Insane Productivity for Beginners

Recently I have read several posts and blogs here and elsewhere regarding rules for insane productivity.?These rules opened my eyes to the fact that I have only been reasonably productive (if that) for the majority of my life and that insanity is something to which I should truly aspire.?However, the six rules in question seemed complex and daunting – so I constructed some guidance to help beginners like myself get on the curve to defying reason.?I hope you find these helpful, if not feel free to schedule a meeting with me.

1-Have fewer meetings - using Outlook meeting scheduling features.?Weekly or monthly meetings were born to waste time.?Instead, push Outlook’s recurrence feature to its outer limits with yearly recurrence.?What could encourage insane productivity more than a reminder for a “touch base” or “catch up” with your c-suite that you scheduled 364 days ago and forgot about??Also consider novel permutations of recurrence, for example, the Fibonacci sequence – to remain extra on your toes.

2-Leave meetings that aren’t valuable – and go to other ones.?If you are not contributing positively to a meeting, maybe you just went to the wrong one.?Try another meeting and see if you can add more value there.?Even if you were not invited, it is quite possible meeting # 2 was non-productive and you can shake things up.?If despite your presence meeting # 2 remains a dud, encourage other participants to leave so you can work – after all, it is rude to make them stay at their own meeting and waste time.

3-Don’t use technobabble – instead, communicate only in Python or Java.??The best way to strap a rocket to your back ASAP and agilely improve fungibility between yourself and data-driven externalities such as higher EBITDA is to be direct.?Acronyms, nonsense words, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and general courtesy only get in the way of this.?Web languages have a proven record of yielding exactly the results you command sans the trite niceties typical of, say, meetings.

4-Don’t overly rely on traditional lines of communication.?Once we graduate to speaking entirely in lines of code we can become much more “object oriented” in the way we interact.?There is no need to reference objects that have no direct bearing on functionality, such as peers or seniors with alternative perspectives, when executing a simple command.?Simply remember to check your communication into GitHub so others can repair the damage for you in the (highly unlikely) event you affected them.

5-Don’t be illogical.?Ignore rules and procedures that do not make sense on first blush.?(Except rules for insane productivity which warrant deeper introspection.)??It is debatable what is more wastefully illogical – following an “obviously ridiculous” rule, or actually considering the historical context and motivation that may have prompted illogical persons to create it in the (long forgotten) first place.??History never rhymes once we talk in code, so sunset these obsolescent features at the earliest.

6-Don’t gather large groups of people.?If there are still substantial numbers of meeting goers once we have started ignoring silly conventions (like accepting meeting invitations), evicting others from their own meetings, and talking in Python, it may be time for a large meeting to reinforce the need for meeting reduction.?However, make sure the meeting is short and held on a day/time when everyone is likely disengaged from otherwise productive pursuits (for example, Thanksgiving or Independence Day).