amy's stupid easy (but massively effective) productivity hack

Amy's Stupid-easy

(but massively effective)

productivity hack

by Amy Lightholder

The Basic Concept

1.

1.Prioritize

2.Record

3.Review

4.Repeat

1a. Open a rich text document

worknotes August 8 2011

I use Microsoft Word, but whatever

writing program you're comfortable

in will work.

I always saved such documents as

"worknotes [date]" but use

whatever format works for you.

1b. Make a list of everything you need to do


post ad for old laptop on Craigslist

make food for week

log weight in diet log

call mom

apply to 5 jobs

update LinkedIn profile

follow up w/ potential employer #1

1c. Sort what you need to do by value



apply to 5 jobs

post ad for old laptop on Craigslist


make food for week


call mom

In this example, my #1 goal was

to find a job.

Since I worked in tech, every

employer was going to look at

my profile before deciding

whether to interview me. So that

was the most important.

The second most important was

to send out applications for

jobs.

How you define "value" is up to

you. Don't spend too much time

on this, just get it as right as you

can. You'll have plenty of

opportunity to re-prioritize later

:)

2a. As your day progresses, update!



apply to 5 jobs

follow up w/ potential

employer #1

make food for week


call mom

post ad for old laptop on

Craigslist

• italicized means done

•strikethrough means

something that didn't need

doing after all. (For example,

suppose your friend buys

your old laptop, then you

wouldn't need to post an ad

for it on Craigslist)

Stuff will come up. This is totally normal.



apply to 5 jobs


employer #1

make food for week


call mom


Craigslist

Life pretty much doesn't go

according to plan, ever. Stuff

will come up that you

absolutely have to do. Let's

say, for example, I get a call

from a job I'd given up on

who's had their #1 fall

through and wants me to

come in for an interview

NOW.

Just put whatever comes up on your list.



apply to 5 jobs


employer #1

make food for week


call mom


Craigslist

interview for hot job prospect

Since my #1 goal is getting a

job, and this interview

represents the best opportunity I

have at that moment, I'm going

to choose the interview over

everything else I have on my list.

I'm going to write that down at

the top.

Usually I'm going to italicize it,

because it's one of those things

that is done or "sure to be done"

by the time I have an opportunity

to write it down. The point is to

have a record for myself of what

I did.

It doesn't matter whether it is good or bad

stuff.



apply to 5 jobs


employer #1

make food for week


call mom


Craigslist

got food poisoning :(

The important thing is to have a

record for myself of what I did.

Maybe instead of a hot

interview, I got food poisoning.

Good or bad doesn't matter, only

whether or not it affected my

plan.

In this example, I consider food

poisoning an emergency

interruption. I'm emphasizing it

on my notes, because I'm trying

to catch the attention of my

future self later. The interview,

OTOH, was the sort of work I

might ordinarily do anyway, so I

didn't do anything special.

5. Each morning, hit "save" and then use "save

as" to make a fresh copy of your notes.



apply to 5 jobs

follow up w/ potential employer

#1

make food for week


call mom


Craigslist

got food poisoning :( You'll want to change the date,

of course :)

6. Move yesterday's stuff out of today's list




apply to 5 jobs

follow up w/ potential employer

#1

make food for week


call mom


Craigslist

done

unnecessary

Stuff that went wrong

got food poisoning wednesday :(

John (recruiter for Oracle): 650 786-0907

login for new job site: mylogin/ mypassword411

Stuff you completed yesterday gets

moved to "done" and "unnecessary"

lists at the bottom of the page.

The reason why you keep these

things is that in the long run, it's

helpful to keep a list of what you

accomplished, as well as the sort of

work that goes on your to-do list and

turns out to not actually be that

important.

Sometimes I include other stuff: notes

I make for that day (phone numbers,

lists) or extra categories ("Stuff that

went wrong") but simpler is usually

better.

7. Add new stuff to the list and prioritize




apply to 5 jobs

send thank you note to

interviewer

ping references

make food for week


call mom


Craigslist

done

unnecessary


got food poisoning wednesday :(

Since I had that interview

yesterday, I have a couple of

new items related to it. It

went well, and is probably

still my best bet. On the

other hand, I didn't work on

my diet yesterday and that's

pretty important to me too,

so I'm going to make sure I

log today.

During the week, add/re-prioritize as needed




apply to 5 jobs

impromptu lunch w/ mom

send thank you note to interviewer

write back to recruiter

ping references



buy frozen dinners


Craigslist

make food for week

call mom

done

unnecessary

Usually, I'd get several new

items to do per day. I'd just put

them on the list where I felt

they belonged.

Sometimes during the day I'd

get stuck or lose focus. When

that happens, I go back to my

list and say "What's my goal for

today? What's the most

important thing to do in the

next hour?" Editing/rearranging

my lists helped me get

unstuck.

8. At the end of each week, review!

review August 13 2011



apply to 5 jobs




ping references

buy groceries

clean interview suit


follow up on new job lead

write article for trade publication


Craigslist

make food for week

call mom

done

unnecessary


got food poisoning wednesday

computer crashed - had to restore

from backup

By the end of the week, you

will have a list of

accomplishments,

unnecessary work, and

problems - a reflection of what

really happens in a given

work week

Now you have a pretty fair

idea of what you can get done

in a day. (It is almost always

less than you thought it was!)

Reviewing is the most important step in this

process- Without an accurate accounting of what you did and did not accomplish

in the past, it is impossible to make an accurate prediction of what you

will accomplish in the future

-Without recording and reviewing the things that went wrong and got in

your way, you don't have much chance of preventing or recovering from

them next time

- A clear, conscious record of your progress is both humbling and

empowering.

- Another benefit is confirmation that you generally have good judgement.

Most people forget what caused them to put something off, but it is

almost always the best decision at that time.

9. Each week, start with a clean slate and do

it all over again.


10. Every few weeks, review your reviews




apply to 5 jobs




ping references

buy groceries






Craigslist

make food for week

call mom

done

unnecessary




from backup




apply to 5 jobs




ping references

buy groceries






Craigslist

make food for week

call mom

done

unnecessary




from backup




apply to 5 jobs




ping references

buy groceries






Craigslist

make food for week

call mom

done

unnecessary



After a couple of weeks, a number of

patterns will become apparent. You'll find

out what kind of problems tend to block or

interrupt you, which kinds of chores linger

for weeks without getting done, and which

almost always get accomplished right

away.

You'll also, with a few week's sample, have

a fairly accurate measure of what you can

get done in a week. This will make you

massively more effective, because you'll be

able to budget your effort with real

information about how much you have to

"spend".

amy's stupid easy (but massively effective) productivity hack

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