Tag: productivity

5 Sentences To Freedom (or How To Start Living Outside Of The Inbox)

Here is why the 5 sentences e-mail rule is so important and why I expect you to use it …

I’ve written about sending short, succinct e-mails in the past (Fear of Competition Is Bullshit), but I’ve never delved deeper into the subject.

I’ve been utilizing the 5 Sentences E-mail Rule for a while now. I first heard about it a long time ago in Leo Babauta’s The Power of Less, but I never thought it was possible for the majority of my communication. In October of 2009 Leo published The Art of Brief E-mails and I decided to give it a shot. Although it took me a while before I felt comfortable using it for almost every e-mail.

I don’t follow a lot of what Leo writes in that article. For example, when I get an e-mail without a subject line I get a weird feeling of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. Kind of a “What the hell is this?” That’s probably just social conditioning so I’d like to thank David for always sending brief e-mails without a subject line to help me out with that. :)

The most important part of Leo’s article, to me, is the section on Editing:

Edit. I know, you want to write it and send it and forget it. Well, that’s rude, to the recipient. You’re saying they don’t deserve a good email. I’m not saying you need to spend hours making every email perfect, but if you can take 10 seconds to go back over an email, remove unnecessary sentences and words, you’ll be doing your recipient (and yourself) a favor.

At first it was a struggle for me …

“But there’s so much back story! This person needs to read the back story before I can get to the question/reason for e-mail!”

When you first start utilizing the 5 sentences rule that will probably be your biggest challenge. You’re convinced whoever is reading your e-mail needs every single extraneous bit of information before they are able to respond.

That is simply not true.

What I’ve found when I receive really long e-mails (not everybody respects the 5 sentences rule) is that usually right at the end there’s the golden ticket.

“So what I’m getting at is … [insert question].”

Everything after the “So what I’m getting at is” part is usually all that is necessary for an e-mail.

Example E-mail

“Hey [Person]!

Thanks for rocking. Quick question: [insert question]

Thank you so much,

Karol”

Mission complete!

Questions or proposals never need a back story. Never.

I Love To Help

No joke. I love reading e-mails, I love getting to know you, and I love answering questions. I love to help. The problem is, the more this blog grows, the more e-mails I receive and the more difficult it becomes to respond in a timely manner. By putting these rules in place now it will be much easier in the future as this movement continues to grow.

I ask you to utilize the 5 sentences rule not just for me, but out of respect for your fellow Freedom Fighters. They have questions and want answers as well. If you send short, succinct e-mails, that means I can more easily help more of you. Woohoo!

Practice and Social Conditioning

The only way to get better at this is to practice. Start sending very short e-mails to everybody.

More words does not mean higher quality. Unfortunately we’ve been conditioned to think the opposite. In school you had to write a “10 page essay” when 5 pages would do. In blogging an article over 1,000 words is “high quality” while an article of 500 words is “thrown together.” We need to change that because it’s simply not true.

Two of my favorite blogs are by Derek Sivers (Sivers.org) and Seth Godin (http://sethgodin.typepad.com). You will very rarely find them writing posts longer than a few hundred words. Interestingly, they both also respect the short succinct e-mail. Coincidence? No.

The One Situation Where You Should Never Break The Rule

Break rules, except when you need to follow them.

The 5 sentences rule can be broken and I do break it myself. I would say 95% of the e-mails I send are 5 sentences or less and the other 5% are of varying length.

Here is where the 5 sentences rule should never be broken: initial contact.

After the initial contact, you might be asked to go into more detail on your question/comment/statement. In that case, fire away!

It boils down to what Leo mentioned: respect. Sending a busy person (in other words, everybody) a 500 word e-mail is disrespectful of their time. Send them a short e-mail and they will love you for it.

The Only Productivity System That Actually Works

If you struggle with getting things done, here is your “magic pill” …

4 words: Just. Fucking. Do it.

I don’t use to-do lists. I don’t use a productivity system. They don’t work.

And I know they don’t work for millions of other people. If you’re one of them, don’t fret. You’re not alone.

You know what does work?

When there’s something you have to get done, do it.

When you need to exercise, exercise.

When you need to make dinner, make dinner.

When you need to go shopping, go shopping.

When you need to floss your teeth (daily!), floss your teeth.

When you need to go to the doctor, start eating a better diet. Then go to the doctor.

When you need to call someone, call them.

When you need to send an e-mail, send it.

When you need to write a blog post, write a blog post.

When you need to write a thank you card, write a thank you card.

When you need to practice, practice.

When you need to have a difficult conversation with a friend/business partner/significant other, have that conversation.

Stop making excuses.

Stop searching for a productivity system that will “magically” make it all work for you.

Just. Fucking. Do it.

Whatever it is.

More? Kill your to do list and focus on one thing at a time.

More, more? Just fucking write.

The Anti-Schedule and MIIMIO Productivity (or Behind The Scenes Of The War Room)

In which I discuss my creative process and talk about computer science and water fights …

By “war room” I mean whatever room (or park or beach) on this great blue Earth I’m currently working out of. :)

I really do feel like I’m fighting a war. My enemy is normality.

Ever since I was a small child I’ve done things a little bit differently, sometimes on purpose and sometimes not. Whether that was playing with weird chemicals that I probably shouldn’t have been playing with at age 8 and creating a stink bomb in a test tube (which I subsequently smashed in our front yard), mowing an Anarchy symbol in my Parents’ lawn and calling it a day at age 13, or quitting my very last job (in the Business School of Wayne State University) when I was 19 and getting fired an hour later. (That’s a funny story for another day.)

Where I’m going with this is that we all have different processes for doing whatever we do. I like reading about how other people create and I think that’s probably why I love reading autobiographies. It’s cool to get personal insights into how and why people do what they do.

With that all stated, here is my creative process. It has changed over the years and continues to change, but here it is at this very moment:

Don’t Force It, But Force It

I’ve mentioned it many times already, but before this blog started I spent 30 days writing at least 1,000 words every single day. It was my way of forming the habit and getting into the flow of writing blog posts. Nowadays I don’t work like that. Sometimes I write 5,000 words in a couple hours because they keep coming and sometimes I only write a few hundred words in a few minutes and stop.

I don’t force anything. When inspiration comes I grab hold and go along for the ride. That mofo might take me places I didn’t expect to go or it might drop me off exactly where I was expecting in a timely fashion. Whatever happens, I stick around for the duration.

I force everything. Because I’ve honed inspiration in such a way, I know it will come. So in a way, it’s almost like I forced it. A better way to put it may be that I ordered it to pay me a visit. This is part of going pro. Once you tell yourself you’ve gone pro, a mental shift happens in a way that I can’t explain unless it has happened to you.

It’s important to force it until you form the habit. Then you don’t have to force it anymore. Remember when I quit drinking last September? Since that time I’ve had a few drinks, but the habit of not drinking is in place and I don’t have to force it anymore. You can do the same, with literally anything.

The Anti-Schedule

I dislike schedules and I don’t use a calendar. But I do have a work schedule. It’s this: every day (for as little or as much as I feel like that particular day). I may not stick to it gung-ho 365 days/year, but I do work on something most days. Here’s the kicker: it’s not because I have to. It’s because I want to.

When I was in high school I worked at a car dealership doing all their computer stuff. To everybody else at that dealership it was rocket science. To me, it was like 1st grade math. In other words, I’d get a week’s worth of work done in a day. Instead of sticking around (and getting paid more) I’d leave and play guitar or hang out with friends. Why? Because I hated that work. I just wanted it to be over.

What I do nowadays keeps me up at night with excitement. It’s not work when you love it.

Even if you’re currently working a dreaded day job you can actively seek out projects and a way of life that you’re passionate about. (That’s not an affiliate link. Use code ‘freedom’ to get 25% off for a few more days.)

MIIMIO (Most Important In Most Important Out)

Now I’m getting all computer-sciencey and coming up with acronyms based on data storage algorithms. Shoot me. (Please don’t, unless it’s with a water gun, in which case, I challenge you to a duel!) If you’ve had a math or computer background you’re probably familiar with FIFO: First In First Out.

My take on FIFO is MIIMIO, Most Important In Most Important Out. That is, I have a most important task that I need to complete and everything else is ignored until that’s done. BUT, and there is always a BUT, that doesn’t mean I don’t work on other things. Huh? Whatchyou talkin’ bout Karol?

For example, my current most important task is getting How To Live Anywhere finished (almost done, I’m loving it!). But I still have blog posts I want to write and awesome people to interact with (that’s you) via comments/e-mails.

What I mean by MIIMIO is that I don’t take on another big project while I’m already focusing on a big project. Do I have ideas for other big projects? Yes. Can they wait until this project is done? Yes.

Do you take on too many tasks at once? Don’t worry, most people do. Just remember MIIMIO and you’ll be golden.

Is There A Better Way?

Yes. Whatever works for you is the better way.

That’s where you come in. I want to know, what does your creative process look like? How do you structure (or un-structure) your days?

[Video] Location, Productivity, and Happiness

How does location affect your productivity?

Hey hey!

I did something different here with this video. Different is the wrong word. Maybe time consuming would be better. I don’t think I’ll do it this way much in the future. Too much editing. :)

Watch the video here:

If you can’t watch the video, the gist of it is the question:

“How does location affect your productivity?”

Bonus question: “How does location affect your feelings of happiness?”

Personally, when I’m cold (in any location) my productivity goes down considerably. As does my happiness. :)