Out of Sight, Out of Sync (Productive Flourishing Pulse #514)

Did you accidentally pause or eliminate a best-work habit?

“What productivity tip have you tried that hasn’t worked for you?”

Laura Vanderkam’s question for her Before Breakfast podcast had me at a loss for words, which doesn’t happen that often. The Zeignarik effect kicks in really quickly for me and when something doesn’t work for me, I drop and forget it.

After a few moments of thinking about the question, I recalled that earlier that morning, I had an epiphany that removing the whiteboards from my office walls was likely having a large effect on my ability to shift into working on strategic/future-building projects.

Back in January, Angela and I swapped offices as an experiment. We very quickly realized we needed to revert back to our original offices, but I intentionally didn’t put stuff back up on my walls. I had 15 years of add-ons and cruft and it felt nice to have a clean, minimalist slate to work from. The 4’ x 8’ whiteboard I had on the wall also dictated where my chair and desk could go, so not putting it up gave me maximum flexibility with re-envisioning my office flow.

Fast forward a few months and I liked not having the “noise” of multiple whiteboards and corkboards. I got rid of them, with the agreement that if I really wanted them back, I could buy them again. It’s unlikely that I would buy a whiteboard that big since I no longer routinely drew on it for client meetings.

In the meantime, I’d try to replace all that whiteboard and corkboard noise with digital tools.

A few days ago, I realized how hard it was for me to figure out what my actual monthly goals were for the month that was ending. I felt scattered and incoherent, which is unusual for me. I eventually did surface those monthly goals, but only after a minute or two of mentally wading through a stream of activities and fishing them out of the stream.

Needless to say, I didn’t make much progress on the book I started working on in June. It’s been frozen since we went to Glacier National Park. I have lots of idea seeds captured from July, but very little progress on them. This summer fallow cycle is pretty normal for me, so I’m not overly critical about it.

What was different this year was how diffuse my progress was. I typically have a good idea of what significant project I’ve actively paused and, when I have some bonus time, I pick up that project. I may only drive that project a third of the way I normally do, but I’m still intentionally driving it forward and staying in the mix.

Instead of driving one project a third of the way forward, I ended up driving ten projects 3% forward.

Driving ten projects 3% forward is not satisfying and not just because of a myopic imperative to finish a project and/or “be productive.” Given my new vision for how I’m going to publish books, 30% forward on the frozen book would’ve been enough to start sharing it more broadly.

Whenever I end up with so many barely started projects, I know that I’m going to have the cocktail of magical thinking, overwhelm, regret, frustration, and resignation that is my flavor of thrashing.

On the other side of thrashing, I’ll actually start kicking off the rust and rebuild the systems, habits, and routines that help me drive my best work projects forward. But I now know this: keeping all of my goals and aspirations in digital spaces doesn’t work for me.

I need the persistent, external visual cues and reminders so that what matters most to me gets my conscious and unconscious attention throughout the day. Sure, some of what was on those whiteboards and corkboards was noise, but there were more lighthouses and beacons there than mere static. It’s now apparent to me that those boards held my version of the annual, quarterly, and monthly perspectives of the Momentum Planners, with the weekly and daily perspectives being handled by my weekly planning process and calendar.

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So I fumbled through an answer about keeping my goals and projects in digital tools because that’s what hasn’t worked for me. Upon reflection, I could say a few more things, but sharing those aren't nearly as interesting to me as instigating you with the following question:

Did you accidentally pause or eliminate a system, habit, or routine that helped you do your best work?

It’s likely something subtle or seemingly inconsequential like:

• Converting a pivotal focus block into a social or admin block.

• Trying a new bright, shiny object instead of using your go-to tool or app.

• No longer sharing this week’s projects with your teammates or boss.

If you did, there’s no need to have a bunch of head trash about it. It’s already the time of the year to be transitioning back into your normal grooves, upgrading habits, and rebuilding success packs.

I hope this helps you wake back up to what works for you more gently than the long-term consequences of not doing what works for you.

~Charlie