Spare anything but time
Don’t waste it. Repurpose it, and let it go once in a while
Welcome to another edition of ProductiveGrowth 🌱, weekly stories about productivity, leadership, motivation, and anything else that helps us and our teams grow and be more productive. Plus, industry news on the companies, products, and services that allow us to work less and do more.
Lockdown has made me reconsider plenty of things, among them, time being one of the most pressing. At the beginning of quarantine, I could only think about the countless things I could be doing and wasn’t—about all that wasted time. Eventually, I realized that time is what I make of it, and obsessing over it is the most futile way of wasting it.
Today I want you to think about how you manage your time and how you can gain more control. Hope you enjoy it and happy Halloween!
Steve.
TL;DR
Ask yourself: is time in control of me or vice versa? Am I too obsessed with the clock? Am I complaining about impossible tasks while binge-watching 90-Days Fiance? Those answers might give you a clue of how time is working (or not) for you, and it’s exactly what we’ll be talking about. Plus, Slack is now integrated into another big platform, know which one?
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EDITOR’S PICKS
⚔️ Defend your time like your life depends on it. because it does
This piece resonated with me because I’ve been there: waiting for approval, an appointment, or a meeting that never happens, giving space to frustration and a lot of internal screaming. The way Deep Patel calmly points out how to take our claws out and fight for our time is both peaceful and inspiring.
📝 Stop avoiding tasks and start avoiding distractions
When ‘urgent’ is the main characteristic of all of my tasks, priority leaves the room. My principal goals end up in the trash while I take care of putting out fires, and the truly important tasks get lost in the system. Reading about this popular method made me realize the way I focus my energy needed a shift.
⚖️ Balancing the big picture while taking care of daily to-dos
Sometimes balancing long-term and short-term goals can be a nightmare. Some strict but comprehensive rules can help, and this article might help with it. My favorites were to start setting time restrictions, saying yes less often, and delegating tasks!
⏱️ Obsessing over time: the best way to lose it
Do you feel like every time you stop working, life loses its meaning? So do I! That’s called time anxiety, and it’s the best way to throw all of our energy out the window. This article helped me reduce it a little just by Marie Kondo-ing my tasks and asking myself: ‘does this bring me joy? Then I’ll keep it!’
1 Quote
The key is in not spending time, but in investing it. – Stephen R. Covey.
1 Question
Are you managing your time, or is time managing you?
(Add to the conversation on Twitter)
DISCOVER
“I get by with a little help from my friends,” said The Beatles. But in Focusmate, help comes from strangers. Get a partner assigned and do your work together, so you can both motivate yourselves through accountability!
IN THE KNOW
Industry news on the companies, products, and services that allow us to work less and do more.
Sales, IPOs, Bankruptcies, Funding and Industry Gossip
Two giants coming together: Ambition announces Slack integration to increase productivity.
The bigger the funds, the bigger the Calm: the meditation app wants to reach the $2.2 Billion valuation.
Releases
Zoom launches a bunch of features, including third-party apps in calls.
Wear your meetings everywhere: Google launches Meet for Glass.
Job Opportunities
SuperHuman - San Francisco, CA - Customer On-Boarding Specialist.
Todo-ist - Remote - Senior Android Developer
Quip - San Francisco, CA - Engineer Manager
Events
Nov 4th and 5th (virtual) - Leadership Pathways: Management and leadership foundations workshop by Liquid Learning.
Nov 11th (virtual) - Feeling Like a Fraud: Navigating Perfectionism & Impostor Syndrome as Women
Nov 18th (virtual) - Women in Leadership Zoom Event
On-demand - Cold Emailing 101 with Sam Parr, Founder of The Hustle
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Edited by: Lauren Maslen.
👋 See you next week.
