Jonathan has always found a way to push me, and he’s usually the first person I go to with ideas or advice.

In fact, it was but a few months ago that Jonathan convinced me to take a massive step in a direction that scared the living wizz out of me. The conversation went like this:

Three months later, I’ve done just that. I’ve been writing and playing every day. I’ve been learning about the magical world of home recording. I’ve been doing. And I’ll be sharing something with you all soon. (More on that later.)

Jonathan helped me realize that the one thing I’d been holding back on was the thing that I held closest. Why? I was scared of what might happen next. Writing music to me is far different from writing here. It’s intensely personal, and, well… it freaks me out that other people might hear it.

And then there’s the whole “what if I suck!?!?” internal questions. Who doesn’t ask themselves that frequently? Here’s a small sampling of fears that run through the minds of anyone who’s creating something intensely personal:

• “What if people think of me differently?”
• “What if nobody likes it?”
• “What if I’m not as good as I think I am?”
• and the biggest: “What if I’m actually successful?”

Sound like you? It sure sounds like me.

Jonathan addresses all of this in his upcoming book: Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance. (Be glad you’re only reading his advice; in person he gives kicks in the pants.)

Seriously though, if you’re creating stuff for a living, you need to stop what you’re doing and pre-order this baby. It’ll change everything. I’ve had the pleasure of reading it, and it is fantastic. But, more than anything, I owe Jonathan like crazy for giving me a much needed splash of cold truth to the face.

***

Some other friends have great write-ups on Uncertainty. Check ‘em out!

• Chris talks about why you should check out Jonathan’s book, plus a nifty video of Jonathan’s keynote at the WDS last summer.
• Danielle talks about how she goes out of her way to add uncertainty to her day.

1. Save Time And Money Finding New Music That You’ll Actually Like
2. Casual Friday Video: OKgo Music Video On Treadmills
3. Jump-Start Your Workspace Review

Yesterday I knew I needed a break but didn’t have much time, so I laced up my running shoes anyway and ran as hard as I could for 15 minutes. Talk about cathartic.

While it wasn’t that long of a run, it was exactly what I needed: a quick jolt to my mind, and something to get my heart rate up. After a glass of water and a quick shower, I was back working like I had just started the day.

***

I’ve learned to listen to my body (and wife) to make the most of my time and energy levels. In fact, it’s the one reason I’m able to get up in the early morning and start my day excited.

I’ve worked both as a freelance consultant and with a company with layers of management, and I’ve been able to “be my own boss” in both places. It’s not that hard.

So many workers experience letdown when their bosses don’t manage them well, but I’d bet that the problem lies in our ability to make it clear how we work best.

Think about this: who best knows your workflow?

• when are you productive/not productive?
• what aspect of your day really motivates you?
• what projects excite you most?
• what physical environment is your best for working?

By answering these questions you can start to build a framework that optimizes how you work.

For example, I’ve found that I do my best thinking in the early morning hours, so that’s when I tackle the most intensive tasks of the day. I do more administrative (thoughtless) tasks in the afternoon, when my mind is aching for a siesta.

This works perfectly for me, and my bosses don’t try to micromanage my workflow. As long as I’m working hard and getting stuff done, they don’t care. They get it.

In fact, most management I’ve worked with are pretty accommodating to weird workflows if that’s when you’re most productive.

But the key here is you have to tell them. It’s impossible for a boss to know these things. The best person to manage your work is you.

You’re the only one capable of knowing exactly what you need to stay motivated and happy. You are your best boss.

The key is figuring out for yourself what you need to work your best, and letting everyone else know.

Join the discussion or vote on Hacker News

Photo by Profound Whatever

When Chris Guillebeau comes to town, exciting things happen. We crammed over 65 people upstairs at the local coffee shop, talked about non-conformity, and met some incredible people. Thanks to all who came out and joined us.

One of Chris’ talking points was right down the alley of something I’ve been thinking about lately: inefficiency. Chris loves big, inefficient goals, like traveling to all 192 countries in the world, or visiting every US state and Canadian province to ensure the success of his book.

LifeDev used to be about efficiency. Or maybe a better description would be “how to not lose ideas”. (This is something that has taken me years to understand.)

If you dig through the archives, you’ll see that this site used to be all about things like how to work smarter, faster, better every day.

Nostalgia to the Rescue

I have a thing for nostalgic paintings and culture. I love Norman Rockwell paintings and Leave it to Beaver re-runs. Work in previous decades was much more easily defined: you strolled to work at 9, and you left at 5. Market research? Reading the paper every morning. You were expected to perform between “work hours”, and after that it was family time.

By today’s standards, this would be highly inefficient. You couldn’t flip open a laptop and work on some work email after dinner. You weren’t expected to carry a device that kept you on a chain to the boss’ whims. No work email.

The problem is that we’re trying to be so efficient that we forget what it means to disconnect, to get away, to turn off the screen. Work isn’t work anymore; it’s a lifestyle. A half-connected, sleepy lifestyle.

In the book The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working (affiliate link), author Tony Schwartz gives reasons why constantly being connected at medium levels of engagement is positively awful for your work. To quote the author, when we work like this we can only hope to create a “pale version of the possible”.

I’m trying something new: when I wake up in the morning, I no longer check email. I don’t even crack open the laptop. I read. In a paper book. Then, I’ll start writing down thoughts or things that need to get done in a notebook. A paper notebook.

Since I’ve become more comfortable switching mediums and routines, I’ve noticed an incredible shift in energy behind whatever I decide to do. I have more clarity. I have more ideas. I’m calmer, and most importantly, I love morning times that much more. Could there be something to the simple, somewhat mundane tasks we do everyday that might make us more efficient?

(As I was putting the polish on this article, Scott Belsky published these exact sentiments over at The 99 Percent.)

So, as weird as it sounds for a former productivity blogger to say, I’m looking for more ways to be inefficient.

You?

1. The High Seas Showed Me How Pitifully Unproductive I Am
2. On Switching Productivity Platforms
3. “A Good Plan Today Is Better Than a Perfect Plan Tomorrow “

I mapped out potential site features, sketched out a design, and started researching how to put the thing together.

I was completely immersed in the flow of creating. The idea was fresh, new, and exciting, and I loved every minute I had working on it.

But then after a few months, the idea hit a stage where it turned into a grind. I loved the idea still, but I didn’t love working on it.

The fire behind the idea had officially died.

***

There are going to be days when inspiration fades. Ideas are sexy in the beginning, but over time developing them can become a grind. And as if some unknown source is trying to lure me away from the original idea, another “better” idea will pop into my head.

It can be draining to develop an idea from start to finish. Most people don’t understand that ideas truly become a labor of love after a certain point. Finishing isn’t a goal; it’s a quest.

Yet there’s a little trick to learning how to stay motivated with ideas: Do your best work.

For whatever reason, when we’re creating to our full potential, work suddenly becomes an energizing process. Instead of draining us, work becomes satisfying. It fills you up as you exert your energy toward it.

In elementary school, I remember teachers constantly rewarding us for taking the extra time and doing better work as opposed to rushing to finish. (I wonder if they still teach that in the schools?) Now the “real world” teaches us that deadlines matter, praising speed and efficiency. It’s no wonder that people quickly burn out of their jobs over the years when they’re forced to meet a deadline, not create incredible things.

The fire never has to die if we’re doing our best work. Instead of blazing for a short period and dying, we can create at a steady, clean smolder. We have to value quality over quantity.

That’s how the real masters crank out masterpieces in a steady cycle. They’ve learned how to take joy in what they do by creating at their full potential, and doing it every day.

Photo by Gustavius

1. Danielle LaPorte on the Fire Starter Sessions
2. Fire Starter Sessions
3. Kick-Start the Idea By Planning

I used to subscribe to more rigid forms of task management systems like GTD in the past, but over time I find that having my own system has always worked the best. As I get smarter, my system evolves.

This post is an example of how I’ll sometimes use a
notebook and trusty pen to outline my thoughts.

What’s important in my own system is flexibility. This means I’ll use multiple tools to capture and plan things,

For the everyday need of capturing ideas, I’ll use anything from text files to smooth rocks. Sometimes when planning a project, I’ll use a trusty notebook. Other times I’ll use plain text files on my Mac.

The same is true for writing. Often I’ll sketch ideas onto paper, and then plunk them into digital form later (just like this post).

Other times I’ll pull up a text editor like Notational Velocity or TextMate and start pounding out sections of a post.

Scratching ideas and thoughts on paper feels more fluid and free than typing out list items in Evernote. Organizing my day online feels more, well, organized when I’m using a computer for list management.

So really, it all depends on what mood I’m in. Feeling like I need to pull in the organizational reigns? It’s a structured list in a text file on my desktop. If I’m needing a little more flexibility and control over the medium, I’ll switch to paper.

All of these platforms serve a specific purpose. I couldn’t just use one for the rest of my life because that’s not who I am. I’m not a cyborg. I need different tools because they make me a more creative person. The medium can make a huge difference, after all.

Switching Platforms Caveat

The problem with all this contextual switching is that it can be hard to keep track of where stuff is.

The key is knowing where to find everything after you’ve jotted it down. I use Evernote to capture everything for archival purposes. If I’m using a piece of paper, notebook, or some other offline tool, I’ll take a picture and upload into Evernote. Evernote can read text in images, so this means that text within images can be searched.

If I’m using text in a text editor, I have the option of emailing the file, or just copy/pasting it into an Evernote file.

You could also use some other form of archiving, like manually re-typing the info into a text file. (Some people swear that the repetition helps with their memory.) Or you could take a snapshot of your notes and digitally save them.

I know it’s preached among the Uber Productive that it’s necessary to stick to One Platform, but I don’t. This might make me less “productive”, but I think it helps keep things fresh.

And that, to me, is the most important aspect of a productivity or planning tool.

Can I get an amen?

1. Which Is Better: Paper or Digital Productivity Tools?
2. The Big List of Online Productivity Tools Just Launched
3. Jumbled To-Do Lists: Productivity’s Dirty Little Secret?

Yesterday I had the incredible honor of having a guest post published on The 99 Percent about finishing masterpieces. Tons of fresh faces subscribed here because of the article (hi there!), and lots of traffic was sent this way.

In a weird twist of luck, an article on Mashable also ran yesterday that featured yours truly spouting off nonsense about freelancing.

When it rains it pours, I guess.

If there’s something you should know about me, it’s that I’m a stats guy. Actually, it’s deeper than that. I like to figure out exactly why people are doing things on my site, like leaving or subscribing. I like to really dig deep and analyze data, looking for trends or things that I think I could improve around here.

It’s also a way for me to tell if people are engaging with my writing. I want to provide the most bang for your buck. Stats can be a useful yardstick to help gauge the fruits of my labor, if you will. But when a monolithic traffic day like yesterday happens, I can turn into a twitchy, compulsive stat checker. I’m not proud of it.

Yesterday I caught myself checking email subscriptions and site analytics on an hourly basis. I’d officially entered the “Obsessive Zone” of blog ownership.

***

There is a fine line between being “attentive” and “obsessive”. No matter what site owners tell you, they love checking stats. It’s like almost like a game. (I’m sure there are a few weirdos who deep down don’t really care, but they are definitely a minority.)

But more importantly, things like compulsively checking stats are really detrimental to our creative output. We all have something that steals our focus and attention away from the bigger picture.

In Making Ideas Happen, Scott Belsky talks at length about how the nitpicky, obsessive stuff that we seem to gravitate towards might actually be how we avoid doing the really important stuff. It’s a form of self-sabotage. (Cue Beastie Boys!)

We place a fake “importance” on little stuff that doesn’t really do anything but steal our attention from the things we should be doing.

Did checking my site stats obsessively somehow lure more people into subscribing? Nope. All it did was satisfy that ADHD little boy in me and waste my time.

Committing is hard. Really hard. Having timelines, goals, accountability, and all that other good stuff is what keeps ideas alive and into motion. But the fact that committing ain’t easy means that you’re going to be more vulnerable to distractions. You’re going to want little escapes to keep you distracted from reality.

Even worse than a blatant distraction (viral video, anyone?) is a small, nitpicky task that looks like something you might “need” to do. These are the real wolves in sheep’s clothing. They could be tasks like checking stats, or organizing planners, or trying out a new productivity tool. Tiny, small, unsuspecting things that add up to ginormous wastes of time that only distract from our masterpieces.

But in the end, if you can power through the nitpicky stuff and focus on what’s needed to create fantastic things, then you’ll gain momentum. You’ll gain clarity and focus, and most importantly, you’ll finish.

###

I know I’ve touched on this before, but you’ll want to buy or steal Making Ideas Happen (affiliate). It’s fantastic. (Just don’t tell Scott I told you to steal it.)

Photo by Janine

1. Are You Too Busy Working? You Might Suffer From Work Tunnel Vision
2. This Just In: The News Is Crap
3. That’s Funny… I Thought Traffic Was Up

I’ve been dropping hints here and there that I’ve wrapped up the new LifeDev theme, and as you can see… things look a bit different :)

So. Whatcha think?

I’m still working out some kinks here and there, and if you see anything out of whack, do let me know either in the comments of this post or the contact form. Please excuse the dust as we settle in to the new digs. Oh, and make yourself at home.

Special Thanks

A couple people were absolutely instrumental in me finishing this theme, and I’d be quite ungrateful if I didn’t point them out to you.

• Cath Duncan – A cheeky lady who has no problem telling me that a) I’m a dork and b) when a design doesn’t work.
• Charlie Gilkey – Charlie was my “nagger”, and I mean that in the best way possible. He emailed me, DM’d me and kept me accountable throughout the whole process. What a champ. I hereby dub Charlie as “Mr. Follow-up”.

Jonathan Fields and Karl Staib also gave me some great input as well. Thanks guys!

Major Changes

So if you’re a design geek and what to know what’s different under the hood.

1. Custom Theme

Yup, I designed this baby all by myself. No more stock theme (as some have complained about in the past). I probably went through four revisions before I settled on the theme that I liked.

I built the theme on the excellent Thesis framework. It’s my first real attempt at customizing a framework as opposed to a theme, and I’d highly recommend it. It has a bit of a learning curve, but once you get it down, there are plenty of benefits to the theme.

This theme is tons leaner, and is supported by all browsers except IE6. If you’re still running IE 6, you’ll notice that lots of sites don’t look so hot either. You really should upgrade if at all possible.

2. Introducing @font-face

I’ve been itching to try some new font-faces. Typically people design sites with just a handful of fonts that are “browser safe”. Now that font-face has become mainstream (Google just entered the the game), it’s a lot easier to create pages with unique fonts.

Without going too crazy, I used three:

• Marketing Script – for the curly navigation links and various other headers
• Latin Modern Sans – for most of the headings in the articles and the sidebar
• Droid Sans – the default text across the site

So far I really like the new fonts. I think they add a little sizzle that’s harder to get with just the standard ‘ol fonts.

3. New Identity

While the other theme was easy and cheap free, it didn’t really give any indication of who I really am. I’m a playful, gregarious, “swarthy” (thanks Cath) guy. This theme I think does a pretty good job of reflecting that. The other theme said I was “easy and cheap”. Not the best endorsement, huh?

Things to come

There are a couple things that I might add in the near future to the blog.

Video

I’d like to start getting into posting the occasional video here and there. If anything just to test it with you guys and see if it’s something that’s valuable. If not, I’ll scrap it.

I’ve seen more and more bloggers start posting videos on their sites, and I love it. It adds personality and creates a connection that straight text just can’t provide. So we’ll see.

Newsletter

This is a big maybe. I mean, you can always get these posts delivered in your email, but I’m talking about a private, non-on-the-blog type of thing. Dunno. Still on the fence on this one.

Tumblelog

I used to have a link log of sorts for LifeDev stuff, but like most things back in those days, I gave up on it pretty quickly. I kind of regret it because there were plenty of excellent resources that would have been cool to have searchable across the site.

Also, I like sharing information with people. Typically I do this on Twitter, but sometimes you find something that needs more than a retweet.

So there we are. I’d love any comments on the new theme below.

Oh, and thanks again for being here.

1. LifeDev’s New Design and Other Excellent Articles
2. LifeDev 2.0
3. 12 Programs to Put on Your Brand New Christmas Mac

Photo by atomicshark

The common belief is that getting stuff done requires you to sit down and hammer away at XYZ until you’re through with it.

The problem is, we get so focused on blocking out unhindered “create” time, that we discard important chunks of minutes here and there that we could be using to get things done.

For me, there are very few occasions that I’m able to get into the flow. That’s why I love doing things in small, tiny increments. You’d be amazed at what you can get done in ten minutes. Ten minutes means that you could knock of a focused task or two.

That’s why I love Action Method and Evernote. They allow me to see what I need to do constantly, no matter where I am.

Or maybe an idea strikes and instead of jotting it down, just doing it.

I managed to come up with this post topic, sketch it out and write it while grilling bratwursts. Nothing fancy, just a few paragraphs to get the thought out.

This doesn’t mean that we should only strive to create short, bite-sized chunks. Sometimes you need to create a masterpiece.

But sometimes, all it takes is a few minutes.

What can you do in the next 10 minutes that can make an impact on your day/week/month/year?

1. The Power of 10 Minutes

A screenshot of LifeDev’s very very beta new look. Whatcha think?

I’ve been heads-down creating a new design for LifeDev for the past week and a half. It’s been three and a half years since I’ve changed the design, so it was about time change was made.

I’m also a bit ashamed to admit that I’ve seriously let the design slip. There are tons of unused divs, inline styles and other big design no-nos. (I’ll save the other reasons for the redesign for a later post.) The current template has been great, but it’s about time I flexed my design muscles and created something unique. Above is a tiny sliver of the new LifeDev to whet your appetite of the coming changes.

While I don’t have any new material for you, here are a few articles I’ve truly enjoyed and found helpful this past week.

What You Don’t Do Doesn’t Matter
Chris is one of my favorite bloggers. This post reminds me of my favorite adage:

You can wish in one hand and crap in the other. Which do you think gets filled first?

What I Learned from the 100 Business Launch
Another gem by @chrisguillebeau. Never compromise when it comes to business.

Would you Pay to Read Your Own Blog?
The New York Times decision to put up a paywall last week sent shock waves around the ‘Net. Jonathan Fields asks a very important question that all writers/bloggers should have to answer at some point: Would you pay to read your own content?

Could You Be Ruining Your Blogging Business?
This CopyBlogger post addresses many of the problems that businesses have with actually brining in referrals with the writing.

“Let me restate the obvious: you are business blogging. That means your awesome content must be delivered in the context of your business goals.”

The Hustling Secrets No One Talks About
Love Jade Craven‘s work ethic.

life is subject to change: what happened when I raised my rates
Danielle started working less and charging more. Guess what happened? She started selling more.

The Reason You’re Stuck (and the one best way to avoid the six ways that will keep you stuck)
A guest post on Leo’s blog by Seth Godin himself.

“What separates the few who ship from the masses who stumble, stall and ultimately surrender? The resistance.”

If anybody knows how to create killer content every day, it’s Seth.

How to Make Your Reminder System Totally Useless
Brett hits the nail on the head as to why your reminder system isn’t working, and gives a few reasons to fix it. Brilliant.

Brett’s blog is still new, and he’s cranking out killer stuff. (His blog masthead was designed by yours truly.) Subscribe to his feed for more tasty tech goodness.

Ok, that’s it for this week. You should be seeing a brand-new LifeDev next week and more regular posts (if there is such a term as “regular” around here.)

1. Web Warrior Tools- Helpful Guides Written by Excellent Writers
2. The Brand New LifeDev Design
3. GTD For Bloggers

Photo by Anna Fischer

I finished Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It! a while back, and surprisingly, I was a big fan. Nothing against @garyvee or course, it’s just that I had feared the book would mostly be an instructional for sites like YouTube. I was dead wrong.

While the book does have beginner training on technologies that most of us already know (Twitter, YouTube, etc.), it also adds some excellent thoughts on not being afraid to be us.

What’s Your DNA?

A major part of Gary’s book is about finding your true DNA and using it to rock your business. Gary, admittedly, is a bit of a “live wire”. The man is intense. If you’ve seen any episodes of Wine Library TV, you know what I’m talking about. Gary has reached incredible success by embracing his high-energy appearance. Sure, he could dial his rhetoric down a notch and possibly retain 4% more of his audience. But Gary knows that’s not him, and trying to be someone else is hard work.

Quirksmode

If you’re like me, you’ve got a lengthy list of quirks. For example, I have an unhealthy fascination with jackalopes and squirrels. I re-write radio tunes with my own corny lyrics. I’m an extrovert and an introvert rolled into one. I dissect songs to their basic elements, replaying them over and over until I’ve figured them out (much to my wife’s chagrin). I like to mix random ingredients while cooking otherwise simple dishes. And I’ll be a people-pleaser till the day I die.

I could go on and on.

Yet I spend most of my time attempting to cover up the things that make me different than everyone else.

Sharing the weird little things that I do–the things that make me me–makes me vulnerable. But I’d imagine that you’re a tad more comfortable with me for sharing these quirks. You know things about me that I have a hard time admitting to even myself. We’ve become that much closer, and you’re more comfortable with me.

I’ve helped earn your trust.

The Special Sauce

Often We don’t take advantage of our quirks, of the things that give us that little something that makes us interesting. Because let’s face it: the Internet is becoming a boring place. We have a serious “monkey see, monkey do” syndrome. Nobody wants to be different, we all want to copy what’s working and not what we are.

And I’m as guilty as the next guy.

Liz might be on to something…

How ironic is it that we try to squash things that make us unique to “help” our brand? Here are some things that I’ve done to cover up my weird unique qualities.

• I haven’t really tweeted any music recommendations. Music is such a huge part of my life. I figured that people would only be interested about stuff that they’d find on LifeDev.
• In the past LifeDev has had a lot of “list” posts (ie. “30 Ways to Make XYZ awesome“). It’s not that I think list posts are bad, I just find them draining to write. (And personally, I’m kind of getting tired of how often they pop up on the web.) From now on I’m writing what I want. If it’s a list post, then it’s a list post. I won’t feel pressure to do so.
• I haven’t started a number of projects for reasons like fear of failure. Nobody wants to read about a failure, right?.
• I haven’t starting posting daily pictures of jackalopes or squirrels. (Not sure I’ll ever do that… we’ll see. There’s a fine line between turning people away and scaring people away.)

By suppressing the bits that make me unique, I’ve watered my personal brand down. I’ve tried to sand off the edges that don’t fit in with everything else.

Photo by ynse

But can you remember the last time you were truly interested in something or someone really boring? We’re magnetically drawn to interesting people. People who have changed things and made us think differently about how we think and live. Gandhi, Einstein, Muhammad Ali, Lennon… these weren’t ordinary people.

They were people with quirks.

Sure, it’s hard being me. But it’s even harder trying to be someone else. It’s not easy being a fake; we’re never totally satisfied with who we are.

A disclaimer: The results won’t always appear to be positive. Since I’ve been eating my own dog food and changing the type of content I publish, I’ve dropped some Twitter followers on my account. Maybe I’ve lost some subscribers to LifeDev (though numbers have been up). I’m OK with that. There’s always going to be a small fraction of people who want a different me. But that’s not who I am. Odds are that I’d lose more followers faking my way through tomorrow.

So what aspect of you are you pushing deep down? What are you keeping others from seeing? It just might be the thing that brings them closer to you.

1. Fear Drives Us To Work
2. Four Reasons Why Fear is a Creative’s Friend
3. The Top 50 Productivity Blogs