Optimising the wrong things
Hey friends, happy Sunday!
I hope you're having a fantastic week, just the one quick thing I wanted to share with you this week:
The myth of 'Passive' Income - Why true passive income doesn't exist and what to do about it.
Alrighty, let's get into the Filter.
Optimising the wrong things
Does it ever feel like you don't have enough time in the day?
The daily struggle to balance family, friends, health and work without feeling like you're letting one area slip.
For a long time I used to try master my time management. I thought that time was my bottlekneck to living a successful life, if only I could better use every minute I'd be able to balance family, friends, health and work perfectly.
With every failed attempt to calendar block, to-do list or pomodoro timer I started to notice something. Even if I managed my time perfectly, something was still holding me back... my attention.
See I realised that you can always make more time, you can steal a little from sleep, maybe skip a workout or work the weekends.
But you can't make more attention.
Your mind gets filled up by a few projects at a time and that's it. Your attention is invested in those and you're all out of attention.
Carving out 30 minutes of time is much easier than carving out 30 minutes of attention.
Think about it, maybe you can find the time to pitch that client or write that book but you don't quite have the attention to do it. So you use your 'lack of time' as an excuse.
But in reality you can find the time, you just can't find the attention needed to think deeply and focus.
It's why most writers only write for 3 - 4 hours per day. They know they could write for longer, but why bother when you've already spent your attention allowance for work that day.
In true productivity-over-optimisation-nerd fashion I tried to find ways to improve my attention.
But then I realised that I was ignoring the real issue, life is filled with tradeoffs... and that's okay.
You can't perfectly divide up your time or attention, there's always going to be seasons of imbalance.
Some seasons work takes priority, other seasons it's family. The only thing that matters is that you find balance over the long run.
I.
Productivity procrastination:
Spending time looking for a slightly better approach rather than taking action.
Execution > Optimisation
II.
Self-belief is built through momentum.
Get one small win on the board, then another...
6 Tips to look amazing on camera: For the last couple of years I've gone over the top with my setup for video calls, starting with a sony a6400 and recently upgrading to a Sony a7c. I have no concrete evidence to back this it up but I think it's helped me close around 20% more clients because having a good video setup helps people connect better with the person on the other side + it makes you look professional asf.
This thread from Kevin Shen shares 6 simple steps to up your camera game.
Start with Creation: "If we are going to call upon inspiration to guide us through, we have to first begin the work."
This article from Simon Sarris is one of the best pieces I've read in a while, if you're sitting on the fence about pursuing something then read this.
The Perfect Work Routine: Creating the perfect work routine doesn’t come from following elaborate productivity books instead you create it by first doing the work then iterating towards an ideal routine for the sustained level of output you want.
END NOTE
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Have a fantastic week!
- Stephen