Do Busy Right - The Task and Attention Management Podcast

    Today I'm going to talk about our need for more reminders and fewer alarms in our lives. This is critical for two reasons: one – we use the wrong tool for the wrong job, with predictable results; two – once you understand, you'll see the value of the tool that I'll offer to you. I'll start by talking about two types of tasks. Then we'll look at reminders and alarms as task signals. Finally, we...

This finishes the series on Attention Compass nuts and bolts. This is my coaching in a three-part, three-hour presentation. I want you to have this so you can start implementing. Why should you implement Attention Compass? I think the modern work-style, the modern technology, and modern communications all work together to make us anxious/stressed about our work, our tasks, and where we're putting...

What is Attention Compass - Workflows 1 & 2 I want you to have information that will allow you to implement your own Attention Compass, if you want to do that.   Attention compass needs some support and some explanation. Episode 22 discusses the big picture and how the tool works. I want you to have some guidance towards doing an implementation so you can understand what's going on. So you can imp...

What is Attention Compass and How will it help me? This is one of a series of posts that are going to discuss Attention Compass in detail. Attention Compass is my proprietary tool and workflow to put you in control of your information and attention - making you a better more confident knowledge worker and reducing your stress over your productivity. My goal is to equip any listener with the tools...

Is more education the only way to get better? The thing I want to get to is this notion of getting better and improving what you do and, and really drill down on that because I think most of my listeners are interested in that right. I mean, it's not just a question of being able to handle your stuff. It's a question of getting better at work. It's a question of getting better at our tasks.   It's...

I wanted to talk about procrastination...   I think that we have a fair amount of confusion about procrastination. One of the clear points I want to make is that procrastination is not some moral failing. It's not some example of 'lack of discipline'. I believe, in almost all cases, it's actually a problem with our systems and I'll talk about what I mean by that.   And then we'll talk directly abo...

How Do We Avoid Perfectionism and still Manage Quality? I did an episode on perfectionism recently. I argued that it is wasteful and thus should be eliminated. But, in some cases, it seems to be our only way to control quality. That is, our only quality target is perfection. If we eliminate it as a goal, then are we simply left with accepting sloppy work from our Knowledge workers?   In this episo...

The lie: Perfection should be the underlying goal of your work Or (rephrased) you should pursue 'excellence' in everything you do. The truth is that technical perfection is both unrealistic and unnecessary. Excellent is an undefined word. Intro to perfectionism: I've seen a lot lately on perfectionism. Kevin Miller, on his Self Helpful podcast, did a series on it. That's been recent as of this rec...

Managing Oneself - Peter Drucker and the second quarter of the 21st century This episode covers the "smartest person you've probably never read". Drucker foresaw the rise of Knowledge Work 60+ years ago. Not only did he define it for us, but he let us know that it would be the primary challenge of the 21st Century manager. He also told us how and why to improve it. I discuss his six factors of Kno...

How did the Attention Compass come about? Why is it a thing now?   Larry's background through 2006 My career has been in IT management, so I understand something about tools, software, next generation technology. Throughout my career, I was always a productivity geek – Stephen Covey, David Allen, new tech, phone, etc During this time we noticed that email, (Windows) mobile phone, Ipod, and Outlook...

Think about attention management. About how we deal with our own ability to focus. That attention is primarily directed at the work we have to do. We need our full attention on our work, at least to the degree that our work is difficult and challenging.   One of my clients asked me to organize from the big picture perspective, what we're trying to do with our attention. What are the big rocks of d...

In this episode, I answer a question from my buddy and listener, Joel. He feels like he has "Squirrel Brain" and wonders how to get rid of it. So, I define "Squirrel Brain" and talk about tactics for Taming the Squirrel.   I love your questions. Reach me at larry@dobusyright.com or connect on LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/larrytribble. I'll try to answer and let you know when I publish 'your' episode....

This is one of a set of posts on common misconceptions about productivity and work. I call them Lies About Productivity. I'll address some 'lie' and suggest a new mindset that is helpful toward being effective, not exhausted - Do Busy Right. The Lie: You should equate working hard to being productive. Or that work should be hard in order to be valuable. At a minimum, we need to redefine the word '...

The lie here is that outputs divided by inputs is the right way to measure our productivity.   I believe that we're thinking about productivity in the wrong ways. Particularly when it comes to knowledge workers, we use similar thoughts and equations for knowledge worker productivity that we use for factory productivity or efficiency. I want to dive into some of the differences that may indicate th...

In this episode, I answer a question from a listener named Adrian. She's got a great new job with a somewhat smaller company and feeling some symptoms of a less-structured position. So, I'll be talking primarily to folks that are in the same position as Adrienne or folks who want to be in that position. What do we do about promotions? What do we do when we grow into better knowledge workers? What...

The lie: if you get busier, you have to work more hours   There are options when more work suddenly hits your desk, overtime is just one of them. Sometimes, it's the best response. But maybe not as often as we think. In this episode, I define the problem clearly and suggests strategies for clarifying priority and tactics for those times when 'it just needs to get done'. Work habits and time manage...

  What? I have four areas of work? Four areas of work knowledge. There's two that everybody knows about. There's the one Cal Newport talks about. And then there's the one I talk about. That makes four areas in which you want to be as good as you can. This will put you in a position to have a better career, have better workdays, have better work weeks. The first - work skills The first is what are...

I discuss the concept of 'Monk Mode' and whether it is useful for enhancing productivity, especially for knowledge workers.       Monk Mode: Increasing Productivity  "Monk Mode" sets the stage for a period of intense focus on work by shutting down incoming communications and interruptions. Understanding and implementing Monk Mode could increase individual and organizational productivity. However,...

My task list just keeps getting longer and longer; what do I do?   There are a couple of things.   #1 If you're constantly having to ask yourself "what do I need to do now or today", you can count on your brain to come up with some things. Whether or not they're the right things is pretty questionable. More on this in other episodes.   #2 recognize that things can come off of your list. Let's go i...

This is one of a set of posts on common misconceptions about productivity and work. I call them Lies About Productivity. I'll address some 'lie' and suggest a new mindset that is helpful toward being effective, not exhausted - Do Busy Right. The Lie: It's human nature to understand how to be productive, select your most important work, and do it. This one is not a lie of commission, but a lie of o...

This is one of a set of posts on common misconceptions about productivity and work. I call them Lies About Productivity. I'll address some 'lie' and suggest a new mindset that is helpful toward being effective, not exhausted - Do Busy Right. Productivity and managing tasks for employees and self-employed individuals. Employees may falsely believe their productivity is their boss's responsibility,...

If you want to be a pro, get a coach. In this episode, I'll discuss how you can get better at what you do by describing what I do and why you might be interested. Just like everyone else, when I meet people they ask me what I do. Because it's pretty unique, I'm still working on how to explain it in 20 seconds rather than 20 minutes. I'm a work coach. I help white collar workers, people in professi...

Does it matter how we feel about tasks?   This episode is heavily influenced by a book called The Experience Machine by Andy Clark   Our brains' predictions about things powerfully affect our experiences.   I'm going to argue that our thoughts about doing tasks powerfully affects both: our willingness/tendency to actually do them (vs. procrastinating) our experience while we are doing them We'll l...

I discuss a definition of Knowledge Work and illustrate it with four (plus one) categories of Knowledge Work. I also talk about the implications of AI on each category. Knowledge Work is using your brain/attention to produce new or altered information Four categories Factual knowledge is stored facts that can be recalled and used. Google is doing a pretty good job of making this kind of knowledge...

Just because your phone is mobile doesn't mean your calls should be. The challenges of mobile calls: Distinguish between using a cell phone and having a mobile call. The specific challenge of using a mobile phone. We are tempted to try to gather information when we're not prepared to do so Back in the day, at my house we had a pad and pencil (it was something my granddad made) Notice what this mea...