The Incrementalist

Uncertain outcomes and imperfect data make it tougher to decide. A decision starts with a choice, which is an opportunity to select from two or more options. A decision is cutting off options and narrowing it down to just one. This is harder to do in novel, high-stakes situations.

In episode 63 of The Incrementalist, you will learn how to make better decisions in the face of uncertainty:

1. Understand that decision making starts with knowing what you really want. Go with thick desires, instead of thin desires.
2. Find out where you are on the Social Behavior Map in decision making.
3. Embrace Wicked Learning Environments.
4. Create Kinder Learning Environments.
5. Consider the need for certainty as a pitfall in decision making. 

Watch the video, Making Decisions When You Don't Know What to Do on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist - A Productivity Show.

Theme Music by:
Sebastian Brian Mehr. Album –  Olemus; Song – La Nieve 

Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Email: [email protected]
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com

Decision-making can be daunting. A decision can be so tough that you avoid it for as long as possible, instead of approach it head-on.  And we can get worn out by the sheer number of choices we make daily. 

In episode 62 of The Incrementalist, you will learn two major pitfalls in decision making and strategies to navigate them:

1. Pitfall #1 - Choice Overload 

• Decision Matrix
• Paradox of Choice
• Maximizer vs. Satisficer
• Narrow Framing

2. Pitfall #2 - Cognitive Bias

• System One vs. System Two Thinking
• Common Cognitive Biases
• Mental Models
• Get Distance

3. Four Basic Steps to Decision Making: there's a villain at each step. 

Watch the video, Making Decisions When You Have Choice Overload and Cognitive Biases on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist - A Productivity Show. It adds a visual dimension to what you hear on the podcast.

Theme Music by:
Sebastian Brian Mehr. Album –  Olemus; Song – La Nieve 

Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Email: [email protected]
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com

Goals are targets, milestones or results you want to achieve.  But week after week, month after month, year after year, we set goals that we soon forget. Before you decide that goals don’t work, first look at how you set them.

In episode 61 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1) Even when we don't set goals, we carry them around in some shape or form.

2) 7 big mistakes to avoid when goal setting (and how to fix them).

Watch the video, 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Goal Setting on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist - A Productivity Show. It adds another dimension to what you hear on the podcast.

Theme Music by:
Sebastian Brian Mehr. Album –  Olemus; Song – La Nieve 

Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Email: [email protected]
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com

Even if goals don’t make you happy or happier, you still need to make them for different reasons.

In episode 60 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1) The limits of goal setting and goal achievement.
 
2) The 5 reasons you still need to set goals, even if they don't really make you happier.

Watch the video, Why You Need to Set Goals, Even if Achieving Them Doesn't Make You Happier, on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist - A Productivity Show. It adds another dimension to what you hear on the podcast.

Theme Music by:
Sebastian Brian Mehr. Album –  Olemus; Song – La Nieve 

Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Email: [email protected]
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com

What to do - when you feel like doing nothing - depends on the reasons you're unmotivated and unproductive. 

In episode 59 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1) The Procrastination Equation, a formula by Dr. Piers Steel that helps explains why you feel unmotivated and why you procrastinate. 
 
2) 10 tips to get out of a mental slump and motivation rut. 

Watch the video, What to Do When You're Motivated to Do Nothing, on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist - A Productivity Show. It adds another dimension to what you hear on the podcast.

Theme Music by:
Sebastian Brian Mehr. Album –  Olemus; Song – La Nieve 

Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Email: [email protected]
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com

Toxic productivity occurs when you apply habits, routines and practices that are prescribed for someone else. Some of the productivity advice are hacks, tricks and tips that won’t work for you. They just don’t match with your mindset, preferences and season of life.

In episode 58 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1) The truth about productivity advice and toxic productivity.
 
2) 5 universal principles or basic rules to apply in any productivity practice. 

3) 7 common mistakes to avoid when moving from being unproductive to productive. 

Watch the video, The Truth About Productivity Advice and Toxic Productivity, on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist - A Productivity Show. It adds another dimension to what you hear on the podcast. 

Theme Music by:
Sebastian Brian Mehr. Album –  Olemus; Song – La Nieve 

Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Email: [email protected]
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com
Subscribe to productivity e-newsletter

Harness the power of slow living and practice the slow philosophy. This is how you break the obsession with doing more faster and, instead, do the right things at the right speed.

On the road of life, there are twists and turns, hills and valleys. We can map out and plan our journey. But even then, we can’t always see what’s ahead of us in a given moment. And slowing down is the only way to move ahead.
 
In episode 57 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:
1. Slow living gives you an infinite source of energy that constantly renews and recharges.
2. Seven steps to slow, productive living. 

Watch the video on episode 57 on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist - A Productivity Show. You will see video clips of my recent travel to my home country, Jamaica, a tropical island in the Caribbean. Taking extended breaks (vacations) is one of the steps to slow living and doing less, but better!

Theme Music by:
Sebastian Brian Mehr. Album –  Olemus; Song – La Nieve 

Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Email: [email protected]
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com
Subscribe to productivity e-newsletter

If you have trouble finishing projects and goals, you’re not alone. This is a common human experience.  But there are 5 things you can do to finish strong with any project or goal.

In episode 56 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1. The limits of willpower, better habits, and more refined systems.

2. The 5 things to start doing to finish your goals -
i. Make progress incrementally and imperfectly.
ii. Set smaller, more flexible goals.
iii. Enjoy the process, not wait for the desired result.
iv. Rest and recharge fully.
v. Attend to one priority at a time.

3. The Incrementalist YouTube channel is inching toward a milestone, with the last video, How to Stay Focused and Control Your Attention, giving it a boost.

Watch the video on episode 56, especially if you're a visual learner! Become one of the first 100 subscribers on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist - A Productivity Show.

Theme Music by:
Sebastian Brian Mehr. Album –  Olemus; Song – La Nieve 

Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Email: [email protected]
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com
Subscribe to productivity e-newsletter

Your ability to focus on deep work is key to being productive. Your power to connect ideas is vital to being creative. Whether you’re focusing or mind wandering, you need to direct your attention to perform at your peak.   

In episode 55 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1) The difference between Hyperfocus and Scatterfocus and why you need both modes of focus to control your attention.

2) Mind wandering is not a problem if you have meta-awareness or metacognition, i.e., to be aware of your awareness or to pay attention to your attention.

3) The three types of attention - the Flashlight, the Floodlight, and the Juggler   - that coordinate with each other to affect your state of focus.

4) 4 tips to build your focus muscle and direct your attention:
i.  Define your priority and focus on one thing at a time
ii. Tame the distractions and interruptions that dilute your focus
iii. Match the challenge with your skills or ability
iv. Allow mind wandering with intention

Watch the video on episode 55, which caught the attention of the YouTube algorithm and became a recommended video for viewers to find more easily.

Breaking the YouTube barrier in this way is a major milestone that is difficult to reach -- and was done through incremental learning and tweaking in the creation process. At this time, The Incrementalist is still (proudly) a very small channel.

Become one of the first 100 subscribers on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist - A Productivity Show!

Theme Music by:
Sebastian Brian Mehr. Album –  Olemus; Song – La Nieve 

Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Email: [email protected]
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com
Subscribe to productivity e-newsletter

Digital technology has its benefits and is not all bad. But tech-overuse and tech addiction cause problems too.

To break our tech addiction and master our tech use, we need Digital Minimalism: “A philosophy of technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimized activities that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else," says author Cal Newport.

In episode 54 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1) Online information and entertainment often create distraction (move you away from what you really want), instead of traction (move you toward what you really want).

2) Social media and online search platforms are designed to hook us. The technology that connects us also controls, manipulates, polarizes, distracts, monetizes and divides us.

3) 3 things you can do to break your tech addiction and master your tech use:
i. Complete the digital declutter process
ii. Practice solitude
iii. Reclaim true leisure

Watch the video on episode 54, especially if you're a visual learner! Become one of the first 100 subscribers on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist - A Productivity Show.

Theme Music by:
Sebastian Brian Mehr. Album –  Olemus; Song – La Nieve 

Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Email: [email protected]
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com
Subscribe to productivity e-newsletter