🛳 On our way to explore-a
Ep. 49: Beginning a week-long trip filled with firsts, pan flutes, and putting time constraints on yourself.
Amy, Elizabeth, and I arrived in Copenhagen yesterday. We’re at the beginning of a week-long journey to see Xander perform on Explora I, a new cruise ship from MSC. We’ve never been on a cruise, no less one with accommodations like Explora, so I’m looking forward to sharing details of the week in the very next edition of Wanderfull. Hope you all have a great week ahead, too!
A Tip for the Modern Worker
Ditch the anchor at your desk. Are you a passive participant in a meeting? Will your face not be missed? Try ditching the anchor at your desk and do something else while you listen in. You can still get something else done while you focus on what’s communicated. Light chores, outdoor walks, or light indoor fitness (elliptical, bike, rowing) are all fair game.
This tip is one of 365 in my Handbook for the Modern Worker. For me, this looks like putting dishes away or doing a rowing workout during a listen-only demo. I also particularly enjoyed walking 1:1 meetings with my manager during the pandemic. I find that when you free yourself from your desk, the urge to multitask (and the tendency to tune out) abates, and I pay attention more readily.
#365DayDraw
I drew this and wrote the accompanying annotation as part of my #365DayDraw project 7 years ago today.
Follow me as I play this little melody
A pan flute? No way. Why did I think to draw this? No clue. What do you think of when you see a pan flute? I see the final Christmas scene in Christmas with the Kranks, where the actor is so clearly not playing the pan flute. The other actors are legit rocking out, though.
Commentary
First, read The four-hour work day (Oliver Burkeman). It’ll only take a moment, and I’ll be right here waiting for you when you’re done.
You’re back? Good. Here’s the part that really stood out for me (emphasis mine):
[Dedicate] a portion of daily time to it that’s significantly smaller than you believe it requires. Then, when time’s up each day, stop.
I saw so much of myself in the article, from the value placed on doing things I truly love, to placing constraints on tasks (see: Parkinson’s Law). In fact, it’s how I wrote my 3 books.
I allocated 30 minutes each morning to writing/editing/marketing and when the timer went off, so did I. To do other things.
Little by little, day by day, big things got done. And I found that when I sat down each morning to work, I felt energized by the prospect of a time-bound session to do what amounted to difficult, yet rewarding work.
I find the same technique is effective at work. By putting a task in my calendar, I inherently time-box it. Usually, it gets done at or before the allotted time, and I marvel at how long it took me to get around to doing it in the first place.
Miscellanea
🚽 You probably didn’t see this coming, but it’s a home repair tip I’m really happy with. Does your toilet flush a little too slowly, or require multiple flushes? We had a plumber out who, despite snaking the drain, saw that our toilet was still not operating anywhere near where it should. He blamed it on calcium deposits in the interior plumbing. He suggested we turn off the water, flush and plunge it to remove as much water from the bowl as possible, and then fill the tank and bowl each with a gallon of white vinegar. After letting it sit for at least five hours, it was as good as new!
I listened to You 2.0: How to Break Out of a Rut (via Hidden Brain) during a hike last week. Besides learning a new term (pluralistic ignorance), I’m newly inspired to shelve my perfectionist tendencies and get some things checked off my list.
I read Know Your Customers’ “Jobs to Be Done” (Harvard Business Review). I thought it was not only relevant to the work I do as a UX designer, but also to anyone in the product design business or those who interface with clients and prospects. Personas still have value in the design space, but it’s more important to know the JTBD. There’s a new acronym for you!
Lastly, we’re ripping out the carpet in a few of our bedrooms and replacing it with engineered wood floors. This is the one we chose from Lowe’s, and I especially love the “easy clueless installation.” When it comes to home improvement, that’s me!