Tag Archives: productivity

An Abundance Mindset

I really struggle with having an abundance mindset, but I’m trying. An abundance mindset is not believing that just because someone gets something it means you don’t. Even though my rational brain states that it’s not true, my emotional brain always tries to scream ‘mine’ and get me to run to the corner and hide.

I think I can firmly place how this all began. As a child, I played nicely and looked after my things. I’ve always been very careful with my ‘stuff’. I don’t consider myself to be materialistic in the sense that most people think; I don’t want fine art, the best things, or even things that are better than what everyone else. I’ve no desire at all to keep up with the Joneses. I just like my stuff to be my stuff. I’ve had been that way since I can remember. Then, when I was six, my baby sister was born and came into my life like a tornado (which, in fairness, she has pretty much remained ever since) and as a baby / toddler had no qualms about breaking my stuff or smearing it in melted chocolate that she had refused to relinquish from her grubby little fist for six hours.

Thus began the concept of ‘mine’. If I share, it will be taken from me and destroyed.

Of course, as an adult, take that attitude too far and you simply become cynical and bitter. So whilst I’ll probably never be great at sharing with the other kids, that doesn’t mean I can’t be happy for them when they have achievements and blessings in life. It might mean overcoming the worst parts of my nature, but I’m determined to give it a try.

Now give me my blog back. It’s mine…

New Job and Writing

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Next week I will begin the tricky balancing act of starting a new job with that of being a writer.

Essentially, it is starting a new full time role in addition to becoming self-employed and starting a business. Many people would not think of being an author as also being an entrepreneur, but in a lot of respects it definitely is.

There is the act of content creation and development, marketing, accounts and finance, as well as any legal elements that might be included. Depending on how much available time there is after a full day at work, this might eat into virtually all of what would traditionally be considered ‘free’ time.

Of course, actual number of available hours is only a part of it. Time is only valuable if you have the mental energy to use it effectively. That is why some times you can get more done in a single hour than you can get done in an entire day. It becomes about leveraging that mental energy to make the best use of your time to get things done effectively. It may also be having the courage to admit that you are doing a job poorly and it is worth stopping now before you make a bad thing even worse.

This is what I will try to remind myself of over the next few weeks, when I feel as though my writing is not progressing as fast as I would like. I always commit myself 100% to an employer, something I believe to be vital if you want to be credible and trustworthy as a human being. Obvious caveats apply if your employer is treating you unfairly, of course. But my free time is the the time where the hardest fought battles will take place, because honestly, watching TV is just easier than locking myself away and editing.

I guess the hardest fought battles are the ones most worth winning.

Letters From The Past, Thanks To FutureMe.org

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About 9 months ago, I was on a nice beach holiday, reading Quitter and Start by Jon Acuff. It was there that I first read about the FutureMe.org website. I made a note of it to investigate when I got back. Essentially, it allows you to type an email to your future self, sending it to arrive on a date of your choice. This can have all kinds of purposes. For me, I wanted to keep my future self going in the direction I want to be heading.

You see, the previous six months had been a roller coaster of life spinning out of control. The highs had been high but the lows had also been super low. Life does that to you sometimes. You have to learn to roll with the punches. But because of that, a creeping sense of dissatisfaction had begun to pervade my life. I knew I was heading towards a point where I might be able to make some changes. I wasn’t sure yet what they were going to be, but as I sat there, toes in the sand, honestly assessing my life and scribbling everything in my notepad to make me accountable, I was determined to do something.

Sadly, I’d done (to a lesser extent) the same thing on previous holidays. One of the things I had confessed to in my notepad was not having the courage to do some things, nor the motivation to do others. Therefore, when I penned my email to my future self, I wanted to be kind, but also realistic.

It arrived this morning:

Dear FutureMe,

So you’ve just come back from two sunny weeks in Spain, where you did a lot of talking and thinking and list making for the future. You often do that on holiday. But this time, you wanted it to be different. This time you really wanted to mean it.

I strongly suspect that when you get this, you won’t have made the wild progress that you want. Your dreams won’t have all magically come true via a lottery win. But over the next few months after writing this, you will have been making some of the biggest decisions ever. The ones that will shape your life. The ones that will start you on the road to being something and someone you want to be. Remember that.

Remember it, because I suspect when you’re reading this, then the reality you are living in won’t be massively different from the one I am writing this in. That doesn’t mean it’s time to quit. Just look yourself in the eye and ask if you’re really doing everything you can to make the life you want happen. If you can, then great. If you can’t, then pick yourself up and get going again. Keep taking the steps. Keep hustling. Keep going.

If, by some chance you are everything that you were thinking about during this last holiday, then congratulations. Keep being the best you can be. Don’t get lazy, arrogant or sloppy. Be the person you need to be for the people who love you most. Keep living your life so you can look yourself in the eye.

I hope, regardless of anything else, you’ve done those things you needed to do to get some self-belief.

Keep going kiddo.

That is it, completely unedited or censored.

Have I made some changes? Yes, I’ve got to spend six months in New Zealand really working on what matters most to me. Am I a published author yet? No, but I’m trying and I continue to try. I’m exploring self-publishing too, so that I can continue to grow and learn about the industry as it rapidly changes alongside me.

The reality is also that I’m heading back to the UK soon, at least for the immediate future. So perhaps if I had chosen to not have the mail arrive now, but instead a month from now, the geographical context might have made me feel differently. I don’t know. But that’s not really the point. It arrived now, and gave me a little bit of faith for the next steps.Today I will write another one. I’d recommend that you do too.

More info here:

Jon Acuff

FutureMe

Moleskine vs Field Notes – Pocket Notebook Review

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It seems that pocket notebooks are definitely back in fashion at the moment. The world, thanks to the internet and kickstarter, has become awash with them. As a writer, I’ve carried a notebook around with me for most of my life, so I decided that this is one area I definitely have an opinion on.

Despite the countless brands, the current two front runners are Moleskine and Field Notes. I’ve only recently succumbed to buying Field Notes as they are quite tricky to get hold of outside America without making a bit of an effort. However, I’d heard so much about them that I thought I would have to give them a try.

Both notebooks discussed below have gone through a complete lifecycle in my handbag (purse to any US readers, obviously). Despite all those hardy, manly, everyday carry instagram shots, I don’t think anything competes with the assortment of crap I carry around with me on a daily basis that these notepads have had to survive next to.

Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

Except in this instance. The hardcover pocket size Moleskine stands up well to most environments. It’s still got a lot of trend factor, as well as standing up to approval in the boardroom meetings. Because I use a hardcover one, it makes it easier to grab and write if there isn’t a surface available. Oddly, out in the field, using Field Notes is actually more difficult in this sense. Field Notes as a brand has a definite cover cool factor right now, especially some of the limited addition colours ones. But by its very nature, it is more casual; while it might provoke a bit of interest in meetings, it’s not going to be taken as seriously in a corporate environment. Especially after a bit of use. Which leads me to…

Durability and Longevity

Field Notes have considerably fewer pages than Moleskine books, meaning that this one was only on rotation for about a month. The Moleskine, on the other hand, was in my bag for around six. One looks hardly touched, the other looks well loved. I don’t have to tell you which way round that is. Again, that beat up look has a bit of cool factor to it, but as I keep all my notebooks and constantly refer back to the content in them, it does make me question if they will stand the test of time like the original concept they were based upon.

Paper

In the bid for market share, the quality of paper actually often seemed to take second place to design factor. A lot of brands have started to realise that as more and more people turn away from an entire dependence on smartphones and yearn for the analogue capture of yesteryear – often with a fountain pen to go alongside it – paper matters. On the whole I don’t use fountain pens, largely because I have a mythological perfect one I am still searching for, but I do use a variety of ballpoints and rollerballs. Despite a lot of people complaining about Moleskine paper quality, I would say that the two of them match up pretty well. If anything, the Field Notes have a little bit of show through (but not bleed through) on the back. I’ve yet to try out the Shelterwood edition, which has considerably thicker paper, but in the interests of fair comparison, I’m reporting here only on the standard book. Both brands have options of lined, plained and grid, so pick whatever works for you and knock yourself out.

Features

I love the Moleskine back flap for storing bits of paper and the bookmark is definitely a great feature. These are both missing from the Field Notes, but with considerably fewer pages, the bookmark becomes less of a necessity. I’d recommend using a modified to suit your needs Bullet Journal system with both. I recently went back and actually did this to all my notebooks that had a couple of blank pages at the beginning or the end and it makes a huge difference to usability. Field Notes has a built in ruler along the back sleeve and some fun uses. Both have a user information page at the front, although both brands clearly approach it in different ways.

To Sum Up

Which side of the fence you come down on will always depend on how you use your notebook. For me, the pocket notebook isn’t for work – but when I am working I will use it to capture things so I don’t want it to look too out of place. I love the look of Field Notes especially when I am travelling; there is definitely something of the open road about them. The first real test will be on a road trip around the US and Canada next month, where I’m much more likely to be shoving them in my pocket for practical reasons, rather than just creative ones. After this first run through though, I am still slightly on the side of Moleskine for the way I can actually use them in any environment. If I had an idea last month, I don’t need to go and find the other book because I’ve already run out of pages and moved on.

Finally, I’ve used a cheap supermarket brand (£3/$4.50 US) and found that once you take the ‘street cred’ element away (the ‘look at me, I’m a writer/hipster/adventurer’ element) it works just as well on all fronts as the others, at a fraction of the cost:

I Hate Titles

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As I’ll be moving on from New Zealand shortly, I have a few weeks where I can be completely devoted to writing. This has led me to the realisation of how much I hate coming up with book titles.

Sometimes, I know from the beginning, which is great. When I don’t, I come up with a placeholder, because every file needs a name, right? Then I get to the point where I need a title and nothing seems to work. Nothing seems to fit. Worse, the more I think about it, the more ridiculous my brain gets until I just feel frustrated. In the end, everything sounds like a bad porn movie.

This past week, I have had to come up with two new titles for books in very different genres. The first is one I am submitting to agents to try to take down the traditional publishing route. I know that if I am lucky enough for it to go somewhere, then the title will no doubt get changed anyway. But I still need something a little catchy to begin with if I want to grab attention.

The second is for the first book in a series I am intending to self-publish under a pseudonym. That means there will be no team of professional title-makers to come up with one for me. Annoyingly, the second and third books have had their titles from the start, but this has been stuck with it’s placeholder for nearly a decade. That’s made it hard to shake in my own mind. I finally had the breakthrough last night, which means I can finally think about getting the cover art done. Yay.

Titles. I hate ’em (apart from when I love them).

So, in the spirit of the writing focus and the coffee I have ploughed through to keep going:

Going Un-Paperless – 5 Steps For When You Find You Can’t Go Paperless

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We live in the future, where all our files and folders live on our smartphones and laptops, right? Even our books are digital. So why is it that so many people fear going paperless, and what can you do when you find yourself in an environment that is either unwilling or unable to change?

Like most aspiring authors, I tend to enjoy food and shelter, so supplement my income with a day job. My previous role was inherently paperless. The only time I really made paper lists was when I was in a situation of overload and the act of writing it down gave me focus. This was easy to implement because I worked in a small but geographically varied team that communicated largely by email.

I didn’t realise how lucky I was, until I started my new short term role and my desk started slowly drowning in paper. I wouldn’t call myself an environmental activist by any means, but some days I positively weep for lost trees. Now, it would be wonderful to ‘be the change I wanted to see in the world’, but that requires buy in from all parties. This company is one of the largest employers in the Southern Hemisphere. That is a lot of people to convince. My particular division also arose out of an emergency situation, where the comfort and reliability of paper in an ever changing team/building/environment was paramount. For a lot of people, disaster management is best done on paper.

I’ve been using GTD for many years and my system has been through several modifications. For a long time I used an excel spreadsheet, then moved to Outlook Tasks to accommodate the system my boss was using (I was so happy to be working with someone who actually had a system that I was prepared to give a little). My separate personal system was in Toodledo. Notebooks were a joy because they were primarily for creating or capturing ideas, not tracking the mundane (although even that has become a bit more productive / geeky due to Ryder Carroll’s bullet journal system).

For going paperless in a Mac environment, check out MacSparky.

So, 5 Simple Steps:

1. Change what you can. Where there is no process, or the existing process has room for improvements, make them. Most people are actually willing to hear what you have to say when presenting a change to their system in a thoughtful, respectful manner. As part of that change, convert anything you can to a paperless approach.

2. Manage paper efficiently. If you have no choice but to deal with paper, then at least use it wisely. Don’t make unnecessary copies. Don’t just shove everything in one inbox and lose hours of your day looking for files. Essentially, have a system. If you do everything by email, then follow up flags and categories make tracking ‘waiting for’ items a piece of cake. Make sure that still applies if you’re stuck with paper.

3. Upload capture documents frequently. If you have an option to upload the paper documents that are floating around in ubiquitous amounts, then do so. More importantly, do it as often as possible. People are much less likely to make additional copies of a hard copy file for their own use if they can just view it on the screen in front of them. Most people are inherently lazy; use that to save the environment and your sanity.

4. Reduce the number of electronic systems. Another fatal error that is actually the case in most companies is the use of twenty four gajillion electronic systems. When one is not quite perfect, they find another one. Most of the time, it is not the tool, but the user is at fault. But that is far too difficult to address when you can just splurge a couple of hundred thousand pounds on a new shiny! Then half the users upgrade while half show reluctance. Great. Now the documents are in one of two places and the easy search is gone. Lather, rinse, repeat over the years and no-one trusts a damn thing. People go back to trusting the paper they can see and feel. Cull the tools and use common sense.

5. Spread the word. When people see that you are being more productive with a clean desk, then they will want some of what you’re having. Only, they won’t ever want to confess to it. We all know people like this; the ones who drown in chaos and claim it is because they are far too busy. Most of the time, they are simply inefficient and confuse busy with job security. Sometimes, it’s best just to give a little. Again, in a polite and respectful manner, point out small gains they can make at first. Even when looking at a productive person’s desk, a fresh pair of eyes can usually spot a few quick wins. Give generously to those who will accept help and enjoy watching them becoming less stressed over time. You’ll feel better and the trees will thank you for it.

Can you go backwards and still stay sane? I’d like to think so.

Field Notes: Cold Horizon and the infamous Shelterwood

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Shelterwood tipped me over the edge and into ordering Field Notes for delivery halfway across the world. I have an addictive personality and notepads is the lesser of many, many evils for me.

I didn’t go for the colours subscription though – that feels like too big a commitment just yet. Instead I figured, as the postage would remain the same and they had some left, I would also throw in a couple of Cold Horizons. Don’t they make a pretty pair?

Cold Horizon Review:

I love the colour gradient of these across three books. The covers themselves are very nice to look at, although as people who have had them for a while already have noted, they crack and fade very quickly. Which is actually a positive if you want to look like you use them a lot. This is mine after less than a week:

From a personal preferences point of view, the graph paper in this is nice to use, especially for making lists. I also find the fainter lines unobtrusive when jotting down any creative ideas. My pocket notebook is my capture system when I’m out and about (for those of you using GTD), so it needs to be able to accommodate all manner of scribbles. The pages are also off-white, with different hints of blue across the three books, which is a nice touch and the kind of attention to detail that people have come to love from Field Notes.

Shelterwood Review:

One of the reasons not to get a colours subscription is if you prefer a particular paper layout. I have found myself with a fondness for graph paper, with plain as a second choice. Lined paper is becoming my least favourite and with the limited edition Field Notes, you get whichever one they decide. Shelterwood comes only with lined paper, and even the amazingly luxurious feel due to its thickness can’t make up for the fact it diminishes (for me) its usability. Having read other reviews, many people who also have this preference feel the same way.

Let’s talk about those covers though. They are without a doubt the most hyped Field Notes ever and I can see why. The design process that has gone into them has made them a thing of beauty to touch and look at. It will be interesting when the next season’s come out and people start doing comparison photographs to see how well the covers have actually stood up to usage. As you can see from the above photograph, there is a definite issue with the covers curling. Most Field Notes editions don’t stay completely flat, but the actual turn up on these is very noticeable. I suspect – and I’m not sure if anyone else can confirm this – that atmospheric humidity can play a significant factor.

The accompanying video is also an amazing piece of marketing. It hooked me in straight away. Sucker.

As for whether or not I will be lured into field notes forever, or if it is just a crush I’m going through, I intend to put together a full review of them vs the moleskine that I have been using for years as a pocket book to see how they compare.

Maybe it will turn from lust into a more longterm romance. Only time will tell. Will it just be another step towards Field Notes world dominance?

Serendipitous Field Notes, Black Estate Winery

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I have been hearing an increasing amount about Field Notes, first brought to my attention by the amazing Pen Addict Podcast. Whilst they have achieved cult status in the US, getting hold of them internationally is not so simple. Especially somewhere the back of beyond like New Zealand.

I was therefore surprised and suspicious when I saw that there was an alleged supplier a mere hour’s drive away from here at Black Estate Winery. I had to go past it on the way to somewhere else, so I decided to pop my head around the door to just double check that I must be mistaken. Which is where I found myself wrong and now the proud owner of:

I wasn’t sure what to expect as there is only so much you can do to judge a notebook without actually having it in your hands. In some ways they should be bland and nothing special. Yet the moment I first picked them up, I knew I could be completely sucked in. (I also stayed for a very nice cup of coffee, because I didn’t want to seem like someone with a notebook problem. I’ll go back there again and do a separate review at some point, I’m sure).

I opted for the graph paper, having used both plain and lined pocket notebooks plenty of times before. It feels like a natural fit; providing some structure if I need it, without being restrictive. Depending on how it goes, I feel this could become my format of choice.

I’ve decided that it is the perfect size to test on my trip to the US and Canada that is coming up. Marketed towards being rugged and durable, a road trip should be the most exertion I would normally put it under. If it holds up to that, then I might just be tempted to buy more once I’m out there. The new Shelterwood collection would be a no-brainer for me.

Tracking Goals: Going Analogue

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Along with Lift (edit: now coach.me), I’ve also found something analogue to help with my habit formation and personal development. This is the cool Goals Journal from kikki K.

It takes some time to set up, but the process of doing so is really worthwhile. Instead of just coming up with random goals, it starts with the premise of trying to define your dream life. There are several helpful examples that talk you through the process, for example, stating your core values:

The dream life itself has a few key factors, one of which is explicitly stating when you want to be living this. That took me a bit of thought. I obviously wanted to pretend I could get my dream life as soon as possible. Next week! But reality kicks in. So setting the balance between plausibility and so far in the future you’re not actually motivated to start straight away is a thought-provoking act in itself.

Once you’ve worked out where you’re going to be, there is a section for each month where you define 4 goals. Only four for the month, so as long as you do it sensibly, it always feels achievable. The key part here is stating why you want to do this – how does it propel you further towards your vision?

Of course, we all know that setting out goals is not enough. If only it were. But no, you actually have to take action to achieve them. To combat some of the most common excuses (I don’t have time etc etc), for each month there is a timetable. This urges you to set time aside for your goal work in the same way you would schedule an appointment for all the other areas of your life. This highlights how much time you really do have in your life if you want it badly enough.

So, tomorrow being the 1st of March, I have completed everything and now it is all set up. At the end of the month, it’ll be interesting to see the progress I’ve made on my four defined goals (and if I gave myself the reward regardless…).

Lift App: Building Habits For Success (Review)

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So, I have started using the Lift app to try to get into the habit of doing the little things that count.

Research has shown that having small goals, such as to drink more water daily, can have a big impact on your overall success. The thinking is that by making small changes and succeeding, you gain a sense of momentum that spreads to other areas of your life. Plus drinking more water is really good for you.

I know from personal experience that having a routine and using habit to achieve a goal can work. So, from a personal development perspective, I like the idea of having a tool that reminds me and rewards me when it comes to habits.

The ’21 days’ thing has been pretty much debunked as a myth, so there is no definite habit formation period that is universal to human experience. With my morning writing, it started to move from pain to pleasure after about two weeks, but I had a strong emotional attachment to the goal to start with. Other things, like going to the gym, I’m going to do because I know the benefits, but there is still an underlying sense of doing because I have to, not because I want to. Logic tells me that this habit will take way longer to cross over from the pain threshold.

The rewards feature (don’t break the streak! High Five!) are nice little touches to keep you engaged. Many of the preset goals have plans attached to them, so you don’t even have to figure out what you need to do from the get-go. This gives you a nice motivational sense of support that you can do the first few steps.

I’ve been using it for around two weeks so far and like the results. I have been to the gym more, read more and have done things to take myself out of my comfort zone. So, even if I haven’t achieved daily perfection I have still made progress, and that is what this kind of thing is really about.

You can read more on the blog here, or follow the guys on twitter.

Sherri Nicholds

Life hacks and tools for creative entrepreneurs

Tag Archives: productivity

An Abundance Mindset

New Job and Writing

Letters From The Past, Thanks To FutureMe.org

Moleskine vs Field Notes – Pocket Notebook Review

I Hate Titles

Going Un-Paperless – 5 Steps For When You Find You Can’t Go Paperless

Field Notes: Cold Horizon and the infamous Shelterwood

Serendipitous Field Notes, Black Estate Winery

Tracking Goals: Going Analogue

Lift App: Building Habits For Success (Review)