Thursday, April 23, 2009
FEAR
“Fear is an indicator. Sometimes it shows you what you shouldn’t do. More often than not it shows you exactly what you should do.”
~ Timothy Ferriss
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Overcoming Parkinson's Law
Parkinson’s Law states that the perceived complexity of a task will expand to fill the time you allot to it. In other words, if you give yourself a week to complete a two-hour task, then (psychologically speaking) the task will increase in complexity and become more daunting so as to fill that week. It may not even fill the extra time with more work, but just stress and tension about having to get it done. By assigning the right amount of time to a task, we gain back more time and the task will reduce in complexity to its natural state.
The law works because people give tasks longer than they really need, sometimes because they want some ‘leg room’ or buffer, but usually because they have an inflated idea of how long the task takes to complete. People don’t become fully aware of how quickly some tasks can be completed until they test this principle.
Want to really challenge yourself? Try making a list of your tasks, and then divide them up by the amount of time it takes to complete them. Then give yourself half that time to complete each task. They key here is to set the time limit, in you mind, as crucial. Treat it like any other deadline. Part of reversing what we’ve been indoctrinated with is to see the deadlines you set for yourself as unbreakable - just like the deadlines your boss or clients set.
Use that human, instinctual longing for competition that fuels such industries as sports and gaming to make this work for you. You have to win against the clock; strive to beat it as if it were your opponent, without taking shortcuts and producing low-quality output. This is particularly helpful if you’re having trouble taking your own deadlines seriously.
At first, this will be partially an exercise in determining how accurate your time projections for tasks are. Some may be spot on to begin with, and some may be inflated. Those that are spot on may be the ones that you are unable to beat the clock with when you halve the time allotment, so experiment with longer times. Don’t jump straight back to the original time allotment because there may be an optimum period in between.
You can experiment with Parkinson’s Law and squashing your deadlines down to the bare minimum in many areas of your life. Just be conscious of the line between ‘bare minimum’ and ‘not enough time’ - what you’re aiming for is a job well done in less time, not a disaster that’s going to lose you employment or clients.
The law works because people give tasks longer than they really need, sometimes because they want some ‘leg room’ or buffer, but usually because they have an inflated idea of how long the task takes to complete. People don’t become fully aware of how quickly some tasks can be completed until they test this principle.
Want to really challenge yourself? Try making a list of your tasks, and then divide them up by the amount of time it takes to complete them. Then give yourself half that time to complete each task. They key here is to set the time limit, in you mind, as crucial. Treat it like any other deadline. Part of reversing what we’ve been indoctrinated with is to see the deadlines you set for yourself as unbreakable - just like the deadlines your boss or clients set.
Use that human, instinctual longing for competition that fuels such industries as sports and gaming to make this work for you. You have to win against the clock; strive to beat it as if it were your opponent, without taking shortcuts and producing low-quality output. This is particularly helpful if you’re having trouble taking your own deadlines seriously.
At first, this will be partially an exercise in determining how accurate your time projections for tasks are. Some may be spot on to begin with, and some may be inflated. Those that are spot on may be the ones that you are unable to beat the clock with when you halve the time allotment, so experiment with longer times. Don’t jump straight back to the original time allotment because there may be an optimum period in between.
You can experiment with Parkinson’s Law and squashing your deadlines down to the bare minimum in many areas of your life. Just be conscious of the line between ‘bare minimum’ and ‘not enough time’ - what you’re aiming for is a job well done in less time, not a disaster that’s going to lose you employment or clients.
Monday, April 13, 2009
The most important teachers
The following is an excerpt from the book Rich Kid Smart Kid, by Robert Kiyosaki. It continues on with the theme of education reform.
“Almost every parent I’ve met is certain that his or her child is smart and a genius. When that child reaches school, however, the child’s natural genius is often shoved aside or takes a subordinate roll to the single genius and single learning style emphasized by the educational system as the ‘right way’ to learn.”
“My smart dad and many other educators realize that the current school system does not cater to the various different geniuses that children are born with. It’s unfortunate that our current educational system is mired in controversy and old ideas. While our current system may be aware of many of these educational breakthroughs, the politics and red tape surrounding the profession of education prevent many of these new innovative ways of assessing your child’s genius from becoming part of the system.”
I like this quote because it reminds me that the most important teachers my kids will ever have will be (or, at least OUGHT to be) my wife and me. However, in order to be a better teacher to my own kids, I need to continue on with my own education and studies, as Mr. Kiyosaki suggests, and DO what I teach. I need to ‘walk my talk.’ Like most kids, mine “…learn more by watching than they do by listening. Children are tuned into watching for discrepancies between words and actions. Children love to catch parents saying one thing and doing something else.”
Currently, little to nothing is taught about money in school. As always, their focus is to teach them skills they’ll need in life to EARN money, but those skills needed to help them manage their earned money after that. If I want my kids to learn the basic principles of wise spending, saving, and investing, I’ve got to teach them those skills myself. And if I want to do that, I’ve go to learn those skills myself first.
“Almost every parent I’ve met is certain that his or her child is smart and a genius. When that child reaches school, however, the child’s natural genius is often shoved aside or takes a subordinate roll to the single genius and single learning style emphasized by the educational system as the ‘right way’ to learn.”
“My smart dad and many other educators realize that the current school system does not cater to the various different geniuses that children are born with. It’s unfortunate that our current educational system is mired in controversy and old ideas. While our current system may be aware of many of these educational breakthroughs, the politics and red tape surrounding the profession of education prevent many of these new innovative ways of assessing your child’s genius from becoming part of the system.”
I like this quote because it reminds me that the most important teachers my kids will ever have will be (or, at least OUGHT to be) my wife and me. However, in order to be a better teacher to my own kids, I need to continue on with my own education and studies, as Mr. Kiyosaki suggests, and DO what I teach. I need to ‘walk my talk.’ Like most kids, mine “…learn more by watching than they do by listening. Children are tuned into watching for discrepancies between words and actions. Children love to catch parents saying one thing and doing something else.”
Currently, little to nothing is taught about money in school. As always, their focus is to teach them skills they’ll need in life to EARN money, but those skills needed to help them manage their earned money after that. If I want my kids to learn the basic principles of wise spending, saving, and investing, I’ve got to teach them those skills myself. And if I want to do that, I’ve go to learn those skills myself first.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Do Schools Kill Creativity?
I recently discovered an online venue that has positively captivated my attention. Positively, because what I've gleaned from it has been VERY positive in deed. Although the venue itself is truely remarkable, and highly recommended for it's interesting topics, curious presentations, educational speakers, entertaining qualities, and fascinating explanations... it is not what this post is about.
The following video contains a point view about education that I cannot agree with more. It's compelling, sensible, logical, intreguing, honest, and even entertaining. I'm posting this video in support of my efforts to sculpt my own corner of education reform... My Training Wheels series of books. If ever there were a good explaination of why this type of out-of-the-box thinking is necessary and relavant for the modified education of children of today, this is it:
Do Schools Kill Creativity? (19:24)
(by Sir Ken Robinson)
The following video contains a point view about education that I cannot agree with more. It's compelling, sensible, logical, intreguing, honest, and even entertaining. I'm posting this video in support of my efforts to sculpt my own corner of education reform... My Training Wheels series of books. If ever there were a good explaination of why this type of out-of-the-box thinking is necessary and relavant for the modified education of children of today, this is it:
Do Schools Kill Creativity? (19:24)
(by Sir Ken Robinson)
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