peter.nakamura

Weekly Learnings Roundup (December 18, 2016)

Thanks for checking out the Weekly Learning Roundup. These bite-sized, weekly posts are designed to give you a quick hit of interesting learnings and articles I came across this week.

It’s a motley assortment of tips, resources, and links that will hopefully give you a bit of inspiration for the upcoming week. Enjoy!

What I’m reading —

Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime by Ferris Jabr

Extensive article on why your brain needs downtime and the solution doesn’t have to be a 6-month sabattical. Here were my top takeaways:

1) Consciously build out downtime/down days during the work week. (E.g. Half-day Friday and no screentime after 8pm.)

2) Take a 10-20 minute nap in the early afternoon.

3) Continue my mindfulness meditation practice.

4) Spend more time walking outdoors – ideally in nature.

Books, documentaries, or podcast episodes I’m enjoying —

Testing The “Impossible”: 17 Questions That Changed My Life by The Tim Ferriss Show

One of the biggest things I admire about Tim Ferriss is his willingness to test assumptions. And this list of 17 Questions is a fantastic look into the way Tim’s brain works in challenging conventional wisdom. Even incorporating one or two of these questions into your life like “What if I did the opposite for 48 hours?” or “What do I spend a silly amount of money on? How might I scratch my own itch?” can result in new ideas and opportunities both personally and professionally. Highly recommended list to look through and the podcast episode is great too for further context on his thinking process.

A quote that’s inspiring me —

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.

— Marcus Aurelius

Productivity tip of the week —

Track Your Sleep Efficiency

Getting enough quality sleep is one of the most important things you can do to be productive during the day. Most of us, however, tend to lack awareness around the quality of sleep we had the night before. For the last month and a half, I’ve been logging the number of hours of sleep I’ve logged and calculated my Sleep Efficency.

Screen Shot 2016-12-18 at 12.58.52 PM.png — See rows 5 and 6 for my sleep time and efficency scores.

Logging my Sleep Efficiency has given me insight on the importance of not only the number of hours I’ve slept but the quality of the sleep. Just because I slept for 10+ hours doesn’t mean the sleep was restorative. Reviewing both of these numbers on a daily basis has allowed me to develop a more nuanced awareness of how I sleep and how I can improve upon it.

Product or service I’m loving —

BONECO Warm or Cool Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier 7135

If you’re in the market for a humidifier this winter, I recommend taking a look BONECO’s Ultrasonic Humidifier 7135. It’s not cheap (~200-250 CAD) but it’s worth the investment when you’re dealing with extremely dry conditions during the winter. While it’s not powerful enough to humidify an entire house or apartment, it’s a good option to humidify your office or bedroom.

Side note: The ancillary items like the carbon hydro cell or demineralization cartridge are expensive but I just replace them at the end of the winter season. In fact, I wouldn’t even buy the carbon hydro cells as they’ve stained my unit slightly with the residual carbon dust.

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As always, thanks for checking out this Weekly Learnings Roundup. Follow me on Twitter @peternakamura to see the full list of articles that I share on a daily basis.

Weekly Learnings Roundup (December 3, 2016)

Thanks for checking out the Weekly Learning Roundup. These bite-sized, weekly posts are designed to give you a quick hit of interesting learnings and articles I came across this week.

It’s a motley assortment of tips, resources, and links that will hopefully give you a bit of inspiration for the upcoming week. Enjoy!

What I’m reading —

My Dad Was Bruce Lee—Here’s How He Still Inspires Me And Others To Innovate by Shannon Lee

Great post by the late Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon. There’s a lot to learn from the man who transformed the Hollywood landscape for Asian actors. Not only that, his philosophies on life (e.g. “be like water” and “walk on”) inspire many of us to realize our inner strengths and become the best we can be. The article mentions a new podcast that Shannon has created – the Bruce Lee podcast – which I’m excited to check out!

Books, documentaries, or podcast episodes I’m enjoying —

The 4-Hour Chef by Tim Ferriss

If you follow this blog, you’re probably aware of my fanboy-ness for everything Tim Ferriss-related. Ferriss does a great job breaking down the habits, tactics, and strategies of world-class performers and he helps break down the world of cooking in The 4-Hour Chef. As a novice cook, I’m finding this book as a great resource for the basics around cooking. Ferriss has designed a great step-by-step program on how you can learn to use flavour combinations, knife skills, and so much more. Highly recommended if you’re just starting to learn how to cook or if you want to take your skills to the next level.

A quote that’s inspiring me —

Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

— Bruce Lee

Productivity tip of the week —

Use a melatonin supplement to help get to sleep.

Melatonin is a hormone secreted by your brain that helps regulate your sleep. It’s a natural substance and you can take it through supplements to help you get to bed on nights that you’re feeling restless. If you’re interested in trying it out, the recommendation is to start with 500mcg (0.5mg) and work your way up based on how your body responds. I find that 2mg is my sweet spot on Sunday evenings. For more info, check out Examine.com’s article on how to improve your sleep quality.

Product or service I’m loving —

Lodge LCC3 Logic Pre-Seasoned Combo Cooker

In the aforementioned 4-Hour Chef book recommendation, Ferriss recommends a list of essential cooking tools and the Lodge Combo Cooker is one of them. After using this cast-iron dutch oven, I’ve been able to cook up some delicious braised lamb and chuck roasts. It’s a bit pricey but worth it if you’re doing any slow-cooking or braising with your meals.

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As always, thanks for checking out this Weekly Learnings Roundup. Follow me on Twitter @peternakamura to see the full list of articles that I share on a daily basis.

Weekly Learnings Roundup (November 27, 2016)

The Weekly Learnings Roundup is back!

Thanks for your patience over the last couple of months as I’ve spent a bit of time recalibrating my purposes around this blog. I’m excited to continue to share with you my favourite learnings through these posts. Taking a bit of a break has actually helped me uncover some new tools and resources that I think you’ll find helpful.

As you know, these bite-sized, weekly posts are designed to give you a quick hit of interesting learnings and articles I came across this week. That format will stay the same for the foreseeable future. I’ll continue to share with you a motley assortment of tips, resources, and links that will hopefully give you a bit of inspiration for the upcoming week.

Let’s get into this week’s roundup!

What I’m reading —

Don’t Fear the Fat: 7 Ways Fat Can Help You Lose Weight by Bulletproof

For decades the food industry has made us want to believe that high-fat diets are linked with heart disease and generally bad for you. But having been on the Bulletproof diet for the last (almost) 2 years, I’ve never felt better having more high-quality fats in my diet. This article breaks down how fats can help you rather than hurt you.

Books, documentaries, or podcast episodes I’m enjoying —

The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker

One of the classics of management books. A rating of 4.11 across 14,635 reviews on Goodreads speaks for itself. I haven’t finished this book yet but, personally, I’ve applied a number of learnings from this book in my own time management and leadership style. Highly recommended for anyone currently leading people or aspiring to be a better leader.

A quote that’s inspiring me —

Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily.

— Epictetus

Productivity tip of the week —

Don’t drink cheap wine.

If you’re like me, you enjoy finding items that provide good value. And if you’re also like me, you like wine but don’t know the difference between a $12 bottle and an $18 bottle. There is a big difference. Low quality wine typically means low quality processes that went into making it often resulting in mould toxins getting into the wine. While no wine is risk free, you can do yourself a favour and avoid the cheap $8-$12 bottles. You just can’t make wine that cheap without cutting corners. So at a minimum, go for ones that are a level higher – in the $17 to $20 range. Your brain and energy the next day will thank you. Below are a couple of recommendations for good quality wine at a good price.

Product or service I’m loving —

Both of these wines here are my recent favourites. Both of them are Slow-Carb friendly (meaning they have low sugar levels) and both are under $20.

Eradus – Sauvignon Blanc 2015 (New Zealand)

Full-bodied white. Great for anyone who likes their white to be more vibrant.

Luigi Bosca – Malbec (Argentina)

I really like this Malbec. It’s a lighter red. Perfect for a glass as you’re winding down from the day.
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As always, thanks for checking out this Weekly Learnings Roundup. Follow me on Twitter @peternakamura to see the full list of articles that I share on a daily basis.

My Personal Goal Buckets for Year 30.

In an upcoming most, I’ll be sharing the process that I used to create my personal goals in my 30th year. But for now, below are my main goal “buckets” where my time this year will be focused on. More context to come!

Bucket 1: Develop better, tighter friendships.

Q1: Organize a Gentlemen’s Dinner two out of the three months of the quarter.

Bucket 2: Make all-around improvements in capoeira with a focus on strength and flexibility.

Q1: Attend two classes per week and incorporate a Saturday 1 p.m. class into my schedule.

Q1: Stretch 10 minutes each evening for 33% of the quarter.

Bucket 3: Deepen my relationship with Carly by being present with her and helping her achieve her goals.

Q1: Plan out the rest of our trip to Japan in March/April.

Q1: Enjoy and be present throughout the Japan Trip experience with Carly.

Bucket 4: Explore my psychology and address my emotional triggers.

Q1: Read Tim Laurence’s book on the Hoffman Process.

Q1: Begin to craft a “WHY” post for my blog outlining my mission statement.

Bucket 5: Help Actionable reach financial stability and deepen my impact on the organization and its people.

Bucket 6: Continue to save 15% of my income for future financial flexibility.

Q1: Structure my savings like this – 5% for retirement, 10% for down payment savings, and 5% for an emergency fund.

Bucket 7: Invest in my health by following the Bulletproof/Slow-Carb diet and make cooking fun by developing my culinary knowledge.

Q1: Schedule a consultation with a functional health practitioner.

Q1: Complete up to Lesson 12 in the DOM section in the 4-Hour Chef.

Weekly Learnings Roundup (September 25, 2016)

Thanks for checking out the Weekly Learning Roundup. These bite-sized, weekly posts are designed to give you a quick hit of interesting learnings and articles I came across this week.

It’s a motley assortment of tips, resources, and links that will hopefully give you a bit of inspiration for the upcoming week. Enjoy!

What I’m reading —

On Receiving (and Truly Hearing) Radical Candor by First Round Review

I really enjoyed this read. It was particularly helpful in understanding the importance of giving honest feedback. I often find myself tiptoeing around a piece of critical feedback but that does more harm than good for both me and the person I’m working with.

The above chart is really helpful in understanding where “Radical Candor” lies. The goal for me is to move more of my conversations from Quadrant 1 to Quadrant 2.

Books, documentaries, or podcast episodes I’m enjoying —

The Ultimate Success Formula | Joseph McClendon III’s 4 steps to getting what you want by The Tony Robbins Podcast

This is a great formula to setting yourself up for success in any aspect of life. And it’s remarkably simple:

Define your outcome
Know your “why”
Take massive action
Learn how to celebrate
(If it’s not working) Change your approach

For me, the part that I need to do a better job of is Step 4. I often feel a little empty when I hit milestones or achieve the goal because I don’t take the time to celebrate it. Part of “defining your outcome” should be celebrating the milestones and achievement along the way.

A quote that’s inspiring me —

Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are the weeds that strangle confidence.

— Bruce Lee

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As always, thanks for checking out this Weekly Learnings Roundup. Follow me on Twitter @peternakamura to see the full list of articles that I share on a daily basis.

Living a Prioritized Life: A Guide to Using Daily Questions

Earlier this month, I wrote a post called Re-Thinking Productivity to discuss some major issues I see with the way we view productivity today. Generally, and this includes myself, we’re very good at the “doing” part of productivity whether it be sending more emails, scheduling more meetings, making more money, etc. But we often spend the scantiest time and effort thinking about why we want to be more productive with “x”.

To me, this comes down to spending more time thinking about our priorities. What do we want out of life? What is most important to us now? Who around us do we want to impact positively? What is the legacy we want to leave? Big questions, yes, but the sooner that we start thinking about it and incorporating it into our lives, the more fulfilling our lives will be.

As part of my research around personal growth, I came across a book called Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts – Becoming the Person You Want to Be by Marshall Goldsmith. Goldsmith is a world-renowned leadership coach and has written numerous bestsellers on leadership, strategic thinking, and behaviour change. He’s been recognized by Forbes as one of the Five Most-Respected Executive Coaches. In Triggers, he shares a framework called The Daily Questions that has since become in integral part of my prioritization and behaviour-change process.

In a nutshell, the Daily Questions is a way to help clarify your priorities and track how you’re progressing towards them. The exercise helps create awareness on whether your daily actions reflect your priorities. Awareness is the keyword here as most of us depend on our well established habits and routines to make hundreds of decisions everyday.* Without the awareness, we risk continuing to run on autopilot and not being able to make the key behaviour changes we need to reach our goals and dreams.

So how do we go about setting priorities and, more importantly, find a way to keep us on track and accountable with them? I’ll take you through a step-by-step process on how the Daily Questions work.

Step 1: Make a list of your priorities

Make a list of 10 priorites you currently have in your life. The list might include something like this:

Be a better mother/father/spouse/partner
Build stronger relationships with my friends
Learn how to ______
Eat a healthy diet
Look into a side business to launch
Give back to my community
Meditate for 10 minutes
Find ways to increase my income by 20%

Step 2: Turn them into questions

Take the list of your priorities and turn them into a question by adding “Did I do my best to…” at the start and ending them with “…today?” Here’s what the above priorities will look like in question form.

Did I do my best to be a better mother/father/spouse/partner today?
Did I do my best to build stronger relationships with my friends today?
Did I do my best to learn how to ______ today?
Did I do my best to eat a healthy diet today?
Did I do my best to learn about a side business to launch today?
Did I do my best to give back to my community today?
Did I do my best to meditate for 10 minutes today?
Did I do my best to find ways to increase my income by 20% today?

I find that the questions typically break into two types: habitual and goal-oriented.

Habitual questions like “Did I do my best to be a better mother/father/etc. today?” or “Did I do my best to build stronger relationships with my friends today?” have no specific end date. They’re ongoing questions to help you stay consistent with the priority on a day-to-day basis.

Goal-oriented questions focus on something you want to achieve by a specific end date. “Did I do my best to learn how to ______ today?” or “Did I do my best to find ways to increase my income by 20% today?” are both goal-oriented. At some point in the future, you’ll be hitting an end-point and achieving these goals.

With goal-oriented questions try to break them down and start small. For example, the question “Did I do my best to find ways to increase my income by 20% today?” is probably not an achievable goal in one day. So you may want to break up that goal into smaller pieces. Perhaps it may be “Did I do my best to read a book on a profitable side business today?” or “Did I do my best to spend 15 minutes exploring alternative career opportunities today?” Breaking up your priority into sections can help generate momentum for you.

Step 3: Rate yourself daily

At the end of each day, rate the effort on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being no effort and 10 being a full, complete effort. I’m emphasizing “effort” here because the results are not important at this point. You’re trying to develop a daily habit to be aware of this priority and take actions towards achieving that question. With consistent daily effort you’re automatically going to be working towards your goal.

In terms of tracking the scores, you can do it however you’d like whether that’s a piece of paper, an Excel spreadsheet, or something else. I like using Google Sheets because it’s accessible via the cloud and fairly easy to navigate.

You’re welcome to view a template version of my Daily Questions sheet here. To make your own copy, just go to File -> Make a Copy and safe it into your Google Drive. Alternatively, you can download the document as an Excel file by going to File -> Download as -> Microsoft Excel.

Whatever it is you’re using, make sure you’re recording it somewhere. Being able to compare the scores on a daily basis helps bring further clarity on how well you’re progressing with your scores.

Step 4: Repeat and reflect

Try this for at least next 3 months. Over the course of 90 days, you’ll collect enough data to see which priorities you’re progressing on and which priorities may not be getting the attention they deserve. At this stage, you’re just trying to get a baseline for yourself. Just because you have a low score on a certain question doesn’t mean you’re a bad parent/friend/team member/employee/etc. It might just mean the question you’re asking yourself isn’t a priority at the moment.

The key here is to take a moment, reflect, and ask yourself “Is this really a priority for me right now?” If the answer is yes, it’s time to think about ways to put your thoughts/words into action. If the answer is no, it’s a good time to rearrange your priorities. It’s quite a relief to realize that something you’ve been thinking about doing isn’t really a priority for you.

If you’re having trouble crafting your list of priorities and questions, check out Goldsmith’s original list of Daily Questions. They’re broader and likely more useful as a starting point if you’re stuck with your priority list. After a year of recording my scores, I’m still using most of Goldsmith’s Daily Questions.

Goldsmith’s Daily Questions

Did I do my best to set clear goals today?
Did I do my best to make progress towards my goals today?
Did I do my best to find meaning today?
Did I do my best to be happy today?
Did I do my best to build positive relationships today?
Did I do my best to be fully engaged today?

The beauty of Goldsmith’s questions is that they can be highly applicable for both your personal and professional productivity goals. For more on Goldsmith’s Daily Questions, you can check out my previous posts – Part I and Part II of Seven Questions to Ask Yourself Everyday.

For additional support around crafting your goals and priorities, I highly recommend checking out Travis Hellstrom’s online course to Craft Your Purpose. It’s a fantastic program to help you clarify your values, key roles you play in your life, and ultimately be in control of your life. You’ll get a better idea of what your true priorities are by going through this program. Travis and I recorded a conversation that you can check out as well.

What would your daily questions be? Comment below or tweet me @peternakamura. Would love to hear what your priorities might look like.

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*According to this study, 40% of daily activities are habits and not deliberate decisions made by a person.

Weekly Learnings Roundup (September 18, 2016)

Thanks for checking out the Weekly Learning Roundup. These bite-sized, weekly posts are designed to give you a quick hit of interesting learnings and articles I came across this week.

It’s a motley assortment of tips, resources, and links that will hopefully give you a bit of inspiration for the upcoming week. Enjoy!

What I’m reading —

Mike Birbiglia’s 6 Tips for Making It Small in Hollywood. Or Anywhere.

Some sound advice from one of my favourite comedians. My most important takeaway? Just start. If you want to do something, get started – stop talking about it.

Books, documentaries, or podcast episodes I’m enjoying —

How to make the decision to do the impossible on The Tony Robbins Podcast

An inspiring conversation between Tony Robbins and Siri Lindley. Siri is a former professional athlete and 2-time triathlon world champion. Her story about becoming a triathlon athlete and overcoming failures is truly inspiring. Worth a listen if you’re looking for some motivation and what it means to be truly persistent with your dreams.

A quote that’s inspiring me —

I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.

— Bruce Lee

Productivity tip of the week —

Using Gmail labels and filters

If you’re a Gmail user and aren’t using labels to help you automatically, you’re missing out on saving a lot of time. Filters allow you to set a “rule” with any incoming email and have them divert into a specific label or archive them automatically.

For example, I have emails that have the word “unsubscribe” in the email somewhere to skip my inbox and be sent to a label called “Optional”. Emails that have the word “unsubscribe” in them are typically marketing emails that aren’t urgent so having a filter to divert those emails from my main inbox is a huge time saver. Check out this Wikihow page to learn more about how to setup filters in your inbox.

Product or service I’m loving —

Hipmunk.com

My girlfriend and I booked a roundtrip flight from Vancouver to Tokyo for only $722 each and Hipmunk.com was where we booked it from. It’s definitely one of the best flight aggregators available on the web and it’s also really easy to use. Highly recommend checking it out if you have any travel plans coming up.

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As always, thanks for checking out this Weekly Learnings Roundup. Follow me on Twitter @peternakamura to see the full list of articles that I share on a daily basis.

Weekly Learnings Roundup (September 11, 2016)

Thanks for checking out the Weekly Learning Roundup. These bite-sized, weekly posts are designed to give you a quick hit of interesting learnings and articles I came across this week.

It’s a motley assortment of tips, resources, and links that will hopefully give you a bit of inspiration for the upcoming week. Enjoy!

What I’m reading —

You Can Write Your Way Out of an Emotional Funk. Here’s How. by Susan David

This is a fantastic article on the power of writing and journaling. According to the article, numerous studies have shown that “applying words to emotions is a tremendously helpful way to deal with stress, anxiety, and loss.” Just taking 20-minutes everyday to journal can help overcome feelings of guilt, shame, confusion, and allow you to ‘step out’ of yourself and gain greater perspective.

Books, documentaries, or podcast episodes I’m enjoying —

The #1 secret to productivity on The Tony Robbins Podcast

If you’re a fan of Charles Duhigg’s work, you’ll enjoy this podcast. It provides some great examples and reminders on the cue-routine-reward loop and ways you can use it to your advantage. Duhigg also has a new book out called Smarter, Faster, Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business which I recommend checking out.

A quote that’s inspiring me —

Courage is facing a short term discomfort to gain long term peace.

— Lynne Namka

Product or service I’m loving —

RescueTime

I’ve mentioned RescueTime in a post called Five apps I use to stay focused and be more productive but I think it deserves further mentioning because it’s such a diverse tool that I haven’t even tapped into the full potential yet. In a nutshell, RescueTime keeps track of your daily activities and provides awareness-building insight on your productivity. Being more productive begins with having a better idea of where your time is going and RescueTime is one of the best tools out there to get you started. The free version tracks all computer-based activity but the paid version (around $10/month) gives you the ability to add offline time to give you further insight.

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As always, thanks for checking out this Weekly Learnings Roundup. Follow me on Twitter @peternakamura to see the full list of articles that I share on a daily basis.

Re-Thinking Productivity

Productivity has been a popular topic for quite some time now. Ever since the industrial revolution introduced a focus on maximizing worker productivity we’ve been looking for more ways to get more output in less time.

In the last decade or two, we’ve seen a shift in interest from industrial productivity to interest in personal productivity. It’s quite common now to see articles that begin with “7 ways to improve your productivity” or “What the most productive people do before breakfast”. Websites like Lifehacker are focused on helping us find ways to be more productive with tips, tools, and advice.

Personally, I’m fascinated by the topic of productivity. I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the past few years reading books like David Allen’s Getting Things Done and attending Ari Meisel’s Less Doing Live conference to learn more about the systems, tools, and habits that can help maximize my day.

When I began my research on how to be more productive I spent a lot of time in the weeds. For example, I spent hours setting up a to-do list application to fit David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) model and hours each week to keep it updated. After a while, it started feeling like I was trying to be productive to keep up with my productivity tools!

This is not a knock on the GTD system or any other organizational system out there. In fact, I think it’s a great tool. The real issue was that I wasn’t using these tools in a way that was connected with my overall goals.

I found it a lot of fun to test different apps, buy fancy notebooks, and spend time learning techniques to manage my to-do list. It was easy for me to get lost in the world of productivity for productivity’s sake. It felt like I was making progress but the more I delved into this world of productivity, the more I felt like I wasn’t getting any closer to my goals.

Eventually I came to the realization that the process around productivity shouldn’t be starting with the tools, tips, and tricks. I was looking at “being more productive” as the end goal rather than focusing on what I truly wanted to accomplish. When I zoomed my perspective out, I realized that I wanted to be more productive so I can make a bigger impact, add more value to people around me, and focus on the projects that truly matter.

Take a moment to think about teams in the Formula 1. Their ultimate objective for every race is to win the race. They pay meticulous attention to all the details around the vehicle, the race course, the conditions, the pitcrew efficiency, etc. They look to squeeze out every bit of productivity from both the driver and the vehicle for a very specific purpose.

1024px-Alonso_Renault_Pitstop_Chinese_GP_2008 — Photo courtesty of Bert van Dijk – Pitstop F1 ING Renault

Formula 1 teams are very deliberate in deciding which area to improve. If a team loses a race due to the inefficiency in the pit crew speed, they’ll fix that. If they noticed something was off in the handling, they’ll work on that. All with a lazer focus on helping them get closer to getting the checkered flag.

We’re generally pretty good at identifying areas we want to be more productive at. We know we want to be making more money, responding/sending more emails, connecting with more friends, reading more books, etc. We know all the areas that we want to do more and get more out of. But the crucial difference between us and teams in the Formula 1 is often times we forget (or don’t think enough about) how greater productivity in “x” is connected to our goals and dreams.

For example, if you’re interested in making more money – what is your purpose around that goal? For some it could the freedom to retire early and for others it be a feeling of recognition for the value that they bring to the company. Whatever it is, it’s important to think about the purpose in the area that you’re looking to get more out of.

It’s liberating to know what the purpose for greater productivity is because you can stop doing something if it’s not helping you get closer to the purpose. Maybe your time may be better spent working on something else? We have the incredible ability to persist and push but the great tragedy is sometimes we’re pushing on the wrong cart and we don’t even realize it.

So how do we go about shifting the way we think about productivity? Here’s a checklist of questions to ask yourself before you start exploring greater productivity in a specific area.

Does being more productive in this area match my priorities in life?
Will this bring more joy/happiness/satisfaction in my life?
What does success look like?

Before jumping into improving productivity use the questions above to reflect, ruminate, journal, etc. to clarify the why behind the desire to be more productive. Personally, I find that it really helps to journal and let things sit before you jump in. Your process may be different and that’s okay.

The hard part about productivity is not the actual being productive but it’s thinking about why being more productive will positively impact your life. That’s the higher level of thinking we need to be doing more of. The Richard Bransons, the Barack Obamas, or Steve Jobs of the world didn’t become who they are because they were focused on the minutea. They became who they are and changed the world subsequently because they were focused on the bigger picture. I believe we can all do the same.

Weekly Learnings Roundup (September 4, 2016)

Thanks for checking out the Weekly Learning Roundup. These bite-sized, weekly posts are designed to give you a quick hit of interesting learnings and articles I came across this week.

It’s a motley assortment of tips, resources, and links that will hopefully give you a bit of inspiration for the upcoming week. Enjoy!

What I’m reading —

OKRs are Old News — Introducing Goal Science Thinking by First Round Review

Setting better goals both personally and professionally is an area I’m weak in. This article explains clearly the benefits of using the science behind goal-thinking that can be applicable both in the workplace and in our personal lives.

Books, documentaries, or podcast episodes I’m enjoying —

How to ‘Waste Money’ To Improve the Quality of Your Life by Tim Ferriss

Tim Ferriss provides valuable advice on the value of uninterupted time and deciding what to delegate versus what to keep. He also recommends reading Peter Drucker’s The Effective Executive to help with prioritizing the right things in life. Lots of helpful tips in this 20-minute episode.

A quote that’s inspiring me —

The only place the mind will ever find peace is inside the heart.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

Product or service I’m loving —

Pocket Casts

The guys who create this app say it’s “the world’s most powerful podcast player” and they’re not joking. Pocket Casts allows you to create filters and playlists, star favourite episodes, and much more all in a sleek design. It costs a few bucks but it’s well worth it if you’re an avid podcast listener.

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As always, thanks for checking out this Weekly Learnings Roundup. Follow me on Twitter @peternakamura to see the full list of articles that I share on a daily basis.