What can I say? Consider me a fan. A lot of you enjoyed “my” post on Randy Pausch’s “Last lecture.” In fact, take a gander over there at my popular posts and you’ll see that, as of this writing, Dr Pausch’s Last Lecture is “my” second-most popular post. For those of you who don’t know, Randy Pausch was diagnosed with cancer and given 3-6 months of good health left. It’s been over three months, and he still looks healthy.
Well, I found a new lecture of his on Time Management. It is excellent as well with some great info. And considering his situation, I think his insights into what to do with the time you have make the video well worth watching.
Long time no blog. My utmost apologies to all of you. Those who know me personally know that I am going through a bit of a transition period as I adjust to the, for lack of a better word, single-father-raising-his daughter-life (in a foreign country no less!).
Let me just say the lessons I have already learned (and continue to learn) on the topics of time management, making solid relationships, and the importance of possessing less could give me about a year’s worth of material on this blog.
And I should also mention that I understand now more than ever the importance of continually developing yourself. Those of you with children might know what I mean when I say that the time we devote to developing ourselves trickles down into our children’s development.
So, Possess Less Exist More is back! I’ll most likely go back to my 3 posts a week schedule. But for now, I wanted to share with you a video of my new “dream apartment”. Its about 650 sq. feet for two of us. But having little space is actually a lifesaver (I’ll blog more on the joys of having a small place–especially if you are like me and hate to clean).
The video is not that good and I shot it in haste. I’ll try to get a beter one up here soon with some commentary. Maybe the beginnings of some video blogging as well.
Thanks to all of you who e-mailed me wondering where I was. I do still exist and live joyfully.
With a simple change, I was able to run errands in less than half the time it usually took me.And the truth is I accidentally figured this one out.
You see, when I was running my own business I worked some wacky hours.I did a lot of work for companies overseas, and so sometimes I wouldn’t start working till 6:00 PM.
So, when was I supposed to shop, go to the bank, etc.?Well, one day I started grocery shopping at about 10:00 AM.And that’s when I started noticing something was amiss.
I noticed that hardly anyone was at the store.Whereas it used to take me at least an hour to get through the store, it now took me half an hour. Then I started running other errands at different times.Go to the bank at 2:00.Go out to eat at 11:00.
Heck, I was missing the lunch rush.Traffic was non-existent.It didn’t get any better.
Live Off-Peak
And that was the key right there.The key is to live your life off-peak.Do things at times other people aren’t doing things.Shopping and eating out are two things that can take up a lot of time.By doing those things off-peak you can save yourself A LOT of time.
“But I Have a Job.I have to do everything at a certain time”
Some people might be thinking this to themselves right now.And it is true.Having a job requires you to do things at certain times, like show up for work and leave at a certain time.
At the moment, I am working at a publishing company in South Korea.So, I understand this.However, I still live off-peak.How do I do it?
Here are a couple of ways you can shift your way of thnking (and that of your boss) to live more off-peak:
Think in terms of hours worked, not a schedule
I work a set amount of hours.Why should it be 9-5?I go to the gym every day. Now, I could kill myself and fight with all the other people who go before work.But I go at 4:00 PM.NO ONE is there.My workout goes by quickly.I simply worked it out with my company that I take an hour break at 4:00 and I still work the same amount of hours.Just at different times.
This shift in thinking can also lead you to work some from home.I do that occasionally. And in that case no one can “count” your hours.
Negotiate an off-peak schedule
Again, who said you have to work 9-5?How about 10-6?11-7?You get my drift.Of course, the best option is to work remotely.But we all assume that we have to take the schedule we are given when the truth is many times the only thing a company cares about is that you get your work done.
These are a couple of things to think about.But if you want to increase your productivity and get your errands done in half the time, you should find more and more ways to live an off-peak lifestyle.
Most of what I’ve ever read about time management and how to be productive deals with organizing and re-organizing.And much of that is necessary (in fact, I blog about things to eliminate things as a means of organizing all the time).The more I read about time management, however, the more it seems to focus on modern technology and information overload.For example, you might hear people tell you to throw away your blackberry (not a bad idea, but…).
That is good advice.But I have found that there is one thing that will kill your production.And it has nothing to do with modern technology.In fact, this was a problem since the dawn of mankind and doing nothing about it will stop your production dead in its tracks.
Some years ago as I sat in my office after a long 12-hour day, I sat and pondered something deeply.
How was it that I sat there at my desk all day and managed to do absolutely nothing. Nada. Zip. Not one iota of work.
But I had been so busy all day. How was it that I completed nothing.
Certainly, I had done something, right? I was super-busy all day. The only problem was that all the things I was doing had nothing to do with work.
Welcome to a typical day in the life of the busy, yet unproductive. That was your glimpse into the reflections of a worker who did not exist. He was simply a figment of the imagination of the payroll department that cut checks to this “worker” who did very little, if any, work.
But it was not my fault really. The problem was that I really couldn’t figure out what I was doing with my time. I had no idea why I wasn’t getting any work done. And let me tell you when I set up my own business I had to figure it out quick or I would have gone broke in the
Does this sound familiar?
Well, in this 4-part series I will present to you the 3 things that I found had cut most deeply into my work production and how I solved all of them in one fail swoop (after a lot of trial and error). Needles to say, they all involved my computer.
The key to existing more is having more time to do the things that are important. And we can’t do that until we learn to be more productive and shed the “activities” that prevent us from using our time wisely.
Let’s start with the first of these murderers of production:
Production Murderer #1: Checking E-mail
I can hear the sound already. That Whoosh MS Outlook makes when I get a fresh, hot delivery. As I stated in an earlier post, though, it was usually from someone trying to sell me something, and in most cases that was my fault because I got on the person’s list in the first place.
Or how about that “urgent” e-mail from a friend that they so lovingly forwarded to me and 100 other people? I had better answer it right away before I forget about it.
I can tell you that at least once every 5 minutes I was checking my e-mail. And how much of it was urgent? Not a one. They all could have waited. In fact, 90% could have been deleted.
The truth is the people sending me e-mail were just as bored as I was. So, we sent each other e-mail all day going on about how bored we were when we should have been working.
But there is a quickie solution production murder by e-mail—turn it off.
Turn off your e-mail client. If you use Outlook, don’t open it. If you use web-based e-mail, don’t open your browser until your work is done. It’s that easy.
Some will say, “But Carlon I need to check my e-mail…that’s how I get clients.” That’s fine. But if you want to be productive, check your email at certain intervals in the day (like at 10:00 & 3:00, once every 2 hours, etc.). or check it after your most urgent task is completed. That way you can be sure not to miss any e-mails (trust me, most e-mails don’t need immediate replies) and still get some work done.
Tune in tomorrow, as I show you the second production murder and how under its smileyface-winking-sharing facade lies the potential to waste week after week of work with absolutely nothing to show for it.
I consider this blog is my very small contribution to humanity. A blueprint to life no longer focused on what we have but on what we are. Freedom. Freedom from the things that weigh you down. Things that prevent you from exploring who you are and, even more importantly, doing what you really want to do.
Most people want to be organized, debt-free, and above all happy. What I have learned is that without a guiding principle, it is difficult to change. Unless you know why you should be well-organized or debt-free, it is difficult to do it. “Possess Less Exist More” is my guiding principle.
I believe in owning less and doing more. Freeing up time instead of buying things I’ll never use. Some people look at my life and think I believe in taking vows of poverty. But that’s not it at all. Poor people can own quite a lot junk and rich people can own relatively less.
Simply put: The more possessions you have, the more you are tied down. But think about this: how many of those possessions actually mean something to you. If everything you owned suddenly caught fire, what would you save? My answer is I would save my daughter. Everything else can be replaced.
Knowing this why do you constantly strive to make more money and buy more things and yet find ourselves just as discontented? My answer is that most people buy things to feel alive when really they feel bored.
Possess Less Exist More will challenge you to live the life you are seeking and eliminating all the needless things that prevent you from doing it. I hope it will become your guiding principle.
Some of the topics this blog will talk about will be:
Possess Less
• Eliminating Clutter: Practical tips on ways you can easily get rid of the possessions that possess you and how to make a buck or two selling them.
• Time Management: Not how to get more time to do more work, but to reduce the clutter that wastes your time.
• Debt/Finance: Debt is what cripples most people and prevents them from having the life they want. I set out to uncover the hidden reasons why you may actually be in debt and offer practical, easy-to-follow, step-by-step solution on how to eliminate debt forever. The key to eliminating debt is first knowing why you are in debt and second how debt and credit works, so you can eradicate it. I show you how to do both. When you possess less, you will have more money to spend. How you spend it can free you from where you are and take you where you want to be.
Exist More
• Goals: How traditional goal-setting is causing you to live without excitement or passion
• Balance: Work/life is not about balance. It’s about knowing which is more important at what time.
• Wealth: Money is only a means to an end. A full existence is not one where you chase after money. I delve into the deeper meaning of wealth and give practical tips to achieve financial independence.
• Health/Fitness: A healthy body is the key to a healthy mind and a long life.
• Problem-solving/critical thinking: Practical skills on how to deal with everyday problems and for when you reach that crossroads in life.
• Inspiration: You are somebody. Your existence matters. I want to you not just to believe it, but to feel it. And to be it.
More topics will likely be added (or maybe eliminated) as the blog grows.
And as I used to blog on marketing, all posts related to marketing are still archived on this blog if you are interested.
A Postscript
I am always in the debt of my best friend Heejeong Haas who not only first uttered the phrase “Possess Less Exist More” but always supported my ideas and visions. Without her, this blog would not have come to fruition. May her dreams always come true.
