo](https://unsplash.com/@dncerullo?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: In a way, getting this goal is more of a journey into self-improvement. [^2]: And hey, that can actually be pretty fun! [^3]: It may not be politically correct, but if you get along better with people from a certain place, culture, with a certain type of job or anything else... then why NOT focus on just those people? You like what you like. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Law of Diminishing Returns: Sprint, Don't Run Marathons https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/law-of-diminishing-returns/ Ever feel guilty about leaving work early? As you sit there under the fluorescent lights and tap away at your keyboard, and think about how it’s dark outside and everyone else is at home having dinner… you can’t help but wonder: Why can’t you seem to just “finish this” and go home? The reason we can’t complete what we are working on after hours of working on it, is because of the **law of diminishing returns** when it comes to our work and productivity. Here’s how the law works and what we can do instead. --- ## The Laws of Diminishing Returns and Diminishing Marginal Utility [![Law of Diminishing Returns](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/law-of-diminishing-returns/law-of-diminishing-returns.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/law-of-diminishing-returns/law-of-diminishing-returns.webp) The **law of diminishing returns** is where there is a decrease in the marginal/incremental output of a production process as a single factor of production is increased. That’s the geeky systems definition. A simple example would be using iron to make widgets. As you input more iron, you don’t output widgets at the same pace — in fact, you output fewer widgets per unit of iron over time. A personal example would be the work that we do. Putting more and more time into a singular piece of work without taking a break or doing anything else results in the quality (“output”) of that work going down. In other words, it’s really hard to produce meaningful work towards the end of an eight-hour cram session. Why does this happen? Why do we get diminishing returns? In economics, the standard explanation is that there are inefficiencies in the system, or overcrowding on the production line. The machine that turns iron into widgets only works _so fast_. If you keep feeding it iron, it can’t keep up. A similar concept is the **law of diminishing marginal utility**. This is best illustrated with pizza 🍕. If I give you a slice of pizza (🍕), you’ll get some enjoyment (“utility”) out of eating it. And then I give you a second slice (🍕 🍕). You also enjoy that. But then I keep giving you slices. By your fifth slice (🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕) you are (hopefully) quite satisfied. By your tenth slice (🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕) you’re starting to feel a little full and politely declining. By your twentieth slice (🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕) you’re probably yelling expletives and asking if anyone else would like some pizza. Your body’s ability to process and enjoy pizza goes down with each slice that you eat. That’s the law of diminishing marginal utility, and for our purposes it is the same as the law of diminishing returns: **you can’t keep adding time into something productive you want to do, and expect the same level of results or utility from it.** ## How the Law of Diminishing Returns and Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility Work in Productivity ![How the Law of Diminishing Returns and Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility Work in Productivity](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/law-of-diminishing-returns/diminishing-returns-mariginal-utility-hours.webp) When we talk about productivity and work we’re referring to the idea of a [productivity stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/), where you input resources, use leverage and process, and get productive output. Say you’re writing something 📝. Like the pizza, if you write for an hour that’s great. A second hour is also great. A third hour is probably OK. A fourth hour is a bit meh. By the fifth or sixth hour, you are likely writing drivel… which means you have to go back later and _spend even more time_ correcting it. This applies to almost any kind of work, not just writing. I’ve seen it in both myself and in others who do knowledge work — artists, coders, content creators and of course, professionals. You can’t just sit there and throw hours at something and expect to maintain any kind of quality output. Here’s the systems explanation of why this happens in productivity. [![Diminishing Returns in Productivity](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/law-of-diminishing-returns/diminishing-returns-productivity-system.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/law-of-diminishing-returns/diminishing-returns-productivity-system.webp) The input into our work-producing system is time. It is our “single factor of production”. Our system processes this time to produce quality work. And as we input more time, we find out that our ability to produce quality work goes down. This is because for something like knowledge work, _there is more than one factor of production_. We have to account for the _other_ resources in the productivity stack, such as **attention, energy and willpower**. We can linearly input time, but we cannot linearly input attention, energy and willpower. **You need to stop and rest and recover those resources,** which is impossible to do if you are working nonstop. Here’s an oversimplified mathematical explanation. For our first hour of work, if you input: - 1 hour of time. - 1 unit of attention. - 1 unit of willpower. - 1 unit of energy. **You output 1 unit of quality work as an average.** Now in your second hour, you have fewer of each resource, so you input: - 1 hour of time. - 0.9 units of attention. - 0.8 units of willpower. - 1 unit of energy. **And you output 0.93 units of quality work as an average.** That’s the law of diminishing returns applied to productivity. The more linear hours you put in, the lower the output of quality work becomes. Which means you’ll have to spend more time later editing and correcting your work. ## What This Means for How We Work: Don’t Run Marathons ![Don’t Run Marathons](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/law-of-diminishing-returns/dont-run-marathons.webp) _What this means is that our current cultural obsession with working insane hours, sucks._ Putting eighty, ninety, one hundred hours or more hours a week into work does not produce great work. To borrow from sports, **we are supposed to be sprinting and resting, not running marathons with our work**. I know. We read about startup founders sleeping at the office and working one hundred hour weeks. And some of us work in companies where it’s expected that everyone stays back as late as the workaholic boss. But most people don’t _really_ comprehend the reality of working one hundred hours a week. One hundred hours a week is a little over **fourteen hours a day**. Here’s what it _actually_ looks like: - You can’t have a commute. - You eat every meal at your desk or are on one meal a day. - You probably won’t shower most days. - You can only sleep about six hours a day. - You basically live at your work desk. You’re sitting there from 9am to 11pm every single day. - You need others to bring you a change of clothes, do your laundry, household chores etc. Now barring [a genetic mutation that lets you sleep only a few hours a day](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/BHLHE41#DEC2-P385R), most people cannot do this and still function. This is not to say that you can’t work overtime and put in the hours when it’s needed. It’s saying that our societal expectation that people do this regularly is not realistic. Yes, [hard work is important](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). And [the raw hours you put into something are important](/productivity/time-tracking/). But you are better off cutting hours from unproductive things and optimising the hours that you _already_ put into something than simply putting more raw hours in. How can we do this? By treating our work as sprinting. ## A Better Way to Work: Sprint and Rest ![Sprint and Rest](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/law-of-diminishing-returns/sprint-rest.webp) When it comes to modern day work, we are meant to act like sprinters, not marathon runners. This means that we go hard — then we rest. _We focus on the outcome, not the output._ We get the important things done with quality, and don’t concern ourselves with the number of raw hours that we put in. So what does **sprinting and resting** look like? The idea comes from agile practices like SCRUM. You may work hard for six hours in the morning, then take a break. And then you come back for a shorter second wind of three-to-four hours. It means that you rest as you need to during the day, that you get enough sleep at night and you don’t stress over having to work every single minute of the day… or stay back late at work. It means that you give your body time to recover the other resources you need to create quality work — attention, willpower and energy. You can also apply the concept to longer timeframes. If you’re working on a project with a fast-approaching deadline, you may put in the long days of say 8am-9pm in the office for a couple of weeks. But then you recover by taking a couple of days off when the project is over, and go back to a lighter 9am-5pm or 10am-6pm. ### Optimisation and systems: More on sprinting and resting [![Optimisation and Systems](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/law-of-diminishing-returns/optimisation-systems.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/law-of-diminishing-returns/optimisation-systems.webp) If we want to go deeper into how we can make sprinting and resting work for us, **we can optimise the time that we do spend sprinting**. This means we intelligently **[prioritise the tasks](/productivity/task-prioritisation/)** that we do based on the resources that we have available. This means we do the hardest things or the things that require the highest quality output, _first_. And we leave the things where we don’t really need large amounts of attention, willpower or energy for later. For a modern knowledge worker, this could mean doing highly technical or creative work the first thing when they are their freshest, and leaving the administrative or “data entry” work for later. We should also be **using our systems as a form of leverage** to help us sprint and rest. This could be as simple as using a computer or code to help us identify errors — e.g., spell check or automated testing. It could also be something like having another person review our work when we’re done with it.[^1] ## What To Do Next You now know how the laws of diminishing return and diminishing marginal utility work with respect to your productivity. You know that it’s OK to work hard, then take a break — and not feel guilty about it at all. This means you can be more productive and less worried about having to work all the time. And you know that when you are ready, you can sprint, rest, and then go deeper into prioritisation and using systems as leverage. If you want to explore the concept of productivity more, you can read [my guide to the productivity stack here](/productivity/time-management-stack/). If you want to explore the concepts of systems more, you can read [my guide to systems thinking here](/productivity/systems-thinking/) or [grab a free copy of _Evolution_ here](/manifesto/). Photo by [ivan Torres](https://unsplash.com/@iavnt?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Simon](https://unsplash.com/@silotis?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Ray Hennessy](https://unsplash.com/@rayhennessy?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Suzuha Kozuki](https://unsplash.com/@innocentrip?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: This is a great practice for all companies to implement actually. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Essential Time Management Tools and Technology https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/time-management-tools/ What time management tools and technology basics do you actually need to be productive? It’s surprisingly few. In fact, you likely already have most of the time management tools you need. You just need to see how they work within the various levels of the time management stack. --- ## A Quick Recap of the Time Management Stack If you haven’t read my [guide to the time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) yet, here’s a quick overview. [![The Time Management Stack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp) Your **health and energy** are the foundation level of the stack and enable everything else. In this sense, the first “time management tool” you need is yourself. Your **inner game and mindset** describe how you think about things, like your purpose, your values, [your motivation](/productivity/motivation/), your beliefs and sense of play. Your **systems** are what most people think of as “time management tools”, but they are really just the artefacts that let you be more productive. The top two levels are the **people in your life** and the **small time management hacks** that add an extra percent of productivity here and there. When we talk about time management tools, we are really talking about the tools or technology that help us optimise the different levels of the stack, with the aim of getting more done in less time, with fewer resources. ## A Quick Aside: There’s Probably an App for That Software used to be highly dependent on what kind of hardware you had but that's no longer the case. There are literally millions of apps in existence and more are released every day. In terms of time management tools, you need both devices and apps… _but you don’t need that many of them_. A few key pieces of hardware and a few select categories of applications will be enough for most people. ## Time Management Tools That You Actually Need Let’s look at hardware (devices) first, then software (apps). ### Devices for time management [![Devices for time management](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-tools/time-management-devices.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-tools/time-management-devices.webp) You need four physical “devices” for effective time management: 1. A computer. 2. A phone. 3. A fast Internet connection. 4. Pen and paper. #### Computer I consider computers to still be essential for making the most of your time. Both laptops and desktops are fine. Why a computer still? We’re not at the point yet where you can replace everything a computer does with your phone. Strangely enough, a physical keyboard and mouse is still the most efficient input mechanism we have. And yes, there are phone/tablet version of most of the apps we use nowadays but _most_ of them are still more powerful on a computer than on a phone.[^1] Doing any kind of creative work — writing, video editing, audio remastering, coding — is more efficient on a computer. Anything that requires basic multitasking is faster on a computer. And because it is faster and more efficient, it saves you time. Just think about putting your CV together in PDF format. This is super, super easy on a computer. It is much more complicated on a phone. I happen to live in a country that is mobile-first and where most families don’t have a laptop or desktop at home. Yes, people somehow make it work.[^2] But I have no doubt that it takes them _many more steps_ and _much more time_ than someone sitting in front of a laptop. A computer will help you with almost every level of the time management stack. You can track your health in spreadsheets. You can write at-length about your mindset and beliefs. And you can work out and set up your systems and apps on computer.[^3] #### Phone/Smartphone Smartphones have been nothing short of revolutionary for time management. It’s hard to overstate just how amazing these things are. If you are old enough, you may remember that people used to carry around diaries, organiser folios and phone cards… or if they were more technologically-inclined, [Palm Pilots](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/PalmPilot). All of this has been set aside and replaced with one ubiquitous device that pretty much does everything, and has infinite expandability with the thousands of apps available. Like your computer, your phone helps you with every aspect of the time management stack. You can access your systems (journals, task manager, schedule) on your phone. You can contact people and [delegate work](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/) through messaging apps. And you can track various parts of your health using apps and sensors. #### Fast Internet I have a rule for when it comes to setting up an office or moving house: **Always get the fastest internet you can**. Almost everything we do has an online component nowadays, and waiting for files to upload or webpages to load slows us down. Most people want faster connections so that they can stream movies or play games lag-free, which is fine. But faster internet also means less friction in everything else that you do and that means more time saved. #### Pen and Paper Despite most time management tools being technological in nature today, pen and paper still has its place. Most productivity experts, creatives and even technical workers find that a simple notebook and pen is still the best go-to for brainstorming and thinking. You don’t need anything fancy here. A basic notebook and pen is enough. You don’t need to splurge for something leather-bound or with fancy layouts unless you really want to. ### Apps and software for time management [![Apps and software for time management](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-tools/time-management-apps.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-tools/time-management-apps.webp) There is no one “killer app” that helps with your entire time management stack. Instead, there are multiple categories of apps that work together to make you more productive. The first is a **[journal and personal wiki](/productivity/journals/)**. I consider journal entries to be the great unifier when it comes to working out what you want/need to do in life and how you are going to do it. The second is a **[calendar app](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/)**. You need this to keep appointments and to plan your days. The third is a **[task management app](/productivity/personal-task-management/)**. Yes, this is essential. I have no idea how people stay organised and get things done without lists of some sort. The fourth are your **messaging, communication and social network apps**. These are different country and social group. Find the ones that your friends and contacts use and have them. _Tip: Learn to [control the granular notifications](/productivity/notifications/) within each app._ All these apps are kept neatly in sync between your phone and computer using [cloud services](/business/cloud-infrastructure-business-owners/). ## Time Management Tools That Are “Nice to Have” [![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-tools/time-management-nice-to-haves.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-tools/time-management-nice-to-haves.webp) The list of time management tools you actually need a presented above is fairly short. They are the twenty percent that makes up eighty percent of the results in your time management stack. There are also time management tools that are "nice to have", but by no means essential to being productive. ### 1\. Tablet You’re not going to see much in terms of time management from a tablet. It’s mostly there for reading and entertainment and _maybe_ short business trips. For the cost of a high-end tablet, you’re better off purchasing a low-cost notebook. _Exception: Illustrators who need to draw freehand._ ### 2\. Smartwatch/Fitness tracker A smartwatch or fitness tracker can be a great tool for the health and energy level of the time management stack… **if** you actually analyse and take action based on the data it provides. Otherwise, it’s just a glorified message notification system. ### 3\. Time tracking application I know it’s not for everyone, but I _love_ [time tracking](/productivity/time-tracking/). I think it’s the single most illuminating thing people can try in terms of time management, and will help you get more out of your time than anything else. But it’s not for everyone. ### 4\. Noise-cancelling wireless headphones Now we’re getting into the “hacks” level of the time management stack. Wireless noise-cancelling headphones are a nice-to-have time management tool. They can help you focus in noisy office environments or where you want to use a certain type of music to help you get into the right headspace. ### 5\. Speciality time management apps There are hundreds of specialty time management apps for [pomodoro timers](/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/), attention reminders, [doing deep work](/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/) and so on. These are all “nice to have” time management tools. They are not the foundation of effective time management and are more the sprinkling on top of an already effective stack. ### 6\. Other physical productivity tools There are also hundreds of physical productivity/time management tools out there. This could be special work chairs, second monitors, blue-light blocking glasses, smart lighting and everything in-between. Like the apps, these are nice-to-haves. It may not be ideal working on your kitchen table with an unergonomic laptop in bad lighting, but you can still get things done. ## Putting All Your Time Management Tools Together You have your computer, phone, and pen and paper. Your computer and phone have internet connections, and the same journal, calendar, task management and messaging apps on both. The cloud keeps them in sync. And that’s pretty much all you need to put your time management tools together and make them work for you. ## What To Do Next Make sure that you have the basic time management tools and apps that you need. And then learn to use them! You can read more about: - [The time management stack.](/productivity/time-management-stack/) - [How to use journals.](/productivity/journals/) - [How to use your calendar.](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/) - [How to set up your task manager.](/productivity/personal-task-management/) - [How to use technology to your advantage.](/life/technology/) - [Using the right tools for the right purpose.](/productivity/right-tool-right-purpose/) Photo by [Christopher Gower](https://unsplash.com/@cgower?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Though a few like short video editing apps are more powerful on phones. [^2]: Usually by using the computers and printers at their work. [^3]: I don’t want to even imagine trying to set up a task manager on a phone. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Becoming Rock Solid: A Guide to Emotional Stability and Reserve https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/ Ever have one of those days where it just seems like there’s a dark cloud hanging over everything you do? You feel a bit stressed, a bit worried, a bit anxious. Minor things in your everyday life remind you of bad things that have happened in the past, and how they weigh heavily on you. Life is not all rainbows and unicorns, and sometimes bad things do happen to good people. What makes a difference, is in how you handle it afterwards: **Do you become rock solid and develop emotional stability, reserve and resilience?** Or do you let it hold you back from the rest of your life? _Disclaimer: I am neither a therapist nor a licensed mental health professional. Please seek out professional advice and opinions._ --- ## Why You Need to Be Rock Solid ![Why You Need to Become Rock Solid](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/why-rock-solid.webp) Getting a handle on your worries and negative emotions is important. Becoming “rock solid” with your emotions is important. **Serious question: Who doesn’t want to make their life a little more tolerable (and perhaps even enjoyable) before passing into the next one?** If you don’t handle your worries, anxieties and stress, they find ways to express themselves in your life… and often in really strange ways. You end up with bad inner game and negative mindsets. You end up with repressed thoughts and disproportionate outbursts, because you don’t have a [steam-release system](/productivity/self-discipline/) to manage things. You never truly become an actualised human being, and never reach your potential. Minor stress and worries and emotional wear-and-tear festers, and can manifest as maladaptive disorders like narcissism and codependence. You become susceptible to [drama and flights of fancy](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Madame_Bovary). If you have children, you end up passing down these problems to them. And chances are, they won’t be able to resolve them, and the cycle continues with each generation. It also turns out that trauma and negative experiences create negative health outcomes. Like heart disease. And lower life expectancy.[^1] But if you learn to handle these things and become rock solid — if you learn to build emotional stability and emotional reserve, and to systematically overcome your anxieties, worries and stress — then you can build confidence and initiative, and this leads to having a life full of the things you want to have and want to do. Let’s look at a number of different ways to become rock solid. ## 1\. Emotional Stability as a Skill ![Emotional Stability as a Skill](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/emotional-stability-skill.webp) The first way is to become rock solid, is to treat it as a skill. And this is called **developing emotional stability**. I would consider this an [advanced soft or social skill](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/). Being rock solid is like being an oak tree. You stand strong against everything nature throws at you — the wind, the rain, the storms, and hopefully the lightning. You just weather it all, standing tall, resolute and perhaps even defiant. Bits of bark and twigs and leaves may fall away from time to time, but your core remains strong and you remain stable. The skillset of emotional stability begins with that metaphor and extends into rational thinking. The more that we can look at situations rationally and see them for what they truly are, the less of an impact they will have on our emotions. There are specific processes that can help with this — here is one that I learned from studying family systems. [![Catching and Deconstructing Events](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/catching-deconstructing-events.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/catching-deconstructing-events.webp) You take something that has happened in your life, and you deconstruct it into its component pieces: - You. - The things that happened (events/actions taken). - The emotions. You can then take each of these components and break them down even further. It could be the various parts that add up to your sense of self, the structure of the emotion experienced or the sequence of events or actions taken. This is similar to the Stoic concept of **seeing things for what they truly are.**[^2] By doing this, we create a greater distance between what has happened and how we feel about it. We blunt both the emotional highs and lows with the intention to handle them better. Obviously not all emotions are bad. It may take some practice, but over time we can learn to **catch and deconstruct** only the negative experiences, and continue to enjoy the positive ones. ## 2\. Creating a Larger Emotional Reserve ![Creating a Larger Emotional Reserve](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/larger-emotional-reserve-jpg.webp) The second approach to becoming rock solid is to look at your emotions as a resource and to develop an **emotional reserve or capacity**. This is the idea that we can typically only experience one emotion at a time, or a set of related emotions in rapid succession. Given this limitation, wouldn’t it be better to use up our emotional reserve to experience only good emotions? The way to do this is with a simple model: [![Larger Emotional Reserve Model](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/larger-emotional-reserve-png.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/larger-emotional-reserve-png.webp) **Knowledge** is what you know about something, and gives you reasons to “rationalise” and explain the things that happen to you. It also gives you the beliefs you need to be more resilient and have a greater emotional reserve. **Experience** is the recognition that as we see more things in lives, they tend to bother us less. **Disposition** is our inclination towards something that happens. We’ll explore this more in the next section. Building a larger emotional reserve is done by increasing all of these things. More knowledge and more awareness of our emotions and the things that happen to us. More experience in life. And a healthier disposition towards the things that do happen. ## 3\. Borrow From Stoicism ![Borrow From Stoicism](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/stoicism.webp) The third approach to becoming rock solid is to get philosophical and borrow from Stoicism. Why [Stoicism](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Stoicism)? Because it is a philosophy that recognises that life is hard, and should be less about avoiding the hard things, and more about being able to handle the hard things. It also has a core aim of tranquility or inner peace — some form of happiness on this plane of existence.[^3] One of the Stoic practices is the notion of control. It recognises that for everything that happens: - If you can do something about it, do it. - If you can’t do something about it, there is no point in stressing as you can’t do anything anyway. - In the end, either the thing will end or you will die. Either way, it ends. Stoicism recognises that you can’t always control or avoid the bad things that happen, but you can choose how you react to them. If you recognise the same and practice the Stoic notion of control, this helps you build emotional reserve and capacity. ## 4\. Handling Everyday Anxieties, Worries and Stress ![Handling Everyday Anxieties, Worries and Stress](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/everyday-anxieties-worries-stress.webp) The fourth thing you can do to become rock solid is to use a systematic approach to handle your everyday worries, stress and anxieties. I am talking about the low-level background hum that gnaws away at you and makes everything a little bit more greyed out, not the larger traumas (we’ll get to them next). Here are the four things you can do to address the everyday wear-and-tear. ### 4.1. Limit your exposure to triggers The biggest trigger for stress, anxiety and worry is usually other people. It could be bad friends. It could be family. Whoever it is, no matter how you are related or how close they are as friends, if they are stressing you out constantly they need to go. “Fade to black” on them. Block them on your messaging apps. Move city if you need to. In the words of Dan Kennedy: > If you’re keeping me up at night for more than three nights in a row and we aren’t sleeping together… you need to go. For all other triggers, work out what they are and then get rid of them. They’ll usually be something **behavioural** or **environmental**. ### 4.2. Use systems to handle the anxiety, stress and worries One of the things that I love about automated systems like machines and code, is that they don’t stress. They don’t worry. They don’t feel anxiety. So if you have something that you do that triggers a stress reaction in you that can be done by a program or script… let the program or script do it. Most of this will be work stuff. Now if you have something that can’t be automated, then find a way to [delegate](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/) or outsource it. As much as it is hard to believe, some people out there actually absolutely LOVE what you HATE doing. Most people I know hate digging down into details and deconstructing the nitty-gritty aspects of systems — but I personally love it. Most people I know hate balancing debits and credits and working out cashflows — but I’ve met my share of accountants who absolutely love it. For everything else that can’t be automated or delegated, fall back on more manual systems. Let the various parts of something like the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) take on the stress and worries for you. Set up your systems properly and then **trust them** to keep you organised and focused. ### 4.3. Work out the cost and then pay it Another way to remove the triggers of everyday worries from your life is to ask: **How much would it cost me to make this go away?** Then pay that cost and [move on with your life](/productivity/how-to-get-unstuck-in-difficult-personal-situations/). Here’s a very real example: If there’s an argument about money, let the other person “win a bit” and move on with your life. Money can always be made back. But your sanity, wellbeing and time cannot. And yes, you will “lose a bit” to make the situation go away. But if you zoom out from the situation to the grander scheme of your life and everything else that will happen in it, you’ll probably find that this is acceptable. ### 4.4. Just forget about it If you come across a trigger that can’t be removed, systemised away or paid to go away, then just leave it alone from now. This is for _everyday worries_ that are really not that big of a deal. Just tell yourself “I’ll deal with it later” and let the emotions pass. Chances are, you’ll forget all about it and the situation will resolve itself. ## 5\. Handling Serious Anxieties, Worries and Stress ![Handling Serious Anxieties, Worries and Stress](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/serious-anxieties-worries-stress.webp) In contrast to the everyday worries we just discussed, serious anxieties, worries and stress are the things that have **deep root causes** and will not just go away on their own. They need to be handled with process. _Note: Everything in this section falls under “therapy” and I would strongly advise seeking out professional help._ Root causes are traumatic events or incidents that have happened in your life that have resulted in trauma, and are the beginnings of the negative emotions you deal with now. The oversimplified rule for root causes is this: **Someone fucked up your childhood.** It is usually family. Maybe your siblings or relatives. But probably your parents. And in some cases, friends, teachers or authority figures. Whatever it is, this root cause goes on to create trauma and colours everything you do in your life from that point forward. And it manifests as serious worry, crippling anxiety and unmanageable stress. Here are some process-oriented things that we can do. ### 5.1. Seek professional help/therapy I’m saying this again: The best way to handle serious anxiety, worries or stress is to seek professional help through therapy. You can ask trusted friends for referrals. You can go online to search. You should try to find someone who works with a model and style that you like. There are many different models of therapy and you need to find one that actually helps you. There is a certain stigma attached to seeking professional help for stuff “in your head”, especially in certain countries and cultures. If that’s the case where you are, then be discreet about it, and politely tell other people to [sod off](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Sod%20off) if they can’t mind their own business. This is **your life** that we’re talking about and you only get to experience it once — so why let the uninformed opinions of others stop you? ### 5.2. Decompartmentalisation, aka kick it down the road Decompartmentalisation is the recognition that you may not have the emotional bandwidth to handle a serious issue right now… and deciding to lock it up and to handle it later. I’m pretty sure most therapists would _not_ recommend this, but it can work. Kick it down the road, and handle it when you’re better equipped. ### 5.3. Deconstruction Deconstruction is the process of applying systematic problem-solving to the stress, worry or anxiety you are feeling. Take what you perceive as the problem, and slice, dice and deconstruct it every way you can. If it’s a big problem, break it down into smaller problems and handle those individually so you don’t get overwhelmed. If it’s a complex problem, find a model that you can use to see things from a different perspective and handle each part of the model one at a time. As an example, we talked about the **catching and deconstructing events model** earlier in this guide, and I have written about a number of models before like the [areas of life model](/productivity/areas-of-life/). ### 5.4. The DIY therapy alternative If you really don’t want to go the therapy route and want to “do it yourself”, you can. (But seriously, consider seeking professional help first.) To do this you need an extremely high level of awareness around the problem that you have and its root cause. You also need the [self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/) to see this through to the end. What you do is this. Go to a bookstore or Amazon, and **find three-to-four books on the problem that you have**. Cross-reference the reviews on Amazon with those on GoodReads and find the three-to-four books that seem the most applicable to your situation. And then read them. And take notes, including action items. And then actually **do** those action items. These books will give you the models and knowledge with which you can deconstruct your problems, but they are just ideas until you put them into practice. This is not an easy process. Having been through it myself, I will tell you that for a serious cause of anxiety, stress or worry, it will take you _at least six months_ to really see any progress. If you’re up for the challenge — then game on! If not, working with a professional is again, a great alternative. --- The key with these process-oriented approaches to becoming rock solid is to not get stuck in the perfection trap. Some people believe that they can’t move forward in their life until all their past trauma has been resolved. For example, they can’t start an exercise programme because their childhood experiences resulted in low levels of self-discipline. Or they can’t leave their abusive partners because they haven’t found someone new and they don’t feel loveable yet. There is some truth to these beliefs, but there is also an element of excuses. Sometimes it is better to just have some [quiet](/productivity/silence/) optimism and fortitude — and do the best you can and carry on. Life is never going to be one-hundred percent perfect but that’s just the human condition. We all have our baggage and demons and we learn to live with them, and sometimes even harness them for our own good. ## 6\. The Endgame of Being Rock Solid ![The Endgame of Being Rock Solid](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/rock-solid-endgame.webp) The endgame for being rock solid is to have emotional stability and a large emotional reserve. To be [more resilient](/productivity/resilience-mental-toughness/) and to carry yourself with quiet optimism. To be happier in your own life and to have a larger capacity with which to serve others. As long as you are [self-aware](/productivity/awareness-self-awareness/), you get better at handling the everyday worries, stress and anxiety as you get older.[^4] If the hard things and problems you experience were passed down to you from your family, then part of the endgame is to break the cycle and to do better — to not pass it down to your own children and to actually make progress for a change. By doing all these things you can live a better life where you can do the things that you want and have the things that you want. ## What To Do Next There are five different approaches in this guide for becoming rock solid. Try one of them. Or all of them. All of us are different in our own ways and you need to work out the best for you. For some insight into how I handle this for myself, you can download my manifesto _Evolution_. It’s a quick read and 100% free. [Grab it here.](/manifesto/) Photos by [Jeremy Bishop](https://unsplash.com/@jeremybishop?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Alfred Leung](https://unsplash.com/@tuninglever?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Aziz Acharki](https://unsplash.com/@acharki95?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Thomas Kelley](https://unsplash.com/@thkelley?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Bradley Weber](https://www.flickr.com/photos/41294655@N00/), [Randa Abdul](https://www.flickr.com/photos/a-a-m_2010/), [Toa Heftiba](https://unsplash.com/@heftiba?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (2000). _About the CDC-Kaiser ACE Study._ [https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/about.html](https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/about.html) [^2]: For example, the Stoics saw sex as nothing more than friction, convulsion and then some cloudy liquid. [^3]: The value of tranquility is obvious in-and-of-itself. [^4]: I know that sounds like a cop-out, but it’s true. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Eliminate Distractions and Reclaim Your Attention https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/ The modern world is a battleground for your attention. When companies build apps, produce television series or market products to you, they are fighting for your attention. This is because they know that where your attention goes, your dollars follow. Attention is the most valuable resource on the planet right now — and most of us are giving it away without a second thought. **If all these companies and others value our attention so much, shouldn’t we value it for ourselves as well?** Well, yes, we should. And we can do this by structuring our life and environment to eliminate the distractions that steal our attention, and claim it back for ourselves. --- ## A Model for Distractions Distractions that compete for our attention come in many forms. [![A Model For Distractions](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/eliminate-distractions-model.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/eliminate-distractions-model.webp) They can be **technological**, from the ubiquitous technology we use every single day. They can be **habitual**, formed by years of conditioning ourselves to act in certain ways. They can be **in our mind**, in the form of a low-level constant hum of anxiety or stress. And they can be **environmental**, which is the catch-all for all other attention-stealing distractions. ## Eliminating Technological Distractions ![Eliminating Technological Distractions](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/technological-distractions.webp) It is easiest to start with technological distractions because they are obvious. [Everyone uses technology **a lot** nowadays,](/life/technology/) and it just kind-of makes sense that it all competes for our attention. The objective here is to stop our devices and apps from stealing our attention when we don’t want them to. A multi-faceted approach is the best way to do this. 1. [Turn off any unused app notifications](/productivity/notifications/). 2. Block the websites that suck up your time and attention. You can use apps such as: - [Self-Control for Mac.](https://selfcontrolapp.com/) - [Cold Turkey for Windows.](https://getcoldturkey.com/) - [Chrome extensions.](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/block-site-website-blocke/eiimnmioipafcokbfikbljfdeojpcgbh?hl=en) 3\. Reduce the amount of noise in your technological experience. This basically means reducing the number of ads you see by using something like [uBlock Origin](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm?hl=en). _Note: If you work in online marketing, you may not want to do this as part of your role is likely to keep pace with online advertising developments._ 4\. Create technological separation so that you can focus. This means setting up separate siloed accounts for your work and personal lives. This could be: - [Separate emails](/productivity/effective-email-management/). - Separate logins on your computer. - Separate computers. 5\. Tame your phone. This means deleting apps that you don’t use and putting your phone in another room when you want to focus. It could also mean getting a smartwatch — because ironically having your wrist buzz and looking at notifications there, will decondition you from reaching for your phone every time the screen lights up. ## Eliminating Habitual Distractions ![Eliminating Habitual Distractions](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/habitual-distractions.webp) Let’s move from the physical world into our inner world. Habits, good or bad, are the things that we do with regularity and consistency. The bad habits, are the ones that distract us and steal our attention, like compulsively checking our social media feeds. There is no one-size-fits-all with habits. But what you can do is try to cover all your bases by: 1\. [Changing your schedule](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/) so you don’t have time for habitual distractions. > If you want to meet the devil, have white space on your calendar. > > _Grant Cardone_ You can’t have habitual distractions if you don’t have time for them. 2\. [Create good habits to replace bad habits](/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/). This could be replacing reading world-ending news every morning, with reading over your goals instead. It could be snacking on healthy foods instead of junk food. It could be waking up early instead of sleeping in. I have a [guide to creating supportive habits here](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/). ## Eliminating Mindset Distractions ![Eliminating Mindset Distractions](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/mindset-distractions.webp) Many people have a low-level hum of anxiety or worry that occupies their minds. It could be related to their relationship, financial or health issues — anything really. What happens if left unaddressed though, is that this low-level hum becomes a distraction. It occupies space in your mind, and your attention. In traditional cultures these things are brushed off as “no big deal” because they are systematically present across generations of families.[^1] But the truth is they **are** a distraction, and they **do** eat away at our attention. And in turn, they impact every single area of our lives. Resolving mindset distractions is about working on your inner game. This could be an article in-and-of-itself, but a simplified version would be: 1. Taking the time to list out and confront our inner demons and issues, one-by-one. 2. Having a [system of virtues](/productivity/virtues/) in place to keep us on-track and moving in the right direction. For example, treating _focus_ and _looking after our own well-being_ as virtues. 3\. Having a system of vices in place so we know what to stay away from. [Update: That full article can be found here.](/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/) ## Eliminating Environmental Distractions ![Eliminating Environmental Distractions](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/environmental-distractions.webp) Environmental distractions are the catch-all for everything else that steals our attention. If you find anything in your environment that draws your attention regularly and isn’t good for you… remove it. Remove the triggers, the anchors, and anything that leads to distraction. **It could be snacks in the house. A video game console you need to unplug and box up. The social media apps on your phone.** It could also be shifting your environment entirely. If you know that certain places suck up your attention, then don’t go to those places. If walking past the dessert café means you will stop and buy something, then don’t walk past it. If being in a certain group chat means you end up going out every weekend instead of working on your passion project, then leave that group chat. If picking up your phone means you lose ten minutes browsing social media every time, then don’t pick up your phone. ## What To Do Next There are four major forms of distractions that compete for your attention: 1. Technological. 2. Habitual. 3. Mindset. 4. Environmental. With everything in this article, you can handle them one-by-one. And once you have your attention freed up, you can put it into other things, like [working towards your purpose](/productivity/purpose/), [living your values](/productivity/core-values/) or the [goals you have for yourself](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/). You can also work towards this from another perspective by [eliminating destructive snacking completely](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/). Photos by [jorge.l14](https://www.flickr.com/photos/jorge_l14/4801356718/), [Rami Al-zayat](https://unsplash.com/@rami_alzayat?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [AbsolutVision](https://unsplash.com/@freegraphictoday?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Ahmed Zayan](https://unsplash.com/@zayyerrn?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: i.e., people are repeating the mistakes of their parents, grandparents and so on. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Speed and Accuracy https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/speed-and-accuracy/ In the fifth grade my mathematics teacher was a portly British gentleman who went by Mr Cole. Think Sean Connery with the glasses and beard circa-_Indiana Jones_, only rounder. As we studiously worked through algebra problems in our notebooks, he would walk through the aisles between our tables and say: > Speed and accuracy gentlemen, speed and accuracy. That is the secret to mathematics and life. What Mr Cole was referring to was the ability to do things both **fast** and **well**. It was an important lesson — and one that is worth revisiting in an increasingly-complex world.[^1] --- ## Speed ![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/speed-and-accuracy/speed.webp) Speed is the ability to do things quickly. In real life, we can think of this as our **speed of implementation**. I was having dinner with a friend recently and as we sat there slurping down bowls of tonkotsu ramen, I explained how when I learn something or have something pointed out to me, I can usually implement it into my life or business almost immediately. For example, I recently saw a physiotherapist who pointed out some muscular imbalances between my left and right sides. The very next day, I incorporated the relevant stretches and one-sided exercises into my gym routine. Beyond just speed of implementation though, speed is important as it as a component of [iterative and agile processes](/productivity/agility-iterations/). In our personal lives this means that we’re inevitably going to make mistakes in whatever we do, so we are better off making them fast and early and then learning from them and moving on. In business, this means that companies have to iterate their products, marketing and processes quickly in order to keep pace with the market and consumers. I’m [all for taking breaks](/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/) and working at a manageable pace, but it seems that in the modern day there is a distinct _lack of urgency_ in the way people go about things. Keeping the idea of speed in mind when we do things can help to address this. ## Accuracy ![Accuracy](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/speed-and-accuracy/accuracy.webp) Accuracy is the ability to do something well. It is saying that doing great and quality work is important and **does** matter.[^2] In some fields doing something with accuracy means being perfect. The algebra problems that Mr Cole had us work through, or scientific endeavours would be examples of this. In other fields, doing something with accuracy means doing something “good enough”. [Jeff Bezos’ 70% Rule](https://www.inc.com/don-reisinger/all-companies-should-live-by-jeff-bezos-70-percent-rule.html) comes to mind here. The sad truth about the modern day, is that most people and companies don’t even reach 70%. Companies produce a product or piece of work that is 20-30% done, call it a “beta” and launch it, then use aggressive marketing to sell it. People put in 20-30% of the effort required to do something well, and when they don’t see any results, they say “it doesn’t work” and they give up. To do great work and to do something well, you need to hit at least that 70%. **You need to be accurate.** For companies, this means building your product to 70% and shipping it — and then proceeding to iterate with speed. For our personal lives, this means doing a concentrated push or project to get what we want to 70%, and then proceeding to improve it over time. Whether we are trying to instil a new habit, start exercising, clean up our diet or [date the right person](https://genius.com/Haruki-murakami-on-seeing-the-100-perfect-girl-one-beautiful-april-morning-annotated), we need to push to get to 70% and then go from there. ## You Need Both Speed and Accuracy ![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/speed-and-accuracy/both-speed-accuracy.webp) Acting with speed is good. Being accurate is important. But to make things work, you need both. And putting the two together makes things smooth and effortless.[^3] In business, this means having a quality product, and going hard with your marketing because you know the product delivers. To others, it looks like you are executing flawlessly — because you are. In your personal life, it means getting more things right the first time and in less time, and worrying about the rest later. Developing the ability to move with speed and accuracy is simply a matter of practice. Much like algebra, the more of it that you do, the better you get at it. ## What To Do Next Speed and accuracy ladies and gentlemen, speed and accuracy. Photos by [Cara Fuller](https://unsplash.com/@caraventurera?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Vince Fleming](https://unsplash.com/@vincefleming?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Jorge Láscar](https://www.flickr.com/photos/jlascar/16635815165/in/photolist-dThVre-bxVbX8-VC8BeD-eSGa63-rm3Ugp-8SnomW-dToD5N-8Snoso-57E3zG-57E4FJ-jYsfWV-dqQd4x-7PLm3S-dqQcSK-dqQd14-dqQo8E-54dWxT-48558v-b4cQNk), [Cris Ovalle](https://unsplash.com/@crisovalle?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: He was not being politically incorrect. Much to the chagrin of the students present, it was an all-boys school with no young ladies present. [^2]: For more on this, see the first part of _[Perennial Seller](/go/book-perennial-seller/)_ by Ryan Holiday. [^3]: In Italian there is a great word for this: sprezzatura. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Effective Learning Systems, Deconstructed https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/learning-systems/ Learning is hard. Most people go about it the wrong way-they don’t realise how important it is to have a system for learning. This includes having the right attitude, good materials, good teachers and good processes. I don’t have all the answers, but here is my take on what makes for an effective learning system in the modern world. --- ## Why Learning and Education Are Important For some reason it’s become trendy to look down on education. People look at tech entrepreneurs who drop out of university[^1] and start companies and use a few outliers to justify their attitude towards education and learning. The truth is 92% of CEOs have degrees,[^2] and 80% of billionaires have them.[^3] And to state the obvious: it’s one thing to drop out of Harvard, and another to never be admitted in the first place. And besides, why would we want to put down people who are simply trying to better themselves? Learning and education are important. Everyone who is an adult today will have to [learn new skills throughout their life](/productivity/implementation/) in order to remain competitive in the business and professional world. This could be through on-the-job and internal company training. It could be through additional professional qualifications. Or it could be through the large proliferation of online courses we are seeing nowadays. And these are all good things. ## What Does an Effective Learning System Look Like? We can start with a basic system: input, process, output. [![Handling the Small Stuff - Systems Input, Process, Output](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/input-process-output.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/input-process-output.webp) ### Inputs An effective learning system inputs information and knowledge, usually in the form of good course materials with a sequenced progression. Text is the superior form for course materials as: - It can be scanned. - Irrelevant things can be skipped. - You can jump back and forth between things. - Notes can be easily taken in multiple formats. Video is very popular nowadays but it is inferior to text-it’s slow to watch and you can’t scan and hone in on missing details.[^4] Let’s not even mention audio 🙉. It’s become something of a popular trend to skip over the importance of raw input and materials in learning nowadays, but the reality is you can’t skip this. You **must** input knowledge and information into your learning system at some point. ### Processes Learning is really about thinking, processing and formal neural connections. This could literally be in the form of neural pathways from information, or motor skills from physical activity. These two things help embed what you learn into your long-term memory and the easiest way to do them is through **repetition and recall**. This could be simply studying something and then recalling it on a test.[^5] Or it could be learning something and then practically applying it as a skill. Different subjects have different ways of doing repetition and recall. For example, languages often use spaced repetition systems (SRS) for optimising vocabulary learning. Programming often uses coding challenges and practice projects. Beyond just recall however is _true understanding_. This is where someone learning something can not only recall what they have learnt, but also be able to go to first principles and teach it (to some degree) to others. Seeking this level of understanding is also a bit of a hack for learning. If you pretend you will have to go teach what you are learning to someone else, you gain a deeper understanding of it. ### Output The output of any effective learning system is the acquisition of the knowledge and skill, and an understanding of how it works. Let’s try to apply this effective learning system to the main forms of learning today. ## Traditional Classroom Learning, Deconstructed [![Traditional Classroom Learning, Deconstructed](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learning-systems/traditional-classroom-learning.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learning-systems/traditional-classroom-learning.webp) In traditional classroom learning, the instructor or teacher plays a critical role. They not only plan and provide good course materials, but they act as a real-time feedback mechanism on a student’s progress by answering questions, clarifying ideas and providing insights from their experience which otherwise could not be obtained. Traditional classroom learning is often criticised nowadays because there is a larger emphasis on students who prefer a non-visual and non-auditory modality of learning-people who learn by doing. My take is the best way to handle this is to simply allow those students to have more hands-on practice, rather than dismissing classroom teaching completely. Traditional classroom teaching is _extremely effective_ if the student is also organised and motivated to learn. ## Online Courses, Deconstructed Online courses have rapidly grown to become one of the most common ways to learn nowadays. They are often presented as a voiceover on slides or a screen share, with limited exercises/assignments to supplement. [![Online Courses, Deconstructed](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learning-systems/online-courses.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learning-systems/online-courses.webp) There are a few problems with online courses: - Most materials are in video format, which we know is inferior to text. - Passively listening and watching is not learning.[^6] - Most people skip the exercises as they aren’t enforced. That being said, the low cost and easy access to online courses provides accessibility for those who can’t attend traditional learning or professional training to upskill themselves. True understanding is difficult with online courses but it _can_ work if the student is a self-starter, organised and seeks out challenges, tests and practical applications on their own. ## Business and Professional Training, Deconstructed Business and Professional Training is learning done in the workplace, either in-house or with an external trainer. It looks like this: [![Business and Professional Training, Deconstructed](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learning-systems/business-professional-training.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/learning-systems/business-professional-training.webp) Business training is usually quite effective as instructors have a wealth of real-world experience and can help students reach a true understanding of the subject quickly. There is also a large emphasis on practical applications and “use it right now”. Business and professional training is most similar to traditional classroom learning and motivation levels are high, as better job performance is usually a factor in undergoing training in the first place. This is why people often say that the best way to learn new skills is “on the job”. ## What To Do Next If you have any negative attitudes towards learning, they need to go. Learning is good, and we should all be doing more of it. You now have enough principles and pieces to create an effective learning system for yourself-whatever it is you want to learn. For more on learning and development, grab _Evolution_. [It’s yours free to download here.](/manifesto/) Photo by [Ben White](https://unsplash.com/@benwhitephotography?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: College for Americans. [^2]: Powell, K. R., Botelho, E. L., & Tetali, V. (2018). How CEOs without college degrees got to the top. _Harvard Business Review_. [https://hbr.org/2018/02/how-ceos-without-college-degrees-got-to-the-top](https://hbr.org/2018/02/how-ceos-without-college-degrees-got-to-the-top). [^3]: Premack, R. (2018). One in 8 of the world's richest billionaires are college dropouts. _Business Insider_. [https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-college-dropout-zuckerberg-bill-gates-2018-10](https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-college-dropout-zuckerberg-bill-gates-2018-10). [^4]: Yes, it's still slow to watch even at 2x or 3x speed. [^5]: This is the real reason that testing works. [^6]: Passively listening while multitasking on other things is even worse. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Virtue of Momentum https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/momentum/ Many people fail to live a good life because they can’t maintain momentum in their lives. Momentum is the virtue that keeps things going. Here’s how it works. --- ## What Is Momentum? Momentum is about keeping things going and moving forward. It applies to objects, projects, ideas and sets of actions in your life. It is about moving with both direction and speed, not slowing, and not stalling out. It is the opposite of inertia.[^1] It is popularly known as the **“snowball effect”** or being **“on a roll”**, where things pick up speed and get better and better the more they continue. What isn’t commonly recognised, is that momentum is a **choice**—one that we make through our actions and decisions to let things proceed in our lives, or not. ## Why Is Momentum Important? Momentum is important so that projects or initiatives can be completed, or can take on “a life of their own”. This means that things should get bigger, [faster and/or better](/productivity/speed-and-accuracy/) until the project or initiative hits a certain critical mass.[^2] This is where whatever you are working on and pushing forward becomes a **self-sustaining system** capable of powering itself. An example of this is exercise. People who don’t exercise universally find it difficult to get started and many stall out. But those who push through and maintain their momentum eventually hit a tipping point/critical mass where their exercise routine is self-sustaining. You go from dragging yourself to the gym to feeling compelled to go to the gym. Another example is in business, whereby almost all business have a certain magic metric that once reached, makes the business self-sustaining and take on a life of its own.[^3] This metric could be market share, subscribers or simply turnover. Astute readers will notice that this mirrors the [process of building habits](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/). We start with a habit we would like to adopt, and use momentum as the system to solidify and [repeat that habit](/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/) until it hits “critical mass” for us, and becomes self-sustaining. ## What Momentum Looks Like Daily Momentum means getting to the end of the day and asking yourself if you kept things moving even when they were hard. It is about looking at your goals or areas of life and asking: - Did you encounter any obstacles? - Did you stall out on anything? - Did you keep things moving? Practicing momentum daily simply means keeping things progressing, even if that progression is initially slow. ## How to Systematically Develop Momentum [![Developing Momentum](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/momentum/developing-momentum.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/momentum/developing-momentum.webp) Momentum starts with having something to do. This could be a personal project, a business initiative or a habit to adopt. And then you start it, and begin to progress it. As you progress, you will encounter obstacles and perhaps even stall for a bit. If there is a feedback loop, you enhance the positive and diminish the negative and use that to keep things going. If there is no feedback loop, you take a leap of faith and keep things going anyway. And as you progress further, you recognise when things are picking up speed in the right direction until they reach a tipping point. You can also use other systems such as [rituals](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/), [most important task](/productivity/most-important-task/), [other virtues](/productivity/virtues/) or anything in the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) to help you gain and maintain momentum. ## Aside: Use Momentum, Not Passion If you are a systems thinker, process-oriented or an INTJ-type, then [momentum is often more important for you than passion is](/productivity/passion-for-systems-thinkers-intj/). When you get started on something, you will likely not have the passion to pull you through the initial obstacles and hurdles - but you will have momentum. ## What To Do Next When you next start on something, don’t give up-just keep going. Use momentum to help you progress and recognise that eventually your efforts will reach a tipping point where they become self-sustaining. If you would like to find out how momentum can fit alongside your other virtues and systems, [you can download my manifesto _Evolution_ here](/manifesto/). It’s 100% free. Photo by [Damon Lam](https://unsplash.com/@dayday95?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Yes, I realise I am butchering the scientific terms here. [^2]: And the butchery continues 😬. [^3]: In contrast to the startup phase where the business is sustained mostly through [hard work](/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/) and funding. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Inbox and the Power of Quick Capture https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/ Ever have a **world-changing** idea while you were in the middle of something… only to forget about it a minute later? Imagine all you could do (and remember) if you just had a way to capture it—and then look at it at a more opportune time. Well, you can. You need to use a technique called **quick capture** and a tool called an **inbox**. --- ## What Is Quick Capture? Quick Capture is a technique, process or system for capturing our: - Thoughts. - Ideas. - Things we need to do… …at the time we have them, so that we don’t forget about them later. Quick Capture covers the mundane through to the sublime. It could be: - What groceries you need to pick up later. - Whether you should target one audience segment or another in an upcoming ad campaign for work. - To remember to pay your water bill. - The simple and elegant solution to a complex problem you’ve been thinking about for weeks. Doing the process of quick capture will **change your life**. If you think about the _thousands_ of great ideas you’ve had but forgotten about—that’s a lot of things that were never implemented. And the crazy thing, is you _know_ that they were great ideas… but you can’t remember for the life of you what they were. If you’ve ever met anyone who always seems on top of everything, it’s likely that they quick capture in some form or another. It will help you with everything from your work, to [your journalling](/productivity/journals/), to [projects](/productivity/personal-task-management/) to your day-to-day life. So how do we do this? We need to use a tool called an **inbox**. ## What Is an Inbox? You are likely already familiar with your email inbox. But the reality is we actually have _many_ inboxes in our lives. They could exist as our: - [Email inbox.](/productivity/effective-email-management/) - [Task management app inbox.](/productivity/personal-task-management/) - [Physical in-tray.](/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/) - [Physical mailbox.](/productivity/tasks-appointments-information-trash/) - (https://aaronlynn.com/voice-memos/) - Video recorder inbox.[^1] Some inboxes like email and physical mail are for the things people send us. But others are for the things that we quick capture. These inboxes look like this. [![Task Manger Inbox (OmniFocus)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/omnifocus-inbox.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/omnifocus-inbox.webp)
Task Manager Inbox
[![Voice Recorder Inbox (Just Press Record)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/jpr-inbox.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/jpr-inbox.webp)
Audio Notes Inbox
## Inbox and Quick Capture Apps and Tools If we put the process of quick capture and an inbox together, we can use them to get down our thoughts quickly in the moment, and handle them later. You want to be able to do this across all your devices—your computer, your phone (via an app) and your watch (like [Dick Tracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tracy#Evolution_of_the_strip)). On your computer and phone you can use a task management app for this. It could be: - [OmniFocus](https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus/). - [Things](https://culturedcode.com/things/). - The default [Reminders app](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205890). - [Google Tasks](https://support.google.com/tasks/answer/7675772). - Any task manager really. Most task management apps have an inbox function nowadays and if yours doesn’t, you can simply create a project, list or tag called “inbox” and use that. On your phone and watch you want to use a voice recorder. This is especially useful for times when you want to get down a complex thought and typing is too slow, or when you can’t type into your phone for some reason. The default voice recorder apps on all phones works perfectly fine. I personally like to use [Just Press Record](https://www.openplanetsoftware.com/just-press-record/). One thing that you should **never** do is to email things to yourself. This is just bad bad bad 🤯🔨. [Email is enough of a pain as it is](/business/stop-using-email/), and you don’t need to add to that by using it as an ideas inbox as well. With all the apps on your computer, phone and watch, you want to learn the shortcuts so you can access these things _quickly_. This could mean having an app in your phone dock, a keyboard shortcut on your computer or your voice recorder as a complication on your watch. ## Process All Your Quick Captured Thoughts in Your Inbox Once you’ve captured all these amazing stray thoughts and ideas and things to do… then what? You want to [process them once per week as per normal](/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/). You want to [sort them into information, actions, appointments and trash](/productivity/tasks-appointments-information-trash/) and handle them accordingly. ## What To Do Next Grab the apps you need, or just use the default ones on your devices. And start quick capturing. Just remember to clear your captured items weekly. If you want to dive deeper into managing your inboxes, check out my guides to [personal task management](/productivity/personal-task-management/) and [email management](/productivity/effective-email-management/). Photo by [Kris Atomic](https://unsplash.com/@krisatomic?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Though I don’t personally know of anyone who records videos for themselves. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Work Out and Weaponise Your Personal Core Values https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/core-values/ Your core values are the big ideas that you live by. They are the four-to-six principles and unbreakable standards of behaviour that you hold for yourself. They are the things you care about. Here’s why you need them, how you can discover them, and how you can weaponise them for practical effect. --- ## Why You Need Core Values Your core values act as the guideposts and principles for your decision making, especially for big life decisions. You have core values regardless of whether you are consciously aware of them or not. For this reason, **it is better if you get to choose your core values yourself**. Some core values are conducive to being organised, while some are not. Some core values will be conducive to [your purpose](/productivity/purpose/), while others will not be. ## How Do Your Core Values Relate to Your Purpose, Inner Game and Mindset? Core values are part of your [inner game and mindset](/productivity/). They sit under your purpose and identity in this model: [![Dilts' Neurological Levels](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inner-game-mindset/dilts-neurological-levels.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inner-game-mindset/dilts-neurological-levels.webp) Ideally, your core values will directly support your purpose and identity. ## How to Work Out Your Core Values Working out your core values is a process and a system. ### 1\. Start with a large list of core values If you don’t have any immediate ideas for what your core values may be, you can start with a large list. I like [Scott Jeffrey’s list here](https://scottjeffrey.com/core-values-list/), and [James Clear’s list here](https://jamesclear.com/core-values). Of course if you have some ideas already, you can start with those even if they don’t appear on either list. ### 2\. Go through and note down the most important values to you Go through either (or both) of the lists above, and your own ideas and note down anything that jumps out at you. **You should end up with ten-to-twenty values.** ### 3\. Refine until you have your top five values Now go over those ten-to-twenty values and note the most important five values to you. These are the five values that are important to you **right now** as defined by your behaviour and day-to-day priorities. They are not the five things you would like to be important to you.[^1] If there are any similar values, you can group them together. For example, you can group “learning” and “growth” together if they mean the same thing to you. **By the end of this step you should have four-to-six unordered core values.** ### 4\. Order your top values Once you have your list of core values, you need to order them. Take the first value on the list, and ask if it’s more important than the second value on the list. If necessary, create an imaginary scenario where you are forced to choose between the two. Decide as-if you need to make that decision _right now_. Once you’ve decided between those, repeat the process between the first value, and the remaining values. From the first round you will be able to identify the position of the first value, and can then assess the values above and below it. Here’s an example. Say your list of unordered values is: - Love. - Security. - Growth. - Self-reliance. - Integrity. You start with the first value, love, and compare it with the others: - Love vs Security, Love wins. - Love vs Growth, Love wins. - Love vs Self-reliance, Self-reliance wins. - Love vs Integrity, Integrity wins. So now you have: - Self-reliance. - Integrity. 3. Love. - Growth. - Security. And now compare the values above and values below. - Self-reliance vs Integrity, Integrity wins. - Growth vs Security, Growth wins. Your list now looks like this: 1. Self-reliance. 2. Integrity. 3. Love. 4. Growth. 5. Security. You can then do a quick check: - Is Self-reliance more important than Integrity, Love, Growth and Security? - Is Integrity more important than Love, Growth and Security? - Is Love more important than Growth and Security? - Is Growth more important than Security? **By the end of this step you will have an ordered list of your core values.** ### 5\. Write descriptors for your values Once you have your ordered list of core values, you need to write out a small description of what each core value means to you. For example, if one of your values is “Health”, then you may write out: - Almost always well-rested. - Plenty of energy to the things I want. - Live well into old age. All of this can go [into your personal notebook](/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/). ## Reviewing Your Values You should review your list of core values twice daily: 1. In the morning. 2. In the evening. You can do this as part of your [morning and evening rituals](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). This twice-daily review serves to help you commit your values to heart, and also acts as a check to see if you “got it right” when working out your values. ## How to Change Your Core Values Say you’ve worked out your core values, but have decided that they don’t help you and you want to change them or change their order of importance. How can you do this? (We’ll get to the why shortly.) The **easiest way** is to simply write out the new list of values and review it daily. Then to start behaving as-if this new list was true, until it becomes true. If you know how to use [submodality shifts in NLP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCSY713INOM), you can elicit the submodalities for each core value and then swap in your newly chosen values and fade away the existing core values.[^2] Both methods work. ## Why and How Often to Change Your Core Values Your core values as they are now are simply the result of your personal history. You do not want to change your values often—maybe once every few years or after the completion of a life milestone. If you have never consciously thought about or changed your core values before though, there may be conflicts that make it hard for you to progress towards your purpose and goals. For example, you may value _loyalty_ and _freedom_. But it’s hard to be free if you are bound by loyalty towards your friends, family and groups. Or you may value _security_ and _adventure_. But it’s hard to live a life of adventure if you value security highly. This is the real reason for changing your core values: to resolve any conflicts, and better support your journey towards your purpose. **The blunt truth is that some values will help you get to your purpose, while others won’t.** People who say that values can’t be changed or that “any values are fine” are flat-out incorrect. If the values you currently hold are the arbitrary result of the conditioning of your society and family, why should you keep them? **While your values are part of who you are, they are not the entirety of who you are.** [Your purpose and identity are quite distinct from your values](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/), so by changing your values you will not “lose yourself” in any way. ## How to Weaponise Your Values for Practical Effect Let’s get practical. It’s nice and all to have core values, but how can we actually use them to better our lives? The **first practical use of core values is in decision making**. Values can help us cut through all the points and arguments and make a clear decision in what to do, what to ignore and what to say no to. For example, if one of your core values is health, that means that you value your energy levels and sleep, and this makes it very easy to turn down a night out on-the-town even if it sounds like fun. The **second practical usage of core values is as a check-in for your life**. If you find yourself doing activities that don’t support a value you hold, then you know something is off. For example, if you say you value health, but you don’t exercise or eat healthily, then perhaps you don’t really value health. Or perhaps another value is overriding that. The **third practical usage of core values is to shape your life processes**. What you do for business or work, what you choose to learn, and how you approach your relationships are all influenced by your core values. The **fourth practical usage of core values is to eliminate the fear of missing out (FOMO) and guilt**. FOMO and guilt are no way to live. Having either of these in what you do daily will simply make it harder to progress in everything. If you are clear on what your core values are and there are no conflicts, there will be no FOMO or guilt. Because why would you beat yourself up about something you don’t really care about? The **fifth application of core values is to not share them**. Yes, that’s right—you have no obligation to share your list of values with others. [Your purpose is different.](/productivity/purpose/) That is worth sharing as _that is the why behind what you do_. Your core values are personal to you and how you choose to live your life. You can share if you like, but I would warn that if others are aware of your core values, they can use them to [manipulate you if they have the skill](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/) and choose to do so. ## What To Do Next Core values are part of your inner game, [which you can find out more about here](/productivity/). They also sit under your purpose, [which you can work out here if you don’t know it already](/productivity/purpose/). They are one of eight documents in your [personal ops documents](/productivity/personal-ops/), and [sit above your standards](/productivity/standards/) as well. If you are in a relationship, your core values will be part of your [couples' strategic plan](/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/). While I won’t be sharing my own core values for the reasons mentioned, some of the themes are part of my manifesto, _Evolution_. [You can download it for free here.](/manifesto/) [^1]: Those will come later. [^2]: Remember to do an ecology check too. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Production vs Consumption https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/production-vs-consumption/ > You are not your job, you're not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis. > > —_Tyler Durden, Fight Club_ Most people define themselves by what they consume. People who get things done and move themselves and the world forward define themselves by what they produce. --- ## Produce, Don’t Consume This is a mindset. You produce, you don’t consume. You add value, not just take value. You are a producer, not a consumer. The act of living necessitates consumption. _Simply by existing, you are consuming._ You consume food. You consume water. You “consume” shelter. And if you live in the modern world, you consume electricity, clothing, data, money and more. If you have a family, this necessitates even more consumption. **To truly produce, you must do enough to overcome all this consumption.** ## Do You Define Yourself by Your Production, or Your Consumption? Most people define themselves by their consumption, not their production. You see this _everywhere_ [on social media](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/). People believe they “belong” to what they consume—their brands, their celebrities, the TV shows that they watch and the subcultures they belong to. What these people don’t realise, is that consumption requires zero effort. They mistakenly believe that their careful selection of what to follow and comment on is effort. **But if you gave your derpy pet dog some money and a phone and trained it to do the same things, it could.** Consumption takes no effort. It takes no greatness. And it does not move you or the world towards a better tomorrow. ## Working Out If You Consume or Produce [Do you just browse social media](/life/social-media/)? Or do you [produce the content that others browse](/productivity/writing-system/)? Do you spend more? Or do you make more? Do you give more value to others? Or do you only take value from others? ## Why Produce? If you don’t produce, you are nobody—just another cog in the system. More meat for the grinder. Human beings were created to produce. But some of us have forgotten how. Whether through instinct or [sheer willpower](/productivity/willpower-and-volition/), those that produce are those that change both their own lives and those of others for the better—and they move the world forward in doing so.[^1] The true definition of one’s self is not in your ability to consume what others have made. **It is in your ability to produce and in the act of production.** And frankly… doesn’t it feel better to make, create and innovate anyway? ## What To Do Next Ask what you spend most of your time doing—producing or consuming. If you choose to produce and want to get started, you need to read my manifesto _Evolution_. [You can download it for free here.](/manifesto/) Photo by [ATBO](https://www.pexels.com/@atbo-66986?utm_content=attributionCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pexels). [^1]: Production = creation in this case. Remixing and innovating on the shoulders of giants is still production. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How Batching Actions Can Save You Hours Every Week https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/batching/ **Batching your tasks and actions** can save you hours every single week. It’s a time management technique that universally works well for everyone. Here’s a quick guide to the awesomeness that is batching your tasks and actions. --- ## What Is Batching? Batching is simply grouping together many similar or identical actions. For example, instead of cooking just one meal to eat right now, you cook seven meals and box six of them to eat later. When done properly, batching can save you **hours** of time. In the cooking example, it might take you say _thirty minutes_ to prepare a meal daily. That’s two-hundred-and-ten (210) minutes every single week — or **three-and-a-half (3.5) hours**! With batching, you can potentially cook those seven meals in one go in thirty minutes and _save three hours every week_. That’s three hours that you can use to… - Sleep. - Watch Netflix. - Work. - Exercise. - **Do whatever you want!** ## Why Bother Batching in the First Place? If the time savings alone aren’t enough to convince you to batch your tasks and actions, then _think about the cognitive (mindset) shift you have to make between different activities_. When you say open your email and start replying, you have to shift your focus and attention from what you were doing before, to the email, to the replies, and then back when you’re done. Now say you check your email eight times a day. That’s **eight times that you have to cognitively switch to email mode and back**. This is why batching is important and why it works. It not only reduces the setup and teardown in terms of time for multiple activities, but it also reduces the cognitive switching load. ## Batching as a System This is what different activities look like without batching: [![No Batching](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/batching/no-batching.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/batching/no-batching.webp) This is what those same activities look like with batching: [![Batching](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/batching/batching.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/batching/batching.webp) And here’s our cooking example in diagrammatic form: [![Batching Cooking](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/batching/batching-cooking.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/batching/batching-cooking.webp) Unbatched, we would have to run this entire process multiple times. Batched, we only have run it **once** to produce the same amount of food. Furthermore, batching our cooking this way creates efficiency because: - We only have to apply heat/a cooking method one time. - We can mass-prepare ingredients and use one set of cutting boards, knives and equipment. - We only have to wash up one time.[^1] ## What Other Activities Can I Batch Together? I’ve talked about cooking. A lot 👨‍🍳. But what else can you batch? In the workplace, you can batch your: - Writing. - Phone calls. - [Email](/productivity/effective-email-management/). - [Slack replies](/business/stop-using-email/). - Client [appointments](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/) (back-to-back). - [Meetings](/business/business-meetings/). In fact, one of my recommendations for companies is to hold all their meetings on one day and only one day every week. If you use [inboxes and quick capture](/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/), you can clear all your inboxes once per week in one sitting. You can also batch activities at a larger scale. For example, say you are learning about a new topic. Instead of just reading one book on the topic, you can read two or three in the same timeframe and gain a better understanding of that topic. ## What To Do Next Batch your tasks together. It’s really that simple. If you liked this time management technique, [check out the other parts of the time management stack here](/productivity/time-management-stack/). Photo by Evan Dvorkin. [^1]: Using this method of batching I am able to prepare a week’s worth of food in about thirty minutes each week. That’s **a lot of time saved** every week that I can put into other things. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### A Guide to Systems Thinking https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/systems-thinking/ If you think in systems, you will live a better life. This is because everything in the world around you consists of systems, whether you are aware of it or not. Most of the time these systems run in the background, silently working to form your experience of the world. But every now and then if we look inside and see how they work, we can pull a lever here or edit a line of code there—and make things better. --- ## What Are Systems and What Is Systems Thinking? People are generally used to thinking in terms of goals or the things they want. But what they have trouble understanding is the concept of systems. You may want to hit a certain weight goal, but you need a system of diet and exercise to get there. You may want to hit a certain financial goal, but you need a system like a business, job or portfolio to get there. Despite how they sound, systems are not complicated and certainly not restricted to people who have a formal education in them.[^1] Anyone can learn how to think in systems, and can learn how to take and apply them to the different parts of their life. **A system is a collection of things that work together to produce a certain result.** They are usually represented as such: [![Handling the Small Stuff - Systems Input, Process, Output](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/input-process-output.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/input-process-output.webp) I also consider systems to cover models that help you understand how something works and how to improve on it. For example, the [areas of life model](/productivity/areas-of-life/) is extremely useful for deconstructing life systematically. The neat thing about systems is that once you know what they look like, they can be adjusted, improved and changed over time. **Systems thinking is the ability or skill to think in systems.** To see them, to understand them and to know how to improve them to make them better. Systems thinking is about seeing what makes something work (or not work) and then using your problem solving and critical thinking skills to improve it. ## Why Is Systems Thinking Important? Systems thinking is important because it is one of the easiest ways to get organised and to find an optimal way to live. _And that just makes rational sense._ The alternative is to live in a non-optimal-way which frankly, sucks, and just doesn’t make any sense at all. Would you rather be better, faster and more efficient? Or lazier, slower and more prone to excuses? Systems thinking is important because it lets you see behind the curtain and gives you access to the controls of life. Whatever it is you want—better health, better skills, more money—if you know which levers to pull and buttons to push, you can have it. And not only that, in the [process of learning](/productivity/learning-systems/) about which levers to pull and buttons to push and in which order, you acquire the _skill_ of operating that system. When you understand how systems work, the concept of “I can’t do that” ceases to exist. You can simply work out how that particular system operates and implement it in your life. ## What Are Some Example Systems? People generally think of systems as machinery or computers and code, but those are specific examples of the systems concept. [You are a system.](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/) [Your life is a system.](/productivity/areas-of-life/) The world is a system. [Business is one of the purest expression of systems](/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/), one that creates valuable goods and services for its customers, opportunities for its operators and wealth for its owners. [Time management is a system,](/productivity/time-management-stack/) one designed to keep you in productive flow. This is not to say that systems are a panacea for everything. Not every system works for everybody. We all come into this world with a particular biology, characteristics and idiosyncrasies that interact differently with different systems. ## How to Develop a Systems Thinking Mindset Developing the ability to think in systems is simpler than most people think—you just need an open mind and some curiosity. You start by taking something, and asking how it works: - How does it work for you? - How does it work for others? - Are there any general principles behind it? And then you express its inputs, processing and outputs, on paper. And you ask how to make it better. And then you implement it. And that’s all there really is to systems thinking. Once you’ve done this a few times, you will start to see everything around you as comprised of systems—systems for convenience, for marketing, for human interaction, and much, much more. ## What To Do Next Much of what I write about is systems. About taking them and thinking about them, deconstructing them and seeing why they exist and how we can improve them. If you want to learn more about using systems (and more) to live a better life, [you can download _Evolution_ here](/manifesto/). Photo by [Markus Spiske](https://www.pexels.com/@markusspiske?utm_content=attributionCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pexels). [^1]: I say this as someone who has a geeky-sounding degree in systems 🎓. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Six Popular Task Prioritisation Techniques Deconstructed https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/task-prioritisation/ You sit down in front of your computer to work. But where do you start? You have a huge list of things to do, and much of it is random, unsorted and just not organised. You have everything on our list from picking up some milk at the corner store to working on your next masterpiece. **So how do you prioritise your tasks?** Humankind has been trying to figure this out since we started putting things into lists. Let’s take a look at **six of the most popular prioritisation techniques** out there today, and see how well they actually work. --- ## Why Do Humans Need to Prioritise Tasks Anyway? As human beings we need to prioritise what we do, otherwise we get overwhelmed. Because when we get overwhelmed, we might just look at that long list of things to do and say “forget it” and go watch Netflix all day. When we’re organised we have a sense of order and control about what we’re doing. This stops us from missing things. Simply put: **it lets us be more effective and productive.** Which means we can do what we need to, and then get on with the things we really want to do.[^1] ## Six Popular Task Prioritisation Techniques Deconstructed Here are six of the most popular task prioritisation techniques in use today. I am going to deconstruct each one, and see how well it actually performs in the real world. ### 1\. Due dates Due dates are ubiquitous. They are built into basically every single to-do app created ever and we all know what they are: **You pick when something is due and do it by then.** If you want to get a bit more sophisticated, you add in when you want to _start_ doing something as well. **But due dates have a really big problem.** Which is that people tend to assign _artificial due dates_ to things, and this does not work. What happens, is people miss the artificial due date… and then they move it. Again. And again. And again. And what happens over time, is that our brain says, “you know what, this whole due date thing is kind of useless, isn’t it?”, and we start to ignore due dates. Which makes them completely useless for prioritisation. My personal rule is to never set a due date **unless something is really due**. **Aaron’s Rating: 1/10.** And only because it is better than having no system at all. ### 2\. Flags and Today views Flags and today views are the next step up from due dates. They work on this premise: **You have a huge list of things to do… so how do you now what to work on _right now_?** You run through the list and you “flag” each item you want to pay attention to **right now**. And then you focus on the flags. The “today view” variation of this is simply using due dates or another marker to neatly compile all these flagged items into a filtered list so you only see the marked items. For simple things, this is OK. But there are downsides, like having to review your entire list to flag items to begin with, and having to reset this flagged list every day. **Aaron’s Rating: 4/10.** Not bad for simple lists, starts breaking down when you have projects and multiple lists of things to do. ### 3\. The ABC method, or High-Medium-Low Now we’re getting into proper task management territory. ABC, or high-medium-low, is how tasks are usually sorted in project management systems like [Jira or Asana](/business/remote-work-apps/). This method can be quite useful in a team setting where the team has agreed upon a definition of what constitutes a high (“A”), medium (“B”) or low (“C”) priority task. When these assignments are spread across a team, it is useful because you can focus the majority of your resources and time on the highs, then if anyone has spare time they can look at the mediums and the lows. Individually, it becomes a bit more nebulous as there is only one “resource”: you! **Aaron’s Rating: 5/10 for teams. 3/10 for individuals.** Teams would actually be better served using something like SCRUM or Kanban and individuals have better options. ### 4\. Eisenhower Quadrants and Matrix Eisenhower Quadrants or the Eisenhower Matrix is attributed to US President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was popularised in Stephen Covey’s book [_The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People_](/go/book-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people/). It looks like this: [![Eisenhower Quadrants and Matrix](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/task-prioritisation/eisenhower-quadrants.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/task-prioritisation/eisenhower-quadrants.webp) #### Explaining the Eisenhower Quadrants **Quadrant 1 is urgent/important.** These are your crises or important problems that must be solved _right now_. This could be immediate deadlines, for example a client deadline. **Quadrant 2 is not urgent/important.** This is any generative work that “primes the pump” for the future. It includes most growth activities and some recreational activities. Exercise is a good example of this. **Quadrant 3 is urgent/not important.** These are the interruptions, where other people hand you their problems to deal with. Examples would be phone calls and [app notifications](/productivity/notifications/). **Quadrant 4 is not urgent/not important.** These are your time wasters and most forms of recreation. [Examples would be watching series or playing video games](/productivity/play/). #### Using the Eisenhower Quadrants Here’s how you use the quadrants. You take your task list, and you put each task into one of the four quadrants.[^2] You clear the Quadrant 1 (urgent/important) things first. Then you deal with and (hopefully) put in place a system to handle the Quadrant 3 (urgent/not-important) things. Then you try to eliminate or minimise the Quadrant 4 (not-urgent/not-important) things. Then you try to do as many Quadrant 2 (not-urgent/important) activities as possible. **Aaron’s Rating: 7/10.** The Eisenhower Matrix is a great prioritisation method and is attributed to helping build the White House’s administrative arm into what it is today.[^3] ### 5\. Purpose and Instinctive Action Using your [purpose and instinct](/productivity/purpose/) to prioritise tasks is probably the simplest method in use today. You simply know what your purpose is, and ask: **What is the most important thing right now that will move me towards my purpose?** And then you do that. It’s not a perfect method, as obviously everyday things will be missed and other people’s priorities tend to get sidelined. You also need to have a very clear idea of what your purpose is. **Aaron’s Rating: 6/10.** Great for emergency mode when there’s just a lot of things to do in a short amount of time. ### 6\. Goals and Outcomes Goals and outcomes is a more systemised version of using purpose and instinct to prioritise. The idea is to use **[cascading timeframes](/productivity/cascading-timeframes/)** to work out what to do first. It works like this: - Purpose determines your long-term goals. - Your long-term goals determine your annual goals. - Your annual goals determine your quarterly goals. - Your quarterly goals determine your monthly goals. - Your monthly goals determine your weekly goals. - Your weekly goals determine your daily tasks. - Your daily tasks and [schedule](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/) determine what you do right now. **You are essentially prioritising based on what the most important goal is in the next timeframe up.** For example, keep in mind what’s important _this week_ when you’re working out what to do _today_. And when you are [setting your goals](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/) for each timeframe, you simply refer to the next timeframe up to work out what’s important. The best way to implement this kind of prioritisation system is with [journal entries](/productivity/journals/). It is also quite versatile and compatible with other time management techniques like [most important task](/productivity/most-important-task/) and [deep work](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). **Aaron’s Rating: 9/10.** There is no perfect system, but this is as good as it gets. ## Why Do Ineffective Task Prioritisation Techniques Exist? You may have noticed that a lot of the task prioritisation techniques in use today are… not very good. So why do they exist at all? Well very simply, somewhere out there, a software engineer or project manager decided that “we have to have due dates” and implemented that into their app. And before we had apps, task prioritisation methods were mostly based on the idiosyncrasies of some popular figure people read about or saw on television.[^4] ## Which Task Prioritisation Technique Should I Use? I’ve given my ratings of each method above but **everyone is different**. What works for me or what I’ve helped set up for others, may not necessarily work for you depending on your specific circumstances. But generally here is what I would recommend: **prepare and execute.** [![Task Prioritisation Prepare, then Execute](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/task-prioritisation/prepare-execute.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/task-prioritisation/prepare-execute.webp) A common mistake is for people to try to use prioritisation techniques for _execution_ when really they should be used for **preparation**. Here’s how this can look: 1. Use Eisenhower Quadrants to work on eliminating not-urgent/not-important activities completely. And use it as a diagnostic tool to get rid of as many urgent/not-important tasks as possible.[^5] 2. Set up a [journal system](/productivity/journals/) with [goals at each timeframe](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/). You don’t have to include everything in each timeframe, and you can use some agile sorting method like must/should/could/won’t to help decide what makes each timeframe.[^6] 3. When executing, refer to your daily tasks and schedule and use purpose and instinct to work out what’s next—and do that. ## What To Do Next Task prioritisation is important and having some method or technique for it is better than having none. You need to work out which method works well for you—and then use it! If you want to dive deeper into the methodology I use and recommend, you can read more about [personal task management here](/productivity/personal-task-management/), [goal setting here](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/) and [journal entries here](/productivity/journals/). Photo by [sk](https://www.pexels.com/@rgsk97?utm_content=attributionCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pexels). [^1]: Like uh, go watch Netflix all day 📺. [^2]: No, tasks cannot exist in two quadrants. You must make a decision. [^3]: Depending on when you are reading this, your opinion may vary 🙈🙉🙊. [^4]: And this is because people assign value to fame, and mistakenly believe that person’s fame to be the result of the way they do things. [^5]: A simple example would be turning off app notifications or having your phone on silent during work hours. [^6]: Anything that doesn’t make a particular timeframe can go in the next timeframe up or on a future list. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Virtue of Taking Right Action https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/right-action/ Taking right action is a rare virtue that has been lost in today’s world. It’s been replaced with procrastination, on-demand dopamine hits, constant [shiny new distractions](/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/) and doing things because they’re “edgy”. Here’s why right action is the best thing you can do for your life, and how you can do more of it. --- ## What is Right Action? **Right Action is doing the right thing when you need to do it.** It’s about looking out for your own self-interest and doing the “right” thing according to your own standards and morality. It’s about resisting the temptation to do the wrong things, or to [procrastinate on](/productivity/procrastination/) doing the right things. It could be: - Finishing that report… even if you don’t want to. - Pushing through the last five minutes of a task. - Making sure you get to the gym on time every day. - Choosing to eat less and eat healthier. - Not purchasing something. - Purchasing something. - Calling a friend or client back because it’s the right thing to do, even if you don’t want to. - Going out and being social for others. ## Why Is Taking Right Action So Important? ### Small advantages and success My friend [Charles Ngo](https://charlesngo.com/) likes to say that success is the accumulation of small advantages over time. And taking right action gives you lots and lots of small advantages. Nothing will help move you towards your goals faster than doing the right things. No wishing, thinking, planning or strategising can take the place of just consistently doing the right things that help you. ### No downside There is no downside to taking right action. But there is an immense upside. When you do nothing, nothing happens. When you do the right thing, even if there is a bit of pain, you open the doorway to potentially good things happening. The suffering is momentary, but the upside can be eternal.[^1] ### Live virtuously Taking right action also makes it easier to live [other virtues](/productivity/virtues/) like [self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/) and [10x](/productivity/10x/). In Stoicism, it is seen as the triumph of human rationality over our emotions. The right thing is usually the rational thing to do, and by taking right action you are [keeping your emotions in check](/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/) and doing what needs to be done. Marcus Aurelius stated that it is pointless to argue over what a good man is - it is better just to be one. And the best way to be a good man or woman, is to take right action. ## How to Live Right Action Daily How do you know if you’re taking right action on a daily basis? You have to start with your [purpose](/productivity/purpose/). This is your why. When you are faced with a choice, you should skew your decision towards your purpose - that is the right action. At the end of your day, when you look over what you set out to achieve that day, ask yourself: - **Did I do the right things to achieve these outcomes?** - **Did I push through and take right action even when I didn’t want to?** That’s how you live right action daily. ## Developing Right Action as a Virtue There are three parts to systematically developing right action as a virtue. ### 1\. Know what right action means to you The first part is to **know what right action means to you**. This starts with your purpose, your values and [your goals](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/). Most of your decisions and actions on a daily basis are subconscious. You don’t think about brushing your teeth, about eating food or getting dressed to go to work - you just do it. Your subconscious knows what is “right” in each of those scenarios and acts accordingly. With this in mind, you can think about some of the things you do daily and work out what is “right” for you in advance. Things like what to eat, whether to exercise, whether to work or goof off, whether to chat up that attractive stranger or not. > A morning of awkwardness is far better than a night of loneliness. > > Hank Moody If you know in your mind ahead of time what the right action is to take at any of these moments, you increase your chances of doing the right thing. ### 2\. Do the inner game work for taking right action The second part is to **do the inner game work**. This means having the right [beliefs, behaviours and mental models](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/) to support taking consistent right action. Some useful **beliefs** include: - Produce, don’t consume. Our default state is consumption. To overcome this, we must massively produce. Humanity was created to do, not to sit around. - Doing the right thing is more important than anger, momentary pleasure or any other vice. - Bad emotions are not an excuse for inaction. - Everything is attainable with right actions and persistence. - What other people think or do is inconsequential and cannot prevent me from taking right action. - It is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. An extremely useful **behaviour** is: - Do it first, worry about everything else later. A useful **mental model** is a gradient scale of right action - with right action on one end, and resistance on the other. [![Gradient Scale of Right Action](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/right-action/gradient-scale-right-action.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/right-action/gradient-scale-right-action.webp) Take this scale and pick something you absolutely love doing and something you would never do. This will show you what “extreme right action” and “extreme resistance” look like for you. And when you are faced with a decision about doing something or not, work out where on the scale you are… and move yourself more towards right action. ### 3\. Set up your environment to help you take right action The third part is to **set up your environment** for taking right action. Have the tools, equipment and atmosphere ready for when you need to do the right thing. This could be adding things like good music, [focus mode](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/) or a [dedicated work area at home](/business/remote-working/) to get things done. Or it could be removing things like junk food from the house to so that you make the right food selections. ## What To Do Next Taking right action is one of the best things you can do for your life. If you would like to find out more about how you can use systems and flow to take right action, download _Evolution_ below. It's a quick read and 100% free. Photo by [lucas Favre](https://unsplash.com/@we_are_rising?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Some would also argue that the momentary suffering builds character, discipline and strong habits. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Talent Stacks and Specific Knowledge https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/talent-stacks-specific-knowledge/ Your talent stack is the combination of specific knowledge that is unique to you and only you. It is really hard to be the absolute best in the world at something. But it is nowhere near as hard to be in the top twenty-five percent of five different things. Or to be one of the best at a combination of those five things. Let’s say there are ten thousand talents available to humanity. That means there are only ten thousand spots available to be number one in. That’s not a lot of spots. But to be number one at a combination of five of those talents? There are 10,000! / (5! \* 9,995!) spots. That’s more spots than there are people on the planet, and more spots than most calculators can compute. This is why your talent stack and the specific knowledge (talents) that comprise your stack, are important. Because whatever your [purpose or why is](/productivity/purpose/), your talent stack is how you build the capacity to get there. --- ## What Exactly Is a Talent Stack? Your **talent stack** is the combination of skills or specific knowledge that you have. I first heard about the term from Scott Adams’ book [_How to Fail Almost Everything and Still Win Big_](/go/book-how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big/). He also has some posts about it on his blog.[^1] Philosopher-entrepreneur [Naval Ravikant](https://nav.al/rich), calls the skills that make up your talent stack, **specific knowledge**. What does a talent stack actually look like? Here’s mine: - Systems. - Business operations. - [Productivity](/productivity/productivity-stack/) and [time management](/productivity/time-management-stack/). - [Self-discipline.](/productivity/self-discipline/) - [Writing.](/productivity/writing-system/) - [Social skills.](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/) I don’t consider myself the absolute best at any one of those talents, but I do consider myself in at least the top twenty-five percent for each of them. I also consider myself one of the best in the world at the particular combination. ## Why Your Talent Stack Is Important At first glance your talent stack just looks like your list of professional skills.[^2] But it’s more than that. It’s what makes you, **you** to other people. It’s your _personal brand_ so to speak. It also serves as a roadmap for your growth and development - a useful way to work out what to focus on in your life and what you can improve. As mentioned, you may not be the absolute best at any given talent or skill, but _you can be the absolute best at your unique combination of skills_. And it is this combination that is your unique selling point, your differentiation, and your ability to “create a niche” for yourself. After all, there is no one who knows better how to be **you**. ## How to Work Out Your Talent Stack So how do we go about working out our talent stack? I like a multi-perspective approach to this, combining different sources of ideas and then streamlining them. You can source ideas for your talents and specific knowledge from: - What others say about you. You can literally message five friends right now, and ask them to describe three-to-five things they think you’re good at. - Things you have done in the past. - Industries you have worked in. - Job roles you have filled. - Skills or areas of knowledge you have acquired through formal and informal training or education. - Any hobbies that you have. - Any [accessible leverage](/productivity/productivity-stack/) that you have. These are things that you have access to from your past work, businesses, networks, memberships etc. You want to list all of these things out and then put them in front of you. And then you want to group, categorise and aggregate them until you are left with just the top five. And then refine those top five - wordsmith them, mull over them, think about them, ask others about them. Do this until you are happy with your chosen five. Then write them down, and refer to it. **That’s how you work out your talent stack.** ## Now Hold on a Minute Aaron… If you’ve thought this through a bit, you might realise that your talent stack is a bit… arbitrary. Some of your skills and specific knowledge are likely based on choices that you made when you didn’t know better, or based on choices others[^3] made for you.[^4] This is not nice to hear, but it is the truth. And you need to take responsibility for your talents being what they are - the good and the bad. The upside is that you are now aware of your talents, and can change the direction of them if you want to. The downside is that the older you are, the harder this will be, and it may be better to capitalise on the things you have already accumulated specific knowledge in.[^5] Which brings us to the next step in our talent stack journey. ## How to Improve Your Talent Stack and Specific Knowledge Now you know what your talent stack is and you’ve made a decision to improve or change it. Ideally you want to **strengthen your existing talents**, but you can also add new talents if you want. Just try to keep your stack to three-to-five things maximum. What you need to do to improve each talent is dependent on the specific talent. **Start with the obvious thing.** If your talent is speaking, then ask how you can improve your speaking. Is it through Toastmasters? Is it in joining the National Speakers Association? If your talent is writing, you may need to do a combination of active learning by taking courses, and then writing, publishing and being read a lot. Beyond the obvious, think about ways that you can improve your particular talent by getting more training, education or practice in the talent. This could be formal education. It could also be informal education, be it from: - Course marketplaces like Udemy or Lynda. - The wisdom of crowds on subreddits. - Learning from world-class authorities.[^6] You want to treat improving your talent stack as an ongoing project in your life.[^7] ## What To Do Next Realise that your talent stack is important. It is one of the purest expressions of who you are. Brainstorm and write down the first version, then decide to improve it. Turn it into a project for your life, and treat it as such. If some of your talents include systems, productivity, or self-discipline (or you just want to get better at those), grab a copy of _Evolution_ below (it's 100% free) 🙂. Photo by [Austin Neill](https://unsplash.com/@arstyy?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Let’s leave the politics out of this one. [^2]: Guilty 🙄. [^3]: \*cough\* parents \*cough\*. [^4]: My parents and educators were obviously not fans of artistic endeavours. [^5]: I’m not saying it’s impossible to build a new area of specific knowledge, just that it is harder than strengthening an existing one. [^6]: Usually the fastest way. [^7]: I regard this as an [area of life called “learning and growth”](/productivity/areas-of-life/). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Systematically Overcome Procrastination https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/procrastination/ Procrastination is what happens when we have something we know we should do, but can’t seem to get ourselves to do it. **So how do we overcome procrastination?** The answer to that question is actually simple,[^1] but implementing it is more complex. The long-term solution is to make sure that you have a [solid time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/). That you have your health, your inner game and your systems working and in place. But if we look at it from a different perspective, we can also handle procrastination in the here and now with a simple model and system. --- ## A Simple Model for Handling Different Types of Procrastination This is what the procrastination troubleshooting model looks like: [![Troubleshooting Procrastination Model](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/procrastination/troubleshooting-procrastination-model.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/procrastination/troubleshooting-procrastination-model.webp) This model recognises that procrastination is not a singular thing, but is usually caused by one of four different things: 1. Emotion. 2. Cognition. 3. Time. 4. Environment. By using this model we can address each of the causes of procrastination head-on, and deal with it immediately. This is less effective in the long-run than having a good time management stack, but can help if you have something you need to handle right here, right now. ### 1\. Procrastination caused by emotion Emotion is the biggest cause of procrastination. It is usually expressed as “I just don’t feel like it”. If it’s a task that can wait until later, you can just note down the task and **come back to it** - later today, tomorrow or in a few days’ time. If you have tried this or the task is pressing, then you should ask **why**. Is the task: - Of [low perceived value](/productivity/boredom/)? - Too difficult? - Not related to [your purpose](/productivity/purpose/)?[^2] - Not [one of the things you’d rather be doing](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/)? Once you know _why_ you are procrastinating, you can troubleshoot with a simple solution. If the task is of **low perceived value**,[^3] then tell yourself that you’re going to do it now and then immediately find a way to never have to do it again in the future. Do it “just one last time”. If the task is **too difficult** for your skill level, then you need to break it down into manageable parts and proceed one step at a time. If the task is **not motivating enough or not related to your purpose**, the simplest way to get it done is to rationalise it and relate it to your purpose. Yes, this is a headfake, but one that is actually useful. If none of these things work, you can also burn some [willpower reserves](/productivity/willpower-and-volition/) and force yourself to [just do it](/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/). This could simply be snapping into action or it could be using any of the time management hacks available to you: - [Most important task](/productivity/most-important-task/). - [Batching tasks](/productivity/batching/). - “Just five minutes”. - [Timeslices](/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/). I would only recommend this as a last resort, as willpower is not a resource that should be wasted. ### 2\. Procrastination caused by cognition Procrastination caused by cognition is procrastination caused by (over)thinking. Most of this is just a fancy rationalisation of your emotional state. If we logically and rationally know that we have to do something and still don’t want to do it - the problem is not with our thinking. The easiest way to overcome this type of procrastination is to **sit down and rationally write out what you have to do**. This will provide you with the **clarity** you need to do the task. Take your task at hand and write it out using the S.M.A.R.T. format: - Specific. - Measurable. - Achievable. - Realistic. - Time-limited. You may also want to get technical and write out the specific steps that you will take to complete the task. If this seems like overkill, it is. But when you really need to get something done now, writing things out in detail can point out the obvious and give you the clarity and rationalisations you need.[^4] ### 3\. Procrastination caused by time Procrastination caused by lack of time is a simple one: **find another time to do the task.** You can also go one step further and block out a specific time [in your schedule](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/) for the task. ### 4\. Procrastination caused by your environment Procrastination which comes from the environment is a matter of not the right place or not the right tools. It is where the environment around you is not conducive to getting a particular thing done, whether that is because of distractions, people or otherwise. It also has a simple solution: **put yourself in the right place with the right tools and work on the task.** This could be as simple as putting on pair of headphones to isolate and focus yourself. ## The Endgame - Improve Your Time Management Stack The endgame for procrastination is actually to improve your time management stack. If you do this, then you’ll find that procrastination largely goes away by itself. Yes, there will be odd moments of “I don’t want to do this” but they will become the exception, not the rule. [![The Time Management Stack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp) The most important levels of the time management stack for addressing procrastination are the bottom three levels: - Health and energy. - Inner game and mindset. - Systems. If you have these three levels handled, then procrastination almost never happens. Why? Your **health and energy** give you the physical capacity and in turn, the mental clarity, to perform the task at hand. Your **inner game and mindset** help to clear the mental barriers to doing things. [You have a clear pathway between your purpose and the task you are working on, and there is little mental resistance to taking action](/productivity/right-action/). You will also have the right beliefs, habits and virtues for taking right action. And this is all in addition to being aware of the consequences of not completing the task at hand. Your **systems** help you manage the various parts of your life and will present you with the _right task at the right time_. This means that any external or environmental resistance is minimised and you are operating in a perpetual flow state. In addition to the three bottom levels, the very top level of the time management stack consists of the **small hacks** that can be used in the event that you do run into the odd occasion of minor resistance. ## What To Do Next Use the short-term troubleshooting model to overcome your immediate procrastination. And then build up your [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) - this is what will help you overcome procrastination, forever. Photo by [Chris Arthur-Collins](https://unsplash.com/@anotherleaf?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: [Just do it](/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/). [^2]: i.e., you are not sufficiently motivated. [^3]: i.e., “beneath you”. [^4]: Or you will realise that there are no bad consequences from _not doing_ the task and just drop it. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Effective Goal Setting Using Why, What and How https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/effective-goal-setting/ Here’s how you can set effective goals using a simple model of Why, What and How. --- ## The Why, What and How Goal Setting Model [![Why, What, How Goal Setting Model](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/effective-goal-setting/why-what-how-model.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/effective-goal-setting/why-what-how-model.webp) There are three layers to this model: 1. Why. 2. What, which is broken down into a title and milestones. 3. How. When you write out your goals, you can use this format: ``` Title: (the what) Reasons: (the why) Target: (the what broken down) Process: (the how) ``` Let’s look at each of these in detail. ### 1\. Why Your **Why** is your mission, your purpose or your reasons for doing something. For goal setting, the why will link directly to your [personal purpose](/productivity/purpose/) or [company mission](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/). ### 2\. What There are two parts to the **What**. The first is the _title or heading_ of the goal. This is a simple one sentence summary of the goal. e.g., “Implement a bodyweight routine so I can workout from home during lockdown periods”. If you are taking a [systems approach to goals](/productivity/systems-goals/), this can just be the name of the system or [area of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/). The second are the _targets or milestones_ within this heading. You can also think about this as breaking down the larger goal/title into smaller goals. You want to make sure that both the title and targets are well-formed. From my [article on new year’s resolutions](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/): ``` * Do you actually know what you want? * Why do you want that? * What will having that do for you? * Is your outcome expressed in positive or as positive as possible terms? * Is it defined in sensory and specific terms? * Will there be any supporting evidence to show your achievement of this outcome? * Do you think you can achieve this outcome or the majority of it by yourself? * How will this impact others in your life? * How do you know that this outcome will actually improve your life? * What will it be like in 6 months, 1 year, 5 years after achieving this outcome? * Is this outcome epistemologically sound? In other words, will achieving this outcome hurt or change other parts of your self, identity or beliefs? ``` ### 3\. How The **How** are the steps you take to achieve your goal. This can be in the form of a process, a mental state, some overarching themes, or your personal values. ## Similar Goal Setting Models Two similar models worth mentioning are Simon Sinek’s Why-How-What model and OKR (Objective, Key Results). Simon Sinek’s model: - The **Why** is still your purpose, your reasons. - The **How** are the themes in your life, rather than the process. - The **What** are your actions and vehicles, rather than the title. OKR doesn’t address the why or the how. It simply focuses on the big **objective** (what/title), and the **key results** (what/targets) for a goal. ## Setting Effective Personal Goals Here’s how you can set effective personal goals using the model: - The **What** is the title of the goal and the milestones within it. - The **Why** are your reasons for doing the goal, usually related to your personal purpose. - The **How** is your process for achieving the goal. This can be the specific process steps, or your philosophy and approach to the goal, based on the values and themes of your life. And here’s an example: ``` Title (What): Implement a bodyweight routine so I can workout from home during lockdown periods. Reasons (Why): * Ability to work out at home. * Keep fit during temporary lockdown periods. * Learn a new skill - working out without gym equipment. This will be useful for future travel. Targets (What): * Mapped out bodyweight routine. * First trial run of bodyweight routine. * Regularly perform 4x a week. * Ability to run routine without referring to form or technique notes each time. Process (How): * Find a routine. * Read and understand the routine. * Write down my version of the routine. * Load the routine into my workout app. * Try it. * Refine notes and app setup. * Put into calendar and perform consistently. ``` ## Setting Effective Business Goals Setting effective goals at a strategic or project level inside a business is similar to setting them for your personal life: - The **What** is the _big objective_ that needs to be completed. It is also the targets or milestones under this objective, which in business will usually take the form of _metrics_ or _key results_. - The **Why** will link directly to the company’s mission or BHAG.[^1] - The **How** are the specific steps to be taken to complete the objective. This will usually be predetermined by [an SOP](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) for routine processes. Here’s an example: ``` Title (What): Create a marketing proposal to send to industry partners to cover next year's marketing plans. Reasons (Why): * Additional financial support from industry partners. * Set expectations for industry partners for what we will do for them next year. * Action our strategic plan and marketing strategy and loop in our industry partners. Targets (What): * Proposal outline created. * Proposal first draft created. * Proposal final version approved. * Proposal sent out. Process (How): * Refer to theme set in strategic plan. * Decide on format of proposal (written, online, video). * Create proposal. * Edit proposal. * Have proposal approved. * Send out proposal. ``` In the case of a business goal, the how/process will usually have more steps as work is carried out by multiple people. ## What To Do Next You now know how to use a simple model of **Why, What and How** to set effective goals. You can take the model and update your existing goals. Or you can use the model for the next time you set goals. You can also take the model and use it in your business to clarify strategic goals, project goals and tasks. To see how you can apply this model in your journals, [you can read my guide to journal entries here](/productivity/journals/). For a model for actually getting your goals, [you can read my guide to goal getting here](/productivity/goal-getting/). Photo by [Álvaro Serrano](https://unsplash.com/@alvaroserrano?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Big Hairy Audacious Goal. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Separating Tasks, Appointments, Information and Trash in Your Business and Personal Life https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/tasks-appointments-information-trash/ Separating incoming tasks, appointments, information and trash keeps you organised. It helps prevent confusion with what you have to do. It allows you to be efficient in processing everything that comes into your personal life or business, and is essential for [handling the influx of stuff in the modern world](/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/). --- ## A Model for Incoming Items [![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/tasks-appointments-information-trash/separating-incoming-items.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/tasks-appointments-information-trash/separating-incoming-items.webp) The items that come into your business or personal life fall into one of four categories. First you have **tasks**, which are things you have to **do**. Tasks will always have an action component and you will know when they are done and can be forgotten about. If you can tick something off a checklist, it’s a task. Second is **information**. These are things that are useful to know, but are not actionable right now. They are usually recorded somewhere for future reference. Third are **appointments**. These are events that happen at a specific date and a specific time at a specific place. They usually involve meeting a specific person, even if that’s just yourself, for a predetermined activity. Fourth is **trash**. These are the things that you can’t do anything with right now, and don’t need to note for the future. ## Separating Tasks, Appointments, Information and Trash in Your Personal Life Sorting the four categories in your personal life is very straightforward. You start by looking at how “things” get into your life. It is usually by: - [Email](/productivity/effective-email-management/). - Physical mail. - Messages and [communications from others](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/). - People telling you things in-person. - Ideas and thoughts you have. Separating all these things is just a matter of collecting them all into one or more places - [your inboxes](/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/) - and then processing them. Your inboxes could include: - Your email inbox. - Your chat app inboxes for messages. - Your [task manager inbox](/productivity/personal-task-management/) for random thoughts and things people tell you. - Your mailbox for physical items. Once a week, you want to go through and [process each inbox one-by-one](/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/). Sort out your tasks, appointments, information and trash and you’re good to go. ## Separating Tasks, Appointments, Information and Trash in Your Business Separating the four categories of incoming items in your business is a much different proposition. It is paradoxically more complex and simple at the same time. The reason for this, is that businesses can have predetermined channels for streamlining incoming items. This means you want to make sure that the _right thing_ comes in through the _right channel_ to the _right system_. This will minimise the need to manually process incoming items. ### Incoming items and channels in your business Most businesses will receive incoming items in the form of: - General enquiries. - Sales and purchases. - Appointments. - Customer service enquiries. - Industry updates. Like your personal life, these can come in through multiple channels such as: - Email. - Physical mail. - Phone calls. - Messages. - Systems and apps - help desks, contact forms, calendar systems, order systems, CRMs etc. - Internal channels such as meetings and conversations. ### Use technology and systems to help you automate sorting and processing first One of the principles to effective business systems is to **use technology to help you silo, automate and delegate** incoming items first. What this means is that a lot of the sorting of tasks, appointments, information and trash, happens _automatically_ and you never have to touch (or even hear about) any of it.[^1] For example, when a customer buys something from you, do you manually process their order? Or does the system handle it, by say: - Processing the payment online. - Recording the transaction in your accounting software. - Inputting the sale into your order system. - Sending the request to your fulfilment centre… … all without anyone knowing the wiser? This automation can be achieved in part by using the right tools for the right functions. Don’t use email to set up appointments - use calendar software. Don’t use email to manage tasks - use a project management system. Don’t use your personal email to handle customer service - set up a helpdesk or separate inbox.[^2] ### How to sort and separate tasks, appointments, information and trash in your business Most incoming items in a business generate a bundle of tasks, appointments, information and trash.[^3] Like this: [![Business Items Bundle](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/tasks-appointments-information-trash/business-items.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/tasks-appointments-information-trash/business-items.webp) It is the job of your business systems to unpack the incoming item into its component pieces and make sure that they go into the right systems. And the great thing is, once set up, most of this unpacking and sorting is automated. For example, a custom enquiry can be unpacked into: - Follow up tasks which are stored in a project management system or CRM. - Client information which is stored in a CRM or marketing automation system. A paid consultation session can be unpacked into: - Tasks for follow up, preparation work and client reminders in your CRM. - Transactional and financial information for your accounting software. - An appointment in your calendar. A product sale can be unpacked into: - Tasks related to fulfilment, including a shipping order for your warehouse and an email receipt to the customer. - Transaction information for your accounting software. - Updated client information for your CRM or marketing automation suite. ### Processing leftover items in business Even with all your business systems and automation set up, there will still be some things leftover to process. For the remainder, the process is similar to how you process incoming items in your personal life. You will have some emails, some individual tasks and some individual papers. You can process them just like you would your personal items, but perhaps with an increased frequency of once per day rather than once per week. ## What To Do Next You now have a very effective model for handling the incoming items in your life - **separating them into tasks, information, appointments and trash**. For your personal life, compile everything that’s incoming, and handle them once per week. For your business, silo, automate and delegate first, and then process the few remaining items once per day. For more on handling incoming items, see my guide on [how to handle the small stuff](/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/). Photo by [Mia Baker](https://unsplash.com/@miabaker?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: One of my clients jokes that he has no idea how many sales he’s made until he sees it in the weekly report. [^2]: Uh yeah… just [don’t use email](/business/stop-using-email/) generally. [^3]: More specifically, they mostly generate **tasks and information**. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### A Guide to Effective Email Management https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/effective-email-management/ Email has been around since the 1970s. Effective email management is a system that has been tested, tried, and had its problems **solved** for over fifty years now. Here’s what it looks like. --- ## The Effective Email Management Endgame It helps to know what the end-state for effective email management looks like: - Inbox zero. - No addiction to email. - No stress over email. - Email as just another tool that you use for your work and personal life. Once set up, effective email management means spending ten, twenty, thirty minutes tops on your email on a daily basis.[^1] ## Two Different Approaches to Email There are two different approaches to managing your email. ### 1\. Folder categorisation The first is called **folder categorisation** and it is what it sounds like. [![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/effective-email-management/email-folder-categorisation.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/effective-email-management/email-folder-categorisation.webp) You set up different folders, labels or tags for your email and as emails come in, you sort them into various folders. This approach comes from the days when email search wasn’t very good, and the easiest way to find older emails was to go to a folder and scroll down. If you are going to take this approach, I recommend assigning **one label maximum** per email to make emails easier to find. ### 2\. Archive and search The second approach is called **archive and search**. [![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/effective-email-management/email-archive-search.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/effective-email-management/email-archive-search.webp) Thanks to Gmail, email search is much improved nowadays, and it is quite feasible to simply archive all your email and search for it later when you need it. I do not recommend mixing the two approaches. Pick whichever works better for your disposition and tendencies, and stick with it. ## Principles of Effective Email Management There are a few high-level principles to effective email management that are often overlooked. They are: ### 1\. Separate work and personal email accounts Using the same email account for everything is a cardinal email management sin. There is absolutely no reason nowadays to have only one email account. I recommend that everyone at least have: 1. A personal account. 2. A work account. Most companies will issue you a work email when you join. And you should already have a personal email set up. All email apps nowadays have the ability to add multiple accounts so there is no excuse not to separate your work and personal emails. You can even take this one step further and have a third email account for the email newsletters you subscribe to. ### 2\. Email should be IMAP, not POP3 Back in the earlier days of the Internet your email address was issued by your ISP and operated on a **POP3** protocol. What this meant was that an email server would receive your email and hold it until you downloaded it. And once you downloaded it, it would be deleted from the server and the only copy would be on your computer. If this copy was deleted, then it was lost, forever. When Internet speeds were still slow and storage was expensive, this made sense. But we don’t live in those times anymore. Internet speeds are now fast and cloud storage is cheap, and as a result most email nowadays is based on **IMAP**.[^2] With IMAP, your email still goes to a server. But when you “download” the email, it copies it to your computer and keeps a copy on the server. And even better, it compares the copies on each of your devices and keeps them all in sync! This is vastly superior to the old POP3 protocol, and it means that you can access your email on multiple devices and have them all in-sync in real time. Believe it or not some companies out there are still using the old POP3 protocol for managing their email 😳. [Moving to an IMAP service like Office 365 or GSuite](/business/remote-work-apps/) fixes about fifty percent of their email problems. ### 3\. Messaging > Email This is so important that I have [an entire guide to why messaging is superior to email](/business/stop-using-email/) and a guide to the [business hierarchy of communication](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/). **Email should not be used for internal communications within companies.** Getting this right fixes the other fifty percent of email problems that companies have. ### 4\. Inbox Zero **Inbox zero** is a popular email management concept and a very effective one. It says that your email inbox should have no or few emails in it at any given time—they should be handled, sorted or archived. ## What About Email Apps and Email Clients? Email apps and clients are nice-to-haves. As with most things time management, the principles are more important than any particular apps. If you follow this guide to effective email management, you will find that most of the extra functionality offered just gets in the way of using email properly. I personally use the [standard Gmail app](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gmail-email-by-google/id422689480) on my phone and [Mailplane](https://mailplaneapp.com/) on my computer.[^3] ## Your Effective Email Management Setup Let’s take a look at how to set up effective email management. You can do these steps in any order, but they should all be done to create a solid foundation for email management. ### 1\. Set up your email interface You will want to customise your email app’s/service’s settings and interface to your liking. For example, in Gmail I usually: - Hide the chat. - Turn off inbox categories. - Turn off markers. - Hide labels that I don’t use, e.g., Snoozed. - Turn off nudges. - Turn on keyboard shortcuts. This is all about personal preference and the more you use your email app or service, the more you will know what you use and don’t use. ### 2\. Unsubscribe from newsletters If you have a lot of newsletter subscriptions, I recommend unsubscribing from the ones you don’t read. You can figure this out by the fact that you end up archiving them every time you see them in your inbox. You can do this manually or via the “unsubscribe” function that’s built into most email apps nowadays. You can also use a service like [unroll.me](https://unroll.me/), but read their privacy terms and conditions carefully before doing so. ### 3\. Set up your filters and forwards There are some emails that you want to/have to receive but don’t need to pay attention to right now. For these, you can set up email filters and forwards so that they are out of sight and out of mind. For example, I have a filter for my online shopping orders to mark them as read and move them into an “online orders” folder I have set up. If you use an email-notification-heavy system like Jira or Confluence, you can do the same thing with the updates you receive over email too.[^4] ### 4\. Set up your folders and tags If you are using the **folder categorisation** approach to email management, you want to set up some basic folders to start with. You can always add more later. Here are some starting lists. ``` Personal folders ---- @hold @reply health money personal shopping travel Work folders ---- @hold @reply ``` _Tip: some email clients like Gmail will let you assign colours to labels, which can be useful for highlighting @hold and @reply._ The rest of your work folders will be dependent on the nature of your role. You can even set up folders for projects and then hide them once the projects are done. **@hold** is for emails where you are waiting on someone/something before you can action or reply to the email. **@reply** is for emails that you can reply to now, but it will take more than two minutes so you want to leave them for a dedicated email handling session. If you are using the **archive and search** approach, you don’t need to do this, though you may still find the @hold and @reply labels useful. ### 5\. Archive your existing inbox emails If you have hundreds (or thousands) of old emails sitting in your inbox, I recommend just archiving **all of them**. It is likely that these will never need to be looked at, and if they do, they will be in your archives and can be dug out later. Doing this will save you a lot of time. ## Daily Email Usage Now that you know your approach, the main principles and are set up for effective email management, what do you actually do on a daily basis to manage your email? ### 1\. Pick a few times a day to check email The first thing is to **pick two-to-three times a day** to check your email and stick to those.[^5] Unless you work in a customer-service or similar role, don’t leave your email always-on. ### 2\. Triage your email The second thing is to **triage your email** when you do check it. Like this: [![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/effective-email-management/email-triage.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/effective-email-management/email-triage.webp) For each email, you can: - Archive it.[^6] - File/label it into a folder if using folder categorisation. - Reply if it takes you under two minutes. - Mark it for a dedicated email handling session later. You can do this by moving it into the @hold folder if you are waiting on something, or @reply if you will need more than two minutes to write a reply. What this means is that each time you open your email and triage it, you should be spending only ten-to-fifteen minutes in there. You’ll fire out some quick replies, file away anything that doesn’t require an action, and label the longer replies for later. I recommend clearing the longer replies once every couple of days or even once a week. They usually require you to compile extra information or sit and think before replying. ### 3\. Use email on your phone effectively The third thing is to **use email on your phone effectively**. [Turn off your notifications for your email apps completely](/productivity/notifications/)—they just create unnecessary stress. [![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/effective-email-management/email-mobile-notifications-off.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/effective-email-management/email-mobile-notifications-off.webp) Yes, even turn off the red notification bubble. Don’t use your mobile device as your main way to handle email. It’s slower and takes more time than is necessary. Simply use your phone for triaging email when you have some [spare gap time](/productivity/gap-time/). Archive, file, and read email on your phone yes, but leave the replying for when you are back at a computer. ## Advanced Effective Email Management Want more? Here are some advanced tips for effective email management. ### 1\. Use keyboard shortcuts All email apps have keyboard shortcuts. Learn them and use them—they’ll save you a lot of time. Some links: - [Gmail shortcuts.](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6594) - [Outlook shortcuts.](https://support.office.com/en-us/article/keyboard-shortcuts-for-outlook-3cdeb221-7ae5-4c1d-8c1d-9e63216c1efd) - [ProtonMail shortcuts.](https://protonmail.com/support/knowledge-base/keyboard-shortcuts/) ### 2\. Ignore integrations There are a lot of add-ons and extensions for email nowadays that offer to integrate your email with your task list, notes, CRM, appointments etc. My general advice is to ignore all of these. If your email is being used properly, then you won’t need them. Stop trying to turn your email into something that it is not. ### 3\. Pipe important things into your messaging app **Really important** emails should be piped into your messaging program, e.g., Slack. [Here’s their guide on how to do that.](https://slack.com/slack-tips/send-email-to-slack) You can also use [Zapier](/go/zapier/) if you want more granular control over this. ### 4\. Automate your email with Zapier You can also use [Zapier](/go/zapier/) to automate all sorts of email handling on your behalf. For example, you can have [Zapier create PDF files from email-only receipts](/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/) and then save them to your Dropbox or Google Drive. ### 5\. Don’t go mobile-only While it is possible to go mobile-only for managing your email I don’t recommend it.[^7] The set up and usage process is the same. It will just be slower as there is less screen real estate and it takes more taps to do the same thing that can be done with a couple of clicks on a computer. ## What To Do Next If you implement everything in this guide, you’ll be able to effectively handle email like a pro. This means no stress, no addictions and no worries over email—it’s just another tool that you use to communicate. All you need to do is: 1. Decide on your approach. 2. Remember the principles of effective email management. 3. Do your initial set up. 4. And triage effectively. Photo by [Muukii](https://unsplash.com/@muukii?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: And as we will see, the initial setup should only take a couple of hours. [^2]: Before this companies had to mess around with expensive Exchange and Blackberry servers to get IMAP. [^3]: Mailplane acts as a wrapper around a Gmail window and lets me tab between my work/personal email accounts. [^4]: Or better, try to disable them within the system itself. [^5]: I do before lunch and before finishing work for the day. [^6]: There is no reason to delete email nowadays. [^7]: And would only do it if you are from a country where home computers are still relatively rare. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Different Types of Reality and Using Them to Your Advantage https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/types-of-reality/ There is more than one type of reality. There are in fact, three different types of reality. They are: 1. Objective reality. 2. Subjective reality. 3. Intersubjective reality. Understanding the three types and using them properly is advantageous. Confusing the three types causes misunderstanding, emotional reactions and irrational thinking. --- ## Types of Reality [![Types of Reality Model](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/types-of-reality/reality-model.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/types-of-reality/reality-model.webp) ### 1\. Objective reality Objective reality is the “gold standard” or scientific standard for what is real. It describes anything that is measurable, observable and would exist even if human beings did not. Examples would be: - Physical laws. - Physical stuff. If you are holding an orange, you can eat said orange. ### 2\. Subjective reality Subjective reality is what you believe. Others can believe the complete opposite and it would still be fine. Subjective reality is a gradient scale, with a few people believing one extreme, a few the other extreme, and most people in-between. There is usually abundant evidence to support all positions on the scale. The most simple example are straight-up beliefs. Some people have [useful beliefs](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/) about something, others have limiting beliefs about the same thing. Other examples include: - Political views. - Glass half-full or glass half-empty. ### 3\. Intersubjective reality Intersubjective reality is a special subset of subjective reality.[^1] It describes things that exist because we collectively believe they exist, to the point where we would _almost_ consider them objective reality.[^2] Examples include: - Money. - Religion. - Fame and celebrity. - Laws. ## Using the Different Types of Reality to Your Advantage Now that we know about the different types of reality… how can we use them to our advantage? The first thing to recognise is that the types of reality are mutually exclusive.[^3] Everything will fall into one of the three types, and it’s useful to recognise which. If something is **objective**, you know it can’t be changed and it is a wasted effort to even try. Those that do will quickly discover that you can avoid objective reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding said reality. If something is **subjective**, then you have options. You want to choose things that are advantageous to believe are true, even if there is no evidence to support that belief. It is advantageous to take your limiting beliefs and to replace them with empowering ones. Common examples would be [confidence and motivation](/productivity/motivation/) - it is more advantageous and beneficial to believe in yourself and your motivations, than not to. **Intersubjective reality** is where things get interesting. It is usually _disadvantageous_ to be out of sync with intersubjective reality much like it is with objective reality - you can avoid it, but you can’t avoid the consequences of it. For example, you can pretend that human laws do not exist, but breaking them will still result in consequences. But sometimes, it can be _advantageous_ to be out of sync with what everyone else believes. This is commonly known as “playing by different rules”. For example: - Choosing entrepreneurship over a traditional career. - Businesses and startups that disrupt traditional industries. - Skipping breakfast to save time. - How you approach your social and romantic relationships. - Not following celebrity fandom, and freeing up time and attention for other things. ## What To Do Next The **Types of Reality** model is a simple one, and one that you can easily use to your advantage. Photo by [Lucrezia Carnelos](https://unsplash.com/@ciabattespugnose?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: I first learnt about this from _[Homo Deus](/go/book-homo-deus/)_ by Nuval Noah Harari. [^2]: i.e., “mass delusion”. [^3]: Despite what I said about intersubjective reality being a special subset of subjective reality. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Purpose: The Biggest Time Management Secret https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/purpose/ There is life with purpose. And life with no purpose. There is no time to waste. There is only wasted time. You wake up and hustle. You wake up and zone out. You only have productive days. You only have [WTF days](/productivity/wtf-days/). You can always answer why. You turn around and ask “what”? **There is life with purpose. And life with no purpose.** All time management is meaningless without purpose. If you don’t have something worth working on, there is no point in optimising or improving anything. --- ## What Is Purpose? Your purpose is your **why**. It is something worth spending your time on. It is something you will dedicate a large chunk of your life to, and most likely never achieve. Life without purpose looks like this: [![Life with no purpose](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/purpose/life-no-purpose.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/purpose/life-no-purpose.webp) Life with purpose looks like this: [![Life with purpose](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/purpose/life-with-purpose.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/purpose/life-with-purpose.webp) There may be a few detours, but generally things move in the same direction. It doesn’t matter how productive you are at an [everyday, micro-level](/productivity/time-management-stack/). If you lack purpose, you are optimising aimlessly for no reason. In our [inner game and mindset](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/), purpose sits at the very top. [![Dilts' Neurological Levels](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inner-game-mindset/dilts-neurological-levels.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inner-game-mindset/dilts-neurological-levels.webp) ## How to Find Your Purpose There are different ways to find your purpose. The system here is to try **all** of them. And within the ideas that you come up with, you will discover your purpose. ### Method 1: You just know it Some people just know their purpose. Whether through inspiration or aspiration, deep down in their soul they just know who they are, what they were put on this Earth to do and why they were put here to do it. ### Method 2: Five whys Pick any of your goals and ask why. Then ask why again. And keep asking why until you hit “to change the world” and then take one step back. It usually takes about five whys. ### Method 3: Aggregation List out everything you want in life. Material, non-material. Goals, random cravings. List it all out. Then take a step back and look at it all. What is the driving force behind this? That’s your why. ### Method 4: Start With Why [Simon Sinek](https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en) is best known for his TED Talk on Starting with Why. His process for discovering purpose is: 1. Identify your five biggest stories or standout memories. 2. Identify the themes - the gut feeling of “oh that’s me”. 3. Draft those themes into a statement in the form, “To X so that Y”. And that’s your purpose. ### Caveats What is popular is not your purpose. The opinions of others don’t matter here. F\*ck what others think. Your purpose is yours and yours alone. You don’t have to share it.[^1] It doesn’t have to fit nicely with what others want or expect of you, even if they are your family or friends.[^2] ## Weaponising Your Purpose - How to Use Your Purpose and Actually Live It Once you know your purpose, you want to spend as much time on it as possible. **That’s the true secret behind productivity and time management.**[^3] How do you do this? You have 168 hours every week. You sleep 56 of those. [What do you do with the remaining 112 hours?](/productivity/time-tracking/) Most people define themselves by what they consume - their brands, [their Instagram](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/), their possessions, their celebrity fandom. Those are other people’s purposes - not yours. **People with a strong sense of purpose define themselves by what they produce.** They were put on this planet to bring their purpose into reality. You can do this by aligning the arrows in your life towards your purpose. [![Arrows in the Same Direction](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp) Once you know what your purpose is, make everything in your life about your purpose. Start by writing it out daily until you have your purpose burned into memory. Then optimise all the [productivity](/productivity/productivity-stack/), [time management](/productivity/time-management-stack/) and other stacks in your life for your purpose. Use your purpose as your reason for why you do things, for making decisions, for how you do things, for energising you… for **everything**. ## What Is Your Purpose Aaron? To evolve to the highest level that I can, and help others do the same. I do this by teaching people about purpose, hedonism and flow. ## What To Do Next Work out your purpose. Align your life towards your purpose. And then spend as much time on your purpose as possible. That’s the biggest time management secret. Photo by [Nuno Antunes](https://unsplash.com/@onun?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Though it can be beneficial to. [^2]: I’m looking at all you Asian and Indian people here. [^3]: [The rest is just rationalisations and BS](/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Neediness https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/neediness/ Neediness. Just the sound of it conjures up images in our minds. Yuck. Ewwww 🤢. Stay away from me. We often don’t get to choose to be needy in the first place, but we do get to choose whether to stay that way or not. --- ## Defining Neediness Neediness is a “pleasure related vice”. It’s where you try to get something that you don’t really… well, need. It’s usually expressed as consistent social overreaching because we don’t know better. It’s also expressed as a requirement for constant reassurance and emotional support. Sometimes this is because people don’t know [how to read other people](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/). Sometimes they do, but they are so desperate for that **something** that they overreach anyway. Neediness is an intersubjective concept. This means that it only exists because humans collectively believe that it exists. The line between neediness and normal behaviour rests in what others believe is appropriate social behaviour - or not. ## Examples of Neediness Some modern examples of neediness include: - That one person in the office who always needs help or reassurance. - Sending someone with twenty messages in a row. - People trying to exercise power or control that they do not have. This comes from an incorrect expectation that others should follow your way of thinking, or an incorrect assessment of the balance of power in a given relationship.[^1] - Breaking the [hierarchy of communication](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/) by messaging things that should be said in person. ## Consequences of Neediness While we may sympathise with those who are needy, there are real-world consequences. Needy people tend to be social shunned. They end up enmeshed in a host of dependency issues. And other people have limits. Most people are good, wholesome people. But nobody likes excessive amounts of desperation. ## Why Don’t We Like Neediness? Humans don’t like neediness. Part of it is simple supply-demand economics - no one wants to buy what they are selling. But there are also social reasons. As humans, we tend to believe in and follow charismatic leaders.[^2] Because of this, we don’t want to associate with people who lack options, because it feels like they don’t contribute anything. It’s also frustrating that needy people usually want _something_ but they don’t actually know _what_ they want, and end up asking for _everything_. Neediness also says certain things about the person who is needy. It demonstrates a lack of self-sufficiency and self-control. It is usually wrapped in negativity and bad self-image. Growth-oriented people find it draining because of the scarcity mentality often associated with neediness. There are also the common associations of: - Low social value. - Needy people basing their value on someone else’s opinion of them, rather than their own. If we were to look at it philosophically, being needy is living without purpose, without preferences and without values. It is the opposite of [living with virtue](/productivity/virtues/), which is why neediness is a vice. ## Why People Are Needy _Disclaimer: I am not a psychologist or therapist. This is just my best guess._ Neediness comes from an insecurity in one’s self, identity and actions. And this comes from a range of things, including childhood, social upbringing and culture. The issues and trauma created in childhood manifest as a symptom where the needy person feels like they lack something, be it love, attention, acceptance or otherwise. The effect is the same: **a defining of the self through the validation of others rather than oneself**. ## If Neediness Is a Vice, How Do I Know If I’ve Been Needy? Neediness is a pleasure-related vice and it is also a social vice. If you’ve been needy, others will tell you through their words or actions. If you are surrounded mostly by other needy people (or no people at all), you it is likely you have demonstrated neediness. If you can’t generally get along with other people, it is likely you demonstrate neediness. Most well-adjusted human beings can get along with almost everyone else, at least on a neutral basis.[^3] ## How to Systematically Stop Being Needy The good news is that like any other vice, neediness can be put in check and stopped. Yes, [it may not be fair](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/) that your parents or society messed you up in childhood and that others don’t have to deal with this. But with work and effort, you can overcome neediness. The **mindset side** is about instilling yourself with a growth mindset, addressing any issues you have and playing a chicken-egg game with abundance. A growth mindset basically says that you can actively work on the things in your life and improve them. “Self help” and “self development” have their share of critics, but this is where they are helpful. If you have a friend or friends who can help pull you out of neediness that is best, but if not, then you are going to have to help yourself. You will also have to [dive deep into your inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/) and overcome the issues from your childhood.[^4] Abundance is the idea that you have more than you need and in many ways is the opposite of neediness. When you have abundance, you stop being needy. But it is a chicken-egg proposition. It’s hard to feel abundance until you _have_ abundance. The best thing you can do is to “fake it until you make it” and **put in place some rules for emulating abundance** until you actually have it. The **practical side** of handling neediness are exactly those rules - the things you should and shouldn’t do. These will come from learning good social skills and calibration. ## What To Do Next Learn the [social skills](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/). Do the [inner game and mindset work](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/). You may not have chosen neediness, but remaining needy is a choice. Photo by [Bharathi Kannan](https://unsplash.com/@bk010397?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: i.e., you actually need them more than they need you. [^2]: This is a fancy way of saying “popularity matters with humans”. [^3]: You will not be best buddies, but you can at least be polite and social. [^4]: Or, see a professional for help. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Energy Management and How to Manage Your Energy Levels https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/energy-management/ Picture this. You wake up in the morning, and run a flawless morning ritual. Within an hour, you are at your desk, working. You hit your hardest and most challenging things first, and clear them with ease. You remain productive all the way through to lunch. By 12pm, you’ve done more in a day than others will do all week. You break for lunch. You then glide through the afternoon with some easy (but necessary) routine admin tasks. Late in the afternoon, you wrap up your day and prepare for tomorrow. You hit the gym for an after-work workout, then grab some food and wind down for the day. When it’s all done, you fall asleep easily, knowing that you’ve just had an incredibly productive day. --- Sound like fantasy? It isn’t. Other people and I live like this every day, and you can too. ## Why Bother Managing Your Energy Levels? The main reason for managing your energy levels is obvious: **you will get lots and lots of things done.** But there’s more to it than that. Being on top of your energy levels, means that you reliably know how you will feel on a given day and can plan ahead, whether that’s for calls, meetings, work or time off. [WTF days become a thing of the past.](/productivity/wtf-days/) You will have the physical capacity to do the things you want to do. If you want to focus on work, good energy management gives you the physical foundation you need for that. If you want to work on a side hustle or passion project after work, you will have the energy for that. If you want to have a late night out, you can plan for it and make sure that you have enough energy reserves to have a blast. Having your physical energy managed simply makes everything easier to do, be it [living virtuously](/productivity/virtues/), [achieving your goals](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/) or just being at peace with yourself, knowing that you have done the best that you can. And taking the opposite side - why would you _not_ want to have your energy levels managed? It makes no sense that some people would prefer to abuse their physical bodies, energy levels and feel like sh\*t all the time. ## What Is Energy Management? **Good energy management is having the energy you need to do the things that you want, when you want to do them.** It means that you are productive. It means having a solid foundation in exercise, sleep, your diet, your rituals and your [inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/). ## Building Your Energy Management Foundation The foundation for energy management lies in the [productivity stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/) and in the [base level of the time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/). [![Level 1: Health and Energy](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level1-health-energy.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-management-stack/level1-health-energy.webp) These are: - Rituals. - Exercise. - Diet. - Sleep. Stress is not part of the time management stack, but is also important for your energy levels. ### Rituals For your **rituals**, make sure that you have [morning and evening rituals](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/) set up. These will help improve the _consistency_ of your energy levels throughout the day. ### Sleep For **sleep**, I recommend doing whatever you need to in order to get good sleep. [Here’s the process that I went through.](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/) ### Diet and exercise I will not cover **diet and exercise** in detail as I don’t consider myself an expert on these things. Instead I will tell you what works for me, and recommend some resources. For **diet** I do a not-very-strict form of intermittent fasting. I don’t do it as much for the supposed health benefits, but more for the time management aspect where I don’t have to slow down in the morning to eat food. I cook as much of my own food as possible, [usually in batches](/productivity/batching/). I am fine eating the same thing every day and have been for a long, long time. It saves time and is one less decision I have to make on a daily basis. I know that what I’m eating is healthy because I will geek out with spreadsheets, calories and macros beforehand to calculate what to prepare. For **exercise** I love doing compound lifts in the gym. I also do some conditioning work or just go for a walk on occasion, but not as strictly. If you have any **ongoing health issues** I’ll give you the same advice that I gave myself a few years back. Find the best expert you can on the issue, do whatever you can to get it fixed, and accept that your exercise routine may not be optimal for some time. In my case I had a spinal injury that took me out of the gym for over a year. I did the physiotherapy, the research and the reading, and then applied it. And now I have to do about thirty minutes of rehabilitation exercises every day for the rest of my life. Yes it’s an extra thirty minutes I wish I didn’t have to spend, but it is what it is, and it works. It took about three years, and I still remember the moment I excitedly texted a weightlifting friend of mine that I was back to deadlifting 2x bodyweight 💪🏼. Some diet/exercise resources I like: - [RippedBody.](https://rippedbody.com/) - [Athlean X on YouTube.](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe0TLA0EsQbE-MjuHXevj2A) - [/fitness on Reddit.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/) ### Stress Stress falls more into the “inner game” level of things as when we have our physical foundation covered, any stress is the result of our perception of events. It comes back to this diagram: [![Arrows in the Same Direction](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp) The more arrows in our life are pointed in the same direction, the more congruent we are and the less stressed we are. The best advice I have for managing stress is to: 1. Work out your purpose and live by it. 2. Read [_Meditations_ by Marcus Aurelius](/go/book-meditations/) and get interested in Stoicism. However down you feel or whatever you are going through, it probably isn’t as bad as: - Spending most of your life at war. - Having your children die while you were away on campaign. - Having your wife have a public affair while you were gone. - To come back from war only to have your best friend lead a rebellion against you. --- If you put together these five things - rituals, sleep, diet, exercise, stress management - then you have an effective foundation for energy management. You’ll find that you have the energy you need to do the things that you want to do, and “feeling tired” or “not up to it today” will become things of the past. But is there a next level for energy management? Why yes, there is. ## Advanced Energy Management: Hero Mode Now that you have your foundation of energy management set up, it’s time to look to the nex[t level](/productivity/next-level-productivity/). This is what is called **Hero Mode**.[^1] This is the productivity idea that you should **work out your daily energy rhythm, then line up your hardest tasks with your energetic peaks and take breaks during the troughs**. This is something I have taught as a productivity coach and consultant, and also something I have trained teams in at companies I’ve run. It is designed to produce optimal performance and is very effective. Here’s how you do it. ### Charting Hero Mode for Energy Management The **first step** is to work out your energy patterns for the day. You want to ask: 1. [What time do you wake up?](/productivity/waking-up-early/) 2. When are you most energetic during the day? Is it: - After waking up? - After lunch? - After dinner? - In the evening? - Some other time? 3. When are you least energetic during the day? 4. When do you fall asleep easiest? The **second step** is to plot this on a chart, like this: [![Energy Management Hero Mode Chart](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/energy-management/hero-mode.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/energy-management/hero-mode.webp) The x-axis represent the hours of your day, the y-axis represents your energy levels on a scale of one to ten. Also make note of your office hours if you have them.[^2] The **third step** is to look at your daily activities and _work out what your hardest tasks are_, whether they are for work or your personal life. The **fourth step** is to do your hardest tasks when you have the most energy, and your easiest tasks (or just take a break) when you have the lowest energy. ### Applying Hero Mode You now know exactly when you are most energetic and least energetic during the day. With this, you can start to optimise other parts of your day for even more productivity. We’ve already mentioned **placing your highest value, hardest and most important tasks at peak energy times**. This is usually creative work, technical work or detailed work. In contrast, you can now **put your easy/mindless tasks at your lowest energy times**. Or you can just take a break. You can also work out optimal **food timing**, so that eating and digestion won’t slow down your most productive hours. You can lastly **adjust your sleep schedule** so that you are resting during dead times. ### Example 1: Me Here’s an example chart of my own version of Hero Mode: [![Aaron Lynn Energy Management Hero Mode](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/energy-management/hero-mode-aaron-lynn.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/energy-management/hero-mode-aaron-lynn.webp) As you can see, my peak energy hours are the early morning from 6am to about noon. After lunch I am a little less productive but can still get things done. But after 3pm, things really take a dive and I line up some easier things like reading or working out for that time. After 8pm I am in zombie-mode which is why I prefer to sleep early 😎. ### Example 2: Salesperson Here’s an example chart from one of the salespeople I worked with recently: [![Energy Management Hero Mode Sales](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/energy-management/hero-mode-sales.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/energy-management/hero-mode-sales.webp) Her chart is almost the opposite of mine. She starts off zombie-like in the morning, which is why she has a [negotiated flexible later start time for her work](#remote%20work). She starts to properly “wake up” in the early afternoon, which is usually the time she uses to call clients or work on simpler administrative tasks. She hits her energetic peak in the evenings. This means lining up the hardest tasks she has like writing proposals and pitches or handling casework during the late hours of the night. ## What To Do Next Energy management is something that takes time to develop. You need to build your foundation first—rituals, sleep, diet, exercise, stress management. This may seem simple, but a twenty percent improvement in each of those areas adds up to a _two-times_ improvement overall. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to apply Hero Mode and take it to the next level. If you want to find out more about other parts of the productivity or time management stacks, grab your 100% free copy of _Evolution_ below. Photo by [Cláudio Luiz Castro](https://unsplash.com/@claudiolcastro?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: I can’t remember which friend came up with the term, but it makes sense. [^2]: Though hopefully you have [flexible remote work arrangements](/business/remote-working/) by now! > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Ugly Truth About Time Management https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/ Here’s the ugly truth about time management. This is something that most productivity and business writers don’t want to talk about, or even go near: **Most time management techniques just get in the way of you doing things.** That’s right. All these “productivity hacks” and “time management tips” are actually **stopping you** from getting things done. They are all forms of creative procrastination[^1] that create an extra step in the process of you doing something that you should just be doing anyway. Because when we really need to do something… we just do it. We don’t need fancy techniques or the latest time-saving hack. It Just. Gets. Done. --- I realise the irony in this. I have a website [full of such techniques](/articles/). I have stated many times that [being organised confers certain advantages](/productivity/time-management-stack/). Organisation and techniques help us to build productive capacity. But when it comes to the **take action** part - these things are supposed to fade away into the background, so that we can just **do**. ## What Time Management Techniques Are You Talking About Aaron? All of them. [Anything you can find here:](/productivity/time-management-stack/) most important task, timeslices, [Eisenhower quadrants](/productivity/task-prioritisation/), deep work mode… These things serve as extra workarounds to get our brains and bodies to do something that we should just be doing anyway. ## Ok, Then Why Do These Hacks and Techniques Exist and Why Do People Recommend Them? These hacks and techniques are ways of tricking our bodies and minds into doing things that we should just be doing outright. They exist because **we are often not on our purpose**. [We procrastinate](/productivity/procrastination/). We [get bored](/productivity/boredom/). We perceive our tasks as low value. Our society is coddled and most of us believe that we shouldn’t have to do anything we don’t want to. Everyone thinks they’re special and is going to change the world. But an examination of human history would show otherwise. As one of my clients put it: > I don’t enjoy it, but you know… you do what you have to do. Most of us are lazy. [We don’t work as hard as we should.](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/) [We get distracted](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/) by [every shiny object that comes along](/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/). And we poorly manage [our resources](/productivity/productivity-stack/). This is why [time management hacks](/productivity/true-life-hacks/) and techniques exist. They help us overcome our lack of purpose and our inability to manage our lives and [inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/) properly. ## What’s the Alternative? **[You get on your purpose.](/productivity/purpose/)** You optimise your life - your [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/), your [productivity stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/). You achieve capacity. Then, without any fancy time management hacks or techniques, **[you just sit down, and do it](/productivity/right-action/)**. You take action, until there are no more actions to take. ## What To Do Next Purpose. Capacity. Action. Do it. Photo by [Thomas Lipke](https://unsplash.com/@t_lipke?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Or mental masturbation. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Boredom: Why We Get Bored and What to Do About It https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/boredom/ You wake up. You reach over for your phone, and begin to bombard your brain with artificial stimulus. Your hands are on autopilot, and so are the responses in your brain. Nothing you see is inherently interesting, but you still go through the motions. You’re tempted to go back to sleep but a tiny sliver of… is that responsibility?… tells you to wake up instead. You sleepily brush your teeth and throw some water on your face. You don’t even bother getting changed. You just wander over to the kitchen and put on some coffee. Outside the glum little window, it’s a bit overcast and there are some cars going by. It’s a fairly quiet day. Without thinking, you reach for your phone again, but it seems boring at this point. The day drones on in a dull, greyed out tone. There are some brief moments here and there, but nothing really happens. The minutes creep by. The hours miraculously pass by. A stray thought of “what can I do today” begins to surface… but is pulled back down into the deep, dark, recessed pool in your mind. Your subconscious tells you: there’s nothing for you to do. Welcome to life in boredom mode. --- ## What Is Boredom? Boredom is usually thought of as something we experience in the moment: “I’m bored”. But it’s more than that. Boredom is a psychological phenomenon that has been studied, and found to be the intersection of stimuli and attention gone wrong. The odd thing is this: We live in an amazing world. How can people _possibly_ get bored? We have these amazing little handheld devices that deliver everything created **ever** into the palms of our hands. They also let us talk to anyone we’ve ever met (or never met) in real time, all around the world. Using those same devices, we can get almost anything delivered to our doorstop. And let’s not forget the **actual world** out there - our [amazing cities](https://www.reddit.com/r/CityPorn/) and [even more amazing planet](https://www.reddit.com/r/EarthPorn/). So why do we still get bored? ## Why We Get Bored The psychological literature tells us that boredom is the result of the wrong mix of attention and stimuli. Sort of like vodka mixed with Red Bull, but in reverse. If something is too easy or too hard… we get bored. And nowadays **everything** is too easy or too hard, because our brains are fried from the excessive stimuli that we bombard it with constantly. Nothing excites us anymore. [What we see online doesn’t match reality,](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/) and this makes Jack and Jill both thoroughly dissatisfied. Our everyday, real-world stimulation just doesn’t match the things we see through our phone screens. The dopamine threshold in our brains has been raised high. Our potential is under-utilised. We end up doing [things we don’t want to do](/productivity/procrastination/).[^1] We end up doing things we don’t particularly like to do.[^2] We spend time grinding away on things that we _have_ to do but God, is it boring. ## What You Can Do to Overcome Boredom ![What you can do to overcome boredom](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/boredom/overcome-boredom.webp) Thankfully, boredom is not perpetual. But darnit is it persistent. There are some things you can do right now to help. There are some things you can start doing for the future. And there are other things you can work on to handle the endgame for boredom - and hopefully banish it forever. ### Things you can do right now to tackle boredom Put your attention on the right things - [your purpose](/productivity/purpose/), [your goals](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/). Start handling your need for stimuli. A dirty life hack is to use **touch-and-go distractions**. This is where you have a go-to list of controlled consumption activities. Your list of “fixes” so-to-speak. It could be: - Reading material. - Short series (e.g., Netflix). - Jump-in-jump-out video games. - Short social media bursts. - Short news bursts. - A quick, preferably healthy, snack. These are small amounts of controlled [destructive snacking](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/) to meet your immediate stimulus needs.[^3] Ideally you only want to use these if you are focused the rest of the time. And they **must** be touch-and-go, as indulgence in any of these things will just lead to more low-value boredom. In case of emergency, just **take a nap or [go to sleep](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/)** for the day - this will help reset things, at least for today. ### Things you can do in the medium-term for handling boredom This is where you can start making generative changes to handle boredom. The first thing you want to do is to **address your [inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/)**. Here are some belief structures worth looking at: - Do you define yourself by what you produce or what you consume? - Do you seek out stimulus because it is part of your purpose and mission, or otherwise? - [Are you internally or externally referenced?](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/) Remember that it’s on you to make your life interesting - no one else is going to do that for you. The second thing is to **work on the lower level of your [productivity stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/)**, [especially your energy](/productivity/energy-management/). Good food, good exercise and less stress go a long way to keeping you on routine and away from boredom. The third thing you can do is to **[schedule in downtime](/productivity/play/)** on a regular basis and look forward to it. It should be something that is **not** goal-oriented and has **no** productive value to it, such as: - A sport or physical activity like rock climbing. - An immersive video game. - Just catching up with people you know for the pleasure of it. This is the idea behind taking a half-day or full-day off a week to just disconnect and fulfil your stimuli needs.[^4] ### The endgame solution for boredom The endgame solution for handling boredom is to **have a strong purpose**. If you are working towards this, you will never be bored. You will in fact, be **so busy** that you don’t have time to be bored. As Grant Cardone says: > If you want to meet the devil, have white space on your calendar. If your current purpose sucks, you need to find a new one. It could just be a shift in how you are looking at things. Or it could be a major shift in your career or business. [Your values](/productivity/core-values/) should also line up with [your purpose](/productivity/purpose/). Some writers like to say that values are just “who you are” and that they don’t matter. This is incorrect – they do matter. They can help you, or they can hamper you. So make sure they help you. ## Handling Boredom in Lockdown The current on-again-off-again lockdown situation is more complex that just boredom, as there are other forced constraints in play. Everything we’ve discussed applies, with some additions. 1. You must have your own routine in place to add structure to your life. 2. If you can [work from home](/business/remote-working/), go deep into your work and the skills you use to do your work. Now is the right time. 3. Use your imagination and some escapism to create your own internal worlds, to compensate for the lack of being able to go outside. 4. [Maintain your social connections as best as you can.](/life/social-atomisation/) Nothing will ever replace in-person contact, but you can try. If you aren’t able to achieve your life’s purpose during lockdown, find the next best thing. This could be downtime, hobbies you want to do, personal projects you’d like to start. It’s great time to start exercising and eating healthily. It’s also a great time to pick up skills to [improve your talent stack](/productivity/talent-stacks-specific-knowledge/). Whatever you do, just don’t sit indoors and waste away the weeks and months. ## What To Do Next There is no reason to be bored in today’s world. Not only do we live in an amazing world, but there are simple and proven steps we can take to pull ourselves out of monotony and boredom and back onto our purpose and living life. Photos by [Justin Veenema](https://unsplash.com/@justinveenema?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) and [Jon Tyson](https://unsplash.com/@jontyson?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: These things have a “lack of perceived value”. [^2]: These things demonstrate our “lack of autonomy”. [^3]: In the long-term you want to retrain your brain to require less and less stimuli. [^4]: It is also the idea behind taking a few days off every quarter to rest and reset. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Stop Having WTF Days https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/wtf-days/ It amazes me that with all the technology and knowledge we have at our disposal, people still have WTF days - they wake up and have no idea what they are going to do. Beyond the things that they are forced to do (work, school, chores, errands), there is no routine, no structure, no direction. They get to the end of their day and it hits them: > **WTF happened to my day?** It seemed busy. Stuff obviously happened. But W. T. F. Days like this are a waste. They have no purpose, no direction. They’re just a stream of endless busywork with no focus and over the long term, this [leads to bad things](/productivity/excess-hedonism/). And worse than all this - that’s one of _maybe_ thirty-thousand days we have in our lives. With everything we have and know about technology and organisation, there is no reason to have any WTF days. Here’s how we can stop having WTF days and start having productive days instead. --- ## Tools You Need to Stop Having WTF Days You need to have the basics of the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) set up. This means: 1. **A [calendar and schedule](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/).** The less white space, the better. 2. **A [personal task management system](/productivity/personal-task-management/).** Because you definitely have things to do, even if you don’t have them written down yet. 3. **[A journal.](/productivity/journals/)** Your goal is to not let the number of results increase when you type “WTF” into the search box. 4. Your **[standard work tools and systems](/business/remote-work-apps/).** ## How to Stopping Having WTF Days and Have Productive Days Instead The **big secret** to stopping WTF days is to plan your days _the night before_. I say “the night before”, but realistically the best time for most people is either: 1. Before they leave work for the day, or 2. At the start of their [evening ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). Here is exactly what you do. 1. Sit down. [You need about ten minutes for this](/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/). 2. Wrap up today’s journal entry and answer your evening review questions. 3. Create a new journal entry for tomorrow: 1. Check your calendar and note any appointments. 2. Check your weekly journal entry for your weekly plan, and copy in anything you need to. 3. Check your personal task management system for any recurring tasks, project items, areas of life items or once-off actions. 4. Check your work’s project management system, Slack and post-it notes for anything urgently due or top-of-mind. 5. If using [my journal structure](/productivity/journals/), write out two outcomes for tomorrow and list your tasks. 6. If using the classic Ivy Lee-Charles Schwab method, write down six things you will do tomorrow.[^1] 7. Note down anything else you need to do tomorrow. 8. Chunk up your days into blocks of time. 4. Close your journal entry and let it sync to your devices. 5. Rest up, because tomorrow is going to be a very productive day. ## Executing Your Newly Productive Day When tomorrow arrives, wake up and [run your morning ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). Start your day and reference your journal entry and tasks. And [just execute](/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/). As you progress through the day, check off completed tasks and outcomes, note things and adjust as you need to.[^2] When you get to the end of the day simply repeat the planning process for the next day. ## What To Do Next It’s that simple. - Have a basic [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) set up. - Plan your day the night before. - Execute. And stop having WTF days. Photo by [Tobias](https://unsplash.com/@tbshg?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: You will start at number one and only progress to number two once number one is done. [^2]: For more on this, see [my guide to journal entries](/productivity/journals/). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Virtues of Austerity and Minimalism https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/austerity-and-minimalism/ Living with austerity and living by minimalism are not popular in today’s world. Most people today want it all - or have it all - and aren’t willing to give that up. I am no different. In my early twenties, I moved to San Francisco and started a performance marketing company. It was successful - my first tax bill was a nice multiple of most people’s annual salary. You can imagine what followed. First class flights. Five-star hotels. _Putting up my friends in five-star hotels._ Twelve trips to Vegas in as many months. More tech gear than I knew what to do with. I remember sitting in my downtown apartment asking myself, “Hmmm, what else can I buy this week?” It goes without saying that all the excessive consumption was not healthy for me on a financial or psychological level. **[Humans are made to produce, not to consume](/productivity/production-vs-consumption/).** Over the years, a combination of observing friends who are much smarter than I and some common sense made me rethink how I was living and that has evolved into a sense of austerity and minimalism. Here’s how I look at it now. --- ## Austerity or Minimalism? Austerity and minimalism are two sides of the same coin. The same thing, seen through different lens. **Austerity is the glass-half-empty version.** When people think of austerity, they think of harsh economic conditions. It sound serious and a little scary. It is also commonly linked to being ascetic,[^1] but as you will see, it doesn’t have to be that extreme. **Minimalism is the glass-half-full version.** It is cool to be minimalist, to have less stuff, to declutter. It’s about having and using what you need, and not worrying about the rest. Austerity or minimalism - pick the term you prefer and live by that. ## Why Be Austere or Minimalist? The only real reason to live by minimalism (or austerity) is if you choose to. For me, the trigger was the realisation that my life was becoming ridiculous with the accumulation of “stuff” that I didn’t use frequently. Extravagance is nice, but because of [hedonic adaptation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill), it became old, fast. Over the years I have developed some reasons to support the decision to live a more austere and minimalist lifestyle:[^2] 1. **[Internal frame of reference.](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/)** A little hardship and [a little suffering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths) is one of the ways to build a stronger internal frame of reference. 2. Not wanting to be controlled by my stuff or the need for it.[^3] 3. **Periodic discomfort.**[^4] This serves as a reminder that things could be much worse… or much better. 4. I believe that **people are happier when they own less stuff,** including other people. This also counters hedonic adaptation. 5. **Less psychological stimulation** means fewer things to think about. This fits in nicely with living with simplicity, which [is also a virtue](/productivity/virtues/). ## Defining Austerity and Minimalism ### Is this just about material stuff? The terms austerity and minimalism usually refer to material possessions. Money is one part of that, stuff is another, and psychological stimulation is yet another. [Any of the resources that make up our productivity stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/) are things that we have finite amounts of and that we spend on. Being minimalist means being austere with **all** of those resources, not just money or attention. This ends up being expressed as self-discipline, plainness, simplicity and minimalist living. ### Can’t I have nice things? 🙄 Yes, you can have nice things. Being minimalist isn’t about forgoing possessions or living as an ascetic. It’s about not accumulating unnecessary possessions. My suggestion is to pick a couple of nice things and enjoy those. And for everything else, resist the urge to over-consume. Be minimalist about it. One of the common traps of success is that **people end up scaling their lifestyle, alongside their business or career success.** I believe that everyone has to go through this _at least once_ to realise how silly it is,[^5] and then they adjust to practicing some form of austerity or minimalism. ## Practicing Austerity and Minimalism Daily Austerity and Minimalism are virtues, and they have to be practiced daily. At the end of the day you simply ask: - Did I spend a resource today that I didn’t need to, be it money, attention or otherwise? - Was there some minor discomfort in my day as a result of my choice to be austere/minimalist? You want to be able to answer “no” to the first, and “yes” to the second. This allows us to appreciate the things we have more, and to temper things like [indulgence and hedonism](/productivity/excess-hedonism/). ### Some personal examples of practicing austerity and minimalism I started this article with a personal story and here are some personal examples of how I choose to practice austerity/minimalism: - Eat the same meals every day. This is some protein, some rice if bulking, some fruit and some vegetables. I enjoy eating out and fine dining as much as everyone else, but there is no need to do that every day. - Tech upgrades have to be justified with substantially increased productivity. I used an old 2011-era MacBook Air for many years before jumping to a MacBook Pro. - Not loading up Netflix just to find something to watch. For that matter, I don’t even have a Netflix subscription 🙂. - Removing as much media-related psychological stimulation as possible. Less Reddit, less Twitter, less Facebook. At times I have deleted these apps if necessary. - Elimination of as many forms of [destructive snacking](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/) as I can find. This doesn’t mean I don’t have nice things. ![Aaron Lynn's Work Environment](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-working/aaron-lynn-work-environment.webp) I read Reddit every now and then. I have a nice three-monitor setup for work. I have a [Breville slow-cooker](/go/breville-fast-slow-pro/) for cooking. If I don’t need something or will not use it almost-daily, I typically will not purchase it. ## How to Develop Austerity and Minimalism As with all virtues, there are two sides to developing austerity and minimalism. ### Inner game and mindset The first is your **inner game or mindset**. I mentioned earlier that living austere or minimalist is a choice. That’s where it starts. **You can choose to produce or to consume.** I personally like to be so busy producing, that I don’t have time to consume. You should **have a decision-making process for buying things**. People usually buy things to display social status.[^6] They define themselves by their consumption and displays of it, rather than by their production. The truth is, if you gave a sea turtle some money, it could make those very same consumption choices. Defining yourself by your consumption doesn’t mean **anything**. A better process would be to think about the real reason you are purchasing something: - Is it for status? - Is it because my brain needs dopamine? - Is it because I really need this? ### Practical steps The second side to developing austerity and minimalism as virtues is to **get practical** - [write an SOP for yourself](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) about how you will do this. For material possessions, **pick three-to-five nice things** that you really want to have. These are usually things that you use daily or very frequently and that have a large positive impact on your life. Things like: - Your bed and linen. - Your computer. - Your phone. For the other things - if you don’t need it, don’t buy it. Don’t buy it just because it’s on sale. Don’t even get it just because it’s free. If you are feeling the urge to purchase something but are unsure, wait a week. [Set a reminder in your task manager](/productivity/personal-task-management/) to remind you in a week to think about it again. For your mental resources like attention and willpower, go on an [attention diet](https://markmanson.net/attention-diet). Cut your social media feeds. Cut your _normal_ media feeds. Feel zero obligation to reply to messages right away, or even at all. Spend less time in front of screens. Ask yourself: **do I really need to see this right now?** If yes, go ahead. If no, then set it aside and come back to it later. ## What To Do Next Austerity and minimalism are virtues. They fit nicely alongside other virtues like simplicity, [self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/) and clarity. They help us beat back vices like [excess hedonism](/productivity/excess-hedonism/) or [destructive snacking](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/). For more on virtues and how to live them, **grab your 100% free copy of _Evolution_ below**. Photo by [adrian](https://unsplash.com/@aows?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: i.e., abstention from all indulgence. [^2]: As with all reasons and rationalisations, take these with a grain of salt. [^3]: This comes from Stoicism. [^4]: Also from Stoicism. [^5]: As per my own example above. [^6]: And to gain the secondary effects of social status, such as popularity or attracting members of the preferred sex. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Set Up Your Personal Task Management System https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/personal-task-management/ Personal Task Management is the way that you organise your tasks, projects and to dos for your personal life. There is no single “best way” to do personal task management. There are simply different ways depending on how you like to work and organise. Here is how I do personal task management today. This is the system that I have been using and evolving ever since I read _[Getting Things Done](/go/book-getting-things-done/)_ over a decade ago. Take it, learn from it, and adapt it to your own needs and requirements 🙂. --- ## Why Do I Need Personal Task Management in the First Place? In a business, the need to organise what the company does into projects, lists and tasks is obvious. But what about for our personal lives? The main reason we need to organise tasks in our personal lives is because of **the distinction between tasks, information and trash**: - Tasks are [one of the categories of “things”](/productivity/tasks-appointments-information-trash/) we have to handle in the modern day. They are _the things that we do_. - Pieces of information are [_the things that we need to know and file_](/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/). - Pieces of trash are _the things we can ignore_. If we don’t manage our tasks somewhere, they end up in the wrong places - in our journals, in our notebooks, or simply forgotten about. Having our tasks organised also [confers certain advantages](/productivity/time-management-stack/). Our lives are incredibly complex nowadays and it is incredulous that people do not have task or to do lists of some sort.[^1] For those of us with growth mindsets, there is always something going on and something to do. And we need to track those things. That is where personal task management comes in. ## Personal Task Management Apps and Tech The first thing people tend to ask is “what task management app should I use?”. So let’s get that out of the way. There are many, many, _many_ task management apps out there and they all work. The key thing is picking one, setting it up properly, and maintaining it over time. In this case, **principles are more important than the technology**. I cannot stress this enough. If you do not set up or maintain your app properly over time, it will not work. And simply switching to a different app will not solve any task management problems you have. Here are some notable mentions: - [Apple’s Reminders app](https://www.icloud.com/reminders), which has become quite powerful in the past couple of years. - [OmniFocus](https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus/), which has been my favourite for close to a decade and remains so for many reasons.[^2] - [Things](https://culturedcode.com/things/), which is my usual recommendation for people getting started with tasks. - [Microsoft To Do](https://todo.microsoft.com/tasks/), which is the successor to Wunderlist. - [Google Tasks](https://support.google.com/tasks/answer/7675772), but it is a little basic. If you don’t like any of these, you can find plenty more via a Google search. The main thing is to **pick one that you like the look and feel of**, set it up as discussed in this guide and learn to make it work for you. ### Task Management App Features If you need some help deciding, here are some features to keep an eye out for: - **Phone app.** This is non-negotiable, as you need to have access to your tasks anywhere and anytime. - **Cloud sync.** Most apps will have this nowadays. It allows for your data to be securely synced between your devices via the cloud. - **Repeating/recurring tasks.** These are essential for setting up your rituals and routines. - **Due dates.** Every app should have this feature. - **Start dates.** Some apps will have this feature and I personally find it useful. - **Tags and Contexts.** Some apps will have these and they can add an extra layer of organisation to your task management. - **Custom Perspectives and Views.** These are incredibly useful if you have a lot of tasks. They will help you highlight and work out what you need to work on _right now_. ## How to Structure Your Task Manager Projects and Lists I used to recommend that people compile all their tasks together, and from that work out what projects and lists they need to create. I no longer recommend this. Instead, it is better to take a top-down approach - set up your project and list hierarchy based on [your purpose](/productivity/purpose/) [and goals](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/). Here is how I have mine setup: ``` Personal Projects * Personal projects go in here. * Example: Learn how to work out at home. Areas of Life * Wealth * Health * Learning/growth * Social * Play * Relationship Lists * Once-Off Actions * Shopping * Reading/Learning * Future Life Management (Rituals) * Daily * Weekly * Monthly * Yearly ``` Feel free to take this and change it to match your own [areas of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/), [rituals and routines](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/) and [goals](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/). ## How to Set up Your Task Management App Setting up your tasks is much like setting up your [personal knowledge management](/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/). [![Personal Task Management](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/personal-task-management/personal-task-management-png.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/personal-task-management/personal-task-management-png.webp) The first thing you need to do is to **collect and write down all your tasks** - from your papers, post-it notes and your mind. [Anything that isn’t a task should go elsewhere](/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/): - Information should go into your note taking application. - Trash should be thrown out or discarded. All your tasks should be [collected into the inbox](/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/) of your chosen app. The second thing to do once they are all in there is to **sort them into your project hierarchy** - you can literally just drag and drop. If you discover that you have tasks that don’t fit in your project hierarchy, then either: 1. You actually don’t need to do that task, because it isn’t something routine, part of an area of life or related to your goals, or, 2. You missed a project when you were creating your hierarchy. This is only likely if you have **a lot** of tasks that don’t fit and are all related to one thing. The final thing to do is to **add additional data to your tasks**. This could be: - Tags or contexts for extra organisation. - Due dates. - Repeating/recurring task schedules. ## How to Use Your Task Manager Daily If you have your [morning ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/) set up as suggested, then you will load that up in your task manager on your phone the first thing every morning, and [run through it](/productivity/task-prioritisation/). For your **projects**, you will work on the next available action when you have time set aside for personal tasks. For your **life management actions and once-off lists**, you do them as they are due or as they need to happen. You can close off your days by running your [evening ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/) from the list in your task management app. ## Maintaining Your Personal Task Management System You must regularly maintain your personal task management system. If you don’t, then it will become disorganised and overwhelming and you will want to stop using it. **What does “ongoing maintenance” for personal task management look like?** It means: 1. Clear your task management inbox at least weekly.[^3] 2. Review your projects and lists regularly. Once a month or once a quarter should be enough. When you do this, remove any tasks that are no longer relevant and update the ones that are. 3. Not changing your task management app too often. ## Frequently Asked Questions About Personal Task Management ### What about custom views and perspectives? Most task management apps offer custom views and perspectives. These could be built-in like the Today view in Things or they could be a custom-created perspectives like those commonly set up in OmniFocus. My suggestion would be to use them as you need to, and don’t worry about the rest. Some custom views I have found useful are: - Today view. - Available Actions/Anytime view. - Morning Ritual and Evening Ritual views. ### How do I use due dates properly? My personal take is that due dates should not be used unless something is absolutely due on a certain day. Most people use due dates incorrectly. They set an artificial due date a few days or a week before something is actually due, and then when they don’t complete the task on time, they push back the due date. The problem with this, is that you are conditioning yourself to not trust due dates in the app, which means you are less likely to continue using the app or managing your tasks. Instead of doing this, it is better to operate in free-flow and work on “available actions” as time allows. You can do this by pulling tasks out of your task manager and into [your journal entries](/productivity/journals/) to work on. You _could_ also just flag or tag tasks with “today” to have them show up in the Today view of your task manager, but this is more clunky than using journal entries in my opinion. ### How do I use start dates properly? Start dates are great for when you don’t need to see a task until a certain date. It makes tasks out of sight, out of mind, and you can focus on other things that are important right now. A simple example of this would be if you are making a run to the grocery store on Friday, you can set the start date for those items to Friday. ### Doesn’t this double up with my journal entries? If you are [using journal entries the way that I recommend](/productivity/journals/), there will be some double-up between your task manager and your journal entries. **My personal preference and setup is to [use my journal entry as the main source of guidance daily](/productivity/wtf-days/).** I can pull in tasks from my personal task management system _and_ from a project management tool like [Asana](/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/). In this sense I am using these tools more like databases rather than a real-time reference. ### Do I work from the today view in my task manager or from my journal? You can do both. As per the question above I prefer the journal entries, but sometimes if I have a block of time scheduled for personal projects, I will load up an “Available Actions” view in OmniFocus and run through what is in there. ### Can I use a business project management tool like Asana for my personal tasks? Yes, you can. I am sure many people have considered this - setting up their own Jira instance or Asana workspace for personal items. The only thing to note is that these tools are not really designed for personal “home” use. They are business tools designed with reviews, proofing, collaboration and more in mind. I would recommend this only if you really need to use the features in these tools, otherwise they can get complicated quite quickly. There is also the issue of cost, as most of these tools have expensive minimum-user monthly subscriptions, rather than a once-off cost for an app. ### Why do you not recommend putting business tasks in my personal task management app? Your business tasks need to be shareable, comment-able and assignable to other people. Your personal tasks do not. Business tasks become more complex over time, and project management tools handle this complexity better. Think of it as how your accountant always asks you to separate your business and personal finances. Even if you are a solo entrepreneur starting out, I would recommend setting up your business tasks in a project management system like [Asana](/go/asana/) or [Clickup](https://clickup.com/). This will help you learn to use the system, and you will be able add and collaborate with team members or even contractors as your company grows. If you want to combine your personal and business tasks together on a daily basis, I suggest doing so in your journal entries. ## What To Do Next Collect together all your tasks into one place. Sort them into an app. Keep it organised, then [do them based on task priority](/productivity/task-prioritisation/). [Read more about other parts of the time management stack here.](/productivity/time-management-stack/) If you have any questions, feel free to [reach out to me on Twitter](https://twitter.com/search?q=aaronlynn.com%2Fpersonal-task-management%2F). Photo by [Matt Briney](https://unsplash.com/@mbriney?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Even if they’re badly managed using email or written down on paper. [^2]: Namely, perspectives, start/end dates, inbox, reviews and custom scripting. [^3]: I clear _all_ my inboxes weekly on a Sunday, including email, papers, tasks and more. It takes me sixty-to-ninety minutes. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Most Important Task and Eat That Frog https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/most-important-task/ Most Important Task (MIT) or Eat That Frog is a simple time management hack [popularised by Brian Tracy](/go/book-eat-that-frog/), that helps you get your most important things done, more often. The idea is if that you eat a frog in the morning, then everything else that day will seem easy by comparison. Here’s how you do it. --- ## How To Do Your Most Important Task Daily Every day, you will have a task that is either: 1. The **most important task,** with reference to your goals. 2. The **hardest task,** indicated by your fear of doing it. 3. The **most unpleasant task,** indicated by [procrastination](/productivity/procrastination/). The task could be any of these or all of these - every combination is fine. What you want to do is **select that task and make sure that it is the first thing you work on for the day**. Whatever it takes, get that task done first. You can: - Block off time in your calendar. - Ask others not to interrupt you until it’s done. - Limit your [digital distractions](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/). - Set up a [deep work session](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). Once you have completed the task, the rest of the day will be easy by comparison. Even if you get absolutely nothing else done for the rest of the day… you have completed your most important thing first, so congratulations! ## Why Doing Your Most Important Task First Works There is a very simple reason why completing your MIT first, works. Most people have the most [energy, willpower and attention](/productivity/productivity-stack/) in the morning.[^1] When you bring those resources to bear on the most important or hardest thing first, it gets done. But our brains think that we have just accomplished the “impossible” - and everything else during the day will seem easy by comparison.[^2] When we do this for many days in a row, we end up clearing our hardest and most difficult tasks consistently, and [we accumulate momentum](/productivity/momentum/) and success through a positive feedback loop.[^3] In turn, this makes doing future most important tasks easier and more fun - and it just continues on. ## What To Do Next Most Important Task doesn’t need anymore explanation - **you just need to do it**. For more simple time management and productivity hacks, grab your 100% free copy of _Evolution_ and sign up for my free newsletter below! Photo by [Derek Owens](https://unsplash.com/@derekowensheart?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: If this isn’t you, then feel free to ignore the concept of Most Important Task. [^2]: Similar to performing [reverse pyramid training](https://leangains.com/reverse-pyramid-training-guide/) in the gym. [^3]: Momentum is also a [virtue](/productivity/virtues/). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Why I Stopped Hacking My Sleep and Still Wake up at 5am https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/ For as long as I can remember I have woken up at (or before) 5am. To pull this off, I usually sleep pretty early - like 9pm or 10pm. People are usually impressed at such a feat. Men think it’s awesome. Women swoon. My elders nod with hearty approval. But is it possible to do better? I have experimented with a lot of sleep schedules and hacks over the years - polyphasic, biphasic and various sleeping arrangements.[^1] In my mind, none of them have ever replaced a good, full, standard seven-to-eight hours of normal sleep. I recently completed one final experiment: sleep at midnight, wake at 8am.[^2] After thirty days of that, I stopped trying to hack my sleep and still wake up at 5am. Here’s what happened, and why. --- ## Why Experiment and Hack Sleep? ### Curiosity reasons Sleep is one of the most important things in our lives. We don’t really understand why we need it, but we do know that without it [things go bad really, really fast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation). On average we sleep for about a third of our lives - so it’s a bit messed up if we don’t know how to do it properly. Like others, I have read about people who sleep four-to-six hours a night and think “wow, that would be awesome”. These people are our business and productivity superheroes. And so the question is - can other people do the same? I also have friends and clients to whom I’ve suggested 5am starts who just can’t seem to do it. They keep telling me that they can’t sleep before midnight, or can’t wake up before 7am and whatnot. For my final experiment and attempt to hack my sleep, I decided to try _their schedule_ of sleeping 12am-8am and see if I could still keep things productive. ### Practical reasons and rationalisations To [motivate myself](/productivity/motivation/) to take on yet-another new sleep schedule, I came up with a list of “practical reasons”. Whether these are legitimate or just rationalisations, they did help me prepare for and follow through on thirty days of a new sleep schedule. Social reasons included: - No longer turning down invites to dinners and drinks after 6pm. - Not interfering with my work schedule for the following day if I had a late night. - There is also a general social expectation where I live that everyone works on a 10am-6pm workday. Staying up later also made it easier for me to work with people on different timezones. ## Sleep Experiment Setup I’m a systems guy. So when I experiment with something, I make sure that I set it up properly and try to optimise the f\*ck out of it. Here’s what I did. First, I wrote down a new schedule. Like this: ``` 8am - wake up, morning ritual. 9am - meditate, gym. 12pm - brunch + reading. 1pm - work. 7pm - dinner. 8pm - work. 11pm - evening ritual. 12am - sleep. ``` If I finished my workout earlier I would just come back earlier and eat/read/start work earlier. Second, I made sure all my sleep hacks and hygiene were in place. This included: - Environment - room temperature, blackout curtains. - Bedding - comfortable mattress, sheets, pillows. - No electronics in the bedroom. - Lifestyle - maintain food, exercise, daily activity level. - Supplements. - Tech - tracking, dimmable lights, haptic alarm. One of my curtains/blinds still seeped light, so I boarded it up with some inexpensive black cardboard. ## Concerns With Experimenting With Sleep I wrote down [in my journal](/productivity/journals/) all the concerns I had going into the experiment. They included: - Would I be able to hit my most important task daily and [retain the momentum](/productivity/momentum/) of that? - Would I retain my “morning clarity” effect for doing [deep and focused work](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/)? - Would my work quality change, especially when doing creative or technical work? There would be no point in adjusting things if I kept making mistakes with work. Basically, I was concerned if I could maintain the same level of productivity and output once my schedule shifted. There were a couple of things that I had no concern over: - The ability to adjust to the new sleep/wake times. The above rationalisations and a bit of [self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/) would get me through that. - Needing to [wake up early](/productivity/waking-up-early/) one day for an exception. I ended up doing this a couple of times and it wasn’t a problem. ## Sleep Experiment Logs Here are some of my charts and logs from those thirty days: [![Aaron Lynn's AutoSleep Logs](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/aaron-lynn-autosleep.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/aaron-lynn-autosleep.webp)
Good day on the left, bad day on the right
Thursday 20 February 2020: ``` Generally feeling pretty OK. Maybe a bit sluggish in starting work? Not sure. Keep trying/adjusting. ``` Monday 24 February 2020: ``` 1:30pm - when I sit down and start work it FEELS like 9am but clock says 1.30pm. Surprised me. This is a good thing because it means that body has adjusted and no real loss of productivity. ``` Wednesday 04 March 2020: ``` Noticing that writing does not flow as well for me in afternoon/at night as it does in morning. Perhaps need to change this up. ``` That last entry in particular will be important for later. ## Sleep Experiment Results After about a week, I managed to adjust to 12am-8am without any problem, and kept the experiment running for thirty days. While there was no major dip in energy levels, what I did find was that I did not have as much clarity of thought upon waking up and during work times. Some things I really liked were: - If I had something on in the evening I actively knew that I would be giving up my 8pm-11pm work time for it. This is in contrast to before where I would go out for say dinner, rush home to get to sleep, and then take a productivity hit the next morning. - If I had a late night, I no longer had a sluggish following morning. The next day would be “just normal”. Some things I didn’t like were: - Not being able to do early morning appointments or calls. - Sunrise where I am is about 6am, so even with everything blacked out, light would still be seeping through for my last two hours of sleep. - Morning noise, from traffic, the mosque nearby broadcasting prayers[^3] and the national anthem going off at 8am. - The lack of clarity in early morning that I had before. ## Sleep Experiment Conclusions I did this experiment to see if I could adjust to a different sleeping schedule, and also to see if I wanted to continue tweaking my sleep schedule. Here are the conclusions I reached. First, **respect your natural rhythm**. This is mostly for my friends and clients who complain they can’t get up early. My advice is this: try it, and _if it really doesn’t work for you after thirty days,_ then go back to what does. My issue, is when they currently have bad nights of sleep and wish it could be better, but have never tried a different schedule. Which brings me to my second conclusion. **Having a schedule in the most important thing.** It doesn’t matter if you sleep at 9pm, midnight, or even 5am. Once you have worked out what your optimum seven-to-eight hours is, stick to it. Add in your [morning and evening rituals](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/), and stick to your schedule. The worst thing for your sleep is to sleep and wake at different times every day. ## Why I Won’t Be Hacking My Sleep Anymore and Why I Still Wake up at 5am After the thirty days ended, I went back to my regular 9pm-5am sleep schedule. This gives me the most energy, the best clarity of thought and super-productive mornings. Sure, there are downsides. I have to do early dinners and social engagements. Sometimes I have a late night, end up sleeping a little less and need a nap the following afternoon. But these are manageable. I have also decided to stop experimenting with my sleep schedule and with hacking sleep in general. Instead I will **just do my best to get seven-to-eight hours every night**. After trying many things, I’ve concluded that you can’t really physically sleep less and have it end well.[^4] Yes, we should all optimise our sleep hygiene. And if there is a sleep hack that makes sense and you want to try it, go ahead. **But nothing beats just getting a good night of rest in the end.** ## What To Do Next Sleep is important. There’s a reason that energy and sleep are at the foundation of the [productivity stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/) and [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/). You can (and should) experiment. But once you have worked out your rhythm and schedule for sleep and optimised it the best you can, accept that you need sleep… and that it’s going to be like that for the rest of your life. [^1]: To be honest that sounds like a list of something completely and inappropriately different 🙊. [^2]: The work-from-home internet-marketing schedule. [^3]: The first being at 5:22am. On my prior schedule of waking at 5am this was not an issue. [^4]: The exception being people with a gene mutation that allows for this. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Excess Hedonism https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/excess-hedonism/ We all love a little bit of hedonism. It’s part of being human. And some hedonism and self-indulgence every now and then, is probably a good thing. But when taken to an extreme, **excess hedonism** becomes a vice. So where do we draw the line between enjoying ourselves and taking it too far? And what can we do about it? --- ## Defining Excess Hedonism There is nothing wrong with a little bit of hedonism.[^1] But when we engage in **excess hedonism** over an extended period of time, our indulgences start to hurt us. We are all put on this earth to be good and happy and doing **sh\*t all** makes us neither good or happy in the long term. [![WALL-E](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/excess-hedonism/wall-e-produce.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/excess-hedonism/wall-e-produce.webp)
We are here to [produce and do things](/productivity/production-vs-consumption/), not lounge around all day.
My definition of excess hedonism is this: **Any day where I spend less than 50% of my time focused on my goals, excluding sleep.** Assuming I sleep eight hours a day, that leaves sixteen hours. If I’m not putting at least eight of those hours towards my goals - that’s excess hedonism. This is the idea that some downtime is good for you - but too much just [leads to laziness](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). ## What Happens When You Indulge in Excess Hedonism? Excess hedonism looks different at different timeframes. ### For a day 😁 Doing [nothing productive](/productivity/play/) towards your goals for a day is fine. It’s a break. But once you are rested and ready, you should be back on point and [working towards your goals and purpose](/productivity/purpose/). ### For a week 🏖 If you are on vacation doing nothing productive for a week is fine. But what about when you are not on vacation? A few days is fine. But after that, you start to lose [momentum](/productivity/momentum/) on your habits, [your virtues](/productivity/virtues/), your mission, your purpose and your work. ### For a month 🤔 [![Cowboy Bebop](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/excess-hedonism/cowboy-bebop-ennui.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/excess-hedonism/cowboy-bebop-ennui.webp)
You start to experience [ennui](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ennui) - [boredom](/productivity/boredom/).
This usually doesn’t happen for most people - they have jobs, bills and responsibilities. But for people between jobs or businesses, this occasionally does happen. If you have done nothing productive for thirty days, that’s thirty out of thirty-thousand days in your life (0.1%), gone. You could have: - Travelled well in two places. - Launched a new project. - [Learnt to code](https://www.freecodecamp.org/). - Finished four (or more) books. ### For longer 💀 Longer than a month is where excess hedonism becomes problematic. For most people this will never happen due to financial and family commitments. But for people with highly-specific professional skills or who have just exited a business? This can happen. While it sounds cool to not have to be responsible or do anything productive for three months, six months, a year 😳… the reality is not as glamorous. What happens is that these people start to lose all sense of responsibility - to others, and more importantly, to themselves. They lose momentum across one [area of their life](/productivity/areas-of-life/) and this cascades into other areas. They start to lose confidence. They may go through a mild form of imposter syndrome. Their insecurities start to emerge. And because of all these things, their behaviour changes and people notice. Their reputation begins to suffer damage in a way that cannot be recovered from. **If it’s not obvious, this is a really, really bad situation to be in.** How does their behaviour change? In a lot of subtle ways. **They pick fights.** This is because they have nothing going on, and so they feel the need to be right and to justify to themselves why they have nothing going on. The other side of this is blaming others all the time. **They become disconnected from the flow of things.** From other people, from their network, from money, from opportunities and from the world at large. **They struggle to do even the basic things,** like exercise, sleeping well or eating well. **They live in denial** and find things to busy their time with, so that they are not embarrassed when talking to others about what they’re currently (not) doing. The reality is they are just fussing about and not really doing anything. **They start to make bad decisions** and **are unable to [prioritise things](/productivity/task-prioritisation/)** in their lives. ## Avoiding Excess Hedonism Avoiding excess hedonism on a daily basis is not difficult - just live and move with purpose. At the end of each day, ask yourself: - Did I do anything of purpose today? - Did my day have direction? And if you have a day where you did nothing of purpose or direction, then just correct it the next day. ## Eliminating Excess Hedonism in the Short Term First - [don’t be lazy](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). If it’s just a day or a week where you’ve been off your game, just go back to your routine. Use [the systems you rely on](/productivity/time-management-stack/) to get yourself going again. If it’s weeks or months, then you need to do whatever it takes to get that first kick. If you’re a self-starter, you need to get precise and measure what you do. [Write down your goals](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/). [Journal](/productivity/journals/). Manage your tasks. If you have [friends who can help](/life/social-atomisation/), ask them. It’s always easier to get out of a rut of excess hedonism with helping hand or two. ## Eliminating Excess Hedonism in the Long Run The endgame is to have as little unplanned excess hedonism in your life as possible. The first step to this is to **accept that you are going to be active and do something of value every single day from now on until the day that you no longer can**. Yes, you will get breaks. But if you are hoping that one day you will wake up and **never** have to do anything ever again, you are wrong. Even people I know who are post-economic and have everything in their life sorted, _still_ wake up with purpose and work on their goals.[^2] In fact, **they probably do more** than you or I, which no doubt is a contributing factor of their success. The second step is to **not f\*ck up your momentum**. Make sure that you get enough sleep and good food and that you take care of your health and energy levels. Make sure that your [productivity stack is in order](/productivity/productivity-stack/). Make sure that you keep [producing things of value on a daily basis](/productivity/production-vs-consumption/). Having momentum generates a good and ongoing performance state which makes it easy to live virtuously - and free of vices like excess hedonism. The last step is just that - live virtuously. Counter vices like excess hedonism with virtues like commitment, duty and self-control. ## What To Do Next You can learn more about vices and virtues by signing up for my free newsletter below. You can also [read about virtues like self-discipline here](/productivity/self-discipline/). Photo by [ray rui](https://unsplash.com/@ray30?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Part of life is enjoying it, so why the f\*ck not. [^2]: Yes, they took some time off and enjoyed themselves. But then they set new goals and found new purpose in other things. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Aaron Lynn's Journal System https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/journals/ Journalling is a hot topic nowadays. Everyone seems to be into it, and everyone has their own way of doing it. There is no right or wrong when it comes to journalling - doing something is better than doing nothing in this case. Below you’ll my (Aaron’s) Journal System. [![Aaron's Journal Stats](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/journals/aaron-lynn-journal-stats.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/journals/aaron-lynn-journal-stats.webp) This is the system that I have been using and evolving since 2011. I will explain exactly how I journal and why I do it that way. _Update: I now have a premium version of this journal system and related trainings available called the Perpetual Journal System. [Find out more about it here](/courses/)._ --- ## What My Journalling Looks Like Daily [![Daily Journal Entry Example](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/journals/aaron-lynn-daily-journal-entry.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/journals/aaron-lynn-daily-journal-entry.webp) My basic unit for journalling is my **daily journal entry**. I put _everything_ into this, including: - My thoughts. - Things that happened. - Experiment notes. - Tasks. - Outcomes and wins. - Any review I do daily. I am constantly referring to this entry throughout the day. If I’m at my computer, this usually stays open on my second screen. It is also one of the most accessed things on my phone. Whenever I finish doing something, I check it off here. If I have a random thought or something to jot down, it goes in here. I get as detailed (or not detailed) as I want in this entry. I also have similar journal entries for the week, the month, the quarter and the year. I update these as I need to, but leave the review and wrap up for each of these to the end of each timeframe. Some people ask me why I do quarters. This is actually a leftover from my corporate days, where I wanted to align my outcomes with my priorities at work.[^1] Since then I have continued to find it useful, so I’ve kept the quarterly timeframe. I also have a longer-term journal called my Rocks Journal. The term “Rocks” comes from [Scaling Up](/go/book-scaling-up/). This used to be a three-to-five year entry for me, but after learning about [The 3HAG Way](/go/book-3hag-way/), I have restricted it to three years at a time. I know some people like to set twenty-year goals but I don’t - because who knows what the world will look like in twenty years’ time? Twenty years ago most of us didn’t have Internet access or mobile phones. DVDs had just gone mainstream, [AOL purchased Time Warner]() and we had [just started sending people to the ISS](https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/oct-31-2000-launch-of-first-crew-to-international-space-station). ## Why Do I Journal? If you are reading this you likely already have some interest in journalling and know about some of the benefits. I’ll give you my perspective on the why of journalling. The first and biggest benefit is that **I know exactly what I’m doing every single day**. The power of this is immense. A second benefit is that **I can [plan my days](/productivity/wtf-days/), weeks, months, quarters and years ahead in advance,** and know roughly when things will happen or line up. The third benefit is that because each of my journal entries has reviews built-in, I can **keep myself grounded to reality.**[^2] These reviews let me **ask myself the hard questions** on a regular basis, which helps build [a stronger internal frame of reference](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/). I may not always like the answers, but that’s kind of the point. The fourth benefit is **consistently productive days.** There are two parts to this. The first is that good planning and tracking translates into the [efficient use of resources](/productivity/productivity-stack/) and [excellent time management](/productivity/time-management-stack/). The second is that I rarely have a day go by where I get to the end and say, “WTF HAPPENED TODAY 🤯”. I can see these WTF days coming well in advance - usually where there is a perfect storm of client calls, meetings and social events and I know I won’t be getting much [deep work](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/) done that day. I will still try my best to [not be lazy](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/), but I know in advance that it won’t be a super productive day and that’s OK. The fifth benefit is that I can **scale up and scale down the intensity of journalling** as much as I want. Journalling works as both an organisational tool and a reflective thinking tool. If I want to get deep, dark and detailed with my thoughts, I can. Or if I just want to just have a minimal-journalling day where I just check off a bunch of tasks, I can do that too. The final benefit is that I **literally have thousands of days of my personal history recorded.** If you give me a date, I could tell you pretty accurately what I did on that day and how I thought or felt about it.[^3] This makes it very easy to do [reviews of my weeks, months, quarters and years,](/productivity/annual-review/) and to assess and improve things. Hopefully one day it will also make writing my autobiography easier 😁. ## Journalling Apps Here is an intentionally short list of apps: - [Evernote](https://evernote.com/). - [Bear](https://bear.app/). - [Apple Notes](https://www.icloud.com/notes). - [OneNote](https://www.onenote.com/). - [DayOne](https://dayoneapp.com/). I personally use Evernote but the key is to pick one app and stick with it. I recently switched to Bear from Evernote. Not for technical reasons, but because for some reason Evernote couldn’t update my billing details 🤷‍♂️. The magic is in the entires, not in the app. As long as there is phone/tablet sync, you’re good to go. You can also use the same application for your [personal knowledge management](/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/). ### Why not do video or audio journals? I don’t do video or audio journals. The reason is that these are not easily reviewable - you have to play through them to work out what the content is. Even at 2x or 3x speed, this takes time. And before you tell me that audio journals can be auto-transcribed, my accent is a strange mix of Australian-British-American-generic-international English and most software seems to have a problem with that.[^4] ## Aaron’s Journal System Setup [![Aaron's Journal System Setup](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/journals/aaron-lynn-journal-system-setup.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/journals/aaron-lynn-journal-system-setup.webp) This is what my journal setup looks like. Each timeframe has its own folder (or “tag group” or “notebook”) that contains entries for only that timeframe. _Note: This is an application of [cascading timeframes](/productivity/cascading-timeframes/)._ The magic that makes this all work is the **templates folder**. This contains daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual and rocks entry templates. I can quickly iterate better versions of these templates at any time, and use them right away in the next instance of that timeframe. For example, if I decide to add a new weekly review question, I can type it into the weekly template and use it following week.[^5][^6] Both personal and work items go into entries. Work is a significant part of most of our lives, so there is no real point in creating separate entries. If your workplace has a [daily update policy](/business/business-remote-work-setup/), you can work off your own daily entry and mirror the work parts of that into the corporate wiki. ## Journal Entry Names Here is how I name each journal entry. Daily: ``` Journal Entry YYYYMMDD: dddd Journal Entry 20200306: Friday ``` Weekly: ``` Weekly Journal Entry YYYY Week ww Weekly Journal Entry 2020 Week 10 ``` Monthly: ``` Weekly Journal Entry YYYY Week ww Weekly Journal Entry 2020 Week 10 ``` Quarterly: ``` Quarterly Journal Entry YYYY QX Quarterly Journal Entry 2020 Q1 ``` Annual: ``` Quarterly Journal Entry YYYY QX Quarterly Journal Entry 2020 Q1 ``` Rocks 3-Year: ``` Rocks 3 Year Journal Entry YYYY Rocks 3 Year Journal Entry 2020 ``` ## Aaron’s Journal Entry Templates You can download these (and my own personal set of review questions) in [markdown format](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown) by entering your name and email here: **Free: Journal Markdown Template** — Get the Journal Markdown Template — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/journals/ ### Daily Journal Entry ``` Events --- Outcomes 1. MIT: Target: * Process: [] 2. Target: * Process: [] 3. Target: * Process: [] Tasks [] Daily Journal Entry. --- Social [] --- Evening Review (your review questions go here) ``` Outcomes have both a **target and process** in line with [setting good goals](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/). I have a dedicated **Social** section every day to [combat social atomisation](/life/social-atomisation/). ### Weekly Journal Entry ``` Weekly Outcomes 1. Target: * Process: [] 2. Target: * Process: [] Future Outcomes * Ongoing Processes See Standards 2020. Tasks [] Plan Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Review (your review questions go here) Next Week [] ``` I like to start each week with two big outcomes, and list any other outcomes under **“future outcomes”**. If I clear those two outcomes before the week is over, I will write up outcome #3, outcome #4 and so on. **[Ongoing processes](/productivity/ongoing-processes/)** are things that I do on a regular basis like going to the gym or keeping certain working hours. After many years of writing them out each week, I now put them into one [Standards document](/productivity/standards/) that covers every [area of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/) and refer to that daily. **The plan is a weekly plan** done up in a table or list format, with items that always happen on those days. For example, I may have: ``` Monday - gym, laundry Tuesday - gym, ironing Wednesday Thursday - gym Friday - gym, batch cooking Saturday - cleaning Sunday - clear inboxes ``` If your weekly rhythm changes you can quickly update this plan and have it ready for use the following week. **Next week** serves a [tickler file of sorts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tickler_file) for items that I don’t need to put into a [task management system](/productivity/personal-task-management/). ### Monthly Journal Entry ``` Monthly Outcomes 1. Target: * Process: [] 2. Target: * Process: [] Future Outcomes * Ongoing Processes See Standards 2020. Tasks [] Plan Week 01 Week 02 Week 03 Week 04 Review (your review questions go here) Next Month [] ``` Everything is the same as the weekly journal entry. The plan is also in table or list format, divided by weeks. ### Quarterly Journal Entry ``` Quarterly Outcomes 1. Target: * Process: [] 2. Target: * Process: [] Ongoing Processes See Standards 2020. Tasks [] Plan January February March Quarterly Break Quarterly Periodic Discomfort Review (your review questions go here) Next Quarter [] ``` This is much the same as the weekly and monthly journal entries. The plan is divided by months rather than weeks or days. The **quarterly break** is there so I can [plan a think week](https://thriveglobal.com/stories/bill-gates-think-week/) or vacation every quarter. The **quarterly periodic discomfort** is from Stoicism. This is where I purposely put myself in an uncomfortable situation every quarter to develop [better resilience](/productivity/resilience-mental-toughness/) and [self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/).[^7] ### Annual Journal Entry ``` Annual Outcomes 1. Target: * Milestones: * Process: [] 2. Target: * Milestones: * Process: [] 3. Target: * Milestones: * Process: [] Ongoing Processes See Standards 2020. Monthly Planning January February March April May June July August September October November December Annual Review (your annual review goes here - mine is long) Next Year [] ``` This is much the same as the previous timeframes with the addition of **milestones** under each outcome. To me a year is a really long time and it is useful to have some way to break up yearly outcomes into smaller milestones that are date-specific. An example could be a fitness goal like gaining weight. If I say want to hit 90kg by the end of the year, I might set a June milestone of 85kg. ### Rocks Journal Entry ``` Note these are 3 years only, not 3-5 years. 3 Year Rocks 1. Date: Target: * Milestones: * Process: [] 2. Date: Target: * Milestones: * Process: [] 3. Date: Target: * Milestones: * Process: [] 4. Date: Target: * Milestones: * Process: [] 5. Date: Target: * Milestones: * Process: [] Longer Term Stuff * ``` This should be all familiar by now. The date is simply an estimated completion date for each outcome as three years is a _really long time_. **Longer Term Stuff** is my way of keeping a greater-than-three-years tickler file. This could also be put in a task management system under a future list. Astute readers will note that each timeframe has a different number of default outcomes - three for daily, two for weekly, monthly and quarterly, three for annual and five for rocks. This is me experimenting with different outcome numbers to determine which creates the best focus and fastest results in each timeframe. ## Advanced Journals I mentioned a couple of Advanced Journals earlier including a **Standards Journal** and a **Personal Ops journal**. **Standards** are for creating, well, standards across your [areas of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/). **[Personal Ops](/productivity/personal-ops/)** includes your mission, values, virtues/vices and reasons why, and you should review these daily. I will cover these in future articles. ## What To Do Next You can take the templates above and use them right away in your own personal journalling system. If you want them in markdown format, you can enter your name and email address here and I’ll send them to you. I’ll also include my personal review questions for each timeframe. **Free: Journal Markdown Template** — Get the Journal Markdown Template — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/journals/ ![Next Level Productivity](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/rect-text.webp) If you'd rather skip the learning curve, [dive right into the Perpetual Journal System, now part of my premium producivity course, _Next Level Productivity_](/courses/next-level-productivity/). Photo by [Colton Sturgeon](https://unsplash.com/@coltonsturgeon?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Most businesses plan and operate on a quarterly basis. [^2]: Most of the time. I hope. [^3]: And my god some of the ideas I had years ago were silly. [^4]: I also don’t consider my journal entires important enough to pay a human to transcribe them every day. [^5]: I copy these notes into each timeframe notebook when needed. I don’t use the templates function in Evernote as that is harder to iterate. [^6]: Yes you can also automate template creation using [Zapier](/go/zapier/), [IFTTT](https://ifttt.com/) or some kind of text expansion if you want. [^7]: Examples would be flying economy or eating strictly for a fortnight. Yes I know, first world problems. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Live the Modern Virtue of 10x https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/10x/ If you are not living 10x, you are missing out. **10x is a modern virtue.** It comes through in our thoughts, our actions, and our goals. Here’s why it exists and how we can live it. --- ## Defining 10x as a Modern Virtue 10x isn’t a virtue that classical philosophers identified and came up with. It is not a virtue with a long philosophical tradition behind it like goodness, [self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/) or [resilience](/productivity/resilience-mental-toughness/). 10x is a virtue that has evolved out of necessity in the modern world. This necessity is that we live in a world with more information, more people, more competition and plenty more distractions. I first learned about 10x from [Grant Cardone and his book of the same name](/go/book-10x-rule/). In practice, the concept is what it sounds like - you aim ten times higher in your goals and thinking. You put in 10x the effort, energy and actions that you would normally do. But there is a nuance to it. Yes, you have to go above and beyond and get far more done than what you ever thought was possible. But it is not just about taking the societal benchmark and multiplying it by ten. **It’s about taking what you think you are capable of doing, and expanding that.** ## Examples of Living 10x https://i.imgur.com/N54lkcb.gifv Actions done 10x are simple. Writing one article? [No, write six.](/productivity/writing-system/) Closing one deal today? No, close three. You are capable of doing more than you think, and there is no reason not to do it. ## Practicing 10x Daily Practicing the modern virtue of 10x on a daily basis is about [completing your outcomes for the day](/productivity/journals/)… and then doing some more. ## Developing the Modern Virtue of 10x Developing 10x in your life is all about mindset. ### Inner game and Mindset You start with your [inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/). This is the attitude that you are always capable of doing more than you think. It begins with your [goals and targets](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/). Whatever your current goals and outcomes are - make them bigger. They don’t need to be a literal 10x bigger, but they can be more than you have currently set. It then stretches into your approach to doing things. You want to compete. You want to win. You want to dominate. If you are in your twenties, thirties, forties, fifties… hell, maybe even your sixties and you are reading this… there is no reason not to be living 10x. These are **the most productive years of your life,** so [why are you wasting them away](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/)? But Aaron, what about the idea of doing my [one most important task](/productivity/most-important-task/) every day? Time management hacks like most important task are great. But if you clear your most important task for the day, there is no reason you cannot do another task. And of course when you stack virtues like 10x and [productivity techniques](/productivity/time-management-stack/) like most important task together, everything works better, and you get a lot more done. ### Practicing 10x Putting the modern virtue of 10x into practice is all about **treating what you normally think as an underestimation**. Take what you normally aim for, and aim higher. One task cleared at work becomes three. Or five. Or ten. One errand cleared in the afternoon becomes two. Or three. Or four. If you demand more of yourself, you will find that your actions and performance will automatically adjust. You don’t need to practice 10x every day. That can lead to burnout.[^1] More likely, you will find that when things go right on a certain day, everything happens in a 10x manner. And that the more of your life that you have in order, the more 10x days you will have. Like this: [![Arrows in the Same Direction](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp) You can put your arrows into better alignment using [the productivity stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/). ## What To Do Next Start small. Try to have one or two 10x days in the next few weeks. And once you see how powerful they are, try to make them more regular - once a week, twice a week. To find out how you can use virtues like 10x in your life, **grab your 100% free copy of _Evolution_ below**. Photo by [Anton Repponen](https://unsplash.com/@repponen?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Like practicing [self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/), practicing 10x should not lead to a blowout in the opposite direction. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Using Timeslices, Flowtime and the Pomodoro Technique https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/ Timeslices, the Pomodoro Technique and Flowtime are all simple time management hacks to help with [deep work and single tasking](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). A lot of people rate them as the best time management techniques of all time, and they are some of my favourite techniques as well. Let’s look at how to set up and execute them properly. --- ## Different Variations of Timeslicing There are many names for this time management technique. They are classically known as the **Pomodoro Technique™️**, which is trademarked. I personally call them **timeslices**, which is what best describes them. You work for a slice of time, rest for a bit, then work for another slice of time. There is a variation that [Zoë Read-Bivens created called **flowtime**](https://medium.com/@lightsandcandy/the-flowtime-technique-7685101bd191). This is where you work for as long as you want and then take a break determined by how long you have worked. These are all different from **timeboxing**, which is more about blocking time off in your calendar for a particular task to limit how long it takes. ## The Basic Timeslicing Setup and Technique Here is how you set up timeslicing: 1. Decide on your task. 2. Set a timer. 3. Start the timer and work. 4. When the timer ends, take a break. 5. When the break ends, start the timer and work again. 6. _Maybe_ take a longer break every four intervals. More on this below. ## Timeslicing Apps and Tools There is no shortage of apps available for timeslicing. The simplest is the timer on your phone, watch or even in a browser window - those all work fine. [![Focus App by Masterbuilders](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/focus-app-masterbuilders.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/focus-app-masterbuilders.webp) I personally use [Focus by Masterbuilders](https://masterbuilders.io/focus), which is subscription based. While I’m not a huge fan of the subscription model, it’s a solid (and pretty) application that has a good Apple Watch app and syncs reliably across devices. There are also some options on [SetApp](/go/setapp/) which are good: [BeFocused](https://setapp.com/apps/be-focused) and [TimeOut](https://setapp.com/apps/time-out). For flowtime, you can use a stopwatch app. ## Frequently Asked Questions About Timeslicing ### What is the best interval length for timeslices? There is no best length - it just depends on what you are doing. The classic is the **25/5 setup**. Twenty-five minutes of focused work, five minute break. I personally prefer a **50/10 setup**. Fifty minutes seems like a long time, but once you have done it for about a week, it becomes second nature. Some people prefer a **90/20 or 90/30 setup**, especially for work like coding or writing. My suggestion though would be to use flowtime if you think your task will extend beyond an hour. ### Should I take a longer break every four sessions? You can if you like, especially if you are using 25/5 intervals. This means taking a twenty minute break every four sessions. If you are using longer intervals or flowtime, I would not recommend a longer break every four timeslices. Why? Because you will naturally take a break for things like food, meetings or things that come up during your work day anyway. ### Do I need to be precise about finishing timeslices on time and taking breaks? There is no need to be precise about finishing timeslices on the dot or your break taking exactly five or ten minutes. Think of them more as a guide to help manage your focus and energy. If you are in the middle of a timeslice and need to refill your water - just get up and get it. If you are at the end of a timeslice and just have a few more lines of text or code to write - just push through and finish them. ### What do I do during my breaks? [The number one thing during your breaks](/productivity/play/) is to get away from all screens - your computer, your phone and any tablets or TVs you have around. Resist the urge to stay at your computer or pick up your phone. Instead, get up, stretch, walk around and drink some water. Some people like to think of their break intervals as [gap time](/productivity/gap-time/), but I would just think of them as a break. There is absolutely no need to make them productive as well. The one exception to this is if you [work from home](/business/remote-working/), you can run little household “chores” during that time. Things like brewing a new pot of tea, folding some laundry, or preparing your gym bag for tomorrow. All these things get you away from your computer screen and let your mind rest for a bit, which is the purpose the break interval. ### What is the best timer/app/device for timeslices? They all work. It also doesn’t matter if the timer is physical or an app. Just find one that you enjoy using, and stick with it. ### Who shouldn’t use timeslicing? Timeslices are good for most knowledge workers. An exception would be roles where there are constant interruptions, be they in the form of people or messages. An example of this would be a service desk or support role where there are SLAs or the expectation of a quick turnaround time on other people’s requests. In these roles, the best practice is to not use timeslices at all. Just let each hour of the day or the work-based interruptions be an indicator of when to take a quick break. ## What To Do Next Pick a timer, pick an interval and timeslice away! If you want to learn more simple time management techniques, [read about the time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) and sign up for my free newsletter below. I'll also send you a free copy of _Evolution_. --- Photo by [Yasin Hasan](https://unsplash.com/@yasin?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Improve Your Inner Game and Mindset https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/inner-game-mindset/ Your inner game is your mindset. The term comes from performance coach [Timothy Gallwey](/go/book-inner-game-of-work/). He describes it as: _"How you non-judgementally observe the critical variables in your “game of life” and adjust and correct those to achieve the best possible performance."_ This is great in theory, but even better if we have a model that we can use to improve our inner game. I am going to introduce you to a model called **Dilts’ Neurological Levels**[^1] and show you how you can use it to improve your inner game and mindset. --- ## Why Improve Your Inner Game and Mindset? Everything you do in your life has two components: 1. **Outer game.** The physical actions you take. 2. **Inner game.** Your mindset in taking those actions. To really excel, you need to work on both. It isn’t enough to just learn the physical motions required to do something. You also need to improve the beliefs, heuristics and mental models behind it. It is also the case that once a certain level of physical skill has been reached (for example, in high-level sports), further improvements can only be made by improving the inner game of the skill. The way this works is that you improve the critical variables that make up your mental representation of a skill or activity, and then let these sink down to a subconscious level. When you next perform that skill or ability, these improvements will show through.[^2] ## Inner Game Model - Dilts’ Neurological Levels The model I have found to be most useful for breaking apart the inner game of any activity is **Dilts’ Neurological Levels**. It was created by NLP developer Robert Dilts a long, long time ago, and you can [read more about the original model here](http://www.nlpu.com/Articles/LevelsSummary.htm). This is my interpretation. [![Dilts' Neurological Levels](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inner-game-mindset/dilts-neurological-levels.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/inner-game-mindset/dilts-neurological-levels.webp) ### Level 1: Purpose Your **purpose** is the answer to the question: _why was I put here on this planet?_ Part of the answer is long-term happiness, but you also need to ask - **what else?** I’ll give you my purpose as an example - to create better systems so that we can live better lives. #### Improving Purpose Purpose is not so much “improved” as it is defined. You simply need to think about and write down clearly what your purpose in life is. There are a number of purpose discovery exercises out there on the interwebs, and all of them work. They all come back to the basic question of: _If you come one step back from saving or changing the world, what is it you really want to do?_ [Here's my full guide on how to discover your purpose.](/productivity/purpose/) ### Level 2: Identity Your **identity** answers the question: _who are you?_ This is not just what you do for a living, but who you are as a person - your character, and how you see and identify yourself. Like this: [![Arrows in the Same Direction](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp) Each arrow represents an aspect of your identity, and the direction it is pulling you in. Your identity is the sum of all these arrows and how aligned they are. #### Improving Identity It is difficult to work on your identity directly because it is more of an aggregate of everything else. A good start however, would be by [defining your own personal ops documents](/productivity/personal-ops/). It is also more accurate to say that your identity is _changed_ rather than _improved_. In order to change your identity, you need to **work at the lower levels of values, beliefs, capabilities, behaviours and actions,** and over time these will add up to a new identity. ### Level 3: Values and Beliefs #### Values **Values** are the high-level principles that guide your split-second decision making and life. Some people say that there is no right or wrong when it comes to your values. I disagree. Some values are conducive to high performance, while others are not. Your values sit under your purpose and identity in the model and for this reason, selecting values is highly dependent on what you want for your life. [Here is my full guide to discovering, changing and weaponising your core values](/productivity/core-values/). #### Beliefs **Beliefs** exist at the same level as values, but instead of having maybe four-to-six values, you have hundreds if not thousands of beliefs. They are the internal rules that govern what you can and cannot do, and how you perceive reality. You can have both good beliefs and bad beliefs.[^3] Some simple examples would be: - It’s rude to put your feet on the table. - You should love your parents unconditionally. - [If you work smart, you don’t have to work hard](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). - [We are made to produce, not consume](/productivity/production-vs-consumption/). - [Motivation should be internal](/productivity/locus-of-control/). #### Improving Values and Beliefs Values and Beliefs is the level at which we can start to improve things directly. Depending on what you want to do in life, there are values and beliefs that are supportive of that… and there are values and beliefs that are not. It is your job to **work out which values and beliefs are supportive** of your desired goals and purpose. There are a number of belief change tools available but the easiest would be some form of **conscious repetitive thought**,[^4] [backed by action](/productivity/10x/). You can also use belief change tools from NLP and [Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy). ### Level 4: Capabilities **Capabilities** are our large-scale skills and what we are able to do. There is a physical component to our capabilities, but there is also a mental component. In the context of inner game, capabilities are important as we can often “map the path” of a physical skill by visualising it in our minds ahead of time. In fact, this is exactly what professional athletes do to work on their inner game.[^5][^6][^7] Examples of capabilities include: - Complex skillsets like coding. - Sports of any kind. - Business domains of any kind. ### Level 5: Behaviours **Behaviours** are similar to capabilities and you can think of them as singular skills. Lots of behaviours added up = a capability. Examples of behaviours include: - How we greet people. - Our ability to swiftly dice vegetables on a cutting board. - [How we make small talk](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/). - Performing [jump shots](). - [Habits](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/). #### Improving Capabilities and Behaviours Capabilities are large skillsets and behaviours are individual skills. You improve both by studying and practicing. The best way to improve your capabilities is with **directed learning**. This usually means taking a course and then practicing small behaviours over time. The inner game component of this is to accelerate your learning by **using visualisation** as an aid. There is no right or wrong with visualisation so long as you are doing it regularly. ### Level 6: Environment The bottom level of the model is the **environment**. This is largely external, and the least important when it comes to your inner game. It simply describes where your physical body is at any given time and the influence it may have on your mindset. #### Improving Environment “Improving your environment” is actually more effective the other way around. You can set up your physical environments (like your home or workplace) to be conducive to the new mindsets you would like to adopt. For example, removing all junk food from the house can assist in sticking with a new diet and health and fitness goals. ## What To Do Next The great thing about having a model for your inner game is that it’s no longer just nebulous “stuff in your head”. You now know enough to map out and improve the inner game for anything that you do, or even just for performing in life. You can read about more [inner game models and techniques here](/productivity/). Photo by [James Pond](https://unsplash.com/@jamesponddotco?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Created by NLP developer [Robert Dilts](http://www.nlpu.com/NLPU.html). [^2]: i.e., you make better decisions in the moment. [^3]: Also commonly referred to as positive and negative beliefs. [^4]: Like affirmations. [^5]: Clark, L. V. (1960). Effect of mental practice on the development of a certain motor skill. _Research Quarterly of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, & Recreation, 31_, 560–569. [^6]: Eckert, L. A. (1989). _The effects of mental imagery on free throw performance._ (Kinesiology, Sport Studies, and Physical Education Master’s Theses). The College at Brockport, State University of New York, USA. [https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/pes_theses/3/](https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/pes_theses/3/). [^7]: Whetstone, T. S. (1995). Enhancing psychomotor skill development through the use of mental practice. _Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, 32_(4), 5-31. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Effective Calendar and Schedule Management https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/ For most people, the **Calendar** is just an app on their phone that they never really use. But when you use your calendar properly, it becomes a powerful tool for managing your life. Consultant types like to call this **schedule management**. Here’s how you can set up and use your calendar and schedule properly, and then take it to the next level like a productivity pro. --- ## Why You Need to Use a Calendar > If you want to meet the devil, have white space in your calendar. > > _Grant Cardone_ Some people don’t understand why you need to use a calendar. They say it’s “boring to plan” or something like that. Personally, I’d rather be boring and optimised than not-boring[^1] and all over the place. There are advantages to using your calendar and schedule properly. Firstly, **you will be organised**. This in and of itself [confers multiple advantages](/productivity/time-management-stack/). Secondly, you will **keep your appointments** both with others and yourself. It still amazes me that with [all the technology at our disposal](/life/technology/), people _still_ cannot show up for meetings and calls on time. Thirdly, you will learn **how to estimate time**. You will start to see where activities can fit into your schedule. You will start to see when you can group appointments together to save time. You will start to see [how the raw hours work out](/productivity/time-tracking/) when you are scheduling things. Lastly, you will learn to **maximise the use of your time**. You will [know exactly what you’re doing at any given time on any given day](/productivity/wtf-days/). This means no more missed appointments, no more last minute cancellations, and no more “free time” that spirals out of control. _Bonus: In managing your schedule you will be able to practice [multiple virtues](/productivity/virtues/), like goodness, rationality, self-control, focus, commitment, leadership and [right action](/productivity/right-action/)._ ## Calendar and Schedule Management Apps ### A quick aside on technology: Calendar apps and calendar services Before we get to some app recommendations, you need to understand a little bit about how calendar technology works. Your **calendar app** and your **calendar service** are not the same. Think of it like this: [![Calendar Apps and Services](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-apps-services.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-apps-services.webp) You have your calendar set up on a calendar service,[^2] which could be: - Apple iCloud. - Google. - Microsoft Office 365. - Any other [CalDAV service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalDAV). You then **access this service** using your choice of apps. You can mix and match apps and services. An Apple calendar app can access a Google calendar service. A Google calendar app can access a Microsoft calendar service. And so on. Your calendars, if set up properly, are not locked into any one application - **they are locked into the calendar service**. The cloud is what makes this magic work and it keeps all your apps in sync as they all access the same calendar service. ### Onto the calendar apps Here are my recommendations for calendar apps at time of writing. For desktop: - [Google Calendar](https://calendar.google.com/) via web or a wrapper application like [Mailplane](https://mailplaneapp.com/). - [BusyCal for Mac](https://www.busymac.com/busycal/). - The default MacOS Calendar app is also pretty good. For mobile: - I don’t have any good iOS calendar app recommendations - they all have their issues and limitations. I currently use [WeekCal](https://www.weekcal.com/), but hate the fact that they keep asking me to subscribe for something I have already paid for. - The [Google Calendar app](https://apps.apple.com/ky/app/google-calendar/id909319292) is OK if that’s what your company is on. - Some people like [Fantastical](https://flexibits.com/fantastical) but it isn’t for me. If you don’t have a preference or can’t find anything you like, the default desktop/Apple/Android calendar apps work perfectly fine. ## How to Use Your Calendar for Effective Schedule Management There are two main steps to setting up your calendar for effective schedule management: 1. Initial calendar setup. 2. Ongoing calendar usage. ### 1\. Initial calendar setup [![Scheduling Regular Life Activities](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-life-activities.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-life-activities.webp)
Yes, I have strange sleep hours.
The first thing you want to do is **set up your regular life activities**, including: - Meal times. - Sleep times. - [Morning and evening rituals](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). - Regular chores like laundry or cleaning. You can set these things for one day and then select “repeat daily” or “repeat weekly” and it will create a recurring event in perpetuity.[^3] I also strongly suggest that you **set the alarm for every appointment to default to “at start of event”.** This way you will get a reminder on your computer, phone and smartwatch when you need to do something. [![Scheduling Personal Projects](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-projects.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-projects.webp) The second thing you want to do is **set up your personal projects or things you are working on**, which could include: - Reading time. - Exercise time. - Going out time. Remember to set these to repeat daily or weekly as necessary, and set an alarm for at start of event. [![Scheduling Working Hours](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-work.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-work.webp) The third thing you want to do is **schedule in your working hours**. This is especially important for business owners, entrepreneurs or freelancers. If you use a different calendar service for work then this can go in that. Remember to set it to repeat daily or weekly and add an alarm as needed. You should only have to do this initial calendar setup once. ### 2\. Ongoing calendar usage Now that you have your calendar set up, you just go about your life normally and as you have appointments or meetings come up, put them in your calendar. This could be eating out with others, get togethers, family stuff or anything else really. It could even be some time blocks of “me time” for yourself. [![Changing Future Recurring Events](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-future-single-events.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-future-single-events.webp) If your regular schedule (sleep times, work times, personal project times) changes, then you can: 1. Adjust the calendar event from that date onwards, and select “apply to all future events” to make permanent changes. 2. Adjust the calendar event for just a singular date by selecting “this event only” to make a one-day exception. ## Advanced Calendars: Using Multiple Calendars and Colour Coding Them Alright, it’s time to get fancy. By default, most calendar apps and services start you with two calendars: **Work** and **Personal**. But you can (and should) create more, and you should colour code them. You can have different calendars for: - Life: food, sleep, rituals. - Personal projects. - Social appointments. - Work. Like this: [![Aaron Lynn's Calendar List](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/aaron-lynn-calendar-list.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/aaron-lynn-calendar-list.webp) You could also divide your calendars based on the [areas of life mental model](/productivity/areas-of-life/). What is the advantage of this? When you have multiple calendars in different colours, you can quickly see how your week breaks down in a visual manner. You can see what time you are allocating to what areas, and [how much of your day or week they are taking up](/productivity/time-tracking/). You can also highlight important events by hiding certain calendars. This is useful when planning your weeks and months. ### Multiple calendars across multiple calendar services Remember above how we discussed calendar services being different from calendar apps? When you use multiple calendars, you can pull in different calendars from different services into the one app. [![Aaron Lynn's Calendar List](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/aaron-lynn-calendar-list.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/aaron-lynn-calendar-list.webp) For example, I have all my personal calendars on iCloud and my work calendar on Google. This is so that I can share my work calendar with others while keeping my personal calendars separate. ## Frequently Asked Questions About Calendars and Schedule Management #### How granular do I need to be with appointments? Another variation of this question is: should I make appointments for each individual **task** I am going to do? I personally prefer to block out my work time as a chunk. Like this: [![Scheduling Working Hours](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-work.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/calendar-work.webp) I know roughly what I will be doing in that chunk, and that goes into my [daily journal entry](/productivity/journals/). But I do not assign specific tasks directly into my calendar.[^4] #### Should I use the task list function in my calendar app? You can if you like, but I prefer to store my tasks in a separate system like [OmniFocus](https://www.omnifocus.com/) or [Asana](/go/asana/). ## What To Do Next Using calendars as a business owner? [Check out the guide here](/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/) and [the more specific guide for solopreneurs](/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/) here. More questions about calendars? [Ask me here](/contact/). If you liked this quick guide to calendars, sign up below for more related to the [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/). Photo by [Damon Lam](https://unsplash.com/@dayday95?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Which does not equate to exciting. [^2]: Which is essentially in the cloud. [^3]: You will be able to change future events no problem. [^4]: With the exception of content and writing in the screenshot above, because as a writer that is something I do every single day. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Passion for Systems Thinkers and INTJs https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/passion-for-systems-thinkers-intj/ “How do I find my passion?” “What can I get excited about?” People usually ask these questions where they’re starting something new. And normally these are valid questions - but I don’t believe that they apply to everyone. In particular, I don’t believe that questions about passion apply to those of us who are systems thinkers, builder-, mechanic- or [INTJ-types](https://www.16personalities.com/intj-personality). Here’s why. --- ## The Problem With Passion for INTJs and Systems Thinkers Passion is usually a good starting point for most people but what happens if your passion is building things, rather than any one specific thing?[^1] You start by realising that **there is nothing wrong with you**. People assume that everyone has _that one thing_ that they love to do, be it fitness, cooking, kitesurfing or otherwise. But systems thinkers and builder-types love to break down and rebuild almost everything. I have seen this again and again both in myself and in others who are INTJ types. **We have a passion for the process, not for any specific thing.** ## A Mechanic’s Solution to the Passion Problem The solution to this is to realise that for systems thinkers, **passion comes from building things and seeing them work**. It comes from learning things and from breaking down existing systems. It comes from figuring out how things work and teaching others. And it comes from rebuilding these things to be better. So how do we get from everyone telling us we need to find our passion to that point? ## Defining Passion for Systems Builders The first thing we need to do is **redefine passion**. I like Scott Adams’ take: **[passion is overrated](https://www.slideshare.net/Scottadams925/goals-are-for-losers-passion-is-overrated)**. I also like the Stoic definition: **passion is an emotion**. And emotions are overrated. In Stoicism, passion is defined as emotions based on a false sense of reality. Things that aren’t real, but that people get excited or upset over. Modern day culture (and marketing) is set up to create passion and intense emotions around things that aren’t real. So rather than worry about passion, just [be good and virtuous](/productivity/virtues/) and do the right thing. There is zero need for builder-types to have passion when starting something. ## Starting Without Passion: Use Momentum Instead If we recognise that we won’t have (or need) passion when starting on something new, then what do we have instead? We have **[momentum](/productivity/momentum/)**, which is a virtue. In the beginning you will run on **faith and [discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/)**. On your virtues. And once you start building, and positive feedback starts coming your way, you have momentum. You can safely ignore the people who think that you need passion to do well - you don’t. That approach may be right for them, but [it probably isn’t right for you](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). What you need to focus on, is **being good and doing right**. And you just need to start. Others may be able to hone in right away on a particular role, industry or opportunity that they are “passionate” about, but you cannot. You will have to stumble a bit and may have to try a few things. But once things get going, you will pull far ahead very quickly. ## Working out What’s Right for You You don’t need to use passion to work out what kind of business, role, or project is right for you. You can do **any of them**. Just push through until you have momentum. And balance the need for [external validation of what you are doing, while also trusting in your own internal judgement](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/). Systems thinkers and builders are quite reflective and have good judgement, so it’s likely that you have intuitively chosen the right thing to begin with. Trust in this and just start. ## What To Do Next Passion is overrated. And for systems thinkers and INTJ-types, it doesn’t come from any one thing - [it comes from **doing things**](/productivity/production-vs-consumption/). So get out there and just do it. Photo by [Joshua Coleman](https://unsplash.com/@joshstyle?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: The use of building (vs creating) is intentional here. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Use Gap Time Effectively https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/gap-time/ Let’s talk about **how to use gap time effectively**. Gap time is not exactly the most important time management topic, but it does come up a lot. Most people are better off maximising the other parts of their [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/). But if you have optimised everything else and are ready for the next level, here it is - how to make the most of your gap time. --- ## Defining Gap Time Gap time describes the spare five minutes here and there that you have, usually when you are out somewhere. If you have your time management stack in order, you shouldn’t really have _that much_ gap time. It will _quite literally_ be just five minutes every other day, or transit time. The most common examples are: - Transit / commute time. This is the big one.[^1] - Waiting for people, at stations, restaurants, coffee shops etc. - Waiting for food. - Between meetings. But this one is a bit different. - Between sets at the gym.[^2] - Any time where you’re not at home or work and you catch yourself scrolling social media. ## Activities You Can Do During Gap Time Using gap time effectively means productively using those spare minutes where you would otherwise be just sitting or standing around. You want to choose things that you can jump in and jump out of easily. ### The between meetings exception As mentioned above, the one exception to this is between meetings or work calls. I strongly recommend that all you do during this one exception to gap times is to: 1. Stretch. 2. Get some water. 3. Use the restroom if you need to. 4. Prepare for the next meeting. You want to be fresh and [prepared for the next meeting](/business/business-meetings/), and doing a gap time activity like triaging your email will not help with that. ### Other gap times: Only do low value activities You only want to do **low value activities** during gap times. Let’s look at some examples first, then I will explain why. For transit time, you can: - Listen to podcasts or audiobooks. - Read. - Watch something on your phone, but I have always found that a little odd. - Do any of the activities below. During other gap times, you can: - [Triage your email.](/productivity/effective-email-management/) - Reply to messages. - Do any kind of quick language learning like SRS.[^3] - Quickly read an article on [Feedly](https://feedly.com/)/[Pocket](https://getpocket.com/). These are all **low value activities** suitable for gap times. As much as we may want to be productive during gap times, [it is sometimes better to just take a break](/productivity/play/). Just _be still_ for a minute and take in the world around you. This can actually be better for your attention, [energy](/productivity/energy-management/) and willpower. ### Explaining activity value Now that you know what to do during gap times, let’s explain _why_ you should only do those things. There are two things that work together to determine what you should do during a given time: 1. The activity value. 2. The environment you are in. #### Activity value The **activity value** is simply the idea that different activities that you do will have a different _value weighting_. For example, high value activities would be creative work (coding, writing, content creation etc), detailed work, technical work, or sales or client work. Low value activities would include clearing email, reading the news, or any of the gap time activities mentioned above. #### Environmental capacity The **environment** you are in determines the _capacity_ of what you can do in that given moment. If you are at home or in your office, that is a high capacity environment. When you are out and about with only your phone and people everywhere, that is a low capacity environment. #### Putting together activity value and environmental capacity for gap time usage Your high capacity environments are set up so that you can [deep work and single task](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). You have all your tools available to you and you can do things uninterrupted. You can get high value activities done relatively easily. In contrast, gap time mostly occurs in low capacity environments like train stations, coffee shops or the back seat of an Uber. And as such, **gap time should be reserved for low value activities which are suited to low capacity environments**. Do not be that person who pulls out their laptop on the train, and tries to tether their phone and work on spreadsheets. Nerdy time management explanation: _Gap time gives you a time and place for low value activities you have to do, but don’t want to waste your time in high capacity environments on._[^4] ## What To Do Next You now know how to use gap time effectively. Don’t stress about gap time. How you use it will not make or break your time management. You can [learn more about the other parts of the time management stack here](/productivity/time-management-stack/), and sign up for my free newsletter below for even more things time management. I'll also send you a copy of _Evolution_, which explains where time management fits into a greater model of life. [^1]: In the long term, you want to minimise your transit time to and from work and other places as much as possible. You can do this through a combination of moving closer to work/school/whatever and through [remote working arrangements](/business/remote-working/). [^2]: Or maybe that’s just me. [^3]: Spaced repetition system. [^4]: Hat tip to [Olle Linge at Hacking Chinese](https://www.hackingchinese.com/) for the original concept of activity values. His original example was to not use high value time/environments like a private tutoring session to just review vocabulary, but to use them for high value activities like conversation practice or learning complex grammar. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Develop Self-Discipline https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/self-discipline/ Let’s talk about self-discipline. Self-discipline is the foundation of [living virtuously](/productivity/virtues/). You can pick your choice of imagery: - Forged from steel. - Chiselled from stone. - Rooted like an oak tree. Whichever it is, self-discipline is **the** virtue that powers everything else. --- ## What is Self-Discipline? Self-discipline is part of the group of virtues that help with taking action. It allows you overcome weaknesses, obstacles and challenges, by relying on your [own willpower](/productivity/willpower-and-volition/) and well, discipline. I would define self-discipline as: > The ability to do what you need to do consistently, without complaint or excessive depletion of willpower. Self-discipline must be sustainable. You need to be able to do what you need to… and not have to compensate with a blowout in the other direction. ## Examples of Self-Discipline Simple examples of self-discipline would be keeping to a diet or an attention diet over time. It is the ability to work consistently at some/many things over a long period of time.[^1] It is the ability to do all this without complaint, emotional mood swings or excessive stress. ## How Do I Know If I Have Practiced Self-Discipline Daily? If you manage to follow your [rituals and routines](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/) smoothly during the day without kicking and screaming… you have practiced self-discipline. If you manage to get done most of the things you have planned for the day - that’s self-discipline. If you manage to [work without distraction and time wasted](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/) on other things - that’s self-discipline. If you work with military precision for two weeks straight then need to fly out for a ski trip to “decompress”… that’s not self-discipline. That’s just silliness. ## How to Develop Self-Discipline Developing self-discipline, like [any other virtue](/productivity/virtues/), [is a system](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/). ### 1\. Mindset You start by **knowing what self-discipline is**. You then **tell yourself that you are going to develop it,** practice it, and live it constantly. If you have _any belief issues_ about self-discipline being too robotic or regimented, you will not be able to develop self-discipline. Anything apart from admiration for self-discipline will subconsciously stop you from living that way. Self-discipline often looks robotic and regimented to others… but if you are reaping the benefits of it, who cares? The alternative is to live without discipline, and let the chaos of daily life bounce you around. I assume that if you are reading this, you would rather be disciplined. ### 2\. Work out a system for self-discipline With your mindset and beliefs in place, it is time to work out how you can practice self-discipline. You can **start by picking one-to-two things** that you will be disciplined about on a daily basis. There are plenty of things to choose from. Here is a list you can start with: - Diet. - Exercise. - Work times. - [Sleep times](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/). - Tuning out [digital distractions](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/). In the beginning it is best to pick something that is winnable and that will always get done.[^2] By doing and achieving that thing every day, [you will gain momentum](/productivity/momentum/),[^3] and build a positive feedback loop that will help you develop self-discipline faster. [![Nature's steam release mechanism](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/self-discipline/steam-release.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/self-discipline/steam-release.webp)
Nature's steam release mechanism
The next thing you need to do is to **build a steam release mechanism** to relieve the pressure on your mind and willpower. Yes, this a metaphor. Remember how some people consider self-discipline regimented and robotic and that doing the same thing daily with precision and schedule becomes “too much pressure”? You need to find a way to release that pressure.[^4] The simple way to do this is to **[take small breaks throughout your day](/productivity/play/)**. What most people do wrong when they try to be disciplined is they work for ten hours straight and then go on a bender because they “deserve it” and can’t stand the stress (pressure) they have accumulated. If however you have an in-built mechanism to slowly let out bits of pressure throughout the day… there is no catastrophic explosion that results in said bender.[^5] ## Remember, It’s a System Now you have your self-discipline system. 1. One-to-two things you can do daily to practice self-discipline. 2. A pressure-release mechanism to stop yourself from going crazy. Start with this. As you get the hang of it, add in more things daily. It is best to start simple and to add things in over time.[^6] Remember, there should be no large drainage of willpower or accumulation of stress when you practice self-discipline. You should _just be able to do it_. ## What To Do Next That’s all there is to being self-disciplined. Start small, take breaks and add to your system over time. The more virtues you practice, the easier self-discipline becomes. Some related virtues include: resilience, self-reliance, simplicity, volition, [right action](/productivity/right-action/) and follow-through. Photos by [Jaime Spaniol](https://unsplash.com/@jaimespaniol?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) and [Richard van Wijngaarden](https://unsplash.com/@newfrontiers?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: This also demonstrates the virtues of resilience and self-reliance. [^2]: If in doubt, I recommend exercise. [^3]: Also a virtue. [^4]: No, not in the way you’re thinking 😏. [^5]: For more on this see [_Anti-Fragile_](/go/book-anti-fragile/) by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. [^6]: Suggested things to add: a full [morning ritual](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/), a gym routine, set hours of work. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Get Unstuck in Difficult Personal Situations https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-get-unstuck-in-difficult-personal-situations/ How do we get unstuck in difficult personal situations? I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine. She was going through a difficult personal situation, and was trying to work out how to move on. Being a rational and introverted type, she logically understood what to say to herself and that she needed to do, but kept on having her emotions reset every time she went to sleep and woke up.[^1] She asked for some advice and I gave her a simplified version of the system outlined below. Here's how we can get unstuck. --- ## Difficult Personal Situations Make Us Stuck When faced with difficult personal situations, we can get stuck in emotional loops and cycles. This is where we understand what we rationally should be doing, but just can’t seem to get ourselves to do it. And to make it worse, every time we go to sleep, our emotions are “reset” and we go back to feeling bad when we wake up. Examples of such difficult personal situations could be the end of a relationship, [ongoing destructive snacking](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/), or an unexpected change in our careers. Emotions are a _huge_ topic and I could ramble on a lot about them, but let’s try to keep this short and systematic. ## Getting Unstuck From Difficult Personal Situations The basic system for getting unstuck from difficult personal situations is to utilise: 1. Time. 2. A predefined process. ### Step 1: Utilising time There is a saying that “time heals all wounds.” This is partially true. If you simply let time pass, your own brain and emotions will do their own processing. For some people this is enough. For others, this does not work. For people who are logical or process thinkers, allowing time to pass is not enough to satisfy our rational minds. We feel like we have to _do something_ to allow ourselves to rationalise that something has changed.[^2] This means that we have to be more proactive and utilise both Step 1 (time) and Step 2 (a predefined process) in our approach.[^3] ### Step 2: Utilising a predefined process There are many parts to a predefined process that can be used for getting unstuck: 1. Source of process. 2. What is the rational thing to do? 3. What is the signifying end emotional state? 4. What are the milestones along the way? 5. How do you know when you’ve completed the process? Let’s unpack these a bit. #### Step 2.1: Source of process You don’t need to invent this predefined process from scratch. You can hop on [Amazon](/go/amazon/) and for almost any difficult personal situation, someone else has been there before, overcome it… and written a book about it. Don’t try to reinvent the process. Simply find someone else’s process and adapt it to your needs. #### Step 2.2: Rational Thing To Do Ask yourself what the rational thing to do is. This is the “active thinking” part of the process and may involve writing things out or reflecting on things that happened. #### Step 2.3: End Emotional State Ask yourself what the end emotional state should be. It may be tempting to say that there are many emotional states, but you need to simplify. For every difficult personal situation there will be **one** end emotional state in particular that acts as a marker for when you are no longer stuck. #### Step 2.4: Milestones This is where you can put your rational mind to work and turn your rational things list from Step 2.2 into actions. Set up some content-based steps and milestones that show you are progressing towards being unstuck. #### Step 2.5: Process Completion Marker In addition to your milestones, you also want to identify something that signifies that your predefined process is complete. Usually this is where you no longer feel the ups and downs of various emotions and instead just feel your end emotional state. ## An Aside: The Power of “Move on” Something that can be useful while you are working through your predefined process and letting time pass, is to remember the power of two magic words: **move on**. I learnt this from one of the general managers at my last company. Whenever we were at an impasse in a meeting or a decision could not yet be made, she would simply say “move on”… and everyone would move on. For some reason it works amazingly well, and tends to short-circuit any emotional loops that are running. ## Some Content Examples Your predefined process will be content-specific. I usually don’t like to give content examples because I don’t consider myself an expert in specific areas, but I will here for illustrative purposes. I still strongly suggest doing your own research and building your own processes. ### Content example: Breakups ``` Source for process: Books on Amazon. Rational Things To Do: * Reflect on what happened. * Try to think about events as rationally as possible. * Write out lessons from each event. * Move on. * Go out, meet new people, be happy. End Emotional State: Indifference towards former partner. Milestones: * Grief. * Being OK with being single. * Being OK with being social again. * Go on dates. * Hook up with someone new. * New relationship (if you want). Process Completion Marker: End emotional state of indifference. ``` ### Content example: Career changes ``` Source for process: Books on Amazon. Rational Things To Do: * Logically work out why job/career ended. * Ask if there was something you could have done better, or if it was outside your control? * If there was something - that's a lesson for next time. * If not, then accept that it was fate and move on. * Get on with career. * Work out the financial and other conditions where you know you are better off than you were before. End Emotional State: Internal validation that new career/job is working out. Milestones: * Rest and reflect. * Work out career moves: apply for new positions, do interviews, select new position, start new position. Process Completion Marker: * Financial and other conditions where you are better off met. ``` ## What To Do Next Whatever difficult personal situation you are stuck in, remember that all it takes is: 1. Time. 2. A predefined process. Take action. Move on. Get unstuck. Photo by Timothy Paul Smith. [^1]: In my friend’s words, “How do we adjust our emotions in difficult situations and escape a vicious cycle of emotions?” [^2]: I know. We’re "difficult". [^3]: Whether a predefined process is just placebo or actually helps - who knows and who cares. If it works, it works. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Your Guide to Personal Time Tracking https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/time-tracking/ Time tracking is the art and science of accounting for every minute of every day for the rest of your life. I know what you’re thinking: _Aaron, what kind of compulsive crazy person are you?_ Whenever I tell people about time tracking they start off with the same reaction. But then they try it. And one of two things happens: 1. They come back with a “holy sh\*t this is amazing!”, or 2. They go quiet and never mention it again, because they’re too busy optimising their time. --- ## Wait, But Why Should I Track My Time? There are many reasons to track your time. Let’s start with the Hawthorne Effect. ### The Hawthorne Effect There’s a reactivity effect in psychology called the [_Hawthorne Effect_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect). The effect refers to experiments conducted at the Hawthorne Works telephone factory in Illinois in the 1920s. As the story goes, a set of productivity consultants was brought in to see how worker output could be increased. They tried many things. They **turned up the lighting**, thinking that worker productivity would go up. It did. They **added in break times**, thinking that worker productivity would go up. It did. They **introduced free food during lunchtimes**, thinking that worker productivity would go up. It did. They **turned down the lighting** to pre-experiment levels, thinking that worker productivity would go back _down_. It didn’t. It went **up**. They **took away the break times**. Productivity went up again. They **took away the free food during lunch times**. Productivity went up yet again. They **returned everything back to the _original_ working conditions**… and productivity stayed up. No matter what was changed - good or bad - worker productivity would go up. This is the _Hawthorne Effect_ and it states that when something is tracked and given special attention… productivity goes up. It is an in-built feature of human psychology that **when we know something is being measured, we subconsciously try to perform better at that thing**. Which brings us to time tracking. When we track our time, we are abusing using an aspect of human psychology to our advantage. The simple act of tracking our time means that we subconsciously improve how we use it.[^1] ### Other reasons for time tracking But time tracking goes beyond just subconscious improvements. It very quickly highlights how you spend your hours and days - and the things that you value, or don’t. It may also act as the impetus you need to make changes in your health, career, relationships or other [areas of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/). You will find that when every minute and second is under scrutiny, a lot of BS rationalisations disappear because it becomes impossible to excuse the loss of time. “It’s just a quick read of Reddit” adds up to an hour of your day. “I’m just staying updated on what’s going on with my friends” becomes [ten minutes on Instagram here](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/), fifteen minutes on Facebook there… and your work time is cut by an hour every day. ## How to Set Up Time Tracking The first thing you will need is a **time tracking application**. I personally like [timetrack.io](https://timetrack.io/). It is simple to use and has an Apple Watch app as well.[^2] I suggest sticking with an application on your phone as you will likely have it with you all the time.[^3] The second thing you want to do is to **configure the application**. You want to only track one activity at a time. This means when one category starts, the other one stops. The third thing you want to do is **set up your activity categories**. [![Time Tracking Categories](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-tracking/time-tracking-categories.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-tracking/time-tracking-categories.webp)
I like to bundle personal projects, work and learning under Projects.
Here is a list to start - be sure to customise it based on what you do: - Personal Projects. - Work. - Learning. - Food. - Bathroom/Toilet. - [Rituals](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). - [Sleep](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/). - Meditation. - Gym/Exercise/Sport. - Housework. - Downtime. - [Commute/Transport](/productivity/gap-time/). - Shopping. - Social.[^4] - Excess.[^5] ## How to Track Your Time Once you are all set up to track your time, you just need to track it. I suggest **gathering one week of data** before reviewing it. And then sit down and review it. Ask yourself: - What did you spend the most time on? - Was there anything unexpected? - Is there anything you should spend less time on? - Is there anything you should spend more time on? - Is there anything that you stopped yourself from doing, because you knew you had to track the time spent on it? Keep working with a weekly review timeframe and make adjustments as you go. ## Frequently Asked Questions About Time Tracking #### What happens if an activity falls into multiple categories? Just ask: **Would I normally do this activity anyway?** If the answer is yes, then track the normal category, not the extra category. An example of this would be having dinner with friends. This could fall in both the Social and Food categories. In this case you would normally have to eat dinner anyway, so you want to track Food. But once dinner is over and you are spending one-to-two hours talking over drinks, that becomes Social.[^6] #### This seems tedious… It can be to start. But once you’ve done it for a while it becomes second nature. #### What about the Screen Time function on my phone and computer? [![Screentime](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-tracking/time-tracking-screentime.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/time-tracking/time-tracking-screentime.webp) Screen Time tells you what apps you have been using on your phone, how many times you have picked it up and what your total, well, screen time, is. Unless you are literally looking at your phone screen all day,[^7] there will be gaps in time unaccounted for. It is for this reason that Screen Time does not replace time tracking. This also applies to similar automated time tracking solutions like [RescueTime](https://www.rescuetime.com/) and [Timing](https://timingapp.com/). #### What can I do to take my time tracking to the next level? There are a couple of things. I have mentioned the Watch app already. You can also set up Siri shortcuts to start different activity categories. Something like, “Hey Siri, start tracking Food.” You can also set goals and targets for yourself, be they for work time, family time, downtime or otherwise. #### When should I stop time tracking? This is entirely up to you. From my own experience, [there was a period of time where I stopped tracking my time](/productivity/next-level-productivity/). And what I discovered was that bad habits started to creep in, and time started to magically disappear. My take from that was that if I was actively tracking my time, my performance would keep up and improve in the long run.[^8] But I would also temper this by saying “don’t stress about it too much”. You don’t need perfect time usage, nor do you need perfect time optimisation. Simply knowing that you are tracking your time and that you are utilising it better is enough. ## What To Do Next Grab [the app](https://timetrack.io/). Set up your activity categories and settings. And track! Sign up below for more articles about the [Time Management Stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/). Photo by [Museums Victoria](https://unsplash.com/@museumsvictoria?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: People like to talk about “life hacks”. Time tracking in this case is as close as it gets to being a [true life hack](/productivity/true-life-hacks/). [^2]: The Watch app is useful for quickly switching activity categories on the go. [^3]: Sync functions with computer are cool and all but you may end up with duplicate data which is not cool. [^4]: You can include family time and/or dates here, or break them out if you want to track them separately. [^5]: Things you really don’t want to do but are forced to do. Visiting the ER, dealing with the government etc would fall under this category. [^6]: This is why having the Watch app is useful, as you can quickly switch categories. [^7]: And to be fair, we are sort of getting to that point. [^8]: Due to the _Hawthorne Effect_. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Why You Don't Get To Be Lazy https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/ You don’t get to be lazy. The greatest lie sold to society is that you can cruise through life and that the system will take care of you. It won’t. Sometimes, this lie is presented in different ways: - That if you just do what other people do, you’ll get the same results as them. - That the world is fair and it will all balance out in the end. - That you can work smart, and not have to work hard. All these are **lies**. Simply doing what others do, will not get you the same results as them, because there are many, many factors in play. The world is not fair. Equal opportunity does not exist.[^1] Working smarter isn’t enough. You need to work harder too. If you want something, be prepared to earn it through taking action. Life isn’t fair. It’s just life. You need to hustle and work hard. **You don’t get to be lazy.** --- ## Why People Get Lazy Most people want to be successful. In modern society, this is considered normal. So what do people actually do? Those who really have no clue, look to the system to take care of them and they end up with average results. A little better are those who look at what the successful people around them do. But there is a problem with this. Usually people look at the **done** version of success, not the **in progress** version. And then they make assumptions that because so-and-so successful person does this-and-that now, that is how they achieved their success. This _could_ be right. But _more likely,_ it is wrong. Many of the habits of successful people are completely arbitrary and just eccentricities. Even the actions of successful people that are the right actions for them, are not necessarily the right actions for everyone else. This is problematic, because it leads to people underestimating how much of their own effort they actually have to put in to [achieve their goals](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/). People are hoping to become overnight successes, rather than walk the [long black road](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_2E8ecUYyg). ## The Solution - Don’t Be Lazy The solution to all this is simple: **don’t be lazy**. When you’re starting out on something, you don’t get to be lazy. You have to put in the work. You have to [put in the rep](https://jamesclear.com/repetitions)[s](https://jamesclear.com/repetitions/). You have to do your best. You can look at other people when they were _starting out_ and see what they did - they most likely worked, very, very hard and tried many different things before they started to take off. Over time, yes, if you do the right things, you will achieve your goals and get what you want. But you must put in the work. I have no idea why so many people are allergic to hard work and effort nowadays. Perhaps it is [illusion of success created by the Internet](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/). Perhaps it is because of [digital distractions and destructive snacking](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/). Perhaps people just don’t want it bad enough. The solution for this is simple - don’t be lazy. Instead, practice some [modern virtues](/productivity/virtues/) - work hard, [be industrious](/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/), and [live in a 10x manner](/productivity/10x/). ## The World Is Not Fair Time for some controversy. The world is not fair, and equal opportunity does not exist.[^2] We like to think it does, because it’s nicer to believe that. I believe that democratic ideals, government overreach and the general milieu have all come together to sell us on the idea that things are fair. And if you think about it, it does kind of make everyone feel better to believe that. People who have inherent advantages in life, feel like they have earned what they have achieved.[^3] People who don’t have those advantages, feel like they have a chance - they have hope.[^4] ### Equal Opportunity Does Not Exist I [caught up with a friend](/life/social-atomisation/) of mine earlier this year. She mentioned that it kind of sucked that she had to put so much time and effort into learning and practicing English, whereas I didn’t even have to try because I was arbitrarily born in an English-speaking country. And she was right - she had to study hard, learn grammar, pass exams and constantly reference things.[^5] And yet, she still did it.[^6] ### The Default Build ![The Default Build](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/default-build.webp) There is a concept in role-playing video games called the “default build”. Most games let you customise your character - do you want to be male or female? Human or elf? Guns akimbo or a magic wand? Game designers worked out a long time ago, that sometimes people just want to start playing and not think about it too much, so they design a “default build”. This is the generic, base-level character that has no inherent advantages or disadvantages in the game world. Real life is the same. The “default build” is white, male, over six foot, extroverted, educated and from a middle class or higher background. This is the baseline. If you are anything apart from this, you come with certain advantages and disadvantages in life. I would add to this and say that mostly, you come with certain disadvantages. If you are woman reading this, you already know this. You see it and live it every single day of your life. And if you are a beautiful woman, you also know this, [albeit from a different perspective](https://www.ted.com/talks/cameron_russell_looks_aren_t_everything_believe_me_i_m_a_model). ### That Sounds Horrible, What Can I Do? Don’t be lazy. Seriously. Forget about seeking retribution or reparations or trying to get laws changed or whatever. Those things may happen. They also may not. And they are mostly outside of your control. But how much effort you put into things and how much you choose to [live virtuously](/productivity/virtues/) - those things are [within your control](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/). You **can** get the same results as someone who entered life with the default build… you just have to put more effort in. To borrow from Lee Kuan Yew: > \[Just be\] better organised, more efficient, and more competitive. And don’t be lazy. ### Wait, Isn’t This Discrimination or Bias or…? Sure, you can call it that. I would rather call it reality. You can ask any Asian immigrant who lives in a Western country.[^7] They all know the implicit rule - you can achieve whatever you want… but be prepared to work three times harder for it than all your Caucasian friends. One of my younger cousins recently visited me in Bangkok. Over catching up, he mentioned that he was bumped from the top sports team for his grade because of “bias”, despite being the best player last season. I asked him what he meant. He said that the coaches wanted to present a certain “image” in their top team. And being Australia, by “image”, they meant that they wanted a team of only Caucasian players. By no means would anyone consider that fair - but it’s life. To get back into the top team my cousin will have to work harder, train harder, and put in more of an effort than everyone else. Again, it’s not fair, and this is why you don’t get to be lazy. ### Isn’t Thinking This Way a Limiting Belief? It can be. I believe it is actually more of a paradox. I believe it is good to [recognise reality for what it is](/productivity/types-of-reality/) - and then to proceed to not let that reality define you. If you simply say “the world is not fair and it’s biased against me” and do nothing about it, then yes, thinking this way is a limiting belief. But if you say “the world is not fair and it’s biased against me” and then you overcompensate and overachieve, then it’s not a limiting belief. It’s an empowering one. And hey, if the bias for whatever reason turns out not to be true, your efforts will still yield results - and you get what you want, all the same. ### Immigrant Hustle Gary Vee talks a lot about [immigrant hustle](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10154988633868350). Immigrant hustle exists because the world is not fair. Immigrants to foreign countries are grateful for the opportunity to work hard. They also know that it won’t be as easy for them, and that they may be discriminated against in all sorts of ways… so they put their heads down, work harder and end up overachieving. Despite our ideals, the world is not fair, equal opportunity doesn’t really exist, and the only way to deal with it, is to work hard and not be lazy. ## The Work Smart Fallacy You may be asking, “OK Aaron, this kind of makes sense. So why don’t people actually work that hard nowadays?” I believe this is because of the third item in our set of lies - that you should work smarter, not harder. This is a largely Western mindset. Western-educated people (including myself) are big into working smart. [![Work Smart, Work Hard](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/work-smart-work-hard.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/work-smart-work-hard.webp) Working smart and working hard are not mutually exclusive. I read an interview recently with an entrepreneur who moved from Singapore to Shanghai to start up a fintech company. Upon arriving, he said that the scariest thing was that everyone there was not only smarter than him, but also worked three times harder than him.[^8] Simply working smarter is not enough, because others out there will also be working smart… and hard. ## But What About My Friend… Look, counterexamples exist. Of course they do. There are people out there who entered life with a “default build” or some variation of it and everything just worked out for them. There are also people out there who didn’t work that hard and became successful. But there are so many variables in play that _you simply cannot rely on the same factors_ for your own goals and success. As Naval Ravikant says, we are playing the probability game here: [we don’t want to succeed in just one reality, we want to succeed in 99% of them](https://nav.al/rich). And the best way to do this is to work hard and to not be lazy. ## What Hard Work Actually Looks Like Hopefully by now you realise that you don’t get to be lazy. And that you have to work hard. So what does hard work actually look like? - You have to work 10x harder than everyone else. - You don’t get to [take (all) weekend off](/productivity/energy-management/). - You don’t get to sit back and binge on Netflix. - You don’t get to play video games. - You don’t even [get to have craft beers with your buddies](https://www.facebook.com/shopify/videos/10153449077461881/). Whatever you see successful/lazy people doing, you don’t get to do that… yet. You have to live virtuously, with discipline, with industry and with fewer mistakes being made. This doesn’t just apply to your business or career - it applies to [every area of your life](/productivity/areas-of-life/). ## What To Do Next Why are you still reading this? Go kick your own arse and get to work. And don’t be lazy. [^1]: And fuck attempts to enforce equal outcome. [^2]: I’m not saying that society doesn’t try - it does. We’re just not there yet. [^3]: And a lot of them have - they put in the hard work and made it happen. [^4]: If you want to be cynical, you can say that hope makes people obedient members of a stable society. [^5]: I just watched TV. [^6]: And now she has flawless generic international-sounding English with no accent. [^7]: I say Asian, but you can ask any immigrant really. [^8]: And Singaporeans are generally pretty smart and work pretty hard. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Develop Resilience and Mental Toughness https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/resilience-mental-toughness/ Resilience, or mental toughness, is the ability to shrug off the difficulties that we encounter in life. It is the ability to take a hit, or a hundred, and to walk it off. It is the ability to withstand difficult things over an extended period of time. Resilience is also a [virtue](/productivity/virtues/) and a hallmark of Stoicism. --- ## Why Develop Resilience? Resilience is an important virtue - one not often found in today’s overprotective world. I wrote this article at the request of a friend who has been going through some tough personal times. We have all experienced tough times, and it would be nice to have a systematic way to get through them in the future. This is why resilience is important. Resilience helps us develop a [strong, internal frame of reference](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/). ## Examples of Resilience and Mental Toughness What exactly does resilience or mental toughness look like? If you run a business, it is putting out three major-level fires in a day… and then being ready to take on the fourth. If you are starting up a new gig, it is making it through the desert of desertion where there is no reply from the market… but you know it’s coming. Resilience is doing what we do and having the faith that our world will continue carrying on tomorrow, no matter how bad the circumstances are today. It is being able to withstand those bad, personal circumstances and carry on with our emotions bearing down on us, rather than having everything come to a stop. ## How Do You Practice Resilience Daily? Resilience is a virtue. This means it is something that you can strive to practice on a daily basis. You know you have been resilient if at the end of the day you can say: > Wow, that was tough. But I made it. I kept things going. ## How Do We Systematically Develop Resilience and Mental Toughness? There are number of aspects to developing resilience. Most of them involve your [mindset, or inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/). Think of it as aligning the arrows of your life in the same direction: [![Arrows in the Same Direction](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp) The more arrows there are that point the same way, the more resilient you will be. ### Being Organised Being organised helps you be more resilient. The reason for this, is when things get tough, you can lean on your [systems and structures](/productivity/time-management-stack/) and they can [provide you with the resources](/productivity/productivity-stack/) to pull through. ### Having Good Friends It’s cliched, but [good friends and a support network](/life/social-atomisation/) will help you become more resilient. Like your personal systems, they can help you when sh\*t hits the fan. ### Useful Beliefs for Mental Toughness There are number of beliefs that are useful in developing resilience and mental toughness: - **Winning.** The more you believe that winning and achieving your goals is a good thing, the more likely you are to push through when you encounter obstacles and setbacks. - **Goodness.** If you believe that the world is generally a good place full of good people, you are more likely to have the faith required to bounce back from temporary setbacks.[^1] - **“Whatever happens, happens such as you are either formed by nature able to bear it, or not able to bear it.”** - _[Marcus Aurelius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius)_. Do not run from your pain or suffering. If you can take it, you will. If you can’t, you die. Either way, it ends. - **Playfulness.** In the modern day, nothing is ever so serious that it will completely end your/the world. ### Mental Models for Resilience There are also a couple of mental models that are useful in developing resilience. The first mental model is the **[types of reality](/productivity/types-of-reality/)**:[^2] - There is _subjective reality,_ which is what you perceive in your mind. - There is _objective reality,_ which is the physical world that exists regardless of perception. - And there is _intersubjective reality,_ which are things made real by collective belief - be they gods or money. Being able to differentiate between the three types allows you to see difficult events from a different perspective, and helps you be more resilient. The second mental model is to **ask if there is something you can do about it**.[^3] If there is something you can do to help the situation, do it. If there is nothing you can do, there is no point worrying about it, as nothing can be done anyway. Keeping this model in mind gives your rational mind a sufficient excuse to carry on. ## A Plan for Developing Resilience If we combine everything into a plan to develop resilience, here is what we would do. We first would get organised. This means [good planning](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/) and [good goal setting](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/). We would remove as much negativity from our lives as possible, especially negative people. We would strive for emotional mastery through being virtuous. And until we get there, we would use some emotional control hacks to help us catch emotions as they arise.[^4] We would tame our egos, through living virtuously.[^5] We would pick something in our lives to serve as a metaphor for developing resilience. This should be an activity that we can consistently do well in. We would use that activity and our ability to succeed in it to develop our mental toughness.[^6] Lastly, we would ask ourselves daily if we have been resilient. Did we keep things going despite everything that happened? ## What To Do Next You can develop resilience and mental toughness. It is just about having the right beliefs, doing the right things and trying to live as virtuously as possible. The more virtues we practice, the stronger our resilience becomes. If we are [self-disciplined](/productivity/self-discipline/), do the right things, act with persistence, focus and rationality, then our mental toughness goes up. Remember - no situation is so unbearable that you were not made to bear it. And remember that everything has an end - in completion, or in death. Stay strong, stay resilient. p.s. More on [building emotional stability and reserve here](/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/). [^1]: Whether this is objectively true or not is a different matter. It is simply useful to believe it to be true. [^2]: I first learnt about these from Yuval Noah Harari’s book _[Homo Deus](/go/book-homo-deus/)_. [^3]: This comes from Stoicism. [^4]: An example would be compartmentalising emotions by separating you, the emotion and what you have to do into three separate piles. [^5]: Fragile egos are not resilient at all - they shatter and go off the rails. [^6]: Sports are ideal for this. A good friend of mine uses his tennis game as his metaphor for mental toughness. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Setting up Morning Rituals and Evening Rituals https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/ Morning Rituals are a simple way to start every single day full of energy and ready to take on the world. Evening Rituals are a simple way to finish every single day peacefully, to fall asleep easily and to have a great night of sleep. That’s the magic of rituals and routines. --- ## What Is A Ritual Or Routine? A ritual or routine is a set of scripted actions or habits that you do on a regular basis to get you into a certain performance state. When we talk about rituals, we usually refer to **morning rituals** and **evening rituals**. You can also construct a **daytime ritual**, but this will be dependent on what you do for work. ## Morning Rituals And Routines A **morning ritual** spans the time from when you wake up to when you are ready to start your day. You simply wake up, and start on the first action, then the next, and the next… until you are done and ready to go. ### Essential Morning Ritual Parts The most important parts of a morning ritual are: 1. **Drinking water.** 500ml is enough.[^1] 2. **Using the bathroom.** 3. **[Reviewing your goals](/productivity/daily-reviews/).** Simply sitting, looking over and thinking about them is enough. 4. **Getting dressed and ready.** This should be the last thing you do before you head out the door or sit down to work. All four items are self-explanatory and simple enough that you can do them starting tomorrow. ### Optional Morning Ritual Parts There are also some “nice to haves” in a morning ritual, such as: - Exercise. - Breakfast. - Reading. - Mindfulness in the form of meditation or affirmations. ### The Biggest Problem With Most People’s Morning Routines The biggest problem most people have with their mornings, is that they pick up their phone. Or sit in front of the computer. Or turn on the TV. Nothing will kill your morning ritual and [momentum](/productivity/momentum/) faster than distracting yourself with one of these things. The best thing is to **ignore all these things completely.** Hit your chosen morning ritual items one after the other, then get on with your day. ### How Long Should My Morning Ritual Take? If you are doing a barebones version of a morning ritual (water, bathroom, goals, get ready), it should not take you more than an hour.[^2] If you are adding in optional items, it may take you up to three or four hours. Yes, that’s correct - **three to four hours.** That may include one to one-and-a-half hours in the gym, thirty minutes of meditation and an hour of reading. All these things are good for you anyway and may be necessary depending on your goals. The simple way to make sure you get them all done is to [wake up earlier](/productivity/waking-up-early/). If you implement morning rituals consistently, you will find yourself having great starts to all your days. Even if you wake up groggy or a bit out of it… you can trust in the power of your morning ritual to pull you through to effectiveness and readiness. ## Evening Rituals Evening Rituals cover the time from when you start winding down to when you fall asleep. ### Essential Evening Ritual Parts The most important parts of an evening ritual are: 1. **Preparing for tomorrow.** This could be physical items like your gym gear or lunch for work, organisational items like your [task list](/productivity/personal-task-management/) or simply reviewing how your day went. 2. **[Reviewing your goals briefly](/productivity/daily-reviews/),** much like you did in the morning. 3. **Using the bathroom.** All the normal hygiene stuff. 4. **Turning the lights off and [going to sleep](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/)**. These are self-explanatory. ### Optional Evening Ritual Parts A couple of “nice to haves” for your evening ritual are: - Foam rolling or stretching to loosen up and relax your body. - Some light reading to wind down.[^3] - Dim/red lighting or blue blockers. - No electronic devices. I am not as much of a stickler about this as most people are, so long as you are not sitting there scrolling social media for twenty minutes or something similar. - Sleep aids. Whatever works for you here - [ZMA](/go/zma/), [melatonin](/go/melatonin/), or [chamomile tea](/go/chamomile-tea/). I would not recommend alcohol.[^4] ### How Long Should My Evening Ritual Take? Your evening should take about thirty minutes to one hour. Remember that the purpose of your evening ritual is to help you fall sleep easily. Simply the act of purposefully undergoing a “ritual” to finish your day, can help you settle your mind, calm you down and put you in a state conducive to rest. ## How To Implement Morning Rituals And Evening Rituals Simplicity is best when implementing rituals. You can keep a recurring list in a task management app on your phone. Or you can simply write/print out your rituals on a piece of paper and refer to them at the appropriate time. Eventually the actions in a ritual will become automatic, and that’s when it becomes fun. You will start to recognise how long it takes for you to get ready or wind down, and be able to factor that into your decision making for going out at night, or waking up early. ## Frequently Asked Questions About Morning Rituals And Evening Rituals ### Do I really have to do this every day? Yes 😐. ### Isn’t this morning ritual too long? There are a few ways to tackle your morning ritual being too long. The first is to make sure that it actually is taking too long, not that it just “feels too long”. You can do this with [time tracking](/productivity/time-tracking/) and also note if you are doing anything other than your morning ritual items, such as checking your phone or reading the news. The second is to cut out the optional items and add them back in one at a time, seeing which you can make time for and which you cannot. The third is to do your morning ritual items faster. This will naturally happen over time as you become familiar with each of the items. The fourth is to recognise that this is just what it takes. A longer startup time in the morning is the cost you pay for the benefit of a fully productive day. ### I woke up at a different time - what do I do? Simply do your morning ritual as per normal, or run a barebones version. ### What happens when I’m travelling? You can do your normal morning ritual and evening ritual, or simplified versions. ### This seems too hard/complicated. Morning and evening rituals are not supposed to be complicated. They are purposefully structured to take minimal amounts of willpower to complete, and should be fairly automatic. In the beginning it may _seem_ complex or difficult, but you can [exercise a bit of self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/) to help get you through the first thirty days or so until the ritual becomes second nature. ### I still have problems falling asleep or getting good sleep. It is absolutely fine if you don’t get a perfect night of sleep every night - that’s why you have a morning ritual to help with your grogginess in the morning. You can also try adding some optional items such as sleep aids to your evening ritual, to improve the quality of your sleep. It is also worth asking if you are exerting yourself enough on a daily basis. **Have you lived with purpose and moved continuously all day?** You can also take a look at your sleep hygiene. Though it is a separate topic, it covers things like setting up your bedroom or making sure that you don’t take caffeine too late in the day. ## What To Do Next Morning rituals and evening rituals are not complicated. You now have enough information to organise your own rituals - so give it a try and [let me know how it goes](/contact/). For more on productive flow techniques like morning and evening rituals, **grab your 100% free copy of _Evolution_ below**. [^1]: 16.9 fl oz for Americans, Liberians and the Burmese. [^2]: The reason for this is most people usually take ten to fifteen minutes to stumble out of bed. [^3]: Some people relax reading fiction, others relax reading non-fiction. Just pick the one that helps you unwind the most. [^4]: Standard disclaimer: talk to your doctor before taking anything. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Organise Your Information, Knowledge, Notes and Documents https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/ Let’s talk about how to manage your information, knowledge, notes and documents. We are flooded with information and documents on a daily basis. And not all of this is just distracting spam. There are [many things that we actually need to pay attention to](/productivity/filter-on-inputs/) - like our mail, our financial data, work information and [personal documents](/productivity/personal-ops/). Being able to manage all of our information, knowledge, notes and documents is an important life skill and part of the time management stack. --- ## Why You Need to Organise Your Information and Documents Organising your information and documents is important. It lets you find what you need, when you need it. It helps you build a digital record of your life. It is a time asset - something that saves you time down the line. And with the cost of digital storage being virtually free nowadays, there is absolutely no reason not to do it. ## How To Organise Your Information, Documents, Knowledge and Notes Here is a very simple system for managing all your information and documents: [![Organising Information, Documents, Knowledge and Notes Workflow](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/information-document-workflow.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/information-document-workflow.webp) 1. Collect all the information, documents, knowledge and notes that you have.[^1] 2. Pick an information management application. 3. Pick a scanning technology. 4. Input everything. 5. Maintain the system. ### 1\. Collecting All Your Information, Documents, Knowledge and Notes The first step in this system is to put all your stray physical documents, information, notes and post-its into one pile. Hopefully some of this has been [sorted GTD-style](/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/) already and there are no tasks or actions buried in there. You should also make a similar pile for your digital documents - put them all into one folder on your computer. ### 2\. Information Management Application The second step is to choose an application that you will use to organise all your information and documents. Here are some suggestions: - [Evernote](https://evernote.com/).[^2] - [Bear](https://bear.app/). - [Apple Notes](https://www.icloud.com/notes). - [Microsoft OneNote](https://www.onenote.com/). - A simple folder on your computer, synced to [Dropbox](https://dropbox.com/) or [Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/). Some of these apps will cost money. It is worth the cost if you are serious about getting your information and documents organised. If you have concerns about [privacy](/life/privacy/), there are many privacy-focused cloud-based applications available - just do a [DuckDuckGo](https://duckduckgo.com/) search for them. Regardless of which application you select, I would suggest that it has some form of cloud sync so that you can access your information and documents from your phone at any time. Note that some information will not go into this application. This includes: - Passwords, which should go into [1Password](https://1password.com/) or a similar application. - Income/Expense tracking, which should go into a dedicated finance application. ### 3\. Scanning Technology It is likely that a number of your initial documents like bank statements or identity documents will be in physical paper format. These will need be scanned. There are a couple of options here: - Scanning apps like [Scannable](https://evernote.com/products/scannable) or [Adobe Scan](https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/mobile/scanner-app.html).[^3] - A physical scanner, which is the best option if you have one. ### 4\. Initial Input Now that you have chosen an application and a scanning technology, it is time to input all your initial documents and notes. Anything that is **just information** can be directly created as a note in your chosen application. **Digital files** can be directly dropped into your application. **Physical documents** need to be scanned. Let’s look at how to do that. #### 4.1. Notebook Setup First, **set up your notebooks or folders in your application**. Here is a simple template to start with: ``` * Wealth * Health * Learning/Growth * Social * Dating/Relationship * Play ``` Astute readers will note that this format matches our [areas of life](/productivity/areas-of-life/). You can and will want to get more granular with the template above. For example, you can have subfolders under Learning/Growth for Book Notes or [SOPs](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/). You could also have subfolders under Wealth for each financial institution you have an account with. #### 4.2. Scanning and Naming Once you have your folders set up, the next thing you want to do is to **scan everything into your application**. This can be a little rough if you have a lot of initial documents. At this stage it is easier to simply collect all your scans, information and digital documents into one folder in your chosen application. You can sort them in the next step. One thing that can help here is to not scan anything you don’t consider important enough to archive and keep for the future. Another thing that will help is to name things well so that you can find them easier later on. Some bad naming conventions would be: - Bank statement. - Tea time. - Receipt Monday Amazon. Some good naming conventions would be: - American Express Platinum Statement 202003. - TWG Tea Brewing Times. - Receipt Amazon 20200301. Remember to input your digital documents as well. #### 4.3. Sorting Your Documents Once everything is in your chosen application, you want to **sort them into your notebooks**. This will be much easier to do on a computer than a phone, as you can just drag and drop. You _can_ do it on a phone - there will just be a lot of tapping and screen switching involved. #### 4.4. Keeping Physical Copies of Documents One question that often comes up is, **“do I keep the physical copy of something I have already scanned and stored?”** You need to ask yourself if you will likely need the physical copy later on. For example, it may be worth keeping receipts for large purchases during the warranty period. A good measure of how much to keep is this: _Your kept physical documents should fill a small file folder, not a filing cabinet._ [![A Simple File Folder](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/simple-file-folder.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/simple-file-folder.webp) For everything else, shred, burn or dispose of it. ### 5\. Information and Document Maintenance The last part of this information and document management system is maintaining it over time. This is what separates the truly organised from others. You **must** maintain your system over time. This means that you will regularly take incoming notes, information and documents, sort them and then file them. You can make this part of your [weekly inbox clearing routine](/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/). ## Business Options And what about documents and information for business? Everything outlined above largely applies to your personal information and documents. For businesses, I recommend something more collaborative like a [Dropbox](https://dropbox.com/)/[Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/) and [Confluence](https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence)/wiki setup. [You can read more about knowledge management for business here.](/business/knowledge-management/) ## What To Do Next Once you have run through the above process once, you will find it surprisingly easy to maintain and keep your documents and information organised and accessible. If you would like to hear more about the other parts of the time management stack, be sure to sign up for updates and grab your free copy of _Evolution_ below. Photo by [Maksym Kaharlytskyi](https://unsplash.com/@qwitka?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: [Versus tasks you need to action, or trash you need to discard](/productivity/tasks-appointments-information-trash/). [^2]: My personal preference. [^3]: I prefer Scannable as it integrates with Evernote. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Basic Social Skills Stack https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/ People say that social skills are something you are either born with or not. I don’t believe that is true. It’s a bit of a cop-out to simply say that some people are good people-people, while others are not. Others will say that you can only learn social skills through experience, and that they cannot be broken down into component pieces and learnt bit-by-bit. This is sort-of true. Experience does count, yes.[^1] But social skills can also be defined, unpacked and purposefully studied. You can learn them. You can practice them. And you can get better at them. But first have to know what they are. --- ## A Guide to Basic Social Skills This is the guide that I wish I could have handed my socially-inept fourteen year-old self and said, “Hey, here are all the things you have to figure out if you want to function in adult society.”[^2] Think of it as a map of all the basic social skills that everyone should have. You still have to visit each skill to learn more about it, but at least you will now know what to look for. ## Why Do We Need Basic Social Skills? So why do we even need basic social skills in the first place? Well, by now you likely know about [social atomisation](/life/social-atomisation/) and its effects. Technology has allowed us to broadcast, comment and like stuff… but we do still need to relate to people. Humans are social creatures. We were put on this planet not only to do good, but to help do it for others as well. Social skills are unfortunately not taught in school. We are simply expected to pick them up on our own. And the age-old advice of “just be yourself” doesn’t cut it. Especially when your “be yourself” baseline doesn’t work and doesn’t get you where you want to go.[^3] So let’s break down the Basic Social Skills Stack. ## The Basic Social Skills Stack [![Basic Social Skills Stack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/basic-social-skills-stack-png.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/basic-social-skills-stack-png.webp) This is what I consider the Basic Social Skills Stack. Most of these skills are interpersonal or intercessional, meaning they involve one-to-one or small group communication. The list is not exhaustive, and there is a lot of crossover between the different categories, due to the fluid and multi-modality nature of communication. There is also a whole set of advanced skills that have been purposely excluded from the stack - those are for another time.[^4] One of the reasons I put together this Stack is because if you Google “social skills”, you typically end up with a bunch of generalisations. Things like “[effective communication](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/)” or "get rapport". Seriously, what does that even mean? Let’s get specific about this. ## Verbal Social Skills Verbal social skills are those that involve speaking, words and language. ### Talking With Strangers Let’s start with the big one - talking with complete strangers. No, I’m not talking about your Uber driver or the barista you see every day. I am talking about purposefully having a conversation with a complete stranger you are meeting for the first time, perhaps at a networking event or at a large dinner with friends. Working out how to break the ice, and then segue that into conversation is most definitely a skill. I personally like to start with, “Hey, I don’t think we’ve met yet. I’m Aaron.” ### Talking With Friends, Acquaintances and Family This skill is pretty self-explanatory and includes your friends, family and co-workers. This is more about communicating your needs/wants with them and not feeling like you need to constantly communicate with them. ### Small Talk “Small Talk” is about mastering the flow of conversation. This diagram serves as a better explanation: [![Small Talk](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/small-talk.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/small-talk.webp) For each thing someone says, you can: 1. Agree and relate. 2. Ask a related question. 3. Joke or playfully respond to it.[^5] 4. Break rapport or disagree. 5. Exit the conversation. Some cultures are better at small talk than others. A good way to think about small talk is: > How do I create an entertaining and interesting conversational flow, so that I can turn something otherwise meaningless into something of value for both of us? ### Relating Relating is the ability to uncover commonalities and differences with others through conversation. ### Sympathy and Empathy Sympathy is feeling your own (usually negative) emotions about another’s situation. Empathy is putting yourself in another person’s shoes and trying to experience what they feel. Both are usually in-built, but some people have trouble distinguishing between the two and knowing which is appropriate. ### Social Appropriateness Social appropriateness is a huge topic within basic social skills. It is partly verbal, and partly contextual. I truly believe that there are certain things that should just **not** be done in social situations. Most social situations require nuance - like knowing when the right time is to relate, to laugh, or to tease, and to what degree. Some parts of social appropriateness are cultural and some are universal. ### Sarcasm Sarcasm is mostly found in Western culture,[^6] and if you’re reading this, you likely speak English and you have to know how to deal with it. Done properly, sarcasm should be humorous, not spiteful. ### Playfulness I would almost consider playfulness an advanced social skill. It is the ability to inject a bit of humour or lightness into everything you communicate. Look, we all know that the world is absolutely bonkers right now, but there’s no need for the conversations we have to all be super-serious. ## Nonverbal Social Skills Nonverbal social skills are those conveyed with your body movements, including the qualities of your voice. ### Eye Contact The popular saying goes that the eyes are the window to the soul. I prefer the scientific explanation: _When we look into someone’s eyes, we are picking up on thousands of micro-movements, and our brain translates that into thoughts and emotions for us._ Knowing what is appropriate eye contact, when to hold it, when to break it, and how to communicate more powerfully with your own eye contact, is an essential non-verbal social skill. ### Body Language How you use your body to communicate is a social skill. This could be your facial expressions - how you move and hold the muscles of your face when talking. It could be your posture, or how you hold your physical body. It is also your body positioning, or how you use your body to position yourself in social situations and what that does to the dynamics of a situation. ### Voice There are a lot of different aspects to voice. They include: - **Volume.** How loud you talk. - **Intonation.** The intent behind your speech communicated by a rise or fall in speech patterns. - **Pitch.** Whether you sound more like Morgan Freeman or Justin Bieber. - **Rhythm.** How fast, slow and to what rhythm you speak. - **Resonance.** How rich your voice sounds. - **[Silence.](/productivity/silence/)** When you choose not to speak at all. Generally the more control you have of your voice, and the more pleasant sounding it is, the better you will be at communicating. ### First Impressions and Physical Appearance How you physically look, dress and groom yourself and what first impression that conveys is a basic nonverbal social skill. It is one of the easiest social skills to improve upon. ### Physical Touch How you communicate with others through appropriate physical touch, be it a handshake or a pat on the back, is also a basic social skill. ## Sensory Social Skills Sensory social skills are about using your senses to read and interpret information about the social situation and others around you. ### Social Calibration If social appropriateness is about knowing what to say or how to say it, then social calibration is what helps you make that decision. It is the ability to read, understand and interpret other people’s body language, facial expressions, speech and words. ### Extroversion and Sensory Intake Related to social calibration is how “extroverted” you are to the world around you, and how much information you are taking in through your senses. Think of it as how attuned you are to what is going on around you or how much you are _not_ inside your head.[^7] ### Active Listening Active listening is a super important basic social skill and yet so few people actually do it. Most people have just learnt to politely nod their heads and silently tune out. Active listening is the ability to listen, understand and maybe even empathise with or be interested in the topic of conversation. ### Spatial Perception Spatial perception is the term I came up with to describe people’s ability to navigate the three-dimensional space around them, including objects and other people. It helps with things like knowing how close to stand next to someone, or how far to project your voice. Most people today have _terrible_ spatial perception because they spend most of their days looking at things on two-dimensional screens. ## Contextual Social Skills Contextual social skills are the skills related to the basic social contexts that most of us will find ourselves in on a daily basis. ### Social Etiquette and Situational Awareness Social etiquette is a formal subset of social appropriateness. [Situational awareness](/productivity/awareness-self-awareness/) is the everyday version of that. The Japanese call it [場の空気を読む](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_no_kuuki_wo_yomu). Both cover little contextual things like which cutlery to use first, or who buys the first round. It is about knowing what the unspoken social rules are in a given situation, [how to act appropriately](/productivity/neediness/) and when it is appropriate to break them. ### Public Speaking I believe that everyone should understand the basics of delivering a speech to a small audience. ### Negotiation Negotiation is knowing how to trade, how to barter and how to get what you want out of a deal. It is also about knowing how far to push, understanding BATNA[^8] and when you need to leave a little something on the table so that future trade can occur. ### Mediation Mediation is what is called an intercessional skill, where you help be the middle ground and resolve a conflict between two parties. This is a key social skill for workplaces. ### Persuasion Persuasion is one of the most important basic social skills and is about getting people to see, understand and perhaps even agree with your perspective. It includes things like rhetoric and logic and covers both speech and the written word. ### Leading People Leading people is the ability to inspire everyone to act in alignment with a singular vision. Not everyone enjoys leading, but everyone should be able to do it when it is required of them. ### Managing People Managing people is almost the opposite of leading. It is the ability to recognise people’s strengths and weaknesses based on their differences, and to help them perform to the best of their abilities. Being able to both lead and manage people is a bit of a paradox, but extremely valuable socially. ## What To Do Next If you are reading this you already know that social skills can be learned, improved upon and eventually mastered. As you have just seen, there is a large spectrum of basic social skills. It’s worth asking - which basic social skills do you already have, and which do you need to develop? **Update:** [I have released a guide specifically for introverts to learn these skills at an extrovert-level](/productivity/learned-extroversion/). If you would like to hear more about any of the specific basic social skills, [reach out to me on Twitter](https://twitter.com/aaronlynnme/). Photo by [Jason Rosewell](https://unsplash.com/@jasonrosewell?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Experience is also known as practice. [^2]: For motivation I would also have added, “Oh and if you ever want to go out with that cute girl from down the street, you DEFINITELY need to figure all this out.” [^3]: “Just be yourself” is the worst advice when you have no skill, and the best advice when you have a high level of skill. [^4]: Advanced social skills include things like: understanding social hierarchies, managing relationships, [taking social risks](/business/risk-management/), social skill mindsets. [^5]: Humour is universally pleasant. [^6]: Mostly. There are some European cultures that do not heavily utilise sarcasm. [^7]: Most people nowadays are too engrossed in their phones to realise what’s going on around them. [^8]: Best alternative to negotiated agreement. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Understanding the Areas of Life Mental Model https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/areas-of-life/ **Areas of Life** is an important mental model that can help bring clarity to how you go about living your life. By knowing what your areas of life are, and how much time you put into each area, you will be able to work out if you are balanced (or obsessed) enough in each area. --- ## The Areas of Life Circle The areas of life can be represented as a circle: [![Areas of Life Circle](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/areas-of-life/areas-of-life-circle.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/areas-of-life/areas-of-life-circle.webp) The areas are: 1. Wealth. 2. Health. 3. Learning and Growth. 4. Social. 5. Dating or Relationship. 6. Play. When represented in visual form, you can see how much time, attention and other resources you put into each area, and are able to see roughly how your life breaks down. Let’s look at each area in detail. ## Your Areas of Life ### 1\. Wealth Wealth is your ability to make and keep money. It includes your finances, your money, your investments, your career and your business if you have one. ### 2\. Health Health is your physical health and the [capacity to do the things you want to do](/productivity/energy-management/). It includes diet, exercise, longevity and [sleep](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/). ### 3\. Learning and Growth Learning and growth covers the inner game of your life - [your mindset and psychology](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/). It includes any reading you do, any skills you work on developing and any education you choose to undertake. I also personally include spirituality under Learning and Growth.[^1] ### 4\. Social [Social](/productivity/) is the time and attention you give to acquaintances, friends and family. For some people, social will be a big part of their lives, especially those with children or large extended families. For others who are more career-focused, social time can be very minimal. ### 5\. Dating or Relationship If you are married or have a partner, then this area is the relationship between them and you. If you are single, then this is the time you spend dating. When people talk about allocating their time or attention, dating and relationships usually aren’t mentioned.[^2] Anyone who has been in a relationship or spent time dating though, will tell you that [both can take up a significant amount of time and attention](/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/). It is therefore included as an area of life. ### 6\. Play [Play covers any of your recreational or downtime activities](/productivity/play/). Anything where you are having fun, unwinding or relaxing and where there is [no real advancement](/productivity/excess-hedonism/) towards your goals. ## Practical Applications of Areas of Life Let’s get practical with our areas of life. Now that we know what they are, what exactly can we do with them? The first thing is to **work out how much time, attention, or other resources we allocate into each area**, and to create our own circle chart. [![Areas of Life Circle](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/areas-of-life/areas-of-life-circle.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/areas-of-life/areas-of-life-circle.webp) By doing this, we can work out if we are allocating enough resources to a given area, or too many resources to a given area. It is worth noting that not every area of your life needs to be [optimised or provided with full resources](/productivity/productivity-stack/) at a given point in time. For example, I mentioned earlier than someone currently focused on their career, might have minimal social and family time. The second thing is we now have a neat way to help us **sort the various things in our life**. When we have [spare time](/productivity/gap-time/), tasks, goals, or meet new people or need to decide where to place our attention, we can ask: _What area of life does this belong to?_ The last thing we can do with our areas of life, is to use the model to **manage our obsession or balance levels**. If you currently have a [particular goal you are shooting for](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/), you may decide that you need obsession in a given area and that it is OK to put minimal or no time into other areas. For example, you may be aiming for a certain weight or body fat percentage in your health at the moment, and know that minimising social time and play time is necessary in the short term.[^3] Once you have achieved your health goal however, you may decide to cut back the gym time and re-introduce dinner with friends and downtime into your schedule. ## What To Do Next Draw out a circle chart of your areas of life. Then ask yourself: - Is anything out of proportion? - Do I need to [obsess over](/productivity/pick-three/) or [balance](/productivity/ongoing-processes/) anything? - Is anything taking up waaaaay more of my life than I previously thought? And from there you can make a rational decision about each area, and if you are [spending enough time](/productivity/time-management-stack/) or resources in that area. For on how to live a better life, grab your 100% free copy of _Evolution_ below. [^1]: I follow no particular religion so reading the Bible or [Mahabharata](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata) is the same as reading Tony Robbins or Seneca to me. [^2]: Whether out of guilt/fear/shame, who knows? [^3]: Because eating out with friends makes diets harder to follow, and it’s hard to lift iron and binge on Netflix at the same time. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Create Habits to Support Your Goals https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/ You’ve heard about goals. And you’ve heard about habits. Ever wondered how the two are related? Goals are essentially the accumulation of small actions in the right direction over time. A really easy way to make sure that this happens, is to **create a daily habit** to help you progress actions towards your goals.[^1] --- ## Why Create Habits To Get Goals? Creating habits, especially daily habits, is one way to go about goal getting. It is not the only way. I believe however, that habits are one of the better ways to go about achieving goals. The simple act of doing a habit daily helps exercise and [train our self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/), which is a [virtue](/productivity/virtues/) and thus a good thing. Some people say that habits are unnecessary because once you have achieved a goal, there's no need to have a daily habit. I disagree. No goals consist only of once-off tasks. For example, you may set a health and fitness goal that requires a daily habit of regular exercise. Once you have achieved that goal, you will want to maintain the habit to keep your health and physique. ## A Systematic Way To Create Habits To Support Your Goals Here is how you can systematically create habits to support your goals. [![Goals-Habits System](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/goal-habits-system.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/goal-habits-system.webp) ### 1\. Be Clear On What Your Goal Is The first step is to **be clear on what your goal is**. Make sure that you have [set up your goals properly](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/), using OKR, S.M.A.R.T., well-formedness conditions or [some combination thereof](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/). Be clear on what the goal is, and what the process will be to get there. ### 2\. Discover The Daily Habit The second step is to **discover what the daily habit is**. I purposely use the word _discover_, because the habit you need to undertake already exists somewhere in the world. Start by asking yourself: **“What small action can I take daily that helps with the process of achieving this goal?”**[^2] If you can’t answer this yourself, it is time to [use technology to your benefit](/life/technology/) and hop on Google and look for someone who has achieved this goal before. For 99% of goals, someone else has walked the path already. Just find out what they did, and modify it for your own goal. Once you have uncovered the habit, write it down and get specific. Make sure you know: 1. What mental or emotional state you need to be in to do this habit. 2. The exact physical action you need to perform. 3. If the habit has a time limit. 4. If the habit happens at a specific time of day. One caveat with this step is to be wary of false progress - of doing things that seem productive, but really aren’t helping you progress towards your goal. A common example would be people who spend all their time “learning”, “preparing” or “deciding”, without actually **doing**. The way to avoid this would be to make sure that there is a [strong action-bias](/productivity/10x/) to your chosen habit. ### 3\. Set Up a System To Make Sure The Habit Happens Daily The third step is to **set up a system** to ensure that the habit occurs daily. You can engage your rational mind by having the habit clearly written out and defined, as per step two. You can engage your emotional mind by visualising yourself doing the habit - and also what it will be like after you have achieved your goal. You can set up your environment to help encourage you to practice the habit daily. The simplest way to do this is to use a daily reminder, be it: - A post-it. - A [calendar appointment](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/). - A [task list item](/productivity/personal-task-management/). - A [journal item](/productivity/journals/). - A physical reminder - like sticking your water bottle and gym shoes next to the front door, so you always see them before you leave the house. If you have your [Time Management Stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) set up, you already know which systems you pay the most attention to - insert the new habit into those. ### An Aside: Some Cool Benefits If you have gone through the three steps above, you will have also discovered a couple of cool benefits: 1. You now know how to think about goals and projects systematically. 2. You now know how to break down big goals into smaller actionable steps. ## Example Goals and Supporting Habits The process for deriving daily habits from goals above is generative. You can take it and apply it to any goal you choose. I don’t usually like to give content examples for generative processes, but in this case they are illustrative enough to be helpful. ### Example: Learning Mandarin[^3] ``` Goal: Conversational fluency in Mandarin. Habit: Set aside 30 minutes daily and practice one of the four skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing). System: * Visualise self speaking in Mandarin. * Set a calendar appointment for 5:30pm daily to practice Mandarin for 30 minutes. ``` ### Example: Getting Over Fear Of Public Speaking ``` Goal: Be able to get up and make a speech without being paralysed with fear. Habit: Join Toastmasters and show up weekly (they have their own program progression). System: * Visualise self going to Toastmasters and speaking to group, confidently. * Calendar appointment for going every Tuesday at 6:30pm. ``` ### Example: Build A Social Media Following ``` Goal: Build a following of 100,000 followers. Habits: * Create content daily. * Post content daily. * Reply to all comments daily. System: * Task list reminder for each of the habits above. * Question at end of every week if I need to adjust any of my tactics (hashtags, content type etc). ``` ### Example: Bulk Up ``` Goal: Gain 15kg in the next 18 months. Habits: * Eat 4,000 calories daily. * Exercise 5 times weekly. System: * Write out exact meal plans for every day. * Calendar appointments for exercise times. * Calendar appointments for meal times. ``` ## What To Do Next You now have a simple three-step system for creating habits to support your goals. Start with one goal. Discover the habit. Set up a simple system to [make sure it happens daily](/productivity/how-to-implement-habits/). If it works well for you, pick the next goal and do it again. For more on [goal getting, see my guide here](/productivity/goal-getting/). [^1]: It might have to be more than one daily habit. Just saying. [^2]: Remember, it could be more than one small action per day. [^3]: If you are serious about learning Mandarin, I would recommend checking out Olle Linge’s site [Hacking Chinese](https://www.hackingchinese.com/). > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Deep Work and Single Task https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/ The ability to Deep Work and Single Task is one of the most important skills for modern knowledge work. **Deep Work** is a term popularised by [Cal Newport](/go/book-deep-work/) and refers to getting the things done that really matter. **Single Tasking** is the opposite of multitasking, or working on one thing and only one thing at a time. It may seem odd that we have to think about working on the important things or doing only one thing at a time. The problem is that [attention-grabbing distractions](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/) are everywhere, and many of us have forgotten the art of deep work and single tasking. Thankfully, the ability to do both is inbuilt into human nature. We just have remind ourselves how. --- ## A Simple System for Deep Work and Single Tasking There is a very simple way to tap into your inbuilt ability to perform deep work: [![Deep Work and Single Tasking System](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/deep-work-single-task-system.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/deep-work-single-task-system.webp) 1. Set up your workspace. 2. Set up your [inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/) (mindset). 3. [Execute!](/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/) ### 1\. Setting Up Your Workspace Here are some specific things you can do to prepare your workspace for a deep work session: 1. **Remove any [unnecessary distractions like your phone](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/),** and close all unneeded browser tabs and windows. 2. **Prepare your favourite things for work.** This could be tea or coffee, music, headphones, lighting and so on. Whatever makes it easier for you to work, set that up and have it ready to go. 3. **Have all your [work tools and apps](/productivity/time-management-tools/) ready.** 4. **Complete any preparation work beforehand.** This could be an outline if you are writing something, or reference texts if you are doing a strategic thinking session. 5. **Prepare a timer.** You will need this later. Also decide on the length of your sessions. Popular lengths would be twenty-five minutes, fifty minutes or ninety minutes. 6. **[Block out time in your schedule](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/)** for your deep work session. If this seems like a lot of preparation work - it isn’t. Once you have gone through this set up a couple of times, it will become second nature.[^1] ### 2\. Setting Up Your Inner Game / Mindset The next thing to do is to mentally prepare yourself to single task and deep work. You can do this by: 1. **Making clear in your mind exactly what it is you have to do.** Be clear that it is worth your time and will [produce something of value](/productivity/production-vs-consumption/). 2. **Mentally block out all external stimuli.** Take a breath and bring your attention to your chosen single task. 3. **Remind yourself that if the world ends during this time… so be it.** You will meet your end in deep work, focused on your single task. Mentally preparing yourself is important to performing deep work and single tasking. You also get to [practice a number of virtues](/productivity/virtues/), including [self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/), focus, clarity and discernment. ### 3\. Executing Deep Work and Single Tasking Start your timer… and work. ## Reviewing Deep Work and Single Tasking Once your session is done, it may be tempting to immediately review “how it went”. I would advise against this. Wait until at least the end of the day, _and then_ ask yourself how it went, and what workspace or mindset adjustments you can make so that your next session is even better. An example would be your timer length, or discarding the timer completely, and just working until your single task is done. ## The Deep Work and Single Tasking Endgame The endgame for deep work and single tasking is to spend more and more of your time doing work of value, and focusing on one thing at a time. So how can you do this? There are a number of things that can help: - **Meditation** increases your ability to deep work and single task.[^2] - A **more flexible work schedule** typically allows for more deep work sessions per day. - “Shallow work” or **busy work can be automated or delegated** to others. - Getting in **sufficient downtime/disconnection time** reduces stress levels and makes it easier to sit down and perform deep work.[^3] - The more **virtues** that you practice, the easier deep work becomes. ## What To Do Next Doing deep work is not complicated. It is, and should be, simple. Give it a go, and be pleasantly surprised at how much you’re able to get done. For more [simple productivity](/productivity/productivity-stack/) and [time management systems](/productivity/time-management-stack/), sign up for updates and grab your 100% free copy of _Evolution_ below. Photo by Simon Migaj. [^1]: You can also [write an SOP](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) for this if you like. [^2]: Jha, A.P., Krompinger, J. & Baime, M.J. (2007). Mindfulness training modifies subsystems of attention. _Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 7_, 109–119. https://doi.org/10.3758/cabn.7.2.109 [^3]: Though if you are in the middle of an [obsessive work sprint](/productivity/law-of-diminishing-returns/) of two-to-three weeks, there is no need for this. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Productivity Stack and Personal Effectiveness https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/productivity-stack/ Let’s talk about the **Productivity Stack**. People are interested in productivity because they want to know how to do more with less. The easiest way to improve your productivity, is to know which areas to focus on, and which you don’t need to worry about. --- ## Defining Productivity and Personal Effectiveness Everyone wants to be more “productive”. Or more “personally effective.” But few people actually stop to think - what exactly is productivity? Let’s start with the textbook definition: > The ability to produce a certain amount of results, with fewer resources than others. Or in economics-speak: > Productivity is the ratio between output and input volumes. i.e., you put in the same amount of raw materials, but end up with more widgets. Most productivity writing on the interwebs focuses on time management. This makes sense, as time is something we obviously have finite amounts of. Focusing solely on time however, misses out on the bigger picture. If productivity is about using fewer resources to deliver more results… what about the other resources? And what about the processes (leverage) we use to get more out of each resource? ### Expanding the Definition of Productivity Let’s expand the general definition of productivity a bit. Time is one **resource**. But we also have: - Attention. - Energy. - Willpower. - Money. - And more. And beyond just our resources, are how we actually use them - this is what I call **leverage**. Most people forget about leverage, or bundle it in with other resources. Things like money to spend, time assets to automate things or social connections. There is also the **removal of obstacles**, which will let us use our resources more efficiently. Generally speaking, fewer obstacles means fewer resources expended. If we put this all together: ``` productivity = resources * leverage - obstacles ``` ## The Productivity Stack Let’s jump right into the **Productivity Stack**. It looks like this: [![The Productivity Stack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/the-productivity-stack.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/the-productivity-stack.webp) This stack represents the main things you need to look out for in terms of your productivity. Optimising each part of the stack could be its own article, but at the very least we can look at: 1. What is the resource, leverage or obstacle we need to be aware of? 2. What things can we generally do to improve the resource or leverage, or to clear the obstacle? Consider this a high-level overview of your productivity. ### Productivity Stack: Internal Resources Let’s start with the four internal resources that you have - your “inherent abilities” so to speak. They are the resources of: 1. Time. 2. Energy. 3. Attention. 4. Willpower. #### Resource: Time The **[Time Management Stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/)** is the classic way to improve your productivity. [![The Time Management Stack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp) It is a combination of [systems](/productivity/systems-thinking/), techniques and [tools](/productivity/right-tool-right-purpose/) that help you optimise the use of your time. It also guest-stars bits and pieces of other resources like energy and attention. #### Resource: Energy Energy can be thought of the resource that is determined by your physical body. Your **physical body** the machinery you use to do everything else. If that machine does not work, then you cannot work. Additionally, your mental and emotional processing is heavily dependent on your physical ability as well. There are a couple of areas that are important for [maximising your energy usage](/productivity/energy-management/). The first is optimising your **sleep**. You want to [get enough sleep](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/) so that it doesn’t affect your emotions or cognition. But you also don’t want to oversleep as that wastes time. The second is **exercise**. Human bodies did not evolve to sit in front of computers or crane over mobile phones. We are built for physical work and if we do not get it through what we do for work, we have to find other ways to get it. This includes: - Building strength through resistance training and lifting weights. - Conditioning ourselves through cardiovascular exercise. - Improving our flexibility through stretching, range of motion exercises and [fascia training](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascia_training). The third is **diet** or what food you eat. Food is fuel for your body, and the better the fuel, the better your energy levels will be. The fourth are **rituals**. [Rituals are chains of habits that help you get important things done,](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/) and that put you in emotional or mental states where you have more even and productive energy. The fifth is **longevity** or the ability to live longer while still being physically capable.[^1] Barring some afterlife of which we are unaware, if you live longer, you will have more time to do things and thus have more energy as well. I would consider longevity to cover anything that: - Minimises the probability of an early death. - Avoids the major causes of death. - Slows down the ageing process. The very distant sixth part of optimising your energy usage is **coordination**, or your ability to do things fluidly. #### Resource: Attention Attention is an interesting resource. It is hard to increase our attention capacity directly, but there are many things that we can do to better utilise what attention we do have. The first is our **[mindset or](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/) [inner game](/productivity/)**. How much attention something requires is determined by our split-second subconscious processing and decision making. If we have the right beliefs, [right values](/productivity/core-values/), right capabilities and right behaviours in place… then that processing and decision making happens very fast. If not, then we [burn through more attention](/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/) (and other resources) to process and decide. An easy way to think about this is arrows: [![Arrows in the Same Direction](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/arrow-directions.webp) You want to work towards having all the arrows in your life point _in the same direction_. The second way to better utilise attention is through our **knowledge, skills and intelligence**. If our mindset determines our subconscious processing, then our intelligence determines our conscious processing. This can be thought of as formal or contextual education, as well as our ability to [learn new things](/productivity/learning-systems/). The third thing that better helps us utilise our attention is **[emotional mastery](/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/)**. The more in-control of our emotions we are, the easier it is to put our attention on where it should be. There are many models for emotional mastery, but I like the philosophical approach. My personal go-tos would be Stoicism and Buddhism. [Maximise your virtues](/productivity/virtues/) and minimise your vices, and your emotions will have a much easier time. #### Resource: Willpower The last inbuilt resource we have is [willpower](/productivity/willpower-and-volition/). This is the **ability to act with volition, or [on-demand](/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/)**. Your willpower can be increased by training yourself in the [virtue of self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/). There are also external systems you can use to help reduce the willpower needed to do everyday things. These include: - Personal systems like [journals](/productivity/journals/) and [task lists](/productivity/personal-task-management/). - [Habits](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/), [rituals and routines](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/).[^2] ### Productivity Stack: Leverage The second part of the Productivity Stack is using **leverage** to [maximise the output](/productivity/force-multipliers/) of your inputted resources. Some forms of leverage also double as resources. #### Leverage: Systems and Technology **Systems and Technology** is a broad label that covers anything that helps us do more with less. The first area that you can optimise here is your **digital cybernetics**. This includes your apps and software and knowing what to use and _what not to use_. [You want to control them, rather than letting them control you.](/life/technology/) It also includes your AI tools and assistants. You probably use these every day without even knowing it.[^3] The second area includes your **time assets**.[^4] These can be simple appliances that let us do more with fewer personal resources, like our microwaves or refrigerators.[^5] They can also be more sophisticated time assets like software.[^6] #### Leverage/Resource: Network Your **network** is an interesting form of leverage because it is also a depletable resource. Your network is basically the people that you know, and the amount of social capital[^7] you have with them. It is both a form of leverage and a resource because it can help you better utilise other resources, but also needs to be renewed and managed. Some of the skills involved in managing your network include: - **Leadership capability.** The ability to keep people aligned to a single vision. - **Management capability.** The ability to recognise differences in people and find the best woman/man for the job. - **[Effective delegation.](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/)** The ability to walk the fine line between autonomy and control. - **[Social skills.](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/)** The ability to interact with people and navigate social situations. #### Leverage/Resource: Wealth Much like your network, your **wealth** is both a form of leverage and a resource. You can use it as leverage through things like outsourcing or geo-arbitrage. And you can manage it as a resource by better understanding skillsets like economics, negotiation and business. ### Productivity Stack: Removing Obstacles The last part of the Productivity Stack is about removing rather than adding. There are two main forms of **obstacles** that make you less productive: 1. Inner game (mindset) obstacles. 2. Social and cultural obstacles. **[Inner](/productivity/) [game obstacles](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/)** are the mental blocks you have in place that stop you from doing things. Most of these stem from early childhood and are completely arbitrary - something random a parent (or even random person) said or did during one of your formative years is usually the origin. Untangling them is about working on your mindset and doing the best that you can with what you currently believe. **Social and cultural obstacles** can be real or imagined. Real obstacles are based in [objective or intersubjective reality](/productivity/types-of-reality/). For example, laws or bureaucratic red tape. Other people enforce these, and removing them requires deftly navigating them, or changing the conditions under which they occur (e.g., moving jurisdiction or changing the rules). Imagined obstacles are unspoken social or cultural rules that people tend to follow, but where there are no real consequences for breaking or removing them. ## What To Do Next You now know about all the different areas that you can work on to improve your own productivity. If you would like to learn more about the Productivity Stack, **grab your 100% free copy of _Evolution_ below**. [^1]: i.e., not [morbid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease#Morbidity). [^2]: These help both your energy and your willpower. [^3]: Simple things like photo retouching or inbox prioritisation are essentially governed by AI nowadays. [^4]: Again, credit to Patrick McKenzie (Kalzumeus) at: [https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/03/20/running-a-software-business-on-5-hours-a-week/](https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/03/20/running-a-software-business-on-5-hours-a-week/) [^5]: As opposed to lighting a fire or bucketing lots of ice daily. [^6]: We take it for granted, but software is one of the greatest forms of leverage ever created. [^7]: The sum of your relationship value. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Filter On Inputs https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/filter-on-inputs/ > I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones. > > Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, aka Sherlock Holmes Whatever you choose to call it – your brain attic, your mind palace, your cerebral black box... our brains are amazing processing machines that get us through everyday life. They also happens to work like most other machines – [what you put in tends to determine what comes out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_in,_garbage_out). There is a lot of information out there. [Like, a lot](https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/05/21/how-much-data-do-we-create-every-day-the-mind-blowing-stats-everyone-should-read/). And even if we cut this down just to our work, our hobbies, our interests and our general sphere of stimuli (for example, social media), there still an overwhelming amount. In the case of information, more does not mean better. In fact, I would propose that most content and information today is not produced to provide value – it is produced to further a commercial interest. Take for example, posts forwarded on WhatsApp or WeChat – most of these are created to promote some business’ product or to [“engage their following”](/life/social-media/) – not to provide deep lessons into life. And because of this, one of the most useful skills in today’s world is the ability to filter. More specifically, to **filter on inputs**. --- ## Why This Is Important - Quality Of Thought The reason filtering is important is because our quality of thought (and any related output) is important to our successful functioning in an already complex world. And that quality of thought is dependent on what we put in our brains. It is for this reason that it just makes sense to filter on inputs. To borrow an analogy from health – what food you put in your body largely determines your body composition. This quality of thought is why the most common trait amongst successful people is that they all read. It is why Bill Gates does a [Think Week twice a year](https://thriveglobal.com/stories/bill-gates-think-week/) – he is trying to improve his quality of thought by introducing high quality inputs. ## What Most People Do - Filter On Outputs Most people filter on outputs, not inputs. They [cram their brains with junk information](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/)[^1] and then decide which pieces of that junk they decide to regurgitate on social media. This is obviously a problem. They end up with a mind full of low-quality, if not outright bad or incorrect information, and because [there is too much information](/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/), they become scattered and [unable to focus](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). They end up creating semantic links between things that do not exist. For example, you’ve probably seen this passed around on social media: ![Bill Gates Woodcutter Story](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/filter-on-inputs/bill-gates-restaurant-woodcutter.webp) Not that frugality or learning from the past is a bad thing, but [Bill Gates’ father was a successful attorney and philanthropist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates_Sr.). And frankly, when you broadcast information like this and tell people to “learn from their past”, it just looks… stupid. _Aside: This broadcast behaviour is part of a bigger issue in today’s world, where people have changed their modality of communication [from connecting and relating with other human beings, to broadcasting and commenting/liking on their phones](/life/social-atomisation/)._ ## How to Filter On Inputs So how do we actually filter on inputs? It’s actually simple. Go [minimalist](/productivity/austerity-and-minimalism/) on information, and selectively consume media and information. Limit yourself – there’s no need to binge on information. Just cut down on what you take in... and nothing bad will happen, I promise. Don’t worry about being “out of the loop” on “uninformed” – if something Earth-shattering really does happen… someone will let you know. And in the meantime, you can enjoy the clarity and quality of thought that comes with high quality information input. [^1]: The true meaning of #nofilter I suppose. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### The Instagram Effect https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/the-instagram-effect/ Let’s talk about the Instagram Effect. [Instagram](https://instagram.com/) as you know, is the most popular social network out there. As a friend of mine (who works for a large social network, not Instagram) puts it - “no other platform matters right now except Instagram”.[^1] So what exactly is the Instagram Effect? It’s the phenomenon where you think your life sucks because it doesn’t match up to the expectations in your mind. For example, you go on holiday to the beach… but it's not all picturesque sunsets and umbrella drinks in five-star luxury like that travel blogger you follow. Or you post a gym selfie… but your abs and lines just don’t pop the same way that they do on your favourite Instagram fitness model. And therein lies the problem with Instagram. --- ## The Problem with Instagram Now to be fair, it’s not just Instagram. Back in the early 2010s, those of us old enough to remember called this the “Facebook Effect”.[^2] You see, the human brain is an amazing adaptation machine. Whatever you feed it, it will input, analyse, process and summarise very efficiently. But what happens when you start [feeding it things](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/) that are _almost as good as real_, but not actually “real”? [As technology has progressed](/life/technology/), our brains have had trouble distinguishing between what is “real” and what is not. In the case of Instagram (and other social networks), what we see all day in our feeds are picture-perfect, curated scenes from other people's lives. We see friends (and complete strangers) with perfect meals, perfect selfies, perfect travel photos, perfect #relationshipgoals and perfect cats. The problem with this is our brain becomes conditioned to seeing “perfect” and it starts to believe that [“perfect” = reality](/productivity/types-of-reality/). But the truth is, it’s not real. What you are seeing is maybe 1% of what someone’s life is actually like - they are selecting from hundreds, if not thousands, of photos and videos to find the _perfect_ one to show off online. So from this, we can see that: 1. What you see on Instagram is not real. 2. It really should not affect you one way or the other. But it does affect people, and the question is - **why**? To answer this, we have to use a couple of mental models. The first, is the idea of _first-hand versus second-hand experience_. The second, is the idea of _internal and external loci of control_.[^3] ## Model One: First-Hand Experience Versus Second-Hand Experience **First-hand experience** is where we experience life through our own lying eyes and ears. I consider first-hand experience [a virtue](/productivity/virtues/). **Second-hand experience** is where we live vicariously through a recorded medium or the experience of another person, and where we tend to trust other people’s judgement more than our own. For example, travelling to Paris is first-hand experience. Seeing photos and videos of Paris on Instagram is second-hand experience.[^4] The idea of first-hand versus second-hand is at the core of the Instagram Effect. When we live by first-hand experience, we make our own judgements about acceptable standards and are happier for it. When we live by second-hand experience, we use the standards of others to judge our own lives, and we never seem to measure up. And it’s not just Instagram - it’s every kind of second-hand source or media that we consume, from television, to movies, to our favourite bloggers and yes, even business and self-development books. It’s worth noting that most people live their lives second-hand through [social media](/life/social-media/) and Google. And if we just stop to think about it for a minute, what we are really doing, is this: **Watching other people live life and do interesting things on a screen, rather than going out and doing those interesting things ourselves.** Let the implications of that sink in for a moment. I would argue that a life lived first-hand is better for you and leads to more happiness in the long-term, even if that life is not as “glamorous” as that vicariously consumed through second-hand sources. The reason for this of course, is that you know what you are living is from your own actual experience, and that you are learning to trust in your own judgement (and know when others are bullshitting you). It also helps you to set realistic expectations for what life should be like, and because of this, you are likely to be happier in the long-term. And most importantly, I believe it to be the key to unlocking intrinsic motivation and an [internal locus of control](/productivity/locus-of-control/). ## Model Two: Internal Versus External Loci of Control An **internal locus of control** (also known as _intrinsic motivation_ or an _internal frame of reference_) is where you do things because you genuinely, deep down, somewhere inside yourself, want to. You take your cues to act (or not) from yourself, and from your own first-hand experience. You believe that you can control and change your circumstances, despite what is going on around you. An **external locus of control** (also known as _extrinsic motivation_ or an _external frame of reference_) is where you do things for a reward. Where you take cues from the outside world for what you do, for what is good, for what is bad, and for how you should judge yourself. Life “just happens” to you, without you having much say in the matter. A simple example of this dichotomy would be going to the gym. - Those who are _externally driven_, go because they want to show off, or because they want to become more attractive to members of their preferred sex, and are more likely to need to hire a trainer to “motivate”[^5] them to show up. - Those who are _internally driven_ do it because it is just part of who they are. They have strong habits and they know what is good for them and [they just do it](/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/), with no external motivators required. This intrinsic drive is part of a deeply buried mindset that powers all their behaviours and actions. People who are extrinsically motivated often look at those internally driven and ask “what drives you to do it, bro?” What these people do not understand is that there is no simple answer, and that is because the answer lies completely outside the frame of reference of someone externally driven. There is no singular thing that drives internally-referenced people - which is in essence saying there is really _nothing_. It is just part of who they are - [part of their purpose](/productivity/purpose/), sense of identity, sense of being. [![Internal-External Scale](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/the-instagram-effect/internal-external-scale.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/the-instagram-effect/internal-external-scale.webp) People are internal-external on a scale - it isn't a binary choice. But people **do** lean one way or the other, and while there are no hard statistics on orientation, I would guess that 90% of the world is extrinsically motivated. The obvious question that arises is _why_ being intrinsically motivated or internally referenced is better. I truly believe that being internally referenced is a _good thing_ and an amazing advantage to have in life. There are studies showing that having external motivators actually harms progress and outcome achievement if you have some level of intrinsic motivation already.[^6] At a more everyday practical level, being intrinsically driven protects you from manipulation, as you judge yourself by your own standards. You’ll find that you drive yourself harder over time because you don’t need external pressure to generate motivational “kicks”. In fact, one of the most common traits amongst internally referenced people is that they sometimes drive themselves a little _too hard_, and need to learn to temper their internal drive with reasonableness.[^7] Being internally motivated also leads to autonomy and choice - the basic stuff of which happiness is made of. So how does one tell if they are internally or externally motivated? Well... - Do you follow trends/fads/celebrities? _External._ - Do you need external pressures like deadlines, an overbearing supervisor or parent constantly telling you what to do? _External._ - Do you start, do and complete projects on your own? _Internal._ - Do you set your own deadlines and work hard to meet them? _Internal._ - Do you beat yourself up for not being “good enough” according to your own standards? _Internal._ - According to the standards of what you see on Instagram? _External._ ## Well Darn-it, How Do I Become Internally Referenced? You may be asking - well Aaron, all this is great but I'm not internally referenced. How do I make the switch? Unfortunately there’s no magic bullet for this - there’s just lots of things you need to do over time. For example: - Consume less media. - Get off social media.[^8] - Value experience over entertainment. - Build self-reliance and [resilience](/productivity/resilience-mental-toughness/) as [virtues](/productivity/virtues/). You can do this by picking a project outside your current comfort zone and seeing it through, be it your body goals, wealth goals, or an arts/crafts/trades/work project. - Grab my manifesto, _[Evolution](/manifesto/)_, for free. And read it! None of this is a once-off. You don’t magically complete one thing and say “yay now I'm intrinsically motivated”. Just as living externally focused is something you do every single day, living internally focused is exactly the same, and it is most definitely [the path less travelled and the harder one to walk in life](/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/). Here’s to living first-hand. [^1]: And Tik-Tok. [^2]: I’m picking on Instagram here but the same thing applies for every social network out there. [^3]: Yes, _loci_ really is the plural of locus. [^4]: For people who read history: the idea of first-hand and second-hand experience lines up nicely with the idea of primary sources and secondary sources. [^5]: i.e., force. [^6]: Wrzesniewski, A., Schwartz, B., Cong, X., Kane, M., Omar, A., & Kolditz, T. (2014). Multiple motives don’t multiply motivation. _Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111_(30), 10990–10995. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1405298111 [^7]: Which is a [virtue](/productivity/virtues/). [^8]: Yes, I realise the irony in that you likely arrived here from social media. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Virtues https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/virtues/ Every year I write an [annual review](/productivity/annual-review/) for myself. I spend about a week reflecting on the year that has gone by, and seeing what I learnt and did, and what will be useful (or not) for the following year. One idea that has repeatedly stood out in the past few years has been **virtues**. I made a decision many years ago to try to live as many virtues as possible on a daily basis, and I have never regretted it. The idea came from reading Marcus Aurelius’ _[Meditations](/go/book-meditations/)_, which still ranks as the best book I have ever read. For those unfamiliar with it, it is the personal journal of a Roman emperor detailing his life and reflections, as he goes to war for years at a time, struggles with political turmoil, witnesses the deaths of his children and goes on to rule an empire. The one thing out of all this tragedy and hardship that he (and the related philosophy of Stoicism) encapsulates is the idea of striving to live a virtuous life. --- ## What Is A Virtue And How Can You Be Virtuous? This begs the question: What exactly is a virtue? And what does it mean to be virtuous? In simple terms, I believe that living a virtuous life means being **good**. Now before you scream “moralistic judgement”, let me unpack that a bit. A virtue is a behaviour, quality or demonstration of “high moral standards”. My interpretation of this is **doing the right thing**, or alternatively, **doing the good thing**. And by good/right, I mean _doing good by yourself and by whatever is important to you_. For some people this would extend to doing good by your family, and perhaps by your community, or the whole of humanity. But for others it may not mean that. ## Why Superheroes Are Virtuous [![Superheroes and Virtue](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/virtues/superheroes-virtues.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/virtues/superheroes-virtues.webp) Superhero movies are currently big in popular culture. And what makes superheroes amazing aren't their superpowers - it is their displays of virtue. Their ability to make decisions that remind us, that even with great strength, ability or otherwise… they are still human, with the capacity to do both good and evil, and to be a superhero, one chooses to do **good**. ## That Sounds Like Moralistic B.S. Again, I’ll state that this isn't a preach of morality or a cry out against [hedonism](/productivity/excess-hedonism/) or leisure.[^1] There is no moralistic judgement in living virtuously because it does not have to be for the greater good. It can simply be for the good of you. ## How To Live Virtuously Living virtuously is a reminder that we often know the things to do that are good for us - we just don't do them in our daily lives. And the first step to doing the things that are good for us... is to **know what virtues we value and want to follow**, and then to **make the effort to live them daily**. ## Why Aren’t More People Virtuous? Another question that naturally leads on from that is: well Aaron, if this is all good for me... then why aren’t more people virtuous? Simple: it’s **hard** to be virtuous. We all know what the standards of good are for ourselves. But we often cannot hold ourselves to those standards, and we get embarrassed that we can’t. So we ignore the standards, and pretend they don't exist to avoid that embarrassment. Some examples: - Knowing that you should spend another 10 minutes to finish a piece of work so that it's DONE, but you want to go home. - Knowing that you shouldn't hit the snooze button on the alarm for another 20 minutes. - Knowing that [despite being tired](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/), you should grab your workout clothes and head to the gym. Living a virtuous life is not easy - it's something you have to put effort into, [every single day](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/). Some people who meet me assume that I wake up at 4am every day bright and cheerful and ready to take on the world. The reality is a little less glamorous. Most of the time my alarm buzzes and I wake up and ask myself “Why GOD WHY do I do this to myself?”… then I remind myself that my _raison d'être_ is to do good and kick arse, and get on with my day. ## OK, I’m Sold. Give Me Some! There are a [lot of virtues](/productivity/virtue-system/). In _[Meditations](/go/book-meditations/)_ alone, there are some twenty-plus virtues mentioned. I’ll be writing about some of them soon. Some that I have been reminded of recently are: - Goodness - by yourself, and by whatever is important to you. - Patience - in interacting with the people around you. - Self-reliance - the ability to [succeed at difficult tasks](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/), eventually. None of these things are particularly popular in the modern day, which is why I believe they are so important if we want to do something of substance with our lives. Do good. Be virtuous. Photo by [Esteban Lopez](https://unsplash.com/@exxteban?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Those things are important too 😈. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Handle the Small Stuff https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/ Email. Phone calls. DMs. Letters. Notifications. It seems that every year we have more and more small stuff to handle, and it's understandable if it starts to get a little overwhelming. The question is - can you handle all the small stuff that modern life throws at you? And given just how much there is nowadays, can you do it without getting overwhelmed? Fortunately, you can. Despite the fact that there seems to be a never-ending pile of things to do, it is very possible to handle everything both systematically, using [technology and tools](/productivity/time-management-tools/) to your advantage, and strategically, in a way that’s good for your long-term state of mind and psychology. Let’s find out how. --- ## Finding Out What Small Stuff You Need To Handle The first step is to figure out what you need to handle. I’m not talking about your [priorities or big goals here](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/) - I’m talking about the little things that pile up if left unchecked. The quick email replies, the checklist items, the 2-minute tasks. The little things that have to be done, but that you really should not have to sweat about. Here’s a quick list of some of them: - Random ideas you’ve written down. - Post-it notes. - [Emails.](/productivity/effective-email-management/) - Messages/DMs. - [Papers/documents that need scanning or filing.](/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/) - Audio notes. - Phone calls to return. - [Appointments to schedule](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/). - [App notifications to clear](/productivity/notifications/). - People to get back to or follow up on. - Everyday things you just have to do, like pick up milk on the way home. Basically, anything that requires more than a moment of your attention but isn’t directly conducive to your goals. ## Why We Need To Handle The Small Stuff The second step is realising that you actually do need to pay _some_ attention to the little things. I sometimes get asked: “Aaron, is in absolutely necessary to handle the little things in life? I mean, can’t I just let some of it, you know, slip by?” Well, yes you can. Sort of. I don’t believe that you need to have _absolutely everything_ handled 100% to succeed in life. The reason for this is that the human drive/potential is so high, that _simply knowing what you want and taking massive action and course correcting is often enough_ to get you where you want to go, little things be damned. That being said, having the small stuff handled and organised _does_ confer certain advantages. The obvious advantage is psychological. Having all the little things handled makes it easier to tackle the big things - you’ll have less friction starting on your priorities and big projects if there aren’t dozens of unfinished little things cluttering up your thoughts. You’ll be less stressed over things piling up, and as a result you will have **higher lows and lower highs** - [more emotional stability](/productivity/rock-solid-emotional-stability-reserve/) and evenness from which to operate. In turn, this makes it easier to figure out exactly what the next thing you need to handle is, and how to get started on it. Which leads us to the practical advantages. Having all your small stuff systematically handled means you won’t be constantly putting out fires - they’ll have been extinguished at the tinder stage. This means fewer things will slip through the cracks. It also means you’ll be systemised and organised. In the long-term, you will gain both psychological and practical advantages. Whatever your goals are, if there aren’t thousands of tiny things pulling you in different directions, you’ll get there faster. You’ll have more confidence and a better mindset. And once you get to your destination, you’ll be able to look back and see the dots and journey that you took - and be able to show others how to do the same. ## How To Handle the Small Stuff Now that we know what we need to handle and why we need to handle it, let’s look at how to handle the small stuff. This can be thought about in terms of timeframes: 1. Emergency. 2. Short-Medium Term. 3. Long-Term. ### 1\. Emergency: Use Prioritisation Systems I wish I could skip over this section on “emergency handling” of all the small stuff you have to do, because handling things via a short-medium term or long-term system is much more generative.[^1] But just in case you’re overwhelmed _right now_, here’s how you go about untangling things so that you can get to [a more systemised way of doing things](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/). What you want to do is to put all your items into a master list. One singular list, so you know what the count is. Then you want to [pick a prioritisation tool or framework and apply it](/productivity/task-prioritisation/). There are many you can read about online, and some popular ones include: - [Eisenhower Quadrants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_management#The_Eisenhower_Method). - ABC method. - Timeboxing. - Etc… To be honest, it doesn’t matter which one you pick because the action you need to take is the same. **Take the method. Prioritise your list. And then clear it.** All of the methods will have some form of cutting out things that you think you need to do but actually don’t, and then prioritising the remaining things and letting you work through them. You may not be able to clear everything in one sitting, but over a few days it will get done. And once this initial emergency need has passed, you can get to the fun stuff - systematically handling things on a regular basis, and making sure that this never happens again. ### 2\. Short-Medium Term: Input, Process, Output In the short-to-medium term you want to have a system that gets things in, processes them, and then outputs the necessary parts. Like this: [![Handling the Small Stuff - Input, Process, Output](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/input-process-output.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/input-process-output.webp) You basically want to have a [Standard Operating Procedure](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) for handling the small stuff. Let’s break this down. #### Input - Getting Things In You need a way to get things into your small stuff processing system. There are a plethora of ways to do this: - Email. - Post-it notes. - Carry a notebook around with you. - An app on your phone, which is my preferred method.[^2] [Productive people](/productivity/productivity-stack/) call this concept [**quick capture** or **inbox capture**](/productivity/inbox-quick-capture/) and take it for granted, but if you’ve never done it before, it will _revolutionise_ your life. Every time you have an idea or someone ask you to do something - quick capture it into your system. #### Processing - Getting Things Done Now that you have a way to get the small stuff into your inbox system, the question becomes how and when do you handle it? Because if you don’t, what will happen is you will end up with hundreds of items in your new inbox, and end up back at an “emergency” situation, which is what we really don’t want. Thankfully, the processing part has been thoroughly researched and battle-tested by millions of people worldwide - it’s a little system called _Getting Things Done (GTD)_. _[Getting Things Done](/go/book-getting-things-done/)_ is a book by management consultant David Allen and is considered the “go to” for workflow management in business and productivity circles. The system itself is pretty simple and the book itself is worth a read. Here’s how I recommend people use it: [![Aaron Lynn's version of Getting Things Done for handling the small stuff](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/aaron-lynn-gtd.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/aaron-lynn-gtd.webp) What you want to do is about once or twice a week, pull up this diagram and your inbox, and follow the system. You’ll want to have an existing system in place for your tasks and references, which could be: - [OmniFocus](https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus/)/[Evernote](https://evernote.com/). - [Things](https://culturedcode.com/things/)/[Bear](https://bear.app/). - [Asana](/go/asana/)/[Confluence](https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence). - [Reminders](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/reminders/id1108187841)/[Notes](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/notes/id1110145109). - Or anything else really - one place to store tasks, one place to store notes. You can see that all items will first split into one of two categories: 1. Things you can handle now. 2. Things you can’t handle now. For **things that you can handle now**: 1. If it’s actionable in under 2 minutes, do it now. 2. If it’s something you can do now but will take longer than two minutes, defer it by putting it into your project systems and structures. 3. If it’s something you need to delegate, delegate it now by sending an email or DM. For **things you can’t handle now**: 1. If you actually don’t need to do it, discard it. 2. If it belongs in a project, add it to that project. 3. If it is something you want to do someday, add it to a “someday” list. 4. If it is a piece of information for future reference, add it to your reference system or wiki. #### Outputting and Delegation The last part of this is output and [delegation](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/). This could be as simple as a quick email or DM to someone, or assigning a task in a collaboration system. And thanks to always-on mobile Internet, you can pretty much do this anytime, anywhere nowadays.[^3] ### 3\. Long-Term: Systems and Assets Now you know how to handle all your incoming small stuff in the short-medium term. But what about the long-term? What is the endgame of all this, given that life seems to throw more and more little things at us every year? I believe that the long-term goal here should be to reduce the number of things you need to attend to. There are a number of ways to do this. The buzzword as I write this is “automate”. This is where you go out and create or buy “time assets”,[^4] which means code, software or outsourcing. For example, you can hire a cleaning company to come around monthly. Or write some code to help you set up spaced repetition for learning something. You can also look at your [existing habits and routines](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/), and find a way to incorporate one of the “little things” into those routines. A simple example of this would be to load your dishes into the dishwasher after eating, so that “do dishes” doesn’t become one of the little things in your inbox. Another example would be writing tomorrow’s to-do list as the last thing you do before you leave the office for the day. [You can (and should) use technology to your advantage.](/life/technology/) I strongly suggest pulling up the notifications settings on your phone and [turning off all the ones that aren’t important](/productivity/push-pull/), especially for games or apps that you already check on a regular basis. If you run a business or manage a team, you can delegate better and give more autonomy to your team members - let them make some of the non-critical decisions. One of the things that we touched on in the why section is that clearing the small stuff is advantageous both psychologically and practically. What you will find is over time, you just become more fluid at handling things. This is the result of simple motor and cognitive memory - the more you do something, the better you get at it. ## What To Do Next You’re likely reading this article because you have plenty on your plate at the moment. So that’s the first step - clear your existing list of small stuff using what’s outlined in the Emergency section. Once that’s out of the way, set up your inbox and start processing things using GTD or a similar method. And then think about how to reduce the number of incoming things in the long term. This article covered a lot of different systems and concepts. If you would like to hear more about any of them in detail, [send me a message and let me know](/contact/). 1. And once you practice those, you’ll never have a need to do an emergency session again. 2. Most [task management apps](/productivity/personal-task-management/) will have an “inbox” function for this very purpose. 3. Use your discretion though - there are some things/discussions which should be handled in person. 4. Hat tip to Patrick McKenzie (Kalzumeus) at: [https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/03/20/running-a-software-business-on-5-hours-a-week/](https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/03/20/running-a-software-business-on-5-hours-a-week/) Photo by [Bonnie Kittle](https://unsplash.com/@bonniekdesign?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: And once you practice those, you’ll never have a need to do an emergency session again. [^2]: Most [task management apps](/productivity/personal-task-management/) will have an “inbox” function for this very purpose. [^3]: Use your discretion though – there are some things/discussions which should be handled in person. [^4]: Hat tip to Patrick McKenzie (Kalzumeus) at: [https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/03/20/running-a-software-business-on-5-hours-a-week/](https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/03/20/running-a-software-business-on-5-hours-a-week/) > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Eliminating Destructive Snacking and Distractions https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/ It’s the middle of the work day. You’re supposed to be working on something important, but you find yourself flicking through the dozen or so browser tabs you have open. You land on YouTube and something entertaining catches your attention. Thirty seconds later, a video recommendation pops up and you click on that. Your phone buzzes - you’ve got a DM from a friend on Instagram, which you answer. You feel a bit thirsty and tell yourself that you’ve been concentrating pretty hard for the last few minutes, so you get up to grab some water. Your phone is in your hand already, so you take it with you and refresh your feed and like a couple of photos as you walk. You get your water, and stop by a co-worker’s desk along the way. She says she’s ordering bubble tea,[^1] and you say “why not?”… and happily sip away while alternating between work-YouTube-Instagram-Reddit. Before you know it, it’s 6pm, people are headed home and as you finish up your day, you check your task list and not one item has been crossed off. But that does make any sense! You were at your desk the whole day and busy the whole day, and it _felt_ [productive](/productivity/productivity-stack/). You ask yourself: **what just happened?** Let’s pause for a second, and try that again. It’s the middle of the work day. To your left, is your [task list](/productivity/personal-task-management/) - the things that are important and that you need to get done today. Your phone is nowhere to be seen - it’s locked away in your desk drawer and your keys are in your bag, which makes it a pain to unlock and get out. In your menu bar a timer for fifty minutes has started running. You get to work. You power through the first task, some simple editing, in ten minutes, and quickly move onto the second. One-by-one, the tasks fall. They are no match for your consistent laser-like focus and productivity. Before you know it, the timer hits zero and you grab for the bottle of water to your right. You stand up, stretch a bit, walk over to the kitchen, sip your water, take a breath, and then head back to your desk, ready to do it all over again. Before you know it, it’s 6pm, people are headed home and as you finish up your day, you check your task list and every single item has been crossed off. And not only that - you've added a number of other items and they have also been crossed off. You ask yourself: **what just happened?** It’s not like you were frantically busy all day… but somehow, everything was completed. --- ## What is Destructive Snacking? The two scenarios described above could very well belong to the same person, at the same workplace, at the same point in time. The first has fallen victim to **destructive snacking**, which is what people do to unintentionally erode their own attention, willpower, [volition](/productivity/willpower-and-volition/) and discipline through tiny distractions.[^2] The second has learnt to structure her environment and overcome her impulses, and minimise the amount of snacking that occurs throughout her intended productive periods. **Destructive Snacking** is the behaviour of allowing little distractions to “entertain” our brains throughout the day. In a biological sense, such snacking feeds the dopamine receptors in our brains and makes us incorrectly feel good about what we are doing. In a philosophical sense, you can consider destructive snacking to be a vice to be minimised as much as possible. Snacking is a well-known phenomenon in fitness circles. You likely have a friend or family member who always says “I eat like nothing for dinner… but I still have trouble losing weight”. Upon investigation however, it turns out that he snacks on anything and everything between mealtimes - hence, destructive snacking.[^3] Destructive snacking applies to [all areas of our lives](/productivity/areas-of-life/), but the area it is most likely to affect you is in productivity and entertainment. This is where you end up doing things that are momentary distractions, instead of focusing on what is important in that moment. ## Destructive Snacking Sounds Bad. Why Do We Do It? We snack out of impulse. Or rather, out of of a lack of impulse control. There is a short-term reward - a hit of dopamine - that goes with snacking, especially of the momentary sort. It is a form of instant gratification that allows us to feel good, even when we are [procrastinating over something important/difficult that we should be doing](/productivity/procrastination/).[^4] And the worst part, is that there is no real benefit to it. Browsing your feed. Looking at photos on your phone. Watching a fifteen-second clip. None of these things actually make your life any better or [progress you towards your goals](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/). You see, it turns out that dopamine is supposed to be reserved for actual accomplishment. Not for tiny distractions. You want to be training your brain to synthesise dopamine in response to the right things. Left out of control, destructive snacking attaches dopamine to all the wrong things, and this erodes your willpower, your discipline, your concentration and your focus… and makes the journey to get them back even more difficult. ## I’m Not Convinced. How Is Clicking “Like” On Some Photos Bad For Me? It’s bad for you. And here’s why. We have all heard about or read the science on smartphones and the effect they have on us - that their constant use makes us unhappy in the long-term and makes us feel like what we do is never enough.[^5] This is because our phones are the primary modern-day source of destructive snacking. The primary source of our modern-day minor distractions. The primary source of short dopamine bursts in our brain’s rewards centres. Dopamine is supposed to be our reward for things that are good for our survival. Things like good food, sex, exercise and successful social interactions. The problem is through the apps on our phones, we have a _virtual and unlimited supply_ of “successful social interactions”, even though we objectively know that someone liking our photo or commenting on something we posted is not the same as meeting and connecting with a flesh-and-blood human being.[^6] If the science isn’t enough to convince you, let’s get practical. Every time you snack, you are conditioning your reward system. You are literally rewiring your brain to respond to and become addicted to certain things. But instead of being wired to exercise, or procreate or meet new people… you’re being wired to tap on like. To read news that doesn’t matter. To watch a motivational pick-me-up that has no real meaning. Over time, this saps your focus. It makes it harder for [you to do deep work](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). It makes it harder to get things done. And it makes it harder for you to make things happen. A lot of bad habits stem from destructive snacking. If you learn to eliminate it - you will be able to [train your self-discipline](/productivity/self-discipline/), to protect your ability to think with clarity and discernment,[^7] and to improve your belief systems and structures. ## Your Distractions Are Of Your Own Doing > Your Distractions Are Of Your Own Doing. The only person to blame for the destructive snacking we engage in is... ourselves. I suppose we could say: well, entertainment’s always been around right? Sure. In ancient times, they ate good food, went hunting and watched quail fighting matches. Today, we have replaced these with even better food, social media and streaming video. The _crucial difference_ is that with our phone always within arm’s reach, we can do these things **all the time**. The human brain simply was not designed to withstand this level of accessibility to easy dopamine rewards. ## Eliminating Destructive Snacking, the Systematic Way The question becomes: what can we do about it? The simple answer is to cut out the snacking. But if it were that easy, everyone would do it. Instead, let’s look at a methodical way to eliminate destructive snacking - with some help from [simple systems](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/), technology and an understanding of human psychology. _Note: I don’t believe you can completely eliminate snacking 100%. The temptation will always be there,_[^8] _and it’s wired into our brains to seek out SOME momentary rewards. But you can reduce the amount of snacking as a little win on a daily basis, and over time, this will allow you to build better habits and virtues like discipline, willpower, focus and temperance. And having these will make it easier not to snack in the future._ ### 1\. Work Out What You Snack On The first step in our snacking elimination system is to work out what you snack on. Let’s start with the obvious one: phones. Our phones are amazing devices, but they come with a bunch of tempting things built in, be it Reddit, streaming video, porn or plain-old social media. The simple and systematic solution with your phone is to put it somewhere else when you want to focus. In a desk drawer. In another room. In your bag. Put it on DND and put it away and out of sight. During your breaks, just leave it alone and enjoy your break. **Simply doing this will eliminate 80% of your destructive snacking distractions, which is amazing.** Now for the other 20%. This varies from person-to-person and are the things you find yourself “just doing” for no real reason. Here are some examples I have seen: - Multitasking. - Random/mindless Instagram/TikTok/小红书 browsing. - Random/mindless Tinder/CMB/Hinge swiping. - Taking photos/selfies/video for no particular purpose. - Shopping when you don’t have a need for it.[^9] - Watching porn. The trick with this other 20% is to catch yourself doing these things, and then to set up your environment so that the temptation never even comes up. ### 2\. Set Up Your Environment To Be Snack-free A popular piece of advice given to people on a calorie-counting fitness diet is to empty their houses of snack foods. Chocolate, popcorn, candy and soda - they all have to go. The theory being that if it’s not in the house, you can’t eat it. You can do the same thing with your entertainment snacks. We have already mentioned putting our phone away in our desk drawers.[^10] For your other distractions, it’s time to get creative. The aim is to remove the destructive snack from your environment through the use of a system, a piece of tech or an understanding of your own psychology. Here are some ideas: - Don’t listen to music on YouTube via music videos - get a dedicated Spotify/Apple Music/YouTube Music subscription so you can keep your music siloed. - Put your smartwatch in DND mode while working. - Have separate user accounts or Google Chrome profiles for work and personal. - Use blocking plugins or apps to shut out the websites you find yourself wandering to. - Close tabs and app windows you aren’t using right now - you can open them again later. - Not browsing stores in-person or on your phone during your lunch break. - Use timeslices. All these ideas will remove the destructive snack from your environment, or at least hide it away while you are focusing. ### 3\. The Snacking Endgame While setting up your environment to be snack-free helps a lot, the endgame is to use it to improve your mindset and psychology to where you no longer feel the need to snack on entertainment. The first benchmark for this is where you no longer feel the need to be rewarded or stimulated all the time. Where you can let “free time” pass without instantaneous reward.[^11] A second benchmark of this is where you can methodically set aside dedicated downtime and stick to it - something to look forward to while you focus on the task at hand. There is no real way to work on your mindset directly - you simply set up your environment and then let things happen daily. ## What To Do Next The next time you sit down to work (or eat or hang out with friends), take your phone... and put it away. Seriously. For everything else, just [pay attention to the little distractions](/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/) you find yourself engaging in. And then one-by-one, remove them from your environment. Done methodically, it really is that simple. Photo by Jens Johnsson. [^1]: Boba for Americans. [^2]: An alternative description: Destructive Snacking is what people do to spank their monkey brains into dopamine-induced oblivion. [^3]: Fixing your meal times and not snacking on food in-between is actually one of the easier ways to handle diet and health issues. [^4]: Funny how we always procrastinate on the difficult/important things, right? [^5]: Elhai, J., Levine, J., Dvorak, R., Hall, B. (2017). Non-social features of smartphone use are most related to depression, anxiety and problematic smartphone use. _Computers in Human Behavior, 69_, 75-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.023 [^6]: Krach, S., Paulus, F. M., Bodden, M., & Kircher, T. (2010). The rewarding nature of social interactions. _Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 4_, Article 22. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00022 [^7]: Good judgement. [^8]: Unless you live as a hermit/mystic in isolation. Possibly. [^9]: Especially for clothes you will never wear, books you will never read, or masterclasses you will never watch. [^10]: If you need to reinforce this idea, just check out the Screen Time app on your phone and the number of Pick-ups you have per day. Prepare to be a little shocked. [^11]: Mark Manson has an excellent description of this at: [https://markmanson.net/how-to-be-patient](https://markmanson.net/how-to-be-patient) > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### How to Make Your New Year's Resolutions Actually Happen https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/ If you’re reading this, it’s likely you’ve just finished ringing in the new year. You may even have set a couple of new year’s resolutions with friends and family. It’s good to set resolutions. It’s even better to make them happen. The great news is, making your new year’s resolutions actually happen is actually quite simple. And while they may seem like wishful thinking, new year’s resolutions are just a clever form of [goal setting](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/) and [goal getting](/productivity/goal-getting/) that utilises the momentum of the new year to give you a head start. --- ## So Why The New Year? The New Year matters. Almost every culture in the world celebrates the end of one calendar year as it ushers in the next. This may be due to natural rhythms, religious traditions, or just the zeitgeist of everyone around you partying like it’s a new tomorrow. Whatever the reason, you may as well use the momentum that the new year generates to your advantage. It’s time to set some goals for yourself this year and then go about achieving them with ease. You can think of making your new year’s resolutions actually happen as a process with three parts: 1. Set up your resolutions. 2. Make them happen. 3. Enjoy the process. ## Part 1: How to Set New Year’s Resolutions Setting new year’s resolutions is exactly the same as setting goals. The first part you need is a good goal setting model to follow. I’m going to introduce you to three different models, and then show you how to put them together to create extremely effective and structured resolutions. ### Model 1: OKR: Objectives and Key Results OKR stands for **Objectives and Key Results** and comes from the corporate world. It was created by Andy Grove of Intel, and has been popularised by its use at Google. It is basically a form of individual goal setting for businesses, but is also suitable for personal use. In the OKR model, you basically write your new year resolution in two parts: 1. The objective. This is the clearly defined goal you are after. 2. The key results. These are the specific measures that you are going to use to track the achievement of that goal. ### Model 2: S.M.A.R.T. Goals S.M.A.R.T. stands for: - Specific. - Measurable. - Achievable (or Attainable). - Relevant. - Time-bound (or Time-Limited). This is likely nothing new to you. S.M.A.R.T. has been a hallmark of goal setting know-how for decades. ### Model 3: Well-Formed Outcomes The idea of well-formed outcomes comes from NLP, where it is used to help structure more empowering beliefs. For our purposes, we can use it to better structure goals and outcomes. Here are the well-formedness conditions: - Do you actually know what you want? - Why do you want that? - What will having that do for you? - Is your outcome expressed in positive or as positive as possible terms? - Is it defined in sensory and specific terms? - Will there be any supporting evidence to show your achievement of this outcome? - Do you think you can achieve this outcome or the majority of it by yourself? - How will this impact others in your life? - How do you know that this outcome will actually improve your life? - What will it be like in 6 months, 1 year, 5 years after achieving this outcome? - Is this outcome epistemologically sound? In other words, will achieving this outcome hurt or change other parts of your self, identity or beliefs? ### Putting OKR, S.M.A.R.T. and Well-Formedness Together If we piece together our three models, each resolution that we set should look something like this: 1. Name the resolution. 2. Identify specific measures/key results indicating achievement. 3. Map out a process of how you will achieve the resolution. 4. Write down your progress and results as they occur. Let’s look at these in a bit more detail. The **Name** of your resolution or goal should accurately describe what it is you want. This is the “O” part of OKR and “knowing what you want” part of well-formedness conditions. The **Specific Measures** are the numbers or benchmarks involved in achieving your goal. Writing these hits the “KR” part of OKR, and the “S” and “M” parts of S.M.A.R.T. The **Process** helps you break down the resolution into smaller things you have to do. The simple act of breaking down your resolution into actions helps cover the “A”, “R” and “T” parts of S.M.A.R.T., as well as addressing the well-formedness conditions outlined above. The **Results** part relates to making your new year’s resolutions actually happen. You will fill this in throughout the year as you progress towards your goal. Here’s an example: ``` Name: Lose 7kg over the next 2 months. Key Results Expected: * 7kg in scale weight lost. * Expected to lose about 1kg per week. Process: * Work out how much I’m eating now. * Take about 500 calories off my meals daily. * Eat for a month first. * Adjust as needed. Results: * To be filled in as the year progresses. ``` ## Part 2: How to Make New Year’s Resolutions Actually Happen Now that you know how to set **really good** new year’s resolutions, let’s look at how you actually make them happen. ### Only Set Three New Year’s Resolutions The first thing is to set a _maximum of three resolutions_. That’s right, just three. Because of the new year excitement you may feel like a superhero and want to jump in and go for five, ten or even fifteen resolutions but I would urge you not to. Start with three, and if you get all of those done by the end of March… you can always set more.[^1] I know, I know. Three seems like… so few. Like it’s nothing to get excited about. But trust me, three is the right number. There is some human psychology at play here. It goes like this: if I give you ten things to choose from, you would probably end up taking a really long time to pick one, or more likely, you would end up picking none. If I only gave you three things to choose from… you would be able to pick one really easily, and be able to identify which you like the most, then second most, then third most. So let’s apply this to your resolutions. You set three resolutions, and you get started on them. As you work on the first one, you may get a little bored… so you look at your list of three resolutions and go to the next one. As you work on the second one you find your attention wandering again… so you look at your list of resolutions and go the next one. And suppose you really can’t hold that one in your attention for the next little while… the first resolution is now far-enough removed that it will seem interesting again. But if you instead had five, ten or fifteen resolutions, you would have no idea which of those were the most important to you, and you would be paralysed to act. Or more likely, you would become anxious that you are “missing out” on a given resolution by picking another. And that is why three is the magic number. ### Public Disclosure The second thing is to decide whether you will tell others about your resolutions. A common idea in popular psychology is that you should tell people about your goals. From studies and my own experience, I think that this largely depends on your personality type. If you are someone who is extrinsically motivated (about 90% of people), then yes, I believe that telling people about your goals is a good thing - as telling others will hold you accountable. If you are someone who is intrinsically motivated however, do not tell others about your goals. In fact, the studies show that telling others will actually hurt your chances of achieving it.[^2] ### Daily Tracking The third thing is daily tracking. The word “tracking” may evoke imagery of spreadsheets or gantt charts, but it doesn’t have to be that complex (unless you want it to be). The most basic form of tracking is to remind yourself of your resolutions daily. Simply print or write out your resolutions on piece of paper and [stick it on something you will see every morning, like your bathroom mirror](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). If you want to step it up a level, [track them in your journal](/productivity/journals/), your task manager, on post-it notes, on your phone/computer wallpaper or whatever other system you use - just find a way to incorporate your resolutions very visibly into that system. This allows you to track the “Results” part of each resolution. Now if you want to get even more sophisticated, it’s time to pull out a spreadsheet and track the metrics of your resolution - the numbers behind your specific measures/key results. Using the example resolution about weight loss, you would want to weigh yourself consistently every day, then average out your weight weekly and track that as a measure of progress. It’s up to you to find out what number accurately describes the outcome that you’re after. It could be: - Weight in kg/lbs. - Time spent. - Actions completed. - Dollars. - Number of X (words, dates, jobs booked etc). - And so on. ### Adjustment and Course Correction Achieving your New Year’s Resolutions will not be linear. In fact, it will look something like this: [![Adjustment and Course Correction](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/squiggly-new-years-resolutions@3x.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/squiggly-new-years-resolutions@3x.webp) You **will** hit snags and speed bumps during your journey. These can come in many forms, such as your body not responding to the painstakingly-crafted diet you’re feeding it, your business not returning the results you expected, or even a regression into bad habits. Whatever it is, the correction is always the same: make note of it, think about it a bit, make a rational decision for how to course correct and then continue. Despite what our education system teaches us, it is perfectly OK to get things wrong the first time and then to correct them later. ## Part 3: Enjoying the Process The final part in setting and getting your new year’s resolutions is to enjoy the process. It is important for your psychology to know that [achieving goals is a process](/productivity/how-to-get-unstuck-in-difficult-personal-situations/), not an event. If you have followed everything above you have set good, solid resolutions for yourself. Now you need to realise that while the final outcome and results of those resolutions is outside your control, the process of getting them **is** _under your control_. I’m not a big sports guy but the analogy is very much on-point here. When an athlete competes in a sport, they spend most of their time in training and in playing games. They focus on what they can control and do: train as hard as they can, and play the best game that they can. The actual outcome of the game, whether their side wins or loses, is not up to them. It is up to a confluence of factors so complicated you may as well call it the will of the gods. Athletes know that they cannot directly affect the outcome - that’s madness. Instead, focus on what you can control, the process. Let the results take care of themselves. Remember, there is no magic pill when it comes to getting the things we want. Results often take time (despite what we see on social media/the news), and it could be weeks, months or even years before you see visible results towards your goal. More likely, you’ll wake up one day and someone will point out something to you and you’ll realise that you’ve achieved your goal. And you achieved it because you focused on the process of getting there, rather than trying to manifest it directly. I personally see enjoying the process as offering more than just achieving your resolutions or goals. You also get to practice a couple of virtues at the same time - **patience**, and **self-reliance**. **Patience** is pretty self-explanatory. And the more you do it, the better you get at it over time. **Self-reliance** I define as the ability to succeed at difficult tasks, eventually. This is in stark contrast with the majority of people today who need something to happen as quickly as they can tap buttons on their phone… but the truth is some things just take a certain period of time to happen. In enjoying the process, you get to practice self-reliance, which in turn will make you enjoy the process more - a very real positive feedback loop. It will also make it easier to achieve future new year’s resolutions and goals. ## Common Mistakes and Solutions Before I close up this article here are some of the common mistakes people make when trying to make their New Year’s Resolutions actually happen. If you’ve followed the process above you’ll note that these have all been addressed, but here they are in a different form for contrast. **Not setting any resolutions.** If you have set resolutions, this is not at issue. **Not defining resolutions properly.** Following the OKR, S.M.A.R.T. and well-formedness conditions helps you define your resolutions properly. **Not writing your resolutions down.** Putting them on a piece of paper counts as writing your resolutions down. **Not reviewing resolutions regularly.** Having your resolutions stuck to your bathroom mirror, in your journal, or on your computer forces you to review them daily. **Forgetting about your resolutions.** Again, reviewing your resolutions daily addresses this. **[Getting distracted](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/).** Reviewing your resolutions daily also addresses this. **Not taking action towards your resolutions consistently.** Reviewing your resolutions daily helps with this, but the other component is enjoying the process. You now know that making your new year’s resolutions happen _is a process and will take time and that you will likely enjoy that process_. And because of this, you’ll take more consistent actions towards your resolutions. You’ll give in less to instant-gratification rewards and instead take pleasure in the steady (and sometimes rapid) progress you make towards your goals. ## What To Do Next If you haven’t already, it’s time to write down your new year’s resolutions, and then run them through the models described above and make sure they are well-defined. Then you want to print them out, and stick them somewhere you can see them daily. And then you want to get to it - start following the processes and steps you’ve outlined for yourself. And lastly, enjoy the process. You’ll find the most satisfaction in the journey, and wake up one day to realise that you’ve bittersweetly reached the end, and that it’s time to start on the next year. That’s how you make your new year’s resolutions actually happen. [^1]: You can make a list of “future resolutions” to call up anytime you’re ready for a new resolution. [^2]: Wrzesniewski, A., Schwartz, B., Cong, X., Kane, M., Omar, A., & Kolditz, T. (2014). Multiple motives don’t multiply motivation. _Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111_(30), 10990–10995. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1405298111 > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ ## ai ### Hypertasking: Productive Multitasking in the Age of AI https://aaronlynn.com/ai/hypertasking/ Any time you have a conversation with work colleagues or business friends now, there is some discussion of AI. This recently happened to me and the range of responses was staggering. One of them said, "Oh man, I'm falling behind — I can't keep up with all the new tools and workflows being released." Another said, "Yeah I tried out Grok on my phone, it was pretty great." And a third shrugged and said they'd heard about it in the news. This is the world of AI right now. AI has come from some people's working lives hard and fast. For others... it's an idle curiosity — something they hear about between the weather and the sports news. ![Dot-grid infographic where each dot is \~3.2 million people: of 8.1 billion humans, about 84% have never used AI, 16% use a free chatbot, 0.3% pay for AI, and only 0.04% use AI coding tools][image-1] For me, the way I work has changed beyond recognition in the last 12 months.[^1] Claude now touches everything I do. Writing, coding, ops, research, project management, content creation, marketing... all of it. I still remember the first time I hit the five-hour usage limit on my Claude 5X Max plan. This was during some heavy coding/vibe coding. I messaged a friend — "Now what?" He said to work on something else. So I opened up my marketing work. Oh wait, I use Claude for that too. Opened up project management. Could do it manually, but it would take five times as long. Pretty much everything I switched to doing, relied on Claude. My friend's advice in the end: "Go hang out on the balcony and enjoy the sunlight." And the blog post you are reading right now? My entire [writing process][1] has changed. It used to be: start with an idea, contribute notes over days, OCD-check my content over weeks until it felt right. Now I have a hyper-intelligent thinking partner who can bring a dozen perspectives to bear on my notes before I even start writing. It can also write in a way that sounds like me, proofread better than I can, generate images, format and upload everything online.[^2] My take is this: **If you are not using AI and maximising your usage of it, you are missing out and falling behind.** Note: If you are behind, or if you have no idea what Claude is, grab my [AI for Work Productivity][2] course and start there. I will not be covering the basics of how to use Claude, Cowork, Projects or Claude Code in this article — that is what the course is for. --- ## The Golden Age of AI We are living in the Golden Age of AI right now. And most people are not taking advantage of it. I believe that AI currently has the value of a $250,000/year employee for $100-200/month. That is not hyperbole. That is what I experience when I use Claude Code, Codex and Gemini across my professional and personal work.[^3] It will not be this inexpensive forever. People complaining about usage limits on the $20/month plan do not realise how cheap it is — they are trying to squeeze blood from a stone. As [Matt Shumer puts it][3], it is like using a flip phone today and saying that mobile phones suck. You want to maximise your AI running time right now, while it is _practically free._ ### But Wait — AI Seems Pretty Fast to Me You might be reading this and thinking: _"What are you on about, Aaron? AI gives me answers in seconds!"_ If you are using Claude on the web, sure. Responses come back quickly, and you are not going to be sitting around long enough for any of this to matter. Treat that as a [deep focus task][4] and move on. But if you are working with AI beyond the web — in Claude Code, Claude Cowork, Codex or other CLI tools — it is a different story. I'm talking about: - Using parallel subagents to write 20 newsletters at the same time: **5-minute wait**. - Create a website mockup in html/css with the exact copy that will be used: **10-minute wait**. - Code a new microservice: **15-minute wait**. - Run a multi-agent adversarial code review: **20-minute wait**. - Autonomous overnight app creation: **5-hour wait**.[^4] These are the people this article is for. Non-tech knowledge workers using Claude Cowork or Claude Code. Developers and vibe coders running multiple sessions. Anyone whose AI work involves periods of waiting. If you are only using AI on the web or on your phone, you probably do not need hypertasking. Yet. ## The Problem: AI Thinking Is Slow OK, not really. AI is still faster than you and I. But it is not instant. You prompt something, and there is a 2-5 minute gap for non-coding tasks. Sometimes 10-30 minutes for coding tasks. And during that gap... you sit there. ![16-bit Street Fighter-style bonus stage: a fighter smashes a smartphone and the YouTube, Instagram, Reddit and Wordle icons to rubble beneath "destroy distractions, unlock focus" and "stay focused" signs, while an "AI thinking… 30%" progress bar loads below][image-2] What do most people do in that time? - Just wait. - Check their phone. - Scroll and browse endlessly on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit... - Watch YouTube. - Brain teasers, touch typing practice, and... Wordle.[^5] - Get a coffee. All of that is wasted time, except the coffee. It is [destructive snacking][5] dressed up as a break. We need something better. That something is called **Hypertasking**. Hypertasking is the art of running multiple, concurrent AI agents at full speed while you clear your task list in the gaps between prompts. To get there, let us recap how we currently do deep work and why traditional multitasking is bad. ## Recap: What About Deep Work and Focus? I have a full article on [how to deep work and single task][4], and this is how productive people have worked for years. Break up your tasks into periods of deep focus, start at number one and work your way through. It is absolutely the best way to get things done fast and at high quality. Good knowledge workers get in four hours of deep work a day. Productivity masters can stretch that to eight. But this is now outdated. Because we now live in the age of AI, and a new paradigm is required. So do we give deep work up and just... multitask? No. ## Recap: So Is Multitasking Back in Vogue? Multitasking is still a bad idea. You are not "multitasking" anything, the human brain does not work that way. What you are doing is **rapid switch-tasking**: Rapidly going from one context to another. The research is pretty clear on this: **Task-switching costs you up to 40% of your productive time.** A 2001 study found that executive control processes in task switching cause significant performance loss, even when the tasks are familiar.[^6] In a real work environment, **it takes 23 minutes to refocus after an interruption.** Interrupted work leads to higher stress and faster but lower-quality output.[^7] And for those people who like to watch YouTube or TikTok while they work: **Media multitasking physically reduces grey matter, the part of your brain responsible for cognitive control.**[^8] Overstimulation. Grey matter reduction. Impaired memory encoding. Dopamine addiction. Your cortisol goes up. Your glucose stores deplete faster. If it is not clear: multitasking = bad. ### And what about The Molecule Man? I wrote about a version of potentially productive multitasking in my [Next Level Productivity][6] article called **The Molecule Man**. A way to actually do **switch-tasking** with minimal downsides. But you have to be GOOD at productivity to pull it off. All of these apply: - [God-tier productivity skills][7]. - Knowing how to mentally switch contexts and note down where you left off. - A clean workbench (clean up and reset your work environment at the end of each major task or day). - Artefacts and systems in place to track what is going on. [Task lists][8], project management tools, [journals][9], awareness of your energy and [hero mode][10] for the day. - Technological mastery. You are going to be doing a lot of window switching. - In the article I said that multiple monitors help. With hypertasking, multiple monitors are **mandatory**. Here is the thing: AI is just a [force multiplier][11]. If you are not already productive and organised, it is not going to make you more of either. It will just amplify whatever bad habits you already have. The Molecule Man as I described it was v1.0. With AI, we have **Molecule Man v2.0: Hypertasking**. A form of rapid delegation to AI, where [your AI agents act as fast, hyper-intelligent staff][12]. ## How to Hypertask The aim of hypertasking is to maximise the runtime of **hyper-intelligence**. That is my generic term for the current-generation of AI models.[^9] You want to run these close to 24/7. For coders, this is called [hyperengineering][13]. Same idea, different name. You want to use this hyper-intelligence as much as possible while it is practically free. This is more than just _tactics._ This requires rewriting your entire working day's _strategy._ ### The three-segment journal system ![16-bit arcade "Mode Select" screen with three daily modes — Deep Focus (a figure meditating in flames), AI-Assisted (directing researcher, writer and analyst robots), and Low-Level tasks cleared in the gaps][image-3] I use a [journal system][9] built around three outcomes per day. If you just have tasks rather than outcomes, group your tasks into three segments: **1. Deep Focus Tasks** Block off one to two hours a day for these, first thing in the morning or whenever you have the most cognitive resources. No AI unless it is part of the task. These are tasks that require thinking, creativity, logic, intelligence. You want to zero in, focus, get them done and get out with no interruptions. This is [classic deep work][4]. **2. AI-Assisted Work** If you are a developer or vibe coder: - Start the generation running. - Use multiple git worktrees. I find about three is my cognitive limit as a newish developer.[^10] If you are a non-tech knowledge worker: - Whatever work is AI-heavy. Done in Claude Code, Codex or Claude Cowork usually. - You will probably max out at two concurrent tasks because responses come back faster when code is not involved. Aim to have AI-assisted work running all hours outside of your deep focus block. **3. Low-level Switchable Tasks** These are the tasks you can quickly switch to and work on while the AI is running. Easy, 5-10 minute tasks you can fragment and that do not require deep focus. You should be able to clear all of these by the end of the day while your AI work runs. Examples: - Admin tasks. - Clearing email. - Answering Slack messages and reminders. - Prioritising project backlogs. - Small content pieces. - Manual uploads of anything. - Returning phone calls. - Home stuff and errands.[^11] ### A sample day ![16-bit arcade versus screen: "Hypertasker" player one, backed by AI coder, writer and researcher panels marked complete, faces off against "The Backlog" player two — a fanged monster made of an overflowing task list with a 999+ inbox and urgent deadline alerts][image-4] Here is what a hypertasking day looks like: | Time | Activity | | ------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 8:00am - 10:00am | Deep work. No AI, no interruptions. | | 10:15am - 12:00pm | Start AI delegation — set up prompts and agents, let them run. Clear admin tasks, email, phone calls, project management while AI works. Check in on AI outputs and approve work periodically. | | 12:00pm - 1:00pm | Lunch break. | | 1:00pm - 30 minutes before end of day | Continue AI delegation cycles + remaining low-level tasks. Review AI outputs, give feedback, re-prompt as needed. | | End of day | Final reviews, wrap up, have AI create handoff documents, plan for tomorrow. | A friend of mine runs a book publishing business. Before AI, his workflow looked like this: spend days delegating research, crafting detailed outlines, handing them off to a human writer, waiting a couple of weeks for a draft, reviewing it, then sending it back with notes, then waiting again. Rinse and repeat. The bottleneck was always the human writer's bandwidth. I helped him set up AI agents for his publishing pipeline. Now his workflow is: review an outline the AI drafted (15 minutes), approve it or give feedback, then go do something else entirely — answer emails/messages, return calls, review another outline, or clear low-level admin work. If he needs some downtime, he can pop out for lunch or just grab a coffee. The AI writes the full draft while he is off doing other things. When it is done, he reviews the output, tells the AI to edit what is needed, and moves on to the next one.[^12] That is hypertasking in action. He is not sitting there watching the AI write. He is clearing his entire task list in the gaps between checking outlines and reviewing outputs. The AI does most of the heavy lifting — he just steers. ### No more 8-hour deep work days You are purposely interrupting the flow of one task to clear other tasks. Why? To maximise AI as a [force multiplier][11] and get more done in less time. If you run this properly, you WILL get 3-5 times more done than you used to: - **Writing email newsletters?** Used to be a week-long or multi-week process. Now compressed into a couple of 15-minute sessions. - **Writing a sales letter?** One week down to one day. - **Heavy data analysis?** One week with a team of analysts down to one hour with you and Claude. - **Coding an app?** Used to take a month. Now takes a week or two because the syntax is handled for you. 3-5x more output. Same hours. That is both incredible and insane if you think about it. ### Isn't this just regular multitasking? _"But Aaron, didn't you just say that multitasking is bad?"_ I did. And it is. But hypertasking is structurally different: 1. **You are switching at self-initiated break points.** You are not being interrupted by external forces. AI will not complain if you don't answer it right away. 2. **AI is doing the heavy cognitive lifting.** You are not trying to hold two complex thought processes in your head simultaneously. 3. **You are delegating, not being interrupted.** Just as with a human staff member, you choose when to respond to your AI agents. 4. **You are switching to low-cognitive-effort tasks.** You are not trying to juggle four deep focus items at the same time. It turns out humans can do what researchers call **threaded cognition** — the management of concurrent tasks when those tasks draw on different cognitive resources.[^13] Delegation uses one cognitive resource. Low-level admin tasks use a different one. AI handles all of the execution — writing, coding, researching. You handle direction-setting and review. That said, you WILL experience some of the downsides of multitasking. More on that in a moment. ![16-bit versus screen comparing multitasking (a panicking worker, system-overload errors, focus 10%, stress 95%, grey matter draining) with hypertasking (a calm worker backed by AI agents, focus 85%, output 300%, stress 40%)][image-5] ### Isn't this just what developers have always done while code compiles? Tech people have done "work while compiling" for decades. But AI delegation is _cognitive work,_ not just mechanical compilation. It is more like delegating coding to a junior developer and waiting for them to report back to you. You can get on with other things while you wait. But the output you get back requires review, feedback and sometimes re-prompting, not just a pass/fail check. ## How to Deal with the Cognitive and Physical Demands of Hypertasking There is one major downside to hypertasking: **The cognitive and physical toll on your body is significant.** You are being hyper-productive. Literally putting out 3-5 times what you did before. AI handles the grunt work of implementation, but you still do the mental heavy lifting — reviewing all of it, switching between contexts, making decisions, giving feedback, re-prompting. And there is a dopamine hit because you actually are doing productive things.[^14] [This is a common experience amongst people who start working this way.][15] So how do you handle this? ### 1. Good old-fashioned productivity advice You handle it by using some good, old-fashioned personal productivity advice. This is where the [time management stack][7] and [productivity stack][16] earn their keep. **Use [timeslices][17].** Work for 37 minutes, take an 8-minute break. Get up. Drink water. Walk around. Stretch. Do not be like the people I see at coworking meetups glued to their seats for five hours straight. **Get on top of your health and energy.** This means [rituals][18], exercise, and diet. Four cups of coffee does not count as a nutrition plan. **Lean on your systems.** Having established [goals][19] and [a journal system][9] keeps you grounded when everything is moving fast. **[Plan your days the night before][20].** And then remain fast and agile as the day unfolds. **Mandatory downtime.** One hour a day at night MINIMUM. Half a day to a full day off per week. You WILL burn yourself out if you skip this. This is non-negotiable. **Learn to [delegate to humans too][21].** Not everything needs to be done by an AI or needs to be managed by you. ### 2. AI-Specific tooling advice These layer on top of your existing productivity skills: **Understand what a project directory or repository is** so you can put everything the AI needs in one place. You do not want to waste time finding files or granting permissions between prompts. **Use Auto Mode or set up your Claude Code permission settings properly** so you are not sitting there pressing "yes" all the time. Configure your sandbox and allow/deny lists. Ask Claude to help you set this up. **Build a memory system** for AI repos you work in frequently. This means the AI knows what to do and accumulates your organisational knowledge over time, and you stop having to give the same feedback repeatedly. Start with CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md, then build your own markdown system (ask Claude Code to build it for you) or use something like [claude-mem][22]. **Learn to use git if you handle code.** Set up AI autocommit so you have granular version history. Developers call these atomic commits. If something goes sideways, you can always roll back. OR, use Google Drive if it’s just plain documents and images (though git remains better). **Spend a couple of hours a week updating your workflow.** AI can help with this. The goal is that you manage less and AI manages itself more over time. ### 3. Worst case? Slow it down. Go back to deep focus without the low-level tasks in-between for a day or two. While you do want to maximise your usage of affordable AI hyperintelligence, you don't have to do it every single day. ![Productivity Stack][image-6] Hypertasking is a systems tool in your [productivity stack][16], it isn't a religion. If you want to take a break and do an 8-hour deep focus day, do that. ## What To Do Next This is the new way of working. As I keep telling people I meet — the way I work today is completely different from the way I did six months ago. People who adopt hypertasking will get 3-5 times more done than their peers over the next year. Promotions, raises, new business... these will go to the people who learn to work alongside AI, not the people who wait for it to come to them. And the people who don't adopt it? I expect they will fall behind. Here is what you should be doing next: 1. **Grab an AI premium plan** and start using AI beyond the free tier. I'd recommend the Claude Code 5X Max plan at $100/month, but you can start at the $20/month plans. That's the cost of a couple of flat whites. 2. **Structure your day into the three segments.** Deep focus, AI-assisted work, and low-level switchable tasks. Use your [journal][9] to plan this the night before. 3. **Start with one AI task running in the background** while you clear admin work. Scale up to two or three AI tasks as you get used to the system. 4. **Monitor your energy and attention** and take breaks. Hypertasking is demanding. Respect that. _Note: Still playing catchup with AI itself? Grab my [Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity][2] course. It is built for non-tech business people who want to get started properly._ _Note: Already hypertasking but feeling the heat? Grab [Next Level Productivity][23] and make sure your productivity fundamentals are rock solid._ [^1]: And I don't mean in a subtle, incremental way. I mean I look back at how I operated pre-AI and it seems... quaint. Like watching someone use a fax machine. [^2]: After apologising to my assistant who no longer helps with any of this. [^3]: Mostly Claude Code at the time of writing. But the field moves fast and that could change. [^4]: For this one you can just go to sleep. [^5]: Wordle. While Claude writes your microservice. That is genuinely what some people are doing. Sigh. [^6]: Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. _Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance_, _27_(4), 763–797. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.27.4.763 [^7]: Mark, G., Gudith, D., & Klocke, U. (2008). The cost of interrupted work: More speed and stress. _Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '08)_, 107–110. https://doi.org/10.1145/1357054.1357072 [^8]: Loh, K. K., & Kanai, R. (2014). Higher media multi-tasking activity is associated with smaller gray-matter density in the anterior cingulate cortex. _PLOS ONE_, _9_(9), e106698. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106698 [^9]: Claude Fable 5, Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5 at time of publication. [^10]: Your mileage may vary. Some people run five or six. [^11]: This is one of the many benefits of [working from home][14]. You can throw a load of laundry or take a quick break in between prompts. [^12]: Yes, AI can write a consistent, 40,000-word book in about 30 minutes. [^13]: Salvucci, D. D., & Taatgen, N. A. (2008). Threaded cognition: An integrated theory of concurrent multitasking. _Psychological Review_, _115_(1), 101–130. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.115.1.101 [^14]: Usage of AI tools — especially Claude Code — is genuinely addictive once you realise what you can do with it. It takes away the grunt work of implementation, helps with the cognitive overhead of strategy and planning, and lets you create things you could not before because of a lack of technical knowledge. Hello, gateway drug 🙃 [1]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/writing-system/ [2]: https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ [3]: https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening [4]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/ [5]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/ [6]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/next-level-productivity/ [7]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/time-management-stack/ [8]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/personal-task-management/ [9]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/journals/ [10]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/energy-management/ [11]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/force-multipliers/ [12]: https://aaronlynn.com/courses/ai-agents-guide/ [13]: https://hyperengineering.bottlenecklabs.com/p/no-xp-waste [14]: https://aaronlynn.com/business/remote-working/ [15]: https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1r6y7od/mental_burnout_from_too_many_parallel_claude_code/ [16]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/productivity-stack/ [17]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/ [18]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/ [19]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/effective-goal-setting/ [20]: https://aaronlynn.com/productivity/wtf-days/ [21]: https://aaronlynn.com/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/ [22]: https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem [23]: https://aaronlynn.com/courses/next-level-productivity/ [image-1]: https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/ai/hypertasking/ai-adoption-dot-grid-infographic.webp [image-2]: https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/ai/hypertasking/hypertasking-destroy-distractions-bonus-stage.webp [image-3]: https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/ai/hypertasking/hypertasking-three-mode-select-screen.webp [image-4]: https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/ai/hypertasking/hypertasker-vs-backlog-versus-screen.webp [image-5]: https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/ai/hypertasking/multitasking-vs-hypertasking-comparison.webp [image-6]: https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/productivity/productivity-stack/the-productivity-stack.webp > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ ## life ### Social Media https://aaronlynn.com/life/social-media/ Social Media is an astonishing feat of technology. It’s a digital layer on top of our lives, turning us into cyborgs of sorts and creating a part of our lives that exists only in data. Used correctly, it can bring a lot of good into our lives. But social media is really a grand bridge that leads us into cyberspace, and one that is impossible to engineer with guardrails. While we have tried, there will always be insufficient safety mechanisms in place to protect the vulnerable — be that the elderly, children, or even us adults. Many people approach social media without critical thought. Many people set their life goals based on what they see on social media.[^1] Others are simply overwhelmed by the sheer[^2] amount of content that is produced daily, and are [unable to process it](/productivity/filter-on-inputs/) or discern truth from fiction from harm.[^3] This bridge interacts with human physiology and psychology, which are platforms that haven’t evolved in the past 10,000 years. It is little wonder that we end up with strange and sometimes negative results. Whether it’s filter bubbles, the glorification effect, or the attention economy, these all have implications for society, professionals and business owners. Social media has both its good and bad. I believe that we need to create our own approaches to usage, where we can turn it into more of a boon than a tragedy. And that’s because social media is really just a massive technological force multiplier — it makes us more of what we already are. It amplifies our best, and worst, characteristics and behaviours. The main question that you should ask yourself is: **Do I opt out of social media, or do I learn to play the game?** And if you choose to play: **Am I playing social media, or is it playing me?** --- ## Social Media is a Skinner Box [![Social Media is a Skinner Box](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/social-media-is-a-skinner-box.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/social-media-is-a-skinner-box.webp) A Skinner box is an experiment created to observe and manipulate animal behaviour. It is a physical box, and inside it, an animal activates a lever or responds to a given stimulus in exchange for a reward. This reward is normally the removal of a noxious stimulus, or food. The crazier variations of skinner boxes have involved experiments with rats and cocaine — press lever, get cocaine. This is where a reward feels good, but is horribly bad for you. The intention of Skinner boxes is to see how animals respond to operant conditioning, and draw conclusions about how learning and conditioning work. These conclusions are then taken and applied commercially to industries like gaming, be it online games, slot machines or gamification. Which brings us to social media. Social media is humanity’s Skinner Box, except that there is no structured intention or experiment — just a lot of random conditioning and reinforcement. In turn, this leads to unintended learned behaviours. Here’s how social media works as a Skinner Box. Our “lever” takes the form of posting, sharing, remixing, or otherwise putting our attention on social media. The “reward” is likes, shares, DMs, followers and more of the content that we enjoy. These release dopamine into our brain and generate good feelings. But the problem is that social media algorithms are complex. We don’t really know what action will result in a “reward” or, conversely, in silence. So we know that _sometimes_ we are rewarded for using social media. And when we are rewarded, it feels good. But sometimes, we do the exact same thing and there is simply silence, which our brains can interpret as punishment. Or worse, sometimes there is hateful feedback or cyberbullying. Our brain does some calculations and determines that the positives generally outweigh the negatives and silences, and so, like the rats with the cocaine-lever, we keep hitting it in hope of a reward. Sometimes, we receive that reward. Sometimes, we receive nothing. Sometimes, we get a 10,000-volt shock. Because that’s what we are now wired for. The deeper reality is that we, and the engineers at social media companies, simply do not know how the algorithm really works. There are infinite variables that factor into whether our actions result in a reward, punishment or simply nothing. This random schedule of reward and reinforcement is eerily similar to what narcissists do to control people around them. We know from studies that this creates a host of strange behaviours and mental health issues, none of which are good. Now if we take that and multiply it by everyone active on social media… we’re all wired to an interconnected Skinner box and hitting the lever non-stop. **It isn’t a stretch to say that humanity is literally addicted to destroying itself by pressing that damn lever.** Sometimes we get lucky. Sometimes we destroy our sanity. We definitely suck up huge amounts of time and productivity. And we know that it’s really not good for MOST of us, but we keep doing it and just can’t seem to stop. Why is that, and is there a way out of this? ## The Good Stuff ![The Good Stuff](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/the-good-stuff.webp) Social media is not all doom and gloom. It would be easy to gloss over the benefits of social media and just say, “it has positive aspects”, but let’s dive deeper. **What is actually good about social media?** ### Rapid information dissemination Whenever I want to know about something that is happening RIGHT NOW, I go to [Twitter/X](https://twitter.com/). There I can find specific accounts or hashtags set up for alerts about fires, breaking news, severe weather and so on. For the most part, these accounts remain objective and opinion is kept out of it — and that is invaluable. ### Creativity and personal expression The semi-anonymity of social media and the Internet lets human creativity run free. Never in the history of the world have we produced as much amazing art, writing, and other creative endeavours as we have across social media. ### Global connections between people I remember when I received my invitation to join Facebook. I was in college on exchange to the US at the time, and Facebook was only open to college students. It was nothing short of incredible. You could go out to a party (or class), meet new people, then add each other on Facebook. And then spend hours browsing other people’s walls,[^4] to see what they were up to. Compared to swapping phone numbers and texting people, this was revolutionary. Especially if you consider that back then, we texted on flip phones with only number keys. Everyone on your Facebook was someone you had met in real life. This was the original concept of “people are more interested in knowing what’s going on in their neighbour’s backyard than halfway across the world”. Now to a large extent, Facebook still does this. Many people, myself included, keep in touch with close friends and friends from around the world across Facebook and [Instagram](https://instagram.com/aaronlynnme/), catching up with their stories and posts. This is a purer form of social media, if you will. And if you take one step out, you can see friends of friends, and make new friends online who you have never met in real life. This has never been my thing, but it seems to be the norm now. So with this somewhat idyllic view of the origins of Facebook in mind, where did it all go wrong? **The answer is human nature.** Social media is simply a reflection and amplification of humanity as a whole. What starts out as “a cool way to keep in touch with college friends” leads to ego, greed, envy, comparison, and keeping up with the Joneses. But it’s not all bad. ### Positive amplification ![Positive amplification](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/positive-amplification.webp) Just as social media amplifies the negative aspects of human behaviour, it also does the same with the positive. That one, positive, upbeat person in the village who makes everyone’s day? Thanks to social media, they can now reach thousands of people online. Social media gives them a voice that traditional media would not. Which leads us to… ### Communities The technology behind social media makes it easier for people to find and form communities of likeminded others. These could be anything from fitness communities, to cultural exchanges, to professional business communities. There are basically an unlimited number of niche communities to join where you can connect with people who like what you like. This is great for people who are introverted, geographically isolated or who have esoteric hobbies and interests. That’s the upside. The downside is echo chambers, and we’ll get to those shortly. ### Business and money Social media also gives you the opportunity to build your business, brand, and “following”. For working professionals, it’s also an opportunity to build your career and the network. I have personally seen and helped people land jobs, contracts, and promotions through social media. **The combination of self-promotion, displays of value and connecting with others flat-out works.** But. It can sometimes feel a bit… sleazy. And there are plenty of fraudsters out there. It is not uncommon to see claims on Twitter/X of, “I made my clients $138m last year”. Given there is no real way to verify that claim… I call bullshit. More likely, their clients together MAY have had a combined revenue of $130m last year, and they MAY have contributed to some of that, but they are not solely responsible for that entire amount. The truth is, if someone made their clients that much money and were really that good at business, they would have been equitably compensated for it in the range of a few million dollars. In which case… why are they hustling so hard on Twitter/X? A lot of business social media content is just a big pyramid scheme and echo chamber. The current scheme making the rounds is, “Here’s my amazing system for making money”, which is to sell a course teaching others a system for making money. The question for business people is how you walk the fine line between promoting yourself (because you need to) versus just distorting facts because that’s the only way to stand out. ### Social activism Social activism exists on social media. I don’t participate in it, and I barely see it, to be frank. And that’s part of the problem — thanks to the way that the algorithm works, unless I’m actively engaging in the content, I’m unlikely to see more of it in the future. Social media is potentially a good way of promoting civic engagement, but it just isn’t that effective in its current form. --- **You may be asking — Aaron, if all this stuff about social media is so great, why is there so much doom and gloom on my feed?** Well, we’ve talked about Skinner Boxes already. Now let’s look at **echo chambers and filter bubbles.** ## Echo Chambers and Filter Bubbles ![Echo Chambers and Filter Bubbles](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/echo-chambers-and-filter-bubbles.webp) An **echo chamber** is from traditional news media where when you say something, others “echo” the same opinion back you. **Filter bubbles** describe the intellectual self-isolation that occurs due to algorithms online. The two concepts are similar. The difference is that an echo chamber would be like following specific people or accounts with specific views. A filter bubble would be being pushed to those specific accounts via algorithmic recommendations. In reality, for social media, the two terms are used interchangeably and result in the same effects. **How do echo chambers and filter bubbles happen?** Social media algorithms are designed to serve us more of what we want and like. And to achieve this, it relies on a complex set of behavioural signals to determine what we want and like.[^5] So when we like something on a feed, it finds us related content and gives us more of it. At the same time, it feeds us fewer things that are opposite or opposed to what we just liked. Over time, this means that our feeds and searches end up returning a limited perspective and set of opinions and content.[^6] On its own, the echo chamber/filter bubble effect is not so bad. But there are two problems. **The first** is somewhat minor, which is that just as it’s possible to become 1% smarter every day, it is also possible to become 1% dumber every day, and echo chambers that limit our perspective eventually lead to that. **The second** is more insidious. And that is when echo chambers and filter bubbles lead to polarisation and extremism. This happens because the human brain is an incredible adaptation machine. We create “new norms” for ourselves based on our environment all the time so that we can survive and cope in otherwise difficult situations. If we take this survival mechanism and combine it with the idea that our brains basically see the narrow channel of social media as “the world”/“reality”, then we have a problem. We simply cannot process the perspective of eight billion people, so we take a slice of it via social media and extrapolate. So, within a filter bubble, what we see are all these views that match our own. And the algorithm continues to serve similar content to us because we have indicated that we like it. But eventually, the algorithm runs out of content. **So it finds SIMILAR content to serve to us — and some content is slightly more extreme, or polarising.** But the algorithm is just doing its job well, and some of that more extreme content resonates with us, so we continue to like it. **And the algorithm reacts by finding EVEN MORE polarising/extreme content to serve us.** And so our behaviour of clicks, likes, and time spent on social media combines with the algorithm to race together towards extreme and polarising content. [![GRADIENT SCALE DIAGRAM OF OPINION AND ALGORITHM CREEP](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/gradient-scale-diagram-of-opinion-and-algorithm-creep.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/gradient-scale-diagram-of-opinion-and-algorithm-creep.webp) A benign example would be if you like red cars. You go on social media and like a red car post. The feed starts to show you more red cars. You like them all. Then all of a sudden, because of the filter bubble, all you see on social media are red cars. And your brain starts to think: > Hey, maybe there are ONLY red cars in the world because that’s all I’m seeing online. Now this is fine. But what happens when you start seeing posts that suggest all cars MUST be red. And that anyone with, say, a white car, is a TRAITOR to car owners? That’s how we start with filter bubbles and end up with extremism. ## The Glorification Effect ![The Glorification Effect](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/the-glorification-effect.webp) Social media started as an effort to capture everyone’s mundane, everyday lives. But over the years it has transformed into a “picture perfect” representation of humanity and the accompanying lifestyles of the rich and famous.[^7] This is the **Glorification Effect.** In fact, it has transformed so much so that [my partner Aki](https://akinoyuutsu.com/) recently said to me, > “People nowadays set their life goals based on what they see on social media.” **That’s a profound thought, and quite unsettling.** _It indicates that there are people out there who don’t understand what is real, what is a choreographed snapshot of someone’s “best life”, and what is an outright fabrication._ How has this happened? It seems obvious that we all want to portray ourselves in the best possible light online, whether that’s out of ego, marketing, approval, branding or fame-seeking purposes. We don’t post the ugly side of our lives unless we are doing so for vulnerability purposes and to garner a sympathetic response. This is a problem because of two ideas: 1. People like to follow charismatic leaders. 2. People are susceptible to conflation and false equivalence. Both of these lead to the same problem. When we see someone doing well, that’s fine. When we think that someone is awesome, that’s also fine. **But then we start thinking, _“Hey, if I do what they do, maybe I can be like them”._** And we fail to recognise that what they do or have done is for THEIR situation, and WE are entirely different individuals. And that’s assuming that their portrayal is real, and not just smoke and mirrors. The issue lies in the human brain having trouble understanding this. And that’s because **we often falsely equivocate fame with authority and expertise,** and we glorify it. We think that because Kim Kardashian is fabulous and rich, that we should be taking financial advice from her. We think that because someone is a doctor and appears in a lab-coat, we should take ALL health advice from them. And that if someone is a crypto bro with 500k followers and standing in front of a Ferrari that their $5000 “home study course” is going to make us rich too. Social proof is the most powerful aspect of influence,[^8] so it is no surprise that this works. It is an inbuilt feature of human psychology to treat famous people differently — as experts, authorities, “influencers”. This is not social media specific, but social media makes it more commonplace because we can see just how famous they are and what kind of lifestyle they supposedly live. Even if deep down, we subconsciously know that we are only seeing the tailored highlights of someone’s life on their profile, we can’t help but think that their ENTIRE life is like that, and that we want to emulate or belong to some part of it. **We extrapolate their curated snapshots into their entire lifestyle.** ![We extrapolate their curated snapshots into their entire lifestyle.](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/we-extrapolate-their-curated-snapshots-into-their-entire-lifestyle.webp) I recently had lunch with [my friend Patrick](https://patjk.com/). We were talking about displaying lifestyle on social media, and he commented, _“Oh, we just take photos when we travel”._ Now for him and his wife, that is normal — they really do travel a lot to nice places and indeed live the _Instagram Lifestyle._ They are financially successful and for them, what you see online is really just how they live their lives. But that simply isn’t true for everyone. Not everyone has the financial means to live that lifestyle, and it would be more sane if we all recognised that. Which brings us to a related issue, in that there is no good way to discern truth from fiction on social media. Because… people do outright lie on social media. They “fake it until they make it”. It could be the convenience store checkout clerk here in Thailand, who shoots amazing profile photos with her budget camera phone. It could be aspiring actors and actresses in LA buying followers, likes, and comments to turn themselves into influencers.[^9] Or it could be more subtle — online marketers selling a course that teaches you how to sell courses to other people. This is little more than a modern-day take on pyramid schemes. A cynical take would be that the entire social media influencer (“key opinion leader”) industry is designed to make others feel bad about themselves so that they will buy a promoted product to feel better. In this instance, influencers are little besides infomercial hosts with only one talent — capturing attention, playing on emotions and turning attention into real money for themselves and their sponsors. Most people lack the critical thinking skills to see whether something is good or bad for them. They assume that if thousands of others like something, rave about it, post photos about it and say it’s amazing… then it must be. I recently had brunch with some friends at what is the “hottest” brunch place in Bangkok right now. Three people, a $120 bill and decidedly mediocre food. Yet if you go on Instagram and Google Maps, people RAVE about this place, and it’s reservation-only and swear it’s the best thing invented since sliced bread. Why? Because they do great social media marketing. **They have celebrities and influencers come eat, take cool photos and post and tag them, and then everyone else comes.** And yet… the [first-hand experience](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/) does not match up. Personally, I would never go back. But for most people, even when they have a lacklustre experience, they will backwards rationalise to themselves that they just don’t understand it, and it is in fact, still amazing. All simply because they do not trust their own first-hand experience, and don’t want to go against the opinions of others, especially the influencers that they look up to.[^10] And what of those people online who don’t have the fame, the likes, the shares? Does this mean that they know less? Are not experts? Are of “less value” than the people with large followings? Of course not, it simply means that they are not as good as promoting themselves no social media. **The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.** ## Anonymity, Dehumanisation, and Desensitisation ![Anonymity, Dehumanisation, and Desensitisation](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/anonymity-dehumanisation-and-desensitisation.webp) With online anonymity, comes dehumanisation, desensitisation and the ugly side of human nature on display. We know this as online harassment, or cyberbullying. This is because technology allows us to be anonymous and semi-anonymous, so we just don’t see the person on the other side of the screen as human. We see them simply as words, ideas, abstract. It is similar to some seasoned salespeople seeing others only as their top-of-funnel, but not as real humans with lives, emotions, hopes, and dreams. This allows people to become more vicious, and results in less human decency. But underneath this is a more complex issue. **You see, it is impossible to separate the negative aspects of social media from the technology itself.** **Because these aspects do not come from the technology. They come from the human behaviour, acted out by real people, on the technology.** Technology simply force multiplies what was already present in humanity. It will amplify the best and worst aspects of human behaviour, much like money does. The reality is that if we are seeing a lot of bad, dehumanising, and vicious behaviour online, that is because many people ARE like that deep down in real life, and social media technology is simply a channel for them to express it. Unfortunately, there is no engineering solution to this dehumanisation on social media. A solution would have to involve changing human behaviour and motivations on a global scale, making it essentially impossible. In the face-to-face world, these bullies may not be able to act out their desires, but online, they can. What is disturbing and problematic is that many do not realise that their actions have impacts on others’ real lives, which is tragic. This is because thanks to echo chambers, filter bubbles and pseudo-anonymity, they have become desensitised to extreme content, vicious behaviour and well, cyberbullying online, and think it’s perfectly normal. What can we do when we are the target of such behaviour? **Very simply, [we can only not give a fuck about it](/productivity/locus-of-control/)**. ### Delusions of grandeur https://www.reddit.com/r/ImTheMainCharacter/comments/15payef/speed\_and\_roids\_dont\_mix Related to the dehumanisation of others online, are delusions of grandeur or the aptly named, **_Main Character Effect._** This is where people start to accumulate followers and end up thinking that the entire world revolves around them. You see this in popular “prank” videos done in other people’s stores or even houses, or “fitness influencers” recording themselves at a public gym and becoming upset when others walk into their recording frame. They expect everyone around them to change their lives to suit THEM. The _Main Character Effect_ happens because social media is designed to make it possible for YOU to be the star,[^11] and for YOUR life to be broadcast to the masses. Now we would think that humanity is self-aware enough to realise that this isn’t reality. But plenty of people lack self-awareness, or are just high-enough in ego or narcissistic traits that they don’t realise that it is all an illusion. There are over 40 million people with over 1 million followers, and over 140 million people with over 100,000 followers — it really isn’t all that special anymore. But when we combine this with a filter bubble, vanity and the fact that people want to be famous… we end up with entitled “creators” and “influencers” who see themselves as the main character in everything they do. ### Ghosting and flaky behaviour: bad social media habits in real life ![Ghosting and flaky behaviour: bad social media habits in real life](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/ghosting-and-flaky-behaviour-bad-social-media-habits-in-real-life.webp) On social media (or dating apps) if we see something we don’t like, we either swipe past it or hit thumbs down. Now for apps this is fine. This is what teaches the algorithm to show us the kind of content and people that we like. But as mentioned before, human brains are outdated hardware platforms that have a hard time recognising the difference between a phone app and reality. Real life obviously doesn’t work this way — in person, you can’t just swipe away someone you don’t like. And so we end up with social phenomena like **ghosting and flaky behaviour.** **Ghosting** is where we simply up and vanish from someone’s life. On the Internet, this makes sense. If we don’t like some random person, we simply swipe away, restrict or block them. There used to be some kind of norms about not doing this in real life, especially in professional settings. But most business owners who have hired recently have also experienced situations where job candidates book interviews and just decide not to show up — and to subsequently ignore any phone calls or messages to try to find out whether they are coming to interview or not. **True story:** _One of my clients had his accountant up and disappear one day with zero notice. They simply stopped replying to messages, blocked his number and vanished. After a month of trying to track them down (and pay them their last month of salary) all he heard back was “I couldn’t handle it anymore”._ Professional ghosting really shouldn’t be acceptable in a civil society, but somehow it has become acceptable. **Flakiness and flaky behaviour** is where people remain communicative, but cancel plans at the last minute. If we think back to pre-mobile phone, if we were late or unable to make it to something, we would have to call in advance and cancel. ![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/sydney-opera-house.webp) **Another true story:** _[Dan Fraser](https://smilingalbino.com/),[^12] has a great tale from his travelling days, where he made plans with a friend to meet on the steps of the Sydney Opera House at 9:30am on a specific Saturday in August 1997. They were both flying in from different countries and had worked this out months before over postal mail._ Nowadays, we can send a message a minute before and say, “Sorry, won’t make it”… despite others making preparations for us to be there. I believe that it is a combination of the **Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)**, the general dehumanisation of others across social media, and the **Main Character Effect** that have combined to simply make people more flaky. There appears to be little or no consideration for others’ plans or efforts. In their minds, flaky people make plans “until something better comes along”. Everything is flexible and optional until the most attractive option becomes apparent 5 minutes before, then everything else is cancelled without consideration and perhaps even without notice. You are simply “one of many options” or even “the not attractive option but better than nothing” to them until that happens. **This is because social media has conditioned people to want only the brightest, shiniest experience. They will refuse to fully commit to attending or doing anything in the hopes that they can get that.** It also manifests as, _“Hey bro, super busy right now. Msg me the morning of and I’ll see if I’m free that day”._ ## Mental Health Issues ![Mental Health Issues](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/mental-health-issues.webp) Human brains are just not built for social media. There is too much stimulation and there are too many dopamine triggers. In fact, human brains are used to the idea of life being [boring, mundane, and routine](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/). What this means is that social media (and modern life) simply overload our brains in a variety of ways, and we end up with “mental health issues”. It is valid to ask if it is social media specifically or smartphones that have created these issues. Social media existed before smartphones — Facebook and MySpace used to be websites. They were small and localised, and there were enough barriers in place that our brains could handle the connections and information. Smartphones without social media also exist today, and pretty much function the same as dumb phones except with Internet connections. Our brains can handle these. But when we take these platforms and put them on Internet-connected smartphones — that is the killer combination that results in mental health issues. All the negative impacts of social media that we’ve discussed thus far — Skinner boxes, filter bubbles, the glorification effect and dehumanisation — all contribute to the current spate of mental health issues as a society. One result of this is simply **reduced [productivity](/productivity/productivity-stack/).** At a very base level, when you use social media, you’re taking time away from other pursuits. And if your actions on social media are not beneficial to you, this is even more pronounced. **Are we better off with these tools and access than not?** I believe that yes, we are, and would not give up my smartphone and social media apps for the benefits that I derive from them. But I do ask if there’s a middle ground where we can reap the benefits of social media and minimise the downsides. Another result of these negative effects is our **shortened attention span.** A Microsoft Research study done in 2015 puts our current attention spans at 8 seconds.[^13] A more recent analysis of Twitter/X tells us that our collective attention to hashtags is dropping year-on-year.[^14] Whether these studies are accurate and scientifically sound is a matter of debate. But let’s think about this rationally. We use apps like TikTok to feed us 20-second videos. We endlessly scroll on Facebook and Instagram. It takes something really shocking or interesting to make us stop. Most of us can subconsciously assess whether something is worth stopping for or not in less than a second. So we are training ourselves to parse information quickly, and to not pay attention something unless it shocks us or stops us. _In fact, content creators and influencers understand this and try to hook someone in the first few seconds of their videos._ To me, it makes sense that we are going to pay a lot less attention to any individual thing than we used to, and at the same time, there are also MANY MORE things to go through. In times past we may have “powered through” a book or film that’s slow to start, but today we are painfully aware of just how much there is to consume, so we say “screw it” and move on. **Thus, we have both a reduced attention span and a reduced attention issue.** And what of **FOMO?** People find themselves chasing the brightest, shiniest object that they can find out of fear or addiction to dopamine rewards. This is the _Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)_ and this is why it’s a problem: [![needles in direction](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/arrow-directions.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/arrow-directions.webp) FOMO leads to your attention being pulled in a thousand different directions, always holding out for the “best thing”, and resulting in nothing more than inaction. It may be a good idea to be motivated by or aspire to live the _Instagram Lifestyle,_ but the hard reality is that not everyone’s life will be like that. I would even go as far to say that not everyone’s life is MEANT to be like that.[^15] If you can recognise that, then social media is manageable. But plenty of people simply can’t, and they think their life is a huge disappointment compared to the idealised snapshots they see of others online. And this is what creates our mental health issues today — more anxiety, more depression, more low self-esteem. ## Business Implications Social media has changed the way that business is done, both for B2B and B2C companies. It has put focus on the **attention economy** and the idea of monetising attention. Because let’s face it — our attention spans are becoming shorter, and user (and thus customer) attention is becoming more valuable. Smart business people are also manipulating fame and followings to play on the false equivalence that fame = authority = expertise, and this has led to an entire industry of influencers and key opinion leaders (KOLs) promoting their products. In times past, companies had to produce something of emotional or utilitarian value. But today, nothing of value really needs to be produced — consumers will purchase simply based on the market perception of popularity, authority, and desirability. This means that businesses can create a receptive market and distribution channel before a product is even ideated. But it is a crowded marketplace. We have seen the rise of clickbait headlines and video thumbnails, used shamelessly by content creators and traditional media outlets alike, in the effort to capture more consumer attention. We have also seen the rise of influencers and KOLs. They are a testament to the power of social proof, and that most people would rather trust the recommendations of others, even if they do not personally know that person, over their own thoughts and experiences. Despite the somewhat negative connotations of these developments, businesses need social media. Done properly, it has become a new channel for attracting eyeballs, traffic and thus potential customers to businesses. ## Broader Social Implications ![Broader Social Implications](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/broader-social-implications.webp) ### Louder voices Louder voices are more visible on social media. The more extreme, shocking or attention-grabbing something is, the more attention it receives. We’ve already discussed the issues related to polarisation and extremism created by filter bubbles. But the more subtle effect of louder voices is that their visibility makes it seem that certain issues are more important to human society than they actually are. The reality is that they are not THAT important, it just seems that way because your filter bubble amplifies those voices and opinions in the content that you consume. ### Shaping public perception I recently subscribed to the _[Wall Street Journal](https://wsj.com/)._ And after many, many, years of not reading mainstream news… I was shocked. Almost every single day, there is a news article about how the US is gearing up for war and competition with China. As a non-American and not living in the US, this blows my mind. The rest of the world is simply trying to live day-to-day and get on with their lives. So why is a mainstream and reasonably centre news outlet, and I imagine their related content on social media, pushing for open conflict? No one benefits from war.[^16] On a related note, American political discourse on social media is simply nuts. Almost all non-American native English speakers look at what shows up on social media about American politics and think it’s insane. And the more insidious part of it is that other English-speaking countries have started to unnecessarily import American norms, political views and extremism into their societies simply because the English language is such an effective conduit for ideas. This is how we end with Trump supporters marching in the streets of Sydney and crazy people talking about an Australian Bill of Rights.[^17] The fact is that social media is extremely effective in shaping public opinion when used properly — all it takes is some marketing skill and a large ad budget.[^18] ### Fake news and disinformation Opinion does not equal fact. Yet many people on social media seem to think that their opinions ARE fact. This comes from a lack of critical thinking and an inability to identify conflation and false correlations. Some people never develop critical thinking skills through education or life, and many don’t seem to have any interest in doing so. The “journalism” we see on social media is not really objective reporting — it is opinion. If we understand this, then it is fine. But when we don’t, we are making ourselves 1% dumber every single day and heading towards an [idiocracy](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/). How can we deal with this? We remember that everything is a business. Sure, during world-changing events our news channels, social media influencers and more give us reporting that, we hope, is real, un-opinionated and informative. But every other day of the year they are a business and will pander to a certain perspective to make a profit. Having opinions is simply how they stay in business. ### Privacy [Privacy deserves its own essay, which you can find here](/life/privacy/). The short version, is that we will give up our privacy for the ability to view and share cat videos 🐈‍⬛. ## Why Do We Love Social Media So Much? ![Why Do We Love Social Media So Much](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/why-do-we-love-social-media-so-much.webp) So Aaron, if we know that social media is bad for us, why are all so happy to keep using it? Or perhaps, why are **compelled** to keep using it? I believe it is because during our tribal days, we had to socialise to survive, and that this is a hardwired human instinct, even for [introverts](/productivity/passion-for-systems-thinkers-intj/). Social media is the technological bastardisation of that instinct, without guardrails. People often say that they use social media for fun — but was it ever really fun? I am not convinced. We all like social comparison and to socialise generally. And despite our best efforts, we do care what others think of us. We love competition and want to see how we stack up. We love to win over others. We also love _schadenfreude_ — to see others, who we dislike or envy, lose. And as our discussion of Skinner boxes has shown, social media can become incredibly addictive. _The Glorification Effect_ also means that we seek to be famous on social media because fame leads to authority, expertise and eventually money. These are all strong incentives to seek fame and to continue using social media. If we dig deep, we could say that this all points towards the primal need to be desired by others. **And even deeper, this is a primal need borne of insecurity and the need for validation and attention.**[^19] In short, we are addicted to social media at a neurochemical level. We are behaviourally conditioned to crave more of it. It taps into our primal needs of socialisation, being desired by others, and receiving attention and validation. This is why we love social media so much. ## What Can I Do About It? [![What Can I Do About It](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/what-can-i-do-about-it.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/what-can-i-do-about-it.webp) This is the social media square. We have to weigh the benefits against the downsides of engagement and usage. It is not a gradient scale, but a two-axis visual plot, and where we fall on the plot tells us where we stand. Are we a monetised influencer, just an influencer, a user (aka “the product”), an addict, or simply disengaged? I believe we all need to come up with standards for ourselves for how we use social media. Write your own guidelines, and don’t be afraid to experiment. ### What Aaron did ![What Aaron did](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-media/what-aaron-did.webp) Here’s what I did. I started on social media completely disengaged — I disliked the game and did not want to play it at all. But as times change, so do opinions and realities. And so, with more and more of my friends active on social media, I joined. And I told myself, _“Hey, if I’m going to do this, I may as well be good at it and use it for my benefit.”_ Here are some of my guidelines: - No doom-scrolling. - No general “spare time” scrolling. - Don’t do it for the dopamine hits. - Try not to make “Open XYZ social media app” as the default behaviour when I pick up my phone. - Don’t take the phone into the toilet. - [All the same guidelines for minimising distractions when working](/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/) — phone in a different room, do not disturb mode. - When using social media for work, do it with a purpose — posts, comments, likes. - Use social media personally, but don’t seek fame. Keep in touch with friends, share my adventures, and tell stories. You can use these as a start, but you should also create your own. Some things I could be better at: - Engaging with others. - Promoting my brand more — learning, systemising, leveraging and applying. - Understanding how attention is hijacked, kept and utilised. ## What To Do Next Social media is a bit of an all-or-nothing part of our lives. Either we opt out, or learn to play the game. **If you enjoyed this essay, you’ll also enjoy [_Evolution_](/courses/evolution/).** It’s my short and completely free guide for taking your life to the next level. You can download it here: **Free: Evolution** — Get the Evolution — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/life/social-media/ [^1]: Hat tip: [Aki Yamaguchi](https://akinoyuutsu.com/). [^2]: Also, insane. [^3]: We produce 328.77 million terabytes per day. [https://www.statista.com/statistics/871513/worldwide-data-created/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/871513/worldwide-data-created/) [^4]: Now known as Timelines. [^5]: How we interact with our apps and phones. [^6]: For more, see the quasi-documentary, _[The Social Dilemma](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaaC57tcci0)._ [^7]: Also known as the _Instagram Lifestyle_ [^8]: See Cialdini, R. B. (2007). _Influence: The psychology of persuasion._ Harper Business. [^9]: Bolton, N. (Director). (2021). _Fake Famous_ \[Film\]. [^10]: There is a whole other rabbit hole here in how going against the opinions of their favourite influencers would shake the foundations of their identity by making them question advice and decisions. [^11]: You could argue that it only allow you to role-play as a star, as most people will never actually become stars through social media fame. [^12]: _Also a former client._ [^13]: (n.d.). _Attention spans._ Microsoft Canada. https://dl.motamem.org/microsoft-attention-spans-research-report.pdf [^14]: Lorenz-Spreen, P., Mønsted, B. M., Hövel, P., & Lehmann, S. (2019). Accelerating dynamics of collective attention. _Nature Communications, 10_(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09311-w [^15]: For a sobering look at what particular lifestyles actually cost, check out the [_Wall Street Journal’s_ excellent series on retirement in America](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-americans-retire-now-b1860f49). [^16]: Except defence contractors. [^17]: We have no Bill of Rights in Australia, but we have similar rights through statutes, the constitution and common law. [^18]: [Cambridge Analytica](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Facebook%E2%80%93Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal) anyone? [^19]: Otherwise, what is the point of acquiring two million followers who like your _risqué_ beachwear photos? > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Privacy https://aaronlynn.com/life/privacy/ 100 years from now, your great, great-grandchildren will be able to sit down at their version of a computer, go online, type in your name… and see exactly what you did at that one party when you were 21 and didn’t know any better. We ALL have a digital archive of what we’ve done in our lifetimes since we first hopped on the Internet. In many ways, the Internet signalled the end of personal privacy as we knew it. Everything we do or say can be put online and kept online — forever. Many will rage at this lack of privacy and say that it needs to be regulated. That our governments need to do more and that the corporate and authoritarian forces driving this invasion of privacy are evil. I disagree. I say a different approach is needed: **One where instead of worrying about what information is out there on us, we take ownership of it and live true and authentic to ourselves.** --- ## Defining Modern Privacy Most privacy issues in the modern day are digital in nature. This means not having our personal details and identifying particulars out there on the Internets for all to see. Usually this comes in a few forms: - Private photos or information you don’t want others to know about. - Annoyance at corporations knowing where you are, what you buy, what you like to buy and then using this data to better market to you. - Rage hate against ideologies/countries that are perceived as invasive of our privacy. - Paranoia or delusions of grandeur that there will be unspoken world-changing ramifications if your personal data were released or discovered by anyone else. It is important to note that privacy is primarily a Western, Anglocentric concept.[^1] Most countries had no concept of privacy beyond the basic “everyone has the right to close the front door of their house” until recently. ## The Privacy Paradox There is a paradox in our concept of privacy. It goes like this: **We all love our privacy… until we want to share a funny [cat](https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/gp2l76/she_loves_to_play_with_not_eat_cherries/) video online.** This is to say, we will happily trade away our privacy for technological convenience, entertainment and other things of value to us. This is obviously a bit of a paradox and of much confusion to privacy researchers. How can we be so resolute in demanding personal privacy… when we’re happy to throw it away to share videos of our pets or use something like Google Maps? I think what’s happening is that we are really trying to find our way on a gradient scale of privacy and value: [![Gradient Scale of Privacy](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/privacy/gradient-scale-privacy.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/privacy/gradient-scale-privacy.webp)
Gradient Scale of Privacy
The question is — how do we actually work out for ourselves where we should be on this scale ? ## Why You Should Care About Privacy It’s worth asking why you personally care about privacy. Is it because you’re doing something shady? Is it because there’s something you’re embarrassed about? Are you living true to yourself? That is, do you own everything you do and would be happy putting it on a giant billboard for all to see? Or is it more that you worry about what other people will think of you and judge you for? Because that’s more about status, ego and virtue signalling. Or worse, do you live in a society that persecutes your personal or political views? **The hard truth for most people is this: You are not important enough that anyone cares about your personal information.** The people I know who are the most paranoid about their personal privacy have zero reason to be. They live in countries where there is no real persecution. They’re normal people who are not famous or important. They don’t work in national security. For them, their paranoia over privacy is about ego and the fear of being judged for their preferences. There was a lot of recent rage over TikTok and their tracking of user data and behaviour. And yet, no one has ever been able to explain to me why it matters if the Chinese government knows that I prefer videos of [The Stokes Twins](https://www.tiktok.com/@stokestwins) over those of [Charli Damelio](https://www.tiktok.com/@charlidamelio). I tell these people this: If you are really that worried, live off the grid. No technology. No electricity. [No social media](/life/social-media/). No footprints. For most people though, we actually want the opposite of privacy. Anyone in business or a creative field knows that the worst thing for them is obscurity, not infamy. If the world wants to know that I’m a tall Asian-Australian writer who drinks too much green tea and has a penchant for waking up early… I’m all for it. ## The Other Side of Privacy: Why Businesses Want to Know More About You ![The Other Side of Privacy: Why Businesses Want to Know More About You](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/privacy/privacy-business.webp) The other side of privacy is businesses and corporations and **why** they want to know more about you as a consumer. Businesses **love** customer data. This is why tools like CRM exist. It’s why tracking and cookie technology exists. It’s why Google and Facebook are amazing ad platforms. **The big question is WHY?** Most people who don’t work in marketing assume that businesses want to know more about you for nefarious schemes. Like to “sell us stuff we don’t want” or to “build customer profiles to target us for their evil world domination plans”. As someone who has worked in marketing, let me give you the other side. Companies like Facebook and Google are essentially in the business of collecting data on consumers and then monetising this data using advertising. I think everyone knows this. For other businesses, they use this advertising and related technologies to find people who are more likely to buy their products. (I know, revolutionary 🙄.) Businesses don’t want to spend money spamming ads to customers who shouldn’t be seeing them. They want to specifically target customers who are their _ideal customers_ and say “hey, we think you’ll like this, let us know what you think”. Now this is heavily, heavily dependent on the business having a quality product. And I’ll be the first to say — there are a ton of shoddy products and services available for sale today that are backed by aggressively targeted marketing. _But that’s more a problem of product quality, not of privacy._ As an example, say you read this article and don’t like it. Well, in the future, I don’t want to accidentally put my content in front of you because it probably isn’t for you. I don’t take it personally, it’s just not good business practice to market your products and services to people who don’t want them. On the other hand, say you read this article and you do like it. Well then I want to make sure that the next time I write something similar, you’re one of the first people to hear about it. (On that note — if you DO like this article, be sure to check out my free manifesto, _[Evolution](/manifesto/)_.) At a personal level I believe that this system of businesses using consumer data to market to only people more likely to purchase their products is **a good thing**. I would much rather see ads for things I’m interested in like green tea, fitness gear or superhero movies, than for things I have no interest in like retiree insurance, goat yoga or televised football. People like to paint corporations as insidious and faceless entities but the truth is corporations are ultimately made up of people, including marketing people. And smart marketing people know that if they have a good product, they have an ethical duty to try to get it in front of as many ideal customers as possible. _This is why customer data for marketing purposes exists._ So yes, we can go tight on our privacy and not let companies track us or collect our information. But this means that the signal-to-noise ratio of things we’re marketed will go down[^2] because regardless of if we like companies having our data or not, we WILL be marketed to. That’s just the world we live in. If we want to take it one step further, we could argue that corporations have an ethical responsibility to only give us things that are good for us… which may or may not be what they are selling. And I agree with this. Businesses should NOT sell [half-baked products](/productivity/speed-and-accuracy/) and services that are bad for consumers. Some people will go even further and say that most people don’t know what’s actually good for them and just want to be distracted, and corporations are taking advantage of this by using personal data to sell bad things to people. Things like fast food, social media apps, or unnecessary travel to exotic locations. Well, let me introduce an idea here: **The only person who can really control you, is YOU.** Do you have the strength of character, purpose and enough mindfulness of your own interests to ignore things that aren’t good for you? Companies can get in front of you and say “Hey Aaron, I noticed you just bought a Breville tea maker. Would you like some sweet premium sencha imported from Japan 🇯🇵 to go along with that?” But at the end of the day, it’s YOUR decision whether you buy it or not. Yes, companies should not market you rubbish. But if you buy something, that’s YOUR decision to do so. (And yes, I did buy that sweet, sweet premium Japanese sencha 🍵.) ## The Other Side I Don’t Really Want to Talk About: Politics ![The Other Side I Don’t Really Want to Talk About: Politics](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/privacy/privacy-politics.webp) Some people will argue that privacy is important because there is the potential for voter profiles to be created (both legally and illegally) and then targeted for political advertising. [Cambridge Analytica and the 2016 US Presidential Election](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Facebook%E2%80%93Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal) and [Brexit](https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/27/brexit-ad-blitz-data-firm-paid-by-vote-leave-broke-privacy-laws-watchdogs-find/) are recent examples that come to mind. The truth is using personal information and building profiles this way flat-out _works_. It’s exactly the same as how companies build their ideal customer profiles. And with one big, big caveat, I think this is one area that the privacy campaigners have right and should continue working on. It’s one thing to buy $5 [Rilakkuma-themed post-it notes](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/356910339225897410/) you don’t really need… it’s another to have future-of-humanity decisions swayed by manipulative content. The caveat I have though, is the same as the one I had with businesses and privacy: No one is forcing you to vote one way or another. People may try to influence you and provide you with arguments and reasons, true or false. But at the end of the day, it’s still your decision. This is where critical thinking and reasoning abilities come into play, so that we can all make informed decisions about our collective futures. It’s also where knowing who you are and what you stand for is important. I would say that politics and privacy is a complex issue, but it is more of a lack-of-critical-thinking issue than a conspiratorial stealing-our-democracy-through-private-information issue. ## Privacy is Anglocentric I write for a fairly international audience. And some of you might be thinking: “**What’s all this fuss over privacy?”** Privacy was originally an Anglocentric concept. The places that care **the most** about privacy are, not surprisingly, the core Anglosphere — the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.[^3] Countries that have been heavily influenced by the Western democratic tradition like Japan and South Korea also strongly care about privacy. Ironically, these are probably also the places where governmental overreach into personal and private affairs is the _least_ likely to happen. Yet, their populations still care, and often care loudly. Why is that? I think in a democratic setting how much privacy you demand comes down to how much you trust your government. In places like Singapore, Germany or New Zealand… you don’t see people raging on about privacy because they trust their governments to be responsible with their data and private information. In places where people don’t trust their elected officials like Australia or the US, people are a lot more vocal about their privacy.[^4] In non-democratic settings it’s a bit more interesting. I believe that there is an intersection of: Perception of government, culture and persecution, that plays into how people approach privacy in their countries. [![Non-Democratic Privacy](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/privacy/non-democratic-privacy.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/privacy/non-democratic-privacy.webp) I’ll use Thailand as example, as that’s where I’m writing this from. The trust in the government here is generally low. Not in a conspiracy-theory kind of way, more in an ineptitude kind of way. But most people couldn’t care less about their privacy — they see themselves as having nothing to hide, and there’s nothing shameful going on. The culture is also fairly extroverted and I believe that plays a role. Outside of certain sensitive topics, persecution is uncommon. In other places, the people know that their governmental system is so bad that they don’t really care and just shrug and say “whatever” — and subsequently have zero expectation of privacy. In other places like China, it’s more complex. China gets beat up a lot by Western standards for having a one-party system of government.[^5] They also get railed on for a lack of civil rights. But independent Western studies show that the majority of average Chinese citizens trust their government.[^6] They’re happy to trade their privacy (and freedoms) for a rise in living standards and the continuation of Chinese civilisation. I like to think of this as the **privacy paradox** on a mass scale. If you were a rural labourer all your life and I told you that your children could all grow up to be white collar doctors, accountants, lawyers and professionals and all you had to do was give up your personal privacy when it comes to public or national security issues… would you say yes? In this case privacy (and other civil rights) are being traded for new cars, bigger houses, better food and more income instead of funny cat videos. It’s also worth noting that privacy and the freedom of speech are two related but different things. I think we can say that most governments really don’t care what you do or say _in private_. But many DO care what you say publicly — but that’s a freedom of speech issue, not a protection of personal privacy issue. If you grew up in the West you may just be thinking “but everyone should just have a right to privacy”. Well, we may value privacy, but it doesn’t mean the rest of the world does. ## My Personal Approach to Privacy ![My Personal Approach to Privacy](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/privacy/privacy-personal.webp) We’ve covered a lot of ground in this exploration of privacy and I wanted to close with some of my personal approaches to private information. I always tell my privacy-oriented friends: **If you need to record something private, write it down on paper. And burn it after. If you need to discuss something private, let’s talk in-person.** Basically, if you don’t want anyone to see it, don’t put it online. This being said, I think you **should be doing at least the basics to protect your personal data and information.** Just because it’s “OK” for companies and governments to have your data… that doesn’t mean you can be negligent about it. In practice this means: - It is your responsibility to protect your privacy and data, not your government’s or anybody else’s. - Use letter sealing and end-to-end encryption for your messaging. - Use a strong password manager like [1Password](https://1password.com/) and use different passwords for everything. - Use 2FA (two-factor authentication) for everything you can. - Know what data your apps have access to and fine-tune the controls. - If you don’t want anyone to see it, don’t put it online or on a device. There’s probably more than this you can do, but these are what I would consider the basics. ### Special cases Obviously there are special cases and exceptions to this. If you work in national security or a highly sensitive area, you should take your privacy very, very seriously and border on paranoia. I take this as having no social media presence, using air-gapped or siloed phones and devices and a VPN, and following your organisation’s guidelines to the letter. If you are an abuse victim past or present, you should take your privacy very seriously. If you live in a country that has clear persecution based on personal information, you should do your best to understand what the rules, laws, practices and norms are, and abide by them. ### A true independence approach One of the ideas that I talk about in my manifesto, [_Evolution_](/manifesto/), is true independence, or living true to your desires. It means “do your own thing and take ownership of who you are”, even if it’s not the societal norm. I believe this also applies to privacy. I am who I am in my writing, talking with my readers and clients and in my personal life — what you see is what you get. This is the idea of taking ownership of who I am and trying to be the best that I can be, with nothing to hide. I have no doubt that some of my hobbies and how I spend my time will raise eyebrows amongst certain people, but I’m OK with that.[^7] This approach to privacy means that we do what we have to in order to protect our privacy, but we aren’t going to start a revolution over it. People often forget that even though they control their own privacy, they can’t really control much else in life. If you tell something to a friend, neighbour, family member or co-worker and THEY are lax with that information… it’s bye-bye privacy. Because of this, I believe that we should really just live true to who we are, but to go about it in an intelligent and rational manner. Look out for your own interests and live how you want to live, but there’s no need to be outspoken about something for the sake of being outspoken about it. It seems like everybody wants their opinion heard nowadays, but there’s no reason behind it — they just want to be heard. Sometimes, to protect our privacy, it’s better to know who we are and live it… than to shout it from the rooftops for everyone to hear. This brings us back to the privacy paradox: Most of us want to protect our privacy, but are willing to trade some of it for modern convenience. And that’s perfectly fine. ## What To Do Next Probability states that if you’re reading this article, you don’t really need to worry about your personal privacy that much. Do what you believe is prudent to protect yourself and your personal information. But don’t go out of the way to inconvenience yourself because of unfounded paranoia. More importantly, live and be true to yourself. If you have nothing to hide, then you don’t really have anything to worry about. Photos by [Morning Brew](https://unsplash.com/@morningbrew?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Dor Farber](https://unsplash.com/@dor_farber?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Pawel Janiak](https://unsplash.com/@pawelj?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Markus Winkler](https://unsplash.com/@markuswinkler?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: DeCew, J. (2013). Privacy. In _Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy_. [https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2015/entries/privacy/](https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2015/entries/privacy/) [^2]: Down is bad for signal-to-noise ratio. [^3]: Ironically, these are also the [Five Eyes](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Five_Eyes) countries. [^4]: Interestingly, London has the most CCTV cameras per capita of anywhere in the world outside China. See Buchholz, K. (2020). _The most surveilled cities in the world._ [https://www.statista.com/chart/19256/the-most-surveilled-cities-in-the-world/](https://www.statista.com/chart/19256/the-most-surveilled-cities-in-the-world/) [^5]: Interestingly, Singapore and Japan are also effectively one-party states. See [https://www.wikiwand.com/en/People%27s_Action_Party](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/People%27s_Action_Party) and [https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Liberal_Democratic_Party\_(Japan)](). [^6]: Cunningham, E., Saich, T., Turiel, J. (2020). _Understanding CCP resilience: Surveying Chinese public opinion through time._ Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. [https://ash.harvard.edu/publications/understanding-ccp-resilience-surveying-chinese-public-opinion-through-time](https://ash.harvard.edu/publications/understanding-ccp-resilience-surveying-chinese-public-opinion-through-time) [^7]: Anyone else track how long it takes them to brew tea in the morning? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Technology and Humans https://aaronlynn.com/life/technology/ We live in a world completely surrounded by technology - from our ubiquitous smartphones to the appliances we use at home to the machines we use at work. The way we think, live and act is shaped by the technology around us. We are all already living with cybernetic enhancements - they just happen to physically sit outside of us, and the interfaces are really slow.[^1] Using technology is an advantage. It makes our lives easier, more seamless and more convenient. But this is only if we use it properly. **Do you use your technology or does it use you?** --- ## Why We Use Technology Traditional economic theory states that technology is an accelerating factor for productivity. It has the power to shift supply and demand curves like nothing else. Without technology, we would be worse off. Technology has allowed us to overcome environmental and other challenges and as a result, live better lives.[^2] Technology also represents the largest advancement ever in systems and their capabilities. And for me, **better systems means a better world**. ## Levels of Technology Here is a simple model of looking at technology. [![Levels of Technology](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/technology/technology-levels.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/technology/technology-levels.webp) In the very centre we have **personal technology**. This represents our phones, the apps we use and the conveniences we have in our homes. Around this is our **societal technology**. This is our communications networks, our access to fresh water, our manufacturing infrastructure. The things that our governments and societies worry about. And around this is our **global technology**. This is “future of humanity” stuff like spaceflight, energy production and environmental management. The things we all hope our governments worry about. ## Do You Use Your Technology or Does It Use You? **When you use your technology,** you can do amazing things at a superhuman level. You are like an adventurer wandering the digital plains, finding, using, and discarding information and tools as you make your way through a connected world. You take full advantage of your technology, and extend your reach beyond what you are physically capable of. With lighting and electricity grids, you can be productive long after the sun has set. With your smartphone, you can record thoughts, scenes, memories and the next world-changing idea anytime, and anywhere. With the Internet, you have access to the entire accumulated knowledge of humankind, at your fingertips. And you can do all this, while remaining who you are as an individual and a human being. **When technology uses you however,** you become part of someone else’s system. You find yourself unable to function without your smartphone, without your technology. You become just another subroutine in someone else’s code. You do things because a faceless software engineer somewhere wrote a function that conditions you to act and think in a certain way. This may be clicking on likes. This may be touching up images. This may be the way you input data into a computer at work. You become a cog in a ruthlessly efficient system that generates value for others - but none for yourself. You become a digital slave, building someone else’s empire. ## How to Use Your Technology, and Not Let It Use You Superhuman, or digital slave. The choice is obvious. So _how_ do we choose the right path? You simply ask yourself: **Do you operate the machine, or do you simply power it?** Do you write the code of your own life, or are you simply part of the code around us? Do you use technology to produce value for yourself, or are you simply consuming and producing value for others? Do you use social networks to reach new people and promote your message to the world… or do you simply consume and [take in other people’s messages](/productivity/eliminate-distractions-reclaim-attention/)? Do you use computer models to analyse data and speed up computations to make better business decisions… or do you simply do the data entry for someone else’s model? ## What To Do Next I don’t have all the answers to using technology, and making sure that we use it rather than it using us. But I do know that technology is great, and that we should be using it to our advantage, to produce, not to consume. **Do you use your technology or does it use you?** Photo by Jezael Melgoza. [^1]: I refer to the mouse, keyboards and screens. [^2]: Just imagine living with no electricity, no phones, no Internet and no buildings. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Social Atomisation https://aaronlynn.com/life/social-atomisation/ Picture this. You wake up in the morning, alone. You reach for your phone and see a bunch of messages. Half of them are ads, and the other half are from people you don't really care much for, so you ignore them. You do your thing, get dressed and head out for work. You get onto the train, which is crowded. You’re surrounded by strangers, but you have your earphones in and you don’t know any of them anyway. You get to your building and pick up a coffee. The barista is friendly and he’s kinda cute and knows your name, but you barely remember his. You get to the office. Your co-workers are cordial and friendly, but you wouldn’t exactly call any of them close friends. You do your work. Lunchtime rolls around. If you’re in London, you grab a sandwich you bought at Pret. If you’re in Singapore, you grab some chicken and rice. You eat lunch at your desk. You do more work. 6pm rolls around. It’s time to go home. You grab some food alone on the way home. Sometimes you quietly eat at a hawker centre, surrounded by strangers. Other times you just want to be alone and grab takeout and eat it at home. You wind down for the day with some Netflix, play on your phone for a bit and then go to sleep, alone. You’ve just gone through your entire day surrounded by people, but entirely and utterly alone. Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones. You get to catch up with a some friends for dinner and drinks on the weekend… but that’s your social contact for the week. 164 hours of being socially atomised. 4 hours of real human connection. --- ## Welcome to Social Atomisation This is what we call social atomisation.[^1] And it’s a problem , though it mostly exists through no real fault of our own. And thankfully there is a solution - connecting with others in the real world - but it’s not exactly _that simple_. ### Utterly Alone Yet Surrounded By People I’m sure you’ve felt it - something is a little bit off with the modern world. We have [all this amazing technology](/life/technology/). We have [hundreds of friends on Facebook](/life/social-media/) and [thousands of followers on Instagram](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/). We have lively conversations on Twitter all the time. And yet, while we are surrounded by people, we are utterly alone. What is happening, is we are spending all day interacting with people who we have no real ongoing relationship with. It could be our co-workers, our barista, or even random people on the train. We see them regularly, but they just kind of fade away into the background. Society has been set up in such a way where we can function as individual units with no real social bonds. Society makes it incredibly easy for us to live in our own self-contained bubbles. Society has been atomised. ### Who is Socially Atomised? Of course, this does not affect everyone. If you have a family you see every day, you are not socially atomised.[^2] If you live in a close-knit community of strong ties, you are not socially atomised. But for everyone else, social atomisation is very real. It could be because you are an introvert and gain the most energy being by yourself.[^3] It could be you have just moved to a new/big city for work, and you only have a couple of close friends and no S.O. yet. It could be because you’re older and retired - many of your friends and family have moved or passed away, and you spend more and more time by yourself. Or it could just be that somewhere between university[^4] and work and before family life, the explosion in global connectedness has left you a little overwhelmed. ## What Happens When We Are Socially Atomised? There is a very real-world effect when you are socially atomised. ### We Become Smartphone Zombies Let’s start with the obvious one - most socially atomised people nowadays are essentially **smartphone zombies**. They are so [completely engrossed with technology](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/), that they have forgotten how to relate to the real world. I went to renew my passport the other day. Every booth had a small sign that read “If you can manage it, please put your phone away for the 10 minutes it takes us to complete your application”. That we even need a sign like that is telling. Younger people today spend their days broadcasting, commenting and liking things on their phone… but never talking in person.[^5] And because of this they do not have the ability to relate to people in real life. They can’t confront others. They can’t assert what they want. They can’t express how they feel. **They experience life as a flash of unrelated events with zero continuity, because that's how we use our phones.** For everything that they want to do, they wish there was an app that could do it for them. They are more likely to take a photo of something, post it online and meta-comment on it, than to interact with it in the real world. This makes sense. When you are socially atomised, you cannot connect with people, so you connect with the only other major source of stimulation in your environment - your phone. This leads to poor boundaries, poor communication skills and the occasional person who watches videos on their phone while walking. Obviously, this is bad for the person who is socially atomised. But it also affects the people around them. ### We See Others As Non-Playable Characters (NPCs)[^6] When we are socially atomised, other people fade into the background. We stop seeing other people as **real people**. We often forget that there is another living, breathing human being at the other end of the app or call. Other people simply become non-playable characters (NPCs) to us - characters we can briefly interact with, but otherwise readily ignore. One of the effects of social atomisation is that people don’t see flesh-and-blood people in front of them anymore. They have been become accustomed to seeing people on two-dimensional screens. I had a friend describe it to me like this the other day: “People have become options. Like browser tabs. If we don’t like them or something else more interesting comes up, we just close the tab and don’t think twice about it.” Consider the danger in this - other living, breathing human beings have become something we can just swipe away or click close on. ### We Start To Exhibit Strange Social Behaviours Social atomisation leads to a few interesting social behaviours. The first is a whole generation of people who have **poor social and sensory skills**. When you are used to seeing people as two-dimensional objects on a screen, you lose all the rich sensory information that comes with connecting with people in real life. The shape of someone’s face. How their hair flows. How their lips move to form the tone and rhythm of their speech. How they rest their weight on one leg as they smile and talk to you. The second is **ghosting**, where someone just ups and vanishes from another person’s life completely. You could argue that at a personal level this is somewhat acceptable, but even businesses are starting to see professional ghosting nowadays: candidates who don’t show up for job interviews, or employees who walk out on a Friday, never to return. The third is **social unreliability**. Some people call this flakiness, though I think that is a little bit different. This is more along the lines of “let’s catch up… if something better doesn’t come up between now and then”. What this person is saying is essentially “I’m socially atomised, so I just seek out the biggest, shiniest source of stimulation that I can find. Right now that’s you, but if anything shinier or brighter comes along, I’ll completely forget about you and go do that instead”. Aristotle believed that the overarching [purpose of life](/productivity/purpose/) was long-term happiness. Being socially atomised does not make us happy in the long term. More likely, it results in a lot of aimless wandering, with no real mission or purpose. ![Aimless wandering, meet pinball machine](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/life/social-atomisation/aimless-wandering-like-pinball.webp)
Sort of like a pinball bouncing all over the place.
This leads to a life where we just respond to what other people script us to do - bouncing like a pinball from NPC to NPC… until we become an NPC ourselves. ## Why Do We Socially Atomise Ourselves? I mentioned earlier that social atomisation can happen through no real fault of our own. And here’s why I believe that. ### Because Of Structural Atomisation Firstly, there are **structural factors** in play. These are just features of the modern world that we have little or no control over - they simply _are_: - **Urbanisation**. This is more people moving to [big cities for work](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization_and_World_Cities_Research_Network). - **Open borders** and the **ability to relocate**. - **Decline of traditional family and social units**, which results in everything from fragmented family units to bad/absent parenting.[^7] - **Anonymity**, especially online. When you don’t know who another person is and you think they don’t know who you are, you feel that your actions have no real-world consequences, and viciousness often comes out. - **Anomie**. This is a lack of moral guidance from the community to individuals. This is partly because of Western values (more on this below) and partly because of technology. - **Technology**. Specifically, phones and the Internet. I am not saying that we should reverse all of these things. Some of them have done a lot of good for the world and humanity. It is just that sometimes with the good, comes some bad. ### Because Of Individualism Secondly, there is the **dominance of Western values in the world**. By this I mean liberalism and individualism. Look, I love individualistic culture as much as anyone else who grew up in the West. But we have to realise that it comes with a cost - and that cost is social atomisation. Individualistic culture creates a sense of competition and performance demands. As a result, we end up focusing heavily on achievement and forget to connect with the people around us. It is great that we get to be individuals, but taken too far, it can deprive us of our connections with others. ### Because Of Technology, Knowledge and Ideas Thirdly, **technology has fragmented our acquisition of knowledge and ideas**. We now have the ability to pick and choose what we want to learn and consume. So we learn a little bit here, and a little bit there. And somewhere along the way, we lose context. This is not necessarily a bad thing - it can be an incredibly efficient way to cover a lot of ground quickly. But overdone, it means that what we learn and know often has no coherent structure. We are not receiving a “complete education” anymore. Another thing that technology has allowed for is the creation of very specific online niche communities and tribes. This is great on the one hand, and terrible on the other. Yes, we get to hone-in on the one specific thing that we enjoy and find other like-minded people. But it sometimes comes at the cost of ignoring the wider world and society-at-large. ### Because… Is This All In Our Heads? Lastly, it is worth asking if social atomisation is a **self-created problem** or something that has simply resulted from the **current state of the world**. I believe it is a bit of both. It is not just teenage or millennial angst, as there are real structural reasons for social atomisation. But at the same time, we do often make it worse for ourselves. Look, I get it. [I’m an introvert.](/productivity/passion-for-systems-thinkers-intj/) There are times when I want to do nothing more than stay in, put on some noise-cancelling headphones, ignore all my messages, block out the rest of the world and just do what I do. I also _love_ automation and systems and technology. And yes, people can be an absolute pain sometimes. But then I remember why I do what I do. Some of it is for me, yes, but a large part of it is also for others. Humanity’s greatest advantage as a species is our ability to cooperate with others whom we often don’t have strong ties with. And even though modern society is so-well structured and [systemised](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) that I could function entirely fine on my own for the next thirty, forty or fifty years… it is not likely to lead to long-term happiness. ## What We Can Do About Social Atomisation There are two aspects to handling social atomisation. There’s your **mindset**, or how you think about it. And then there are your **actions**, or what you can do in the real world. ### Handling Mindset There are three big things that you can remind yourself of: **1\. We are made for others, not just ourselves.** This comes from Stoicism. We exist on this planet and in this life not just for ourselves, but for others as well. You cannot live in a bubble of one. This can be hard to stomach if you are an introvert, but you will be a better person if you believe it and live this way, even if it doesn’t fit your nature immediately. **2\. Your life is yours to live.** You live in the greatest movie/video game/series of all time, and you are the hero. How do you choose to develop your character: - Will you go out exploring amongst the people and world at large? - Or will you sit in your house and let the world pass you by? **3\. There is no right or wrong way to connect with people, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.**[^8] When it comes to people, do what makes you happy. Some people have friends they just go to museums with. Some people have friends they only see every month or two as they’re all busy hustling. Some people have friends they watch Netflix with. Whatever it is you like to do, so long as you are connecting with others, what other people think can be damned. ## Taking Action Let’s [get practical](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). The first thing is to learn **[solid communication and social skills](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/)**. The second is to **go beyond your specific niche community and bubble**. This could be the forums or subreddits you frequent online. It could be your self-contained neighbourhood bubble. Go join some new tribes and groups. Some will be good, some will be bad. That’s just how life is, and there is nothing wrong with that. I’m a millennial. As a generation we have certain… issues… but we were still forced to interact with the wider world as part of growing up. We joined sports teams, community groups, companies AND hopped online and found/founded all sorts of niche communities. I worry a bit when I see my younger cousins or friends in Generation Z. From the time they were able to hold a smartphone, they were able to join very niche groups and tribes right away… but a lot of them did so at the expense of interacting with the wider world. The third thing is the cliched advice to **go out into the real world and make human connections**. This could be at school, at work, in industry.[^9] Join community groups. Play team sports. Find religion. Whatever it is, it is not going to be found within the four edges of your phone screen. ## What To Do Next Go out and connect with someone. Preferably in the real world, but online if you have to. It will be good for them, and good for you. If you can’t find anyone - connect with me on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/aaronlynnme/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/aaronlynnme) and we’ll talk. Photos by Jezael Melgoza and [Heather McKean](https://unsplash.com/@hjmckean?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: The actual correct term is _social isolation_, but it just doesn’t sound as sexy. There’s also _social alienation_ but that has political connotations which just confuses things. [^2]: Though you could argue that many people living in families they can’t relate to ARE socially atomised. [^3]: Extroverts usually force themselves to go out and be amongst the people because that’s how they energise themselves. [^4]: College for Americans. [^5]: OK, this applies to some older people as well. [^6]: I refer to NPC in the non-political video game sense. [^7]: Ever seen a parent hand their child an iPad to keep them entertained? [^8]: That includes me by the way. [^9]: Yes, you can incorporate “human connection” as part of your work. Pretty cool right? > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ ## business ### How to Hire a COO or Ops Person https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/ An extremely common question for business owners in the $500k+ a year range is how to hire an operations person. This is because they want someone to take care of running the business, so they can either: 1. **Focus on a specific part that they like,** be it thought leadership, business development or something else. 2. **Take some time off,** finally. So… how do you hire a “COO”, operations manager or operations person? --- ## Signs You Actually Need an Ops Person ![Signs You Actually Need an Ops Person](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/signs-you-actually-need-ops-person.webp) Here are the signs that you actually need an operations person in your business… and aren’t just [burnt out](/productivity/recovery-time/) or [being lazy](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). 1. You have 4+ people on your team. 2. You are overwhelmed. You literally do not have enough time to do client delivery, rally the troops, take care of the administrative side (finances, payroll etc) and to set aside enough personal time in your life to make it all worthwhile. 3. You feel like there’s a lack of organisation, structures, [systems](/productivity/systems-thinking/), and [processes](/business/critical-core-processes/). 4. You’re passing on growth opportunities constantly. 5. There’s unclear or poor financial performance. 6. You have team management problems like high staff turnover. 7. There are operations items you don’t really understand or enjoy doing, like the finances. If you’re experiencing half or more of the above… it’s time to hire an operations person. ## Defining Operations ![Defining Operations](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/defining-operations.webp) The first thing you need to do is to define what operations actually means. This is because the term “ops” in business in a bit of a misnomer. It actually refers to three different things: 1. **Client operations,** which is delivery, fulfilment, client management and vendor management. 2. **Internal operations,** which is finance, administration, data analysis, strategy execution, team management and legal/compliance. 3. **Technical operations,** which is apps, software and technology management. All three areas will have aspects of systems, people, technology, and processes involved. **Before you can hire an “ops person” you need to know which areas of operations you are hiring for and exactly what this person will do.** At a large company, the COO would take care of all these areas. But they also have a plethora of managers reporting to them to help with each of these areas. To expect one person to take care of _all of these areas_ in a small business is somewhat unreasonable — unless they are being compensated very, very well. Speaking of which… ## Compensation for Operations Managers and Coordinators What should you pay your operations person? This varies a lot. If you are looking for a Western-based operations person who can handle client ops, internal ops and technical ops… expect to pay $10,000/month and up. This person will essentially be running your business on your behalf, and would thus expect to be paid in line with what you take home yourself. If they only handle 1-2 of these areas, then they _may_ expect less. If they are in the developing world, expect compensation to be $4,000/month and up. ## Don’t Call Your Ops Person a COO ![Don’t Call Your Ops Person a COO](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/dont-call-your-ops-person-coo.webp) If you have a small business,[^1] there is zero need to call your ops person a COO. What you really need is someone to run your client ops, internal ops, and technical ops. If you put out a job ad for a COO, they will expect COO-levels of compensation, i.e., $15,000-$20,000+ a month. Instead, call them something more appropriate: **Operations Coordinator, or Operations Manager.** Why do entrepreneurs like to call this position, “COO”? _Because of ego._ Because they call themselves a “CEO” and think that their senior people then need to be a “CMO”, “COO” and so on. The reality is, they are not CEOs. Having five team members does not make them a CEO. _Coca-Cola_ is not headhunting them to be their CEO. **They are, however, founders and business owners — and that is not any less impressive.** ## Tip: Get External Ops Help First One underutilised approach as you look to hire operations help is to engage an external consultant first. What this means is instead of hiring an operations person and expecting them to: 1. Run the business day-to-day, 2. Build the systems, and 3. Optimise the business all at the same time… You hire an external systems consultant to help build your systems, streamline your processes, and then hand all that over to your new operations person. **What does this look like?** ![What does this look like?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/what-does-this-look-like.webp) Here is how it looked for a luxury travel client I recently worked with. We completed project work around streamlining their sales, recruitment, technology, and operations processes. We then did a hiring project to source, interview and hire a general manager (client ops, internal ops and some tech combined). I then facilitated the knowledge transfer to the new general manager. The end result? **They added over $1.5m to their annual revenue — and the business owner can catch up on some sleep now.** [If you would like to explore doing the same in your business, you can book a free discovery call with me here](/discovery-call/). ## Fractional Ops ![Fractional Ops](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/fractional-ops.webp) Another alternative to hiring an operations manager full-time is to hire a Fractional COO.[^2] This is essentially an operations person who works for you part-time, but still gets everything done. Doing this enables you to pick up top-notch talent at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. So, you can bring onboard a $10,000+ a month ops person… for a fraction of that. Just be clear exactly what kind of fractional operations person you are looking for. This works extremely well for internal and technical ops, less so for client ops. I occasionally offer fractional COO services to select clients. [More details here](/contact/). ## Recruiting an Operations Person [![Recruiting an Operations Person](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/recruiting-operations-person.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/recruiting-operations-person.webp) The [recruitment process](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/) for an operations person is no different than for any other hire. You begin with a **[job scorecard](/business/job-scorecards/).** **If you want a scorecard with objectives, accountabilities, and competencies for an operations person already filled in, you can grab it here:** ![Grab Your Pre-Filled Ops Job Scorecard](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/grab-your-pre-filled-ops-job-scorecard-horizonatal.webp) **Free: Ops Job Scorecard** — Get the Ops Job Scorecard — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/ You then **source candidates** through your network or recruiters. I suggest doing **screening interviews** over Zoom, or asking for video cover letters in the worst-case. You should then do in-person or Zoom **tandem career history interviews,** followed by a **final interview** with some of their to-be senior reports. Start with many candidates, narrow it down, and then choose from the top three candidates. ## Onboarding an Ops Person ![Fractional Ops](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/onboarding-ops-person.webp) Onboarding a senior operations person is a little different from onboarding a frontline employee. Before they arrive, have as much of the tech and systems in place that will support their work — especially if they’re coming onboard to focus on client operations. If they’re going to be focused on internal or technical operations, then they will likely reorganise and upgrade your systems when they start. From there, you want to make sure that all the standard technical, account and administrative setup is complete. **On their first day,** give them the company culture speech. Introduce them to everyone in the company. Then sit down and discuss their KPIs and job scorecard, to set clear expectations. Then comes training. **It’s valid to ask — how exactly do you train an operations person who is supposed to do many things?** Well, if there are specific systems or processes they will heavily use, training is warranted. Otherwise, once recruitment is complete, but before they start, have a conversation with them. Tell them that they are coming into a senior role, and that the expectation for them to come up with an operational plan during their first few weeks. **Week 1** for them will be to acclimatise to how the company runs, and to **start coming up with a plan** — both for how to run the company, and how to execute operational improvements. **Week 2** is for them to discuss and refine the plan with you, while starting to run the day-to-day. **Week 3** onwards is execution. At the level of an operations manager, they are expected to perform — not have their hand held. That being said, you should do one-on-ones, coaching and mentoring with them as you would with any other team member. ## Assessing Your Operations Person’s Performance ![Assessing Your Operations Person’s Performance](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/assessing-your-operations-person-performance.webp) How and when do you assess an operations person’s performance? The first time is at the end of their probation period. The second will be ongoing, at the end of every quarter. You should use the **accountabilities and KPIs** on their job scorecard to start, and supplement with **company OKRs** and their contributions towards them. Assessing an operations person is actually very straightforward because their work affects the entire company, and is reflected in the company financials. If you need a more holistic view, consider doing [360-degree feedback evaluations](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/360-degree_feedback) of their peers to create an all-round picture of how they work with the team, clients, and vendors. ## Grab Your Pre-Filled Ops Job Scorecard Want to speed up your search for an operations person? ![Grab Your Pre-Filled Ops Job Scorecard](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/grab-your-pre-filled-ops-job-scorecard-horizonatal.webp) Grab my job scorecard that has objectives, accountabilities, and competencies for an operations person filled in already: **Free: Ops Job Scorecard** — Get the Ops Job Scorecard — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/ ## What To Do Next Start hiring your operations person. Work out what they will do. Give them an appropriate job title. Determine compensation. Define their role with a job scorecard. And grab the pre-filled scorecard above for a head start. Get outside help to expedite the process. Recruit them and onboard them. [And if you need help with any of this, reach out to me here](/discovery-call/). [^1]: Say, under $20m a year. [^2]: In EOS they like to call this a “[Fractional Integrator](/business/vision-implementation/)” though I find that the terminology confuses more than helps. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### How to Build a Leadership Team https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/ The transition from being a solopreneur to being a business owner with a team is tough. It is even tougher to form a **solid leadership team** that is capable of helping you run the business and [grow it without being 100% reliant on your effort](/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/). Usually, one of two things will happen as your business grows. If it’s been planned ahead of time, you bring onboard the right mix of junior and senior people, and the company grows naturally in the right direction. If it hasn’t been planned well ahead of time, then business owners tend to bring onboard a lot of junior people. This is due to their lack of trust in others’ abilities, or lack of trust with sensitive information like financials. Companies like this end up with a business owner at the top, and a plethora of low-skilled workers at the bottom, and hit a growth and management ceiling. This leads us to ask: 1. Why do we need a leadership team? 2. What does a good leadership team look like? 3. What makes a good leadership team member? 4. What do we do with our leadership team? 5. How can companies in different situations go about forming their own leadership teams? --- ## What Does a Good Leadership Team Look Like? Let’s start with the first two: 1. Why do we need a leadership team? 2. What does a good leadership team look like? **A good leadership team helps you, as the business owner, lead and manage the company better.** Think about the stereotypical business owner you know. They’re running around, making big decisions, trying to close key accounts, occasionally dipping into the technical work, and on top of it all, trying to manage and corral the team daily. They are the antithesis of being “energised, focused and well-rested”. And this is why you need a leadership team in your business. **A leadership team in a small business, is responsible for management and execution.** This means that you can make executive-level decisions about the future of the company, then pass over the implementation and execution to the leadership team, who will make it happen. _You set the vision, the leadership team turns it into reality._ And as a result, you, as the business owner, are well-rested, and have the mental, temporal and physical space to spend more time thinking strategically about the future of the company. How does this actually look? **A good leadership team in a small business consists of:** - You as the CEO/founder of the company. - Heads of departments.[^1] - A couple of highly skilled technicians who are on the leadership team for their technical depth and expertise. The leadership team should provide full coverage across all critical process and business functions. In other words, every “Who” box on these charts should have a name assigned:[^2] [![Process Accountability Chart](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/process-accountability-chart.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/process-accountability-chart.webp) [![Functional Accountability Chart](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/functional-accountability-chart.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/functional-accountability-chart.webp) It is better to think of this as the “key roles” that make up a leadership team, rather than the traditional corporate-level CEO, CFO, CMO etc. ## What Makes a Good Leadership Team Member? By definition, a good leadership team member is capable of taking accountability for a critical process or function within the business. Beyond that, it is useful for them to have some **managerial capability.** That is, the ability to determine the strengths and weaknesses of team members and assign tasks accordingly. Some **leadership capability** is also warranted. This is the ability to unify people around a singular vision and path forward,[^3] though this is less important unless they are also the General Manager or CEO in place of you. Leadership team members must also have _some_ **technical skill.** This will make team members respect them more, which in turn will make management easier. It also means they will be able to jump in and help with frontline work so that you don’t have to. Standard **[project management skills](/business/project-management-for-service-providers-video/)** are also expected. They must be able to use the apps and systems, and also plan, start, manage and drive the completion of projects. They must also strongly **display and champion [company values](/business/company-culture/) and the company mission.** And of course, they should **work well with you** and preferably complement your strengths and weaknesses. ## What Do You Actually Do With Your Leadership Team? ![What Do You Actually Do With Your Leadership Team?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/what-do-you-actually-do-with-your-leadership-team.webp) Once you have assembled your leadership team — what do you actually do together? The first two things are to make sure that your **process accountability chart** and **functional accountability chart** are correctly filled out. Then you want to integrate them into your **[real-time meeting rhythm](/business/business-meetings/):** - A **daily leadership team [huddle](/business/daily-standups/)** (as a round up for all other daily team huddles). - Having the entire leadership team present for all **[weekly meetings](/business/weekly-meetings/).** Or, if the company is big enough, having a separate leadership team meeting. - In and leading your **monthly meeting.** Leadership team members should help evaluate the show-and-tell parts of this meeting, and also deliver training as a form of knowledge transfer to frontline team members. - Alongside you for **[strategic planning](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/)** during quarterly and annual meetings. Your leadership team will also act as your sounding board for making major business decisions. You lean on their expertise, perspective and experience, and then decide.[^4] You will want to invest in their personal and professional development. This means managerial training, leadership training, taking an interest in their personal lives and helping them resolve conflicts there, and taking them to key meetings with partners, vendors and important clients. Day-to-day, they act as your eyes and ears at the frontline level of the company and provide you with direct team and market feedback. ## How Do I Formulate My Leadership Team? There are usually three common scenarios for forming a leadership team: 1. **Skilled Potential:** The business has 10+ people and has skilled people onboard, but there is no formalised leadership team. 2. **Apex Structure Mistake:** The business has 10+ people, but only frontline workers onboard, with you running everything else. 3. **Advanced Planning:** The business is still growing, and you’d like to plan your leadership team correctly from the start. Let’s look at how to handle each of these scenarios. ### Scenario 1: Skilled Potential ![Scenario 1: Skilled Potential](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/skilled-potential.webp) The **Skilled Potential scenario** usually happens where a company has grown over time, usually to 10+ team members, and no real thought has been given to its operational structure. There is a good mix of junior and senior people in the company, but there are no regular meetings of senior people — yet. This typically happens when the CEO/founder is a workaholic and likes having close control of everything, and is running around doing far too many things. _This seems bad, but is actually the best place to be for developing a leadership team, apart from already having a solid leadership team in place._ The first thing to do here is to **fill out your process and functional accountability charts.** [![Process Accountability Chart](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/process-accountability-chart.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/process-accountability-chart.webp) [![Functional Accountability Chart](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/functional-accountability-chart.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/functional-accountability-chart.webp) Start by assigning critical process and functions to department heads. And for any remaining roles, ask if there are any non-managers who can be accountable for those — there usually will be, and they will usually be skilled frontline technicians. _Note: Some companies are organised by regional offices, in which case the leadership team can be comprised of the heads of each office._ Once the accountability charts have been filled in — that’s your leadership team. ### Scenario 2: Apex Structure Mistake ![Scenario 2: Apex Structure Mistake](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/apex-structure-mistake.webp) The second scenario is the **Apex Structure Mistake,** and this usually happens to self-funded [solopreneurs](/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/) with online companies. They start their business and then hire a lot of freelancers/VAs/low-skilled labour from Upwork and similar places. They aren’t willing to invest in systemisation, delegation or well-paid senior people, and thus the financials, management, systems and administrative tasks all remain in their hands. They likely also have trouble trusting others/letting go of these functions. This results in a company that has one CEO/business owner and 20+ frontline delivery people, with few/none capable of managing or leading. This is obviously a problem. It is extremely difficult to elevate someone from the most junior position in the company (and who is probably underpaid) into a leadership position. They simply do not have enough [skin in the game](/business/business-owners-do-not-do/) in terms of compensation or respect. And, the entire employment frame has been, “you are a frontline worker, not management material”.[^5] So, what can we do? **The first thing is to take a hard and detailed look at the existing staff.** MAYBE there is some potential there. For example, anyone who has: - Expressed interest in doing something apart from the day-to-day work. - Has shown some leadership potential through trial work and once-off tasks. If you put any of these employees onto the leadership team, be prepared to: 1. Pay them more. 2. Provide them with **a lot** of training in managerial and leadership skills. **And I do mean a lot.** 3. Respect their opinions. This is an extremely difficult task, mainly because everyone on the team is used to the apex structure that was in place. Most business owners I have helped with this find that **no one** on their team is actually suitable, which brings us to our second option. And that is to **hire from outside the company.** You want to find these types of people: - Online business managers. - Fractional executives. - People with managerial experience (i.e., they have had people report to them before). - More senior technical people who would like to try managing others. And be prepared to compensate them at managerial levels for their work. Whoever you bring onboard for a leadership team role needs to actually work in the business — they must deliver work, and manage projects and departments. You are bringing them on to work first, and be part of the leadership team second. The truth is escaping the Apex Structure Mistake is very, very difficult and there are no real secrets here, you simply have to do the best you can with what you have. ### Scenario 3: Advanced Planning ![Scenario 3: Advanced Planning](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/advanced-planning.webp) The final scenario is the **Advanced Planning scenario.** This is for business owners who may have a much smaller team of say four people, and want to “plan and do it right”. If you are one of these business owners, here’s how you should proceed. You should hire as the business needs. And you should not be afraid to hire more senior or experienced people. This will help you avoid the Apex Structure Mistake scenario where you end up with a team of only $4/hour VAs. Don’t expect any “experienced hires” to be 100% functional on day one — they still need to be trained in how things are done at the company, but they will be productive much faster than a junior hire. You should also invest in developing all your people into more senior people. Send them to trainings and have them take online courses. Pass down your knowledge to them regularly. Every now and then, see who has management potential by giving them semi-managerial tasks here and there. For example, “Go and find us a freelancer on [Upwork](https://upwork.com/) who does XYZ.” You will, of course, also want to start drawing out your critical process and functional accountability charts. In the beginning, most of the boxes are going to have your name in them, but that will change over time. As the team passes the 7+ people mark, you can start organising a leadership team. It may just be you and one manager to start, but will grow as more people join the company. Add them to the accountability charts and spin up a [real-time meeting rhythm](/business/business-meetings/). ## Get Your Leadership Team Onboard with Company Culture In order to get your leadership team on the same page as you, they need to believe in the company culture. _And for that to happen, you have to have a company culture._ ![Get Your Leadership Team Onboard with Company Culture](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/company-culture-cheatsheet-horizontal.webp) The easiest way to do that is to grab my **Company Culture Cheatsheet** and use it to rapidly write up what the company’s mission and values are, and how its goals can support that. Grab it here: **Free: Culture Cheatsheet** — Get the Culture Cheatsheet — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/ ## What To Do Next Work out which scenario best fits your business, and then follow the action steps to start formulating your leadership team. Grab the _Company Culture Cheatsheet_ to accelerate the process. And if you need a bit more expert help in working this all out, [book your free discovery call with me](/discovery-call/). I have recently helped companies in all three Skilled Potential, Apex Structure and Advanced Planning scenarios navigate their way to a solid leadership team, and will be able to help you too. [^1]: Or pillars, or areas, or teams. [^2]: And no one person should be accountable for too many things. [^3]: i.e., company values and mission. [^4]: Because a small business is still a benevolent dictatorship. [^5]: That may not seem fair or politically correct, but that’s how it works in terms of psychology. > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### Why Company Culture Matters https://aaronlynn.com/business/why-company-culture-matters/ Have you ever purchased a plane ticket, then needed to change something like your departure time or seat number? You go to the airline’s website... and it doesn’t work. You look for a phone number... and it’s impossible to find. After some Googling, you locate the number and then have to navigate through 10 minutes worth of menus and AI voice-prompts before you can talk to someone. Then when you finally get a “customer service agent” on the phone, you find out that it can’t be done. _“Sorry sir, we can’t do that.”_ _“Sure, there will be a penalty fee of $150 for that change.”_ _“Yes, you can speak with my manager. Oh wait, they’re busy right now... but we can call you back tomorrow if you like.”_[^1] Why does this happen? You would think with the number of daily flights, and the size and scale of these companies, it would be simple to streamline something like customer service... right? **This happens because of bad company culture.** It happens because somewhere at the top, the company culture is rotten. The managers, the boss, or the board, have subconsciously let people know that _it’s OK to behave like this_ 🤫. **And that’s what you, as the customer, experiences.** Now for something like changing an air ticket, this is a minor inconvenience. The fact is once your flight is done, [you forget all about it and continue on with your life](/productivity/standards/). But, what about if it’s for a business that’s more critical, like ongoing medical care. Or, what if it was for the CRM app that your company depends on for sales and _has_ to use daily? **And more importantly, what if your staff are acting the same way towards clients, and you aren’t even aware of it?** --- ## Recap: What is Company Culture? ![Recap What is Company Culture](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/why-company-culture-matters/recap-what-is-company-culture.webp) If a company was a person, its culture would be their personality. This is separate from the actual product and service, or even the value offered. In the systems world [we tactically break down culture into](/business/company-culture/): - Mission. - Values. - [Leadership team](/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/). - [Goals](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/). And this in turn outputs as company behaviour, which is what your team and customers experience. ## Why Culture Matters To Your Customers ![Why Culture Matters To Your Customers](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/why-company-culture-matters/why-culture-matters-to-your-customers.webp) If we think back to our plane tickets, we may realise that our businesses are not performing as well as they could be because of culture. Or worse, we could potentially be **losing** business and profits because of bad culture. **Good culture** gives customers a pleasant experience in dealing with the company, which leads to repeat business, referrals, testimonials and raving fans. It gives customers a rationalisation to come back and buy from you again, even if there are minor inconveniences or additional costs. **Bad culture** costs business, and for customers creates an acrimonious experience in dealing with the company, guaranteeing low rates of repeat business and negative word of mouth. Culture can be thought of as the “good will” which explains why we like some brands and companies more than others. It is a hidden part of your USP. A strong company culture can also polarise your customers. Those who like you are evangelical raving fans. Those who don’t like you stay away — and keep their problems away as well. ## Why Culture Matters Internally ![Why Culture Matters Internally](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/why-company-culture-matters/why-culture-matters-internally.webp) The impact of company culture on your customers is obvious. But what about internally? Have a strong company culture is having strong agreed-upon standards of behaviour at work. **This means that the team can operate at and above expected customer needs, which is good for business.** A really bad metaphor is that having employees is like having children. You have to tell them the same things over and over again and keep them in line, lest they run amok. And that’s where culture comes in — it keeps the kids disciplined and the adults responsible. **When culture is done right, business teams run smoothly and productively.** What this means is that there is little in-team drama, and ideas are shared comfortably and openly, which is good for creativity, innovation and motivation. In turn, this means that work flows faster and more efficiently, and everyone does a better job because there is less friction in the workplace. **All this translates into more clients, better clients, more profit per client, and faster and better work delivered.** When you improve company culture, you improve every aspect of the business without directly improving any of it. It’s a qualitative form of innovation that results in quantitative effects in increased revenue, profits, productivity and efficiency. ### Measuring culture **How do you measure the impact of a changed company culture?** Simple. You take your P&L from a year before the culture was changed. Then you take your P&L from the year after. The difference will be obvious, and you will usually see more profits 😉. Ok, I kid. Sort of. You can also measure the impact of cultural changes by using leading indicators like: - Reduced [staff turnover](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/). - Reduced client turnover due to more satisfied clients and more repeat business. - More profit per X (client, product, team member). ### Other benefits of culture As the business owner you also reap the benefits of a better company culture. It generally means less time spent managing the company, a reduction in overhead across the company, and **more overall [efficiency](/productivity/productivity-stack/).** It also helps you **alleviate business risks** around team members, as more of the team are willing to jump in if a team member suddenly departs. It also allows you to form **a strong leadership team,** which is essential for business growth and scaling. ## Case Studies of Company Culture ![Case Studies of Company Culture](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/why-company-culture-matters/case-studies-of-company-culture.webp) What follows are three case studies of bad, “average” and good company culture. These are all real companies that I have either worked with or have detailed knowledge of. Some details have been changed to protect the less-than-innocent. ### Culture example 1: How not to do culture ![Culture example 1 How not to do culture](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/why-company-culture-matters/culture-example-1-how-not-to-do-culture.webp) **This is a $2m/year professional services firm headed by a narcissistic founder.** They have a **mission and values** established, but this is just for show. Everything seems fine on the surface, but because of bad culture, they have multiple problems. The first is a **high staff turnover rate** of about 25% per year. This is in spite of their compensation packages being 10-20% higher than industry average. They have an **especially high turnover of managers** — people will enthusiastically join the company, rise to a managerial level, work 6-12 months, then quit, usually due to a personality conflict with the founder. And because of the company’s geographical location in Asia, when a manager quits, they usually take all their subordinates with them. Their second problem is that **client problems are often buried and ignored**, until they explode and end up costing company money to fix. This results in a very polarised response from clients — some people love them, others hate them. The final problem is that there is no sense of future career advancement in the company. People are promoted based on political or personal favours and at a whim, rather than on talents and results. For the team, this means: - No reliable directions from leadership. - Different directions from managers, [often contradicted by the founder](/business/disagree-and-commit/). - Everything is personal rather than professional. e.g., criticisms are based on character, not work completed. - Being yelled at in the office, then subsequently love-bombed.[^2] - Jobs and positions never feel “secure”, which does not promote any sense of loyalty towards the business. **The end result?** They aren’t able to figure out how to do middle management. They have to pay above-market salaries just to keep staff, which eats into profits. The team is generally in chaos on a daily basis and they are unable to systemic. Today, the founder still runs the company, despite having wanted to exit by management team over 10 years ago. ### Culture example 2: The ticking culture time bomb ![Culture example 2 The ticking culture time bomb](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/why-company-culture-matters/culture-example-2-ticking-culture-time-bomb.webp) **Company #2 is what I would call the “ticking culture time bomb”.** I’d rate them as “average” or just-below in terms of culture. They’re a $3m/year coaching/services business with two founders. [One founder is the visionary type, the other is the integrator type](/business/vision-implementation/). They have a **strong mission and values** which are loudly broadcast in their marketing materials, and are generally respected by their fans and customers. But **internally they are disorganised,** a bit chaotic, and often launch products and services only to shelve them 6-12 months later. Their **clients and customers generally tolerate them** because there are few good alternatives in their industry. But make no mistake — everyone knows that something is “a little off” and many of their customers would jump ship if they were given the chance. Their **cultural problems come from the top.** Something between the two founders is rotten. This shows in staff being underpaid, and not treated quite right. Their industry partners are undervalued, and treated condescendingly. They have a slight-monopoly position and they know it and abuse it.[^3] In other words, the partners running the business are arseholes and have adopted it as part of their identity, and this has flowed down to their managers and lead people. The end result for the company is that they go through periods of great success, followed by periods of failure. Industry partners who work with them once tend to never want to do repeat business with them again. And if a better alternative came along, many of their long-term customers would pack up and leave. **They are culturally a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.** ### Culture example 3: Great culture from the top ![Culture example 3 Great culture from the top](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/why-company-culture-matters/culture-example-3-great-culture-from-top.webp) **Company #3 is a $5m/year professional services firm.** They have one founder, [who is also the CEO](/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/). They have a **good and strong leadership team.** The founder is **[hard working](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/), ethical, rational** and not afraid to get his hands dirty and dive in with the team to do the work when needed. The leadership team follows his example, and the team follows their example. They have company culture set up right — a well-defined mission, values and vision. In fact, they hired a professional human capital firm to help them with this, and guide them through the process. Their formalised culture was developed in consultation with the entire team. They also have a long-term plan for growth, and a high rate of employee satisfaction. Their salaries are competitive but still average for their industry.[^4] They are also [completely remote](/business/business-remote-work-setup/).[^5] The end result is that they have reliable, year-on-year growth at an above-average rate for their industry. Their client quality (and profits) continue improving year-on-year. And they have a _very high_ rate of repeat business. They also have plenty of long-term (5+ year) team members and things just get done. The team is highly productive, highly intelligent and very efficient. **Culture is not a barrier to their business objectives, and in fact, helps them achieve business objectives that would not otherwise be possible.** ## Company Culture Cheatsheet ![Company Culture Cheatsheet](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/why-company-culture-matters/company-culture-cheatsheet-horizontal.webp) **Want a cheatsheet to developing your company culture (mission, values, leadership team, goals)?** Just enter your name and email address below: **Free: Culture Cheatsheet** — Get the Culture Cheatsheet — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/why-company-culture-matters/ ## What To Do Next Grab the **Company Culture Cheatsheet** from above. And implement it, thinking long and hard about if your company has the right culture to help it succeed, or if culture is holding you back. If you’re at the stage where you want to reduce management overhead, increase team performance, alleviate business risks around the unpredictability of the team or just develop your leadership team, [let’s talk](/discovery-call/). [^1]: And of course, they never call you back. [^2]: Neither of these is acceptable in a professional environment. [^3]: They consistently break the fundamental rule of “always leave something on the table so you can do repeat business.” [^4]: This is a good thing. [^5]: Yes, a strong culture can be implemented remotely. > Related course: AI Agents Guide — $147 — /courses/ai-agents-guide/ --- ### How to Update and Maintain Your SOPs https://aaronlynn.com/business/update-maintain-sops/ So, you’ve listened to the best business advice and built out your [standard operating procedures](/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/) and systemised your business. Now the clock starts ticking down to keep all these processes followed, updated and relevant. **And the question becomes, how do you do this without having to dedicate a full-time team member to updating SOPs daily?** Well, updating SOPs is a process in and of itself. Here’s how you do it. --- ## Setting Up Your SOP Update Process The setup is the most important part of keeping your SOPs up to date. And that means making sure that all your SOPs are in a systems management system like [Notion](/go/notion/). If you haven’t set this up yet, here’s [my guide on systems management](/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/), including links to the ideal operations manual layout and [how I can help set this up for your business](/contact/). Part of that setup is making sure that you have a team member who is a “systems expert” who knows how to help update SOPs when needed. This could be an **[operations manager or coordinator,](/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/)** and is likely the person who helped you build out your initial set of SOPs to begin with. They could also equally be a junior person with a knack for [organisation](/productivity/how-to-organise-your-information-knowledge-notes-and-documents/) and [systems thinking](/productivity/systems-thinking/). ## Have Your Team Run the Process ![Have Your Team Run the Process](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/update-maintain-sops/have-your-team-run-process.webp) The easiest way to identify SOP update opportunities is simply to have your team work normally, based on SOPs, and identify potential updates as work is being done. This looks like the team referencing SOPs as they work, and noticing when something they do doesn’t match the SOP, and flagging it up. _Corollary: If you run an entire quarter without **any** potential SOP updates being flagged up, it is likely that the team isn’t referencing SOPs regularly._ ## Updating SOPs ### Types of SOP updates There are four types of potential SOP updates: 1. **Update.** For example, screenshots that need to be changed. 2. **Simplification.** For example, some descriptions are too wordy and can be simplified. 3. **Elimination.** This is where certain steps are no longer necessary due to an app or process improvement. 4. **Automation.** This is where something was being done manually but is now automated because of a script or app update. ### The SOP update process **Simple SOP updates** can be updated by the team directly into the SOP, and then a minor notification sent out via Slack to the team. **Complex SOP updates** involve substantially changing the process or eliminating it completely. These types of updates should be polled to the team via Slack first, agreed upon, and then updated if agreed upon. Complex updates should also be accompanied by a relevant video or live training session. ## Get the SOP Update SOP ![Get the SOP Update SOP](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/update-maintain-sops/get-sop-update-sop-horiazontal.webp) Want an **SOP Update SOP** for your own set of SOPs in Notion? Enter your name and email address here to download and duplicate: **Free: SOP Update SOP** — Get the SOP Update SOP — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/update-maintain-sops/ ## What To Do Next SOP Updates are not meant to be complicated. Grab the **SOP Update SOP** above, brief your team, then start doing them. > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### Critical and Core Processes https://aaronlynn.com/business/critical-core-processes/ Every business has a set of **4-9 critical and core processes** that drive the business. These are high-level sets of actions that the business does in order to operate. They are the main systems that make the business work day-to-day. --- ## What Are the Normal Critical Processes in a Business? The normal set of critical processes in most companies are: - Marketing. - Sales. - Client onboarding. - Delivery / fulfilment. - Product / service development. - [Recruitment](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/). - Finances. - Operations / [management](/business/business-meetings/). ## Why Are Critical Processes Important? ![Why Critical Process?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/critical-core-processes/why-critical-process.webp) Knowing your critical process is great. But why are they important, and how do you actually use them? ### Efficiency and innovation Critical process are essential for **[efficiency](/productivity/productivity-stack/) and innovation.** When people tell you to “systemise your business” and “work on your business” what they are really telling you is to improve your core processes. Mapping them down is the starting step. Business can’t just “be improved” on their own. It’s like renovating a house. You don’t just look at the entire house and say, “let’s make it better”. You need to break down the house into its component pieces, like the kitchen, bathrooms, garage, bedrooms, study and so on, and figure out how each will be improved. For a business, these component pieces are your critical processes. Improving any one of these processes usually ends up improving the entire business. There is a strange synergistic effect that happens when you improve core processes. If you improve every critical process by say 20%, this doesn’t improve the entire business by just 20%. It may improve it 100%, 200%, 2000%. This is because different processes are weighted differently, and because improving the efficiency of one core processes typically improves the efficiency of other core processes “accidentally”. ### Mechanism for scaling You cannot scale a business without knowing what its core processes are. This is because these processes are the levers or sub-functions you can pull to manipulate and improve the business overall. These processes drive metrics and in turn, drive profit. A map of critical processes is literally the map of how the business works, and without it, you will never be able to scale and become a [true business owner](/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/). ### Standardisation If you’ve done any SOP work in your business, you will know that [SOPs have to come from somewhere](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/). And that somewhere is your list of core processes. Like this: [![Marketing Core Process Example](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/critical-core-processes/marketing-core-process-example.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/critical-core-processes/marketing-core-process-example.webp) Marketing is your critical process, and everything else are the SOPs that drive that critical process. When all of these are written down, you have a standardised way of operating, and instructions can be handed from one person to the next. This means less reliance on individual talent, less reliance on you as the business owner, and more reliance on the actual system. Once you have your core processes written down, you have an operations manual and a guide for how to run the business. This not only lets you scale, it also opens up the option to potentially sell and exit the business at some point. ## Identifying Critical Processes ![Identifying Critical Processes](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/critical-core-processes/identifying-critical-processes.webp) Identifying the core processes in your business is simply a matter of sitting down with your leadership team and asking: > What are the pillars, process and procedures that really drive our business? Or: > What are the processes that, if we didn’t have them, would stop us from making money tomorrow? Sometimes leadership teams instinctively know what these are. Sometimes you can just look at the departmental division of responsibility, and backwards-engineer the core processes. However you derive the list, you will want to **write down these core processes, name them appropriately and put them into your company wiki.** Then you want to **map them out in flowchart notation,** and see how work and business flows between them and where each one starts and ends. For examples of how critical processes can look in a professional services, productised service or physical product company, [grab the Core Process Examples Cheatsheet below](#cheatsheet). ## How to Action Your Critical Processes Here is what you do with your critical processes once you’ve identified what they are. ### 1\. Process accountability chart The first thing is to create a process accountability chart. [![Process Accountability Chart](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/critical-core-processes/process-accountability-chart.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/critical-core-processes/process-accountability-chart.webp) This lists your critical process down one column on the left, names in the second column, and KPIs in the third column. Under names, list which team members are accountable for each critical process. This is the person who will let the leadership team know whether the process is working (or not), and when the process requires intervention and assistance. They are usually a senior team member, but can also be a technical specialist in that process. Once you have a list of names, you can agree on and assign a KPI to each process as well. This could be a time metric, a dollar figure from the balance sheet or P&L, or something that pushes for _better, faster, cheaper._ ### 2\. Flowchart your critical processes Beyond just a list, you want to be able to see how your critical processes fit together as a whole. Use [flowchart annotation](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Flowchart) to put all your critical processes onto one diagram, then identify the links between them and see which of those links are running well (green), just OK (yellow) and badly (red). [You can grab examples of these flowcharts for three different business types below](#cheatsheet). ### 3\. Innovating core processes Core processes can be improved and innovated using [lean methodologies](/productivity/agility-iterations/). This means reducing input and waste, while increasing output. It is useful to take one critical process every quarter and improve it. This means that you will be innovating your entire business every 1–2 years, and this will keep the company competitive and drama-free. ### 4\. Creating SOPs from critical processes The last thing you can do with critical processes is to take each process and _break it down into its component pieces_ and map them out into [SOP documentation](/business/advanced-standard-operating-procedures-sops-video/). e.g., the Finance critical process might become AR, AP, cash cycle, team pay etc. If you can do this with all your critical processes, you have effectively systemised your entire business. ## Core Process Examples Cheatsheet ![Steal the Core Process Examples Cheatsheet](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/critical-core-processes/steal-core-process-examples-cheatsheet-banner.webp) Want three visual examples of how critical and core processes look for: 1. A professional services agency. 2. A productised services agency. 3. A physical product business? Enter your name and email address below and download the **Core Process Examples Cheatsheet.** **Free: Core Process Cheatsheet** — Get the Core Process Cheatsheet — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/critical-core-processes/ ## What To Do Next Grab the **Core Process Examples Cheatsheet.** At your [next leadership team meeting](/business/weekly-meetings/), bring up the idea of critical processes and have team members start to think about them. Then book a dedicated session to start writing them down and mapping them out. > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### How to Hire an Assistant https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-hire-an-assistant/ “Aaron, I need to hire an assistant.” “Why?” “Well, erm…” There’s nothing wrong with hiring an assistant. In fact, an assistant is usually one of the first hires that business owners make. Here’s how you go about it. --- ## Start With Why ![Start With Why](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-an-assistant/start-with-why.webp) Start with WHY you want to hire an assistant. To help get things done? To free up your time for higher-value activities? For the ego boost of having an assistant? **I say HECK YES.** If hiring an assistant makes you feel “like a boss” and moves you into the mindset of owning a business instead of being a glorified technician, then yes, hire an assistant. ## What Kind of Assistant Do You Want (And Need)? Working out why you need an assistant is the easy part. The hardest part is working out _what kind of assistant_ you want and actually require. I always recommend starting with a [job scorecard](/business/job-scorecards/) for any kind of hiring. This lets you outline the expectations, role, and duties and the skills required for this particular hire. An “assistant” is usually one of three types in a small business: 1. A “specific jobs” assistant. 2. A general assistant/virtual assistant/executive assistant. 3. A hidden ops-manager-in-training, i.e., someone who can do your work for you. Let’s look at each of these. ## 1\. The Specific Jobs Assistant ![The Specific Jobs Assistant](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-an-assistant/specific-jobs-assistant.webp) The specific jobs assistant is really a [freelancer](/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/). You CAN hire a general virtual assistant for this role, but they will need training — usually more trouble than it’s worth. These “specific jobs” are not difficult in nature, and can include: - Updating and managing social media. - Data entry of any sort. - Light graphics work (think: [Canva](/go/canva/)). This person will be part-time or hourly. Full-time is not suitable for this type of assistant. Hourly is mercenary. It can be fine for “once and done” work, but it is hard to instil any sense of loyalty or [company values](/productivity/core-values/) when you are paying someone by the hour for a specific task. Part-time is where it becomes interesting. **There are plenty of freelancers out there who would LOVE to work part-time with you.** This is typically a remote arrangement with no set hours, where they guarantee a portion of their time, and are free to take on other work as they wish. The great thing about this is that the part-time role can grow into a full-time role, over time. The best place to find a specific jobs assistant is your network or a job marketplace like [Upwork](https://upwork.com/). To hire them, start with a job scorecard, and interview them at least once. You do not need to run a [full hiring process](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/) unless you want to go into detail for a part-time hire. ## 2\. General Assistant ![General Assistant](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-an-assistant/general-assistant.webp) A general assistant is also sometimes known as a virtual assistant or executive assistant. This person can be part-time or full-time. **I strongly recommend handing them both personal AND professional duties.** I also recommend that this person be located in the same city as you. They will work remotely most of the time, but will meet with you in-person every now and then. They will need to be trained in all your business apps and tools. They will start helping with your lowest value administrative tasks, then take on more over time. But you must also recognise their limits — they are not an operations manager. They can magnify your capabilities, but not replace them. Some office tasks you can give them: - Social media management. - Meeting agenda preparation and management. Some personal tasks you can give them: - Making calls on your behalf. - Research for purchases. [For a full list, grab the Qualities of a Great Ops Manager download below](#lm). The best place to find this person is through your personal network. Ask friends. Ask clients. Ask family. Ask anyone you know in person. Post on your socials. The next best place is an in-country or in-city job board. The last option is a virtual assistant placement company, but be sure to check what their billing model is first. I do not recommend broad job platforms like Upwork for finding a general assistant. As this is usually a full-time role, I recommend running the [complete hiring process](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/) when bringing this person onboard. ## 3\. Ops Manager In Training ![Ops Manager In Training](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-an-assistant/ops-manager-in-training.webp) The last kind of “assistant” I jokingly call the _Hidden Ops Manager In Training._ This is because what frequently happens is that business owners make a hire, then start to hand more and more of their duties over to their assistant, until the point where the assistant is running the business. It is better and more purposeful if you decide from the outset to [hire an ops manager](/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/) and then proceed in that direction. They don’t have to be titled an “ops manager”, but that is the intention for bringing them onboard. This person will do a number of your duties: - Finance. - Admin. - Sales support. - Tech tasks. - Systems tasks. - Office tasks. - All the annoying parts of what you currently do. The best place to find them are: 1. Your current team. 2. Your network. 3. Job boards. 4. Recruiters. You will want to run the full recruitment process if you are hiring them as an operations person from the outset. ## What Qualities Should Your Assistant Have? ![What Qualities Should Your Assistant Have](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-an-assistant/what-qualities-should-your-assistant-have-horizontal.webp) Your assistant should share similar core values to you and the business, and you should be able to communicate well with them. Beyond that, if you want to know what qualities an **Ops Manager in training** should have, grab my _Qualities of a Great Ops Manager_ guide here: **Free: Qualities of a Great Ops Manager** — Get the Qualities of a Great Ops Manager — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-hire-an-assistant/ I’ll also outline a full list of tasks that you can hand to your general assistant to help you with. ## What To Do Next Grab my guide to the _Qualities of a Great Ops Manager_ above. Then decide what kind of assistant you want, and hire them! If you need specific help with hiring an assistant, the best way is to [book a Business Therapy session with me](/contact/). > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### Weekly Meetings https://aaronlynn.com/business/weekly-meetings/ Every business needs a weekly meeting. In fact, if you haven’t implemented a proper [real-time meeting rhythm](/business/business-meetings/) in your business, the weekly meeting will be the first you want to implement. --- ## Why Weekly Meetings? ![Why Weekly Meetings?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/weekly-meetings/why-weekly-meetings.webp) **Weekly meetings let you synchronise your business objectives with the team on a weekly basis.** This seems obvious, but is often overlooked in the day-to-day, and is the single most important reason to hold a weekly meeting. It is telling the team “here is what is critical to us right now”, and reminding them of it regularly enough (but not too often) that it remains at the forefront of their thoughts as they go about their work. Weekly is an ideal timeframe for a regular check-in point for how everything is going, especially for [teams that are remote](/business/business-remote-work-setup/). Weekly meetings also serve as a reinforcement of company culture. They provide you with an opportunity as management to connect with the team, and through them with the marketplace and any feedback from clients. In the weekly meeting agenda below, you’ll see that the main agenda item is the clearance of two issues. **If you clear two business issues every week, that’s 100 issues per year cleared, and 100 issues fewer that might become major problems.** ## The Weekly Meeting Agenda ![The Weekly Meeting Agenda](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/weekly-meetings/weekly-meeting-agenda.webp) While [daily standups](/business/daily-standups/) are for status updates, weekly meetings are **discuss and decide meetings.** Here’s the agenda: 1. **Good news and core values.** Highlight good news, and reinforce core values by highlighting anything in the past week that demonstrated them. 2. Follow-up **prior action items.** 3. Go over **company priorities.**[^1] This includes metrics. 4. Share **market feedback** from clients, the team, the marketplace. 5. **Clear two issues** from the issues backlog. 6. **Cascading messaging.** Notify anyone not in the meeting of any information or action items relevant to them. 7. **One-phrase summary** to close the meeting. ## Who Attends a Weekly Meeting? If you have a company of less than 10 people and can make the timezones work, hold one weekly meeting with everyone. If you can’t make the timezones work but are still a small team, then hold two weekly meetings with the same agenda. Once you have a larger team, split up your weekly meeting into multiple weekly meetings by department, one after the other. For example: 1. Management. 2. Finance. 3. Marketing. 4. Client services. Each of these meetings will run about an hour, and each has the same agenda and structure. The marketplace feedback and issues discussed in each will be different. I recommend having one day a week designated as “meeting day” and run through all of them consecutively. You (as the business owner) and your senior people should attend all of these meetings, so that high-level decisions can be made right away. ## Setting Up a Weekly Meeting ![Setting Up a Weekly Meeting](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/weekly-meetings/setting-up-weekly-meeting.webp) To set up a weekly meeting effectively, you must have: 1. An **issues backlog** (known as [IDS in EOS](https://www.eosworldwide.com/)). 2. An **agenda prepared** and sent ahead of time. I recommend [Notion](/go/notion/) for this. 3. **Driver:** One person to run the agenda. 4. **Scribe:** One person to take notes. ## Putting It In Action ![Putting It In Action](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/weekly-meetings/putting-it-in-action.webp) It’s Monday. The weekly meeting is on Friday. [Your assistant](/business/how-to-hire-an-assistant/) is organising the meeting on your behalf. He sends out the calendar invite, for 9am on Friday. The template already exists in your wiki, so he simply makes a new copy of it, and sends it to the team via Slack. Good news is populated. Objective updates are populated. Feedback is populated. You select two issues to discuss. You nominate Jane, your marketing director, to drive the meeting this week, and your assistant to scribe. Friday comes around and it’s 9am. The meeting is run. Jane pushes the agenda forward. The bulk of the time is spent clearing the two major issues, which are successfully resolved. Your assistant updates the notes and writes down the resolutions in real-time. After the meeting, your assistant sends the link to everyone again, highlighting any action items. This is then repeated the next week, and the next, and the next… ## Weekly Meeting Agenda Template ![Weekly Meeting Agenda Template](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/weekly-meetings/weekly-meeting-agenda-template-horizontal.webp) **Want a one-click template for weekly meetings for your Notion setup?** Enter your name and email address below, and I’ll send you a link: **Free: Weekly Meeting Template** — Get the Weekly Meeting Template — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/weekly-meetings/ ## What To Do Next Grab the **Weekly Meeting Agenda** above and copy it into your Notion. Then set up your first weekly meeting, and start running them. [^1]: i.e., goals, objectives, OKRs — they’re all the same thing. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### 12 Things Business Owners Should Do and 9 Things They Shouldn't Do https://aaronlynn.com/business/business-owners-do-not-do/ What should business owners actually do and not do? Here are some of things that I have seen that aren’t big enough to warrant their own article or guide, but important enough that they need to be written down somewhere.[^1] --- ## What Business Owners Should Do ### 1\. Show up for their team ![Show up for their team](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-owners-do-not-do/show-up-for-their-team.webp) It goes without saying, if the team needs help and your managers can’t help… it’s your business and it’s on you. If the office lights need to be changed at 7am and no team member will do it… guess who’s headed to the office at 7am?[^2] This can be anything as mundane as “I don’t know where to click on this app” to something more complex like, “I’m having a tough time on this marketing funnel and need some guidance.” ### 2\. Keep an eye on the finances Don’t use the “bank balance method” and assume that if your bank balance is going up then the numbers are good. Make sure that you do proper bookkeeping and accounting. Make sure that you know your revenue, expenses, cashflow, receivables, payables and cash cycle. Get a help from a [Fractional CFO](https://profitscollective.com/) if you need to. A lot of people _hate_ numbers but the whole point of business is to make money. And guess what? > Money = numbers. So learn to love them. ### 3\. Keep an eye on the numbers Speaking of numbers… **You must know what your other key numbers are.** These are business-specific. If you’re online, you likely need to know your: Opt-ins, list size, social reach, MRR, ad metrics. If you’re in services, it might be: Churn rate, MRR, revenue per employee. Whatever they are, track them weekly in a dashboard/scorecard (aka, [Google Spreadsheet](https://sheets.google.com/)) and review them regularly. ### 4\. Interview every candidate until you’re big enough ![Interview every candidate until you’re big enough](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-owners-do-not-do/interview-every-candidate-until-youre-big-enough.webp) It blows me away that owners of small companies don’t want to meet the people who will bring them $100k+ in revenue over the next 6 months. Don’t make this mistake. Make sure that you interview **every** candidate you hire until you are big enough to have a dedicated HR or Ops person. All this means is you talk to the candidate at least **once** during the interview process. It doesn’t matter how introverted you are. Do it at the very end of the interview process if you need to. ONLY stop this when you have a dedicated hiring or ops manager. This usually happens at around 20+ people in the company. And even then, strongly consider continuing to do "sign off" final round interviews with candidates. ### 5\. Give up sales last You are going to be the best sales person in the company until it’s big enough to hire sales people and compensate them well. In the early stages, no one believes in the business or can convey what you do and your value as well as you can. This is not the same as pipelining leads or doing sales support work — those assignments you can and absolutely should have other people handle for you. It also does not mean you don’t hire sales people early on or have your senior people do sales calls. You should do both those things. But don’t be afraid to pick up the phone/Zoom and talk to clients because that’s what’s needed to acquire new business. ### 6\. Take a keen interest in marketing Hiring a marketing manager or agency will not solve your marketing problems. It amazes me how many business owners think that a new hire will magically fix their lack of leads or sales. No one knows your product or service as well as you do. Yes, marketing can eventually be delegated, but only once it’s been systemised and streamlined. You CANNOT just abdicate responsibility for marketing and expect it to work. ### 7\. Take up a position of strategic thought leadership ![Take up a position of strategic thought leadership](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-owners-do-not-do/take-up-a-position-of-strategic-thought-leadership.webp) Thought leadership is all about your approach to the service or products you provide. You want to learn from others, refine your approach then talk **loudly and prolifically** about your approach and value. This is especially true if you are in a service business. People come to you for the best/most innovative solutions, so that’s what you have to bring. Even if you offer a productised service, customers still want the **best** productised service they can buy. Most business owners do this naturally. It’s good for business development, in discussion with potential clients and for publicity purposes. It’s also good for team morale, as the team will look up to you and prevents resentment down the line where the business owner is perceived as “doing nothing” while drawing a high salary. ### 8\. Build up a 6-12 month warchest Video: 12 Things Business Owners Should Do and 9 Things They Shouldn't Do — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1EsIusQJQM In the earlier days of Microsoft, Bill Gates insisted on keeping 12 months of business expenses in the bank, so that the company could survive a year without any revenue. You should do the same. It will help the business pull through tough periods. ### 9\. Be a benevolent dictator You should poll your team for their opinions and expertise, but make all the decisions. You business is a [benevolent dictatorship](/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/). ### 10\. Have someone on your team who is interested in technology and systems ![Have someone on your team who is interested in technology and systems](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-owners-do-not-do/have-someone-on-your-team-who-is-interested-in-technology-and-systems.webp) You must be on point with technology and systems, or [your business will be left behind](https://a16z.com/2011/08/20/why-software-is-eating-the-world/). Technology is one of the few things that can shift the productivity curve and you must invest in it. There is no good job title for the person who makes your technology and systems work, but you need this person. It’s sometimes called: - Online business manager. - Operations consultant. - Business systems consultant. - Systems integrator. - Management consultant specialising in technology and operations. - [Fractional COO](/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/). - Fractional CSO (Chief Systems Officer). [If you need help with this in your business, I offer Fractional CSO services to clients](/contact/). ### 11\. Have strategic objectives or OKRs You must have [strategic objectives or OKRs](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/) set for the company and team. As the business owner it is YOUR responsibility to set them. This is not something you can just hand off to a manager. You’re the captain, and it’s up to you to determine where the ship is headed. [If you need help with this, ask me](/discovery-call/). ### 12\. Work out how much time to dedicate to the business I often am asked about “how many hours should I work as a business owner?”, especially by people who have read _[The 4-Hour Workweek](https://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Escape-Live-Anywhere/dp/0307465357)_ and then _[The 10X Rule](https://www.amazon.com/10X-Rule-Difference-Between-Success/dp/0470627603)_ and then get confused. You want to take the rational response here, there is no one-size-fits-all. If you have a family and children, then you will want to make more time for them. If you’re single and [in growth mode and don’t have much else going on](/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/) — then it makes sense to spend more time on the business. ## What Business Owners Shouldn’t Do ### 1\. Delegate by abdication or “delegation by goal” [![Situational Leadership](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-owners-do-not-do/delegate-by-abdication-or-delegation-by-goal.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-owners-do-not-do/delegate-by-abdication-or-delegation-by-goal.webp) Do not delegate by abdication or set some broad goal and ask a team member to “work it out”. As the business owner, [it is YOUR job to help your team out when they are stuck](/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/).[^3] **Do not just abdicate tasks that you don’t want to do.** And also don’t “set a broad goal and let the (skilled) person figure it out”. Anyone who is a professional will tell you that this is the most annoying type of employer or manager to deal with. Consultants or outsourced vendors will be able to handle this because that’s what they’re paid to do. But internal team members DO NOT like it at all and DO NOT handle it well, especially if it is a new task that they are unfamiliar with. Bad delegation doesn’t make a business problem goes away, it simply shifts the burden to someone else. And at the end of the day if something isn’t completed, you can fire the team member you abdicated responsibility to, but you’ll still be stuck with the problem. More in my [effective delegation article](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/). ### 2\. Menial chores and duties in your personal life Don’t fill up your time with menial chores like cooking, cleaning or laundry. Hire someone else to do them for you. The only time you should be doing these things is if you find them [meditative and replenishing](/productivity/energy-management/) because of how simple and routine they are. ### 3\. Tasks that take up excessive mental energy A great example of this for most business owners is cold outreach. It’s cold, repetitive and dehumanising, and puts a large mental cloud over you that stops you from doing higher-value work. But. [You need to temper this against doing what needs to be done for the business](/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/). Don’t just throw these tasks to team members who are unequipped or not trained to do them — because they just won’t do them. Any of these tasks that take up excessive mental energy should be built out and people hired specifically for this. e.g., if your Client Services Director is busy architecting your client onboarding process, don’t ask him to cut up his day and do cold outreach for you. ### 4\. Stress over remote/in-office ![Stress over remote/in-office](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-owners-do-not-do/stress-over-remote-in-office.webp) **The remote/office debate has been settled.** [Remote is here to stay](/business/business-remote-work-setup/). I personally think that a hybrid solution is the best if you already have an office, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. You must learn to embrace remote, because it isn’t going away anytime soon. And you can learn to take advantage of it, by [hiring talented staff from overseas at a lower cost than in the US/West](https://www.gibasassociates.com/). ### 5\. Your own bookkeeping, accounting and taxes Don’t do your own bookkeeping, accounting or taxes for your business or your personal life, even if you love numbers. Just don’t. It’s worth the money to pay a professional to handle this for you. If you’re an Australian company, have a chat with Ryu Noai over at [Impala Accountants](https://impalatax.com.au/). ### 6\. Focus on technical delivery once you have team members doing delivery Once you hit 5+ team members doing service delivery in your business, you shift from being a technical professional to being a manager. You can still do some work to stay sharp and updated, but the team should really be delivering most of the client work at that point. ### 7\. Scale expenses alongside revenue ![Scale expenses alongside revenue](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-owners-do-not-do/scale-expenses-alongside-revenue.webp) There’s no reason to spend like a $1m/year business if you’re doing $1m/year. Yes, invest in growth and infrastructure and systems and team members. But don’t spend for ego and status. The wider the gap between your expenses and revenue, the better. ### 8\. Hire consultants who offer a templated solution, rather than what the business actually needs I see this all the time. You’re stuck on a business problem and there’s no clear path forward in the business. A consultant comes in and says, “oh, let’s do this”. _Sometimes,_ that will solve the problem. **Most of the time** the consultant is offering the one thing they know how to do. e.g., consultants who offer “training” to fix a business problem. Training is not knowledge transfer or problem solving, it’s just a slide deck with voiceover. What happens when you hire such a consultant? Something gets delivered (e.g., [SOPs](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/)), but the core business problem remains unaddressed (e.g., [no Ops Manager](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/)). Don’t hire consultants who only offer one solution because that’s all they know how to do. ### 9\. Neglect your physical and mental health Until you hit a certain size (say 12+ team members, $1m+ annual revenue), _the business is you_ to a large part. It’s fuelled by your energy. You need to maintain a minimum effective dose of [health](/productivity/time-management-stack/) (diet, exercise, [sleep](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/), [stress levels](/productivity/recovery-time/)) to make it work. [Yes, you can bend the rules here and there when works needs to be done](/productivity/hard-work-industriousness/). But generally you want to try to stay at [above-average productivity](/productivity/productivity-stack/) and [energy levels](/productivity/energy-management/) for the sake of the business. ## The Top 4 Mistakes That Business Owners Make ![The Top 4 Mistakes That Business Owners Make](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-owners-do-not-do/top-4-mistakes-that-business-owners-make.webp) Want more? Download my guide to the **Top 4 Mistakes That Imprison Business Owners in Daily Operations.** **Free: Top 4 Mistakes Business Owners Make** — Get the Top 4 Mistakes Business Owners Make — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/business-owners-do-not-do/ ## What To Do Next Grab my guide to the Top 4 Mistakes That Imprison Business Owners in Daily Operations. And if you need help on any of above in your business, [head over here to book a discovery call with me to see how we can work together to overcome them](/discovery-call/). [^1]: I’ve made the assumption that the business has product-market fit, is profitable and has achieved some level of success. This is not for businesses starting out. [^2]: True story. [^3]: i.e., servant leadership. > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### Daily Standups https://aaronlynn.com/business/daily-standups/ Daily Standups are a common type of business meeting designed to help teams sync up on what is happening in the business. --- ## Why Daily Standups? ![Why Daily Standups](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/daily-standups/why-daily-standups.webp) Daily standups are short, simple status updates no longer that 15 minutes. They are not [decision making or discussion meetings](/business/business-meetings/). They are not about “imposing the will of management” on the team or anything silly like that. You run standups within teams or across the entire team if you’re a small team of less than 12. If you have a larger team, you want to do standups in each of your departmental teams, then do a “standup of standups”. This is a “round up” standup meeting with the managers of each departmental team. e.g., the head of marketing, head of ops, head of sales etc. ## Business Owners and Daily Standups Some business owners don’t like to do daily standups. **By and large this is because they don’t like the idea of having to show up at a specific time at a specific place and be responsible to their team and business.** If you’re one of those business owners — you may want to think about this carefully. A large part of business in the early stages is being a good [servant leader](/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/) and showing up for the team, regardless. If you’re at stage where you’ve exited by management team, then it makes sense to have your CEO/COO run your daily standups. I’m not saying that you can’t run a successful business without daily standups, of course you can. In fact, the popular methodology _[Traction](https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661837)_ recommends [weekly updates](/business/weekly-meetings/) instead of daily standups. But work and projects will move substantially slower, your culture will not be as strong and there will generally be a lower sense of accountability across the business compared to if you ran a daily standup. **My recommendation is to do daily standups.** ## Daily Standup Principles ![Daily Standup Principles](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/daily-standups/daily-standup-principles.webp) 1. If you’re in the office… do them standing up. This will minimise the length and waffling. 2. If you’re remote, do your standups over voice, not video.[^1] 3. If your team is spread across different timezones, you can group your standups by timezone instead of team, and have 2-3 different standups. 4. Standups happen at the same time, every day and do not get cancelled if someone cannot attend. The team (and you, as the business owner) are expected to show up and be accountable. 1. There is to be no problem solving or discussion. This is a status update. 2. There is to be no decision making. This is a status update. 3. Any decisions or problems — take them offline. 4. There is only ONE round in the standup. It is run in a round-robin manner, where each person runs through the agenda, then the next person does until everyone is done. Then the standup ends. ## Agenda ![Agenda](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/daily-standups/agenda.webp) The agenda that everyone runs through is simple: 1. Good news. 2. What happened in the last 24 hours? 3. What is going to happen in the next 24 hours? 4. Any updates on relevant numbers, metrics or KPIs? 5. Any stucks? These are tabled for weekly issues or taken offline to solve. ## An Example Daily Standup ![An Example Daily Standup](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/daily-standups/example-daily-standup-horizontal.webp) Want to see an example of what a daily standup looks like? Grab a snippet of me running a sample daily standup here: **Free: Daily Standup Example** — Get the Daily Standup Example — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/daily-standups/ ## What To Do Next Grab the sample video above to see just how easy daily standups are to run in your business. Then implement them for your team, starting this week. If you need help, [reach out to me here](/discovery-call/). [^1]: Video is tiring and draining for meetings, and is unnecessary for standups, even if all your other meetings are video meetings. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### A Quick Guide to Asana for Business Owners https://aaronlynn.com/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/ Aaron, how do we manage our projects in Asana!!! I get it. Project management can be confusing. There are numerous apps all trying to claim to do everything under the sun, and it can be hard to tell whether this is true or not. But what we specialise in at Lynn Industries is educating business owners about what apps they need and how they fit with their people and processes. [Asana](/go/asana/) in this case is the technology that will help make your people and processes work better. --- ## What Type of Project Management Is Asana Best For? Asana is designed for: - **Workflow management.** Asana helps your teams focus on what is important, on organising work in one place, and provides for almost-seamless collaboration. - **Project and task management.** Asana tells you what needs to be done, with a due date and someone assigned to it. - **Goals tracking.** Asana lets you put your business OKRs and strategic objectives in one place and track them down to a project and task level. ## What Asana Is NOT For Asana can’t do everything, nor does it claim to. Which is actually one of the things we like about it. Here’s what Asana cannot do. It can’t replace email in the traditional “write a letter” sense, but it will replace many of your internal team discussions. It can’t replace your calendar app or service. It won’t replace your contact list. It is an adjunct to [Slack](/go/slack/), not a replacement. It won’t replace your cloud storage ([Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/)/[Dropbox](https://dropbox.com/)). It won’t replace your [knowledge base or wiki](/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/). It can replace your [meeting notes](/business/business-meetings/), but we recommend storing meeting notes in [Notion](/go/notion/). ## Why Asana? An excellent question is: > Why Asana? Why not [ClickUp](http://clickup.com/), [Monday.com](http://monday.com/), or any other of the numerous project management SaaS products on the market today? **Well, Asana is a great product.** It’s not perfect, but for project and task management, it does exactly what it says on the box, with minimal downsides. _As a business owner, you also need to consider that high visibility in advertising and media is not the same as having a good product._ ![Asana and Monday.com R&D Spend](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/asana-monday-rd-spend-1.webp) Asana spends 37% of its revenue on R&D.[^1] Compare that with competitors like Monday.com, who only 18% spend on R&D. **Asana is spending 2x more, and Asana is a larger company in terms of revenue.** Asana’s competitors spend up to 100% of their revenue on sales and marketing to push visibility.[^2] Asana spends relatively little in comparison.[^3] The question becomes: **Do you want the better researched and developed product, or the one that’s just better hyped?** Here’s why we personally like and use Asana at Lynn Industries. It has a clean, modern, but not overly “shiny” interface. Compare this to: - [Airtable](http://airtable.com/), which is all tables. - [ClickUp](https://clickup.com/), which is far, far too shiny. - [Monday.com](https://monday.com/), which reminds us of project trackers from the early 2000s in Excel. Asana’s features are rolled out once fully developed and not in perpetual “beta”. Think iPhone, not Android. Features are slow to arrive, but once they do arrive, they work as advertised. _Asana also doesn’t try to be an all-in-one app, but focuses instead on the core of project and task management. And for that, it works, very, very well._ Asana is also a large, enterprise-level, publicly-traded company. This means that they are not in a scramble to secure funding or at risk of being acquired (and the product being discontinued) anytime soon. ## Which Version of Asana Should We Use? ![Which Version of Asana Should We Use](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/which-version-of-asana-should-we-use.webp) If you’re running a business, I’d skip the free version of Asana as it has no start dates or custom fields. Most businesses will run perfectly fine on the **Premium edition.** I’d only consider using the **Business edition,** if you want to use **Goals,** meaning you set OKRs every quarter and track them. Or, if you would like to use the **Portfolios and Workload Management** functions, because you have a large team.[^4] People online like to complain that Asana is expensive, but… your business should be making much more than your licence cost by the time you are considering using Asana. There’s absolutely no reason to be using it, or any other project management tool, if your needs aren’t there yet. ## The Asana Hierarchy and Terminology As a small or medium-sized business owner, you are going to have to understand how Asana is structurally organised, as you will play a major part in championing and rolling it out to your team. Here’s how it works: [![The Asana Hierarchy](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/asana-hierarchy-diagram.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/asana-hierarchy-diagram.webp) The top level in Asana is the **organisation.** This is the company or business, and represents your entire business.[^5] Then you have **goals,** which are your OKRs or strategic objectives. These are the big, high-level wants. You can also use **sub-goals** to drill down into specific objectives and link them to projects and milestones. You then have **portfolios,** which are groupings of projects and a way to track progress and workloads across different teams or sets of projects. You then have **teams,** which are the main folder-level organisational unit. This can be actual teams like marketing, accounts, delivery etc. Or they can be conceptual team groupings like client projects, internal business areas or personal projects. Then come **projects,** which are the main base-level organisational unit. Projects are simply sets of tasks put together to get work done. At the very bottom you have **tasks and sub-tasks,** which are “things to do”, with due dates, assignees, descriptions and a clear start and end to them. ## How to Set Up Your Project Management in Asana Here’s how we recommend business owners go about setting up their project management in Asana. It’s also the process we use if you do an [Asana Intensive](/contact/) with us. **1\. Start by asking:** What problem do I want Asana to solve for me? This is working out your requirements and the hard questions of: - Why Asana? - Why not another app? - Who will lead the charge? Who are our Asana champions? You should ask these questions before committing to any sort of project management application. **2\. Next, decide on the types of projects that need to go into Asana.** Most service businesses will have: - Client-facing projects. - Business areas. - Internal (once-off) projects. - Personal projects.[^6] **3\. Group your projects and work out your teams.** A simple grouping for smaller businesses would be: - Client services. - Business areas. - Internal projects. - Personal projects. If you want our recommendation for project groupings, grab our [Asana Projects Cheatsheet below](#cheatsheet). **4\. Do the setup.** This means setting up your: - Teams. - Projects, with colour coding. - Project templates. - Task templates. - Rules and automations. - Portfolios. - Business Goals. - Integrations with Slack and other apps. For a head start on this, grab our [Asana Projects Cheatsheet below](#cheatsheet). Or if it seems all too complicated, book our done-for-you [Asana Intensive](/contact/) service. ## Training Your Team In Asana ![Training Your Team in Asana](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/ftb-training-blurred.webp) Once you have Asana set up, you need to train your team in how to use it. That includes using My Tasks, the Inbox, Favourites, the task pane and comments and subtasks. This is exactly the kind of thing we teach business teams during Asana Intensives. ## Asana Project Cheatsheet ![Download Your Asana Projects Cheatsheet](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/project-management-views-and-data-structures-in-asana-video/download-your-asana-projects-cheatsheet-horizontal.webp) Want a head start on setting up Asana for your business? Grab our **Asana Projects Cheatsheet** to see how your organisation, teams, and projects should be set up in your Asana for maximum usability and success. **Free: Asana Projects Cheatsheet** — Get the Asana Projects Cheatsheet — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/ ## What To Do Next If you’ve been thinking about using Asana in your business, you now have a good understanding of what it can do and a strong case for why you should pick Asana. Get a head start by grabbing the **Asana Projects Cheatsheet** above. Then set it up, and iterate your setup until it runs like clockwork. [^1]: Monday vs. Asana: Fundamentally different investment priorities. (n.d.). Slide show. [^2]: It is possible to spend 100% of revenue on marketing and 18% on R&D, because companies can dig into their cash reserves or go into debt to spend more than their total revenue in a given year. [^3]: Monday vs. Asana: Fundamentally different investment priorities. (n.d.). Slide show. [^4]: Say 20+ team members. [^5]: There is also an option to set up a division inside a larger corporate entity, but this likely will not apply to readers. [^6]: Recommended over having orphaned tasks in My Tasks. > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Calendars for Business Owners and Teams https://aaronlynn.com/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/ Every business owner and their team should be using calendars. If you’re not… what are you doing? **Calendars are business and professional life basics 101.** SO much of sales, working with clients, and working with partners and teams is being able to set and show up to meetings on time. This guide largely exists because my god, I have met a lot of business owners who are terrible with their scheduling, organising their days and showing up for appointments on time. Here’s how calendars work in modern businesses. --- ## The Calendar Ecosystem [![The Calendar Ecosystem](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/calendar-ecosystem.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/calendar-ecosystem.webp) The calendar ecosystem consists of 4 parts: 1. Calendar app (desktop, mobile, tablet apps). 2. Calendar service (in the cloud). 3. Scheduler app/service. 4. Video conferencing app/service. ### 1\. Calendar app Let’s start with the **calendar app,** as that’s the one everyone is most familiar with. _This is simply [an application](/business/remote-work-apps/) that exists on your phone or computer and connects to your calendar service._ Examples on desktop would be Apple Calendar or [Fantastical](https://flexibits.com/fantastical) on Mac, Outlook on Windows, or web calendar apps like [Google Calendar](https://calendar.google.com/). Examples on mobile would be the default Apple Calendar app on iOS, or [Google Calendar on Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.calendar&hl=en&gl=US). Think of calendar apps as being the same as [email apps](/productivity/effective-email-management/). You can pick any calendar app that you want, based on the features and look and feel that you like. It then connects to your chosen calendar service and updates the service as you manage your appointments. This means that you can use multiple calendars apps on different devices to manage the same calendar service. [Here's my personal cheatsheet of the best calendar apps available today.](#cheatsheet) ### 2\. Calendar service Your calendar service is what actually powers your calendar. This lives in the cloud, and is a service usually provided for a monthly fee. The way this works is that your calendar service is tied to an email address that is issued to you. Each email address can have _multiple_ calendars sitting underneath it, but they all belong to that email address. Examples include: - [Microsoft Office 365](https://office.com/). - [Google Workspace](https://workspace.google.com/). - Google’s free personal Gmail service, which includes a free personal calendar. - [Apple iCloud](https://www.icloud.com/). Calendar services conform to the [CalDAV standard](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/CalDAV), so they are supposedly all compatible, which is what also makes them work with all the different calendar apps. Some services like Google Workspace have built non-standard features on top, which make them more useful than the competition. ### 3\. Scheduler app You’ve probably come across this email thread in business before: - Are you available at this time and this time? - No, but I am at this time and this time. Would that work for you? - (5 emails later) - Great, see you Tuesday at 10am. **Schedulers are a SaaS (app and service) that try to fix the email back-and-forth problem for setting up call times.** They’re not 100% ideal, but they are the best solution on the market to avoid the back-and-forth emails at the moment. Here’s how they work. You, as the person hosting the meeting, set up your scheduler app with certain parameters, like the times when you are available, the meeting location and how long the meeting will be. You then send a link to your guests. They will be able to pick a time based on their availability. Because the scheduler already knows when YOU are available, your guests can match this against when THEY are available, avoiding any back and forth. Now that you have an agreed-upon time, the scheduler will also do some fancy technological magic like: - Display available times in the guest’s timezone based on geoip. - Generate secure Zoom and other video conferencing links. - Send reminders via email and text before the event. - Offer the easy ability to reschedule and cancel without you (the host) having to email back-and-forth. In short, schedulers are great and even essential for any modern service business, and you should absolutely use them. [My recommended scheduler app is in the downloadable Calendar Cheatsheet below](#cheatsheet). ### 4\. Video conferencing apps The whole point of meetings and calendars and scheduling is to actually meet with people. And the modern way to do that is via **video conferencing.** This means: - [Zoom](https://zoom.us/). - [Google Meet](https://meet.google.com/). These apps and services plug into your calendar apps and scheduler so that you can generate secure call links automatically. ## Using Your Business Calendar Daily ![Using Your Business Calendar Daily](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/using-your-business-calendar-daily.webp) Once you have your four calendar components set up, how do you actually use them daily? First, **check your calendar** ALL THE TIME. Use it to plan your days and weeks, and know what’s happening for you every single day. Be sure to set alarms for everything, **both 10 minutes before and at time of event.** Second, use your calendar apps on your phone and desktop to **send invitations** to guests’ email addresses. This is how you set up meetings with your team or with customers and clients. Third, when you receive calendar invitations via email or your calendar apps, **be sure to indicate YES or NO.** This is the equivalent of RSVP’ing and confirming your attendance for a meeting. This is something that I see missing a lot in Asian countries where mobile is more dominant than email. Fourth, **set up some default appointment types in your scheduler app** and have your customers and clients book calls with you through them to avoid the back-and-forth. Fifth, **give your team members access to your calendar** so that they know when they can book meetings with you. You don’t have to give them event detail access, just busy/not-busy visibility. Lastly, **create a shared team calendar** for things like leave/time off, work anniversaries and special events. ## Calendar Tips For Business Owners ![Calendar Tips For Business Owners](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/calendar-tips-for-business-owners.webp) Once you’re fluent with using your calendar daily, here are some additional tips to make the most out of your calendars. **1\. Timezones are part of the CalDAV standard and convert automatically when sending invitations, especially with scheduler apps.** If I sets up my calendar to be available from 9am-12pm Bangkok (ICT) time, that will automatically convert to 10am-1pm Singapore (SGT) time for my Singapore-based clients. **2\. Be sure to keep separate work and personal calendars.** Yes, you can have multiple calendars under one email address. But even better, would be to have one personal email address and one work email address and have separate calendars under reach. [See our detailed guide on how to do this here](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/). **3\. Keep all your devices in sync by making sure your calendar service is connected to all your calendar apps.** **4\. Understand the [different types of items](/productivity/time-management-stack/) that go on your calendar.** You will have: - **Meetings,** which are usually with someone else at a certain time and place. - **Timeblocks,** where you “meet yourself” for a specific uninterrupted period to get things done. - **Reminder events,** which are just little pings throughout the day to remind you of everyday things like lunch, going to sleep etc.[^1] **Note that the CalDAV calendar standard lets you create tasks/reminders and put them on a calendar, but we recommend against this.** Your tasks should really live in a dedicated task manager like [Things](https://culturedcode.com/things/) for personal tasks, or [Asana](/go/asana/) for work tasks/projects. Our tasks in the modern day are far too complex for a simple flat task list, which is all that the CalDAV standard for tasks supports. **5\. Lastly, note that the “calendar” function in a lot of apps and services has NOTHING to do with this calendar ecosystem.** e.g., the “Calendar” tab is Asana refers to viewing your Asana tasks on a calendar view. It has nothing to do with scheduling events or showing your events in Asana. Yes, you can technically sync this into a calendar app… but why would you, given that you should be logging into Asana daily to manage your projects and tasks anyway! ## Common Mistakes That Business Owners and Professionals Make With Calendars Here are the most common mistakes I see business owners and their teams make when using (or not using) calendars: 1. Not using their calendars. 2. Not understanding the difference between a calendar app, calendar service and how calendars are tied to an email address. 3. Not checking their calendar daily. 4. Not replying to invitations. 5. Not giving their assistant or teams access to calendar visibility. 6. Not showing up to scheduled events and calls because they don’t know how to use a calendar. That’s just rude and will cost you business and business relationships. 7. Using multiple calendar apps and services and not unifying them. You don’t get a separate 24 hours per every personal and work email address you have, so all your calendars should appear across all your calendar apps. 8. Not using the technology available to your advantage, e.g., auto-generating Zoom links from within Google Calendar. ## Calendar App and Service Cheatsheet ![Download Your One-Click Best Calendar Apps and Services Cheatsheet](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/best-calendar-apps-and-services-cheatsheet-horizontal.webp) Want my cheatsheet for the BEST calendar apps and services to use? Enter your name and email and grab it here: **Free: Calendar App and Service Cheatsheet** — Get the Calendar App and Service Cheatsheet — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/ ## What To Do Next We don’t have anything to sell you for this guide. Grab the cheatsheet. Grab your favourite apps. Get your calendars set up. And just use them! [^1]: NOT the same as tasks or Apple reminders. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### Job Scorecards https://aaronlynn.com/business/job-scorecards/ You may have heard of job scorecards before but have no idea what they are or how to use them. **Job scorecards are one of the most valuable team management tools ever invented.** Your business should absolutely have them. Here’s why and how you create them, and how you can use them in your business. --- ## What Are Job Scorecards? Job scorecards are documents describing: - What a job role **does.** - A job role’s **responsibilities** are. - A job role’s specific **KPIs.** - A job role’s expected **competencies.** They are used to help you work out what each person on your team is doing. They are used to help you manage your team effectively because their KPIs are well-defined and agreed upon ahead of time. And they give you and your managers [clarity over your business and team](/business/how-to-manage-your-business/) so that you can confidently grow and scale. ## Job Scorecards Are For Roles, Not People ![Job Scorecards For Roles](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/job-scorecards/job-scorecards-for-roles.webp) Creating job scorecards for the first time can be confusing. Most business owners will be tempted to create job scorecards based on what a specific person is doing right now. And there’s nothing wrong with that, because it will help you work out what each job role is supposed to do. **But.** It’s worth noting that many of your existing team members will be taking on **multiple** job roles — this is just a normal part of business. But as you sit down and refine your job scorecards, **you will want to structure them for a specific job role (or job title), rather than for a specific person.** For example, say Amanda is your Marketing Director, but also helps out with business development and sales occasionally. The job scorecard you create for her should be for the Marketing Director position. Don’t include her sales responsibilities _unless_ you are planning to create a combined marketing-sales role. Job scorecards should be created with intent of what the role **should** be doing, not what the person is **_currently_** doing. One simple question to help clarify this would be: > _If Amanda left, would I hire someone to do just the marketing director parts, or would they be expected to do sales as well?_ Another way to help clarify this distinction is to **create an organisation chart** for your company, and to note the job roles — then build job scorecards around that. For example, you may be an agency with multiple account managers, but some accounts managers may also have other duties like managing freelance technical specialists. But you wouldn’t write that into the job scorecard for future account manager hires unless it was expected for all of them. ## Why You Need Job Scorecards Job scorecards let you work out exactly what each person in your company should be doing. **They also make each team member aware of what they should be doing.** They allow you to create an objective basis for performance assessments — you simply look at the KPIs on the job scorecard and see whether they were met, or not. Job scorecards are also extremely useful for recruitment, forming the foundation for: - Creating **job descriptions.** - Creating **job ads.** - Being able to **convey what a position is like to candidates** during the [interview process](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/), so that you end up with the right person for the right job. You’ll also be able to use job scorecards to coach and develop team members based on the competencies identified on the scorecard. ## The Job Scorecard Format ![Job Scorecard Format](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/job-scorecards/job-scorecard-format.webp) Here’s our recommend job scorecard format. Details: - Job title. - Location/hours. - Compensation. Company Description: - What does the company do? - What are your key culture aspects (mission, values)? Role: - What does the role do? - What are they responsible for? - What will the main challenges be? - What is expected of them? - What does the job actually look like, day-to-day? Accountabilities: - Pick up to 10 KPIs. - Identify what it is and how it’s measured. Competencies: - List out your desired competencies.[^1] - List a minimum rating expected, and which are dealbreakers. Want this job scorecard format as an easy-to-use template? [Grab our One-Click Job Scorecard Template for Notion here](#one-click-job-scorecard-template). ## Using Job Scorecards In Your Business ![Using Job Scorecards in Your Business](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/job-scorecards/using-job-scorecards-in-your-business.webp) Use your job scorecards to **create your job descriptions and job ads** when hiring. Work the details into your interview process for each role, so that you can **paint a realistic picture for candidates.** _e.g., When you come in, we expect you to close $1m in business in the first 12 moths._ Use your job scorecards to **help team members align** with [company expectations](/business/company-culture/). Show them the job scorecard, and ask them if they agree/disagree, and what needs to be changed. This creates a collaborative approach to team management, and also **encourages team members to self-manage** to meet their KPIs.[^2] Use the KPIs on the job scorecards for performance assessments. KPIs should be written in a clear, quantifiable manner, so you can simply ask — did this team member meet their KPIs or not? _Bonus: Having a set of job scorecards based on an organisation chart lets you show team members their career paths within their specialisation or up the management chain._ ## One-Click Job Scorecard Template for Notion ![Job Scorecard Template](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/job-scorecards/job-scorecard-template-banner.webp) If you want to save yourself some time, **download my recommended Job Scorecard template** as a one-click template in Notion. Just enter your name and email address here: **Free: Job Scorecard Template** — Get the Job Scorecard Template — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/job-scorecards/ _This template includes the full list of job scorecard competencies I recommend._ ## What To Do Next **Grab the job scorecard template from above.** Map out your organisation chart. Then start creating job scorecards for each role, one-by-one. Then sit down with existing team members and discuss with them the responsibilities, KPIs, and competencies listed in each scorecard. Then refine the scorecards until you’re both in agreement. If you need specific help implementing job scorecards for your team (or for recruitment), [book a discovery call here](/discovery-call/) — and watch your clarity around how your team works and how you manage them, skyrocket 🚀. [^1]: Not every role needs every competency at a 5/5. [^2]: Note the positive presupposition that team members are inherently good and hard working, rather than lazy. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### Systems and SOP Management in Notion https://aaronlynn.com/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/ Businesses consist of systems. And systems need to be managed and organised. **And the best place to manage your systems is inside Notion.** --- ## What is Systems and SOP Management? **A system = person + process + technology.** So, systems management is really about managing [people](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/), [processes](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/), and [technology](/life/technology/). And the way this looks in a [modern business](/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/) is having these things organised in a wiki or [knowledge base app](/business/knowledge-management/) like [Notion](/go/notion/). ## Why Notion for Systems Management? At its heart, Notion is an app built to manage text and rich media in a structured manner, which makes it perfect for systems management. Yes, Notion also does other things like Kanban boards, but there are [other dedicated business apps that are better for that](/business/remote-work-apps/). **For what we want in terms of systems in our business, Notion is perfect.** It lets you capture every type of SOP. It has version history. It has a mobile app. It has a simple interface — meaning you don’t need a technical person to update your documents. In fact, anyone can spot an error and edit it right away. And it lives in the cloud, making it easy to copy-paste hyperlinks to specific pages (and even sections) and place them in other apps, like tasks in [Asana](/go/asana/). You can also turn on public sharing for Notion documents to share items with clients and customers. [Check out our Notion Systems Structure document below for an example of this](#nss). ## Why Not Google Docs For Systems? ![Why Not Google Docs?](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/why-not-google-docs.webp) [Google Docs](https://www.google.com/docs/about/) is a great tool. But it’s not _the best_ tool for [systems](/business/what-are-business-systems/) management. To start with, you have to be really, really dedicated in keeping your Google Doc SOPs in a strict folder hierarchy. And even then, you’ll find yourself clicking through a multitude of folders to find the right document. Linking is possible in Google Docs, but it is far more cumbersome than in Notion. You’ll find yourself asking if you’re linking to the correct document, and why sometimes the document title updates, and sometimes it doesn’t. Templating is also much harder to do in Google Docs than in Notion. There is also no functionality like databases or boards, which let you present business information in Notion in more useful ways. On top of all of that, there will be problems with permissions and document ownership.[^1] None of these are an issue in Notion. ## Why Not (Insert App Name) for Systems? ![Confluence, Slab, Process Street, Trainual](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/confluence-slab-processst-trainual.webp) There are a number of other apps that have Notion-like features that could also be used as a systems management wiki for your team. Here are our thoughts on each of them. ### Confluence [Conflue](#)[n](https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence)[ce](#) is just as good as Notion. It’s just a bit more “corporate” looking. It definitely has its fans, and we’ve also used Confluence extensively and would recommend it for anyone who prefers the look and feel. It’s simply that the clients we normally work with at Lynn Industries are not the corporate-type. ### Slab [Slab](https://slab.com/) is a great up-and-coming competitor to Notion and Confluence. It does what it needs to do, but isn’t as feature-rich yet. ### Process Street [Process Street](https://www.process.st/) is really good. And really expensive. It’s built around the idea of workflows rather than systems. Team members are also expected to tick off items inside Process Street, which begs the question: _Do we put these checklists inside Process Street and manage them there, or do we manage them in our project management tool?_ It’s best to have a “single source of truth” where possible, and Process Street confuses this a little. Process Street is also not as customisable as Notion for data such as team notes or meeting notes. ### Trainual [Trainual](https://trainual.com/) is great for SOPs. It just isn’t as flexible or customisable as Notion for other sets of data. ### Wiki features in other apps Many other apps like [ClickUp](https://clickup.com/) have wiki-style functions built in. The problem with these apps is that they usually excel at one core feature set (e.g., ClickUp is great for project management), but they are not great for other feature sets like systems or knowledge management. Perhaps one day these features will approach the usability of Notion or Confluence, but they are not there yet. ## How to Structure Your Systems in Notion ![How to Structure Systems](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/how-to-structure-systems.webp) **Here’s how we recommend service businesses structure their pages in Notion.** **General Teamspace** - Clients. - List of clients. - List of projects. - Client notes and data. - Shared (external) client notes and data. - Culture. - Company core. - Vision. - Values. - Team directory. - Organisation chart. - Functional accountability. - Process accountability. - OKRs and goals. - Anything from Traction’s EOS. - Meeting Notes. - Ops Manual. - Product Directory. - Internal Projects Area. - Team Notes. - Templates. **Restricted Teamspaces** - Finance. - HR ([job scorecards](/business/job-scorecards/)). - Marketing. To unpack some of these sections: We prefer putting **Meeting Notes** in Notion. Some people do it in their task management app like Asana. The reason that Notion is better for meeting notes is that you can take more detailed minutes (and send them out after the meeting), and keep a historical record of what was said and when and by whom. The downside to this is that any action items have to be created in Asana or your project management tool right after the meeting. The **Ops Manual** is where your SOPs go. Notion will let you be creative with how you present your processes. The **Product Directory** is where your files, assets, and information related to your products go (if you sell products too). The **Internal Projects Area** is where your special projects and initiatives are collaborated on. **Team Notes** are just miscellaneous notes captured by the team for posterity. **Templates** are one-click templates for documents like SOPs in Notion. **Restricted Teamspaces** are a better way to manage permissions in Notion, for sensitive areas like **Finance, HR, and Marketing.** ## Using Notion for Systems in Your Business ![Systems in Your Business](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/systems-in-your-business.webp) **Populate your Notion instance slowly.** There’s no need to rush and try to get all your SOPS in there all-at-once. Just make sure that it’s project managed well and that everything makes it in there eventually. **Give your team access to Notion** (duh). **Do a quick training** on all the sections you’ve set up in Notion, and how to locate the information they need. Remember that Notion is like your team’s Wikipedia, meaning that **the team doesn’t need to read it all the time… just when they need to reference something or follow a specific process.** **[Encourage the team to update anything out-of-date as they see it](/business/update-maintain-sops/).** This will _immensely_ help with keeping documents and SOPs relevant. ## Notion Systems Structure Download ![Notion Systems Structure](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/three-best-knowledge-base-apps-for-2021-video/notion-systems-structure-1.webp) **Want my Notion Systems Structure as an easily duplicatable document in Notion?** Grab it here. **Free: Notion Systems Structure** — Get the Notion Systems Structure — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/ ## What To Do Next **Grab the Notion Systems Structure above for a head-start on setting up your Notion instance.** Photos by: [Chris Montgomery](https://unsplash.com/@cwmonty), [MICH ELIZALDE](https://unsplash.com/@mich?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) [^1]: Like when a team member leaves and you deactivate their account. > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Effective Delegation and Situational Leadership https://aaronlynn.com/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/ How do you effectively delegate in your business? And for that matter… **what does effective delegation even mean?** Most business owners have **one** way of delegating, and they think that it is the **only** way of delegating. In reality, if their one method of delegation has worked, it’s because they have been extremely lucky with a particular team member/task type combination that has worked in that one, specific situation. The truth is there are **many** styles of delegation, each dependent on the task at hand, the team member and their stage of professional development. **Effective delegation is all about recognising this, and adapting how you delegate to the situation at hand.** The model for this is known as [Kenneth Blanchard’s _Situational Leadership_](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Situational_leadership_theory)_,_ which was developed in the 1970s.[^1] --- ## The Situational Leadership and Effective Delegation Model [![Situational Leadership Model](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/situational-leadership.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/situational-leadership.webp) ## Unpacking Effective Delegation Here’s how the situational leadership and effective delegation model breaks down. ### 1\. Directing (S1) Directing means **high direction and low support.** This means that a team member is new to the task and is not familiar with it. You must be prescriptive with your direction, providing [step-by-step instruction](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/). You do not, however, need to provide much in terms of motivational support because they will already be motivated in starting a new task. ### 2\. Coaching (S2) Coaching means **high direction and high support.** As the team member becomes more familiar with the task, you still need to be prescriptive, but the challenges of the task will start becoming apparent to the team member, so you must also provide coaching and motivational support. ### 3\. Supporting (S3) Supporting means **low direction and high support.** By this stage, the team member understands how to do the task at a technical level, but will likely be stumbling over any challenges and roadblocks. This is where some motivational support from you will help them succeed. ### 4\. Delegating (S4) Delegation is the “holy grail” of management with **low direction and low support.** This is **true delegation** — the team member knows how to complete a task, and is familiar enough with the ups and downs of the task that they are self-motivated to complete it. All you need to do is check in for a [status update](/business/business-meetings/). ## Direction ![Sydney Harbour Bridge Direction](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/sydney-harbour-bridge-direction.webp) **Direction** in this model refers to step-by-step, do-this-do-that instruction. You list out the steps, [provide the SOPs](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/), and provide folder links and [whatever resources the team member needs](/business/knowledge-management/) to complete the job. This can even border on micromanagement at times. ## Support ![Support in Penang](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/penang-support.webp) Support, on the other hand, is [motivational](/productivity/motivation/). It’s all about letting the team member know that, “you can do this”, and letting them know, “if you need to discuss, [just Slack me](/business/remote-work-apps/) and we can talk through it”. It’s about providing motivational support and encouragement in the form of words, mentoring and coaching for the team member and this specific task. ## Using Effective Delegation In Your Business ![Effective Delegation in Business with a Siberian Husky](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/siberian-husky-effective-delegation-in-business.webp) Using the effective delegation model in your business is simple. ### Starting a Task or Project Whenever you are assigning a project or task to a team member, ask them: > What level of direction and support do you want? And then start with that. And as a manager, you then adapt along the spectrum from S1 to S4 or until the project finishes. ### Checking In and Meetings What about [meetings and check ins](/business/business-meetings/)? Earlier on in the model (S1, S2), you, as the manager, will want to schedule check ins with the team member every 1-2 days. Once you get to S3, you will want to schedule a check in once a week. At S4, you should be checking in only at the request of the team member in the form of a status update. **This makes sense, as in the earlier stages more direction is needed, and more support is needed in the later stages.** ## SOP for Effective Delegation ![Download Your One-Click Delegation SOP](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/delegation-sop-download-horizontal.webp) **Want a Delegation SOP that you can 1-click into your Notion for yourself and your managers to use?** Enter your name and email address below and I’ll send you a link: **Free: Delegation SOP** — Get the Delegation SOP — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/ ## What To Do Next **Grab the SOP.** Then start practicing effective delegation. And have your managers and team leaders practice it as well. It will change the way you work with your team for the better. If you need help implementing this in your business, [let’s hop on a discovery call here and see how we can work together to get you set up your team with better and more effective delegation.](/discovery-call/) [^1]: Despite the name, it is actually a model for management, not leadership. Management = recognising team strengths and weaknesses and working with them. Leadership = unifying vision. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### Team Onboarding https://aaronlynn.com/business/team-onboarding/ Does your business have a team onboarding process? If not, what happens when a new team member joins? Are they: - Left to their own devices to figure things out? - Assigned nebulous “goals” and expected to somehow make it work? Or are they warmly welcomed, and given the training, guidance and support that they need to succeed? --- ## Why You Need a Team Onboarding Process **You absolutely need a team onboarding process in your business.** It lowers staff turnover. It paints a good “second impression” on the new team member.[^1] And if you want to be utilitarian about it, traditional service businesses take **about six months** for a new team member to contribute back the value of their recruitment to the business. Meaning that if a new team members leaves before six months… that just cost the business money.[^2] **[Once you’ve found someone great for your business](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/)… why wouldn’t you set them up to succeed?** ## The Mindset You Need for Team Onboarding ![Team Onboarding Mindset](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/team-onboarding/team-onboarding-mindset.webp) You want to start team onboarding with the right mindset. Forget any rubbish you have heard about: - People needing to stand on their own two feet - You can’t give them answers to the exam ahead of time.[^3] - That [senior hires](/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/) are expected to contribute immediately and not have their hand held in any way whatsoever. **If you want your business to succeed and make money — you will do everything in your power to help your team members succeed.** But how do you actually do this? Here’s how we do it at Lynn Industries. ## Team Onboarding: What and Why ![What and Why of Team Onboarding](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/team-onboarding/team-onboarding-what-why.webp) Work out what your team onboarding process covers, and doesn’t cover. **What should team onboarding cover?** Everything after recruitment, everything before the team member officially starts, and their initial work period with the company. This includes their onboarding checklists and ongoing check-ins as part of team management. **Why are you doing team onboarding?** To make your new team members feel welcome, part of the team, and to have them up, running and part of the company culture as quickly as possible. ## Team Onboarding: Who Who is responsible for your team onboarding process? Who actually performs the various components of onboarding like account setup, training and check-ins? **Work these out and write them down.** ## Team Onboarding: When **You need to know how long your team onboarding process takes.** For some companies, this is one month. For others, it can be as short as two weeks. A good number to aim for is two weeks, with the aim to have the team member fully functional and autonomous within three months. ## The Team Onboarding Process ![Team Onboarding Process in Notion](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/team-onboarding/team-onboarding-process-notion.webp) Here’s an outline for a team onboarding process that you can take use as a start for your own business. ### Part 1: Before they join Once a team member has been recruited (but before they join), their [accounts and applications](/business/remote-work-apps/) need to be set up and ready for use. If you are large enough to have an IT department, they will be responsible for this. But most likely it will be you (the business owner) or an operations person setting these up. These are access and accounts for: - Email. - Passwords. - Slack. - Notion. - Asana. - Any other apps that your team uses. You will also want to prepare an **introduction email** to the new team member and an introduction email to the team. You will want to add them to your **team directory.** And you will want to invite their new company email address to all the meetings and trainings ahead of time, so that they are scheduled into their calendar from the very first day. ### Part 2: Onboarding training The new team member’s first day should start with a **welcome call.** This can be with their direct manager, or someone senior that they’ll be working with. If it’s a small company under 12 people, [it should be with the founder/CEO](/business/business-owners-do-not-do/). You can go over their [job scorecard](/business/job-scorecards/) and the basics of working with the company. You’ll then want to begin with some **training and an introduction to the company culture.** Give them the big picture of the company, and how their role contributes to it. Ideally, this initial training should be done live, even if it takes 1-2 hours. You’ll then want to **dive into technical training,** related to the role they’ve been hired for. Give them both classroom lessons, _and_ hands-on work practice with other team members. This will help them build rapport with the team quickly and make them feel welcome. Technical training can be a combination of both live training and recorded trainings. You’ll also want to provide the new team member with administrative training. This is everything from how certain apps work, or how payslips/leave requests work in the company. ### Part 3: End of week check-ins At the end of every week for the first month, the new team member should have a short check-in call with their direct manager or the [company founder/CEO](/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/). This is part of making them feel welcome and also part of familiarising them with the company culture. ### Part 4: Self-study checklist No onboarding process would be complete without a self-study checklist of some sort. Give the new team member access to the company wiki and link to videos and [SOPs](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) for them to study when they have time between trainings and initial work. You can also give them some administrative odds and ends like setting up their Slack profile photo for this time. ### Part 5: Ongoing check-ins By the end of the first month, everyone should have spoken with the new team member. Be sure to set up an end-of-first-month check-in chat with the new team member, then transition them over to your regular, ongoing one-on-one schedule (like with all other team members). ## Results of a Successful Team Onboarding Process ![Successful Team Onboarding Results](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/team-onboarding/team-onboarding-results.webp) When a team member onboarding process is run correctly, it looks very, very smooth. There will be few hiccups bringing someone onboard, the new team member feels welcome, and they are [up and running quickly and succeeding with their work fast](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/). **This is great for the team member and great for the business.** ## What To Do Next The idea of team member onboarding is not a complicated process in business — and yet, so many businesses fail to have one in place. ## Team Onboarding SOP ![Download Your One-Click Team Onboarding SOP](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/team-onboarding/team-onboarding-sop-horizontal.webp) If you’d like a fast start to setting a team onboarding SOP up for your business, enter your name and email here. I’ll send you a one-click import for a **team member onboarding process** you can customise and use in Notion. **Free: Team Onboarding SOP** — Get the Team Onboarding SOP — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/team-onboarding/ If you’d like help tailoring a team member onboarding process specifically for your apps and processes, [head on over here and book a discovery call with me](/discovery-call/). We’ll talk about how we can work together to implement team member onboarding in your business. [^1]: The first impression is during [recruitment](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/). [^2]: Mueller, A. (2022). _The cost of hiring a new employee._ Investopedia. [https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0711/the-cost-of-hiring-a-new-employee.aspx](https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0711/the-cost-of-hiring-a-new-employee.aspx) [^3]: This is work, not school. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### How to Hire New Team Members https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/ One of the most common problems in business is hiring new team members. If you browse the financial headlines you’ll commonly see trends about people resigning, talent moving to higher paying jobs or [people opting out of working altogether](https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/). So as a small or medium-sized business owner, just how are you supposed to go about hiring new team members? Here’s what I’ve learnt over the last 15+ years of hiring for my businesses and helping other business owners hire. --- ## 1\. Get Your Hiring Mindset Right ![Get Your Hiring Mindset Right](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/right-hiring-mindset.webp) Hiring for your business begins with [your mindset as a business owner](/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/). The most important thing is to realise that **you must sell the idea of working with you** just as much as the candidate has to sell themselves for the position. Why? Because if you’re hiring A-players or the best-of-the-best, you aren’t just competing against every other small business out there — you’re competing against tech giants and big brand name companies. The best candidates really do have their pick of where to work, and because of this, you must be competitive in recruiting to bring them onboard. If you hire Asia-based staff, you’ll also encounter the phenomenon of employees who want to spend a couple of years with you to get some experience on their resume, and then want to move on to a big brand name like Google or ByteDance for the status-brag.[^1] **As a business owner, you have to build selling how good it is to work with you into the recruitment process.** [You do this by being professional, by being punctual, by talking up the company on interviews and by having good recruitment marketing efforts](/business/business-owners-do-not-do/). You’ll also want to prepare yourself for the fact that **professional ghosting is real.** If you’ve ever ventured into the world of online dating, well… recruitment is a bit like that nowadays. Yes, candidates will up and disappear, not reply to emails, not turn up for interviews, or even not turn up for the first day of work with no explanation or further communication. We’ve all become quite naughty in our personal lives,[^2] and it has bled over into our professional lives. There is a ton of silly nonsense going around, including: - Candidates not wanting to fill in a basic application form. - Candidates sending you past paycheques to show you how “good” they are. - Candidates refusing to interview. - Last-minute reschedules, no-shows and more. This is all because there are relatively few consequences for bad behaviour when it comes to applying for work.[^3] As a business owner, you have to make peace with this and realise that nothing is final until the candidate shows up for work and starts doing what they are supposed to do. The next mindset shift you need to make is that **the hiring ratios are really, really, bad nowadays…** but that’s just part of the process. It will look something like: - 100 resumes. - 10 candidates who can actually complete the application process. - 3 candidates interviewed. - 1 is hired. This is normal across all industries now. Underlying all of this is that **you need a recruitment process,** you can’t just improvise. [Having a process will stop you from going insane](/business/what-are-business-systems/) at the levels of BS present in recruitment nowadays. It will also let you [pass on the administrative side to an assistant or](/business/how-to-manage-your-business/) [oper](/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/)[ations manager](/business/how-to-manage-your-business/), and you can just check in on the interviews. [Don’t be the business owner who hires entirely based on gut-feel](/business/disagree-and-commit/).[^4] **Do be the business owner who talks to candidates at least once — it’s important!** ## 2\. Have a Good Recruitment Process for Hiring New Team Members [![Lynn Industries Recruitment Process](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/lynn-industries-recruitment-process.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/lynn-industries-recruitment-process.webp) Here’s my recommended recruitment process for SME business owners: 1. [Job scorecard](/business/job-scorecards/). 2. Get a good source of candidates. 3. Filter resumes. 4. Have an application form. 5. Do an initial interview/screen. 6. Have a technical test or technical interview. 7. Do a Topgrading interview. 8. Do a final interview if required. You may be asking — do I need to do all these steps? No, especially if you are recruiting entry-level. But I would recommend doing all of them for a senior hire. A fast-track version would be: 1. Automated initial screen via video/AI. 2. Technical test. 3. Final interview / vibe check. Here’s why you need each step. ### 1\. Job scorecard A job scorecard or similar job description lets you define what **you** want as a business. What do you need this person to actually do? How will you know that they are actually doing it? Work this out for your internal use. **Then** turn it into a job ad. Want a template for this? It’s something that I give to my True Business Owner clients! ### 2\. Good source of candidates A recruitment funnel is just like any other kind of marketing funnel, and you need a good source of leads (candidates). This could be your network, a recruiter/headhunter or a sourcing firm. You could also run your own ads on [LinkedIn](https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/job-ads) or Facebook. More on this below. ### 3\. Resume filtering Resume filtering will be your initial screening of candidates. _Be prepared to discover just how much of a lost art the resume has become nowadays._ ### 4\. Application form If you need some specific information that a standard resume doesn’t cover, ask candidates to send it in. This could be a cover letter. Or it could be some short notes and Q&A about your industry. ### 5\. Initial interview / screen I like to screen candidates upfront, through a short video interview. This is really a vibe check, to make sure that they’re a real person,[^5] and that they are organised enough to make it to a Zoom call. ### 6\. Technical test or interview If the role you are hiring for is technical, then have a technical test or interview. This should be indicative of the role’s KPIs and the work that the candidate will actually have to do if hired. ### 7\. Topgrading interview Topgrading interviews come from Bradford Smart’s classic book, _[Topgrading](https://www.amazon.com/Topgrading-3rd-Promoting-Turbocharges-Performance-ebook/dp/B0074VTH02/)_. It is a long interview that goes through a candidate’s work history and asks the difficult questions like why they left a previous company or what they thought about their former managers. My suggestion is to do this with two interviewers, and to watch for red flags, gaps in answers and questions that need to be asked. **Good, professional candidates who actually want the job will have no problem going through this interview process.** _Candidates who are against it usually have something to hide._ And yes, there is a template for this inside True Business Owner. ### 8\. Final interview If needed, have a team member that the candidate will be working with do a final, short interview as a vibe check. All this may seem overly manual, but there are new technologies like [interviewer.ai](https://interviewer.ai/) and automated resume filtering that can help with this. I’ll update this guide as they become more accessible for businesses. ## 3\. Sourcing Candidates ![Sourcing Candidates](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/sourcing-candidates.webp) You need to be able to source good candidates if you want to hire good employees. Where you source them from depends largely on the role you are hiring for. Here is what I’ve seen. **The first place to look is your network.** Tap into your vendors, customers, past clients, friends, business school classmates and more. Usually, the best candidates are where there is a personal connection or referral. e.g., a past customer who is a raving fan who really wants to work with you. **The next place is headhunters or recruitment companies.** Headhunters maintain a professional network and find people. Recruitment companies run ads or find people on LinkedIn and do the outreach for you and bring in candidates. I’ll give a shoutout to two of my favourite recruitment companies here: - [Let’s Remotivate](https://letsremotivate.com/) (for remote workers in the US/Europe). - [Gibas Associates](https://www.gibasassociates.com/) (for VAs from the Philippines). **The last option is to run your own job ads,** whether that’s on LinkedIn, Facebook or job boards. Only recommended if you know what you are doing! All these sourcing options work, it just comes down to time and money. ## 4\. Recruitment Marketing for Hiring New Team Members ![Recruitment Marketing](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/recruitment-marketing.webp) Something not-often talked about when it comes to hiring is recruitment marketing. This is the beginning stages of selling your company as a great place to work to potential candidates. Some basics would include: - A careers page on your website. - A YouTube channel showing behind-the-scenes. - Talking up your company to your network when appropriate. - Good reviews on [Glassdoor](https://www.glassdoor.com/). - Industry awards. Having good recruitment marketing lets you build a virtual bench of people who like your company and _may_ want to work with you when the opportunity arises. ## 5\. Managing New Hires ![Team Onboarding Process](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/team-onboarding-process.webp) [How to onboard](/business/team-onboarding/) and [manage new hires](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/) are articles in and of themselves. I’ll make a brief mention here because turnover is a HUGE problem if you don’t manage your new hires properly. At the very least, you must have: 1. An onboarding process. 2. Work for them to do. An onboarding process is just the first set of meetings, work, and training that new hires go through when they start working with you. It could include: 1. A welcome call from you / a senior team member. 2. Basic training, your company core values and culture. 3. HR how-tos like payslips, leave requests, introductions to the team. 4. Role-specific training. 5. Start work and projects to move them into everyday work. You must make your new hires feel welcome — don’t put them through a trial by fire. And yes, more senior/experienced hires are expected to get themselves up and running faster and that’s fine — but onboarding is always nice and appreciated. --- There is a **lot** to cover when it comes to recruiting and hiring new team members. Consider this article an outline of the big thing you need to look out for — and keep an eye out for more detailed guides to come. [If you need help with hiring inside your business, reach out to me here, and we can talk about how to work together to find and bring onboard the kind of team members that you want](/discovery-call/). [^1]: If you want to find out more about this, follow [Jonathan Pengel on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanpengel/). He’s the founder of [Marketyze](https://www.marketyze.io/), an amazing digital marketing agency based in Bangkok. [^2]: Due to [social media and its inflation of false status/popularity](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/) and feeding of the ego. [^3]: Can you imagine if we had a version of Glassdoor for candidates? 🤔 [^4]: You’ll end up with people who are great at talking themselves up but have no real work ability. [^5]: Yep 🙄. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### How to Manage Your Business https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-manage-your-business/ What exactly is “management” when it comes to business? We’re told that business school is useless. We’re also told that large companies are generally inefficient.[^1] So if you’re a business owner, how exactly are you supposed to “manage” your business? Here’s how I think management breaks down: 1. Company culture and core. 2. Strategy and planning. 3. Real-time meeting rhythm. 4. Good team management. 5. Clear team communications. 6. “Other” management systems, such as project management and systems management. 7. All backed up by the right technology. Let’s look at each of these one-by-one. --- ## 1\. Company Culture and Core ![Two Frenchies Compony Core Values](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-manage-your-business/company-core-values.webp) Your [company culture](/business/company-culture/) and core is not just something wishy-washy for PR purposes. It has [hardcore strategic and tactical value](/business/why-company-culture-matters/) for your business and how you manage it. Your core is your mission, goals, and values combined. ### Company mission Your **company mission** asks: > What is the point of the company? In the beginning, it’s usually to make money or to capitalise on a market opportunity. But once you’ve passed the survival stage and have started to stabilise and grow, you need to think: What is the point of all this? Why am I doing this? As the founder of the business, **what you want from your life matters here** and plays into the direction the company will grow. In case you’re wondering, it’s perfectly fine to have a mission that involves high profits, delivering a great product or service and building a great place to work. One of my clients in the $20m+ range does exactly that, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.[^2] ### Company goals Your company’s goals are best thought of by timeframe. What’s the 20-year goal? What’s the 3-year goal? What’s the 1-year goal? What are the goals for the next 3 months? You can set this up however you like — as OKRs or as [strategic objectives](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/), but at this stage in your business, _you absolutely need goals._ It’s useful to think in terms of both internal and external goals: - Internal = systems, operations, team. - External = marketing, sales. A great person to learn from for consistently setting, tracking and assessing business goals is Daryl Mander of [Big Flare](https://bigflare.com/).[^3] He’s obsessive about creating OKRs, tracking them, having his team also track them and see them through to completion. ### Company values Your company values are what you stand for in your business. How do you behave when you and your team all go into work? This isn’t something you put on your website for publicity purposes.[^4] This is a strategic and tactical view of what behaviours and standards matter to you and your team and how you work and deliver for your customers. If you don’t know what your company values are, [here’s an exercise you can do to uncover them](/productivity/core-values/). ## 2\. Strategic Thinking and Execution Planning ![Strategic Planning for CEOs, Entrepreneurs and Business Owners](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/strategic-planning.webp) **Strategy, or strategic thinking,** is how you work out how your business will operate. **Planning, or execution planning,** is putting that strategy into action and making it a reality. ### Strategy There are lengthy tomes written about and entire MBAs dedicated to the subject of strategy. You probably recognise some of the models: Five Forces, Customer Avatars, Market Attribution Frameworks and so on. As a business owner, what you need to do is to take these models and apply them to your business. Have your senior team members help you out with this, and together, come up with your “strategy”. ### Planning Planning is about setting goals, objectives, and KPIs. It is saying, “now that we have a strategy, here are the things we need to do to implement this strategy”. Once you have a plan, you must move into execution. ## 3\. Real-Time Meeting Rhythm (i.e., Execution) ![Real Time Meeting Rhythm Animals](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-manage-your-business/real-time-meeting-rhythm.webp) The easiest way to execute a strategic plan in your business is through what I call a **real-time meeting rhythm.** _[You must have meetings in your business.](/business/business-meetings/)_ Yes, you must meet with your team regularly. Don’t be that business owner who only sneaks into the office late at night to avoid running into any team members.[^5] This meeting rhythm is the heartbeat of your company and keeps everyone and everything in sync as your business pushes forwards for more revenue, growth, and profit. What meetings do you need exactly? I like to break them down into: 1. Strategy and planning meetings. 2. Culture and training meetings. 3. Check-ins and alignment meetings. ### Strategy and planning meetings Strategy and planning meetings are held quarterly and annually. You meet, you review objectives, you set or review your strategy, you plan your execution, and you give your [senior team members](/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/) a chance to bond over a nice lunch or dinner. ### Culture and training meetings Having a meeting dedicated to company culture and training once a month is _just about right_ for most small-to-medium companies. A half-day meeting is plenty of time to: - Review objectives. - Have founders/executives pass on culture to the senior team. - Have senior team members do a show-and-tell, providing them with an opportunity to shine. - Create bonding/cohesion between your senior team members. ### Check-ins and alignment meetings Check-ins and alignment meetings are your tactical, everyday meetings. There are two that I recommend. The first is a **[daily standup](/business/daily-standups/).** This is a quick status update, with no problem-solving. One of my clients resisted implementing this for years because they thought it would take too long — but I showed them live on a call that it would literally take 5 minutes, and aligns the company top-to-bottom when done correctly. Just imagine the focus that your team and company will have if everyone is headed in the same direction, every day. The second is a **[weekly meeting](/business/weekly-meetings/).** This is where you update everyone on your OKRs and objectives, and clear business issues. You are literally handling small issues before they become big issues. > Holy sh\*t, just how much did you guys do in 1 year? > > — _Another business consultant on seeing how much one of my clients managed to achieve after a year of working with me_. I’ve helped a number of different companies implement a real-time meeting rhythm to their advantage — it just works. If you’d like my help doing the same for your business, [here’s where you can reach out to me about it](/discovery-call/). ## 4\. Team Management ![Team Management Aaron Lynn](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-manage-your-business/team-management.webp) Team management is a catch-all phrase for all the miscellaneous management pieces that don’t fit anywhere else. Because at the end of the day, [management is about people](/business/disagree-and-commit/). Here’s what I believe is important for managing your team: 1. Your inner game as a business owner. 2. [Communicating with your team](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/). 3. Your [recruitment process](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/) and recruitment marketing. 4. Job scorecards, roles, and KPIs. 5. [Effective delegation and situational leadership](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/). ### Business owner inner game The term [inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/) refers to your mindset or your beliefs about your business. There are a couple of mindsets that believe are useful for business owners to adopt, even if they’re not 100% objectively true. The first is the idea that **your business is a benevolent dictatorship.** This means that your business is not a democracy. It is **your** business and at the end of the day, you have to call the shots. Because when timer ends, you’re going to be the one left holding all the pieces. So yes, be a good person and treat your team well and consider their opinions, but at the end of the day — you make the calls. The second is that **you must know what you want from your business and life.** Many business owners have _no idea_ what they want from their lives. They just go into work day after day, put out whatever fires come up, and have no end goal in mind. Start with your life because your business is there to enable your life. Work out what you want, then reorganise your business to move you closer to that. The third is **how you view your business and team.** There are some business owners out there who see their teams as a burden and their business as a time sink. Don’t be one of these business owners. If you are, change your mind… or get out. Where possible, view your team and business in a positive light — it will make working with them 10x easier. ### Communicating with your team Yes, you must communicate with your team. We’ll cover this in more detail shortly. Again, don’t be that business owner who sneaks into the office in the middle of the night to avoid seeing your team. ### Recruitment and recruitment marketing [Recruitment is a hot topic which deserves an article of its own](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/). The most important idea for business owners is that _you must market and sell your business as a great place to work,_ just as hard as candidates try to sell themselves as a good fit for your team.[^6] Every business also needs to be doing its own recruitment marketing. As one of my recent clients said, “Why are we paying headhunters bags of money when we’re a marketing agency that can sell working with us just as well as we can sell a client’s brand?” ### Job scorecards, roles, and KPIs Make it 100% clear what every person on your team does. Put in place job scorecards for each role and related KPIs. Do regular performance assessments. This doesn’t mean zero flexibility, it means setting up some basic standards and requirements, so you can make the tough calls when it comes to hiring and firing. Companies that have job scorecards and roles well-defined can jump straight into hiring right away when they lose a member of staff. ### Effective delegation and situational leadership There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to assigning work. Sometimes lots of direction is needed. Sometimes lots of support is needed. Sometimes neither are needed. Both are task and team member dependent, and you need to work out the right combination for each one. You also need to know how often to check in on work, and how to conduct 1:1 meetings. This is an article in and of itself. > OMG when Aaron asks me to help with something, all the links, resources, and information are there and there’s already a meeting booked to check in. > > — _Team member of one of my recent clients_. If you want me to teach you how to have the same delegation setup for your team, [reach out to me here](/discovery-call/). ## 5\. Team Communications ![Team Communications in Slack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-manage-your-business/team-communications-slack.webp) I have an entire article dedicated to team communications called the [Business Hierarchy of Communication](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/). This is where you use technology and different communication modalities like [Slack or Zoom](/business/remote-work-apps/) to communicate effectively with your team. What you say and how you say it, will be the standard that others follow, so lead by example and make sure that it’s a good standard. Don’t be that business owner who is never online or reachable. ## 6\. Other Management Systems Apart from the above aspects of management, you need “other” systems to support your team and business. ![Aaron Lynn at Asana Sydney](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-manage-your-business/aaron-lynn-asana-sydney.webp) **Project management** is a system for planning, managing and executing on projects. This is mostly done via an app like [Asana](/go/asana/) or [ClickUp](https://clickup.com/) nowadays. But you also need processes to support this: - A process for launching projects. - A process for managing projects. - A process for completing projects. - A process for learning from completed projects. This is the kind of thing that I cover in my [Asana Intensives](/contact/). ![Systems Management in Notion](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-manage-your-business/notion-systems.webp) **Systems management** is a system for [creating, managing and updating your systems](/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/). It is also usually set up in the form of a corporate wiki or intranet. I like [Notion](#) or [Confluence](https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence) for this. You need a systems person on your team or a company culture of writing things down to help build this out. You can also do a [Notion Intensive with me to get things started](/contact/). ## 7\. Technological Support ![Technological Support for Business](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-manage-your-business/business-technology-support.webp) I like to say that: > Systems = people + process + technology Because technology makes every aspect of management, much, much easier. It will give your **company culture and core** greater visibility in the form of dashboards, automated reminders and gamification built into something like Google Sheets or Notion. It will help you write down and share your **strategy and execution plans.** It will let you schedule in your **real-time meeting rhythm** using a calendar, and run meetings via Zoom. It will help you **track your team management** and create transparency within the business. It will help you **communicate with your team** via Slack. It will help you **manage other systems** like projects via Asana, or systems and processes via Notion. --- Most business owners knows bits of what we’ve covered in this article. And it’s probably criminal that this _isn’t_ taught in business school. **When people ask me what a “business operations and systems consultant” does… well, this is what I do.** I help you set all this up in your business so that your company runs like clockwork. Sure, you can keep running your business by the seat of your pants. Or you can get this “management” thing handled and enjoy the financial benefits of being a business owner whilst letting the business run and grow by itself. Just imagine having that option available to you: **You can work minimally and leave the business to its own devices, and it still runs.** Or you can step back from the day-to-day, let that run, and dedicate your energy and focus into projects that will [take your business to the next level](/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/). [Reach out to me here and let’s hop on a call to talk about how we can work together to make this happen](/discovery-call/). Photos by [Matthias Münning](https://unsplash.com/@muenning?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Brandon Romanchuk](https://unsplash.com/@currentspaces?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: So not true. [^2]: They also have “disrupt our industry again, and again, and again” as part of their mission. [^3]: Disclaimer: One of my clients. [^4]: Though you can. [^5]: True story. [^6]: Unless you’re a household name like Google or P&G. > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### What a True Business Owner Looks Like https://aaronlynn.com/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/ Society and Hollywood paints a bad image of business owners. Think whisky, cigars, dark suits, dimly-lit boardrooms and Al Pacino in _[The Devil’s Advocate](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118971/)._ ![Devil's Advocate](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/devils-advocate.webp)
This kind of thing.
Society also invented the term “entrepreneur” and “hustle culture” to make business and business owners cool again. But with the rise of tech entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and growing wealth disparities, even that has lost its lustre and has become synonymous with worker exploitation, [privacy issues](/life/privacy/) and faceless mega-corporations. ![Zorg](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/zorg.webp)
...and this kind of thing.
I’m going to offer you a different definition for what it means to be a true business owner — one that may surprise you. --- ## What Is a True Business Owner? ![Optionality, choice, and freedom](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/aaron-lynn-optionality-choice-freedom.webp) True business owners are not that different from everyone else, except for one thing. They value **optionality, choice, and freedom.** They like having the choice to work… or not work. To them, business is not about stacking Benjamins and never being in the office and never working — it’s about having the _option_ to do so. _Note: If you don’t want to have anything to do with your business anymore, sell it and move on. So long as you remain the owner, you have to care about it… **at least a little bit.**_ ## Different Types of Business Owners and Entrepreneurs Business owners fall along a continuum for how involved they are in their business. Here are the most common ones I have seen in [my consulting work](/contact/). Types #1-3 below I would consider True Business Owners. [![Different Types of Business Owners and Entrepreneurs](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/business-owner-continuum-v2-1.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/business-owner-continuum-v2-1.webp) ### 1\. The Senior Advisor This is also known as the “founder at large”. This type of business owner writes books, gives speeches, does business development and drums up leads and clients for the business like no other. They also occasionally come in for [high-level strategic meetings](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/) to provide input, but they usually do not make decisions regarding operations — that has been delegated to a [CEO-type who runs the day-to-day](/business/vision-implementation/). They are as removed from the business as they can be without actually leaving the business completely. ### 2\. The CEO The CEO type of business owner is still involved with the business, but at a high level. They do the strategy, they make the tough calls and they do the business development. They have a [COO/GM-type](/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/) who [runs daily operations](/business/how-to-manage-your-business/) for them so that they can spend the afternoon playing golf and generating new business. The CEO works anywhere from a couple of hours a day up to a 3-4 days a week in the business. ### 3\. The Specialist The Specialist is exactly like the CEO with one difference: _They have a particular business function that they absolutely LOVE and would never give up._ For some it is sales. For others, it is [content](/productivity/writing-system/). And for others it is [thought leadership](/productivity/systems-thinking/). As best as they can, they’ve [delegated everything else to their team](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/). They simply act as a CEO does, and also head up that one particular business function that they enjoy. ### 4\. The Regular Business Owner The regular business owner is the default type of business owner. They do CEO work, COO work, and bits of everything else. Most regular business owners aim to eventually become true business owners. ### 5\. The Ruler in Abdication Don’t be a ruler in abdication. This is the business owner who hasn’t empowered their team to run daily operations… yet simply is never there to look after the business because they feel like they’ve “earned it”. They want to retain the status and prestige of owning the business without carrying any of the responsibility or accountability for it. As a result of this, work doesn’t get done, the team rebels and the company eventually implodes. _A good number of rulers in abdication are second-generation business owners who inherited the family business from their parents, but have zero interest in running it._ ## How to Become a True Business Owner ![How to Become a True Business Owner](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/business-owner-freedom-waterfall.webp) So if you’re a regular business owner right now, how do you become a true business owner? Here’s how I’ve helped clients make the leap. ### 1\. Define business and life for yourself Your business is a reflection of you, so you need to start with defining for yourself [what it is you want for your business and your life](/productivity/purpose/). Do you want to be a _Founder-at-large?_ Or do you want to be a _Specialist_, and remain involved in one area of the business? The whole point of being a business owner is that it offers you option and choice — but you need to know what you want. ### 2\. Delegation Once you’ve worked out what you want for yourself, the first thing you want to do in the business is to learn how to delegate. This will let you get items off your plate quickly, and free up your time for working on the business — so you can move it towards your ideal from #1 above. This means delegating effectively to your managers, and to your team. It also means following the cliché and hiring a secretary and assistant if you don’t already have one. ### 3\. Clone yourself The next thing to look at is how to clone yourself. And by this, I mean looking for people on your team who you can train up into senior positions. You **need** these people because if one day you are going to step back from the daily responsibilities, someone has to do them in your stead. This process takes time, and it’s best to start it early. ### 4\. Team communications Your team needs an efficient way to communicate and coordinate and that’s what team communications is all about. This is going to be a combination of the right technology and processes. ### 5\. Real-time meeting rhythm and operational alignment Your real-time meeting rhythm is the heartbeat of the company. You **must** have a solid rhythm to enable real-time reporting and operational alignment to company goals. If you’ve ever wondered what “management” actually is, this is it. ### 6\. Project management You **need** [project management](/business/project-management-for-service-providers-video/) to enable faster workflow and communication within the team. You also need it to be able to check in on what is being done in the company day-to-day. ### 7\. Systems management At some point, you are going to need [systems in your business](/business/what-are-business-systems/). This is so that the team doesn’t waste time asking you, “how do I do that?” — they simply open up your systems management app and find out. Systems also make the business independent of any one given team member (including you!) so that everything runs like clockwork. You will need systems across every part of your business from client management to financial systems to [recruitment systems](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/) to work from home systems. ## True Business Owner Examples “But Aaron, what does a true business owner, you know, actually look like?” Glad you asked. Here are some examples of clients who I consider true business owners. ### 1\. David, the CEO David is a brilliant strategist and has a technical mind. He leads up his service company with some business development. He still does some of the day-to-day work, especially around thought leadership, but his operations have been systemised and handed off to his senior people. The rest of his time he spends hobnobbing with clients, playing golf and holidaying with his family. ### 2\. Mark, the Senior Advisor Mark is slightly different as he owns _multiple_ companies. He essentially sits on the board of each one, offering advice. But he has enough operational depth and experience to jump in and temporarily handle situations at various companies when needed. He spends the rest of his time promoting entrepreneurship and working on charitable causes. ### 3\. Jennifer, the Specialist Jennifer’s specialty is sales and business development — she loves to get on Zoom and into meeting rooms and bring on new clients. Her agency’s day-to-day is handled entirely by her 5-person leadership team, who deliver all the technical work. When she isn’t on a call or meeting with new potential clients, she’s usually at the gym or enjoying a good cup of coffee… with a client. ## The True Business Owner Journey Can you become a true business owner on your own? Of course you can. But it takes time. And trial and error. The three examples above have all been doing business for 5, 10, 20 years. If you’d like to get there faster, you need a roadmap, and a coach. And that’s where I can help. If you have a business that’s already running and you’d like get away from the day-to-day faster, [book a call with me here and let’s explore how you can become a True Business Owner](/discovery-call/). > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### What are Business Systems? https://aaronlynn.com/business/what-are-business-systems/ The word “systems” is used in the business world a lot. But it means different things to different people. If you’re an agency or service [business owner](/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/) in the $20k+ per month range, here’s what business systems should mean to you so that you can work less, make more and have your team manage the business instead of you. --- ## What Are Business Systems? Business systems are a set of parts that work together to achieve a particular result in a business — usually more profits, more customers, or time saved. They are a combination of people, technology (apps) and processes. ## Business Systems Online The confusion often comes from business systems being poorly defined and marketed in the online world. If you go to Google, LinkedIn, Twitter or [even Instagram](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/) and search for “systems expert”, you’ll come across a wide range of people. There will be some with large followings (100k+). These are usually **business coaches/gurus or marketing consultants.** And what they teach are _sales and lead generation systems_ because that is the widest net to cast in business — 80% of people want more customers, because they think that is the only way to grow their business. I like to think of these experts as the Taylor Swifts or Blackpinks of the systems world. **The second set of systems experts that you’ll find specialise in launches, funnels, or email marketing.** Because sequencing email pathways, VSLs and webinars is also systems work. **The last set of systems experts you’ll come across are those who work on your core, infrastructure systems.** These systems don’t get too much attention, until you realise that you have _too many new potential clients_ and don’t have the time or capacity to service them. These experts (like me) work on **process reengineering, project management, team communications and client management processes.** And because we tend to work with a smaller set of already-established business owners, there are fewer of us. These systems experts are often called **operations consultants, OBMs, remote systems integrators or fractional COOs.** As we have seen, systems cover everything from: - Marketing systems. - Funnels and emails. - [Project management](/business/project-management-views-and-data-structures-in-asana-video/). - Team management. - And more. ## What Are Some More of These Core, Infrastructure Systems? ![Core, Infrastructure Systems](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/what-are-business-systems/core-business-systems@2x.webp) Core infrastructure systems are the systems that help already-successful business owners remove themselves from their business. Think of it as automating 50% of your manual processes, and making sure that those that remain can be completed by a team, rather than yourself. Let’s look at some examples. ### Project management systems Project management is the obvious example. A [good project management system](/contact/) should: - Take incoming work, identify it and prioritise it. - Get it out to the right team members fast and efficiently. - Let the team know exactly what to do, in what order, and when it needs to be done by. - Help you (the business owner) find the information that you need, fast. ### Team management systems Team management is optimising your [recruiting practices](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/) and [team onboarding practices](/business/team-onboarding/). And then using a meeting rhythm to keep the team aligned and running like clockwork. It is about implementing [effective delegation procedures](/business/effective-delegation-situational-leadership/), objectives, OKRs, and KPIs. It is also about making sure that qualitative and quantitative market data makes its way back to you so that you can make better business decisions. ### Client management processes Client management is about automating and streamlining client onboarding, management and offboarding. Most businesses have overly manual processes around these that usually involve copying-and-pasting emails, working out what to send the client next, and really wasting hours of time before even starting to work with clients. Effective client management processes automate all this into clicking a button. ### Strategic thinking and execution planning This is the system that sits at the very top of your business and [helps you work out who you are as a company and where you are headed](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/). Popular implementations are EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) or the OPSP (One-Page Strategic Plan). It is about having a structured way to identify and maintain the important things at the $250k+/year level: - [Mission](/productivity/purpose/). - [Values](/productivity/core-values/). - [Culture](/business/company-culture/). - Strategy. - Execution of strategy. ### Knowledge bases and SOPs It pains me how many businesses don’t use a [knowledge base](/business/knowledge-management/) to house their [SOPs](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/). (Google Docs, seriously?) SOPs are the formalisation of experience and willpower into knowledge. And knowledge can be written down, trained and passed onto other people. This means as a business owner, you can take everything you know, write it down, and delegate it to other people on the team, thus removing yourself from the day-to-day operations of the business. **That’s the power of knowledge bases and SOPs.** ### Tech infrastructure Technology has become an integral part of [how we do business today](/business/remote-work-apps/). Whether it’s cloud storage, single login management or team communications via Slack and Zoom, technology shows up in almost every other system on this list and really shouldn’t be thought of as a separate “system” any more. ## The Cost of Not Having Systems in Your Business ![Cost of Not Having Systems in Your Business](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/what-are-business-systems/overworked@2x.webp) There is a cost to not having systems in your business, especially if you are past the startup phase. These costs include: - **Working 6-7 days a week** just to keep up. - **Your team messaging you every time there’s an issue,** on Slack, on WhatsApp, on even your personal Facebook Messenger. - Waking up to a **stack of Slack messages.** - Having to deal with everything that doesn’t fall into someone else’s “job duties” — like tax forms, offer letters, “move this task here”, teaching staff about OKRs, setting up logins and more. - When someone on the team drops the ball, **it becomes your responsibility to clean it up** — that might mean apologising to clients, figuring out why receivables weren’t collected last month, and then scrambling to make sure the same mistake doesn’t happen again. - Going away on vacation and having to take your laptop with you. Or **not being able to go on vacation at all.** - Handling **team member disagreements and drama.** - [Hiring an assistant](/business/how-to-hire-an-assistant/) — then **spending more time managing them** and helping them get their work done, than them actually helping you out. - **Revenue capping at around $250k/year** because there’s just too much to do. - Spending all your time putting out fires, and **little time actually working ON your business.** - Having **no time to work on the things you enjoy** in the business. - And having **no time for the things you started the business for in the first place** - your partner, hobbies, social life, health, and sleep. ## The Benefits of Having Systems ![Benefits of Having Systems](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/what-are-business-systems/benefits-systems@2x.webp) When you implement the right systems in your business however, everything looks dramatically different. **Things. Just. Work.** You don’t spend all day putting out fires. You regain control over your **time and freedom.** This means that you can choose to focus on what you love in your business. For some business owners, this is sales. For others, it is thought leadership. And for others, it is product creation. Everything else in the business is systemised and delegated and just happens on its own, like magic. **You go from a business that is effectively just you, to a business that runs without you.** You can go away for a week, a month, or even a year and come back — and have the business still running, and also more profitable. You get to enjoy the money and lifestyle afforded by being a true business owner, without actually having to run the business any more. _And that’s part of why you started a business in the first place, isn’t it?_ ## How to Implement Systems in Your Business ![How to Implement Systems in Your Business](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/what-are-business-systems/planning@2x.webp) If you’re at that $250k+/year mark in your business, **you don’t really have a choice when it comes to systems.** Because at this point almost every business owner becomes **tired** of running their business. You’re maxed out personally and professionally, and simply can’t handle any more business. It’s not that you’re incapable or don’t love your business — it’s just a function of doing the same thing day-in-day-out for a long time. One of two things usually happens. **The first is that you never discover or implement systems.** And the business starts to naturally shrink back down to a manageable $100-200k/year level so that you can handle it all without burning out. If you’ve built a team — it shrinks back down to that 2-4 person size. You still have to work hard, but you mentally resign yourself to accepting that that’s just how it’s going to be. **The second is that you go in search of a solution.** And you discover one like my [Systems VIP Days](/contact/). And with some help, you put in place the systems that you need to keep your level of business, remain profitable, delegate out the work and even scale if you want to. ![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/what-are-business-systems/aaron-lynn-2020-seated-square.webp) If you’re at that stage in your business where you need to make a decision — [book a call with me here and let's talk](/contact/). We’ll go over what systems you need to reclaim your time and freedom in your business, and how we can implement them as quickly as possible. If you’ve found this short guide to business systems valuable, feel free to share it so that more business owners can find out how systems can help them make more whilst working less. > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### How to Use My Tasks in Asana https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-use-my-tasks-in-asana/ Video: How to Use My Tasks in Asana — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BARhVifi20g My Tasks is the second most important part of using [Asana](/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/), and where you will find all the tasks assigned to you. Here's how to use it effectively so that you can stay on top of your work in Asana. If you're a business owner who needs helps with your Asana setup, an Asana VIP Day is just the thing for you. In one 24-hour day we'll take your Asana from messy, disorganised and chaotic to streamlined and ready to use so that you can stop wasting time figuring out what you need to do and get back to getting work done. [Find out more and apply here](/contact/). ## Timestamps - 00:00 Introduction - 00:22 My Tasks tutorial - 00:57 Asana My Tasks changes in 2021 ![Download Your Asana Projects Cheatsheet](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/project-management-views-and-data-structures-in-asana-video/download-your-asana-projects-cheatsheet-horizontal.webp) **Free: Asana Projects Cheatsheet** — Get the Asana Projects Cheatsheet — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-use-my-tasks-in-asana/ > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### Why You Need to Use the Asana Inbox https://aaronlynn.com/business/why-you-need-to-use-the-asana-inbox/ Video: Why You Need to Use the Asana Inbox — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwGT-ZP4GlU The Inbox is the most important part of using [Asana](/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/) as a team. Here's how to find it, use it and how to keep it neat and tidy so you're on top of your Asana every day. If you're a business owner who needs helps with your Asana setup, an Asana VIP Day is just the thing for you. In one 24-hour day we'll take your Asana from messy, disorganised and chaotic to streamlined and ready to use so that you can stop wasting time figuring out what you need to do and get back to getting work done. [Find out more and apply here.](/contact/) Timestamps - 00:00 Introduction - 00:30 Inbox tutorial ![Download Your Asana Projects Cheatsheet](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/project-management-views-and-data-structures-in-asana-video/download-your-asana-projects-cheatsheet-horizontal.webp) **Free: Asana Projects Cheatsheet** — Get the Asana Projects Cheatsheet — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/why-you-need-to-use-the-asana-inbox/ > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Project Management Views and Data Structures in Asana [VIDEO] https://aaronlynn.com/business/project-management-views-and-data-structures-in-asana-video/ Video: Project Management Views and Data Structures in Asana [VIDEO] — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EXI7_7vjSg This is advanced training video showing the difference between data structures and views in Asana. If you're a [business owner who needs helps with your Asana setup](/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/), an Asana VIP Day is just the thing for you. In one 24-hour day we'll take your Asana from messy, disorganised and chaotic to streamlined and ready to use so that you can stop wasting time figuring out what you need to do and get back to getting work done. [Find out more and apply here](/contact/). ## Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 00:31 Data Structures and Views in Asana ![Download Your Asana Projects Cheatsheet](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/project-management-views-and-data-structures-in-asana-video/download-your-asana-projects-cheatsheet-horizontal.webp) **Free: Asana Projects Cheatsheet** — Get the Asana Projects Cheatsheet — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/project-management-views-and-data-structures-in-asana-video/ > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Project Management for Service Providers [VIDEO] https://aaronlynn.com/business/project-management-for-service-providers-video/ Video: Project Management for Service Providers [VIDEO] — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYjrhmix33U If you're a coach, [consultant](/productivity/time-management-for-consultants-freelancers-and-solopreneurs/) or agency owner who knows you need to take your project management seriously but don't know where to start, this video is for you! Here's how you get setup with project management. 1. Pick the right tool. 2. Think about your work in terms of project groupings. 3. Layer how you want to see your projects as views on top of that. 4. Set it all up. 5. Roll it out to your team, with training. > Related course: AI Agents Guide — $147 — /courses/ai-agents-guide/ --- ### Common Project Management Mistakes [VIDEO] https://aaronlynn.com/business/common-project-management-mistakes-video/ Video: Common Project Management Mistakes [VIDEO] — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxWLsvGHGDg A lot of business owners make these common mistakes when trying to set up project management apps and tools in their business. 1. Not having a project management tool. 2. Failing to get their team's buy-in. 3. Mixing up their personal task management system with project management. 4. Mass confusion (from watching "tutorials" on social media). > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Advanced Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) [VIDEO] https://aaronlynn.com/business/advanced-standard-operating-procedures-sops-video/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa4hgAVFDCE Here's an advanced SOP format for larger businesses: 1. Title 2. What 3. Why 4. Prerequisites and Links 5. Who 6. When 7. Standards 8. Process 9. Results Grab the Standard Operating Procedures SOP here: **Free: Standard Operating Procedure SOP Template** — Get the Standard Operating Procedure SOP Template — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/advanced-standard-operating-procedures-sops-video/ > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### How to Write an SOP in 6 Simple Steps [VIDEO] https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-write-a-standard-operating-procedure-sop-video/ Video: How to Write an SOP in 6 Simple Steps [VIDEO] — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJSWj53v7-k There are 6 parts to every standard operating procedure (SOP): 1. Title. 2. What. 3. Who. 4. When. 5. Process. 6. Results. Grab the Standard Operating Procedure SOP here: **Free: Standard Operating Procedure SOP Template** — Get the Standard Operating Procedure SOP Template — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-write-a-standard-operating-procedure-sop-video/ > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Three Best Knowledge Base Apps for 2021 [VIDEO] https://aaronlynn.com/business/three-best-knowledge-base-apps-for-2021-video/ I recently recorded a short walkthrough of the three best knowledge base apps for 2021. Video: Three Best Knowledge Base Apps for 2021 [VIDEO] — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7N-FWNtrVc They are: 1. [Confluence](https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence). 2. [Slab](https://slab.com/). 3. [Notion](/go/notion/).​ ![Notion Systems Structure](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/three-best-knowledge-base-apps-for-2021-video/notion-systems-structure-1.webp) **Free: Notion Systems Structure** — Get the Notion Systems Structure — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/three-best-knowledge-base-apps-for-2021-video/ > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### Cloud Infrastructure For Business Owners https://aaronlynn.com/business/cloud-infrastructure-business-owners/ You’ve heard the terms **cloud** and **cloud infrastructure** before — but what do they actually mean? For business owners, cloud infrastructure can be thought of as **business software that exists online.** And the cloud itself is the sum of all the interconnected servers and computers that you can access through an Internet connection.[^1] --- ## What Does Having Cloud Infrastructure Actually Mean? The old-school paradigm for business technology and software was this: - Physical file servers in office buildings. - Email being limited to individual physical computers in the workplace. - Having to be _at work_ to use certain applications. - Applications installed on the work computer, with no access from a phone or home computer. - Remote work (“telecommuting”) was exceptionally difficult. - Single Excel spreadsheets stored on a local office computer. If that computer crashed, all was lost. Cloud infrastructure looks more like this: - Remote teams able to log in and work from anywhere. Home, beach, the woods — it doesn’t matter. - All data stored “in the cloud” online, securely. - Almost all data being accessible via your phone, so you can keep updated in transit and when on-the-go. - No more big, physical file servers. - You don’t even really need an office if you don’t see clients face-to-face. - When a computer dies, you just unbox a new one and download all your data in a couple of hours. ## If the Cloud Is So Much Better, Why Didn’t We Do This in the First Place? ![Old Infrastructure](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/cloud-infrastructure-business-owners/old-infrastructure.webp) Cloud infrastructure is great. And I have no doubt that in a decade or two we’ll have something even better. The reason we didn’t go from say paper filing cabinets directly to cloud infrastructure is because the mix of technologies enabling the cloud simply did not exist. We didn’t have abundant, affordable, high-speed Internet.[^2] We didn’t have cheap, affordable, personal computers. We didn’t have enough developers and software companies to create complex applications accessible through a web browser. We didn’t have smartphones and “apps”. Computers had evolved from a mainframe-terminal paradigm and people were used to thinking that way. The cloud is simply the result of better, newer and cheaper technology that makes your business more effective and scalable. ## How to Use Cloud Infrastructure in Your Business So how do you actually use and deploy cloud infrastructure in your business? Well, a lot of the business apps that you use are already in the cloud, like: - Microsoft Office. - Adobe Creative Cloud. - Chat apps like [Slack](/go/slack/). - Most CRMs. - Project management tools like [Asana](/go/asana/) or [Monday.com](https://monday.com/). Chances are, if you started your company in the last five years, you started in the cloud. And that’s great — just keep going! But older and more established businesses often still run on a mix of legacy physical technologies and cloud applications… and they need to be migrating everything into the cloud. The big things I have seen in these older businesses are: - Files being shared over USB keys instead of Slack or Google Drive/Dropbox. - Physical file servers. - Local Excel spreadsheets or (gasp) Access databases. - Local email files stored on computers in the office. - CRM and custom tools only existing in the office. I have a [full guide to the essential business apps that modern businesses need here](/business/remote-work-apps/). Here are some of the highlights: - Storage: Google Drive or Dropbox. - Office Suite: Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, [Airtable](https://airtable.com/). - Creative Apps: Adobe Creative Cloud. - Communications: Slack. - CRM: [Pipedrive](/go/pipedrive/), Zoho CRM, Salesforce. - Project Management: [Asana](/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/), ClickUp, Monday.com, [Trello](https://trello.com/). - Knowledge Base: Confluence, [Slab](https://slab.com/), [Notion](/go/notion/). ## What To Do Next Moving older legacy infrastructure into the cloud takes time. And it needs to be managed as a project. You need to see what you have, select new applications, manage the migration, [get buy-in from the team,](/business/disagree-and-commit/) and train everyone. You’ll also need to [write new SOPs](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/). It will be work — but it will be worth it. It will bring your business forward into the 21st century. If you need help with this in your business — [let’s talk](/contact/). Photos by [Ian Battaglia](https://unsplash.com/@ianjbattaglia?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), Alex Motoc. [^1]: Yes, I am butchering the technicalities. But for business owners, this is enough. [^2]: Some countries like Australia _still_ don’t have abundant, affordable, high-speed Internet 🤦‍♂️. > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Vision and Implementation https://aaronlynn.com/business/vision-implementation/ There are two parts to every successful business: **Vision and implementation.** **Vision** is the why, the purpose, the mission. The grand picture, the ideal customers or clients, and what everything will look like when it’s done. It is about goals, dreams and… vision. **Implementation** is where the rubber meets the road, and how the vision happens. It is about turning dreams into objectives, KPIs, check-ins, meetings and more. Every business needs both to succeed. --- ## Vision and Implementation Skillsets Vision and implementation are two very different skillsets, and some would argue, two very different personality types. It is rare to find a business owner who has both. If we want to stereotype a bit… **Visionaries** have their heads in the clouds. They are passionate extroverts or dreamer introverts. They are [big picture](/productivity/purpose/) thinkers. They can get up and inspire audiences, woo investors, be amazing spokespeople and the face of their company. ![Steve Jobs](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/vision-implementation/steve-jobs.webp)
Think: Steve Jobs.
**Implementors** are the quiet, back office technician types. They are the integrators who quietly run the company with spreadsheets and databases. They have their finger in the pie and are looking to [optimise everything to a ridiculous degree](/productivity/passion-for-systems-thinkers-intj/). ![Tim Cook](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/vision-implementation/tim-cook.webp)
Think: Tim Cook.
## Why You Need Both Vision and Implementation **Vision is necessary.** As humans, we are tribal creatures — we need a vision to keep us focused and motivated. We want to believe.[^1] And in today’s age there is so much stimuli and marketing thrown at us daily… it is the companies with a true vision, brand, and direction that stand out to us and win our business. Without a vision, a company cannot start up, cannot sell product and cannot succeed in its initial phases. **Implementation is necessary because dreaming alone is not enough.** At some point you have to _execute._ And this is where implementation comes in. There needs to be actual “hard work” and human-hours put into a business — whether that’s coding, client consultations, product design, manufacturing, bookkeeping or administrative paperwork. If implementation wasn’t necessary, we would all be living in a utopia fuelled by just our wildest dreams and imagination. ## The Beginning: When Vision and Implementation Are One and the Same At the beginning of a non-venture business, vision and implementation are one and the same.[^2] The founder of the company does everything. They create the vision. They sell it. They do the work. And they drink lots of coffee. It’s hustle and more hustle and closing sales and doing deals and generating revenue. At this point in time there’s no need to specialise — founders just identify what needs to be done to bring in money and do as much of it as possible. ## Growth and Scale: When Vision and Implementation Diverge At some point though, vision and implementation start to diverge. And this is where founders begin to play to their strengths. For most businesses this is around the $100,000/year range, but it also depends on industry. This is the point where the business can survive on its own, and needs to start capitalising on specialist skillsets and economies of scale for future growth. The founder of the business is usually the visionary. She emerges from the busywork and sells the company vision as its CEO. She rallies the troops with culture, training, and speeches. She nails the marketing and sales processes. She becomes the public face of the company. The implementor is a [general manager, operations manager or COO type](/business/how-to-hire-a-coo-ops-person/). He continues tinkering in the background. He converts that vision into objectives, KPIs, and metrics. He makes sure that the company’s systems run like clockwork. He makes sure that whatever is promised in the vision is delivered on time with Swiss-watch levels of precision. He builds out the team that is needed to bring the company’s visions to the masses. ## How to Separate Vision and Implementation Some companies are lucky. They start with two founders or a team of founders with different strengths and have both these roles already in-place. Other companies need help. Visionary founders need to find an implementor type. It could be a COO, a GM, an OBM or [someone like me](/contact/). Implementation founders have it harder. They have to learn to become visionary — after all, no one knows the company better than its founder. And if they are able to do this, they then need to find an implementor type to run the day-to-day. ## What To Do Next If your business is starting to grow and you need help with the implementation side — let’s talk. [Find out more about how I can help you set up to grow, scale and implement smoothly here](#). Photos by [Alexander Mils](https://unsplash.com/@alexandermils?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Nathan Dumlao](https://unsplash.com/@nate_dumlao?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), [Mike Deerkoski](https://www.flickr.com/photos/deerkoski/). [^1]: Some would cynically say that we want to follow. [^2]: Startups raising venture capital follow a different process. > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### Disagree and Commit https://aaronlynn.com/business/disagree-and-commit/ One of the principles of successful business teams is the idea of **disagree and commit**. It is a management principle that states that team members are allowed (and encouraged) to disagree whilst a decision is being made, but once the decision has been made, everyone commits and backs it 100%. _This is another way of saying that there is a time when it is useful to argue and debate, and there is a time when it is harmful._ I first learnt about the principle from Patrick Lencioni’s _[5 Dysfunctions of a Team](/go/book-5-dysfunctions-of-a-team/)_, but I believe the term has its origins with Andy Grove (of Intel fame) and Jeff Bezos (of Amazon). --- ## Why You Need to Disagree and Commit The idea of disagree and commit means that you can avoid the consensus trap, where a lack of team consensus leads to inaction or opposing actions. Committing to a decision as a team, even if you individually disagree with it, lets things get done in the **best interests** of the team and company. **The reason this is important is because the stakes are high in business, and having team members going in opposing directions is very, very bad.** By making disagree and commit part of your [team culture](/business/company-culture/), you allow all team members to be heard. They can express differing opinions, get their arguments out, and you can promote healthy conflict. But once a decision has been made, it lets the entire company and team move forward with the full capacity of the team backing the decision. In business, we are all supposed to be rational adults. And as rational adults, we just want to make sure that our opinion and perspective has been heard and considered. The truth is, we actually don’t mind if the team ends up going in a different direction, so long as what we wanted to say was properly considered. **Anyone who _does_ mind that they don’t “get their way” is not being a rational adult.** They are being childish and emotionally driven, and letting their ego get in the way.[^1] ## What Disagree and Commit Looks Like in Real Life ![What Disagree and Commit Looks Like in Real Life](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/disagree-and-commit/commit.webp) Let’s say the leadership team has been brought together to choose a project management system to adopt, and the main candidates are [Asana](/go/asana/) and [ClickUp](https://clickup.com/). Some people like Asana, others like ClickUp. Arguments have been presented on both sides. Meetings and calls have been had. Decision matrices, pros and cons, and cost analyses have all been done. The final decision is up to the CTO: She picks Asana. The reason she gets to decide, is because businesses are not democracies. They are benevolently-run dictatorships or oligarchies, and someone has to make the call and ultimately be responsible for it. But what does this mean for everyone who wanted to use ClickUp? Will they just refuse to use Asana, or resist its adoption? **No.** It means that they get on board for the good of the team and company, and **commit to the decision,** even though they initially disagreed with it. Some of them may even learn to love Asana over time. And of course, the people who were pro-Asana will likely become the team’s Asana champions and win over their teammates over time. **This is what functional teams do, and how reasonable and rational adults disagree and commit.** ## What Happens When Teams Don’t Disagree and Commit? ![What Happens When Teams Don’t Disagree and Commit](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/disagree-and-commit/disagree.webp) Here is a real life example I witnessed where a team did not disagree and commit. This team in particular was deciding on where to allocate marketing spend. The amount was $20,000. The options were: 1. Take the $20,000 and put it into industry events. 2. Take the $20,000 and put it into digital media buys. There were arguments presented on both sides. The entire marketing team and leadership team were involved. Again, there were meetings, decision matrices, pros and cons and back-and-forth. The decision lay with the CMO, and he decided to go with digital media buys. **But,** the company’s CEO and a junior marketing coordinator… really liked events. It was their thing. Maybe it was ego. Maybe it was wanting to get up to make speeches in front of a crowd of applauding industry peers. Maybe they were super-extroverted and unsure of their digital marketing skills. Instead of committing to the decision the CMO had made, they: - Started gossiping about how bad the CMO was at his job. - Continuously talked sh\*t about digital marketing. - Started their own marketing trade show “side project”. - Contributed zero effort to anything to do with digital media buys, including being unavailable for meetings. In other words, they **internally sabotaged** the team’s efforts to make their digital media buys successful. Why would they do this? I believe the main reasons were ego and emotion, which manifested as the inability to disagree and commit. In this case, the CEO and junior marketing coordinator did not act like rational adults. As we have said, rational adults just want their perspective heard and if it has been properly considered, that is enough. The CEO and junior marketing coordinator acted like children who didn’t get their way. They threw a temper tantrum, sabotaged the team’s efforts and ground everything to a halt. ## Applying Disagree and Commit in Your Workplace **Disagree and commit** needs to be a part of your company culture. It should be [part of your onboarding process](/business/team-onboarding/), and part of regular team trainings and meetings. I use the word **workplace** deliberately — companies are places for adults to come together for a greater purpose. Companies have missions and objectives. They should be free of politics. They are not households, schoolyards or high schools. Everyone is an adult and is expected to professionally behave as such. ## What To Do Next The idea is simple — disagree and commit. But it must be ingrained at [every level of your company culture for it to work](/business/why-company-culture-matters/). Want to know what else should be a part of your company culture? [Find out more about how I can help your business implement principles like disagree and commit](/contact/). Photos by [Roland Samuel](https://unsplash.com/@rosam2020?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText), John Schnobrich, [cloudvisual](https://unsplash.com/@cloudvisual?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: I am not mincing words here. I absolutely mean this. > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### Systematic Risk Management for Your Business and Life https://aaronlynn.com/business/risk-management/ We live in a world where risk is glorified. Where it’s “cool” to take risks, and where risk-averse people are looked down upon. We also live in a world where people don’t think for themselves and seek to emulate what they see on TV and read on social media. We glorify entrepreneur culture and entrepreneurs who take risks, so it must be cool… right? Well, sort of. Everyone takes risks. But the reality is risks don’t have to be, uh, risky. What we need are **good risk management systems and strategies**. --- ## How Most People Take Risks and Why It’s Silly Most people take risks and wear risk like a badge of honour, because it's “sexy” and “edgy” to take risks. They never consider the payoff or consequences compared to the risk. For them risk taking is an **attitude**, not a system, strategy or calculation. So long as it “looks cool to others”, they proceed with little thought or planning. Why do they do this? It could be a _fear of missing out_. It could be _genetics_—some of us are more naturally predisposed to taking risks than others are. It could be _trying to look sexy or cool_. And it’s often because it’s _simpler to use emotion_ to make decisions than handle the information and rationality needed to calculate risk. This is all rather silly. ## What Is Good and Proper Risk Management? It’s fine to take risks, so long as you’re employing good and proper risk management. And good and proper risk management is about **risk mitigation**. It is about taking a risk factor of say one hundred, and reducing it to fifty. Does that make the original decision to take the risk any less “cool” or “sexy”? And since when is a higher probability of more dire consequences a good thing? Some conservative business people get called “risk-averse” because they’re systematic, structured, organised, and tend to think before making decisions. But the truth is they probably take _more_ risks than the average person who is “risk tolerant”—they just do it systematically. Every time a business person launches a marketing campaign, development project or new initiative—that’s risk taking. They perform good risk mitigation to increase their chances of success, but it’s still risk taking. It just doesn’t sound as sexy as betting it all on a cryptocurrency startup. ## What Does Systematic Risk Management and Calculation Look Like? Systematic risk management and calculation happens in two phases: 1. Preparation. 2. Execution. ### 1\. Preparing to take risks There are three things you can do in preparation of taking risks. The first is to **know what risks you should never take**. These are the risks that can result in death, or that can damage your reputation so badly that you can never recover. Usually this means doing something illegal and going to jail. And yes, there are always exceptions, but most of us are intelligent enough to know what they are. The second is to **set a risk threshold** for yourself. For me this is _two-percent (2%)_. I learnt this number from a mentor years ago and it has served me well. _What it means is that if something has a two-percent chance or less of happening, I don’t worry about it and just proceed._ Why? Because a different mentor taught me that it is usually easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, and that fortune tends to favour the bold. Having this threshold lets you go out and enjoy and experience things in life and do (calculated) crazy things that are interesting or new to you. The third is to **get your risk jollies somewhere safe**. [![Get the risk-taking out of your system using video games and sports](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/risk-management/risk-jollies-video-games.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/risk-management/risk-jollies-video-games.webp) This is [building antifragility into your risk system](/productivity/self-discipline/) with a valve release mechanism. What it practically means is to use virtual, simulated or imaginary environments to your advantage and use them to take all the risks you want. This could be playing sport so you can take physical risk in a relatively controlled environment. This could be [playing video games](/productivity/play/) where you can run, jump, shoot, blow things up and do crazy things as much as you want without any real-life consequences. It could even be getting cheap thrills from watching movies and series.[^1] Getting your risk taking in somewhere safe, will make you less likely to take uncalculated risks in places you shouldn’t be. ### 2\. Actually taking risks When it comes to actual risk taking, the standard model for handling risk is to: 1. Avoid. 2. Reduce. 3. Transfer. 4. Retain. **Avoidance** is eliminating the risk by walking away from the risk completely. An example would be a company that chooses not to develop and launch a product in a new market. **Reduction** is optimising your systems, mitigating the risk factor or improving a process to reduce the probability of risk. An example would be the implementation of additional safety procedures and equipment on a production line. **Transference** is outsourcing the risk or using insurance to cover negative consequences. An example would be buying travel insurance to cover your vacation or business trip. **Retention** is accepting the risk as it is and factoring all the consequences into your calculations. This is what happens when you have handled the risk as much as you can, and are ready to go ahead with the calculated consequences in mind. Specific situations in life and business will also have their own specific variables and model to factor in. ## How to Apply Risk Management to Your Personal Life and Business If we bring together our risk preparation and risk handling, we are essentially trying to: - **Control** the situation as much as possible. - Make sure there are **no catastrophic consequences** - **Proceed** with the risk. This works with both our business risks and our personal risks. This is why I say that seemingly risk-averse people often take **more** risks that others—it just doesn’t look that way from the outside. When we take on risk in a systematic manner, we know beforehand how bad things can get and are prepared for that. And we know that the best case is that the negative consequences never occur, and we end up with the positive rewards instead. ## What To Do Next Do the risk preparation work: - Note the risks you should never take. - Set your risk threshold percentage. - Create a steam-release valve mechanism for your risk taking behaviour. And then start to look at your risks in a more systematic manner. Photo by [ELH Express](https://unsplash.com/@elhexpress?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Though I am much less of a fan of passively consuming media. > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### How to Run Effective Internal Business Meetings https://aaronlynn.com/business/business-meetings/ Business meetings get a bad name amongst the uninformed. For some reason, internal business meetings are polarising. Some people feel that there should be NO meetings in workplaces. Others find that they spend all day in meetings and yet are incredibly productive. The truth is, most modern businesses **do** need meetings of some sort to function. It is very much a middle ground with no extremes. Here’s why meetings are actually important, and how you can run them effectively. Think of this as an [SOP](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) for running effective internal business meetings. --- ## What Meetings Do Businesses Really Need? The answer to what meetings a business needs to run depends on the type of business. I normally advise for companies to run meetings by department or teams. For example, strategy, planning, finance, sales and marketing. Outside of these preplanned meetings, I also strongly recommend that companies don’t hold any other internal meetings unless _absolutely necessary_. I would also avoid under all circumstances a general “office meeting” as those can be [replaced by other communication methods](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/) and daily standups. The higher in seniority a team member is, the more meetings they will attend. This is because the role of senior people in an organisation is to be **servant leaders**, which is really about listening to others, making decisions and then supporting teams with resources to get things done. And one of the easiest ways to do all this is through meetings. ## Organising Principles for Business Meetings The principles for how to hold and run meetings are more important than the tools you use. ### The purpose of meetings We need to start with what meetings actually do, which is: **Communicate lots of information in a rapid manner over a human-to-human broadband connection.** ### Business Meeting objectives Every meeting should have one of three objectives: 1. Discuss. 2. [Decide](/business/disagree-and-commit/). 3. Align. If a meeting doesn’t do any of these three things, then you don’t need to schedule that meeting. ### Minimising meetings: Use other tools One way to minimise meetings is to use other tools to convey the same information more efficiently. For example, [using direct messaging and group chats over a team communication tool like Slack](/business/stop-using-email/). Or [using comments and updates across project management systems and CRMs](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/). ### Minimising meetings: All meetings on one day Another way to minimise meetings is to hold all your meetings on one day every week.[^1] This is a form of [batching](/productivity/batching/). Here’s how you do this. 1. Nominate the [same day every week for your meetings](/business/weekly-meetings/). I recommend Fridays.[^2] 2. Hold your meetings back-to-back, with set meeting times and lengths. 3. Not everyone needs to attend every meeting, but your senior people likely will. For example, say Friday is your meeting day. It may look like this: - 8am: Strategy, 1 hour. - 9am: Planning, 1 hour. - 10am: Finance, 1 hour. - 11am: Sales/Development, 1 hour. - 1pm: Marketing, 2 hours. The advantage of holding all your meetings on one day, is that your people will be prepared for that day in advance and know not to schedule [deep work](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/), client calls or other activities on that day. It also gives your senior people the chance to all be present at the same time every week, so that rapid decisions can be made across all business functions. This means that issues will be solved quickly in a single day, rather than being dragged up and down the hierarchy of the business. There are a couple of special exceptions to the “all meetings in one day” idea, which are your: - Monthly management meetings. - Quarterly planning meetings. - Annual planning meetings. - [Daily huddles](/business/daily-standups/). ## Tools for Business Meetings Don’t let tools and technology get in the way of running effective business meetings. All you really need is somewhere to collaboratively store, edit and share meeting agendas and minutes. A simple wiki tool like [Confluence or Tettra](/business/knowledge-management/) works perfectly well. You don’t need fancy meeting timers or segmentation functions. If you have a [remote team](/business/business-remote-work-setup/) or distributed offices, you can use [any communication tool](/business/remote-work-apps/) to dial in—Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Skype, Zoom etc. Just make sure that everyone has a fast and stable Internet connection. [And don’t do video calls unless you really have to.](/business/remote-working-differences/) ## Business Meeting Rules Every company should have its own set of meeting rules and these should be written down as an [SOP](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) in their [knowledge management system](/business/knowledge-management/). Here are some rules to start. ### 1\. Always prepare meeting agendas and minutes Your meeting agenda and minutes are essentially the same thing. The agenda should be prepared by one person before the meeting, with input from others as needed. One person who will always be present at a given meeting should be given this responsibility as part of their job description. The completed meeting minutes should be shared immediately after the meeting, along with action items. ### 2\. Meeting roles Every meeting should have **one person leading the meeting**. This person’s responsibility is to push on with the agenda, even if others are responsible for discussing each item. This person is also in charge of calling on volunteers when required. This meeting leader doesn’t have to be the most senior person in the meeting. Every meeting should also have **one person acting as a scribe**. Their responsibility is to take meeting minutes. The meeting leader and scribe should not be the same person. ### 3\. Laptops and phones No phones are allowed for in-person meetings, not even placed facedown on the table. Laptops are acceptable, so long as attendees are engaged in the meeting and not working on something else. If laptops become problematic, I recommend replacing them with pen and paper during meetings. The exceptions to this are the scribe who will need a laptop to record minutes, and the meeting leader if they use their laptop to project the agenda onto a screen. ### 4\. Meeting times Meetings should keep to their allocated time. If the team gets stuck on a particular agenda item or discussion, then it is the meeting leader’s role to say [“move on”](/productivity/how-to-get-unstuck-in-difficult-personal-situations/) and the issue can be taken offline for further discussion. If you are finding that meetings consistently run over time, then either: 1. The agenda is too long and needs to be shortened. 2. The agenda is correct but the meeting time needs to be lengthened. 3. People are dragging on issues. A simple but effective solution for this is to conduct your meetings standing up. ### 5\. Embrace food Food is fine for early morning breakfast meetings and lunchtime meetings so long as the agenda is being followed. Coffee and beverages are always fine for meetings. ## A Standard Meeting Agenda and Format Here is a general format that can be used for all internal business meetings. Be sure to customise it for your own specific meetings.
#ItemDescription
1Good News/WinsCelebrate and share wins.
2Past Action ItemsReview past action items.
3Customer and Team FeedbackGet direct feedback from the team and market (via team).
4Issue 1Clear up to three major issue every week.
If you do this properly, you can clear over one hundred sticking points every year.
5Issue 2As above.
6Issue 3(if time)
7Cascading MessagingNote who also needs to be informed of discussion points (if not present).
8One-Phrase SummaryA one sentence summary of the week, month, time period.
9Action Items and Follow UpsActions that need to be done and who they are assigned to.
Standard Meeting Agenda
Specific meetings will have their own specific items. For example: - A consultancy might have regulatory updates for their sales teams. - A dev team might have specific issues or bugs to discuss. Or they may structure their meetings around sprint planning. - A marketing team might have influencers to check in with weekly. ## What To Do Next You now have a very effective set of principles and structures for running internal business meetings. If you want to find out more about how to use better systems like the one above in your business, you can read: - [How to set up your business for remote working.](/business/business-remote-work-setup/) - [Time management for CEOs and business owners.](/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/) - [A guide to strategic planning.](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/) - [How to write standard operating procedures.](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) - [How to manage your business.](/business/how-to-manage-your-business/) - [_Evolution_, my free manifesto for how to take your life and business to the next level.](/manifesto/) Photo by [ThisisEngineering RAEng](https://unsplash.com/@thisisengineering?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: I first learnt this from [Verne Harnish](/go/book-scaling-up/). [^2]: Monday is usually when enquires and work are piled up from the weekend, and Tuesday through Thursday should be kept intact for productive flow. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### How Remote Working Differs From a Traditional Office https://aaronlynn.com/business/remote-working-differences/ Many businesses and organisations around the world tried out remote work for the first time this year. Some did well. Others, not so much. This is because remote working is not the same as working in an office. It is not simply about “using Zoom calls”. When trying to shift to remote work, most companies and organisations make the mistake of just copy-pasting what they did in an office. This is the wrong approach. Remote working differs from a traditional office environment. Remote working requires a **new** way of thinking, and a new set of principles. And with it [looking more and more likely that remote working is here to stay](https://newsroom.ibm.com/2020-05-01-IBM-Study-COVID-19-Is-Significantly-Altering-U-S-Consumer-Behavior-and-Plans-Post-Crisis), companies that figure this out will thrive. Those that don’t, will simply be left behind. --- ## Why Remote Working Is Not the Same as Working in an Office The obvious reason why remote working is not the same as working in an office, is that not everyone is in the same physical location. Office spaces are set up to facilitate one approach to work. And that is that there is easy, physical, real-time access to other team members. This allows for in-person collaboration and rapid data flow - the “human broadband connection”. Remote working setups are not the same, and you cannot simply replace in-person conversations with video calls and expect everything to function. The human-to-human broadband communication is _gone_ with remote working. **Clear, written communication takes its place.** Real time interaction exists to a much muted degree with remote working. **Clear, pre-recorded and organised screencasts take their place.** The home is a very different place from the office. There are different environmental cues, and different sets of distractions. There is no work atmosphere. And with remote work, work becomes much more **results-based** than relationship-based. This is interestingly one of the reasons that a lot of managers and business owners resist remote work arrangements. They are usually there for the politics, control and power - not the delivery of results and value to their customers.[^1] ## Why We Need a New Paradigm for Remote Work Having eight Zoom meetings a day does not work. Heck, even **one** Zoom video call a day is draining for most people. We’ve all heard about schools trying to take classes online and having kids sit through six hours of video classes - that’s just insanity. Remote work gives us the opportunity to let our people do deep and value-creating work… so why would we want to ruin that by putting them on-edge on video all day? Unlike an office, you can’t just call everyone together for an impromptu chat around a table. You must schedule, prioritise and organise your calls and meetings. And minimise them. I mentioned earlier that remote working companies focus more on results than relationships. This means that the informal relationship-building that usually happens in an office has to take place elsewhere. This usually happens in side chats, DMs and informal get-togethers outside of work. And this is why we need a new paradigm for remote work. ## Principles of a New Remote Work Paradigm ![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-working-differences/principles-remote-working-paradigm.webp) What would these new principles look like? We don’t need to reinvent these - we can just learn from the best practices of people and companies who have been remote working for years and decades.[^2] ### Communication principles The first communication principle for remote working is to **limit meetings**. _Group your meetings into as few days as possible._ One thing I like to recommend to clients, is to [hold all their meetings on one day a week](/business/business-meetings/). That way people can block out that day in their calendar and know what to expect. The second communication principle is to **get used to using audio and screen-sharing ONLY for calls and meetings**. Video and webcams tend to be draining and aren’t really necessary. The third communication principle is to **learn to work together asynchronously**.[^3] This basically means **record, don’t stream**. Gone are the days of “let me show you quickly”. If you need to direct someone to do something, make a short video and share it. Don’t try to “hop on a quick five minute call” with them in real-time. This means that you must think, clarify your own thoughts, organise them and plan a bit when creating directions. You can no longer just spew out a stream of consciousness. The fourth communication principle is to **set crossover hours**. The reality is with remote working, people will work when they want and how they want. This isn’t necessarily the same as everyone else. The way around this is to set crossover hours. “OK, from 11am-3pm Eastern time, everyone will be online”. The last communication principle is that **everything must be written down in a system**. Client interactions, task progress, whatever - _if it isn’t written down clearly in a system somewhere, it didn’t happen_. [A system like Asana](/business/remote-work-apps/) with regular updates is required so that anyone can log on at any time, and get up-to-speed on what has been happening. ### Work relationship principles **Private side chats must be allowed** within the company. This can be in the form of private and locked channels in Slack, or informal groups on WhatsApp or WeChat. These should **not** be checked or monitored by management. Team members need the privacy and security to speak freely. **Team members should also be encouraged to meet up in-person informally.** This could be to work together, or even just for coffee. Teams that know and like each other work better together, and these two principles help with that. ### Autonomy, time and freedom **People’s autonomy, time and freedom must be valued**. This means teams should be given the ability to self-organise as they see fit. This is the recognition that different people organise and are disciplined in different ways, and that the company is allowing for that.[^4] It means giving people flexibility in hours and in how they work, and not trying to monitor their work 24/7. ### Results matter more **Results should be valued more than effort.** This is an uncomfortable truth for many professionals, managers and business owners. In the absence of seeing people running around busily, or working at their desks, the only thing that really matters is results. Either someone adds something to the value chain or they don’t.[^5] Obviously use some common sense about this, but effort alone doesn’t cut it. ### Personal principles for remote working At a personal level, anyone working remotely needs to be **organised and tech-fluent**. **Being organised** means: - Being able to schedule things ahead of time. - Being able to work asynchronously with others (as you know it will take time for people to get back to you on things). **Tech fluency** means that you understand how to use email, [calendars](/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/), project management systems and any other apps that the company uses. These things are just assumed knowledge for anyone wanting to work remotely.[^6] You can find out more about these things in the [time management](/productivity/time-management-stack/) and [productivity stacks](/productivity/productivity-stack/). ## What To Do Next Remote working is not just everyone sitting at home linked together by Zoom meetings. Remote work is an entirely new paradigm of working, and companies need to adjust if they want to offer such arrangements to their teams. Business owners can get started by reading [my guide on setting up their businesses for remote working](/business/business-remote-work-setup/). Professionals and team members can [find out how to work productively from home](/business/remote-working/). Photos by [Cookie the Pom](https://unsplash.com/@cookiethepom?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) and [Rafal Jedrzejek](https://unsplash.com/@snik3rs?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: It is also the reason that a lot of middle managers become redundant under remote working arrangements. [^2]: It used to be called “telecommuting”. [^3]: Asynchronous in this case means “not in real time”. i.e., you send someone something, they may not see it for a couple of hours, and you may not see their reply for another hour. [^4]: I would still recommend that the final decision on what system or app stack to use sits with the company though. There is no point in having many redundant systems. [^5]: I would go one step further and say that everyone should contribute value towards the end customer somehow. [^6]: Training should also be provided of course. > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Incorporating New Apps, Techniques and Ideas Into Your Existing Systems https://aaronlynn.com/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/ Every day we’re presented with new techniques, apps and ideas about how we can improve some part of our lives. The question is: _do we really need these shiny new things?_ And if we do, **how can we smoothly incorporate them into the existing systems in our life?** Our systems are a bit like jigsaw puzzles. Sometimes things fit perfectly - and sometimes they don’t. Most people make the mistake of scrapping their entire system (or app) when they come across something that doesn’t neatly fit. This never works. Changing your task management, email or other apps does nothing for your productivity, if you don’t already have the right principles in place. A better way to go about it is to grab a pen, some paper and a pair of scissors - and work out what to trim and change so that the new app, technology, idea or technique improves your existing system. Here’s exactly how you can do that. --- ## A Model for Handling New Techniques, Ideas and Apps [![A model for handling new techniques, ideas and apps](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/new-techniques-model.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/new-techniques-model.webp) This is a simple model for incorporating a new app, idea or technique into your existing system and workflows. **Step one** is to _understand exactly how the new technique or app works_. This means writing it out, drawing it out and visualising yourself doing it or using it. You **must** have a clear understanding of exactly what this new thing does to see how it can work with your existing systems. **Step two** is to _make sure that the benefits of the new thing are crystal clear to you_. Is this new app or technique really going to make you more efficient or your workflow smoother? Do you really need it? Is it worth the cost? And what about the time it takes to switch? Are you incorporating it because it is actually beneficial, or because you’re just bored with your existing system?[^1] **Step three** is to _flowchart your existing system_. Grab a pen and paper and draw it out. Don’t worry about [flowchart notation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowchart#Common_symbols) or anything fancy. Just know where your existing system starts, processes and ends, and what inputs and outputs there are. **Step four** is to _take the flowchart and the new idea and see where it fits,_ or doesn’t. Does the new technique replace anything? Make anything better? Duplicate anything or make anything redundant? **Step five**, should you decide to proceed, is to _try the new technique and assess it_ after a trial period. I would suggest a minimum two-week trial period for any new technique, app or idea. After the trial period, you can assess and change the idea or system as needed. You may decide to adopt the whole thing. Or you may decide to take the parts that work and discard the rest. ## Examples of Incorporating New Techniques, Ideas and Apps Into Existing Systems Here are some real-life examples of trying to incorporate new techniques, ideas and apps into existing systems. ### Example 1: New email app I often get questions about new apps and if they will help with someone’s workflow. Let’s take the example of an email application. Say one that has fancy functions like automated sorting, snoozing emails and AI-driven prioritisation. The **first step** is to understand what the new app actually is and does. In this case, the app would essentially: - Hide certain emails from the inbox and present them at the “right time”. - Try to use an algorithm to sort and present incoming email in a different way. Which equates to filtering what is seen and when it’s seen. The **second step** is to determine if there are any benefits from using this app. If you’re already practicing [good email management](/productivity/effective-email-management/), then you’ll recognise that most of the features are redundant and won’t actually be used. And in this case we can stop at this step, because there are no clear benefits for adopting the new technology. **Result: New app not necessary.** ### Example 2: New social media/marketing platform TikTok has seen explosive growth as a [social media platform](/life/social-media/) recently. I was looking into it for myself and also for a couple of clients who are in more traditional industries. The question is: does every business need a presence on every social network? For the **first step** (understanding the new technology), I called a friend who has had a lot of success with TikTok and really tried to understand the concept. Which she summarised as: - Short less-than-one-minute videos. - Background music on videos. - Rapid editing. - Posting three-to-five times a day for maximum coverage. - Most popular accounts are celebrities or themed content. - Huge numbers of likes and comments, even compared to other platforms like YouTube or Instagram. The **second step** was to work out the benefits. For a business in a traditional industry: - Unless the business has a very visual product or service that is also entertaining, there’s no point. - It takes a lot to produce, edit and publish multiple short videos a day. - The demographics of TikTok skew towards teenagers, so unless the business primarily caters for them, other marketing channels will offer a higher ROI. For myself: - I’m not particularly fond of video or video editing. - I’m [much better at writing](/productivity/writing-system/) than I am on camera. - My readers tend to be established[^2] entrepreneurs and professionals. In both cases there was no need to proceed beyond the benefit-analysis stage as there were no clear benefits. **Result: New social media platform not necessary. Lots of time saved for myself and my clients.** ### Example 3: New business software I was introduced to [Zapier](/go/zapier/) by [Matthew Guay](https://twitter.com/maguay) a long time ago but never really paid much attention to it. More recently though, I’ve received more questions about automation and using it to streamline workflows. So I looked into it. The **first step** I did was to try to understand Zapier. And after reading their website and playing around with the tool for a bit, I summarised it as: - Software that connects APIs for various SaaS and online services wrapped in a nice UI. - A server that runs automations and scripts based on set times or triggers. The **second step** was to consider the potential benefits. For this I did some Google research and came up with a list of things that _could_ be automated. These were mostly things that I didn’t feel took that much time, but in reality would add up to quite a bit over the course of a month or year. The **third step** was to flowchart my existing system and see where Zapier could fit in. Because of the nature of Zapier there were many different flowcharts for many different things, but I’ll use a simple example here: [![Existing Email Receipt Processing](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/email-receipt-processing-existing.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/email-receipt-processing-existing.webp) As you can see from the diagram, to process an email receipt before I had to: 1. Open Gmail. 2. Click on the email. 3. Print it to PDF. 4. Name the file, choose a folder and save it to Dropbox. 5. Wait for it to sync. 6. Record it in a spreadsheet for my accountant. The **fourth step** was to see how Zapier could help improve or streamline this process. In this case, I set up a Zap (as they’re known) that: 1. Checked for an email receipt. 2. Created a PDF. 3. Formatted the date/time and named the PDF correctly. 4. Saved it to Dropbox automatically. 5. Recorded the details in a spreadsheet. [![](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/email-receipt-processing-zap.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/email-receipt-processing-zap.webp) And the best thing - I never have to see or touch these emails, ever. It all happens automatically in the background. The **last step** was to test and trial the new technique. As of writing, I’ve been using Zapier substantially for a few months now and it’s been nothing short of amazing. All the background processes that took five-to-ten minutes here and there are now all automated, and I’ve saved hours every month. **Result: Integrated into some workflows, replaced other workflows completely.** ### Example 4: New time management technique One of the interesting ideas I came across when I was researching [my article on timeslices](/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/) was an idea called [Flowtime](https://medium.com/@lightsandcandy/the-flowtime-technique-7685101bd191). Before writing about it, I wanted to test it out and see how useful it actually was. The **first step** was to understand the new concept. For traditional timeslices, you: - Start a _countdown_ timer. - Take a predetermined break when the timer ends. For flowtime instead, you: - Start a _stopwatch_ (count-up) timer. - Take a predetermined break when you feel your focus waning. The **second step** was to consider the potential benefits of switching. For me, these included: - Flexibility in how long I could work on a task or set of tasks. One of the things I don’t like about timeslices is that when the timer ends, you have to stop. - Ability to do multiple tasks in succession rather than the timeslice mindset of “one task per timeslice”. - Not having to break flow just because a timer ends. - Being able to push for longer [deep work sessions](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/) while still maintaining the ability to take breaks.[^3] The **third step** was to flowchart my existing timeslice system, which looks like this: [![Existing Timeslice System](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/timeslice-existing.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/timeslice-existing.webp) The **fourth step** was to see if flowtime could supplement timeslices, or replace them entirely. I created a flowchart for a flowtime system, which came out like this: [![New Flowtime System](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/timeslice-flowtime.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/new-techniques-existing-systems/timeslice-flowtime.webp) Based on the flowchart I created, it would be easier if flowtime replaced traditional timeslices completely. The **last step** was to trial and assess the new technique. After a few months of using flowtime, I decided that I liked it and just kept on using it. Instead of using [Focus](https://masterbuilders.io/focus) for timeslices, I found a menubar program called [Thyme](https://joaomoreno.github.io/thyme/) that acts as a simple stopwatch for flowtime. **Result: Complete replacement of existing system.** ## What To Do Next You now have a simple model for taking any shiny new technique, app or idea that you come across, and working out if it improves your existing systems and workflows. Photo by [Ken Suarez](https://unsplash.com/@kensuarez?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Being bored with your existing system can sometimes be a valid reason to switch. [^2]: i.e., older 😬. [^3]: My way of saying: it’s really hard to work with a 75/15 rhythm for the entire day. > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### Why You Need to Stop Using Email (And What to Do Instead) https://aaronlynn.com/business/stop-using-email/ Email. We all use it, and we all have too much of it. So why do businesses keep on using email to communicate within teams? **Email is an inferior form of internal communication.** Direct messaging systems like Slack are better, faster and more effective.[^1] **Stop using emails** internally, and save them for your customers and vendors. --- ## Why Email Is Terrible for Your Business If you’ve read the [business hierarchy of communication](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/), you know that email ranks as the least urgent and least important form of communication. Email should not be used internally for a number of reasons: - Most people do not know how to manage their inbox correctly and have hundreds (if not thousands) of emails just sitting there. - It is annoying to be CC’d or BCC’d on an email that you really don’t need to see. - It is hard to extract data from an email and [work out if it’s a task, a note or something you can ignore](/productivity/how-to-handle-the-small-stuff/). - You often have to read through replies of replies of replies to follow what’s going on in an email thread. - Sending an email to the wrong person happens all the time. This is because most email clients have an autocomplete function for names and email addresses. - It is hard to prioritise important client or vendor emails if you’re buried in internal emails all day. - Using email internally conditions people to hate email as they kind-of feel productive using it, but really they know it’s just wasting their time. You can also think of it this way. Email replaces traditional postal mail. Would you mail a letter to someone in the same office as you? 🤔 The solution is to **replace internal email with other tools** like direct messaging or project management platforms. ## How to Replace Email With Direct Messaging and Other Tools Rather than provide you with an [SOP](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) for how to replace internal emails with other tools, it is easier to show you with examples of common office situations. Let’s get to it. ### Replacing a company announcement or team email Some managers and business owners like to send out “announcement” emails to keep their teams updated about company news or happenings. These can be replaced with: - Short announcements can be broadcast to @everyone in #general on Slack. - Long announcements can be posted as a blog post entry in the company wiki and shared with everyone there.[^2] ### Asking a team member a question When one team member needs to ask another a question in your office, what do they do? Traditionally this would have been one of: - Walking over and asking the question. - Dialling their extension. - Emailing them. In a modern business, you can do away with all of these, and just direct message them on Slack. If you need to ask one person something and notify someone else at the same time, ask the question in the appropriate Slack channel and @mention whomever needs to be notified as well. For example: ``` Hey @jan, where can I find the latest P&L files? CC @sam @mary ``` ### Having a group conversation with threaded replies Group conversations should not be had over email. You end up with a long email chain with various people on CCs and some people only replying instead of replying-to-all and it becomes a big mess. A better and faster way is to have this conversation in a channel in Slack. You can even set up a once-off channel, have the conversation, and then archive the channel afterwards. ### Replying to one or more people in an email thread Another confusing aspect of using email to have threaded group conversations is that some people only want to reply _to specific people_ and you then end up with multiple email threads on the same topic. You also end up with awkward situations where you reply to the wrong email, and someone sees something they’re not supposed to 😬. An easier way to do this is to use your direct messaging tool, have the discussion in a channel with all participants and use the built-in threading function to have these side chats. Or, for better privacy, direct message the relevant parties one-on-one. ### Working out meeting times You should never need to use email to work out meeting times. Between the checking of individual schedules, working out timezones and availability… it becomes a huge mess. A better way to do this is to have a calendar system set up for your company (say in Google GSuite or Microsoft Office 365) so that everyone’s availabilities are accessible.[^3] This way when an [internal meeting](/business/business-meetings/) needs to be scheduled, the person sending the invitation knows when people will be free already, and timezones are automatically calculated. ### Collaborating on or proofreading a document Documents should not be passed around on USB keys or via email. Unless there are specific legal or privacy reasons, all documents should be cloud-accessible in something like Google GSuite or Microsoft Office 365. These office suites will already have built-in collaborative editing functions. For [standard operating procedures](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) I recommend that these go into [a wiki system](/business/knowledge-management/). If fine details need to be hashed out, a Slack conversation or quick call with screen sharing can also help. ### Task and work updates Updates on specific pieces of work should not be sent over email. They should go into the relevant system, whether it is a project management tool like Asana or a CRM like Pipedrive. _Note: Relationship managers and consultants call these “file notes”._ ### Forwarding notifications and information This _may_ be the one exception where sending an email internally is justified. Sometimes you will receive an email from an external party and it needs to be redirected to someone else on the team - fair enough. But in a lot of cases, the data can be extracted from these emails and input into the relevant tool or system instead. For example: - A response from a client should be logged as a file note in the CRM, not simply forwarded to the consultant. - General information should be copy-pasted into the wiki and shared with everyone. - Really important announcements should be summarised and @everyone pinged on Slack. - Notifications like bookings or new orders should be piped into a dedicated room in Slack using Zapier or a direct integration. ### Handling meeting agendas and minutes Meeting agendas and minutes should not be created in Word documents and emailed around before a meeting. They should be stored in a centralised location like the company wiki and shared there. Attendees should go in and update their agenda items in the wiki before the meeting. A nominated scribe can take minutes during the meeting, and the meeting organiser can share these minutes with everyone after the meeting. If necessary, reminders can be sent via Slack for the agenda, minutes and any action items. ## What To Do Next Stop using email internally. **Just stop it.** If you aren’t set up on Slack, Google Hangouts Chat or Microsoft Teams yet, get set up. And when you absolutely must use email, practice [effective email management](/productivity/effective-email-management/). Photo by [Carol Jeng](https://unsplash.com/@carolran?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: I reference Slack as it is the market leader, but other systems [like those mentioned here](/business/remote-work-apps/) work just as well. [^2]: i.e., Confluence or Tettra. [^3]: Yes, you can set up your calendar to show your availability without revealing your specific event details. > Related course: AI Agents Guide — $147 — /courses/ai-agents-guide/ --- ### Essential Apps for Remote Work https://aaronlynn.com/business/remote-work-apps/ What are the best apps for remote work and working from home? As a follow up to my guide on [how to set up your business for remote working](/business/business-remote-work-setup/), here is a look at the technology infrastructure you need to operate effectively as a remote team.[^1] Most companies going remote need an application in these categories: 1. Office suite. 2. Email services. 3. Calendar and scheduling. 4. Task and project management. 5. Meetings and communications. 6. Cloud storage - your files, folders and documents. 7. Knowledge management. 8. Integration apps to tie different services together. You can also utilise all-in-one app suites (#9) like Microsoft Office 365 or Google GSuite. You likely also have speciality applications (#10) like CRMs or ERPs depending on your industry. Let’s take a look at all of these. --- ## 1\. Office Suite ![Office Suite](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-work-apps/office-suite.webp) Word processing, spreadsheets and presentations form the core of most of office productivity suites. For remote teams, there are two options here: 1. Use a cloud-enabled office suite, or 2. Store files normally but sync them using a Cloud Storage service. The two main options for office suites let you do both: - **[Google GSuite](https://gsuite.google.com/)** \- Docs, Sheets, Slides. - [**Microsoft Office 365**](https://www.office.com/) - Word, Excel, Powerpoint. Which to use is a matter of preference as both have feature-parity nowadays. ## 2\. Email Services ![Email Services](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-work-apps/email-services-jpg.webp) Email is exactly what it sounds like - [your email](/productivity/effective-email-management/). There are a couple of major options for email: **[Google GSuite Gmail](https://gsuite.google.com/products/gmail/)** needs no introduction. It’s robust, it works, and it offers plenty of storage. It can also double as an inexpensive SSO (single sign-on) option for smaller businesses.[^2] **[Microsoft Outlook (Office 365)](https://www.office.com/)** is the Microsoft version of hosted/online email. If you already have an existing Microsoft Office 365 subscription, this is worthwhile. In my experience, it’s a little harder to administer than Google GSuite is. **[Proton Mail](https://protonmail.com/)** is an interesting offering out of Switzerland that is [privacy-first](/life/privacy/). It is not as feature-rich as Gmail or Outlook, but if you want the extra security features, it’s your best option. All email should be in the cloud and accessed through an email client through the IMAP protocol. This is where your emails and email folders are all _synced rather than downloaded_. This means that any changes you make locally on your phone or computer are instantly reflected on your devices. The first advantage of this is that your email can be accessed from anywhere, which is required for remote teams. The second advantage of this is that you will never lose emails because of a computer or hard disk failure. The third advantage is you don’t have to worry about backing up large email data files. If you are still storing email files locally on computers or using some kind of POP3 service, you need to move to IMAP ASAP. ## 3\. Calendar and Scheduling ![Calendar and Scheduling](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-work-apps/calendar-scheduling-jpg.webp) Your calendar is for [scheduling appointments](/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/) - whether they are phone calls, Zoom calls or in-person appointments. You can (and should) also use your calendar for [personal schedule management](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/). The options here are similar to email: - **[Google GSuite Calendar](https://gsuite.google.com/products/calendar/)**. - **[Microsoft Outlook (Office 365)](https://www.office.com/)**. All the options are good here - calendar technology is mature and quite standardised. And much like email, because it lives in the cloud, your calendar and schedule can be accessed and updated from anywhere. ## 4\. Tasks and Project Management ![Tasks and Project Management](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-work-apps/task-project-management-jpg.webp) Tasks and projects are about organising _things that you have to do_. This is in contrast to: 1. Things that you have to schedule (those go in your calendar). 2. Things that you have to file (those go into file/cloud storage or your knowledge management tool). Examples include: - Complete this report. - Create this marketing proposal. Confusion sometimes arises because apps designed for other things try to incorporate “task lists” into their features. For example, Microsoft Outlook has basic task functionality, and many people use their email and messaging tools to hold tasks as well. The best practice is to separate your tasks and to-dos into their own application. Options here include: **[Asana](/go/asana/)** which is the current market leader. You set up workspaces and projects, and list tasks traditionally. [Asana will also let you customise your views using kanban boards, timelines and calendars](/business/quick-guide-to-asana-for-business-owners/). **[Clickup](https://clickup.com/)** is a new player in the project management space and has better pricing options for smaller teams. **[Trello](https://trello.com/)** is a popular board-based task and project management system that lets you create “cards” and then sort them into columns. It is great for teams that love visual navigation and organisation. **[Jira](https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira)** was originally designed as a bug/issue tracker but has evolved into a powerful project management system. It has a very steep learning curve and is best suited for teams with structured workflows, teams that need deep integration with development tools, or for teams that need agile workflows like SCRUM or Kanban. The main things to remember when choosing a task or project management system for your remote team are: 1. Make sure it’s a separate system, not an “included feature” in another application. 2. Make sure it’s something the team actually wants to use. All the above applications are cloud products and accessed via a web browser or apps, making them suitable for remote teams. ## 5\. Meetings and Communications ![Meetings and Communications](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-work-apps/meetings-communications-jpg.webp) Meeting and communication tools are especially important for remote teams. They can be separated into **internal** and **external** tools for communicating inside and outside the business. ### 5.1. Internal Communication Tools **[Slack](/go/slack/)** is the industry standard for internal team communication. It focuses on team messaging and does it very well. **[Google Chat](https://gsuite.google.com/products/chat/)** is the Google version of team messaging. Its main advantage being bundled with your Google GSuite subscription at no extra cost. **[Microsoft Teams](https://products.office.com/en/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software)** is the new player in the space and best for companies already on Microsoft Office 365. The important thing with an internal communication tool is to **not use a consumer-grade messaging application** like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, WeChat or LINE for your team communications. Using these tools makes it hard to track threads, to set up dedicated groups/rooms/channels for specific business topics and to back up chat data for any legal requirements. **Also, [don’t use email for internal communications](/business/stop-using-email/).** Emails and subsequent replies are just confusing and arduous for no good reason at all, especially when better tools like Slack and Microsoft Team exist. [Here's how you run effective internal business meetings](/business/business-meetings/). ### 5.2. External Communication Tools **[Zoom](https://zoom.us/)** has fast become the global standard in video conferencing with external parties. It offers call recording, generated meeting links, great audio/video quality and integrates with almost everything.[^3] **[Cisco Webex](https://www.webex.com/)** is the enterprise-level alternative to Zoom. **[Join.Me](https://www.join.me/)** is also an alternative to Zoom that is a bit easier to use but not as popular. **[Google Meet](https://gsuite.google.com/products/meet/)** is the video conferencing part of Google Gsuite, and can be used both inside and outside the business. **FaceTime, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, WeChat etc.** These tools are **not** for internal communications, but are **great** for external client communication. All these external tools can also be used as video conferencing tools for internal team meetings as well, but most teams will find it easier (and less error-prone) to dial through Slack or Microsoft Teams. ## 6\. Cloud Storage ![Cloud Storage](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-work-apps/cloud-storage-jpg.webp) All businesses _should_ have their files stored in the cloud. Businesses setting up for remote _need_ all their files stored in the cloud. Unless there is some legislative need to have a file server in a local office or at data centre somewhere, cloud storage is the default right now. Cloud storage is virtually unlimited and very inexpensive.[^4] It comes with advantages like automated backups and the ability to easily share files and folders both within the company and with clients and customers. The main services in the space are: **[Dropbox](https://dropbox.com/)** which is synonymous with cloud storage. They have the best sync client of all the services. **[Google Drive](https://gsuite.google.com/products/drive/)** comes with Google GSuite which makes it cost-effective for businesses already on GSuite. Their sync client is getting better all the time, but is still not as good as Dropbox. There are also some limitations on folder depth and file quantities if you have a lot of files and folders. **[Microsoft OneDrive](https://office.com/)** would not be my first option for cloud storage but it gets the job done. ## 7\. Knowledge Management ![Knowledge Management](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-work-apps/knowledge-management-jpg.webp) [Knowledge management](/business/knowledge-management/) is something most companies will not have set up. It is the sharing of [standard operating procedures](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) and other collaborative knowledge across the company. It is _especially_ important for remote teams because you will no longer be able to just walk down the hall to John’s desk to ask him how to complete a certain work process. There will also be times when someone needs to know something and the right person isn’t available on Slack to ask. There are two main tools in this category: **[Confluence](https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence)** has been the standard enterprise wiki for many years. They recently did a UI redesign and the core application still does what it needs to very well. **[Tettra](https://tettra.com/)** is the new kid on the block. It is basically Confluence with a more “modern” interface. Both are solid applications and choosing one really comes down to personal preference. For smaller teams, these applications are pretty much free, so there is no reason not to use them. ## 8\. Integration Apps ![Integration](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-work-apps/integration-jpg.webp) We’ve covered six different categories of applications so far. You may be asking - do these apps integrate and work together in any way? Why yes, they do. Simple examples would include being direct messaged on Slack ten minutes before a meeting starts, or having your video conferencing software automatically generate join links when a meeting is scheduled.[^5] Most applications will integrate “natively”, meaning you can just click “enable integration” in one service and it works with another right away. For applications that don’t have native integrations, you can use a service like **[Zapier](/go/zapier/)** to connect them together. For example, you can use Zapier to pipe data from emails to a CRM, to [notify you in real-time](/productivity/push-pull/) about a social media mention, and to connect almost anything to Slack. ## 9\. All-in-One Suites I have mentioned Google Gsuite and Microsoft Office 365 a couple of times. These applications are “all-in-one” application suites that can be cost-effective for remote teams, even if some of the applications lack in features, or just don’t work as smoothly as their standalone competitors. For example, Google Chat is not as polished or user-friendly as Slack. Others include: - [Monday.com](https://monday.com/). - [Notion](/go/notion/). [Guide here](/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/). - [Facebook Workplace](https://www.facebook.com/workplace). - [Lark](https://www.larksuite.com/). - [Zoho One](https://www.zoho.com/one/). - [ClickUp](https://clickup.com/). My personal preference is to cherry-pick applications in each category based on what each business needs, or to only enable services within an all-in-one suite that the business needs. There is nothing worse than turning on some thirty-plus applications and overwhelming users. ## 10\. Specialty Apps It is likely that your business already has some speciality applications related to your industry. These are not remote working-specific but most of them are already set up for cloud access in some form or another, and are thus suitable for remote teams. They could include: - CRMs like [Zoho CRM](https://www.zoho.com/crm/) or [SalesForce](https://www.salesforce.com/ap/). - ERPs like [SAP](https://www.sap.com/). - Marketing automation suites like [Convertkit](/go/convertkit/), [Mailchimp](https://mailchimp.com/), [InfusionSoft](https://keap.com/infusionsoft) or [Ontraport](https://ontraport.com/). - Helpdesks like [Freshdesk](https://freshdesk.com/), [Zendesk](https://www.zendesk.com/) or [HelpScout](https://www.helpscout.com/). - Schedulers like [Calendly](https://calendly.com/) or [Acuity Scheduling](https://acuityscheduling.com/). ## An Example Remote App Workflow [![An Example Remote App Workflow](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-work-apps/example-remote-app-workflow-jpg.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-work-apps/example-remote-app-workflow-jpg.webp) Let’s have a quick look at how these applications could all work together for a traditional professional services firm that meets with external clients. The trigger action in this workflow is a client booking a meeting via the company’s website. This is done through Calendly, which checks the consultant’s schedule and makes sure that the client appointment does not clash with anything else they have on. The appointment is made and paid for online. An event is created and synced to the consultant’s calendar, and the client receives an email confirmation with Zoom join links. The client is given a place to upload their files before the consultation. These files are automatically saved into Dropbox, and a record is made in the client’s CRM record, noting both the appointment and the uploaded files. On the day of the call, the consultant receives a ping on Slack reminding them of all the calls they have on that day. The client receives a text message an hour before the scheduled call-in time. The consultation is conducted on Zoom, recorded and uploaded into the cloud for storage. After the call, the consultant enters some file notes into the client’s CRM record. Some action items are generated by the consultation and these go into Asana, where they are allocated out to the back office to process. Any urgent or important tasks are pinged out by the consultant to the relevant people via Slack. As a result of the meeting, the consultant decides that the company’s consultation procedure needs to change a bit and she updates this in Tettra. ## What To Do Next This guide was written for businesses going remote but can be used by any business looking to modernise their business systems. First, select your applications. Then read my guide on [how business owners can set up their companies to go remote](/business/business-remote-work-setup/). For a more principle-based approach, see [how remote working differs from running a traditional office](/business/remote-working-differences/). And last, deploy your apps, one at a time. [^1]: Actually, these apps can be used by **all teams** whether they are remote or not. [^2]: i.e., you can log into all your apps by clicking “log in with Google”. [^3]: Yes, I am aware that Zoom went through a spate of privacy-related issues. I personally have never had an issue with Zoom, but I am not a security expert - I use what is easiest and what works. All tools have their issues, so please check your legal requirements around privacy and security first. [^4]: In my experience you will pay more to set up, maintain and upgrade local file servers. [^5]: You could do most of this manually, but five minutes here and there for many people adds up to quite a lot over a year. > Related course: AI for Work Productivity — $147 — /courses/ai-for-work-productivity/ --- ### How To Create And Influence Company Culture https://aaronlynn.com/business/company-culture/ Company culture is something that you can create in any company and use to help the company achieve its goals, mission and purpose.[^1] Having a strong company culture gives your team a sense of purpose and direction. It brings the team together with a common set of standards and values. It can also make everyone more productive and generally happier at work. These are all good things. And the great news is, company culture is not just for Silicon Valley startups with 💰💰💰 to spend on in-house sushi chefs and pool tables. Every company can develop a strong and beneficial company culture, including yours. --- ## What Is Company Culture? If your company was a person, your “company culture” would be his or her personality. You can also think of it as how everyone at work behaves by default when no-one is looking. Some business owners think that they don’t have a company culture. This is not true. Every company has its own culture, even if that culture is a boring and straightforward “come in, work and leave” culture. _[Aside: Here's why you need company culture](/business/why-company-culture-matters/)._ ## How to Create Discover Your Company Culture You actually don’t _create_ a company culture. You **discover** it. Your company already has a culture, whether you are aware of it or not. The best way to discover your company culture is to set aside some [quiet, purposeful and reflective periods of time](/productivity/silence/) and think about it. If you have worked out your company’s [mission and core values](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/), these will help. Sometimes these things alone can define a company’s culture. It is also useful to look at your team. If you were to aggregate the personalities and characteristics of your most influential team members, what would that person be like? You can also ask: - How do we express ourselves at the company? - What are our [internal emails](/business/stop-using-email/), IMs, events and themes like? - How do we communicate with customers, partners, vendors and in our marketing and branding? All these things contribute to company culture. It may take months to deep-dive into your company culture, and there is no need to rush the process. When you are ready, you can personify your company into an avatar and ask - what is their personality like? That’s your company culture. ## Influencing Company Culture Now that you have discovered your company’s culture, you may decide that there are some things you would like to change.[^2] There are a couple of ways that you can do this. The first thing to realise is that **the founder/CEO/owner/leader is the biggest influencer on culture**.[^3] If the company’s leader is toxic, the company’s culture will reflect that. If the company’s leader is [good and virtuous](/productivity/virtues/), the company’s culture will reflect that. The best way to influence your company’s culture is to [be a living avatar of everything the company represents](/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/) - its mission and its values. As the leader, your people look up to you. Your senior people will take cues from you on how to act, and in turn become mini-avatars of the company. The second way to influence company culture is by **doing some purposeful culture-building exercises**, like: - Setting an annual theme. - Having milestone celebrations. - Encouraging team members to express their version of the company’s culture. But trying to influence company culture directly is the 20%. The 80% that really matters, is walking the talk and living and breathing the company’s culture. ## What To Do Next Expecting more? Well, company culture isn’t something complicated. It already exists - you just have to discover and identify it. Then ask yourself: as the leader of the company, are you living it? That’s how you influence your company culture. Photo by [vivek kumar](https://unsplash.com/@vikceo?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: OK, create is actually the wrong word. You’ll see. [^2]: Again, change is the wrong word. “Influence” is better. [^3]: This is probably you. > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### Knowledge Management: How to Systemise Your Business with SOPs https://aaronlynn.com/business/knowledge-management/ **Knowledge management** in business is not just about dumping everything you know into a Word document and then emailing it out to your team. It’s about building a culture of **training, learning and improvement** within your company. It’s about **systemising your business** so that you work less and make more. Most business owners are [smart and talented](/productivity/talent-stacks-specific-knowledge/) and work incredibly hard. But not all understand systems and how to turn their abilities and talents into knowledge that can be taught and delegated to others. The simplest way to do this is to practice good knowledge management - to systemise your business so that others can operate it just as well as you can. --- ## Defining Knowledge Management Knowledge Management is the process of making sure that organisational knowledge is managed, preserved and passed down within your company. It is about building a culture of training, learning and improvement. And this is a good thing. In practice, this is about systemising your business by writing [standard operating procedures (SOPs)](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/), organising them in an internal wiki (intranet) and then training your team to actually use and [update them over time](/business/update-maintain-sops/). ## Why Should I Bother With Knowledge Management? ### Benefits for the company Passing down organisational knowledge is a good thing. When this happens, your company starts to take on a life of its own, and starts to run and sustain itself. It also happens that organisational knowledge, is part of what makes a company a company. It is an asset that doesn’t appear on your balance sheet.[^1] It also makes the business less reliant on you, the owner, which is a good thing. This means fewer people asking you for things, and your business becoming more than just a job to keep you busy. ### Benefits for your staff and teams Good knowledge management also has benefits for your staffing and teams. It helps [reinforce company culture through ongoing training](/business/company-culture/). It makes that [training and any onboarding processes](/business/team-onboarding/) much faster and more effective. It helps staff [cement their learning](/productivity/learning-systems/) as they will have to read, write and update their own procedures, processes and documents. Once your knowledge management processes are set up, you will also be able to have existing staff train new staff. This reinforces their own learning and also helps with any future staff turnover. Knowledge management is also part of your [risk management and redundancy strategy](/business/risk-management/) for staffing. It means that if someone is out sick, then someone else can simply take a process and perform it.[^2] ### Systems replace willpower with knowledge > _Systems replace willpower with knowledge._ > > _Scott Adams_ The more organised knowledge you have in your company, the less you have to depend on “talented” or strong-willed individuals to run your business. The systems take on the heavy lifting. This does not mean that you don’t want great people - you do. It’s just that knowledge and systems make everything _easier_ for everyone. Organisational knowledge lets you convert a talented staff member’s[^3] know-how and abilities into a system that anyone can use. This doesn’t mean that _anyone_ can use that system, but anyone competent in the domain area will be able to. ## How to Set up Knowledge Management in Your Business [![Knowledge Management Set Up](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/knowledge-management/knowledge-mnagement-setup.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/knowledge-management/knowledge-mnagement-setup.webp) Setting up effective knowledge management in your business consists of eight steps: 1. Choose a project champion. 2. Minimise meetings. 3. Create an initial list of processes. 4. Set up your infrastructure. 5. Create the initial document structures and SOPs. 6. Train team members. 7. Ongoing maintenance. 8. Influence culture over time. ### 1\. Choose a project (knowledge management) champion As a business owner you want to choose one of your team to champion this project. Look for someone who is organised, who likes learning, who likes training others and who is keen to learn everything about the business. A future-COO type is perfect for this. This person should not be you. ### 2\. Minimise meetings Let your knowledge management project champion know that [meetings are to be minimised](/business/business-meetings/). This is to keep your workplace efficient and also to pre-empt any resistance to the project from team members. ### 3\. Initial list of processes The next step is to hold a brainstorming session with your senior people. Get together and list out everything you do in the business: every single process, customer touchpoint, team activity, workflow and anything else you can think of. Turn each one into an issue or task. Work out who knows the most about each process. This person is your **subject matter expert**. Then assign that person to work on turning what they do into a _systemised process_. It is also worthwhile to set up some sort of reward or celebration system for when the project is completed.[^4] ### 4\. Set up your infrastructure for knowledge management This step is where we get technical. You need to set up your applications and the structure for managing your organisational knowledge. Any [corporate wiki system](/business/how-to-manage-your-business/) will do. I recommend: 1. [Notion](/go/notion/). 2. [Confluence](https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence). Don't use simple files/folders/Google docs for this. Once you have chosen an application, you want to set up the structure of your wiki. You will want: 1. Spaces/categories for any departments you have.[^5] 2. A SOP or Operations Manual space. Within the SOP/Operations Manual space, you need a specific structure under which SOP documents will sit. Rather than have you use trial-and-error, I will just give you one that has worked well for myself and others: ``` * Administration. * Accounting/Finance. * Legal. * Marketing. * Training: application/system usage, basic company procedures. * Organisational Data: culture, mission, priorities, strategic plans. * Specific business areas: e.g., consulting, product creation, customer service. ``` Be sure to [use a good SOP template](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) to create your process documents. ### 5\. Create the initial document structures and SOPs Remember the initial list of processes created in Step #3? It’s time to create those. Have your subject matter expert write down what they do in the wiki. If they don’t like to write, have them record what they do and have someone else write it down. Then have a second person review it. And once all your initial processes are cleared - you now have the start of your knowledge management system. ### 6\. Train team members Once your initial list of processes has been written down, it’s time to update and train existing team members. It is more than likely that different people within the same team all use a slightly different process to complete a certain task. By holding a brief training session, you will be able to see what those differences are and can update each process. It will also be an opportunity to train existing team members in how to use your new knowledge management system (wiki), so that they can update it on their own in the future. This training should be conducted by the project champion and the relevant subject matter experts. ### 7\. Ongoing maintenance of knowledge management As business proceeds as usual, things will come up. Your team will find new ways to do things, or note that certain information is missing from your SOPs. As they do, team members can update SOPs in the wiki with these new issues and scenarios.[^6] They don’t have to be major edits. Small corrections, or important things to look out for when handling a certain situation are fine. ### 8\. Influence culture over time This process and setup may seem like a simple “just write down what we do”, but it is much more than that. **Things that get written down, get valued.** People pay more attention to them. And once they are written down, you have a baseline from which to make future improvements. Done properly, knowledge will gradually become more and more valued in your business. And you and your team will start to experience the benefits of good knowledge management. ## What To Do Next You now know exactly how to set up organisational knowledge management in your business - it’s time to go do it. For how to do this is Notion, see my [guide to systems and SOP management in Notion](/business/systems-and-sop-management-in-notion/). Photo by [Daniel Cheung](https://unsplash.com/@danielkcheung?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: It appears as part of the “good will” valuation that is the difference between your physical assets and what your company is actually worth. [^2]: Perhaps not as well but _almost as good_ as the original person. [^3]: Or your own. [^4]: At my last company we bought everyone working on the project AirPods after our initial set of documents and SOPs were done. [^5]: This is dependent on what business you are in. [^6]: All modern wiki systems have unlimited revision history, so you can roll back changes at any time. > Related course: AI Agents Guide — $147 — /courses/ai-agents-guide/ --- ### The Hierarchy of Communication for Your Business and Personal Life https://aaronlynn.com/business/hierarchy-of-communication/ “What do I reply?” “What does she mean by that?” “Why hasn’t he answered my email yet?” Anyone who has ever messaged anyone _ever_ has had these questions. Digital communications through text and apps are great - but you can lose meaning when it’s simply words on a screen. And when we need to say something to someone - do we text? Call? Email? Meet for coffee? Some things are best said over text, others are best said in person. Working out which is which, can be complex. This is why we need a **Hierarchy of Communication** in both our business and personal lives - to work out what the best medium is to convey the message that we want. --- ## The Business Hierarchy of Communication [![Business Hierarchy of Communication](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/hierarchy-of-communication/business-hierarchy-of-communication.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/hierarchy-of-communication/business-hierarchy-of-communication.webp) A business hierarchy of communication is used **inside** a business.[^1] The best way to work out what medium or channel to use internally in business, is to look at the **urgency or importance** of the communication. Why? Because as much as possible, we want to let our fellow team members do [deep work and focus](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). We also want to make sure that we say the right things at the right time, and often the medium conveys a certain message in and of itself. Let’s look at each medium used inside a business from least important to most important. ### Importance Level 1: Email **The best practice for internal communications is to [never send email internally](/business/stop-using-email/).** So when would it be appropriate to send an internal email and how urgent should it be? At companies where I have implemented a business hierarchy of communication, a **twenty-four hour turnaround time** is the standard expectation for internal email. This is because there would be very few emails sent internally. A good example of this would be a weekly team newsletter, where no reply would be required at all. _For external email communications you want to [practice effective email management](/productivity/effective-email-management/)._ ### Importance Level 2: Scheduled meetings **[Scheduled Meetings](/business/business-meetings/)** are where people physically gather in the same room or online and discuss or decide on a set of issues. It is a good idea to set a policy that meetings should only take place when necessary, as they often break [the flow of people’s work days](/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/).[^2] I would recommend only using meetings for: - Training. - Regular team alignment ([weekly](/business/weekly-meetings/), monthly, quarterly meetings). - Important, emotional announcements like the sale of a business unit or other major change in the company. People are expected to show up on time for meetings. They should also start on time, end on time and be as brief as possible. **Meetings are (and should be) scheduled well in advance,** which is why they are amongst the least urgent forms of business communication. ### Importance Level 3: Wiki, files, project management tools Any communication made in your **team wiki, file storage service or project management tool**[^3] should be considered **somewhat important**, unless someone is explicitly mentioned by name.[^4] These could be things like an update on a task, something marked for review, or information to be shared amongst the team. Anything communicated across any of these tools is usually **not urgent,** and most of them will need no reply. If they do require a reply, you can expect someone to **get back to you within the same business day (twelve hours)**. An example could be a wiki update about some new legislative changes that will affect an uncommonly used process. No reply would be needed in this case. Another example would be updating and assigning a task in your project management system. In this case someone is being explicitly @mentioned, and a reply would be expected within the same business day. Note that an important update should still be made in these tools, and then bumped up to a more urgent level via a direct messaging tool. ### Importance Level 4: Direct messages (DMs) and group messages **Direct Messages and Group Messages** are messages sent over a team communications platform like Slack, Microsoft Teams or Facebook Workplace. When you have a platform like this in place, **direct or group messages should be the default mode of business communication**. The urgency level of these communications is **no more than four hours during business hours**. This may seem like a long time if you are all sitting in the same physical office, but with offices in different timezones or [distributed remote teams](/business/business-remote-work-setup/), you cannot assume that everyone is at their computer at that exact moment. Examples pretty much cover all communications that happen in a modern business and can range from “Where has this piece of work progressed to?” to “Did you hear about XYZ update coming next week?”. ### Importance Level 5: Phone call The phone call is where we start go from reply-later to answer-now. If someone is calling you internally within your company, **it is expected that you pick up right away**. A common example of this is if one team member is sitting with a client and needs something from someone else immediately. ### Importance Level 6: In-person In-person communication is where you walk up to another person’s desk unannounced and speak with them right away. There are only two real reasons you should be doing this: 1. The building is on fire. 2. Pizza has arrived in the kitchen and it’s time to eat. Unless a matter is extremely urgent and time sensitive, stick with another medium of communication. For example if you need to ask someone a question, DM them on Slack. ## External Business Communications and the Hierarchy of Communication The above six levels are about internal communications. External communications are still mostly done over phone and email nowadays, and you can expect: - A **phone call** to be about discussing something now. - An **email** to have a three-to-four day turnaround time.[^5] ## The Personal Hierarchy of Communication [![Personal Hierarchy of Communication](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/hierarchy-of-communication/personal-hierarchy-of-communication.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/hierarchy-of-communication/personal-hierarchy-of-communication.webp) Choosing a medium for your personal communications is different than it is for business and can be a bit more complex. The best method I have come across for picking whether to text or call or meet is a combination of **content and intensity**. A lot of the personal hierarchy of communication is about being patient and holding your tongue and keeping your emotions in check. Some things really are better said in-person or on the phone than over text.[^6] Here they are - from the least intense, to the most intense. ### Intensity level 1: Email Why are you emailing your friends and family? Message or call them. ### Intensity level 2: Text/DM **Texting or direct messaging** has become the **default mode** of communication for almost everything personal nowadays.[^7] This could be anything from a light and friendly “Hey, it’s been a while”, to setting up a group dinner, to a back-and-forth text conversation that goes on for screens at a time. The general rule is that **texting should be lighthearted and fun or about working out logistical plans** like where everyone wants to have dinner. It is not for discussing serious personal or relationship issues.[^8] Leave those for a phone call or in-person. ### Intensity level 3: Phone call People don’t really call on a regular basis anymore.[^9] I personally only do calls/video calls for work and to catch up with geographically-distant friends every month or two. Phone calls are more intense than a text message and are usually reserved for things like: - “I’m here on the corner but can’t find you”. - To clear up any misunderstanding that comes from texting. - Catching up with a friend you haven’t seen in a while. - Anything that’s super, super urgent and requires a lot of back-and-forth explanation. ### Intensity level 4: In-person Face-to-face in-person conversations are as intense as it gets. Not only are you communicating with your words, but your [body language, facial expressions, vocal tonality and physical touch](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/) are also in play. “In-person communications” sounds super-geeky, but it’s really when you get together with friends or family to spend time over a meal, a coffee or just to hang out. Talking with someone in-person is the best time to have serious conversations about relationships, family and personal affairs. Most people make the mistake of trying to resolve these things over texting or the phone - when really they need to be worked out in-person. ## What To Do Next Pick your medium of communication based on: - **Importance and urgency** in business. - **Content and intensity** in your personal life. A simple way to implement a hierarchy of communication is to go about your life normally for a week or two, and see if you’re following the hierarchy — or breaking it. [Business owners](/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/) and managers — use the diagram I’ve provided above to set up your own Hierarchy of Communication SOP. And then check out my articles on [how business owners can set up remote working for their teams](/business/business-remote-work-setup/), [essential apps for remote work](/business/remote-work-apps/) and [how to manage your business](/business/how-to-manage-your-business/). Everyone else - if you enjoyed this article, check out the [Basic Social Skills Stack](/productivity/basic-social-skills-stack/) as well. Photo by [Wynand van Poortvliet](https://unsplash.com/@wwwynand?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: i.e., internal communications. [^2]: Work doesn’t get done if you’re in a meeting. [^3]: e.g., Tettra, Confluence, Asana, Jira, Dropbox, Google Drive etc. This includes any CRMs as well. [^4]: This is commonly done using @name on most platforms. [^5]: Some companies are just really, really slow on email. [^6]: i.e., don’t blow up someone’s phone with twenty-plus text messages. [^7]: This includes SMS, IG DMs, Messenger, WhatsApp, LINE, WeChat and any other messaging app. [^8]: Or anything that you [don’t want the Internet to see](https://www.reddit.com/r/insaneparents/). [^9]: For younger readers, humans used to call each other regularly on the phone, leave messages on answering machines and anything that you would text nowadays was said over the phone or by… writing a letter. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### How to Set up Your Business for Remote Working and Let Your Team Work Remotely https://aaronlynn.com/business/business-remote-work-setup/ Remote working and virtual teams are **in**. Employees are demanding it. Employers are starting to see the benefits of it. And with the recent COVID-19 outbreak, it helps everyone stay safe as we make our way through this crisis. Remote working is not for everyone, but a lot of companies, or parts of companies, can do it. For a lot of business owners, it isn’t immediately obvious **how** they can set up remote working arrangements for their staff. As someone who recently transitioned a four-office thirty-something-person organisation over to remote working, here’s exactly how you go about it. --- ## Who Is Remote Working For? I’ve written this guide specifically for business owners. _If you are an employee looking to make the most out of your existing remote working arrangement, [head on over here for how to stay productive while working remotely](/business/remote-working/)._ Almost any non-storefront small or medium-sized business can set up remote working for their employees. In particular, this is great for: - Any service business based on knowledge work.[^1][^2] - Any online business apart from the physical inventory side. - Any business where most of the work is done on computer. Some common examples of businesses that can implement remote working include: - Professionals of any sort. - Tutors and teachers of any sort. - Coaches except for in-person trainers.[^3] - Consultants of any sort. - Ecommerce store owners who outsource their fulfilment. - Development teams. Businesses with storefronts or the need to see clients face-to-face can usually set up their back offices for remote working. ## Why Should I Bother With Remote Working? What Are My Benefits as a Business Owner? ### 1\. Health issues: COVID-19 Let’s start with the elephant in the room: COVID-19. If things go bad, you want your employees safe, happy, healthy and productive at home… not at-risk on public transport or in the office. You also want them to continue working and producing, rather than just [taking the time off](/productivity/excess-hedonism/). With that out of the way, let’s look at some of the other benefits. ### 2\. Benefits for your team Your team will greatly benefit from remote working arrangements. Now before you say “But that’s for them, not me” remember - when you have happy employees, they are more productive and this is better for the business. How does remote working benefit your employees? - They don’t have to commute, saving time and sanity for both them and you.[^4] - Remote working provides a higher degree of autonomy. Studies have shown that more work autonomy can lead to higher levels of job satisfaction, performance and creativity. There is a bit of a magical effect that takes place when staff are able to work from home for the first time. It’s like the training wheels on their productivity have been removed, and they become incredibly efficient and productive. ### 3\. Uncover the Slackers One of the interesting things that happens with remote working arrangements, is you very quickly discover [who has been slacking off](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/) at the office. When you can’t use “sitting at their desk” as an indicator that someone is working, the only thing you can gauge productivity and performance on is **results**. What you will find, is that some of your employees _just don’t produce_. By setting up remote working arrangements, you uncover [drop kick](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Drop%20kick) workers who needed to be replaced long ago. ### 4\. Hire the best people If your business can run with a virtual team of people in your own city, then why can’t your team consist of people from anywhere in the world? Well, it can. When you have the infrastructure and systems in place that allow for remote working, you can [hire people from **anywhere in the world**](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/). This means you can hire the best consultants, the best designers, the best anything… no matter where they live and work.[^5] ### 5\. Your employees will work longer hours Wait, what? That’s right. Your employees will work longer hours. One of the interesting things about remote working arrangements is that work-and-life tends to blur together for employees.[^6] Most of them end up putting in more hours and producing more output when they’re able to work from home. ### 6\. Modernisation of business systems In the process of setting up remote working arrangements, you will be forced to update any antiquated systems and processes. File folders, fax machines, landlines and file servers… will all **go**. They will be replaced by [faster, cheaper and more agile technologies and platforms](/business/remote-work-apps/) that are today’s best practices and you will see your business’ output skyrocket as a result. ### 7\. Lower overhead and costs After an initial setup expense, letting your team work remotely can actually lower your costs. You can reduce commercial lease costs by having a smaller or less expensive office. You will also lower other fixed costs, as your employees will pay for their own heating/air-conditioning and Internet costs at home. I have mentioned that because your team can work from anywhere, you can hire people from anywhere. You will discover that you can tap into better talent at a lower wage cost simply because they don’t live in your particular city. You will also be surprised at how many staff will take less pay in return for flexibility in their schedule and remote working arrangements. ### 8\. Benefits of remote working for you When your entire team is remote, you (as the business owner) also get to be remote. This means that you don’t have to micromanage your staff anymore, as work will become results-based. You’ll free up your own schedule as well, and can put the extra time towards family/freedom/whatever you want. Most business owners will actually discover that they can [do everything in half the time every week](/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/), and wonder what they were doing for all those years. ## How To Set Up Remote Working In Your Business [![How To Set Up Remote Working In Your Business](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-remote-work-setup/how-to-setup-remote-working.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-remote-work-setup/how-to-setup-remote-working.webp) Now that you know _why_ you are letting your team work remotely, **let’s look at how to set it all up**. ### 1\. Handle your inner game as a business owner The first part of setting up your business for remote working is to **[handle your own inner game (mindset)](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/)** as a business owner. You need to **make a clear decision** that this is what you want to do and that while it will work… there may be a couple of hiccups along the way, and that’s OK. Once you have done that, you need to **learn to trust your staff**. “But wait Aaron, I already trust my staff.” OK then: do you feel the need to monitor your staff while they work from home? If you answered no, then you’re all good - [jump ahead to the next section](#infrastructure). If you answered yes, you have some work to do. By far the most common comment I get from clients setting up remote teams is “But I don’t have a system for monitoring my staff”.[^7] **You don’t need to monitor your staff.** Your staff are supposed to be responsible adults. You are supposed to assess their work, not the number of hours they sit in a chair. You need to trust them to do their work, and be prepared to take action if they don’t deliver. Another way to look at it is this: **A good worker is a good worker,** regardless of if they are remote or not. If an employee goes remote and after an initial adjustment period their work performance remains low… that means that they were not a good worker to begin with, and should have been let go long ago. ### 2\. Set up your infrastructure and systems for working remotely Onto the fun part, your **systems and infrastructure**. Your business needs to be paperless or at least have everything in digital duplicate for this to work well. You want to have [as many of your systems in the cloud as possible](/business/cloud-infrastructure-business-owners/), including: - Files. - Workflow/CRM. - Project/task management. - Email, contacts, [calendars](/business/calendars-for-business-owners-and-teams/). - Time tracking for client work. You want to have solid communication tools set up, including: - Team chat, for example, [Slack](/go/slack/). - Phones for team members that need them.[^8] - Video conferencing technologies like [Zoom](https://zoom.us/). You will also need to have your workforce on laptops as much as possible. You can also let some of them use their home computers, or let them take a machine home from the office.[^9] ### 3\. Set up a hierarchy of communication See my guide to the **[Business Hierarchy of Communication](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/)**. It covers [what messages are to be sent over what mediums](/business/stop-using-email/) (calls, DMs, emails etc) and more importantly, why. ### 4\. Set up your team alignment for remote working Hopefully you have your [company’s strategic plan](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/) in place already. From this you will also have a **suitable meeting rhythm** set up so that you can [align everyone to the company’s priorities on a regular basis](/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/). If you don’t, then at the very minimum you should have a system of daily huddles/standups or written daily updates. A **[daily huddle/standup](/business/daily-standups/)** is a brief daily call that aligns your team for the day. **Daily updates** are a quick note that each staff member writes in [your corporate wiki](/business/knowledge-management/) that lists: - Their tasks. - Who they need to get in touch with. - Any notes. Daily updates are great for accountability and force team members to solidify what they are doing each day by writing it down. ### 5\. Implement remote working with your team When all the above is in place, you need to **have an in-person conversation with your team and explain the ground rules to them**. You may wish to start with a couple of trusted staff members first, and see how well they adapt. It needs to be made clear that **this is a trial arrangement and that remote working is a privilege, not a right**. Not following any of the rules is grounds for dismissal.[^10] Here are some things I recommend all business owners explain and expect of their staff: - **There may be some set overlap hours,** where everyone is expected to be working and online at the same time. This is to [facilitate meetings](/business/business-meetings/), calls and workflow. - Outside those hours, **working hours are flexible.** You won’t be monitoring employees anyway, so it shouldn’t really matter what hours they are working. - **Work must get done.** No exceptions. - **Messages must be answered promptly during normal business hours.** No exceptions. - If they have to come to the office, **they must be on time** and there is to be no fuss. - If a call has been scheduled where multiple people are dialling in, **everyone must be on time**. - **A certain amount of flexibility is to be given by both the business and employees,** because sometimes business and life are complicated, and things happen. - Everything must be written down in the CRM/task management system. **If it’s not written down, it didn’t happen.** - They’re welcome to come to the office whenever they want as per normal if that’s what they prefer. - **What people write and how they write it is super important.** Tonality and meaning can get muddled over text. To avoid any misunderstandings, it is better to err on the side of being explicit. - Read [my article on how to remain productive while working remotely from home](/business/remote-working/). ## Common Concerns With Remote Working [![Common Concerns With Remote Working](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-remote-work-setup/remote-working-common-concerns.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/business-remote-work-setup/remote-working-common-concerns.webp) Here are the most common concerns that business owners have with remote working arrangements. ### How do we see clients? As mentioned, businesses that still have to see clients face-to-face can at least set up their back offices to be remote. Or they can have remote working arrangements where staff only come into the office for client meetings. Remote working is not an all-or-nothing proposition. You can maintain perhaps a smaller office for client meetings and spend the majority of time working remotely. I think most business owners will also find it surprising just how many clients are comfortable with talking over a video call nowadays. ### How do I know my employees are working? Go back and [read this section](#inner-game). This is all in your head. Any kind of monitoring system or always-on video system is just plain silly.[^11] **The amazing thing about remote working is that work either gets done or it doesn’t.** If it gets done, people are working. If it doesn’t get done, people are not working. There is no hiding behind excuses of “Oh I got caught up in client calls all day” or “I had so many admin tasks today”. As a business owner you care about the **value** that your team produces, not how many hours they sit in an office chair under fluorescent lights. It used to be that companies going remote would consider that some staff do well under remote working arrangements and some don’t, but that isn’t the case anymore. Why? Let’s be honest - if someone [needs someone else to look over their shoulder in order for them to work](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/), you don’t want that person working for you. The employment market is now competitive enough that you don’t have to accommodate people like this.[^12] The fact that you are reading this article means you are a business owner who is looking to improve things for both your team and your customers. **Businesses like this are rare, and pretty awesome.** You should not have to accommodate staff who don’t produce when not micromanaged. ### How can we communicate quickly if we can’t talk in person? Set up a [proper hierarchy of communication](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/) and your staff will be just as accessible as they were in the office. ### Isn’t all the equipment needed for this expensive? There will be some initial expenditure, mostly in the form of laptops and phones and perhaps software if you aren’t already set up for that. All these things represent the direction that business technology is headed in anyway, and are items you would have had to upgrade to eventually. ### What about offices in different timezones or locations? Different locations and timezones is actually less of a problem with remote working arrangements. This is because people working from home end up working all sorts of strange hours and you usually end up with more overlap than with everyone at singular offices. The best thing to do is to agree on some standard overlap hours between timezones if it’s required. ### Does this mean I have to give everyone unlimited vacation days? No, this is entirely up to you. Some companies offer unlimited vacation days and I think it’s good practice, but it has nothing to do with working remote. ## What To Do Next This guide has given you enough starting points to implement remote working arrangements in your business. You can read more about [essential apps for remote work here](/business/remote-work-apps/), [how remote working differs from a traditional office here](/business/remote-working-differences/), and share this [work from home guide with your team here](/business/remote-working/). Photos by [KAL VISUALS](https://unsplash.com/@kalvisuals?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) and [Allie Smith](https://unsplash.com/@creativegangsters?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Almost all of which is done on computer nowadays. [^2]: With the exception being if you really have to be on client site. [^3]: That being said, there are plenty of online personal trainers nowadays. [^4]: It’s also good for the environment. [^5]: You’ll also discover how truly convoluted your local employment and taxation laws are as well. [^6]: And they will finally know what it feels like to be a business owner 😈. [^7]: I especially hear this a lot from Asian business owners. [^8]: For team members who don’t need an office number, they have their personal phones. [^9]: Be sure to check your security, legislative and insurance requirements first. [^10]: Disclaimer: This is not legal advice. Check with your lawyer for local employment laws. [^11]: I won’t name and shame the companies that make these apps and systems. [^12]: Plus you know, you can now hire people from anywhere in the world. > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### Remote Working: How to Stay Productive While Working From Home https://aaronlynn.com/business/remote-working/ Remote working is awesome. It has become more common in today’s world because of a few things: 1. Cooler employers. 2. Public health issues like the coronavirus 😬. 3. Technology has developed to a point where it just makes more sense. But not everyone knows how to maintain the same level of productivity when they’re working from home. I have been working from home for close to fifteen years now. At my most recent company, I moved the entire organisation over to optional remote working arrangements.[^1] There is definitely a system to it, and a right way to do it - and I’m going to show you how. --- ## Benefits of Remote Work Let’s start with why you would want to work from home. You probably already know some of this, but there are always some unexpected “oh that’s cool” moments when people start working remotely for the first time. ### 1\. Freedom, independence and autonomy The obvious one is that you aren’t artificially glued to your chair or screen all the time at work. When you work remotely, if you’re working, you’re working. And if you not working, you are not obligated to sit in your chair just because you’re at the office. You can get up, walk around, get some water, stretch or do a little tap dancing. There is also no one looking over your shoulder. This means less pressure, less obligation,[^2] and [no-one interrupting your workflow](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/). You can [work to your own rhythm](/productivity/timeslices-flowtime-pomodoro-technique/), which may not be the same as everyone else’s in the office. The largest benefit, by far, is that **you can work the way you want**. This means: - You can play your favourite music, as loud as you want. - You can wear whatever you want.[^3] - You can handle your own [pace of communications](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/). This means you can [choose when to respond to messages, emails and even phone calls](/business/stop-using-email/). - You can take breaks or even a nap whenever you want. If you are super productive, you can even structure your day to get extra time off for an early dinner with friends or a spin class in the evening. ### 2\. No transit time Working remotely means you don’t have to commute. This means that you have an extra hour (or two) for things [like sleep](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/), exercise or family time. It means that unproductive “[gap time](/productivity/gap-time/)” vanishes. It also means that you are less likely to get into the office in a semi-homicidal rage because of traffic and [idiots in cars/trains](https://www.reddit.com/r/IdiotsInCars/). ### 3\. Other benefits of working from home Working remotely from home means you’ll eat at home more often, so you can eat exactly what you want. This should be healthier, and you will likely save on food costs as well. If you have young children you can also take care of them whilst working from home.[^4] And the obligatory mention: if we are in the middle of an ongoing public health issue like COVID-19, you won’t have to worry about why the person across from you is coughing all day. ## Setting Up Remote Working Arrangements ### Step 1: Talk with your employer The first thing is with talk with your employer and/or manager. They need to be OK with this. You can also [send them my article about remote working for business owners,](/business/business-remote-work-setup/) to help convince them. Make sure you know how to [access your company’s infrastructure](/business/remote-work-apps/) via your laptop and phone. This includes your messaging systems, CRM, ERP and every other three-letter system that your company uses. ### Step 2: Set up your remote work environment at home The best environment for remote working is a dedicated room in your house that you can use as a home office or study. Mine looks like this: [![Aaron Lynn's Work Environment](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-working/aaron-lynn-work-environment.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-working/aaron-lynn-work-environment.webp)
Yes, that's an AQI sensor on the right.
Set it up the way you want, so that you are comfortable and can conceivably sit there for eight hours a day. If you don’t have a dedicated room or space available, use your kitchen table as a last resort.[^5] Some people prefer outside work environments like co-working spaces or cafes. These are not my personal preference because work is still work. You need to be able to focus, block out distractions and get things done, not sip fancy lattes and [take photos for Instagram](/productivity/the-instagram-effect/). The one exception to this would be an external personal office that you rent on a regular basis… but in that case you may as well be at work. ### Step 3: Develop solid remote working mindsets and principles When people start working from home for the first time, they often mess it up and end up having their remote working privileges revoked.[^6] This is because you need to adopt a certain mindset to work remotely. Here are the most important remote working principles. #### 1\. A good worker is a good worker Your work environment has _some_ impact on how you work, but **you** have more impact on how you work. It doesn’t matter if you’re at the office or at home, if you do good work - you do good work. If you do bad work - you do bad work, no matter where you are. #### 2\. It’s still work Despite being able to put your feet up and lounge on the couch every now and then, **remote work is still work**. You should absolutely expect to put in your standard forty-or-so working hours in every single week. You should also expect your work performance to be assessed based on _results_ and the work produced, not on the number of hours you spent on it. Working from home is not a vacation. #### 3\. Don’t abuse your employer’s trust Related to #2 above, your employer is trusting you to remain productive and functioning while working from home. Remember that you are still on payroll. You are still expected to contribute, even if you have [_Rick and Morty_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2861424/) playing in the background as you fill out that TPS report. A good way to keep your manager and employer in the loop is to request a daily five-to-ten minute check-in by phone with your manager. Most companies going remote will already have this set up in the form of a [daily huddle call](/business/daily-standups/), but if they don’t, you should propose this. #### 4\. If you have to go to the office or hop on a call, be punctual If for whatever reason you have to go into the office for a meeting, make sure you are on time. This applies to team calls done remotely as well. Doing this lets your employer know that you can be trusted to work remotely, and generates **a lot of goodwill**. If you don’t show up or if you are late, then most employers will equate that with [laziness](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/) or slacking off. They will then use that as the reason for revoking your remote working privileges. #### 5\. Always reply to your messages Always reply to your messages, and within a reasonable amount of time.[^7] Even if it’s a simple “I’ll get back to you at X time”, reply. Not being able to reach staff during normal office hours is **the pet peeve** of managers and business owners who have tried remote working arrangements and say that they don’t work.[^8] ## Dealing With Digital and Other Distractions at Home [Digital and other distractions](/productivity/eliminating-destructive-snacking-and-distractions/) are such a big obstacle for productive remote working that they deserve their own section. Just like you would at work, put your phone away. Remember that just because you are at home, it doesn’t mean you can watch Netflix or play Xbox all day. **Remote work is still work.** Sure, you can wear comfortable clothes, turn up the music and lie down to stretch during breaks. But at the end of the day you are still working, so you must [focus and get things done](/productivity/ugly-truth-time-management/). You cannot let distractions pull you into trying to multitask home and work things. Have a set time for work tasks, and have a set time for home tasks. If you use something like timeslices, you can set them up so that you [focus on your deep work](/productivity/how-to-deep-work-and-single-task/), and then clear some small home tasks during your breaks. It also goes without saying, to use the [productivity stack](/productivity/productivity-stack/) and [time management stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) to their fullest. ## The Biggest Mistakes With Remote Working ![The Biggest Mistakes With Remote Working](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/remote-working/biggest-issues-remote-working.webp) Here are the other big mistakes that people usually make when working from home for the first time. ### 1\. Handling personal errands One of the biggest problems people have when working from home, is they end up losing all their work time to personal errands. A shopping trip here, a visit to the bank there… and they end up not having enough time to actually complete their work. The weekend is ironically the best time to run personal errands when you work from home. Once you have your schedule down though, you can take advantage of shorter queues and fewer people during normal business hours - so long as you know exactly when you are going to work instead. ### 2\. Not working You must block off time to actually do work. How you want to structure your day is entirely up to you, but you **must** structure it. If you have family or a partner at home, it may feel weird to say to them “OK, I need to work now” but you have to do it to remain productive. For first-time remote workers, I recommend keeping normal office hours until you get used to it.[^9] Don’t be that guy who’s out hiking when everyone else is on the weekly team call. I cannot stress this enough - even though you’re not in the office, it is still your job to get things done. ### 3\. Measuring by hours, not outcomes Once you get the hang of working remotely, you want to start looking at your work as outcomes, not hours. You are paid to get things done and deliver value, not for the number of hours you sit in front of the computer. In the absence of seeing you at your desk working, the only way your employer or manager can gauge your performance is by the results that you deliver. ### 4\. Working too much For some reason when people are free to work from home, they end up working more. Their work life and home life starts to blend together and they’re almost “always on”. You should have a very concrete idea of what your employer expects of you and deliver on that - this will cover your \*rse. But apart from that, make sure that you make the time to get in all [the other parts of your life](/productivity/areas-of-life/) too. This could be family time, social time or just hobbies. Having these things will stop you from overdoing it and transforming into an [eighty-hour-work-week](/productivity/energy-management/) remote working monster. A good way to do this is to bookend your work time with [morning and evening rituals](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/), or any other regular activity like exercise or preparing dinner. ### 5\. Handling loneliness It is possible to get a little lonely working remotely, especially if you are also working on different hours from your team. You will still be connected on something like Slack, but chatting through an app isn’t quite the same as the lively interaction you get in an office environment. How you handle this depends on your personality type. If you are in **[introvert](/productivity/passion-for-systems-thinkers-intj/)**, the loneliness shouldn’t be an issue. In fact, you’ll probably revel in it.[^10] The only thing you need to watch out for, is [social atomisation](/life/social-atomisation/). The best way to counter this is to remember to get out and meet someone at least once a week. If you are **extrovert**, this will be [tougher](/productivity/resilience-mental-toughness/) for you. Hopefully the team interaction over calls and messages will be enough, but if it isn’t the only real solutions are: 1. Go to a cafe or co-working space, but this will come at the cost of a distraction-free environment. 2. Rearrange your work schedule so you free up time for social or family activities during the week. ## What To Do Next You now have everything you need to know about how to work from home. It’s time to put it to work for you. If your employer is considering remote working arrangements but is on the fence about it, [send them this article about setting up remote working for business owners](/business/business-remote-work-setup/) or this one about [how remote working differs from a traditional office](/business/remote-working-differences/). If you liked this article, please share it with a friend. And if you ever need any help, just reach out to me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/aaronlynnme) or [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/aaronlynnme/). Photos by [Hemerson Coelho](https://unsplash.com/@hemersoncoelho?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: We had offices where people could come in if they wanted or needed to, or they could work from home as well. [^2]: This is good/bad depending on how you look at it. [^3]: Or erm, not wear as the case may be. [^4]: Though this may vary depending on your job. When you really need to focus, you’ll still need someone else available to take care of your kids. [^5]: Though this will make it much less enjoyable or productive. [^6]: That’s right. Smart employers will set up remote working as a privilege, not a right. [^7]: Your manager can tell you what a reasonable amount of time is for your specific company. [^8]: i.e., don’t f\*ck it up for everyone else. [^9]: A couple of hours each side is also fine. [^10]: Not that we introverts normally revel that much. > Related course: Next Level Productivity — $97 — /courses/next-level-productivity/ --- ### Time Management for CEOs, Business Owners and Entrepreneurs https://aaronlynn.com/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/ Every CEO, business owner and entrepreneur practices time management. But some common questions they have are: - Am I doing this right? - Am I really managing my time effectively? - Am I doing right by my people? This article will explore how time management looks from the perspective of a CEO/Managing Director. Someone who runs a team of 10+ people in an established business, and wants to be more effective on the job. It may also be useful for up-and-coming entrepreneurs who don’t have as much complexity to deal with yet, but want to see what lies ahead. --- ## Defining Time Management for CEOs and Business Owners Time management specifically for CEOs and [business owners](/business/what-a-true-business-owner-looks-like/) is about recognising that there are insane demands put on your time and attention. These are demands that others who have never held the job will often not understand. If we look at time management from a productivity perspective, it basically comes down to: 1. How we spend our time. 2. How we can spend our time more efficiently, meaning how can we get more done with fewer resources spent.[^1] A good starting point is the [Time Management Stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/): [![The Time Management Stack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp) The Time Management Stack is a combination of practical techniques and mindset. For a CEO, what it indicates is that all the rules of good personal time management still apply - they just have to be changed a bit to account for the specifics of running a company. ## Why Is Time Management Important for CEOs and Business Owners? Time management is important for everyone but it is even more important for business owners. Why? Because you have found a worthy cause that has meaning and purpose to you, and you have dedicated your life to pursuing it.[^2] And time is equal for everyone. Once it’s gone, it’s gone - you cannot get it back. For this reason you want to make sure that the time you put into the business you have dedicated your life to is worthwhile, and that it returns what you expect it to, whether that is a financial return or otherwise. ## How CEOs Measure Time I mentioned above that for all intents and purposes, time is the same for everyone. Well… that is not exactly true. As a CEO or business owner with a team, you have a large amount of leverage over the time and attention of your team. That does not mean that you can offload everything to your direct reports and waste your own time however. You still have to be on top of everything, and there’s only one real way to do that: **Track it.** > If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it. > > Lord Kelvin You must be [tracking your time](/productivity/time-tracking/) actively by yourself, or at the very least have your assistant measure and report it for you based on your scheduled appointments.[^3] Not doing so would be like going to your CFO and asking for the financials and him saying: “I think we made more money than we spent this month, but I don’t have any hard numbers for you.” You can use any number of time tracking tools to achieve this, but my personal recommendation would be [timetrack.io](http://timetrack.io/). So how exactly do you categorise CEO time usage? Here is how I recommend business owners do it: [![Effective CEO Time Usage](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/effective-ceo-time-usage.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/effective-ceo-time-usage.webp) 1. Personal time. 2. CEO work. We will explore this more below, but it is mostly about helping team members get unstuck, being a servant leader and making decisions. 3. Strategy work. 4. Other work. This is the “busy work” in a company which may be technical work, administrative work or just [replying to mandatory emails](/business/stop-using-email/). ## Start By Managing Your Personal Life Being productive at a personal level helps immensely as a CEO. Everything mentioned in the [Time Management Stack above](#tms) works well and still applies. Being personally organised will help you perform at a high level while minimising stress and friction. ### Things To Pay Attention To The parts of the time management stack that you want to pay particular attention to are: 1. **Energy Management.** You want to have your exercise, eating habits and [sleeping habits](/productivity/hack-sleep-wake-5am/) right. They will not always be ideal because of the demands of the job and because sometimes sh\*t happens, but a baseline of good energy management will help you keep things going. 2. **Personal Time.** You are not going to have a lot of personal time, so you may as well manage what you do have as well as possible. 3. **The Rest.** At a business-owner-level, being personally productive and organised is sort of “assumed knowledge”. You have to [use your calendar](/productivity/calendar-and-schedule-management/). You have to know what your priorities are. You have to know exactly what you are doing daily, and keep everything in close sync. You (or your assistant) have to keep [your email tame and as close to inbox zero as possible](/productivity/effective-email-management/). If you have a journalling or [personal goal setting system](/productivity/effective-goal-setting/), you have to keep that going as well. ### Make Life Seamless As a CEO you want to make your life as seamless as possible. This essentially means outsourcing as many personal things as you can. You have the means, so do it. You should not be doing: - Your own laundry. - Your own cleaning. - Your own driving. - Your own cooking/food. Why? As one of my CEO friends says: > It feels a bit pretentious to get a car and driver, but after 14 straight hours in the office, it’s silly to pretend that it’s safe to get behind the wheel and drive home at midnight. ### Block Out Personal Time You also have to be blocking out “personal time” in your calendar. **This is mandatory, not optional.** If you do not block it out, chances are some work-related responsibility _will_ creep in and your personal things won’t happen. This includes: - Family time. - Thinking time. - Technical work time. - Professional development time. - General downtime to relax and unwind. **Do not** feel guilty for scheduling this in and saying “no” to appointments that want to encroach on this time - you need it. It will not be perfect. Interruptions **will** happen. But some is better than none. ## Time Management At Work From the [Time Management Stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) above you can see that there are a lot of different areas, techniques and mindsets that make up effective time management. Enough to fill many, many articles and probably an entire masterclass video series. For now though, let’s focus on what is relevant for CEOs and business owners. The most common time management issues at this level include: - Ongoing interruptions. - Putting out fires constantly. - Getting overwhelmed by both management and client work. - Everybody wanting a piece of the action, i.e., you. It may be easy to say “block out your time” or “delegate better” but I believe we can do more than that. If we take some lessons from other CEOs who have been through the trenches, we can roughly see how CEOs and business owners should be utilising their time:[^4] - 66% - Helping Others. This is _people and relationships_, _organisation and culture_, and _functional and business unit reviews_. - 21% - Strategy Work. - 13% - Other stuff. Inclusive of technical work and administrative work. From these numbers, we can see that at least 60% of our time should be spent on helping our people do their work better. ### Time Management With Your Team As 60%+ of your work time, [your team is the most important thing in your business](/business/how-to-manage-your-business/). We mentioned earlier that this breaks down into: - People and relationships. - Organisation and [culture](/business/company-culture/). - Functional and business unit reviews. Different companies will have a different mix of how those three things add up to 60%, but every company will have all three. Let’s look at some aspects of these. #### Working With An Assistant You likely [have an assistant or two](/business/how-to-hire-an-assistant/). If not, make it a priority to get one. Do not assume that they come qualified and ready - you need to show them how you manage your schedule, your appointments and your priorities. Teach them your systems and when they are ready, turn it over to them and have them manage it for you. #### Working With Direct Reports [Working with your direct reports](/business/how-to-build-a-leadership-team/) is the most important thing you will do as a CEO or business owner. There are [many ways to go about this effectively](/business/business-remote-work-setup/). The first thing I would strongly recommend is **some sort of structured and scheduled sit-down meeting with your direct reports on a regular basis**. This lets you collect direct feedback from your team, lets you handle small issues before they become big issues and also allows you to keep pace with what is going on in the company. The second thing I would urge you to do is to **support a culture of writing everything down**. [This can be in your CRM/Wiki,](/business/knowledge-management/) or even in [Slack](/go/slack/). If it’s on paper, have your assistant type it up and file it appropriately. One thing that happens in companies with physical offices is people have conversations, information is shared and decisions are made and nothing is written down. And because of this, things are forgotten and have to be discussed and shared and decided on again. This obviously wastes a lot of time. The last thing I would recommend regarding your direct reports is **working out how much autonomy** you will give them. I am not going to tell you how to run your company, but I am a big believer in delegation. I believe that managers should be given enough authority to make their own decisions regarding their respective departments or teams, so long as their decisions are in line with the company’s [vision and strategy](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/).[^5] This is the idea that at a high-level you are working out _why_ the company does something and _what_ the company does, and letting your teams figure out _how_ to implement it. There are many CEOs or business owners who struggle with this,[^6] and it becomes an impediment not only to managing their own time effectively but also to their company’s growth. What they need to realise is that something may not be done _their specific way_, but **it will get done**. #### Working With Other Stakeholders Depending on your company you may have responsibilities related other stakeholders, including: - Clients or customers. - Partners or vendors. - Shareholders or the board. I would consider time spent other stakeholders as “do the minimum possible” as you will see a far greater return working with your team.[^7] ### Time Management For Yourself: Practical Techniques Let’s turn to some more practical things you can personally do to better manage your time at work. I will refer again to the Time Management Stack: [![The Time Management Stack](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/time-management-stack-v2.webp) Here are some practical and specific things you can focus on. #### 1\. When Setting Your Goals, Align Them With The Company’s Priorities When you undergo [personal goal setting](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/) as a CEO, a good portion of your goals will have to be in direct alignment with your company’s goals. There is no way around this - you are going to be spending the majority of your time at work, so it just makes sense. I would also recommend [lining up your timeframes with those of the company’s](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/), i.e., annually, quarterly, monthly etc. #### 2\. Time Assets You want to acquire or build time assets for yourself and your company.[^8] [Business processes](/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/) are time assets. Good software is a time asset. [Solid team members](/business/how-to-hire-new-team-members/) are time assets. Your business is also a time asset in and of itself. #### 3\. First In, Last Out Expect to be the first person in and the last person out of headquarters on a daily basis. This is usually by necessity. #### 4\. End of Day Review After everyone else has gone home for the day, you should sit down, slow down and [do a brief review](/productivity/wtf-days/). Check what appointments you have tomorrow and reference your individual priorities. Work out [what tasks you may have to do](/productivity/personal-task-management/), what decisions you have to make and what key meetings you have to attend. Get everything ready, then call it a day. ## The Inner Game of Time Management for CEOs and Business Owners The last thing that I want to cover in this article is the **inner game of time management for CEOs and business owners**. [Inner game](/productivity/inner-game-mindset/) is a term coined by Timothy Gallwey,[^9] and refers to a non-judgemental but still critical view of variables in a given performance area. You can also think of it as **mindset**. ### Flow States for CEOs and Business Owners Your day will be busy, but not in the same sense that a professional’s day is busy. Hollywood portrays CEOs as spending all their time sitting at large board tables, drinking scotch with investors and signing cheques with lots of zeroes. You and I both know that reality is quite different. Being a CEO or business owner is probably the most demanding job in the world, and you have a lot on your plate. It is useful to recognise that you do not have to manage your flow state the way a professional does. Your flow will simply come naturally as a result of going from one meeting to another, or from working with one team member to the next. ### Time Wasters You need to be acutely aware of things that are a waste of your time. Things that you say “no” to. The most important one is **technical work**. At this level, you should not be doing (much) technical work anymore. There are people on your team who are better, brighter and faster at it than you… but there is no one on your team who holds the company together and strategises and clear obstacles as well as you. The second one is **minor fixes**. Sometimes, things just happen. Small administrative things, finance things, technology things, client work things. Let someone else handle it, even if it takes longer. The third is **employee drama**. A lot of business owners spend the majority of their time on employee drama. This is not the same as spending time with your employees - that’s necessary and is essential to your job. I would define “employee drama” in this case as emotional outbursts or moods that have no rational basis. I am a firm believer that long and drawn-out emotional moods have no place in the workplace. Emotional decisions also have no place in the workplace. If you believe this and expect this of your team, then they will believe it too. One thing to watch out for is accidentally creating employee drama yourself. You may be the big boss, but remember that you are a servant leader who requires the support of your people to effectively run the company. It may be your call at the end of the day, but you cannot be heavy-handed about it. You cannot just “lay down the law” and act from a place of ego and expect your team to just take it. The last time waster is **things that don’t help the company**. You need to make a judgement call and say no to meetings, opportunities and even clients that will not help the company achieve its priorities. ### CEO and Business Owner Working Hours As the CEO or business owner you have no set working hours. You are in-demand, all the time. This gets even more crazy if you have offices in multiple timezones. Remember when I said that you **must** block out personal time? This is why. ### Management Versus Leadership The difference between good management and good leadership is a paradox, but as a CEO or business owner you will often find yourself doing both. **Good management** is understanding each team member’s strengths and weaknesses and deploying them accordingly. It is about differences. **Good leadership** is keeping everyone aligned to the same vision and priorities. It is about sameness. You need to be aware of the times that you need to be a good leader, and the times that you need to be a good manager. ### Servant Leadership As it has been said multiple times in this article, your main job is to help your people get their priorities done. It is your job to clear obstacles out of the way, make decisions, cut away [useless meetings](/business/business-meetings/) and keep pace with innovation and technology. You also have to formulate the company’s vision, align everyone to that vision and then let them execute. Your main job is communication and leadership and that is what you will spend most of your time on. ### Other CEOs Do not mistake the habits of other CEOs as being the causes of their success or effectiveness. A lot of the time, their habits are just eccentricities. ### Ultimate Responsibility Being a CEO or successful business owner is often described as living in a golden cage. At the end of the day, [the ultimate responsibility for everything lies with you](/productivity/why-you-dont-get-to-be-lazy/). ### Live It The last mindset you need is a CEO is to remember that you are the living embodiment of everything the company represents. You are the avatar of your company. This means that you have to live and breathe the [company’s mission and values](/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/) more than anyone else. You have to walk the talk. ## What To Do Next As a CEO or business owner, you already have a lot on your plate and I don’t want to give you more to do. Just remember: - Make sure that you set aside time for [your personal life](/productivity/areas-of-life/). - Spend ~60% of your time on your people. - Make sure that your [Time Management Stack](/productivity/time-management-stack/) is solid. - Keep the mindsets outlined above in mind. Hopefully this article has given you the confidence that you are doing at least some parts of it right - and that you can optimise the rest fairly easily. Photo by [Ryoji Iwata](https://unsplash.com/@ryoji__iwata?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText). [^1]: Less time/money spent, more results. [^2]: You would not be CEO otherwise. [^3]: Yes, if you are a CEO or a business owner you should have an assistant. Maybe two. [^4]: Porter, M. E., & Nohria, N. (2018, July–August). How CEOs manage time. _Harvard Business Review_. [https://hbr.org/2018/07/the-leaders-calendar](https://hbr.org/2018/07/the-leaders-calendar) [^5]: Businesses are more akin to benevolent dictatorships than democracies. [^6]: Especially those who built their company from the ground up or who are perfectionists. [^7]: With the possible exception of clients/customers if it necessary for you to maintain a direct connection to the market. [^8]: Again, credit to Patrick McKenzie (Kalzumeus) at: [https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/03/20/running-a-software-business-on-5-hours-a-week/](https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/03/20/running-a-software-business-on-5-hours-a-week/) [^9]: See _[The Inner Game of Work](/go/book-inner-game-of-work/)_ by Timothy Gallwey. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/ --- ### Strategic Planning for CEOs, Entrepreneurs and Business Owners https://aaronlynn.com/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/ There are two different types of entrepreneurs and business owners: those who know how to implement strategic planning, and those who don’t. Those who do, manage to handle the growth and hurdles and go on to hit objective after objective as their companies scale up. Those who don’t, flounder and either close up shop or end up scaling their companies back to a more manageable size. When you start a company, it’s straightforward. There is zero friction between your vision and the company’s actions, because it’s just you. As the company starts to grow though, it becomes more complex. At first, it might just be some simple miscommunication, which is manageable. Then you start seeing people working on things they shouldn’t be. Perhaps some processes aren’t followed. Then you start having entire teams headed in different directions from where you think the company should be going. The result? Declining margins, loss of market share and lower profits. The sad thing about this is not the decline of the company, though yes, that does suck. It is that you - as the founder and CEO - have let your people down and _it could all have been avoided_. All you needed to do was to give them a clear path forward - a strategic plan. And that’s exactly what we’re going to cover today. --- ## What Exactly Is Strategic Planning Anyway? Strategic Planning is a fancy way for consultants to say “goal setting for companies, teams and organisations”.[^1] It is useful to think of strategic planning like this: [![Strategic Planning sits above everything else](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/strategic-planning-above-everything-else.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/strategic-planning-above-everything-else.webp) Strategic planning does not replace your existing workflow or your work methodologies, it simply sits above it. You can break down strategic planning into two parts:[^2] 1. Strategic Thinking. 2. Execution Planning. **Strategic Thinking** is about setting priorities. **Execution Planning** is about making them happen. Whereas [goal setting is an individual activity and pretty straightforward](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/),[^3] strategic planning is a bit more complex. And here’s why. ### Connection Complexity [![The more people, the more complex the connections](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/connection-complexity.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/connection-complexity.webp) The more people there are involved with something, the more complex it becomes, as there are more connections to consider. With two people there is one connection. With three people, three connections. With four people, six connections. And so on. It can be useful to think of strategic planning as **business goal setting** with: - A framework, - Some meetings, - Some discussions, - And some consensus-building bundled in. ## Why Is Strategic Planning Important? We have briefly looked at what happens if you don’t strategically plan: things start to get complicated pretty fast, and then start to spiral out of control. Business owners usually respond to this complication in one of two ways: 1. Scale back the business to a manageable size, usually either 4 people or 12 people, depending on their skillset. 2. Call it quits and shut down the business. If you are reading this, neither of those are likely to appeal to you. It is also likely that you already understand the importance of goal setting. You define goals, write them down, and then you go out and take action and achieve them. For business, it should be obvious that this is _even more important_. Without clearly defined objectives for the business, there is no direction, and that usually means no customers, no sales, and no profit. I would argue that from an ethical standpoint **it is your job as an entrepreneur or business owner to make as much money as possible, both for yourself and for your team**. Despite what some business owners think, businesses do not exist just for you - they also exist to serve your customers and your employees. And if the business doesn’t serve you, your team, or your customers... why bother in the first place? But let’s get even more practical. **Strategic planning is a systematic and structured way to create top-to-bottom alignment across your organisation.** To get everyone “on the same page”. You may personally know where you and the company are headed, but your senior team, your managers and your frontline staff may not. By having a strategic plan in place, it makes it easier for everyone to decide on which opportunities to pursue (or not). It makes it easier for your people to show up to work, know exactly what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.[^4] It makes the road ahead crystal clear for them. And if your people win, you also win. It makes it easier for your partners, vendors, customers and clients to know who you are and what you stand for. This makes it easier to niche, to charge higher prices, and to do business on your terms. It also makes it easier for you to become a better entrepreneur. You can think of a strategic plan as a distribution system - one that conveys your vision, message and objectives throughout the company that you’ve built. ## When Should You Do Strategic Planning? If the company has just started up, then you don’t need a strategic plan. What you need to do, is to work out what your product is, then sell it like crazy. Once you have a product-market fit and regular profits and start thinking “what’s next?”, **then** it’s time to start the strategic planning process. The ideal time to work on a strategic plan is in quarter four.[^5] Start with one three-day planning session that defines the upcoming year, and then hold shorter quarterly sessions to check in on high-level progress. It is also worth introducing a [series of weekly meetings to keep the entire company in alignment](/business/business-meetings/). Teams and team members should be referring to their individual accountabilities and KPIs daily. ## What Does A Strategic Plan Look Like When It’s Done? Before starting on something, it is useful to visualise what it looks like when it’s done, so you know where things are headed. Here’s what your strategic plan should look like:[^6] [![Strategic Plan Levels](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/strategic-plan-levels.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/strategic-plan-levels.webp) Each level of the strategic plan flows downwards into the next. We will go over this in detail below. ## How To Implement Strategic Planning At Your Company _Note: This process can also be used by a team leader who has been given some autonomy within a larger organisation, but modifications would need to be made to ensure that the plan aligns with the parent organisation’s objectives._ We mentioned above that you can think of strategic planning as systematic and aligned goal setting across your entire company. Strategic Planning is a process that involves: 1. **Strategic Thinking**, where you perform long-term goal setting alongside your company’s big-picture thinkers and set the overall agenda for the company. 2. **Execution Planning**, where your managers or team leaders take those long-term goals and derive short-term individual and team goals and then organise their teams to achieve them. At the end of this process you are left with a business artefact called a **Strategic Plan**. As you will see, there will be many copies of this plan with most of the plan remaining the same, and only individual accountabilities changed. Feel free to refer to the [diagram above](#splevels) as needed. Let’s get to it. ### 1\. Start With Yourself First Before you start the formal strategic planning process, you need to sit down with yourself. I understand that for some CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners, it can be weird and uncomfortable to start here, especially if you are not the original founder of the company. But in order to lead what is essentially now **your** company into the future, _you have to first be able to lead yourself_. Your ability to do that will flow downwards into your ability to define the company’s core and objectives at [different timeframes](/productivity/cascading-timeframes/). #### 1.1. The Bare Minimum Hopefully you will already have some goals in place for yourself. Perhaps you also have some idea of your own mission, [purpose](/productivity/purpose/), [values](/productivity/core-values/) and [personal code](/productivity/standards/). All these things could be lengthy guides in and of themselves, but the bare minimum you need to answer is: 1. _**What does life mean to you?**_ [^7] 2. _**What are your personal values?**_ 3. _**What are your personal standards, especially regarding business, work, career and wealth?**_ 4. _**Why did you start or join this business?**_ 5. _**What are your own goals over the next quarter, one year, three years, five years and beyond?**_ The **most important thing here** is that it needs to be clear _in your mind_ that the company is there to support **you** personally. You started or joined this company because it benefitted you in some way, and the company needs to continue doing that into the future, otherwise there will always be friction.[^8] If this is clear in your mind, then you are good to proceed. _Note: If you have a senior team, it is worth having them answer the same questions before you all sit down and undergo the planning process._ Let’s move on to the next part of the process, strategic thinking - setting your company’s priorities. ### 2\. Strategic Thinking: Get Your Business Core In Place First Start strategic thinking by getting your company’s core in place. And by core I mean: - Mission and purpose. - Company values. - Long-term objective, or BHAG. Here’s how you can develop each of these. I suggest involving your senior team in this process, and keep it separate from the actual planning session outlined in the next section. #### 2.1. Mission and Purpose For your **mission and purpose**, ask: _**Why did you (or the founders) start this company?**_ You need to respect the company’s mission because it is what makes you (the company) who you are. There is no moral judgement here - if a company’s mission is to serve its market better and more efficiently than its competitors, then that is its mission. That being said, not all missions are great. Sometimes people start companies for all the wrong reasons, and it comes back to bite them later. It is not likely you are in this scenario, as companies that survive through to product-market fit and profitability usually have at least their mission right.[^9] #### 2.2. Core Values For your **core values**, you want to do the “Mission to Mars” exercise created by Jim Collins. You pick the best five-to-six people from your company, and pretend they are being sent as humanity’s representatives to Mars. And then ask: - _**What values do these people represent?**_ - _**What values do these people aspire to?**_ Core Values are something that take time to get _just right_. Rather than being a nice PR piece for the clients, core values are how the company collectively aspires to behave when no-one is looking. If this is the first time you have written down your core values, it is likely that they will undergo a few revisions before they are solid, and that’s OK. Just write down what you think is correct now, and come back to them in future strategic planning sessions. A common question with core values is: should the company’s CEO be included in the group being sent to Mars? Well, hopefully yes, provided the CEO is one of the best in the company. I believe that [the job of a CEO is essentially to be a living embodiment of what the company stands for](/business/time-management-for-ceos-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs/), which means they _should_ be one of the best in the company.[^10] #### 2.3. Long-Term Objective (BHAG) Your **long-term objective (BHAG)** is essentially your twenty-year goal. If your company doesn’t already have one, then your first cut will very much be just a guess, but it can also be refined over time. To formulate your long-term objective, ask yourself and your senior team: - _**What do we stand for?** (hint: mission, purpose, values)_ - _**Where are we headed in twenty years’ time?**_ - _**Where is our industry headed in twenty years’ time?**_ Once you have a first cut of your long-term objective in place, it is time to call for a formal strategic planning session. ### 3\. Strategic Thinking: Do A Strategic Planning Session The second part of strategic thinking is what I like to call a “strategic planning session”. The purpose of this session is to define: 1. _**Goals at three-to-five years, one year, and the next quarter.**_ 2. _**Metrics at each of those timeframes.**_ 3. _**Culture.**_ If you have never held one of these before, there are a couple of logistical issues worth considering: - It is useful to have yourself and the senior team in the same physical location, preferably offsite. Conference centres at hotels or meeting rooms at co-working spaces are great for this. - Expect the session to take at least three days, maybe four if you’ve never held one before. - Plan the session two to three months ahead of time so your senior team has time to read and prepare. Assign reading if you have to. - It’s worth having everyone talk to customers, partners and team members before attending. This lets them gather feedback and bring important issues to the table.[^11] - Ask everyone to **set aside an hour a week just to think** in the lead up to the session. With the above in place, let’s go over what happens during one of these sessions. This is not a strict agenda, but more of a guide for what should be covered over the course of the session. #### 3.1. Company Core By now you should have some indication of the company’s **mission/purpose**, **core values** and **long-term objective**. You should begin the strategic planning session with a review and discussion of these to put everyone in the right frame of mind. #### 3.2. Three-to-Five Year Priorities[^12] This is where you start to see the downward-flowing nature of your strategic plan. Given your mission/purpose, core values and long-term twenty-year objective: _**What five things does the company need to achieve in the next three-to-five years to meet all of these?**_ [^13] Some of these will be obvious. Others will be more of the “we need to build X capability in order to do Y” nature. As with [personal goal setting](/productivity/how-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-actually-happen/), make sure that these objectives are properly defined with specific measures and a clear process for each. #### 3.3. One Year Priorities Once you have your three-to-five year priorities defined, you can move downwards into the next timeframe, which is the year ahead. Again, repeat the process: _**What five things does the company need to achieve in the next year?**_ Be sure to include specific measures and a clearly defined process for each objective. #### 3.4. Quarterly Priorities Hopefully you can see how this works by now. Given your one year priorities, _**what five things does the company need to achieve in the next quarter?**_ #### 3.5. Metrics I want to make a quick note on metrics. Metrics are important, yes. But outside of the standard financial metrics, they are unique to each company and the best person to tell you what metrics are important for your company, is well, you, and your senior team. Have your finance team put together the standard ones first - revenue, profit, cash. Then add in the ones that are important for your business and industry. Each of the above timeframes should have its own set of metrics. They may just be estimates, but at least you will have a starting point and some indication for future planning sessions. It can also be quite revealing to see how each member of the senior team thinks the company performs, compared to actual hard numbers. #### 3.6. Culture Stuff [“Culture Stuff”](/business/company-culture/) is a little bit different from the rest of your strategic plan. Company culture isn’t something you can consciously create, only influence. It [is the sum of how everyone in your company goes about their business when they are at work](/business/why-company-culture-matters/). In terms of your strategic plan, culture can be represented in a number of ways. I like Verne Harnish’s interpretation, which is to elect a company theme, a scoreboard and some form of celebration. - A **theme** is just a fun make-believe insider environment that your company is going to foster over the next year. It could be sports. It could be superheroes. It could be something philosophical. - The **scoreboard** is a dashboard or visual representation of progress towards the company’s priorities. Teams that work with kanban or sprint boards are already familiar with this. - The **celebration** is a reward for if certain performance benchmarks are reached. It doesn’t have to be lavish, just in line with the theme and the company’s culture. Thanks to media coverage of tech companies, most entrepreneurs and business owners understand culture nowadays. But there are some who still insist that their company doesn’t have a “culture”, and people just show up and do their work and go home. Well, like it or not, you have a culture. It may simply be a no-nonsense “come in, do your work, don’t make a mess, collect your paycheque and go home” culture, but it’s still a culture. And if that happens to be your company culture - you are missing out on a **huge** opportunity to increase productivity and profits. People, even your employees, all want to belong to something greater than themselves. If you have a good and healthy company culture, they will want to belong to it. This means fewer staffing issues, [more productive workers](/productivity/productivity-stack/) and a better run company. #### 3.7 Formulate Your Strategic Plan With the above six pieces in place you now have the first version of your strategic plan. Have one of your senior team go through it and clean it up and format it nicely, and then [share it with the rest of the company in your internal wiki](/business/knowledge-management/) or as a document file. ### 4\. Execution Planning With your nicely formatted Strategic Plan completed, you may be asking - what’s next? If you recall, we referred to the process of formulating the plan as _Strategic Thinking_. The next step is **Execution Planning**, or, how we take the priorities we have set, and actually make them happen. You have already worked with your senior team on the initial plan. Now it is time for them to write in their own individual accountabilities (their personal five priorities and KPIs) for the upcoming quarter and to go over them with you. And from there, they can repeat the same process of creating individual accountabilities with their respective departments/direct reports. In this manner, the company’s core flows down into its objectives over different time frames, then down to the senior team, their departments, then to each individual team member. By doing this, it creates a very direct link between what each team member does, and how it contributes to the company as a whole. ## Common Problems and Objections Strategic Planning doesn’t always go smoothly. Here are some common problems and objections I have come across, and how you can handle each one. **My industry is online/offline/whatever and different**. The strategic planning process is conceptual enough that it can be adapted to any ongoing business. You will probably want to define different metrics or change the composition of who is in the planning session, but everything else should be fairly similar. **I’m not the boss, and he/she doesn’t want to do this**. Bluntly: you’re fucked. If your company is being led by someone who doesn’t see the value in planning, and there isn’t a board or shareholders to step in and replace that person, it’s likely there is no long-term viability in the business. You can try to step up and lead the process, but you will experience conflict and resistance from the head of the company every step of the way. My suggestion: ride it out and get off at the next port of call. **How do I get my people to buy into this process?** There are usually two reasons people don’t buy into the planning process: 1. You haven’t explained the process clearly enough to them, or 2. They are resistant to change. If it’s because they don’t have a clear picture of the process, then meet with them over a coffee or other non-formal setting and walk them through it. Your job as the business owner or CEO is to get everyone on the team in alignment anyway, so this should be familiar territory. [Communicate to them](/business/hierarchy-of-communication/) what the company does, how it does it, what the company believes in and show them how having a clear strategic plan laid out, is better than not having one. If it is because they are resistant to change, then you have a different problem. You need to ask the hard question here of if this particular team member has a good reason for not wanting to buy into the process, or if they are just being stubborn. If it’s the latter, well, you can think of the company as the ship, and as the business owner or CEO, you are the captain. If you have a crew member who isn’t contributing - it’s time to leave them ashore at the next port. **I don’t want to share the plan with the entire company**. I personally believe that the more open and free flowing information is within a company, the better that company is able to move and react to the market. But if for whatever reason your particular industry or company or market doesn’t allow for it, then censor out the information that you don’t want to share. At the very least, the core, priorities and culture should be shared with the company so everyone can see how what they do contributes to the greater whole. **All this meeting and planning and thinking is taking up too much time**. Yes, your first run through the strategic planning process will be time-intensive and perhaps even frustrating. But after the first time, future sessions will be much smoother as you will have all the templates and agendas already in place. **Do I really to do _all_ this?** Yes and no. As I mentioned earlier, if you are still in the startup phase and finding your place in the market, then there is no point undergoing strategic planning. What will carry you through in your efforts to sell and market and achieve product-market fit will simply be the human drive and potential to succeed, which is pretty darn powerful. When your business has achieved a certain size however, you will need systems and structures to keep things running smoothly, lest everything just descend into metaphorical fires and chaos. ## What To Do Next For your reference again, here’s what your strategic plan needs to cover: [![Strategic Plan Levels](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/strategic-plan-levels.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/strategic-planning-for-ceos-entrepreneurs-business-owners/strategic-plan-levels.webp) As we have seen, each level of the plan flows downwards towards the level below, aligning the organisation as a whole. You may already do some parts of strategic planning, in which case, please feel free to take what I’ve outlined in this article and adapt it to your own structure. If you are new to strategic planning, you now have a starting point from which to run your own planning sessions. _Want to do strategic planning at a personal level? Here's my guide to [strategic planning for couples](/productivity/strategic-planning-for-couples/)._ Also, it is perfectly OK for there to be some circular logic here, with your goal being to grow the company and the company supporting you by growing and providing you with wealth and resources. 9. BHAG is a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal as outlined by Jim Collins in _[Built to Last](/go/book-built-to-last/)_. 10. If you are however, you have a chance now to build a better mission going forward. 11. And if they/you are not, then there are much bigger issues in play that no strategic plan will help smooth out. 12. This is also good general ongoing business practice. 13. I call them priorities here, but you can refer to them as goals or objectives as well. 14. The timeframe can be three-to-five years or simply three years, which is what I would recommend. [^1]: I refer to traditional companies up to about 250 people in size. I’m sure the same processes could be applied at larger corporations as well. This process will likely not work for startups, as their objectives and structures are different from a traditional business. [^2]: This is something I learnt from Verne Harnish of [Gazelles](https://gazelles.com/). [^3]: You just sit down and think for a bit and do it for yourself essentially. [^4]: For more on the why, see [this TED Talk by Simon Sinek](https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en). [^5]: Normally September to December unless you want to plan by your financial year. [^6]: This is my conceptual representation of Verne Harnish’s One Page Strategic Plan, with some changes. Feel free to modify mine (or Verne’s) to suit your organisation’s needs better. [^7]: The meaning of life is different from the purpose of life, which I believe is to be happy. [^8]: If it doesn’t support you… then what’s the point? Also, it is perfectly OK for there to be some circular logic here, with your goal being to grow the company and the company supporting you by growing and providing you with wealth and resources. [^9]: If you are however, you have a chance now to build a better mission going forward. [^10]: And if they/you are not, then there are much bigger issues in play that no strategic plan will help smooth out. [^11]: This is also good general ongoing business practice. [^12]: I call them priorities here, but you can refer to them as goals or objectives as well. [^13]: The timeframe can be three-to-five years or simply three years, which is what I would recommend. > Related course: AI Playbook for CEOs — $147 — /courses/ai-playbook-for-ceos/ --- ### How to Create Standard Operating Procedures for Your Business and Personal Life https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/ In 1985 at the Ford Motor Company’s Batavia transmission plant, project engineers made a surprising discovery. At the behest of plant management, they had spent the last few weeks disassembling car transmissions made by one of their Japanese competitors and testing them - only to be stumped by what they found. Even with the most cutting-edge measuring equipment available, all of the transmissions obtained from their competitor measured as _virtually identical_. At first, the engineers thought it had to be a measurement error - they thought their gauges and tools were broken. So they called in a couple of instrument experts, only to learn there was nothing wrong with their instruments. And so they investigated further and what they discovered shocked them. The Japanese parts were _200% more precisely engineered at the micron level_ than their own. It turns out that all the transmissions procured from Japan were so well-manufactured that the most precise measuring tools at the time could not tell the difference between them. --- You may have heard this story before. It is one version of a manufacturing urban legend told in production, engineering and process management circles. Other versions have surfaced over time. Some involve Sony CRT monitors made in Los Angeles and Tokyo. Some involve SAAB and Mazda cars. The ending though, is always the same - one manufacturer compares their product with a competitor’s, and is stunned to discover the degree of uniform quality in their competitor’s product. Upon realising this, they improve their standard manufacturing procedure and are able to bring their product quality up to match their competitor’s. All these stories are [actually true](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAfUOfSY-S0). And they are told to demonstrate the power of what today is known as the **standard operating procedure (SOP)**, and how using them is the key to both standardising and continuously improving anything you do. ## What is a Standard Operating Procedure? A standard operating procedure is a structured document that outlines a series of steps that someone can undertake to produce a predictable result, most of the time. As the Ford story demonstrates, it was originally used in manufacturing. Today though, it is widely used in a range of modern businesses, from creative agencies to service firms to information-based companies. ## Why are SOPs Important? Let’s start with the most important reason: if you have a process that you know produces a standardised result, by improving that process, you can improve the quality (or efficiency) of that result over time. Like this: [![Input, Process, Output](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/input-sop-output.webp)](https://assets.aaronlynn.com/data/blog/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/input-sop-output.webp)
Input, Process, Output
Here are some more reasons: - Deliver quality uniform results. This means better output for customers and stakeholders. - Reduction in costs or processing time. - Economise (maximise) inputs, be they material, labour or time. Here are some less obvious reasons: - The ability to train new team members, fast. - The ability to better allocate resources and team members based on knowing how certain processes will be done. - The easiest way to “work on” your business instead of “working in” your business. - Automation/AI deployment opportunities. And of course, the big one mentioned earlier: **The ability to measure and improve processes over time.** ## How to Create a Standard Operating Procedure Writing a standard operating procedure is actually straightforward. Here is the format that I use for companies I have worked with: 1. Title 2. What 3. Who 4. When 5. Process 6. Results Let’s break this down a bit. The **title** is the name of your procedure. You want this to be searchable and easily understandable so that everyone on your team immediately knows what it is. Examples: - How to greet walk-in clients. - How to colour correct iPhone photographs. The **what** is a 1-2 sentence description of what the process does, beyond the title. Sometimes the title is sufficient, other times it needs to be placed within a context, especially if the procedure is part of a larger process. The **who** is simply who performs the procedure. It could be you, anyone, or it could be a particular department within your company. The **when** is the moment of time or step in a larger process where this procedure is performed. It could be date-based, such as the first of every month, or process-based such as “after XYZ procedure has been completed”. The **process** is the sequence of minimum, common steps for completing the task to deliver the desired results. This is the main part of every standard operating procedure, should be numbered and sequential, and should include as much detail as needed for the person reading the procedure and using it. You can use subheadings, bullet lists, diagrams, screenshots and even video to demonstrate the process.[^1] You can also link to external resources.[^2] It is useful to write the process with the mindset that nothing is too ludicrous to include within the process, so long as it helps the user complete the process successfully. Make procedures as detailed as needed, but as simple as possible. They are only useful if someone actually uses it. The **results** are what should happen once the standard operating procedure has been completed. These should be specific, measurable and in line with the business (or personal) objectives. ## Using SOPs in Business Here’s a mini-SOP process for how to use a standard operating procedure in a modern knowledge or service-based business: 1. Write the standard operating procedure. 2. [Store it in a central location where it can be easily accessed.](/productivity/time-management-stack/) I recommend something like [Confluence](https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence) or [Notion](/go/notion/)[.](https://notion.so/) 3. Train team members in its use. [Team members who are switched-on](/business/why-company-culture-matters/) will see its immediate value and have little or no objection to using a standardised process. 4. Give team members the authority to modify it as they perform their tasks, so long as results are being improved. The last step is especially important and is what makes standard operating procedures worthwhile - the ability to incrementally improve them over time, to deliver better results for your business and your clients. _Tip: Your SOPs will be sub-processes of your [critical or core processes](/business/critical-core-processes/)._ ## Using Standard Operating Procedures in Your Personal Life A common question that I get from friends and acquaintances is, “Aaron, I know you’re into [all that systems stuff](/productivity/systems-thinking/)… but do I need “standard operating procedures” in my personal life? It seems kind of… rigid.” And my answer to that is, “You already have procedures in your personal life. You just call them habits.” [Habits are just things you do regularly in a certain way](/productivity/how-to-create-habits-to-support-your-goals/). Whether they are good habits (like exercise) or [bad habits](/productivity/how-to-get-unstuck-in-difficult-personal-situations/) (like smoking), we all have them and do them. So is it worth writing a full “standard operating procedure” for something that you just regularly do? Well, it depends: - If it’s **something you already do well**, then no. - If it’s **something you want to start doing** (or perhaps stop doing), then yes. - If it’s **something you want to improve**, then maybe. It can be extremely useful to have a standard set of steps written down to reference when you’re trying to establish a new habit. But once you have the habit “in memory”, you can discard the steps and just run on instinct. For example, someone recently asked me: “How can I consistently get to the gym three days a week?” And the answer is simple: you write down a standard operating procedure, and follow it until it’s a habit. Here’s that very example, written out: ``` Title: How to Get to the Gym Consistently Who: Me What: Making sure I go to the gym every Monday, Wednesday and Friday before work. When: * Go to the gym every Monday, Wednesday, Friday morning. * Prepare all my gym gear on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday nights before going to sleep. Process: 1. On Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday night, pack my gym bag with: * Bag. * Towel. * Chalk. * Water. * Earphones. * Phone. * Gym membership card. 2. Lay out my: * Gym clothes. * Shoes and socks. 3. Put my gym bag in the car. 4. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, put on my prepared gym clothes, shoes and socks and leave home on the dot at 7am and drive to the gym. Results: * Zero friction on gym day mornings. * At the gym every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, except under extraordinary circumstances. ``` You can take this procedure, print it out (or put it on your phone) and run with it for however long you need to, until you start doing it automatically, at which point it has become habit. ## The Most Common Objection to Standard Operating Procedures The most common objection that people have to “standardising” things is that it’s too robotic, too routine, and that it stifles creativity. There’s a great quote from [Verne Harnish](https://gazelles.com/) regarding this: > Routine sets you free. What he means is that by having [routines](/productivity/morning-rituals-evening-rituals/), procedures, and structures in place, you free up your time from all the boring, easily-standardised humdrum and create time and space to focus on the creative, customised work. For example, in a service business each client’s case may not be able to be standardised… but client setup and billing most definitely can be. ## What To Do Next In many ways this article in and of itself is an example of a standard operating procedure. The **who** is you, the **what** is writing standard operating procedures, the **when** is now, and the **process** is the process outlined. I hope the **result** is that you take what you have read and write your own standard operating procedures - most definitely for your business, and perhaps for a habit or two in [your personal life](/productivity/areas-of-life/) as well. To help you get started, download my Standard Operating Procedure SOP here: **Free: Standard Operating Procedure SOP Template** — Get the Standard Operating Procedure SOP Template — enter your email to have it sent to you. Opt in on this page: https://aaronlynn.com/business/how-to-create-standard-operating-procedures/ You can use this yourself, train your team in how to use it or simply as a template for creating your own SOPs. [^1]: Go easy on the video though. And don’t use audio. [^2]: If there is say a YouTube video showing how to do a particular function in a particular piece of software, it is more efficient to link to that then to screen-record the tutorial yourself. > Related course: ChatGPT for Managers — $97 — /courses/chatgpt-for-managers/