INTERNAL SCORECARD #6
This is the sixth internal scorecard I've published. This one is a double edition -- with New York being extremely busy and productive the last week, I made a conscious choice to skip that week's review and wind it into a two-week's-review now.
I do these internal scorecards for a mix of my own sake of review and documenting progress, and also to show observations on productivity, effectiveness, what works and doesn't, etc.
This covers 16th June to 29th June 2013.
MEETINGS, MEETINGS, MEETINGS…
Across those 14 days, I had 57 meetings and appointments. There were another 5-10 spontaneous get-togethers that happened. The majority of these happened and weren't canceled -- only two or three got canceled by the other person; I didn't cancel any.
THE PARADOX OF HIGH-ACTION NON-ROUTINE TIMES
It's a bit of a paradox. This block of time was one of the most productive in my life, greatly advancing what's happening at the nonprofit, setting groundwork for future consulting assignments, connecting me with a bunch of amazing individuals, and identifying and addressing a number of core lessons that I can implement to be much more effective as a person.
I wouldn't trade this two-week run for anything.
The flip side, though, is that my routines were completely and totally shattered.
In sitting down in Chicago with a friend who is a very successful nonprofit director running an amazing organization, we talked about what the most effective people do -- and they always make near-sacred space for their regular routines.
It's not through bursts of genius and action that we achieve our results, but through consistent incremental progress. While a trip like the New York/Chicago swing-through I did over the last two weeks is incredibly valuable, the real way to make tremendous progress is to hold those routines fast, hard, and sacred: exercise, get enough sleep, work on the highest impact creative projects at the start of the day, and otherwise practice good long-term sustainable work habits.
So I'm simultaneously performing near peak effectiveness, in a certain way, and yet I also feel this gnawing stalking suspicion that this isn't the highest way.
Of course, most people aren't operating in effective routines anyways; so obviously a cycle of massive non-routine action is superior to a cycle of "blah" with nothing much happening. But I think the highest way has to be more sustainable than what I just did; perhaps getting 60% of the gains of the cycle I just had in expansive and new activity, but with preserving core routines to a better extent.
HOW THIS WEEK WAS PLANNED
I had a very full calendar, and I had a couple important GiveGetWin projects on the go. I filled around those two things and got in what other time I could.
I also had a list of about 15 topics to cover with my friend who I was staying with, a successful B2B marketing/sales consultant. He kept the written list afterwards, but we covered most of the ground on it in downtime between all the meetings, appointments, and craziness.
KEY THOUGHT: ON LIVING IN ONE'S BODY
If you're highly analytical and intellectual, you might be "living in your mind" -- I certainly was. It's easy when behind the keyboard much of the day to neglect the natural rhythms and pace of your body, to lose awareness of your breath and muscles and circulation and all the wonders that come with that.
Early in this two-week cycle, I connected with my friend and his girlfriend, both of whom are very kinesthetically aware, and I put a much greater focus on this.
In the short term, being aware of your body can be painful. If you've been neglecting it for a while, it screams at you when you start paying attention to it. But gradually and naturally, I started incorporating more stretching, more bodyweight exercises, getting out and about more, going rock climbing last weekend, and really being in touch with my body. It's a joy, and I feel productivity benefits as well.
KEY THOUGHT: ON ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
GiveGetWin's core team is over the point where we can function at maximum effectiveness without better structure in place to reduce friction and empower action. We're starting to reorganize that a bit, and a next initiative is to connect people and resources better, clarify how to be effective, and go from there.
I'd like to give special credit to John Patton and Jeffrey Liechti for bringing some excellent new perspectives to the organization and helping with our operations and technology. If you haven't heard form me for a while, it's because I've been swamped but we've got some great initiatives coming up to increase short-term and long-term production, remove friction, keep things focused on the most fun and productive parts, and so on.
If you're not on the GiveGetWin team, what's the key takeaway for you here? It's that sometimes you need to slow down and stop expanding in order to get everyone's perspective, find out what pain points are going on, find out where confusion and friction exists, and make things smooth and pleasurable to operate. With an upgrade to our structure and resources, a similar amount of time should produce somewhere between 100% and 400% more results. Which is pretty cool.
KEY THOUGHT: YOU CAN'T BE GOOD AT EVERYTHING
I've been analyzing the areas I succeed and fail, and working around those. I identified a few areas with huge gains that I often don't put enough effort into -- followup (especially after success, to maximize gains), doing repetitive high-value tasks that don't require new problem solving (even when very valuable), putting "finishing touches" on things (this one is particularly dangerous/insidious), and so on.
I've been working to put in place habits, technology, and structure so that I improve in these areas enough, to make them part of a strategic and cohesive whole (which is how I like to conceptualize the world and work), and collaborating with others who are better in these areas than me.
Identifying weaknesses is key. Utterly critical. I had some great conversations and got some great lessons around this, this week.
ASIDE: ON NUTRITION, LEANING OUT, AND CRAVINGS
I've been getting really lean, which isn't common for me. Most of the time I have an average physique or a muscular one, but I've never had single digit bodyfat and I'm on my way towards it.
Most recently, cravings have been randomly hitting me -- for cookies, or something along those lines.
It's a large distraction. I was tempted one day to just give in, so I could stop thinking about it. But, no.
I got a few pieces of feedback from a friend who is quite good on his plans and has gone through similar things. Some useful points --
*Stay satiated on good food: vegetables, protein, and drinking lots of water
*Potentially introduce some more low-damaging carbohydrates like a bit more fruit
*I've started mixing cinnamon into black coffee, which comes at the cost of a small amount of carbs but seems to curb cravings
*When these are bad, I also lift any attempt to economize on food and budget on it (this being a more important priority), so I'll go eat a really nice piece of fish and buttered vegetables, or even have a few nice meals a day on it
*I do allow myself to eat carbohydrates immediately after a hard resistance training session, so I could always hit the weights hard and then go have a lemonade, some dark chocolate, rice and beans with chicken, etc.
It was seriously corroding my mind for a while, but I've mostly moved past it. I don't know how lean I'll look to go before switching back into lifting/bulking mode, but I'm happy with where I'm at. The challenge, in a way, makes it more rewarding.
TECHNOLOGY RECOMMENDATION
Rapportive is amazing:
http://rapportive.com/
It lets you see people's profile based on their email address, right in your Gmail window. You can see their Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, and LinkedIn right away. It's very cool for staying in touch with people, and getting to know new contacts better. Definitely a time-saver and very cool.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
I've got one last half-week on the road, with a little more Chicago coming up, then San Francisco, then back to Asia.
It's going to be good. I know the ability to wind-down is coming up, so I plan on designing the new systems/habits I'm going to be running when I'm back before I get there, take two days off from all technology and work straightaway, and then get on the new habits and routines. I'll use jet lag to my advantage to start waking up very early in the morning, dedicate the morning to running new routines and habits, and go from there.
Life is good. If I haven't replied to your email or haven't been in touch over the last week or so, now you know why! Lots of good is happening, and I'm looking forward to connecting with you more coming up on a big work cycle.
Your thoughts in the comments?