When people want to be more productive, they usually obsess over tools, gadgets and software that promise to get more done. In the last few months, I've realized that good old-fashioned rules are more important that the latest software. Technology and tools change all the time but principles are timeless.
The best productivity principles I've found come from the simple "Cult Of Done Manifesto".
Here are the 13 tenents of the Done Manifesto:
1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more
I printed out these rules and I have them on my desk so I'm constantly reminded to get shit done, get things off my to-do list and move on to the next thing. Perfectionism is a curse.
The biggest thing I've learned from the Done Manifesto is to "close open loops" as quickly as possible. What this means is, as soon as I get an idea, a task or whatever, get it done (80/90% good enough) and move on to the next task. By getting it done quickly and out of the way, that task is off my "mental plate". Do you remember the kids who always got the highest grades in school? They did their homework the same day the teacher assigned it. All the other kids would leave the homework "open" for a few days and then scramble to finish it the night before.
The rules also helped me get comfortable with doing things quickly and "good enough". They also made me realise that I didn't have to finish everything; scrapping an idea, ditching a terrible book half way through and quitting is often the best move. This was difficult for me because I'd always been raised to "finish what I started".
Anyway guys, here's the original blog post:
http://www.brepettis.com/blog/2009/3/3/t...festo.html
The best productivity principles I've found come from the simple "Cult Of Done Manifesto".
Here are the 13 tenents of the Done Manifesto:
1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more
I printed out these rules and I have them on my desk so I'm constantly reminded to get shit done, get things off my to-do list and move on to the next thing. Perfectionism is a curse.
The biggest thing I've learned from the Done Manifesto is to "close open loops" as quickly as possible. What this means is, as soon as I get an idea, a task or whatever, get it done (80/90% good enough) and move on to the next task. By getting it done quickly and out of the way, that task is off my "mental plate". Do you remember the kids who always got the highest grades in school? They did their homework the same day the teacher assigned it. All the other kids would leave the homework "open" for a few days and then scramble to finish it the night before.
The rules also helped me get comfortable with doing things quickly and "good enough". They also made me realise that I didn't have to finish everything; scrapping an idea, ditching a terrible book half way through and quitting is often the best move. This was difficult for me because I'd always been raised to "finish what I started".
Anyway guys, here's the original blog post:
http://www.brepettis.com/blog/2009/3/3/t...festo.html