Aug 19
Dave Navarro’s website is pretty kick-ass. Dave seems like a pretty kick-ass guy, in general. Although we’ve never met, his articles such as Goal Addiction and the Cult of Productivity, or Why You’re Not Doing the Things You Said You Wanted to, are also pretty kick-ass. Although his website is an overall good resource full of kick-ass tips, I recommend his manifesto even more. It’s called More Time Now. If you’re not up for all 40 pages now, this post gives the jist of it.
He says it’s all about your mindset. Go figure. Whatever the case, he reminds us that most people lived successful, happy lives well before GTD, Franklin Planners, Palm Pilots, or The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People were ever written. It’s not about getting things done, Dave says. Time will pass, as it always has, so he advises to stop chasing productivity. Time management will never work. It’s not about how organized our lives are, but whether we can finally stop settling for less. My favorite quote is this:
“Recreation isn’t simply playing video games- it’s literally re-creating yourself and shedding your baggage so you can live a remarkable life.”
The difference is that goals are things we dream about, while priorities are things we actually act on. Goals and priorities are where dreaming becomes doing. Navarro talks about three skills to save focus and protect priorities, regarding commitments.
- Deferring new commitments
Resist reaction and train yourself to no longer be conditioned by things that aren’t really that urgent just because they pop up. Whether it’s a phone call, an email, or whatever. Making a conscious decision to leave what you had originally made a priority, when it feels like the right thing to do, otherwise stay on track.
- Delegating new commitments
Meaning asking other people to do something you may not need to do yourself. Feelings from ego (“only I can do this the right way”) or guilt (I can’t let this person down.” ) are often the culprits for not delegating.
- Mitigating new commitments
This can be a combination of some type involving deferral, delegation, or some sort of negotiation to take on part of a task or a smaller one that you can commit to.
Other tools his manifesto’s foundation is built upon include:
Timeboxing– Giving yourself a little bit of pressure to say: “This needs to be done in an hour.” Giving your priority the focus, attention, and drive it deserves.
Micro-actions– a powerful, mind-altering prescription for habit change because they don’t require willpower. Making changing habits a game that will ultimately leave you feeling that internal nagging to play an even bigger game.
Related posts:
