Love Your Work

To follow a productivity system, you need to be able to trust that system. You need to trust that if you put something into the system, it will get taken care of at the right time and place. But the more complex you make that system, the harder it becomes to follow and maintain. This is where building “triggers” becomes invaluable in tweaking a system that works for you. A “trigger” is a stimulus that elicits a response. You can use productivity triggers to simplify your productivity system. Triggers keep your productivity system running smoothly, and they keep your system from getting bogged down complexity. In this week’s article, I’ll tell you exactly how to find the right triggers for you to use to be effortlessly productive. We've almost reached a new funding goal! Help us get detailed show notes. Start supporting Love Your Work at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors https://ce.uci.edu/ Shown notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/productivity-triggers-podcast/

Dr. David Rock (@davidrock101) is the author of Your Brain at Work, is also the founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute. They use a science-based approach to growing soft skills, working with companies such as Intel, Microsoft, and IBM. When I was just getting finished writing my first book, Design for Hackers, I was really mystified by what was going on in my own brain. I wanted to know why creativity was easy sometimes, and hard other times. That’s when I picked up Your Brain at Work, and my work changed forever. It served as a handbook for my brain. I learned to think about the strengths and limitations of my brain, the different categories of thought, and what mental and emotional states would make creative work come easily. Today, you’ll learn about: What are level one, two, and three tasks, in terms of your brain’s horsepower? How can you manage your day by these categories? What is construal, and how can it help you work more quickly, with more clarity? What are the four keys to creating the conditions for insight? If you can set up your work so that you’re consistently creating these conditions, you’ll think more creatively. We've almost reached a new funding goal! Help us get detailed show notes. Start supporting Love Your Work at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors https://ce.uci.edu/ Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/david-rock-podcast/

Creative productivity is about mind management, not time management. You have to get into the right mental state to be creative. And you need to have your brain stocked with the knowledge it takes to solve the creative problem at hand. I believe creative energy is the next resource to be managed—at least in the age of creative productivity. Think about the way we manage time, and we take that for granted. That’s why I’ve built my own system specifically to manage my creative energy. Today I’ll be sharing, in more detail than ever, the exact creative productivity system I use to crank out not just the ideas for books and podcast episodes, but to actually produce the work. We've almost reached a new funding goal! Help us get detailed show notes. Start supporting Love Your Work at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors https://ce.uci.edu/ Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/creative-productivity-system-podcast/

Mark McGuinness (@markmcguinness) is a creative coach, a poet, and a former psychotherapist and hypnotherapist. Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art, calls Mark an "overeducated Brit who thinks deeply about stuff you and I have never heard of." Mark is the host of the 21st Century Creative Podcast. On the 21st Century Creative, Mark explores how to take advantage of the huge opportunities presented by the digital age. This at a time when there are more distractions than ever threatening to take you off course, and fewer traditional safety nets to catch you when you fall. In this conversation, we'll talk about: Click here to be creative: How to use mantras, chakras, – and other sometimes thought of as "woo" things – as like graphical user interfaces for altering your mental state. How the feeling > action > response loop can guide your creative direction: If you're wondering how to create work that really moves people, this is the key. How to use impostor syndrome to your advantage. It's a double-edged sword, or a sushi knife, as you'll see. Use it carefully. Mark also mentioned his 20 Creative Blocks list and ebook in the conversation.     Sponsors https://ce.uci.edu/ Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/mark-mcguinness-podcast/

When you're trying to make it as a creative entrepreneur, you need to make the most out of everything you have. You need maximum output with minimal investment of time and energy. The more complex you make things, the more you get bogged down. The more you surrender your creativity to the whims of the the muse, the harder you make it to bring your work into the world. Last week, as we talked to Paul Jarvis, you heard how he uses repeatable processes to make the most of his resources. I call these repeatable processes "productivity cycles." This week, I'll break down what's so great about productivity cycles, I'll share some productivity cycles that I follow, and I'll tell you how to build your own productivity cycles, based upon how you work. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors https://ce.uci.edu Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/productivity-cycles-podcast/

What if success isn't about scaling up as big as possible? What if success is actually about the freedom to call your own shots? Paul Jarvis (@pjrvs) was asking himself these questions as he left the corporate world way back in the 90s. Now he works from his home in the woods on an island near Vancouver. He explores what he's learned in his new book, Company of One: Why Staying Small is the Next Big Thing for Business. Previously, Paul was a freelance designer, working with clients such as Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, and Marie Forleo. He now writes books, and makes courses and software products. Courses such as Creative Class, which teaches you how to "go pro" in your freelance career, and software such as Fathom Analytics, which gives you simple website analytics without tracking or storing your users' personal data. In this conversation you'll learn: How to manage your time in a company of one: Paul shares specific details on how he manages his time on a weekly basis, a monthly basis, and beyond. How to build your company of one around your skills: How does Paul build on his strengths and make his weaknesses irrelevant? How to make room for creativity by being organized: Learn why systems and processes actually enhance creativity rather than stifle it. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors http://audible.com/loveyourwork Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/paul-jarvis-podcast/

To start off the New Year you can see that we're covering topics for how to improve oneself – stuff like staying focused or even staying secure in your digital life. This week, I'd like to share with you a workout protocol that I've been enjoying for staying fit AND healthy – which, as you'll see, are not the same thing. I've tried many different workout programs, INSANITY, CrossFit, Strongfirst, many others. This is by far the best results for time investment I've ever experienced. It's a workout that only takes about 12 minutes, once a week. Now, I know a claim like that makes your BS detectors go off, but hear me out. And as you'll see, just because it's only 12 minutes doesn't mean it's easy. But I personally find it really enjoyable. Disclaimer: Always talk to your doctor and fitness professional before starting or changing an exercise routine. Try any of the following at your own risk. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/body-by-science-summary-review/

Chris Wilken (@whereswilken) is founder and CEO of Let's Fix Security. He takes a behavioral approach to thinking about security, trying to make good security practices easy to implement. As a small business owner and a person in general, I've been thinking more and more about how to stay secure online. As soon as you start trying to think about how to stay secure online, you start to feel overwhelmed. It's hard to think up new passwords that are tough to hack, and it's even harder to keep them all straight. The two-factor authentication that more and more services are starting to require is annoying. I have limited resources as a solopreneur. Any unexpected interruption or loss of data means I'm not working on the things I want to be working on. Yet I also don't have the resources to have a full-time security expert to keep things buttoned up. It's probably the same for you. So this episode is for you. In this episode, we'll talk about: Are you a target? You don't have to be high-profile to be a victim of a security breach. Find out why everyone is vulnerable. How can good habits make security easy? We often put off thinking about digital security because it can be overwhelming. Throughout this whole conversation we'll be talking about how to reduce overwhelm so you can take action. Learn what the four "buckets" of security are. We'll be talking about how to prioritize your security concerns, again so you can take action. Make sure your most important stuff is secure. One thing I wanted to mention. I talk in this conversation about canisters for securing cryptocurrency paper wallets. I researched further, and it turns out that's not what they're called, so if you search, you'll have trouble finding them. They're actually intended to be "pill cases,". They are still very handy for keeping paper-based two-factor authentication numbers – especially if you're nomadic or traveling. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/digital-security-basics/

Smart phones are powerful. But with great power comes great potential to get off track. Smart phones are like a superpower. If you had x-ray vision, you wouldn't want to use it all of the time. I've discovered one simple thing to do with my smartphone. Since I started doing this, it's made me more productive than ever. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/one-phone-resolution/

Chris Bailey (@Chris_Bailey) had a crazy thought: What if, after graduating from college, instead of getting a job – what if instead he spent a year learning everything he could about productivity? Chris followed that crazy thought into a project he called "A Year of Productivity." That was five years ago, and Chris has now written two books: First, The Productivity Project, and now his new book is Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction. Chris has a unique approach to productivity advice. He mixes scientific research with his own sometimes-whacky personal experimentation. He once purposefully made himself bored for an hour a day with tasks such as "watching paint dry" or "reading the iTunes Terms and Conditions." As we go into 2019, we're all thinking about how we can be better in many things. This conversation will give you fresh thinking for how you keep yourself productive and focused. We'll talk about: How did Chris make the decision to turn down job offers and dedicate himself to studying productivity? The more confident you can be in your decisions, the more focused you can be. Chris's "regret minimization" technique will help you frame your big decisions. How does Chris separate the scientific research behind staying productive and focused from the hype around being productive and focused? The better you can separate the wheat from the chaff, the easier you can find what works for you. How can you start forming your own unique approach to productivity and focus – and how can you start that TODAY? There are already clues you can look at to start being more focused than ever. Chris is going to share those with you. Image credit: Chris Roussakis Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/chris-bailey-hyperfocus/