ModusEffectivus

6 days ago

Do you throw away your money? Then don’t throw away your focus!

Time is your most precious commodity, but focus is a close second. Ever notice you do your best work when you’re focused? Of course, you need to be prepared and have energy — but you can get more of those. You can’t get more focus. Focus is finite — like…

1 min read

Mar 15

Multi-task but never multi-focus

You were born multi-tasking. You breathed, screamed and kicked your legs all at once. You ate and reacted to sounds. That’s all multi-tasking. But you were also born unable to truly focus on more than one data stream at a time. Sure, you can switch focus quickly — giving the…

2 min read

Mar 9

You have goals — but does your system have a goal?

I bet you have goals. What you want to do today or this week. Goals can be useful. They at least define your intentions. So what’s the goal of your system? If that sounds like a crazy idea, start with the purpose. Your system has a purpose — everything has…

1 min read

Mar 8

Prioritise what, but also when

You prioritise what. Actually, you do it whether you realise or not. We can’t stop ourselves. Do this, then that. But do you prioritise when? Like all knowledge workers, I have: - A bunch of small errands I can do anytime; - Too many discussions at fixed times (they’re called…

1 min read

Mar 1

How to get more space in your time

You can’t get more time. But you can get more space in your time. Space to think. Space to create. Space to move forward. How? Do less. Simple to say, you say, but harder to do. True. Yet not as hard as you might think. Here’s one way: Drop 10…

1 min read

Feb 25

You don’t need more time. You need more space in your time.

You don’t need more time. We all have 168 hours each week — no more, no less. And even if I could distort the space-time continuum and grant you extra hours, what makes you think that you would also magically be able to use that time any differently than now…

1 min read

Feb 22

Ikigai may help you. But it may not. Here’s why.

Ikigai is enticing. Find something you’re good at and love doing. A mission which the world needs and is able to pay you for. And keep doing it forever. But it suffers from many flaws. After all, do you even know what you’re good at? Many of us don’t. It…

1 min read

Feb 15

Explaining complexity simply — why explaining ConvertKit to kids is easy and hard (part 4)

Nathan Barry, the founder of ConvertKit, has a problem — he can’t explain what his business does to his kids. Only, it’s not really a problem now. We left off the last post with the explanation almost completed. We did that by covering all the steps in steps in UEAR. …

2 min read

Feb 8

Zone of Genius — if only it were that easy (the problems with passion)

Zone of Genius is enticing. Identify the thing that you’re really good at and like doing. The activity where you can enter flow. And spend the rest of your life doing it. That’s one step up from following your passions — but it’s not enough. The advice to follow your…

1 min read

Feb 1

It’s all in the mindset — one way to do things you don’t want to

I hate cleaning. I’m using the word hate about something that’s good for me. Cognitive dissonance at its best — I like clean, I just don’t like getting there. But random strangers cleaning my bathroom I like even less. Enter problem-solving approach number one: seek advice. The Harvard Business Review…

2 min read