I’ve been eager to start memorizing scripture regularly—it is so difficult for me. My brain wants to comprehend, but not rote learn. So I chose the verse for the week because I already know most of it. But I’m going to begin to practice practicing my memorization skills. You may want to consider joining me this week in committing this great truth to memory.
Paper has treated us well the last couple millenia, but it’s got it’s problems.
Digital will happen, paper & black ink will continue to be a dying business model, and we may as well enjoy the ride. This video is a day dream, but it’s got staying power—the Kindle is a success, and the book and magazine industry are looking for a life raft.
Problem: Email is unrelenting, and when you tend to your inbox—people just reply back to you more quickly. Email will take over your life if you let it. Here’s how I fought back.
Step 1: At the beginning of the day decide when you’ll check email
I suggest that you pick a time in morning and at the end of the day, and stick to only opening your inbox at those times. We’ve been trained like lab rats to keep hitting the refresh bar, but it’s silly and makes us unproductive.
Step 2: Get a timer
Email intervals will require you to sprint through your email for a set period of time. Grab a timer, I suggest Minutes for the OSX dashboard, you can also your a phone.
Step 3: Work like a crazy person for 10 minutes
Open your inbox like a horse leaving the gate—hustle. You will be surprised how much email you can get done in the first interval. In the first 10 minutes try to use what ever processing system you use to tell what is important, what is trash, and what is good to just file away.
Step 4: Take a two minute break and read a few pages
I find that I clear my mind by reading a few pages of a book. It takes me out of the suffering torment of email for just long enough to remind myself that if I hurry I can get through my entire inbox and get back to meaningful work—creating things, meeting with people, planning, building, thinking, discovering, investing in relationships…
Step 5: Repeat and then shut down your email program
When you finish your short break, get back to another 10 minutes of hustling through your email. and repeat steps 3 and 4 until you’ve done what you need to.
Most people rely on email way too much—it’s a good communication tool, but it lacks emotion, can go on rabbit trails, and gives people a sense that they need to include everyone in their conversation (death by cc:).
People learn quickly that if they need you immediately, they should pick up the phone. A 3 minute phone call or face to face conversation can clear up a 20 email conversation, and has the added bonus of building a trust relationship with that person.
Let me know what you think of this idea. Will it work for you? What reservations do you have?
I’m sure it’s possible to build a better mousetrap. It’s certainly possible to build a better stop light, as proved by Eko Design. This simple design change could conceivably save millions of barrels of oil and countless lives by giving drivers more information about when a light will change from red to green.
One of the painful habits of a designer is to see that everything is broken.
Eko: A Traffic Light Augmented by Progress Bars — information aesthetics.
Design is a problem-solving activity. It provides a means of clarifying, synthesizing, and dramatizing a word, a picture, a product, or an event. A serious barrier to the realization of good design, however, are the layers of management inherent in any bureaucratic structure.
I started the first day of my vacation watching movies, including this gem—Food inc (streams free on Netflix). Everyone should watch it to at least have an idea about where their food comes from. I’m not one to jump on every health band wagon—in fact this was my old food philosophy.
Old Philosophy:
Ideas to consider to improve your health and steward well:
Dieter Rams is the industrial design genius who steals inspires most Apple products. This video is an interesting interview, take a minute to watch it and let us know what you think.
New Dieter Rams Interviews with Gestalten and Design Museum — The Mid-Century Modernist.
Summarize Posts
Most people write, and assume people care.
It shows humility to summarize your book like Seth Godin did in his new book. People are unlikely to read more than a few chapters of any book they buy, so it’s a great idea to summarize the book so that readers can decide if a book or a chapter is worth the time.
From SVN