Frank: Welcome to this week's episode of "Casual Fridays." I'm Frank and today we're going to talk about productivity hacks that you can start using today. Now most of these are inspired by Tim Ferris. Okay, stolen, and if you're not familiar with him, you should definitely check him out. He has this amazing way of finding out what makes great people great.
But on to the hacks. #1, get organized. Stop telling people how busy you are. Nobody cares and stop using it to gauge your success. If George Costanza has taught us anything, it's that looking and acting busy doesn't mean you're accomplishing anything.
Mr. Wilhelm: I think you may be taking work a little too seriously.
George: Well, I've got a lot to do.
Frank: As Tim says, "Being busy is a form of laziness." Now, what this means is people don't actually take the time to schedule out their day. They just jump from task to task. To‐do lists aren't helpful either. They just add more stress and they become a wish list of things you hope you'll get to. You need to schedule out your tasks to force yourself to set aside the time to finish them.
Unleash technology to help with this. Timeful is an app that will actually find the best times within your schedule for everyday tasks like reading or exercise. It'll also take that old to‐do list and create time in your calendar for it. I also use Evernote on a daily basis and Pocket for any articles I want to read later. Now I think I know my audience pretty well here, so Mom and Dad, you can't use these apps on your rotary phone.
Tip #2, every chance I can around lunchtime, I take a nap. There, I said it. I'm a grown man who takes naps, but the difference in my afternoon productivity is clearly noticeable, especially because I no longer get the urge to throw a tantrum like a toddler, although sometimes that's just unavoidable.
No, no, no, no, no. This is all wrong. Fix it.
Jillian: Here.
Frank: Thank you.
Jillian: You're welcome. Better?
Frank: Better.
I'm more focused, happier, and the afternoons just fly by. Yes, there's a stigma about taking a nap but it really should be limited to about 20 minutes. It's not even about sleep. It's about shutting your brain off and recharging for a few minutes.
Tip #3, and this is a game‐changer, shut off your email. Turn off notifications on your phone. Close it on your desktop. Schedule a couple times throughout the day to check and respond to emails. This will allow you to finish the things that you need to get done and not respond to other people's manufactured emergencies. That's a phrase by Tim Ferris that I absolutely love. Now there is one downside to all this. People are so used to the immediacy of email, that If you don't respond within minutes, they will come find you, they will ask if you got the email, and hey will distract you from whatever it is you're trying to get done.
Michael: Did you get an email from me?
Frank: Aside from that, I can't recommend this enough. Not only does it help Chorus: (singing) I like to teach the world to sing ... sing with me ... in perfect with productivity, it also helps you escape from work when you're not at work. This last tip is fairly new to me, although I did experiment a little bit in college. No, not that. I'm talking about meditation. I recently downloaded the Headspace app. It uses animation, gamification, and some British dude to guide you through beginner meditation techniques. The sessions start at about 10 minutes but it feels much shorter.
Now, I know this may seem weird or a little bit different, but the results are clear. I used to tell people I have one emotion; it was just a sliding scale of anger. If you want to put a number on it, my cursing in traffic is down at least 40%. I'm way more positive and I have a lot more control over how things affect me throughout the day. And hey, it worked for Don Draper.
Chorus: (singing) I like to teach the world to sing ... sing with me ... in perfect harmony ... perfect‐
Episode 3 - Productivity Hacks
In this week's installment of Casual Fridays, Frank dives into productivity hacks inspired by Tim Ferriss. These help pull yourself away from mundane tasks and focus on the work that's important to you. WARNING: This episode contains Mad Men spoilers...and a baby.
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