Best Laid Plans

BLP Ep #213: August Q&A: Inbox Zero, Big Projects, Working Speed, Mindfulness, and More!

August 26, 2024

It’s August’s Q&A episode! Topics include:

  • a listener-submitted Inbox Zero success story
  • ides for approaching nebulous/large projects such as book writing
  • what does it mean to “work faster” compared to others?
  • thoughts on the Organize 365 Sunday Basket system (I have one!)
  • teaching planning and organizing to school-aged kids
  • mindfulness! How do you stay present in the moment if you’re always planning the next thing?

Request (inspired by a listener) – if you enjoy the show, consider subscribing + setting your podcast player to automatically download!

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3 Comments

  • Reply Brooke (TX) August 26, 2024 at 8:27 am

    Loved the discussion of planning and mindfulness!

  • Reply Brooke August 26, 2024 at 3:42 pm

    I think your note about speed vs perfectionism is spot on – only recording once straight through for podcasts is a great example. I’d also add that repetition adds to speed – you are probably way more efficient now than you might have have been the first time you recorded. Same with your morning routine – you do it ever day, so you’ve got it down to a science.

    One idea for the reader with a big project with no deadline is to decide how much time to devote each week to it. Ex: I’ll write for 2 hours this week vs I’ll finish writing and proofing a chapter this week. Once you get going, you’ll have a better idea of 2 hrs = .5 chapters and can set mini-deadlines more efficiently.

    Unrelated, I find myself sympathizing with your late night child activity plight. My son’s sports suddenly changed this year from being right after school (school team) to 6-8pm when school lets out around just after 3:30. I’m up at 5am for work so bedtime is 9pm and I need winddown time. Not looking forward to it – but it’s a season, and next year he’ll be driving himself so I suppose I need to soak in the car time with him while I can.

  • Reply Grateful Kae August 26, 2024 at 5:39 pm

    I also often marvel at how fast you seem to do stuff!!! Definitely I feel like above average across the board. I feel like you’re not only very efficient but also able to sort of “scan the whole picture and quickly zoom in on what’s important”- maybe a doctor thing! But spills over to life, succinct speech/writing, general efficiency, speed, etc as well. I wish some of that could rub off on me…. 😩 I think I’m efficient/fast in certain things, but tend toward being more “time blind”, getting a little scatterbrained when there’s too much happening/overwhelmed, overthinking things, and definitely not as good at just “getting to the point”. LOL. 😆

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