Reading Time: 4 minutesMinds are like bodies; they must be fed to grow and develop. Animals establish regular hunting trails that they use to seek the food that they need to live. People do the same thing. In my twenties and living in Colorado, I’d periodically go hunting for squirrels. I had one particular area that I would …
Reading Time: 5 minutesFor the past three years, I’ve been conducting quarterly review and planning sessions. These sessions are part of the roles-based intentional living system pioneered by David Sparks, as explained in his Productivity Field Guide. My last session was held the last week of March 2024. Over the years, I’ve made several modifications to my process. …
Reading Time: 6 minutesIn this final post in the “Working through the Productivity Field Guide” series, we will discuss the digital tools you might use to set up and maintain your roles-based productivity system. These tools can help you keep up with your roles and arete statements and streamline quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily review and planning sessions. …
Reading Time: 6 minutesDo you have a shutdown ritual when you stop work for the day and plan for the next day? In this post in the “Working through the Productivity Field Guide” series, we will discuss the benefits of a shutdown ritual and when and how to do it. The Benefits of a Shutdown Ritual There are …
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWe live in a world overflowing with content, but much of it is impersonal. More and more text is generated by Artificial Intelligence. AI-generated text is the ultimate in impersonal writing since it’s machine-generated. Whether you’re a writer, artist, entrepreneur, or simply sharing your thoughts with the world, how do you truly connect with your …
Reading Time: 6 minutesIn this post in the “Working through the Productivity Field Guide” series, we will discuss how to follow your daily plans. It’s not enough to make a daily plan; for it to be effective, you must also follow it. Often, that’s not as easy as it sounds. You’d think that you’d be primed to do …
Reading Time: 5 minutesOur culture has an unwritten expectation that a retired person will be unproductive. The very words “retire” or “retirement” perpetuate the myth that old age is an unproductive time in life and imprints the belief that people in their later years should simply sit back or indulge in a recreational activity like golf. The Seven …
Reading Time: 5 minutesMaking a list can often make a job easier, reduce the number of decisions we must make, and ensure we don’t make mistakes. It’s true that using lists can quickly earn you the title of “nerd,” but who cares if it makes your life better? And besides, many of us who regularly use lists are …
Reading Time: 8 minutesIn this post in the “Working through the Productivity Field Guide” series, we will discuss hyper-scheduling, or time blocking, as it’s commonly known. You use hyper-scheduling to make progress on your Arete statements, which state your intentions to do work that is important to you. This is where we really get tactical. It’s great to …