I am one of those people who function better by writing things down. One day, I realized that most of my notes don’t have to be private, so here they are - my second brain. Be warned that, if you stumble upon something here that doesn’t make sense to you, it isn’t meant to!
Time management, making an impact at work etc.
I had a really great conversation with a mentor at work today. Here’s what I learnt: Say no by default. The idea is not to be an ass. Instead, check with yourself whether the ask aligns with the direction you want to take before agreeing to it. In other words, stay in control. If someone asks you to do something, try to understand what that ask translates for you. Meetings: Only two types: those that announce/communicate something or where you want to make a decision (and all necessary parties are present). What about other bureaucratic meetings (which are often recurring in nature)? Just ignore as much as you can. You think you made a deep insight by a single comment in an ops meeting but that’s probably false. The org I am part of right now is full of operators. How will I stand out amongst them? By making an impact, not by making smart comments in ops meetings. Only attend meetings where I am actively contributing. Multi-tasking doesn’t work at all. Don’t even try which leads to the next point… Intense focus. Where do I find time to tackle big problems? His answer, which was a light bulb moment for me, was that you have no idea how much you can achieve in 1 hour if you focus intensely on the work. Just close out all distractions during such time chunks, like all of them. This is exactly what the book, Deep Work, also claims. You probably don’t want more hours in a day, just more intensity and zero distractions when you are working.