Hustler's Guide To WFH

Cheapest place you can buy this book (at time of writing) AND quick to deliver, both of which agree with my ethos, a 'Humming' productive life should be accessible to everyone. As an Amazon Associate, I also get something little from Amazon when you purchase from this special link. It's not much (4%, which is like 40c on a $10 book) and costs my listeners nothing, but powers me enough to continue to deliver the best possible content. Deepest thanks... if only you can just see how grateful I am right now  :) I feel financially silly for saying this, but you can, of course, even borrow from your local library! Or just buy a cheap copy for yourself for now and maybe pay it forward to someone else whom you think might benefit. Good things become better when shared, right?

Transcript*:

Let’s face it. You have 8 hours in your workday. Are you productive throughout the whole 8 hours? Unless you’re superhuman, I’m going to put my money that no, you’re not. At best, like most people, you’re good at the beginning until maybe 1 pm and your motivation falls off the cliff.

Try the Pomodoro technique to push yourself beyond 1 pm and get more shit done. Something I picked up from a book called the Pomodoro Technique by Francesco Cirillo

It’s got nothing to do with Pomodoro for tomato. Invented by what I’d consider an Italian genius with practicality in mind, you can maintain your energy, willpower, motivation (whatever you might call it) if you do you work at 25min sprints and, rest for 5. Repeat.

For me?  I’ve definitely lasted beyond 1 pm, maybe 4-ish pm. While it did slow beyond 1 pm (because after all, we’re all human), I’ve gotten more shit done and I still have the energy to play with my son at the end of the workday. Give it a try today, but I'd say try it with a timer as I have with my Fitbit watch. If you’re a little over 25 or less, that's ok. You're human. Either way, you will get more shit done. Now, let’s hustle the day with a bit of Pomodoro and get shit done together.

Disclaimer:

*This podcast episode is intended to be a very short summary of mentioned books and an analysis of my personal experience with their thought content- not a replacement for the original work. If you like this episode, please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book mentioned on this podcast and want us to remove any podcast episodes, please reach out to me directly.

Cheapest place you can buy this book (at time of writing) AND quick to deliver, both of which agree with my ethos, a 'Humming' productive life should be accessible to everyone. As an Amazon Associate, I also get something little from Amazon when you purchase from this special link. It's not much (4%, which is like 40c on a $10 book) and costs my listeners nothing, but powers me enough to continue to deliver the best possible content. Deepest thanks... if only you can just see how grateful I am right now  :) I feel financially silly for saying this, but you can, of course, even borrow from your local library! Or just buy a cheap copy for yourself for now and maybe pay it forward to someone else whom you think might benefit. Good things become better when shared, right?

Transcript*:

Work hard and play hard.

I would agree except we go through wear and tear - we play too hard, get too tired and probably rather stay home and enjoy Netflix before dozing off to sleep within 15min of the movie starting.

If you want to last a little longer, as Stephen Covey says in his book 7 habits of highly effective people, don't forget to 'sharpen the saw'.  Sharpen yourself physically, spiritually, mentally, and socially.

I sharpen the saw throughout my day. It's ever more important for me as a dad in his 30s with a demanding child. What do I do? I have what some would call a weird routine I must do every half-hour to sharpen the saw. I work hard for 25min while listening to soothing piano on Spotify and then mix it with 5min of exercise. I finish my workday strictly at 4:30 to go for walking meditation for 30min so I can then be most present with my son when I pick him up from school from 5. Does it work? Well, put it this way. it's 6:34 pm and I still have the energy to play hard with my energy-demanding boy.

Work hard. Sharpen the saw. Play hard.

Disclaimer:

*This podcast episode is intended to be a very short summary of mentioned books and an analysis of my personal experience with their thought content- not a replacement for the original work. If you like this episode, please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book mentioned on this podcast and want us to remove any podcast episodes, please reach out to me directly.

Cheapest place you can buy this book (at time of writing) AND quick to deliver, both of which agree with my ethos, a 'Humming' productive life should be accessible to everyone. As an Amazon Associate, I also get something little from Amazon when you purchase from this special link. It's not much (4%, which is like 40c on a $10 book) and costs my listeners nothing, but powers me enough to continue to deliver the best possible content. Deepest thanks... if only you can just see how grateful I am right now  :) I feel financially silly for saying this, but you can, of course, even borrow from your local library! Or just buy a cheap copy for yourself for now and maybe pay it forward to someone else whom you think might benefit. Good things become better when shared, right?

Transcript*:

Think about your last video meeting where they're not actually 'video' meetings with moving faces but rather meetings with frozen faces or the stick figure's face?

It's hardly engaging, right? Now, we've all been told that we should seek first to understand, then to be understood, wisdom shared by the legendary Stephen Covey. But how can we, when we can't see them and read their body cues?  I think, in today's new reality of zoom meetings, Stephen's quote should be now prefixed with show you want to understand, then seek first to understand, then to be understood.

In a recent experiment with video conferences, I tried having my video on even if I'm not in the most flattering clothes,  curiously messaged in questions about what they've said, using emojis to give my words dimension, and reacting to meetings with heart emoji here and there.  While it's not the same, doing everything I can and show I want to understand has given me an edge. It's almost like permission if you will, where I can later reach out easily to understand more, and I could be understood.

Give it a try. experiment and let me know how it's working for you.

Disclaimer:

*This podcast episode is intended to be a very short summary of mentioned books and an analysis of my personal experience with their thought content- not a replacement for the original work. If you like this episode, please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book mentioned on this podcast and want us to remove any podcast episodes, please reach out to me directly.

Cheapest place you can buy this book (at time of writing) AND quick to deliver, both of which agree with my ethos, a 'Humming' productive life should be accessible to everyone. As an Amazon Associate, I also get something little from Amazon when you purchase from this special link. It's not much (4%, which is like 40c on a $10 book) and costs my listeners nothing, but powers me enough to continue to deliver the best possible content. Deepest thanks... if only you can just see how grateful I am right now  :) I feel financially silly for saying this, but you can, of course, even borrow from your local library! Or just buy a cheap copy for yourself for now and maybe pay it forward to someone else whom you think might benefit. Good things become better when shared, right?

Transcript*:

Which voice do you trust more?

For today's episode, we will talk about trust. Or

I'm going to put my money that you said the 2nd one Why? Because it's real. it didn't sound scripted. It's authentic.

Nowadays of speaking to someone behind the camera, authenticity is more important than ever to do to get someone's trust as we work towards win-wins.  Inspired from my read of 7 habits of highly effective people and my recent experience at a web conference.

I recently spectated a product launch at a web conference. It was in the form of an interview between the host and the product owner. There was nothing wrong with the product, it was a great product but what stopped me at the door was it was pre-recorded... scripted... do they really mean what they say? I actually wanted to hear the product in their own authentic true own voice.

So, when you go into your next zoom meeting or web conference today, remember authenticity matters. Trust in your voice.

Disclaimer:

*This podcast episode is intended to be a very short summary of mentioned books and an analysis of my personal experience with their thought content- not a replacement for the original work. If you like this episode, please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book mentioned on this podcast and want us to remove any podcast episodes, please reach out to me directly.

Cheapest place you can buy this book (at time of writing) AND quick to deliver, both of which agree with my ethos, a 'Humming' productive life should be accessible to everyone. As an Amazon Associate, I also get something little from Amazon when you purchase from this special link. It's not much (4%, which is like 40c on a $10 book) and costs my listeners nothing, but powers me enough to continue to deliver the best possible content. Deepest thanks... if only you can just see how grateful I am right now  :) I feel financially silly for saying this, but you can, of course, even borrow from your local library! Or just buy a cheap copy for yourself for now and maybe pay it forward to someone else whom you think might benefit. Good things become better when shared, right?

Transcript*:

I'm going to say it. Time Management isn't everything. I probably haev offended some time management die-hard fans, but hear me out. When you're just managing time, sure you're being efficient at doing A, B, and C. But stop for a second, do all A, B, and C even matter?

What's probably more important to ask yourself is first what matters to you most.... then go about your merry way of time-managing. An idea I picked up from Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly effective people.

What do I do?

First and foremost, I don't ask what tasks will give me the most value to my customers. I think that's a little wanky and not to the point. I get straight to it and instead ask 'Where is the money?'

Ask yourself that question now and pause. Powerful right?

My current job has nothing to do with money, but this powerful question I got from my old boss recently has stopped me from creating 5 perfect PowerPoint slides with the risk that it might not be what the customer wants anyway. I instead just created one and tested it with a real customer. Got my feedback and ensured 5 perfect slides My time is not wasted. I'm breathing easier. And I have time for other things like hanging out with my son and practicing the Ukelele.

A lot of people have said WFH has been busier for them. I can honestly say, try asking yourself 'where is the money?' at the start of your day and work from there.

Disclaimer:

*This podcast episode is intended to be a very short summary of mentioned books and an analysis of my personal experience with their thought content- not a replacement for the original work. If you like this episode, please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book mentioned on this podcast and want us to remove any podcast episodes, please reach out to me directly.

Cheapest place you can buy this book (at time of writing) AND quick to deliver, both of which agree with my ethos, a 'Humming' productive life should be accessible to everyone. As an Amazon Associate, I also get something little from Amazon when you purchase from this special link. It's not much (4%, which is like 40c on a $10 book) and costs my listeners nothing, but powers me enough to continue to deliver the best possible content. Deepest thanks... if only you can just see how grateful I am right now  :) I feel financially silly for saying this, but you can, of course, even borrow from your local library! Or just buy a cheap copy for yourself for now and maybe pay it forward to someone else whom you think might benefit. Good things become better when shared, right?

Transcript*:

Working from Home. It can suck at times and you may probably have found yourself reacting to things with, 'it's hard. It's shit and even feeling helpless. But from someone who's also working from home, I can tell you it can be a positive thing if we do what, the legendary Stephen Covey would do. In his book, 7 habits of highly effective people, he says don't let your body naturally react to things and instead proactively look at it and ask how can I. Let me share with you my story.

As a learning and development trainer myself, working from home meant I miss out on interacting with people on a personal level I use to help elevate their learning. My knee-jerk reaction was it's hard. It's shit. Let's look for another job, which I did. But instead, I proactively asked, how can I do even better with this new reality? It's not going away. This question immediately sent me to explore all the web tools available to help facilitate virtual interaction that's somewhat close to face-to-face. I eventually settled on  MS Teams Whiteboard - it's great - people type on it at the same time and see changes happening before them real-time live... like everyone in a room writing on the same piece of paper. It was so amazing that also sparked conversations amongst us on what else MS Teams can do. I'm actually still now in contact with some of the participants that led to other things. So, that's a positive  -I made friends

Now, not everyone's a trainer, so my example may apply to you. The point is when we react to shit situations, we feel helpless. So notice your Natural knee-jerk reactions, stop, and instead proactively ask, 'How can I...'

Disclaimer:

*This podcast episode is intended to be a very short summary of mentioned books and an analysis of my personal experience with their thought content- not a replacement for the original work. If you like this episode, please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book mentioned on this podcast and want us to remove any podcast episodes, please reach out to me directly.

Cheapest place you can buy this book (at time of writing) AND quick to deliver, both of which agree with my ethos, a 'Humming' productive life should be accessible to everyone. As an Amazon Associate, I also get something little from Amazon when you purchase from this special link. It's not much (4%, which is like 40c on a $10 book) and costs my listeners nothing, but powers me enough to continue to deliver the best possible content. Deepest thanks... if only you can just see how grateful I am right now  :) I feel financially silly for saying this, but you can, of course, even borrow from your local library! Or just buy a cheap copy for yourself for now and maybe pay it forward to someone else whom you think might benefit. Good things become better when shared, right?

Let's talk sleep.

I've been religiously following this book called the 5 am club by Robin Sharma.

Wake up at 5. Move for 20 min. Reflect for 20 and Grow for 20. But remember to sleep well because how you start your next day is as crucial as how you ended the last. But, as a dad with an 18-month-old, it's hard.

I'm doing all the right things by Robin. I kill off screen time an hour before bed. If there's an awesome show on free-to-air but it's past my bedtime, I save it and watch in on-demand later at a better time.

But, still, it's not enough.

Can you help me?

What do you do to sleep better for a fresher start to tomorrow? Go to my show notes, find a link and message me your little hacks. I'll share them with our fellow hustlers.

**This podcast episode is intended to be a very short summary of mentioned books and an analysis of my personal experience with their thought content- not a replacement for the original work. If you like this episode, please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book mentioned on this podcast and want us to remove any podcast episodes, please reach out to me directly.

Cheapest place you can buy this book (at time of writing) AND quick to deliver, both of which agree with my ethos, a 'Humming' productive life should be accessible to everyone. As an Amazon Associate, I also get something little from Amazon when you purchase from this special link. It's not much (4%, which is like 40c on a $10 book) and costs my listeners nothing, but powers me enough to continue to deliver the best possible content. Deepest thanks... if only you can just see how grateful I am right now  :) I feel financially silly for saying this, but you can, of course, even borrow from your local library! Or just buy a cheap copy for yourself for now and maybe pay it forward to someone else whom you think might benefit. Good things become better when shared, right?

Ok, so you've finally decided to wake up early, or you've been thinking about it, how would you use the next hour?

Would it be:

A. Move yourself with some exercise

B. Reflect on yourself, your goals and dreams, pen and paper in hand

C. Grow yourself, early a wake-up read on wikipedia about a topic that interests you

Or D. All the above

I reckon you can do all the above easy as I have.

I simply follow the 20/20/20 rule that I read in a book called the 5 am club by Robin Sharma. 20min to move. 20 to reflect and 20 to grow. It's the best start to my mornings.

In the 1st 20, I smash myself with weights, which also smashes down my stress-causing hormones, all the while apparently opening new neural pathways for creative thinking for later on.

Then, in the next 20, I meditate, to put myself in a better state of mind so I can see clearly now the rain is gone and I can see all obstacles in my way

Finally, in the last 20 minutes, I work on my podcast and grow it through feedback from my wife, and listeners.

The result?

2 weeks in. 9 episodes. And a growing audience? Thank you so much!

I can't imagine sleeping in again and I don't think you can either can you if you join the 5 am club.

**This podcast episode is intended to be a very short summary of mentioned books and an analysis of my personal experience with their thought content- not a replacement for the original work. If you like this episode, please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book mentioned on this podcast and want us to remove any podcast episodes, please reach out to me directly.

Support the author and consider buying their book: HERE

Cheapest place you can buy this book (at time of writing) AND quick to deliver, both of which agree with my ethos, a 'Humming' productive life should be accessible to everyone. As an Amazon Associate, I also get something little from Amazon when you purchase from this special link. It's not much (4%, which is like 40c on a $10 book) and costs my listeners nothing, but powers me enough to continue to deliver the best possible content. Deepest thanks... if only you can just see how grateful I am right now  :) I feel financially silly for saying this, but you can, of course, even borrow from your local library! Or just buy a cheap copy for yourself for now and maybe pay it forward to someone else whom you think might benefit. Good things become better when shared, right?

Transcript**:

So, you've woken up early or you plan to like you've always said you would. What are you going to do with the extra time?

Just do like you've always done or make history?

If you want to make history, make something for yourself, screw WFH isolation and be on top of your A-game, then listen on.

You have exactly 2.75 hours to work on your Personal mastery of anything and there isn't a better time to do it than at 5 am when your mind is clear and there is no limit on what you can accomplish.   A thought idea by Anderson Ericcson I picked up from a book called the 5 am club by Robin Sharma.

Put in 2.75 hours at the beginning of each day mastering something and eventually find yourself amongst history's greats.

I put my 2.75 towards this podcast with my eyes on the top 100.

What will you do with your 2.75?

Disclaimer:

**This podcast episode is intended to be a very short summary of mentioned books and an analysis of my personal experience with their thought content- not a replacement for the original work. If you like this episode, please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book mentioned on this podcast and want us to remove any podcast episodes, please reach out to me directly.

Support the author and consider buying their book: HERE

Cheapest place you can buy this book (at time of writing) AND quick to deliver, both of which agree with my ethos, a 'Humming' productive life should be accessible to everyone. As an Amazon Associate, I also get something little from Amazon when you purchase from this special link. It's not much (4%, which is like 40c on a $10 book) and costs my listeners nothing, but powers me enough to continue to deliver the best possible content. Deepest thanks... if only you can just see how grateful I am right now  :) I feel financially silly for saying this, but you can, of course, even borrow from your local library! Or just buy a cheap copy for yourself for now and maybe pay it forward to someone else whom you think might benefit. Good things become better when shared, right?

Transcript**:

In the previous episode, I talked about our natural gift of 2.75 hours at the beginning of each day, perfect time to master anything.

While it's good to have your head screwed on right with the right mindset, you're no good to yourself or anybody if you haven't got your heartset, healthset and soulset right too. Something I learnt from a book called the 5am club by Robin Sharma.

For me, what do I do? I keep my metaphoric heart healthy, reaching out to people even strangers with an open heart. Need a 3pm pick up? Let's grab coffee together. My shout.

I keep myself physically healthy. Weights on Mon-Wed. Rest on Thursday and Friday. And start again with hiking around my neighbourhood with my 10 kilo son on my back.

For my soul set, I write words in my blue book that help keep me centered on who I am. Right now, It's Embrace. Notice and Wonder (and chocolate)

We're all different - how do you maintain your heartset, healthset and soulset while keeping the right mindset?

Disclaimer:

**This podcast episode is intended to be a very short summary of mentioned books and an analysis of my personal experience with their thought content- not a replacement for the original work. If you like this episode, please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book mentioned on this podcast and want us to remove any podcast episodes, please reach out to me directly.