Daily Wisdom

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Daily Wisdom

• In Nature there are neither rewards nor punishments, there are consequences. – R.G. Ingersoll
• Have constant reminders/cues (what’s important, dreams/expectations)
• Use motivators (music, dreams/aspirations, good and bad)
• Use structure/schedule
• Maintain the same routine, regardless of schedule. Adjust only what is necessary.
• Prioritize (short-term as well as long-term)
• Maintain focus/single-tasking
• Remove/prevent distractions
• Track tasks done/accomplishments
• Work vs ‘doing stuff’
• Look ahead, look back
• Tackle difficult tasks/situations
• Appropriate assertiveness
• Time-limit side treks (eating, news, exploration, entertainment, breaks)
• Don’t worry about things, do things
• Budget marketing (time, money)
• Budget professional development (time, money)
• Reduce discomfort through familiarity/repetition/exposure
• Set goals to ‘good enough’/iterative development
• Review lessons learned periodically to solidify/refresh them
• Take small steps
• Don’t get emotionally overloaded
• Prioritize tasks that are sliding
• Don’t pick apart a good idea, pursue it
• Treat failures as false starts & learning experiences (training exercises)
• Music on 5 minutes before up/downtime (music as motivator)
• Use caffeine to maintain alertness and focus. If it’s too late in the day for caffeine, GO TO BED.
• Just START WORKING
• Maintain an appropriate sense of urgency (but avoid panic and burnout)
• Take regular stretch breaks (1 minute per 15)
• End work based on bedtime, not time of day
• Use zazen (shikantaza) to overcome ‘scattered thoughts’ (too many thoughts or anxious thoughts)
• Don’t focus on how little time you have, but on what you can get done in the time you have.
• If you don’t want to do something, DO it and get it out of the way.
• Start with the MOST IMPORTANT TASK of the day. Everything else can wait.
• Risk and uncertainty are normal parts of life. Manage them effectively.
• A life is built one thought, one choice, one action at a time.
• Start the day with an unpleasant task, to get it out of the way (’eat the frog’).
• #1 underlying principle: Be proactive (and thereby stay in control).
• My primary motivator is: Responsibility (reactive)
• Be yourself. Do your thing.
• Program a ‘computer-free day’ per week.
• Use habits to: Reduce processing overhead, Simplify things, Reduce chances for getting off-track, Reduce ability of subconscious to derail
• Don’t allow a slipped schedule to be an excuse for avoiding things.
• When projects are slipping, focus exclusively on blockers. Everything else can wait.
• ‘Do very few things, but be awesome at them.’
• ‘Do less shallow work — focus on the deep stuff.’
• Create your own stability.
• You can be successful without being happy (i.e., you don’t need to be happy in order to be successful; you can still be successful even if you aren’t able to be happy).
• Focus on what you are responsible for.
• To avoid binging something, limit yourself to one unit per day; if appropriate, follow it with something (anything) else
• For video entertainment, set a goal of ‘saving’ before the end/climacs (preemptive pause); don’t get hooked to continue to the next unit (level, show, etc.)
• You don’t need to feel good all the time (i.e., even if you don’t feel good, keep moving forward).
• When you feel overwhelmed, pick ONE THING to focus on, ignore everything else; then when that’s done, pick ONE THING….
• Don’t ‘chain’ tasks if it causes the whole chain to be put off; do what you can NOW and worry about the rest later
• If you can’t do everything that needs to be done, do SOMETHING (could be a small piece of ’everything’, or just one more-manageable task)
• I don’t need to feel good to do daily things.
• You can’t make up for lost time; make the best of what you have (left).
• Work is life (life requires work).
• Don’t focus on what’s wrong, but on what can be done to make things better.
• 3..2..1 (countdown, then just do it)
• Eat the frog!