Instigator Blog

BarCamp Montreal is set for Saturday, April 28th at the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT), 1195 Boul. St. Laurent (Google Map).

The first BarCamp Montreal was a blast and very worthwhile. I expect this one will be even better. The SAT is a great location, with tons of space, and we’ve had a couple DemoCamps to get people warmed up to the idea of unconferences and coming together as a technology community.

I’m interested in a lot of the presentations and also looking forward to catching up with quite a few people as well.

You coming to barcamp Montreal?

We’ll see you there…

All the productivity systems ever invented, all the to-do list sticky notes ever stuck to your desk, and even all the caffeine you’ve ever injected can’t stop you from slowing down and losing focus.

Great productivity isn’t about working all the time.

Great productivity is about being effective when you’re working.

And one key to being effective when you’re working is to make sure you’re not working all the time.

Got that?

It’s impossible to go 100% all the time. Even the most energetic, dynamic and psychotic person can’t be giving it all, constantly. That means you need to take a break.

What’s important is recognizing when your attention and energy are waning. Wait too long and you’ve just spend a half hour staring at the computer screen getting frustrated by your inactivity. Take a break too early and you’re eating into precious productive time.

For starters, I try working in short bursts, which means I can take a quick break between tasks. But often I move from one task to the next and don’t take a break, so this isn’t a perfect system.

I use a few key indicators to tell me it’s time for a break.

1. Boredom. When something starts to feel tedious or uninteresting, take a break. Come back in 15 minutes and look at the task with fresher eyes, or start on something else.
2. Distraction. When you’re constantly checking email, Twitter, Facebook, etc. it means you’re losing focus. It’s important to admit to yourself that you’re distracted - you’re no longer being productive - so take some time to “goof off” and catch up on your friends’ whereabouts and activities before getting back to things.
3. Lack of Precision. When your work gets sloppy or you can’t get something quite right, take a break. Lack of precision will lead to frustration, more distraction and less productivity
4. Being Unconscious. When you suddenly crash face first into your keyboard…it’s too late.

What’s your best productivity tip? We want to know!

Help us write The Ultimate Guide to Productivity by posting your productivity tips on your own blog. Get others to do the same so the group writing project meme spreads and we can collect everyone’s ideas.

Jimi Hendrix once asked, “Are you experienced?” Well…

This is neither the time or place to get into that sort of debate, but something we can talk about, and something we all struggle with, is productivity.

Although multitasking is a very popular concept, I’m not a huge fan. And I struggle daily with productivity, given the myriad of distractions I face. Twitter and MyBlogLog alone take up chunks of time I’ll never get back.

So what’s your secret to being productive?

Today I’m announcing the start of a new Group Writing Project Meme to create the Ultimate Guide to Productivity. It’s simple:

1. Write a post on your best productivity tips. Challenge yourself by picking your single best productivity tip (although this isn’t a requirement; you can give us more if you want!)
2. Include links to other people that have written posts, or include their tips in your post with proper attribution.
   

   Note: I’m not asking that you link to everyone in the group writing project meme; pick the ones you want to connect with. You certainly can link to everyone, but it’s not a requirement. I like leaving more decision making power in your hands so this isn’t just a link grab, but you’re thinking about what your audience & community wants to read about.

   A link back to this post is appreciated though, to help spread the word!

3. If you use Technorati Tags then tag your post “ultimate guide to productivity”.
4. Tag others in your post to spread the meme. Tag as many people as you like!
5. If you link back to Instigator Blog and email me I’ll make sure to include at least 2 links back to you. But this isn’t a requirement, it just helps me keep track of what’s going on.

Each person tagged should write their own post and repeat the process.

Since this is something that I hope spreads for quite some time, there’s no deadline or end to the project. Hopefully we see a trail of tags, posts and links for many weeks to come.

I’ll do my best to collect all of the tips, to give us The Ultimate Guide to Productivity.

Without further ado, here’s my Productivity Tip of the Day:

Work in short bursts. The length of a productive burst will vary from person to person, but I’ve found myself to be most productive in 1-1.5 hour increments. Even 30-45 minute bursts are good. Focus on a solitary task during that time, bury yourself in it, but get out quickly. Take a short break, rinse and repeat.

And since I’m kicking the writing project off, I’d be curious to hear from Alister Cameron, Adam Kayce, Chris Brogan, Guy Kawasaki, Andrew Wee, David Armano, Tony Clark, Mike Sansone and Chris Cree.

But everyone else, feel free to take on the group writing project and start it off yourself!

(PS. Feel free to use the graphic at the top of the post with proper attribution.)

Are You Productive? What’s your secret? Please Share!

Update: Some participants in the project have started talking about producing an e-book of the content under the Creative Commons license, where the content would remain free and sharable with proper attribution. Please join that conversation and let us know what you think.

Go big or go home. It’s a great mentality; an approach that says, “I’m here to conquer and truly change things, not make a few waves and disappear.”

Many entrepreneurs start businesses with the goal of making lots of money. It’s not the only reason to start a business, nor should it be the first, but it ain’t bad if you can get it. And there’s no shame in gunning for it either.

The problem with entrepreneurs is that they live that goal so absolutely they forget to plan everything else around them.

Specifically, many entrepreneurs ignore solid, financial planning — after all, you’re going to be filthy rich when Google buys your company, so why plan for your financial future, right?

Tsk. Tsk.

For years, my financial strategy was to hit it big with my entrepreneurial endeavors and not worry about anything else. My startups didn’t have pension plans, and I wasn’t putting a lot of money away. Part of that was my own sacrifice to keep my company afloat - for the first few years I barely paid myself and when times were tough I was down to half salary. So there wasn’t a lot to put away…but when there was, financial planning for retirement wasn’t a high priority.

Times have changed. I’m starting a new company, Standout Jobs, which means throwing myself in heart, mind and wallet. But I also have a greater perspective. I know Standout Jobs will be successful, but I also know that it’s important to think about the long term future.

At The Power Within a few weeks ago, financial guru Terry Savage, spoke about the basics of smart investing. The simple act of putting some money into an RRSP every month starting at a young age, can pay huge dividends in the future. She wasn’t teaching anything new, but it did remind me of how important it is to have a financial plan that goes beyond, “sell to Google for billions.”

Every entrepreneur should think about the long term future.

It will give you a greater perspective on what you’re doing. It’ll force you to think more seriously and impassionately about your finances. You don’t want your passion for entrepreneurship clouding your perspective of how to be financially smart.

Being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you have to be a cavalier, free spender with no sense of what’s coming tomorrow or thirty years from now. I hope you sell to Google. I hope you make millions. Even if you do, the fundamentals of smart financial planning and investing will always be critical; don’t ignore them.

I’m a huge comic book fan. And although I don’t use my allowance on comics anymore (what with a mortgage, young child, new house and other assorted fun stuff) I’m still in love with comics.

The essence of the comic is the superhero. Really, it’s about lots of different characters, their funky powers and how they band together to smack around endlessly optimistic and egomaniacal bad guys. Bad guys are endlessly optimistic because they think they can always win, but they never really do. Anyway…

Superheroes are cool. They’ve got amazing powers. They always show up at the right time. They always seem to win. And even when they’re beaten down they prevail. Damn you superheroes.

I want to be a superhero. And in our own ways, each of us can be.

But even superheroes have limitations

And that’s what makes them even more interesting. Almost all superheroes have a human element of frailty or weakness. For some it’s an Achilles heel (like kryptonite for Superman) but for others it’s a personality behavioural issue that they’re always dealing with. They’re human. (Even if they’re not all human, they possess positive and negative human qualities.)

It’s great that our superheroes always win; there’s a motivating and engaging excitement about that. But what really draws me to comics is the way superheroes’ frailties are examined, because it’s at that point that I can truly relate.

We all want to be superheroes

But it’s critical to recognize our own limitations and be able to handle them. Know your strengths and recognize your weaknesses. Spreading yourself too thin is so easy nowadays, the world is ripe with opportunity, but the result of doing that is rarely pleasant.

Strive for superhero status every day, but don’t forget that you have limitations; limitations you want to always push against, but limitations you also need to respect for your own sanity, health and good fortune.

Photos by Cinencuentro and ChenJYu.