who moved my brain revaluing time and attention a presentation by merlin mann of 43 folders

8/14/2019 Who Moved My Brain Revaluing Time and Attention a presentation by Merlin Mann of 43 folders

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HELLO.

Hi. Iʼm Merlin.I do 43Folders.com.



WHO MOVEDMY BRAIN?

REVALUINGTIME & ATTENTION

MERLIN MANN43FOLDERS.COM

Today, I want to tell you about my pal,Mike Monteiro.



MIKEMULEDESIGN.COM

This is Mike. Hi, Mike!



Mike makes things at MuleDesign.com.



Mike had a problem. Mike hates meetings.Mike is also a huge smartass.



Mike made these. They make you think abouthow you use peopleʼs time and attention.



YOU ARE A BARGAIN.

BIGIt costs very little to get your attention.

Especially if youʼre a “knowledge worker.”



Thatʼs a Peter Drucker term. KWs are smartpeople who add value to information.

They also have girly, smooth hands.



“Lost in E-Mail, Tech Firms Face Self-Made Beast,” June 14, 2008

“Interruptions by things that aren’turgent or important, likeunnecessary e-mail messages —and the time it takes to get back ontrack.”

28% OF EACH DAY

Interruptions are a huge pain. Intel estimatesthat interruptions cost them US$1B last year.



People give you money because you knowhow to solve problems.

Not because you move email around andrespond to things that go “DING!”



BLACK BOX JOB

Hereʼs the thing: your jobʼs kind of weird.At least compared to your Grandfather.

(Unless he was a pimp, or a spy, or something. Anyway.)



{ } (thing you do)

specs

meetingsemail

pizza

etc.

Flawless Work

plop!

No one cares HOW you get things done;just that you DO. This is really hard unless

you actively manage your time ANDattention.



Can you see the value of attention as clearlyas the value of cash? Donʼt just say, “Sure, I

do!”Really think about it.



∞The things you COULD do are infinite,

while your time and attention are FINITE.



OPPORTUNITY COST

Opportunity Cost means: if I do “this,” Inecessarily canʼt also do “that,” “that,”

“that,” and “OMG, THAT!”

FINITE TIME



FINITE TIME,

FINITE ATTENTION

Concept: Joel Spolsky / JoelOnSoftware.com

Joel Spolsky says only so many blocks canfit in a box. I agree. Joel Spolsky is smart.



So, how do I keep my brain where I want it?



FIVE PATTERNS(THINGS THAT TEND TO WORK)

Well, hereʼs five things that tend to work.I call them “patterns.”



FIVE PATTERNS1 Identify Leaks

2 Govern Access

3 Minimize Notifications

4 Work in Dashes5 Renegotiate

These are realistic, but theyʼre personal, too.So, tweak them. Ready?



IDENTIFY LEAKS

Find giant holes that have filled with crap.Remove the crap. Then seal the leak.



GOVERN ACCESS

Stop allowing 100% access. Make mindfuldecisions about who gets access to you. And

when. And for how long.



WHO GETS ACCESSNOW?

Ask yourself. Seriously, do it. Because itsays a lot about who you are.



MINIMIZE

NOTIFICATIONSTurn off everything thatʼs not an actual“alarm.” Know what an “alarm” is?



An alarm is something that says,“Hi. Stop what youʼre doing right now.

Or youʼll die. Honk.”



“DING!”

The “DING!” means Facebook zombies &spammers get to interrupt you whenever it

suits them. Up to 2,000 times each week.

WORK IN



WORK IN

DASHES

Plan your work in small chunks that you cantear through easily.



Rule of Thumb: If a task wonʼt fit throughyour typical window of availability, itʼs too

big. Break it down.



Get out of “Grizzly Bear Mode.” Stopscanning the campground for bears, and go

make some damned sʼmores.

TRAINING



TRAINING:

10/50 DASH1 m n Co ect Process

50 min Work

10 min Collect & ProcessEtc...

An experiment. Ten minutes of “Grizzlybear,” followed by 50 minutes of making

sʼmores. Repeat, D.C. al Coda.



This is a GTD-ish concept. Ask: “What could Ichange about this thing to make it ʻdo-ableʼ

AND awesome?”



QUALIFYING“YES”

Renegotiation means “yes” can have shades.



• Kinda• Maybe• Later

• A Little

QUALIFYING“YES”

Learn to say, “Yes, but...!” Youʼll do more andbe less stressed about all of it.

FIVE PATTERNS



FIVE PATTERNS1 Identify Leaks

2 Govern Access

3 Minimize Notifications

4 Work in Dashes5 Renegotiate

These work. I swear. Try them today.



Be like Mike: make things. And, seriously?



BE A DAD

NEVER be scared or embarrassed to defendyour attention. Be a Dad for your brain. It

needs you, okay?



THANKS.(NOW, YOU.)

Thank you for 45 minutes of your Time &Attention. I owe each of you three tokens.



WHO MOVEDMY BRAIN?

REVALUINGTIME & ATTENTION

MERLIN MANN43FOLDERS.COM

Now, please ask me questions, and tell mewhere Iʼm full of shit.



REALLY. THANKS.

Best thing ever. “Weʼre DONE here.” Thankyou very much.



FIN.

Last slide. Please stop looking at this, and gomake things that are awesome.

who moved my brain revaluing time and attention a presentation by merlin mann of 43 folders

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