Category: Getting Things Done

How I Work – 2019 edition

This is the 2019 version of a How I Work post that I wrote in 2016. Wrote this as an email to a colleague who liked the system I used. 


I often get asked how do I do all the things I do. My reply is almost always the same – I dont do a lot. I just pretend. But even with that, I have a system. In this post, I will try to talk about the system that I use. 

The system is made of a few philosophical ideas and some tools. Here is a list of the two.

Tools 
So, this is a list of tools that I increasingly use to rely on things.

1. The Brain

www.thebrain.com (freemium)

What does this tool do?
This tool mimics how the human brain thinks and make connections.

What do I use this tool for?
I use this to dump EVERYTHING I have in my head. Each night I narrate a voice note to my EA. He then transcribes the notes and puts on the brain in threads that he thinks is relevant. Once I open it, in case I find a thread that is not in the right place, I do it. This reinforces things in my head as well.

Brain does not have the ability to store longer notes and thus those go in Evernote / Google Drive.

2. Airtable

www.airtable.com (freemium)

What does this tool do?
This is like excel sheet but on steroids. The key difference is that on excel, all data is numbers and on this, each row / column could have different data types (numbers, images, links, tables etc).

What do I use this tool for?
I use this for CRM. Each meeting I have, each call I make is logged into this. Again, I make voice notes and send to my EA. He transcribes and enters the details in this. For CRM, this piece will be useful for you to set this up.

Other tools for CRM
Apart from these, the other tools that you could try and experiment with are:

  • Notion – notion.so – a better notepad.
  • Monday.com – a team / task management tool
  • Hubspot – gold standard in how the world manages its CRM

3. Asana

www.asana.com (freemium)

What does this tool do? What do I use this tool for?
This is a task manager. For each thing I am working on, I divide it into tasks. And then I get my EA to put those tasks in this. Each task has a person who’s directly responsible for it, a deadline, a priority and an impact area (what does that task help me achieve – money? connections? brand?).

This is my lifeline. If this stops working, I’ll die.

You may want to try Trello, Wunderlist etc. All these are task managers essentially and allow you to log what you work on.

4. Miro

www.miro.com (freemium)

What does this tool do?
This is a virtual whiteboard. You can pin things, make notes, link to stuff and others.

What do I use this tool for?
This is where I chart and plot where I want to be in life.

***
Philosophy
All these are dependent on a few things…

  • Google as login. Its SUPER easy to save files, move them around with logins and all that if I use Google as the backend. Of course I have concerns on the privacy piece but I am not as important to be hacked.
  • Device / location independence – I want to be able to access these things from anywhere in the world, on any device, as long as I have internet. So, all is on the cloud.
  • Ownership of time – I own my time. I value my freedom and time more than anything else.
  • Trial and Error – these things are very personal and you will have to try multiple iterations and variations before you find a system that works for you.
  • People. I have a team of 2 to manage my life. One is my EA – the most important piece. I am super lucky to have found someone young that I trust and can mould into the way I work. I don’t know how long he’d stay with me but I will try and ensure that when he moves out, I have a replacement in place. The other is a BA – a business analyst that does all my homework. I just got him onboard and I am experimenting to see how it works out. The guy does not manage my time per se but saves me time by doing research etc. Think of it as an outsourced brain.
  • Brains are meant for thinking and NOT for storing. The day I realised this, I “outsourced” all the remembering to The Brain and to my EA. Now, when I need info, I use the tools to retrieve and in case tools fail, I call the EA and that guy’s job is to remember anyway! Saves me brainpower.

That’s about it. Shortish post. 

Like I said, this is the 2019 version of the post that I wrote in 2016. My methodology and madness has remained the same – the tools have evolved (from excel to Airtable etc.).
Hope these help. In case any of you wants me to set these up for you, please do let me know. I am one email away 🙂

Notes from a Maker Day

Today I stayed at home. I tried to make this a Maker Day (ref here). Here are some observations from the day so far.

1. The world did not come to an end, because I was not at work. In fact, I realized that people at work don’t need me. Work = consultancy gig that pays my bills. This also means that I have more time on my hands than I believe. This means that I can pick a new project. Or finish one of the old ones. This also means that I may not have the gig (they dont need me, why would they pay me?). This means I need to find a new cash flow thing soon.

2. I am not lazy. I still started the day at 7. I was on my computer, planning, plotting, creating things by 730 max. And then I took a break at 11. And then I slept and was back working at 2. And as I write this, its 5. In the last 3 hours I have got a lot of things done. So, I work better when I am by myself. And I think better when I am with people. So, the manager days, when I am in office, I need to divide those into meeting times and non-meeting times.

3. Last few days I’ve been thinking of work. And I realized that I am little less anxious about money. I am fucked in the head because of the lack of impact of what I do. But I am little more sorted. Probably the realization that I am not as great as I thought of myself as and thus I need to settle for whatever I have.

4. The other minor thing is that while I cant seem to work from home, I need to find a better solution than Starbucks. Thing is, it’s expensive – Rs. 200 per hour (no, they don’t ask me to buy coffee, I feel guilty about not paying). And B, I need change of location every now and then. So I need the flexibility of coming and going. May be there is some coworking space that is in Powai that I can use? Buy time there personally? Need to think more on this.

5. I need to fill this maker day with some activities that add to my health. May be a run. I know I cant run in the morning. I love that time too much to mix it with running. So need to add an evening run. 

6. Also, there is no pattern to what I work on. So, I may be mistaking being busy with getting things done. I need to evaluate with a critical eye. Today, as I write this, I have done the following tasks. Lemme see if they add to a larger thing. Here is a list…
– Transcribed the podcast with MK – reputation, give back, pay it forward
– Pushed the ball ahead on xT – money
– Various admin things done on a client for AWSL – money
– Wrote this blogpost – writing, reflection
– Initiated a new project with SG – money, pay it forward
– Connected two acquaintances – grow network, pay it forward

So, in all, looks an ok day. I did not work on health or book2. I’d try to see a pattern and then take a call.

7 . I restarted on the daily track. Context here. Made an excel sheet. I know my goals. Everest. And 1 billion dollars. Here is the sheet. You will have access if I want you to have access. As on today, I have 3145 days left. Looks like a lot. But it isnt. I have been here for give or take 12500 days and I have nothing to show for those days. So there’s a lot to be done in the 3000 odd that I have. I can not rest. Each minute has to be spent towards something larger than me.

8. I am meeting a classmate from MDI. Trying to help him with his business. Hopefully getting some help back on what I am upto. Met him. Rather than I helping him, he was more help!

9. Looked at my cash flow statement. Two things stare at me. A, I have been spending a lot lately. I need to control it. B, there is outstanding payments on end of all clients. Not a good thing because I am getting into the rut of cash flow cycles. VG gave me a great advice. Either I need to invest money back in the business. Or skim from the top and invest somewhere.

Thats about it for the day. More updates on the next Maker Day. Oh, and tomorrow is a Manager Day. Will catalog it. And here’s the song for the day…

How to? For the lazy ones.

No, you’re not the only lazy person that you know of. There are more. So many that there is this entire corner of the world wide web reserved for them. Trust me. Ok dont. But just search for procrastination, getting things done, to-do lists, productivity, life hacking and more. Each sounds like an interesting buzzword with a million interpretations. But all of these are essentially talk to the same set of people. Lazy ones. Like me. Like you.

I have always had a million ideas that could possibly put a ding in the universe. But since I have always been lazy, I never pursued any idea. But with Nidhi Kapoor, somehow I got lucky. Despite my legendary laziness, I could work on it for more than 9 months and actually finish it.

Someone asked me how did I do. And since I am all for sharing, here is a list of things that I did to make it happen.

1. Create a large measurable output.
A novella of 30 posts, each post with 1000 words.
Lose 2 inches in a month. Takes 10000 steps every day.
Money? 10 lakhs a month. Health? 6 packs. Travel? 100 counties. So on and so forth. 
I try to create a large audacious goal that I want to achieve. And then I try to make it measurable. A goal that is not measurable is not a goal at all. Its just wishful thinking.

2. Divide things into tiny, measurable and tangible goals. 
20 minutes of yoga. 1000 words a day. 10000 steps a day. 1 country per month.
Key words are tiny, measurable and tangible. Without these three, all goals are meaningless. There is nothing like “few” or “some”. Moment you make a tiny task that has “few” in it, please know that its doomed. It wont happen. I can bet my ass on it.

There’s a simple test to know if the goals you set are correct. If you can see, notice and talk about the progress you’re making against the goal, you are on track.

For example, over a period of time, 1000 word everyday get compiled into a nice thick book. Use some app on your phone and you would have a nice chart with all the steps you’ve walked over the days. So on and so forth.

3. Share the large goal and tiny tasks with the world. 
Subject yourself to public ridicule.

If possible, get a couple of likeminded people and do it with them. You can write from the comfort of your home. They could walk on a track close to their place. But report to each other. Be each other’s boss and subordinate at the same time. Help each other. Remember that standing on the shoulders of giants?

Public ridicule is probably the most powerful motivational force that is ignored. Make a commitment on Facebook and then ask your closest friend to take your happiness on FB if you don’t do things. I promise you would do things just to stop your friends from posting things on FB.

If your friends refuse to help you by ridiculing you, I volunteer to do so. What say?

4. Celebrate. Every day and when you achieve the large ultimate goals.
The way daily tiny goals are important, you ought to celebrate the achievement of those goals. For example, everytime I write those 1000 words, I go and buy myself a Diet Coke. You may buy yourself an icecream. Or one hour of Internet. Etc.

Get addicted to these rewards. The goal thus become like a precursor to these rewards. More you crave for the awards, more passionately you’d chase your goals.

Same for that large goal. Make the award so big that you want it at any cost. When I finished my book, I told myself that I would go travel at a firang destination. And I am going in June. Fingers crossed.

Thats it! When you do achieve your goal, do share with me. Would love to see what you cook up!

All the best! And do “like” the FB page for my book ;P Its at facebook.com/TheNidhiKapoorStory.

P.S.: Please note that this is not scientific at all. This is something that has worked for me and may or may not work for you. But do try.

Credits
Thanks to SG26Jul for the idea.

Anatomy of a productive day at work

Today, unlike all other days, at almost 8 PM, I am slightly content about how this day has gone by. I reached work at 11ish. Did most of the things on my todo list (that I made at around 9 before I left home for work), killed lot of time (on random tweets, reading and writing), listened to my favorite music, ate a good lunch, spoke to Neo and my sis and finished the bplan for WML that I had been meaning to write for three months. Like they say, I was totally in the zone and I was loving it. Of course I got bored of all the work and took long and generous breaks. But I always came back to do more things and get more things done.

Anyways, so what happened today that does not happen on all the other days that I am in office? The answer is surprisingly simple! There was no one in office, on my floor. Not even my bosses. Everyone was travelling and I had the entire 800 sq ft of floor to myself. I had no one to get engaged in gossip with. There were no distractions. I could sing, swear, shout, play music, sit anywhere, put my legs up on the chair, roam around, have my tea and do everything with complete disregard to anyone and anything. And most importantly, I realized, there was no one who I wanted to prove to that I was working and adding value to the company. I was on my own! And this I think, did all the magic. I need to be on my own to be able to do things. Merely putting the headphones and listening to loud music does not help!

Now, as I am having dimsums and Maggi (ya, together), reading Uncrunched and playing Poker, I am content about the way I spent this day. If I could chose, I would want to spend most of my working days like this. Remember Kwan? I just need to create more such opportunities where I am trapped in a secluded corner with no one watching me work. And get things done.

Once I crack the right formula, nothings gonna stop me baby. The work on the magic formula has started. Hopefully before 2012, I would get it out of the way. Talking about 2012, as we enter 2012, its time for all those resolutions that we make and conveniently forget by the 15th of January! I certainly have mine and this time, its not a list, but is a whole damn mindmap. So as we step into 2012, I plan to take a large printout of the mindmap and paste it at a place where I can see it everyday. I am even going to give a copy of the mindmap to VK (my agony aunt, mentor, friend, philosopher, bouncing board etc) and ask her to ensure that I do those things. And then, I would freaking go ahead and do those things. Of course I cant really control the outcomes but I can try and maximize my chances of success. And that is what I am going to do.

Like she says, its a sign, I can see the writing on the wall. Just need to get into the zone more often!

P.S.: I just lost 80% of my stack with pocket Aces! Arrrghh!