iDoneThis blog

Photo: Katie Weilbacher Over at The 99%, Tony Schwartz offers some excellent advice on how to...

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:46:01 -0400

Over at The 99%, Tony Schwartz offers some excellent advice on how to accomplish more by doing less.

It’s not just the number of hours we sit at a desk that determines the value we generate. It’s the energy we bring to the hours we work … . Maintaining a steady reservoir of energy – physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually – requires refueling it intermittently.

Schwartz’s insistence that real productivity requires real rest, recharge, and renewal is in tune with Ken Robinson’s focus on energy. Robinson suggests that having passion for your work is a built-in energy renewal system. Schwartz’s point on sustaining personal energy levels is even more basic, whatever your passion (or lack of passion) is for your work — simply take more meaningful breaks.

Get outside, move around more, and please, stop eating lunch at your desk.

The Minor Miracle of Third-Party App Development Without a Real API

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:01:14 -0400

I’ve never had a kid, but I imagine that it can’t be too different from giving birth to a web app. It’s amazing that the thing exists at all, much less that it walks and talks, and it’s a minor miracle when it thinks on its own and creates something new of its own volition.

A few weeks ago, I received a bunch of errors in my inbox, and a week after that, a Dutch company named Springest wrote a blog post, Alfred App + iDoneThis for logging your todo’s, GTD style.

The Springest guys were the ones who had been spamming my inbox with errors! They had been testing their iDoneThis extension to Alfred (an awesome Mac app launcher).

It was super simple, it worked, and ok, I thought it was incredible. Wouter at Springest, a company halfway around the world that I’d never talked to, without asking for permission or needing to ask for permission, lacking a real API, used our email interface to connect Alfred to iDoneThis.

Just punch your done into Alfred, and it will shoot out an email to us and in it goes into your done list. Not only did the extension rule, it also became the main way that I entered my dones!

A week later, more errors hit my inbox and I noticed what seemed to be an error with the Alfred extension. ”Uh oh,” I thought. Either we’ll have to support the extension or we’ll be left with buggy software built by a third-party that diminishes the user experience.

I reached out to the user to see what was up and if there was anything I could do to help. It turned out that Rudy was attempting to use the Alfred extension for his personal iDoneThis, whereas the Wouter built the extension only for teams because that’s how they use it at Springest.

I didn’t feel comfortable with reaching out to Wouter to request a fix, and I wasn’t sure that we had the bandwidth to basically begin the process of supporting a third-party extension. I sent the kind of useless placating email that I hate sending.

Oh, I think I realize the problem.

The Alfred integration was created by Springest, and they use iDoneThis in a team only, but you’re trying to use iDoneThis for personal use.

So by default, the email address that the email gets sent to is <team name>@team.idonethis.com, which for you, is personal@team.idonethis.com. But the email address for personal emails isn’t the same scheme — it’s today@idonethis.com.

So basically, the Alfred integration won’t work for personal users right now.

I’m cc’ing my co-founder Rodrigo on this email and I’ll make a ticket for this. We’ve wanted to add personal@team.idonethis.com as the primary address we send and receive from for personal emails.

Rudy’s response was short and simple but it made me stop and marvel at the world we live in. ”I’ll fork the extension and submit a pull request.”

A few days later, Dennis, Wouter’s pal at Springest, merged the pull request and we had an Alfred extension to iDoneThis that supported personal and team users made by people who just get stuff done, for people who get stuff done.

"I’ve learned that if I’m thinking about my productivity tools, I don’t have enough enthusiasm for my..."

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:53:50 -0400

“I’ve learned that if I’m thinking about my productivity tools, I don’t have enough enthusiasm for my projects.”

- — C.J. Chilvers, Rethinking Productivity for Creatives.

Fabian Kruse writes about “the loop“ inherent to getting anything done, and the idea that periods of procrastination, having doubts, and losing momentum are just part of that natural productivity cycle. So, while productivity systems and techniques are valuable, they don’t necessarily prevent the slower parts of “the loop” from happening again. In fact, they become a part of the loop.

The reason why I hate productivity systems is because they easily become a dominant part of “the loop”. And once they become a dominant part of the loop, they become a problem. A problem that keeps creatives from focusing on what matters – and from doing what they want to do because their muse is calling.

While Kruse focuses on the lives of “creative” people, his post applies to pretty much everyone as a reminder that productivity systems are tools and managers, not creations. At the end of the day, there’s no point in having “make a to-do list” on your to-do list.

C.J. Chilvers also writes about the paradox of productivity apps and the struggle that remains in getting important things done. The solution, for him, has been that “the easier a system is, the more will get done.”

We hope iDoneThis is a super-easy system, helping you record more daily dones that matter!

Picasso’s take on that easily forgotten motto that genius is 99% perspiration!

Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:00 -0400

Picasso’s take on that easily forgotten motto that genius is 99% perspiration!

How Agiliq Creates Bespoke Webapps by Focusing Within

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:55:00 -0400

Agiliq is a 12-person web design and development studio based in Hyderabad, India that builds web applications which provide that “just-right” fit for its clients. The key to crafting bespoke webapps relies not only on the ingredients of technology and design but on understanding your client and your client’s issues.

But in order to do that, it’s important to understand the inner workings of your own team members and their work. Agiliq director and developer Shabda Raaj finds that using iDoneThis is integral to getting to the nuts and bolts of Agiliq’s operations. The results: a greatly streamlined workflow and improved capacity to focus on what matters, solving clients’ issues and getting more app-making done.

Before implementing iDoneThis, Shabda’s team members used to send him a daily report. At the same time, he did not send anything out to his team members, since he wasn’t obligated to report “down” to anyone and felt that doing so would be too much like spam. Using iDoneThis was a neat workflow solution, a non-spammy way for team members, including Shabda, to send and receive daily reports, providing better transparency within the organization and better plan-making.

Improving workflow regarding daily reports is one thing, but Shabda and the Agiliq team appreciate iDoneThis’s ability to work in concert with other project management tools such as Assembla. Since Agiliq is a heavy user of Assembla for tasks such as source control and ticketing, they set up a script that emails Raaj a summary of commits that he edits and sends on to iDoneThis. “It allows us to summarize the progress without a lot of duplication.”

While Shabda may have expected the productivity benefits of time-saving and progress-tracking, he has been surprised to find that the quality of team members’ daily reports have markedly improved. “People obviously care about what the team is reading about them.”

We’re happy that iDoneThis is a just-right fit for Agiliq, and we’re excited to see their improved inner workings translate into some awesome new webapps.

Ken Robinson’s School of Life talk teaches us to think...

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:48:00 -0400

Ken Robinson’s School of Life talk teaches us to think about our lives in terms of energy and passions. So often, productivity in work and personal corners is tied to the concept of time and efficiency, which is a rather narrow view of the world.

“If you’re in your element doing whatever it is that you love to do, then at the end of the day or the end of the week, you can be physically exhausted by it but spiritually uplifted. But if you’re doing things you don’t care for, at the end of the day, you can feel physically fine but down and needing to lift yourself up again. And in the end, it’s about energy, that’s all life is, isn’t it? It’s about energy, it’s what stirs your energy, what encourages it, what fuels it, and what takes it from you. And I find, that if you’re doing things that you love to do, if you’re in your element, if you’re following a passion of some sort, that you get energy from it. Some activities take it from you.”

Click here for the full 50 minute talk, where Robinson talks about charting our own course and the indirect ways that we can grow into our element.

A perfectly sensible lifelong routine for starting your Wednesdays out right!

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:49:50 -0400

A perfectly sensible lifelong routine for starting your Wednesdays out right!

"Productivity is not about how efficient you are at work. Instead, your productivity is really about..."

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:02:57 -0400

“Productivity is not about how efficient you are at work. Instead, your productivity is really about how well you are able to make an impact in what matters most to you.”

- Scott Belsky, Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality, talking about creative productivity.

Here’s a quick rundown of these tips to beat a case of the Mondays: Studies say happiness is...

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:01:00 -0400

Here’s a quick rundown of these tips to beat a case of the Mondays:

Studies say happiness is contagious. Go catch some happy from cheerful, morning people.
Or if you’re the “Hell is other people at breakfast” type, go catch some happy from some of your favorite music uppers or Hulu/Youtube vids.
Exercise! Have sexy time! Unleash the endorphins!
Treat yo self: have a fancy coffee drink or your favorite comfort breakfast foods. Make this your once a week treat!

Click here for larger image, and check out other Secret Tips from the Yumiverse!

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:45:56 -0400

Click here for larger image, and check out other Secret Tips from the Yumiverse!

We don’t know about the origin of this story but it’s a nice reminder about setting...

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:01:09 -0400

We don’t know about the origin of this story but it’s a nice reminder about setting priorities:

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day isn’t enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open area between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things…your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions…and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your home and perhaps your car.

The sand is everything else…the small stuff. “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Enjoy a romantic dinner with the one you love. Play another 9 or 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the faucet.

Take care of the golf balls first…the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.

"Forget about productivity and numbers. They matter not at all. If you are driven to do things to..."

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:10:39 -0400

“Forget about productivity and numbers. They matter not at all. If you are driven to do things to reach certain numbers (goals), you have probably lost sight of what’s important. If you are striving to be productive, you are filling your days with things just to be productive, which is a waste of a day. This day is a gift, and shouldn’t be crammed with every possible thing — spend time enjoying it and what you’re doing.”

- How to Live Well, zenhabits.

Hope your dones are part of the good in every day!

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:45:00 -0400

Hope your dones are part of the good in every day!

Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become...

Mon, 07 May 2012 10:01:25 -0400

Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.

— Theodore Roosevelt

The book trailer for Andrew Zuckerman’s Wisdom: The Greatest Gift One Generation Can Give to...

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:00:21 -0400

The book trailer for Andrew Zuckerman’s Wisdom: The Greatest Gift One Generation Can Give to Another is a treasure trove of wise words from leaders of all fields who are all over 65 years old.

Here are some of our favorites from the wise words spoketh:

“Your best work is your expression of yourself. Now you may not be the greatest at it, but when you do it, you’re the only expert in it.” - Frank Gehry, architect.

“You can’t get to wonderful without passing through alright. You can’t skip from not being able to function all the way over to running the whole show.” - Bill Withers, musician.

“I always thought that inspiration was for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you’re not going to make an awful lot of work.” - Chuck Close, artist.

(via the great brainpickings archive)

"Wise use of space means creating the right context for concentration, learning, communication, and..."

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:52:42 -0400

“Wise use of space means creating the right context for concentration, learning, communication, and collaboration—the building blocks of productivity.”

- Productivity is not just about you. It’s also about your environment.

The National Institute of Building Sciences takes a look at “productive building design.” Organizational effectiveness, or organizational productivity, is a fancy way of saying using space wisely. It makes sense to make a user-friendly work environment to cultivate an organization’s greatest resource and expense — the worker!

"People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend..."

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:27:32 -0400

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

- Zig Ziglar

(Photo by Krikit)

Some great tips for working smarter, not harder. Less than half of workers report being satisfied...

Tue, 01 May 2012 10:03:19 -0400

Some great tips for working smarter, not harder.

Less than half of workers report being satisfied with the recognition they receive on the job. Is it just a coincidence that less than half of employed adults report being completely satisfied with their jobs?

Do you have any tips for working smarter, not harder? Share them with us in the comments!

(Infographic from: Best Masters Degrees)

Confronting the Brutal Facts of Your Startup's Reality

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:01:00 -0400

“This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

- Admiral James Stockdale [1]

Fundraising is distracting because much of it is about framing facts about your reality rather than confronting the brutal facts of your reality. For us, that meant coming up with a plausible story for not sucking when we did mostly suck. [2]

Some startups try to handle this by juggling two different stories: the one they tell investors and the one they know to be true. That sounds easy enough, but it can get very confusing and that confusion results in friction.

That was especially the case for our team. I used to be a lawyer, and it’s a lawyer’s job to put different frames on facts and argue why a given frame is closest to the truth. An engineer’s mentality is to find the closest frame to objective truth. [3]

When the team got down emotionally, I would try to persuade them that reality wasn’t as bleak as it seemed. I laugh thinking about it now. The guys would tell me, “You can’t persuade me of the pitch because we helped come up with it!”

The problem is that I was operating under the mentality that a team needs to be motivated to get more done. It turns out that my attempts to frame reality for the purpose of motivating was extremely demotivating to the team because it distracted our attention away from confronting the brutal facts of our reality.

Jim Collins in Good to Great and Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer in The Progress Principle both interviewed hundreds of managers and employees, analyze thousands of employee journal entries, and concluded that motivation is a waste of time — employees aren’t motivated by motivation. Rather, the right people are self-motivated and the key is just to stay out of the way and focus on not demotivating people.

Not dealing with reality on the part of management is a huge demotivator. When you confront the brutal facts of your current reality, you’re able to conduct an autopsy in earnest, and then execute — a process that’s invigorating and self-motivating.

Notes

[1] Jim Collins, Good to Great (2001).

[2] Ironically, the best investors are those that want to confront the brutal facts of your current reality with you and that’s what value-added is in that context. They’ll find you difficult to talk to if you engage in sales talk rather than confront the truth. The funny thing is that practicing pitching with the average investor may lead you astray with exceptional investors.

[3] All of this is somewhat ironic because iDoneThis is a tool that shows you the truth.

Give yourself the weekend off. Seriously. If you really, really,...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:03:20 -0400

Give yourself the weekend off. Seriously. If you really, really, really need to do work, schedule a finite time to focus with laser beam attention on it.

Otherwise, stop feeling guilty all weekend and let it go.

More work and more time spent thinking about doing work does not equal more good work done. Work less. It actually saves you time.