This week I want give you a swift kick in the arse to do the work that matters to you. The work that takes you to your vision. You've got one, right? If not, brainstorm real fast. I'll wait.

Quick question before we continue: do you love your vision? Cool!

Okay, let's get into it. Last week I talked about how it comes down to you. This week, I want to give you a framework that sparks your thinking and organizes your mind and your work. I don't profess to be the best at it, but I do it and it’s working. Especially this unique year. Your actual mileage may vary as this is the framework that works for me.

A Framework but not the only

Simplicity Rules. If any process is too hard, you won't do it. Or you won't stick with it. Just because there are 57 million productivity apps out there doesn't mean you need to use them all. Just like you don’t need to wear all of the makeup or use all of the filters in your favorite photo app.

1. Establish routines for your day and week.

Whatever you need to get going for the day, do that. Make it easy to save your calories for the work that matters. If you are going to get more done in your life, you need to prioritize what gets you to your best self.

Consider eating the same thing for breakfast everyday. You make it just like you might make coffee. Same for lunch. This is brain fuel. High-octane gas for higher performance.

Back in the days when we had to get the kids out the door for school and commute to work, remember the morning frenzy? Or maybe your home has always been a bastion of calm! Routines make the process more predictable and less stressful. Now that we're mostly working from home, they help you get into the mode of working.

In case you are curious, mine is Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut oats with toasted pepitas for breakfast. And a green spinach or arugula salad for lunch. Lest you think I'm too healthy, note that I eat generous proportions of tortilla chips regularly.

I happen to enjoy cooking and so dinner is where I expend my creative energy.

Many recommend a meditation practice and my busy brain has thwarted several attempts. Since July I write three pages of whatever comes to mind. It's usually a reflection on the prior day, and thoughts on the day ahead. Sometimes I brainstorm. Other times, have a conversation with the paper on what my one big thing or two for the day should be. It's grounding.

2. Pick only essential tools.

Use whatever gets you into the discipline of doing the work. For years I've used Evernote to collect links and random thoughts, but have been less thrilled with their latest updates and am shopping around. Notion is getting a lot of traction and offers a nice framework for making lists and organizing your projects. Both are free for one user. I've tried to-do apps but they just create yet another place to login. Between Instagram, email, LinkedIn and more, I don't want more logins. I want focus over distraction.

3. Start small.

Make your new routines short at the outset to get your rhythm. Push through your resistance until they become second nature. For example, years ago I tried to do the morning pages (three pages of writing) and only made it a few days. Over thought what I should write. This time, I've kept going. And the more I keep going, the more I enjoy it. You have to trick your brain.

4. Know that if you enjoy and believe in something then you'll do it.

If you say you don't have time for any of this then you don't really believe in the value. You also waste an enormous amount of time every day. How do I know this?

Because:

we send 156 million emails per day
we send 19.1 billion text messages per day
there are over two million cat videos to watch
we upload 95 million images to Instagram.
we spend 58 minutes per day on Facebook
we watch 1 billion videos on YouTube
we spend 143 minutes online.

No wonder we feel mentally drained! These stats don't account for how much time you look out the window. Or procrastinate on what you think you should be doing. We’re so distracted that it takes us longer to get and stay focused.

So yes, you can find the time if you want to. You might have to give up something. But what if you scheduled your guilty pleasure of watching cute cat videos? It's something you could actually look forward to rather than regret. Think of it as time waste management.

5. Know where you want to go.

It's really hard to get anywhere if you don't have a destination in mind. This is the "Important but not urgent" quadrant most ignore because of time. When you know the answer to this, it's easier to curate the resources that should command your attention. Our news culture is such that you could spend all day just tracking the endless drivel that passes for news. Know enough to be informed. This newsletter does a good job of that.

6. Walk.

Find quiet space away from technology to allow your mind to wander and connect the dots. All consuming and no processing makes for a disconnected mind. Walking is good for the heart and it's good for the soul. Libby DeLana walks everyday and made it around the earth in 8 years.

10 books that stand the test of time.

I read a fair amount of books. Some are better than others. Here are 10 I can recommend for your brain expansion program. This isn't a definitive list. I forced myself to keep it to just 10. There's always many more I WANT to read. Some are new, some are old. Each will give you a big idea or two for upgrading your life (borrowed 'upgrade' from Jen Sincero).

A Writer's Coach by Jack Hart
The Answer to How is Yes - Peter block
Antifragile by Nassim Taleb
Badass Habits - Jen Sincero
The Great Mental Models by Farnam Street.
The Hard thing about Hard Things by ben Horowitz
Ignore Everybody And 39 Other Keys to Creativity, Hugh Macleod
Let my people go surfing - Yvon Choinard
Nine Lies About Work, Marcus Buckingham
Together: The healing power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World, Vivek Murthy. MD

What are your prompts?

Organizational psychologist Ben Hardy keeps a monthly journal and puts the following 5 questions on the cover of each:

Where I am right now? (Current situation)
What are my wins from the last 90 days? (To show progress when you think you've made little)
What are the wins I want to have in the next 90 days?
Who is my future self in three years? 3 - 4 bullets
Where do I want to be in one year? 3 - 4 bullets

These are not fancy. But they give him a way to focus on his goals and check in with how he's doing.

My weekly group has a check in at the start of the week with a series of questions. We've evolved this over the three years we've been doing this:

What's on my mind?
And what else?
What's the real challenge here for me?
What do I want?
How can we help?
If I say yes to this, what am I saying no to?
What was most useful for you?

Asking yourself a series of the same questions and recording your response in the moment can dramatically shape your progress. They needn’t be long or hard. There isn't a right or wrong way to do this. The important part is the doing.

My Rules For Tools

My rule for any tool is do I enjoy using it? Is it beautifully designed from both aesthetics and usability? Is it easy for me to get to? I still like taking notes with pen and paper. The downside is in going back to them later. They’re not searchable or sortable. Nor can you back them up. Yet.

A framework for becoming the future you.