7 posts tagged with "productivity"

I've been thinking lately that I should spend 10% less time doing, and 10% more time learning.

The 20th century belonged to specialists. Experts carved out narrow domains and dug deep. The system rewarded it — the best knee surgeon, the best COBOL programmer, the best ad copywriter. Depth was the differentiator. But AI tilts the game board.

I've long embraced generalism—dipping into different disciplines, interests, and ideas. I often worried this approach meant sacrificing depth for breadth, leaving me moving slowly in many directions rather than swiftly in one.

Yet, lately, I've noticed the slow, steady accumulation of small victories across diverse fields is compounding into something more. Insights from design inform my approach to engineering; lessons from engineering transform my management style; experiences in management enrich my understanding of relationships and strategy.

Compounding progress isn't linear or immediately apparent. It simmers quietly beneath the surface, until one day you realize you're far ahead of where you thought you'd be—not despite the winding path, but precisely because of it.

Generalism doesn't dilute impact. It compounds it.

A list of tools I'm currently using

If a task MUST be done, it belongs in a to-do list If a task is ASPIRATIONAL and REGULAR, it belongs in a habit tracker

On Monday 4th November I opened my to-do list and was greeted with 149 due tasks.

Expressing ideas and thoughts — whether by some hurried doodle on a post-it or with a finely crafted sentence in a leather-bound journal — is incredibly important.