#50: Getting it all done
Tiago Forte, one of the world’s foremost experts on productivity, draws a fascinating parallel between the knowledge work today and professional kitchens of France. In 1860, professional chefs developed a process called mise-en-place in which ingredients are prepared and organized (as in a restaurant kitchen) before cooking. For example, vegetables are washed and chopped the night before the party, and everything is put in place, ready to go.
Forte argues that we can create a similar approach for creating knowledge work, i.e., writing.
To adopt a finishing mindset, ask yourself every time you start a project: “How and when will I finish this?” It’s about staying focused on the final deliverable and constantly tracking toward the expectations of the people you will be delivering to. It’s about making a plan not just for starting things, but for ending things. In the same way, a pilot has a plan not only for taking off but for landing.
I like the analogy of taking off and landing the plane. Most of the time we plan endlessly about the start of the project but don’t know when and how to end it.
I am frantically finishing this year’s projects. Can you believe only 49 days till the end of 2021?
I am ready for a break.
At the end of the next week, we are going to Melbourne to attend a friend’s daughter’s wedding. I had so much lined up to finish before I could leave. I know if I am not able to finish it, I won’t relax and enjoy it.
Have you ever found yourself in the same predicament where you can’t seem to pull yourself out of work?
Wherever I go on holidays, the weeks leading up to the holiday are the most stressful ones. I can’t seem to let go and relax until I am on the plane.
These unduly high expectations from ourselves are the theme of my next book. This book is about productivity but is less about producing more and more about being in an unrushed state - a lesson I need to learn more than anything else.
Two days into the book, I came up with an idea to create an accompanying journal. I desperately started jotting down the ideas. So now I have two books on the go simultaneously - which I somehow need to finish by the end of the year.
Book Update #3
The launch date for the Eight Steps To Be An Authorpreneur is drawing near. I am looking to recruit interested readers to be on the review team. You will get the earlier version of my book for free if you agree to read it within a week or two and leave me a review on the book’s sales page on Amazon.
If you are interested, click here to register.
You will be taken to the following page.
That’s it from me this week.
I would love to hear from you. Please drop me a line in the comments section.
Take care.
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