WEBVTT - Our Best Work Hacks Ever: Your Productivity Cheat Sheet 0:00:06.610 --> 0:00:10.570 You're listening to I'm Ama Mia podcast. 0:00:13.370 --> 0:00:17.690 Hello and welcome to Biz Your Work Life Sorted. I'm 0:00:17.850 --> 0:00:20.690 m Vernon and today we're diving into something that could 0:00:20.689 --> 0:00:25.250 completely transform how you work. The world's best work hacks 0:00:25.290 --> 0:00:29.210 from the most brilliant minds in the business. Today's episode 0:00:29.330 --> 0:00:34.050 is your Lifeline. We've gathered game changing shortcuts from global experts, 0:00:34.290 --> 0:00:39.530 including professors from Yale and NYU, tech founders and productivity gurus. 0:00:39.930 --> 0:00:43.330 Our career coaches Michelle Badisbye and Sohurst are breaking down 0:00:43.370 --> 0:00:46.370 their all time favorite work hacks. Plus, we have a 0:00:46.410 --> 0:00:50.290 special guest on who has interviewed literally every major work 0:00:50.370 --> 0:00:52.890 expert on the planet, and she is sharing her top 0:00:52.970 --> 0:00:57.930 eight genius shortcuts, from redesigning your physical environment to boosting 0:00:57.970 --> 0:01:02.570 productivity to the science behind making networking actually enjoyable. This 0:01:02.610 --> 0:01:06.370 episode is basically your cheat sheet to working smarter, not harder. 0:01:06.690 --> 0:01:09.090 The best part is is that these hacks are ridiculously 0:01:09.130 --> 0:01:12.209 simple to implement, so you can start using them today. 0:01:13.250 --> 0:01:17.129 So Michelle out Loud did an episode called Fuck First 0:01:17.130 --> 0:01:19.770 and Other Cheat CODs for Life, and it was my 0:01:20.089 --> 0:01:22.929 favorite episode they've ever done. So I've always wanted to 0:01:22.970 --> 0:01:26.569 do a work edition of that where it is you 0:01:26.610 --> 0:01:30.569 and I share our favorite shortcuts, hacks, and cheat codes 0:01:30.649 --> 0:01:34.009 for work and life. So that is what we're giving 0:01:34.050 --> 0:01:37.649 you in this episode today, as well as eight of 0:01:37.729 --> 0:01:43.050 the best hacks that we've curated from the best global podcasters, 0:01:43.130 --> 0:01:44.969 authors and experts in the world. 0:01:45.170 --> 0:01:48.050 I am so excited for this episode, and it feels 0:01:48.090 --> 0:01:54.010 fitting because this will be sop and my last episode 0:01:54.250 --> 0:01:57.290 on the Bierz Pod. So we want to leave you 0:01:58.090 --> 0:02:01.250 with our all time greatest hacks. 0:02:01.130 --> 0:02:04.410 Wrapping the season up with our favorite work tips, and 0:02:04.770 --> 0:02:07.050 we hope this is something that you can bookmark and 0:02:07.130 --> 0:02:07.890 keep coming back to. 0:02:08.210 --> 0:02:10.250 Okay, so hit us with the first one. 0:02:10.690 --> 0:02:14.050 Number one is to put expiry dates on work stuff. 0:02:14.090 --> 0:02:16.250 So what I mean by that is, so you meet 0:02:16.250 --> 0:02:18.410 someone and you're like, hey, let's start doing a weekly 0:02:18.450 --> 0:02:20.530 that'd be cool if we do like a weekly catch up. 0:02:21.130 --> 0:02:24.050 Say to them, let's do six sessions and then see 0:02:24.050 --> 0:02:26.370 how it goes. And when you set that reoccurring meeting 0:02:26.450 --> 0:02:29.970 in your calendar, do not send it to reoccur indefinitely. 0:02:30.370 --> 0:02:32.490 Set it for six sessions, and then if you want 0:02:32.490 --> 0:02:34.570 to keep doing it, you can, but there is nothing 0:02:34.610 --> 0:02:38.530 worth then each person taking turns to awkwardly cancel the 0:02:38.570 --> 0:02:42.850 meeting and the vibe just getting weird. So set it 0:02:42.930 --> 0:02:44.930 for a specific amount of sessions. 0:02:45.250 --> 0:02:48.090 Oh so if you literally just change my life, like, 0:02:48.210 --> 0:02:50.650 I will be in my calendar straight after this setting. 0:02:50.690 --> 0:02:52.370 Expirer is exacly. 0:02:52.410 --> 0:02:52.730 Okay. 0:02:53.730 --> 0:02:56.010 My hack is a networking one. 0:02:56.250 --> 0:02:58.850 So if you're meeting people for the first time, you've 0:02:58.850 --> 0:03:01.490 had a great conversation, or just honestly a way to 0:03:01.530 --> 0:03:06.570 maintain your network in general, send yourself an email after 0:03:06.610 --> 0:03:10.850 the conversation, put their name as the subject, and write 0:03:10.890 --> 0:03:14.330 down in dot points the key things that you spoke about, 0:03:14.410 --> 0:03:16.329 like if it was personal stuff going on in their life, 0:03:16.370 --> 0:03:18.370 if it was something profound that they shared with you, 0:03:18.410 --> 0:03:20.930 if it was an insight. So the next time that 0:03:21.010 --> 0:03:23.130 you hit them up or you meet them, you can 0:03:23.210 --> 0:03:25.810 go back into your emails, look up their name, and 0:03:25.850 --> 0:03:28.290 you've kind of got this running list of the things 0:03:28.370 --> 0:03:30.450 you've spoken about with that person over and over. 0:03:30.890 --> 0:03:35.010 Instantly doing that that it sounds so easy. Okay. Number three, 0:03:35.290 --> 0:03:38.410 If you elevate your status at work and make people 0:03:38.410 --> 0:03:42.730 think that you're important, start using the word time more so. 0:03:42.770 --> 0:03:44.330 You want to cate the vibe that you respect your 0:03:44.330 --> 0:03:46.930 own time and that you respect other people's time, so 0:03:46.970 --> 0:03:49.810 you want to use phrases like I've blocked time to 0:03:49.810 --> 0:03:52.090 look at this on Friday, or let me look at 0:03:52.130 --> 0:03:54.450 my time plan for the week before you actually say 0:03:54.530 --> 0:03:57.170 yes to task. You want to be loud about giving 0:03:57.210 --> 0:03:59.650 people time back, so you use phrases like giving you 0:03:59.730 --> 0:04:01.850 your time back, so I've dropped my questions in this 0:04:01.930 --> 0:04:04.930 doc instead of us having a meeting. And also, don't 0:04:04.930 --> 0:04:07.930 be late for meetings. Don't rush around the office. Make 0:04:07.970 --> 0:04:09.970 sure that you are getting to meetings on time and 0:04:10.010 --> 0:04:12.810 not running in between things. Be someone who talks about 0:04:12.850 --> 0:04:13.490 time a lot. 0:04:13.690 --> 0:04:14.610 Oh I love that. 0:04:14.770 --> 0:04:17.690 Okay, this segue is nicely off the back of time. 0:04:18.089 --> 0:04:22.250 If you want to manage your time more effectively and 0:04:22.450 --> 0:04:26.850 protect your time eroplane mode I always have my phone 0:04:26.890 --> 0:04:29.450 on aeroplane mode or do not disturb. And this also 0:04:29.530 --> 0:04:33.810 applies to email notifications and Slack. I haven't had email 0:04:33.810 --> 0:04:37.530 notifications on my phone since twenty sixteen. I have never 0:04:37.610 --> 0:04:41.890 turned on Slack notifications. It is such a distraction when 0:04:41.890 --> 0:04:45.529 you see that stuff popping up, so just disable them 0:04:45.970 --> 0:04:50.330 and check Slack and check your email intermittently, or create 0:04:50.490 --> 0:04:53.250 time blocking moments for you to get back to slacks 0:04:53.570 --> 0:04:55.850 or get back to email, and if anyone ever needs 0:04:55.850 --> 0:04:58.170 you urgently, let people know this is what you do, 0:04:58.850 --> 0:05:01.010 and come up with a way for them to contact 0:05:01.050 --> 0:05:02.409 you if they need you urgently. 0:05:02.810 --> 0:05:04.930 Oh my god, you want to aim for about ninety 0:05:04.930 --> 0:05:07.289 minutes to t hours of that type of airplane mode 0:05:07.330 --> 0:05:09.890 a day. Ideally if you can, that would be number 0:05:09.930 --> 0:05:11.410 one for me, Michelle, I love that hack. 0:05:20.730 --> 0:05:21.770 If you've got people. 0:05:21.490 --> 0:05:24.290 In your life that you communicate with regularly, like daily, weekly, 0:05:24.730 --> 0:05:27.130 at some point you want to ask them this question, 0:05:27.770 --> 0:05:30.930 what do other people do in communication that you find 0:05:31.010 --> 0:05:33.490 annoying or makes it hard for you? And they might 0:05:33.570 --> 0:05:35.250 say why do you want to know? And you say, 0:05:35.490 --> 0:05:37.130 because I want to make sure that I never do 0:05:37.210 --> 0:05:40.730 those things. Honestly, this question is game changing. It opens 0:05:40.770 --> 0:05:42.610 people up to actually tell you the things that you 0:05:42.690 --> 0:05:44.890 might be doing to them in a way that doesn't 0:05:44.930 --> 0:05:48.409 feel like they're criticizing you. So at some point with 0:05:48.530 --> 0:05:50.050 people ask them that question. 0:05:50.050 --> 0:05:51.890 Oh my god, I love that. I'm going to start 0:05:51.890 --> 0:05:53.090 doing that one immediately. 0:05:53.850 --> 0:05:54.210 Okay. 0:05:54.530 --> 0:05:58.010 My last hack again kind of comes back to time. 0:05:58.090 --> 0:05:59.690 So there was a period in my life where I 0:05:59.690 --> 0:06:02.930 felt like I just wasn't getting those moments to sit 0:06:03.090 --> 0:06:06.090 in my own thoughts and to really pro sess things 0:06:06.170 --> 0:06:07.170 or digest. 0:06:06.770 --> 0:06:08.050 What was going on in my business. 0:06:08.050 --> 0:06:10.290 And I didn't feel like there was time in the 0:06:10.410 --> 0:06:13.010 day for me to fit that in anywhere. So I 0:06:13.010 --> 0:06:15.250 spoke to my career coach about this, and she told 0:06:15.290 --> 0:06:18.370 me to come up with think time. And she was like, 0:06:18.490 --> 0:06:21.529 what do you do every single day at the same time? 0:06:21.970 --> 0:06:23.210 And I was like, okay, well, I go to the 0:06:23.250 --> 0:06:24.970 gym every day. And she was like, all right, how 0:06:25.050 --> 0:06:27.490 much think time do you need? And I was like, honestly, 0:06:27.650 --> 0:06:31.130 about ten minutes. And so she was like, Okay, leave 0:06:31.130 --> 0:06:34.290 for the gym five to ten minutes earlier. Put in 0:06:34.330 --> 0:06:38.530 your calendar like six point fifty am every day, blocked 0:06:38.970 --> 0:06:42.130 think time, and just rewire your brain to Okay, I'm 0:06:42.130 --> 0:06:44.330 in the car, I'm driving to the gym, and I'm 0:06:44.330 --> 0:06:47.170 just going to start letting my mind run and think. 0:06:47.650 --> 0:06:49.570 And then when i'd get to the car park, I'd 0:06:49.570 --> 0:06:51.810 just sit there for an extra five or so minutes 0:06:51.810 --> 0:06:53.890 and I would just write things in my notes and 0:06:53.930 --> 0:06:56.290 kind of use it as this moment fresh in the 0:06:56.330 --> 0:07:00.010 morning to actually like process or give myself time and 0:07:00.050 --> 0:07:03.850 permission to just think about other things relating to work. 0:07:04.210 --> 0:07:06.210 For all the moms out there, I think that one 0:07:06.290 --> 0:07:09.890 is really important, all right. The next one, getting better 0:07:10.090 --> 0:07:13.170 at speaking is one of the biggest shortcuts that you 0:07:13.210 --> 0:07:16.890 can make to be seen as more senior, and it's 0:07:16.930 --> 0:07:19.010 also one of the most shore fire things that you 0:07:19.050 --> 0:07:21.570 can get better at. So here is my very quick 0:07:21.650 --> 0:07:25.770 hacks for getting better at it. Is to record yourself speaking, literally, 0:07:25.810 --> 0:07:28.330 record yourself video camera, and you have to force yourself 0:07:28.330 --> 0:07:30.410 to watch it back. I promise you that's the fastest way. 0:07:30.730 --> 0:07:33.210 If you can't bring yourself to do that, start sending 0:07:33.250 --> 0:07:35.170 a lot of voice notes to friends, and then listen 0:07:35.250 --> 0:07:37.170 back to your voice notes so you can pick up 0:07:37.170 --> 0:07:39.290 on things that you might want to change in your communication. 0:07:39.690 --> 0:07:42.890 And then the other one is to move before public speaking. 0:07:42.890 --> 0:07:45.010 So if you've got a presentation or some kind of talk, 0:07:45.050 --> 0:07:46.770 you have to give it work. You've got a lot 0:07:46.770 --> 0:07:48.850 of adrenaline that's going on in your body. You have 0:07:48.890 --> 0:07:50.890 to move your body to get that out, and that's 0:07:50.930 --> 0:07:53.050 going to help you feel more calm when you're actually speaking. 0:07:53.170 --> 0:07:54.250 Oh that's so good. 0:07:54.290 --> 0:07:58.130 So because in media training, this is actually what they 0:07:58.210 --> 0:08:00.490 do to you, so like they will put you in 0:08:00.530 --> 0:08:03.370 front of a camera and start interviewing you, and then 0:08:03.410 --> 0:08:06.770 you will be forced to watch yourself back on camera 0:08:06.890 --> 0:08:09.170 and you'll realize, like, oh, when I'm nervous, I lick 0:08:09.250 --> 0:08:12.770 my lips or or you know, I sound hesitant around 0:08:12.890 --> 0:08:15.370 that topic, and it is a very good way to 0:08:15.370 --> 0:08:16.130 build confidence. 0:08:16.370 --> 0:08:19.450 I'm just going to leave you with three really short ones. 0:08:20.170 --> 0:08:22.530 If people ask to have a coffee or a chat 0:08:22.570 --> 0:08:24.810 with you, ask them to send you a couple of 0:08:24.810 --> 0:08:27.210 bullet points on what they want to chat about. First, 0:08:27.290 --> 0:08:29.890 you will be so surprised how many people never send 0:08:29.930 --> 0:08:31.410 them to you. And then you don't have to do 0:08:31.450 --> 0:08:35.010 that chat. If you don't want to start your day 0:08:35.290 --> 0:08:39.330 with anything except checking your emails, anything else, just do 0:08:39.490 --> 0:08:41.650 not start your day checking your emails. I promise you 0:08:41.690 --> 0:08:44.490 that will help a lot. And then the last one, 0:08:44.810 --> 0:08:47.170 don't ask people how are you at work? You will 0:08:47.170 --> 0:08:51.130 only get boring answers. Ask people forward looking questions. So 0:08:51.490 --> 0:08:54.170 what's big this week? Or what are you excited about? 0:08:54.210 --> 0:08:56.329 Is there anything you're looking forward to that will help 0:08:56.370 --> 0:08:58.730 you get information that they actually want to talk about, 0:08:58.730 --> 0:09:02.090 and then you can chat about with them next time. Okay, 0:09:02.210 --> 0:09:04.290 so coming out next you're going to hear from someone 0:09:04.330 --> 0:09:07.370 who has interviewed all of the biggest experts in the world, 0:09:07.450 --> 0:09:11.770 and she has curated her all time eight favorite work 0:09:11.810 --> 0:09:15.010 life hacks. Cannot wait for you to hear these. We're 0:09:15.050 --> 0:09:20.010 here with Amantha who has interviewed every single world class 0:09:20.130 --> 0:09:23.050 work expert in the world, and she is giving us 0:09:23.170 --> 0:09:26.530 eight of the greatest things she has ever heard. These 0:09:26.610 --> 0:09:28.850 experts tell her that are going to make not just 0:09:28.890 --> 0:09:32.090 your work, but your life better. So hit us, Amantha. 0:09:32.170 --> 0:09:33.130 Let's go with number one. 0:09:33.450 --> 0:09:37.569 Okay, my first one comes from Professor Adam Altat, who's 0:09:37.810 --> 0:09:41.450 a professor over at the Stone School of Business in NYU, 0:09:41.610 --> 0:09:46.090 and he talks about why goal setting is broken. So 0:09:46.090 --> 0:09:48.330 so many of us set goals, and we're told that 0:09:48.370 --> 0:09:51.650 setting goals is a really good thing. But goal setting 0:09:51.730 --> 0:09:54.970 is broken for this reason. Whenever we set a goal, 0:09:55.250 --> 0:09:58.490 and let's take a very common goal that a lot 0:09:58.490 --> 0:10:00.690 of people have set in their personal lives at some 0:10:00.850 --> 0:10:03.730 stage is to lose weight. Let's just say my goal 0:10:04.010 --> 0:10:07.650 is I want to lose five kill Now until our 0:10:07.770 --> 0:10:11.569 scale is saying in negative five on its little display, 0:10:11.890 --> 0:10:14.930 we are in a state of failure, which is obviously 0:10:15.130 --> 0:10:18.050 very demotivating. As humans, we want to succeed. We don't 0:10:18.050 --> 0:10:21.010 want to fail. And so what Adam shared with me 0:10:21.090 --> 0:10:24.250 on how I work is he said, sure, I've got 0:10:24.290 --> 0:10:26.490 an end state that I'm heading to, but instead of 0:10:26.530 --> 0:10:29.130 having a goal and being in a constant state of failure, 0:10:29.490 --> 0:10:32.010 I set daily systems that if I can do that 0:10:32.050 --> 0:10:34.770 system every day, I know that I'm going to reach 0:10:34.810 --> 0:10:38.250 that end point. For example, how I'm applying it Right now, 0:10:38.330 --> 0:10:42.570 I am on deadline for my fifth book, and I 0:10:42.650 --> 0:10:45.170 quld set myself the goal of going, okay, I need 0:10:45.170 --> 0:10:49.010 to produce a sixty thousand word manuscript, which is quite overwhelming. 0:10:49.290 --> 0:10:53.170 But instead I've set myself a daily system where every 0:10:53.250 --> 0:10:56.490 day I write one thousand words and I know that 0:10:56.650 --> 0:10:59.010 at the end of sixty days, I'm going to have 0:10:59.450 --> 0:11:02.130 a draft that I can then play with. So it's 0:11:02.170 --> 0:11:04.250 all about sticking to that daily system. And because I 0:11:04.250 --> 0:11:07.250 can do that, it's very achieved. I can feel successful 0:11:07.290 --> 0:11:07.810 every day. 0:11:08.130 --> 0:11:10.170 I love this so much because it's like you're taking 0:11:10.210 --> 0:11:12.290 the effort out of it. In a way. It's like 0:11:12.330 --> 0:11:15.050 you've already designed the system, and then when you wake 0:11:15.170 --> 0:11:17.810 up on the day, you're simply executing that system. So 0:11:17.810 --> 0:11:19.689 if you're like I've already picked the priority that I'm 0:11:19.690 --> 0:11:21.690 going to work on. I've seen the block in my calendar. 0:11:22.090 --> 0:11:24.530 I just execute that priority and do that thing, and 0:11:24.570 --> 0:11:27.690 just follow the steps that I've already designed. That's all 0:11:27.690 --> 0:11:31.050 I'm doing versus a goal, which just feels like you're 0:11:31.130 --> 0:11:33.370 already too hard and probably why so many of us failed, 0:11:33.450 --> 0:11:35.970 like being in that state of failure number two. 0:11:36.370 --> 0:11:39.090 Okay, so this is completely different. Something I think about 0:11:39.130 --> 0:11:43.050 a lot is my energy, because I think that unless 0:11:43.170 --> 0:11:47.170 we're having a high level of energy, it's really hard 0:11:47.210 --> 0:11:50.650 to be impactful, like and effective in any area of 0:11:50.690 --> 0:11:53.530 our life. So I take my energy levels very very seriously. 0:11:54.010 --> 0:11:57.050 And one of the best hacks that I've found, and 0:11:57.290 --> 0:11:58.330 I've heard this from. 0:11:58.210 --> 0:11:59.530 Several guests on the show. 0:11:59.690 --> 0:12:02.610 I also heard it when I was researching my last book, 0:12:02.650 --> 0:12:05.810 The Health Habit, is to run experiments with what is 0:12:05.850 --> 0:12:11.050 called CGM. So CGM stands for continuous glucose monitor And 0:12:11.170 --> 0:12:14.170 unless you are diabetic, you probably don't know what I'm 0:12:14.170 --> 0:12:14.730 talking about. 0:12:14.890 --> 0:12:15.569 So what it is. 0:12:15.690 --> 0:12:18.329 It's a medical device, but you can get it from 0:12:18.450 --> 0:12:22.170 a chemist, so anyone can access one. They're about ninety 0:12:22.250 --> 0:12:24.450 nine dollars I think for the device. It's about one 0:12:24.530 --> 0:12:27.010 hundred dollars and that cooks up to an app as well. 0:12:27.050 --> 0:12:30.370 What it is if you imagine a table tennis ball squashed. 0:12:30.650 --> 0:12:33.210 That's about the size of it, and you stick it 0:12:33.290 --> 0:12:35.650 on the back of your arm like on your tricep, 0:12:35.770 --> 0:12:38.610 and it's got a needle, a very fine needle that 0:12:38.690 --> 0:12:42.290 pierces through your skin, which sounds painful to apply, but 0:12:42.370 --> 0:12:45.570 trust me, it's not. And I hate needles. And what 0:12:45.730 --> 0:12:48.290 it does is while it's on you and you leave 0:12:48.330 --> 0:12:51.410 it on for about two weeks, is it takes continuous 0:12:51.450 --> 0:12:54.970 measures of your blood glucose or blood sugar levels. Now 0:12:55.010 --> 0:12:58.050 why this matters is that I'm sure so that you've 0:12:58.050 --> 0:13:01.450 had the experience where after lunch your brain feels like 0:13:01.690 --> 0:13:04.250 mush and you could have like a little lie down. Yes, 0:13:04.330 --> 0:13:08.170 I need to have that. Yes, yeah, very very common. 0:13:08.210 --> 0:13:10.209 And what is typically happening if you were to look 0:13:10.210 --> 0:13:13.090 at your blood gluecose levels is you've probably had a 0:13:13.250 --> 0:13:16.850 spike in your levels after lunch and then you've crashed 0:13:17.090 --> 0:13:20.170 and your energy will essentially match what is going on 0:13:20.170 --> 0:13:20.449 with your. 0:13:20.410 --> 0:13:21.410 Black gluecose levels. 0:13:21.610 --> 0:13:24.650 So we're wearing a CGM and doing a CGM experiment 0:13:24.730 --> 0:13:27.330 is great is you can start to experiment with different 0:13:27.370 --> 0:13:31.170 food combinations, because some types of food combinations are going 0:13:31.210 --> 0:13:33.290 to spike you and then crash you and be really 0:13:33.290 --> 0:13:35.850 bad for energy, and others are going to be really 0:13:35.890 --> 0:13:38.370 good for your energy. And the thing is, it's different 0:13:38.450 --> 0:13:41.850 for every person. The idea that we shouldn't eat white 0:13:41.850 --> 0:13:44.810 bread because that's high GI it is a myth. For 0:13:44.930 --> 0:13:49.050 some people will sustain our energy perfectly fine after having 0:13:49.690 --> 0:13:50.970 a white bread sandwich. 0:13:51.090 --> 0:13:52.770 For other people, we will crash. 0:13:52.810 --> 0:13:54.770 And So what I do I do this about one 0:13:54.850 --> 0:13:57.689 or two times a year, is I will spend two 0:13:57.730 --> 0:14:01.290 weeks wearing the CGM, tracking my blood gluecose levels and 0:14:01.410 --> 0:14:04.929 experimenting with different food combinations to see which ones sustain 0:14:04.970 --> 0:14:05.370 my energy. 0:14:05.930 --> 0:14:08.370 My god, I love this. I really like the word experimenting. 0:14:08.530 --> 0:14:18.810 I am gonna do it number three. 0:14:19.250 --> 0:14:19.530 Sorry. 0:14:19.730 --> 0:14:22.410 This is something that I've had recommended to me again 0:14:22.450 --> 0:14:26.130 by a few guests, definitely Cal Newport, who's probably most 0:14:26.170 --> 0:14:29.410 well known for writing the book Deep Work, Who's amazing. 0:14:29.970 --> 0:14:32.850 I know he has recommended it, as have several others. 0:14:33.210 --> 0:14:36.890 Is when I am trying to change my habits, I 0:14:36.930 --> 0:14:40.890 try to redesign my physical environment to support the habits 0:14:40.890 --> 0:14:41.850 I'm trying to build. 0:14:41.930 --> 0:14:43.810 So, for example, I don't. 0:14:43.610 --> 0:14:46.050 Think that there's people listening that are like, I wish 0:14:46.170 --> 0:14:48.090 I was on my phone more often. 0:14:48.210 --> 0:14:51.010 I wish I would get even more distracted by my phone. 0:14:51.290 --> 0:14:52.690 No one really thinks that, right. 0:14:52.730 --> 0:14:54.970 A lot of us are trying to reduce the amount 0:14:54.970 --> 0:14:57.210 of time that we spend on our phone, the amount 0:14:57.250 --> 0:14:59.690 of time that we spend glued to TikTok or Insta 0:14:59.810 --> 0:15:02.570 or whatever. But the thing is, if you think about, 0:15:02.690 --> 0:15:05.930 like a typical twenty four hours in your li life, 0:15:05.970 --> 0:15:09.930 So how many hours do you reckon your phone is 0:15:10.090 --> 0:15:11.770 more than arms reach away? 0:15:11.970 --> 0:15:13.730 Yeah? Like zero? 0:15:14.490 --> 0:15:15.690 Yeah? Would I lose it? 0:15:15.770 --> 0:15:18.050 I don't know, Yeah. 0:15:17.290 --> 0:15:19.570 Yeah, yeah, Like You're not alone. I think most of 0:15:19.650 --> 0:15:22.770 us are like that. And so for me, my phone 0:15:23.010 --> 0:15:25.530 it is not helping me do my work. It's certainly 0:15:25.530 --> 0:15:27.930 not helping me get to sleep or start the morning. Well, 0:15:28.290 --> 0:15:31.450 so I try to think about how many hours during 0:15:31.490 --> 0:15:34.010 that twenty four hour period can I make sure that 0:15:34.090 --> 0:15:37.530 my phone is out of arms reach away, because if 0:15:37.530 --> 0:15:40.290 it is, say in another room, it puts some friction 0:15:40.450 --> 0:15:42.650 in the way of me just doing a quick check 0:15:42.690 --> 0:15:45.730 of my phone, Like when I'm looking to procrastinate. Likewise, 0:15:45.770 --> 0:15:47.890 if I go to sleep and my phone is not 0:15:48.050 --> 0:15:51.170 charging by my bed, I'm not at all tempted to 0:15:51.170 --> 0:15:53.410 be checking social media while I try to get to 0:15:53.450 --> 0:15:56.450 sleep at night. So design the physical environment in a 0:15:56.450 --> 0:15:58.450 way that supports the habits you're trying to create. 0:15:58.610 --> 0:16:01.210 Yeah, so sure, I remember the one around like laying 0:16:01.210 --> 0:16:04.050 out your gym clothes like the night before. I heard 0:16:04.050 --> 0:16:05.490 one the other day around a lot of us get 0:16:05.490 --> 0:16:09.050 the Sunday scaries with work, and if you sort of 0:16:09.130 --> 0:16:11.570 lay out your work outfit the night before and it's 0:16:11.610 --> 0:16:13.650 kind of all ready to go, you're minimizing that friction 0:16:13.730 --> 0:16:15.890 in the morning. A physical environment is actually sort of 0:16:16.250 --> 0:16:19.410 supporting you. Then in getting out the door. Oh, there 0:16:19.450 --> 0:16:21.770 was one I saw on TikTok that was they've got 0:16:21.810 --> 0:16:24.650 a basically like grab and go draw that's right near 0:16:24.770 --> 0:16:26.770 the front door, and it's everything that they need when 0:16:26.810 --> 0:16:29.530 they walk out of the house, so like keys, lip, balm, 0:16:29.810 --> 0:16:32.410 whatever else they need, and it's just like everything's always 0:16:32.490 --> 0:16:34.090 kept there. I really like that one. 0:16:34.250 --> 0:16:37.690 Okay, next one, this comes from Rahul Vora, who is 0:16:37.770 --> 0:16:41.330 the founder of probably my favorite piece of software that 0:16:41.410 --> 0:16:45.450 I use, called Superhuman. So if you hate being in 0:16:45.490 --> 0:16:49.090 your inbox. If you hate email, I highly recommend checking 0:16:49.170 --> 0:16:50.050 out Superhuman. 0:16:50.290 --> 0:16:51.410 I've used it for years. 0:16:51.530 --> 0:16:54.970 It is the best email software out there, compatible with 0:16:55.010 --> 0:16:56.690 Microsoft and Gmail and so forth. 0:16:57.130 --> 0:16:58.570 Rahul gave me this tip. 0:16:58.770 --> 0:17:04.010 He said, spend time investing on learning the keyboard shortcuts 0:17:04.050 --> 0:17:07.170 for the software that you use most, which I think 0:17:07.250 --> 0:17:09.889 is such a surprising tip. Like most of us know 0:17:10.010 --> 0:17:12.490 how to you know, do like a command C for copy, 0:17:12.609 --> 0:17:15.410 command V for paste, and so forth. But Rahul said 0:17:15.570 --> 0:17:18.090 he's a computer programmer. By the way, we're so much 0:17:18.170 --> 0:17:21.970 quicker on our computers if we're sticking with the keyboard 0:17:22.010 --> 0:17:24.730 rather than going between our mouse and the keyboard. So 0:17:24.770 --> 0:17:27.250 if you want speed in what you're doing when you're 0:17:27.290 --> 0:17:30.770 using software online, whether that be word processing documents or 0:17:30.770 --> 0:17:34.609 browsing the internet or in your inbox, learn the most 0:17:34.609 --> 0:17:38.530 common keyboard shortcuts and you will work significantly faster for 0:17:38.609 --> 0:17:39.850 everyone listening. 0:17:39.890 --> 0:17:43.170 This is our PSA signal to actually do it, because 0:17:43.170 --> 0:17:45.129 I think we know how much faster it is for 0:17:45.170 --> 0:17:47.649 the couple that we know, But it just feels like 0:17:47.850 --> 0:17:50.330 the idea of spending an hour learning some of these, 0:17:50.530 --> 0:17:52.330 or like committing to five minutes a day learning a 0:17:52.370 --> 0:17:54.930 new shortcut is just like feels too hard, but it's 0:17:54.930 --> 0:17:57.810 gonna save you so much time. I'm also amount this 0:17:57.890 --> 0:18:01.210 is probably gonna make you cry. But I can't type 0:18:01.290 --> 0:18:03.450 right so I only type with three fingers, so I'm 0:18:03.650 --> 0:18:07.170 painfully slow. Thank you, thank God for voice mode now. 0:18:07.530 --> 0:18:10.609 But keyboard shortcuts I can actually do. So this is 0:18:10.609 --> 0:18:15.609 my sign I'm committing to learning keyboard shortcuts. Will actually 0:18:15.609 --> 0:18:19.170 share some of our favorite ones in the newsletter as well. 0:18:19.450 --> 0:18:23.010 Yeah, number five, I think yes. Okay, we talked about 0:18:23.010 --> 0:18:27.290 favorite software. I lie this is equal favorite, so Loom 0:18:27.370 --> 0:18:29.649 dot com LOM. 0:18:29.970 --> 0:18:31.530 This is goal. 0:18:31.690 --> 0:18:35.330 So I hate meetings. So I seem you're the same. 0:18:35.370 --> 0:18:37.609 Do you hate meetings? There's too many of them, although 0:18:37.609 --> 0:18:39.970 not an inventium because we've eliminated most of them. 0:18:40.210 --> 0:18:41.570 But I love Loom. 0:18:41.730 --> 0:18:46.050 What Loom is is it software that really effortlessly records 0:18:46.090 --> 0:18:48.889 your screen and also your camera if you want to 0:18:48.890 --> 0:18:51.649 be on screen, or it can just record you on 0:18:51.730 --> 0:18:54.290 screen or just record like you know, what you're doing 0:18:54.330 --> 0:18:57.450 on your computer. And where it's really good is it's 0:18:57.530 --> 0:19:01.330 really good for so many meetings are just about information sharing, 0:19:01.410 --> 0:19:03.930 and that is such a bad use of people's time. 0:19:04.410 --> 0:19:07.730 So at Inventium. For example, the consultancy that I run, 0:19:08.250 --> 0:19:10.490 we have a rule where we just don't use meetings 0:19:10.650 --> 0:19:13.650 to do one way communication. So instead, if I've got 0:19:13.650 --> 0:19:15.689 something to share, if I've got like a big update 0:19:15.770 --> 0:19:18.770 or an announcement, I will create a LOOM video, which 0:19:18.770 --> 0:19:21.250 is kind of like a quick presentation to the team 0:19:21.330 --> 0:19:23.330 that they can watch on one point five X speed 0:19:23.410 --> 0:19:26.450 whenever they want. I also find that loom is great 0:19:26.690 --> 0:19:30.730 for delegation or explaining a process to someone. So if 0:19:30.770 --> 0:19:33.930 I am, you know, trying to go through a new 0:19:33.930 --> 0:19:37.010