Year: 2013

Write and Edit are two really different processes. Both are exhausting, but really different. With the years and the books I had created I had learn the process of creation and edition not only required different eyes, but different platforms.
In my case I write using Byword on the iPad. I like to write in black background with white font. When I edit, I also use the iPad but I do it on Plain Text, using white background and black font. I could do that on Byword but I like that using Plain Text I don’t need to change how one or the other is configured.
My brain associate the black background with creation, freedom, not worry bout mistakes or things. Instead on a white background, my mind gets more critical, looking for errors and more that I am doing.
The simple difference of the color on the screen allow me to have two different places to work. The difference may be simple, but it is powerful.

Many years ago I decided that if I didn’t respect my lunch time, no one will. I established a simple rule. My last meeting was at 11:30am or need it to be after 1:30pm. From 12 to 1:30pm I wasn’t going to have one. If for any reason you needed to meed with me, you need to invite me for lunch.
Honestly I had more than one free lunch because of this, but that wasn’t the objective. The objective was not to lose my lunch time again. Many people I know get to the end of their working day without any lunch or anything, because they have been from meeting to meeting. In general no one will respect your lunch time, unless you begin respecting it and asking people to do it.

**This may or may not be on my next book, that I am co-writing with Michael Sliwinski, where we are talking about be #iPadOnly. It was wrote for the first draft of the book, but as anything on a first draft, it may or it may not reach the final release.***

When I got my iPad on April 2010, I never though that it was going to be my main machine soon after that. I was in love with my iPhone and (you may call me Apple FanBoy, but it is more Steve Jobs FanBoy) I was sure that Steve Jobs Vision was going to take us somewhere. I just wasn’t expecting that it was going to be so far.
I have been writing about my experience of my iPad as my main machine for a while as well as my friend Michael Sliwinski. He took the challenge on 2012 and never look back.
We decided to co-write a book on our experiences working with #iPadOnly. We are working hard to release this book before WWDC, and it had been not only super fun to write, but I have discover so much in the process. Some things that I was doing before I begin writing this book I have stop doing, others I had learn in the process of review what I do or interacting with the texts of Michael. I have learned so much on how to work on the iPad that I use everyday that had been really interesting.
It had been an opportunity to see, evaluate, re-test and acquire new assumptions on why and how this idea of #iPadOnly it is really cool. We don’t stop long enough to evaluate in detail or tools, our structure, our environment.
I have always been fascinated to the idea that Michael re-do his office almost every year, but it did not click on me the why until I begin co-writing this book, the reason is that it force you to really see in detail what work and what doesn’t, and more importantly, what stopped working and should be removed.

One more thing:
I will be releasing more stuff (as I know Michael is doing too) but if you have questions, things that we should cover, or mention or you wish to specifically know about this process, please let me know here or by email. I am sure if we can we will not only include it in the book, but you may get some cool credit.
Thanks!

We all have people we are grateful. Sadly we failed when we don’t say thank you often. I have for a while a recurrent task in my system that said: Send a Thank You Note” and every week I make the effort to send one.
Many times when I start I sent more than one (that it is fine) but I try at least to send one per week, every week.
As of today, I had accomplished more than one smile. Mission Accomplished!

 

“Resentment is like taking poison and hope the other person dies”
Saint Augustine

How many times we stay mad with other people, to the point that we forgot the why? I still remember when I was going to get married and the priest told us that we should have an expiration on any disagreement of 24 hours. Once this time happen, we need it to start again.
That’s one of those rules that we had try to use for the last ten years and had been really useful. Not everyone had last 24 hours, but we had done a big effort so they last a limit amount of time and start over.

For those that know me for a while, know that there was a moment in my life that I drank more than 24 cans of diet coke, per day. Drink water had never been something easy for me. The characteristic flavor of plain water it is not something that really get my attention.
I had learned that the more water I drink, the more focused and concentrated I can stay in the work I had at hand. Even when my brain claimed that we should have another coffee, in reality I accomplish more drinking water.
I don’t love the idea of drinking water, simply like many things in my life I had learned to establish certain rules that help me to obtain better results. While I am working I drink coffee and water. Each time I make a cup of coffee I pour a glass of water. I can’t have another coffee until I finish the glass of water. While working I try to avoid anything else that it is not coffee and water. The result is interesting since now I had more than 5 cups of coffee instead of ten cups of coffee.

Many times I get asked how I can generate so much content and many times I had share what for many is a secret. Write can be a boring, tedious and frustrating. Equally it could be something fun, easy and interesting.
I have learned that I need to make the process fun. The reality is that if I make the process fun, I can relax and everything happen easier and much better. A soon as the process gets to be boring, tedious and frustrating I honestly prefer not to write.
I write at least five times a week, monday to friday at 4:30 A.M. What change is what I write, sometimes on the book I am working, others is a blog post, others is simply a journal entry. The reason is simple, that variety guarantee me that the process is going to be fun. I always write with music, even when in general I don’t listen to it, because I get absorbed into the process of writing, the music is always on the background.
What to Write more? What do you need to make the process more fun?

Most of our finantial information as well as the access codes are protected with passwords and if you enter that password wrong three times the file will self destruct itself. (that sound much better than the file delete itself and make you feel part of the Mission Impossible team)
The problem with this is what happen if some else need to access thar information? If something happen to you, others will be able to access that information?
This is something that we don’t consider and that I don’t have a perfect solution and I am constantly trying to improve it, but I am sure we need to have something in place in case that something happen to us and we can provide that information to those that we love that may need it.

The first time I think I heard about it was from David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done.
The idea is simple, “if anything is going to take two minutes of less, do it because it is more efficient than input the task on the system”
This is a really powerful rule, because allow us eliminate an incredible amount of things from our systems and our lists, but require that you are paying attention that you are doing the important ones and that you don’t spend the whole time only doing two minutes tasks or worst that we forgot what we where doing and spend the time doing things that really had no importance.
We need to pay attention to the two minute actions, because as it is possible to save a lot of time, it is also possible that we waste a lot of time that we could have used for more important things.

I love to spend long hours reading. Sadly sometimes my eyes get tired and it is not possible. At least wasn’t possible when I use to read paper book.
When I am reading ebooks or electronic articles I have learn that when my eyes get tired all that I need to do is increase the size of the font and continue with the reading process. This little trick allow me to continue reading for a couple more hours that it is fantastic!