5-minutes. Right now.

Most people are not lazy, but the idea of trading a big piece of time for that thing you need to get done feels like a bad trade-off at the moment. It’s easier to keep scrolling through Reddit or Twitter.

The answer is don’t think about the six hours of time you need to complete your task. Just start a five-minute timer and shut off all distractions and trade just that five minutes to get a little bit of your task done.

What ends up happening is you break the loop of avoiding the task and you feel that it is actually a good way to use that time.

Take five minutes, take five minutes now and use it every time you start feeling lazy or unmotivated throughout the day.

Pop the happy bubble

Don’t rest on prior accomplishments. That was yesterday and tomorrow doesn’t care about that.

So what if you were in great physical shape 5 years ago, you’re a fat slob now. That great year of work you had back in 2018, that was three years ago. Get over it and build new stuff.

Don’t believe the best or worst things people say about you. The best stuff gets you high on a figment of somebody’s imagination.

Measure your happiness against the effort you apply and the performance you have. Complacency is the enemy of success.

Reward yourself for the process, not the result

To build and sustain the enthusiasm and energy to continue building even through the difficult days requires us to focus on the process and let the results come whenever they come.

We must focus on the process of what we are doing. Celebrate every little win and every step in the right direction.

This will train you to associate energizing happiness with the efforts you put forth regardless of the immediate visible success that appears (or doesn’t appear.)

We can’t control the world, but we can control our input (to a certain extent), thus it appears that if we can train our brain to release dopamine and associate happiness with success in sticking with the process, we will be more effective at doing the process, which in the end, will deliver a much better final result.

We’ll be happier while building, we’ll be happier when the results are delivered, we’ll be more steady and more sustained throughout the entire ordeal.

When the process is the goal, you are happier and less tired and you make better stuff.

An idiot with a plan

Warren Buffet has a quote that goes something like this, “Any idiot with a plan is better off than a genius without one.”

Also, any idiot with a plan is better off than a genius with a plan who sticks to it.

Because no plan survives first contact with the real world. Too many geniuses get caught living in the abstract where their ideas are perfect, but that doesn’t mesh with the real world where things get tested.

The idiot at least is courageous and doesn’t care as much about looking stupid and he is often very effective. Much to the chagrin of the “genius”.

The idiot could learn from the genius, but the genius also has much to learn from the idiot. Finally, make plans, but be flexible.

You aren’t doing good work if you aren’t doing it fast

Did you see how crazy my blog title sounds when you read it? It’s practically offensive. But we do this to ourselves all the time. The day doesn’t feel productive unless we’ve crammed in X number of things and gone as fast as we can to get them all done.

No!

We should measure success by whether or not we did the thing, not by how long it takes to do it or how difficult it is to do.

Measure yourself against who you were yesterday. Did you commit to and do your job today?

If the answer is yes, stop worrying about speed and difficultly. The job is done. You did your duty. You did well.

What is your ideal day?

What does your ideal day look like? What work, adventure, study, art, or play is in that day? Is it spending time with family or alone with a book? Is it spending time helping your community or rescuing animals?

Once you have the answer, ask yourself what you’re doing to make every day like that.

Get to the fulcrum point

Get to the tipping point in every project. That’s what I’ve focused on for several years. There is a point in each project where suddenly you can see the finish line, where the work isn’t marching uphill, and you’re ready to coast through the remaining work to the finish line.

This requires strong focus and dedication in the first half to make the smooth second half possible.

If you procrastinate or allow your focus to be turned to non-essential tasks, you slog through the first half forever and you panic through the second half as the deadline is then usually hours away.

Make a big effort to get to the tipping point, the fulcrum point, and enjoy the work you do.

Make the complex simple

In our design, photography, and communication we must make complex things simple. Things that are obvious to us are usually not even on the radar of people who aren’t buried in the design or photography world.

Think of teaching a group of brand new medical students about medicine. Start with the bones and blood and not something like the effects that a rare genetic disease might have on your blood’s structure or the immune system’s response.

Dream for the future, but plan for today

Don’t plan every tiny detail and don’t plan too far into the future. Plan just enough so you know the work that needs to be done today and maybe tomorrow. No more.

Dream about the future and plan vague ideas of where you want to steer your company or project, but don’t nickel and dime the future. The future will present challenges unforeseen and detailed planning much beyond the next 24 hours is generally a waste.

Smooth takeoff

If you don’t get started quickly, the day dwindles away and before you know it, it’s 5:30pm and you wonder what has happened.

I’ve been guilty of a morning routine that takes 4 hours to finish before I start my work. That’s unacceptable. My goal these days is to be awake and through my entire morning routine within 90minutes and then get right into work.

I think of it like an airplane taking off. You want it to be fast and smooth. If something gets in the way, the airplane can crash. If you throw distractions and unnecessary tasks in and sabotage your own takeoff, you might be crazy. Smooth and fast takeoff is the best formula for getting the day started right.

Shadows and highlights of distractions

The thing that is distracting you right now feels so captivating, so important, and so comfortable. When you step away from it, you clearly see how much of a waste of time it was and you’re annoyed that you wasted 5 hours doing something that was utterly useless.

Therein we see the highlights and shadows of distraction. The highlights are like flashes of light, but the shadows are like caves that can swallow you up and never let go.

To be or to do?

Do you want credit, or do you want to have an impact? They rarely come together. If you spend your life chasing fame and credit and praise, it’s a distraction from making a real impact.

If you make an incredible impact, you’ll not only make an impact, but you usually get some credit that long outlives you.

Credit and accolades are fleeting, but impact is long-lasting.

Do you wish to be famous or do things that make an impact? To be or to do.

Saying yes with conviction

We must be sure that we are committed if we say “yes” to engagements, jobs, projects, etc… If we don’t say yes enthusiastically and with authenticity, we’re saying yes because we feel pressured to do so. This breeds resentment.

When we live or work filled with resentment, that is going to cause us far more problems than just saying no when we’re not happy with or prepared to take on the project.

Small is the way to get big things done

Instead of adding an epic task to your to-do list, add the task of breaking that epic project into small tasks that can be completed more quickly.

When we begin a project, we work twice as quickly when we can see the end up ahead. If no end is in sight, we begin to meander and productivity goes into the wood chipper.

Small bites, small stories, small tasks. Small is the way to get big things done.

The holistic nature of things

I’ve been thinking about the way we think about what we do. The compartmentalization of our life. Everything wrapped in beautiful little boxes. Then all these boxes get stacked together and that’s our life. Sure, everything is together, but it’s all kind of apart at the same time.

Life appears to be far different than what we perceive, however. Everything is connected. Everything.

History connects us to the past like a scarlet thread. Our decisions in business don’t stand alone, they touch and influence massive parts of life. Our health is more than taking 15 different pills to make us healthy. The pills all must work together–and work with the make-up of our body.

Everything has side effects and nothing lives in a vacuum. Our decisions today will affect/change the rest of our life. We won’t see the impact of most of our decisions, but it’s always there even when we ignore it or don't realize it. (i.e. You may have bought a red car. That red color may have caught someone's eye before they pulled out in front of you. Who knows what injury or financial hassle would have followed such an event. But it never happened because they noticed your car.)

Nothing lives only in the present moment without regard to the rest of our life. I’m starting to see how this is true for all aspects of history, science, art, business, family, health, religion, and all beliefs and decisions we make.

Practice and talents

Practice is the key to becoming the master of your craft. However, there needs to be talent there, to begin with.

There is a certain baseline you’re born with and you can sharpen that with practice. Practice can’t make you Michael Jordan, you need to be born with that. But Jordan wouldn’t be Jordan without practice.

The two go together and ultimate success isn’t there without both. Practice without the natural talent is a futile life of busting your chops trying and wondering why you never quite get to that legendary status. Talent without practice is a life filled with untapped potential and regret.

Find what you’re good at doing and practice until you’re great at doing it.

Planning is the key, but also the trap

A dream without a plan remains just a dream. Action without a plan often will turn into a nightmare.

But the act of planning can become so seductive, that planning becomes the primary focus. It becomes for fun, more rewarding (in the moment), and more seemingly important to plan rather than to do the work.

Planning should never become more important than the plan itself.

Dream, plan, and DO.

The creative stuff happens when you think it’s over

Most people stop writing as soon as they make their point. For professional writers, that is when the real writing starts.

Most joke writers stop writing once they get a good punchline. For the professional comedian, that is when the real writing starts.

Most designers build the logo as soon as they draw a neat concept. For the professional designer, that is just when things start heating up.

Most photographers settle for the first pretty good image they make. For the professional, that’s when they know they’re getting close to the truly epic shot.

It’s so tempting to take the first “out” you get. That first great idea pops up and you take it instead of marinating in it and discovering a dozen ideas right alongside it.

For the best creativity, soak in the process and take the time. that’s where the really great ideas and art are to be found.

You could leave right now

Life could end right now for you or me. You could die tomorrow when everything seems perfect today. It should be a reminder to do what is right, right now! No waiting. No excuses. No taking tomorrow for granted.

When you feel tired or lazy or like sitting around and wasting what you’ve been given. This should be a reminder that you are still feeling and you have the gift of life and you only get one shot at this thing. And it could all be finished tomorrow. So why waste today because you don’t feel like getting up and moving?

It could all be gone tomorrow, so don’t take it for granted today. Remember the Latin saying "memento mori"