I’m always on the lookout for new ways to get and stay organized. My latest inspiration is Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. These two Silicon Valley fellows found themselves swamped with work and while they had interesting careers, were unhappy with the amount of time they had left in the day to do work they loved. Part of the work they loved, of course, was writing a book about doing the work they loved… :).

Here are their four big take-aways:

Pick one thing to highlight each day
When you’re planning out your day, pick one thing that has to get done. This could be because of a deadline – but it could also be something you really, really love to do. Then plan your day around that. I can’t imagine a day where I only want to get one thing done, but I like the concept!

Cut out distractions
With a bulldozer. These two have gone as far as removing all social media and email from their phones. They don’t watch TV except on special occasions. And they only watch or read the news once a week. I don’t spend much time on my phone or on social media, and I already don’t watch TV. But not reading the Washington Post first thing each morning and throughout the day was an interesting challenge for me. I experimented last week and to my delight, I didn’t miss it. I’m still reading the Post – but not first thing, and not every time I go on line. And that feels good. I am not missing much!

Reflect on your day
At the end or start of the day, look back on what worked well and what didn’t work well. Then take your data to help shape your plans for the next day, week, or month. We do so much out of habit. Taking time to reflect each day gives your brain time to process and change directions on a more frequent basis. You could take a moment right now… How are things going for you? Is there something you wish you were working on? Or something you’d like to stop working on?

Energize
I write about this a lot and these guys are all over it. This includes doing work that you love to keep yourself fully engaged . And taking care of yourself – mind, body, and soul.

They have all sorts of other ideas. If you want to learn more, check out the book! You know there is more to life than grinding out work each day and numbing out each evening. We just kind of forget that from time to time :).

Happy 2020 to all. Let’s do fun things this year!

I saw this full-sized, beaded room when I was at the Whitney Museum in NYC last week. Every-single-thing in this room has hand-stitched beads on it. The curtains. The cabinets. The refrigerator. The cereal boxes. The dust in the dust pan. The pie. The broom. The wall poster… Is this passion? Or obsession? You decide 🙂

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