It’s not a secret that I do a daily review of my system. I check the actions, cross stuff I had finish. Notice if there is things coming my way and what to do about them.
The goal if this short revision is to provide me perspective, and be ready for the day ahead. The first thing I do is get perspective. I write down what had my attention. I read my 12 to 18 months goals. Then I go to my Contexts.
Those two previous steps, change everything. Not only that, when the flow of stuff hit me soon after that (email anyone?) I am clear on what are the priorities and how to react to the new inputs. (and I hope more often than not appropriately)
i.e. I had say many times, if you don’t know where you are going, any road will do. Read your goals, otherwise any action will be potentially as good or as bad for those. Stop hoping and begin moving with solid steps.
TIP #86: Using shortcuts for repeated text.
In iOS under the preference panel and under the keyboard settings there is one of those cool tricks. The shortcut list. You can teach your iOS to change “omw” to “On my way!” or “xap @ so it populate my email address.
There is another software even more powerful called TextExpander, that work on the iOS as well as the Mac. In my opinion this are little things that not many people know and are aware but can save you typing minutes, specially for those things we repeat a lot.
i.e. I have create a shortcut for each book that I have written, with the name and the url to amazon. If I type for example: “25tfp” automatically get’s transformed into: “25 Tips for Productivity” and “w25tfp” create “http://bit.ly/25t4p
What happen when the Hero: fail
We are all heroes, many people simply don’t know they are. People that try to be more productive, that clean their inbox, track commitments and do stuff are heroes.
What happen when the Hero: fail.
Think for a moment when your favorite hero simply failed. Superman didn’t stop. Batman returned. Harry Potter came to finish the job.
You only failed when you quit, when you decide not to come back, when you stop fighting. You may have setbacks, many of them, more than the amount that see humanly possible to have, but only failed when you quit.
One of my favorite quotes from Earl Nightingale said:
“Success is simply a matter of luck, ask any failure”
So before you decided that it is time to quit, that there is no sense in continue on the battle, that simply it is too much, stop for a moment and think how your favorite hero would have done. After you get that clear image, remember that you are also a hero for someone, and act accordingly.
TIP #85: Your Daily Bag
Have you ever notice how many people have a crappy bag for their daily use? In many cases a bag they don’t enjoy. A bag they dislike. I know it is incredible for me too, but it is the rule.
Think about your needs, what you carry with you. What you need to carry. What you will want to carry. Close your eyes, imagine color, texture, smell, size. Make the image in your head with as much detail as you can possibly can.
If you open your eyes, close them again, and load that dream bag with all the stuff you carry with you.
Now, see your daily bag. I guess you can imagine the next step. It is time to search for that bag in your dreams.
i.e. Vintage Brown Leather… The closest I have got to my dream is this bag. MacCase Flight Jacket 13″. (http://www.mac-case.com/Leather%20Site/MacCasePLJackets.html)
It is an expensive one, and I have not bought it yet, I continue using the closets thing to that, my old and trusty Swiss Army Architecture 1.0 bag that had with me since early 2000’s; but someday I will upgrade to that image… (The only thing my current bag doesn’t have is that Vintage Brown Leather…)
TIP #84: Automate Backups.
This is also one of this things that I have mention a lot. Regardless people don’t listen. I have wrote about it, even dedicate a whole chapter to it in my book 25 Tips for Productivity.
The problem with backups is that you never had really that time to do it manually. You will always do it tomorrow. The problem is that tomorrow never comes. Suddenly everything is lost.
If you use an iOS device, backup to iCloud. If you are a Mac user, buy a time Machine. If you are a PC user, there are countless options on software. Look for one online, doesn’t matter. You need to have a solution for backups.
On Stephen Hackett’s book “Bartending: Memoirs of an Apple Genius” there is a story of a mother that lost all the pictures of her children that had died on a car accident a few years before. The story had a happy finish (after a really expensive process to save those pictures) but a simply backup would had save so much suffering to that person.
If you don’t know how, please contact someone. Pay someone. Ask for help. So something, but don’t loose information for lack of backup.
TIP #83: Scanning with the iPad (and the iPhone)
Need to scan a document? Have an iPad (iPhone, Smartphone?)
The cameras of our tablets and smartphones this days are so powerful that the biggest problem you will have is going to be the shacking that your hand is producing.
I remember those days that Scan a document in order to fax it to the approbate person was something so complicated and expensive. I remember when I got that really cool and super portable NeatScan that fit in by bag and could scan one page at the time.
I have an application called ScannerPro that will take the picture and allow me to fax or email directly from there.
Try it, look for an scanner application and test it. You will love it.
i.e. If you are an user of Evernote, you can send it to Evernote and it will apply OCR to the file. Easier to even retrieve the file in the future.
TIP #82: Keep it Simple… or not
I think life is complex enough for us to go around making things more complicated than they need to be. I believe that if you focus on keep things simple you will have more time to do other things and enjoy life.
The problem is that simplicity is something relative. What for me is simple, for you may be over simplistic. What for me may be simple, for you may be complex.
Think about process, actions, and things you do that are complex for you… Spend time thinking how you can make them simple; for you.
You don’t need to do anything, that’s the reality. You don’t even need to try to make anything simple. Until one morning you do. That day, remember to keep it simple.
TIP #81: Happiness is a Choice
It is. If you are unhappy right now, you are choosing to be unhappy. I understand that sadness exist, I understand that sad things happen. We all had suffer that. The problem is being Happy doesn’t mean that you don’t have problems, or that you aren’t ever sad.
Many happy people had huge problems, huge reasons to be sad, but they are happy, they are choosing to be happy.
Stop for a moment if you are not happy and think why. Think if all those reasons are good enough to make you choose not to be happy. Think what would take to make you choose happy.
After you get that answer, understand that not everything will be perfect, not everything will work. You will have problems. You will have set backs. You will have reasons to be sad and be unhappy. But also remember that you are consciously choose to be happy and focus on that thing that make you happy, on the motivation behind the choice.
TIP #80: In case of a Car Accident
We all hope not to be involved in one, ever. Sadly it is not completely up to us, so it’s better to be prepared. This list may not apply to every place, but it’s the one that had been on my phone for years. I had been blessed and had use it only once. That time I was so grateful I had it.
We don’t think on the worst case scenario, and it is important to consider them when we are not in the middle of the storm that in general those moments mean.
i.e. This is my current list, I don’t know if it’s complete or not, it’s the best list that I compile and hope never to use.
In case of Car Accident:
– Get Licence Plate, Model, Make and Color of the Car.
– Get Name, Address & phone number.
– Get Driver License Number
– Get Insurance Company and Policy Number.
– Call 911 or wait for Cops. (if there are injuries or car can’t move)
– Take as many pictures of the surrounds, cars and damage as possible
– Report the Incident in my insurance.
TIP #79: WRITERS: Learn to listen to your voice.
As a writer the most important thing you have is your voice. It is your voice what make you unique. It’s the voice of your favorite writers what make you read book after book.
Learn to listen to your voice. Learn to follow it.
In my experience, Writer’s Block, happen when you ignore your own voice.
That little voice that you can’t tell the people that you hear (they will put you in a mental hospital or something if you said that to enough people) is your voice, listen to it, learn from it and more importantly don’t ignore it.