How are you?
Nowadays, most people answer that question with one word: busy. And yet it doesn’t have to be that way! If we eliminate what isn’t essential, we’ll have more time for the things that matter, much like Kazuo Ishiguro writes in A Pale View of the Hills (also available on Audible):
When you believe in what you’re doing, you don’t feel like idling away the hours.
If you need more guidance, here are some of my favourite Seth Godin quotes from his 2021 blog posts, together with a recommended title from Blinkist.
Even though it seems as though the world is trying to steal our focus and our energy, ultimately, in each moment, it’s our choice to make. We can decide to create possibility and contribute. Toward better. ~ Burned out/burned in
Learn more: The Pomodoro Technique
Busy is simply a series of choices about how to spend the next minute. Productive requires skill, persistence and good judgement. ~ The trap of busy
Learn more: What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast
What you wish for determines how you’re spending a juicy part of your day. If you wish for something you can’t control, that might fill you with frustration or distract you from wishing that could lead to productive work. ~ Careful what you wish for
Learn more: The Three Secrets to Effective Time Investment
Time is priceless. But the moments when we have a chance to connect, to be in sync, to bring out the best in each other–that’s time that’s worth cherishing. Don’t waste it if you can. ~ Avocado time
Learn more: The Now Habit
In the old days, when we worked on the assembly line or even in sync at the office or at school, there were good reasons to adopt the timing that was assigned to us. But perhaps it makes sense to take control and listen and notice and work with our patterns, not against them. ~ The most important meal of the day
Learn more: Felt Time
One of the jobs to be done is to be clear about what the jobs to be done are, and whether or not they are the right jobs. ~ Jobs to be done
Learn more: Do What Matters Most
It pays to know what something is for. It helps us figure out how to do it better, how to allocate resources and how to know when we’re done. ~ “But how will you know?”
Learn more: A Minute to Think
The very nature of ‘urgent’ means that it can’t and won’t persist. Important, on the other hand, might hang around for a long time. ~ The urgent changes
Learn more: Essentialism
Choose any date you like, as far in the future as you like. But a date, circled on the calendar. By that date, what will you have implemented? What will be in place? Where will you be, what will you be doing? ~ Date certain
Learn more: Four Thousand Weeks
Like most things that matter, keeping deadlines is a skill, and since it’s a skill, we can learn it. ~ How (not) to miss a deadline
Learn more: 168 Hours
Being counted on is a gift. If you want to be counted on next time, best to invest early and often in making that deadline, and then, in the rare cases when it’s not enough, treating your clients with the respect that you’d like to receive in a similar situation. ~ How to miss a deadline
Learn more: How to Be a Productivity Ninja
We’re not in a race to check off as many boxes as we possibly can before we are out of time. Instead, we have the chance to use the time to create moments that matter. Because they connect us, because they open doors, because the moments, added up, create a life. ~ “Take your time”
Learn more: The ONE Thing
If you discover that you’re calling meetings where people abstain, or worse, call for nullification, perhaps you should be more careful about which meetings you call and who you invite. ~ Meeting nullification
Learn more: The Joy of Missing Out
The thing that made you busy might have been the reputation you earned for being reliable. Ironically, that very busy-ness might destroy your reputation. ~ Busy (and reliable)
Learn more: Do Pause
Either you’re using time. Or it’s using you. You can watch the clock, but if you do, it’s watching you. ~ Clocks
Learn more: Make Time
Synchronised, real-time interaction is precious. It creates magic. We shouldn’t waste it on bureaucracy or displays of false control–it’s better saved for moments of connection and possibility. ~ Respecting their time
Learn more: Not Today
If you don’t have time to do it right, you’re unlikely to have time to do it over. No sense wasting tomorrow as well. ~ Perhaps it’s worth throwing it out today
Learn more: Procrastinate on Purpose
In a competitive marketplace, self-regulating the length of our shift is a lot to ask. Given that the list of things to do is intentionally endless, it’s on each of us to decide what ‘enough’ looks like. Because more time isn’t always the answer. ~ And when is the shift over?
Learn more: Off the Clock
The calendar belongs to everyone else. Their schedule isn’t your schedule unless it helps you get where you’re going. ~ Don’t waste the good days
Learn more: The Art of Stopping Time
(If you found this valuable, please subscribe below for monthly updates!)
