Category: Thoughts

I think this can be hard for many of us. There’s so much that presses in. And during this week, I notice just how much time I lose.

So, that’s a start. Seeing where time goes. And figuring out how to reclaim just a bit of it.

The balance.

“Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson

Try as we might, something will go wrong. How we deal with it is more important that what actually happens.

Stick with it. Keep a positive outlook. And don’t give up.

When figuring out what needs doing, you first have to figure out what you’re already working on. Peter Drucker once said,” what gets measured, gets managed”. And if you’re going to rework your life from the ground up, measuring as many aspects as possible is going to be very important.

Since I’m starting from scratch, the next step is to take stock. So, as I’ve done numerous times in the past, I’m taking everything that I can, and putting it in an “inbox”.

In David Allen’s Getting Things Done, it’s listed as one of the first steps in becoming more productive.

So, it’s a good next step.

It’s been an interesting time in my life. There have been a number of ups and downs. Achievements and setbacks. And I’ve been trying to sort through it all.

We all struggle, from time to time, to keep a grip on everything. On figuring out how to get a handle. And so, I’m taking a from-scratch approach. This is baseline, and everything after is movement.

We’ll see where it takes us.

When you plan, you’re often told to plan for the future. The distance. What you want to achieve later on.

But what about today? Are you giving that any thought? Or are you just coasting.

For a freelancer, it’s easy to make time to work. What’s harder is separating work from personal life.

It’s important to leave time for both.

As we are aware, time is our most precious resource. A lot of the time I spend in contemplation is about how to maximize the effectiveness of time spent. How do I maintain systems that encourage me to focus on the work that I want to do.

I fail most of the time. Spectacularly. And that’s okay. It’s good to fail. As long as you don’t give up.

You’ll get another shot, and another, and another. If you can just pick yourself up afterwards.

Lately it’s been a lot of travel for work. Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York. There and back again.

We quite frequently just throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. I can’t help but wonder, though…

Is there a better way?

Each and every system is based on previous innovations. How we live our daily lives, what we we eat, use, leave behind. Every aspect of a system, and we don’t typically question it.

There are those that do. Those who see the world differently. How things could be better. How performance could be improved.

And yet, with the exception of perhaps the cell phone, we’ve been doing everything much the same since the advent of the computer.

So, then… What comes next?