The Incrementalist

If you want to have a happier, more satisfying life, it’s better to value time over money. It doesn’t matter whether you’re financially secure or financially struggling.  Even when you control for income level, the more time affluence you have, the happier you are. 

Time affluence is feeling that you have enough time to pursue meaningful activities and enjoy leisure. You can exercise, move, relax, travel, volunteer, or engage in social relationships more.

Time poverty is feeling rushed, overwhelmed, stressed and overworked. It’s having too many things to do and not enough time to do them. You can be time poor even if you have loads of money.

In episode 24 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn:

1) How to create time affluence by avoiding time traps and staying out of time poverty

2) Why it helps to prioritize time over money

•  The benefits of having a time-focused mindset
• The difference between a Taylor (who values time more than money) and a Morgan (who values money more than time)

3) How to find time by -

• Time Auditing and Time Tracking
• Doing pro time intervention 
• Setting an Implementation Intention
• Having a must-win activity
• Reversing idleness aversion
• Saying no more often

4) How to fund time by - 

• Outsourcing disliked chores and tasks
• Investing in time-saving products and tools

5) How to reframe time by -

• Tying tedious tasks to broader goals
• Pairing hard tasks with fun activities

6) The importance of having a long view, planning your leisure time and taking deliberate rest

Resources cited: 

• Ashley Whillans, Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life
• Dyan Williams, The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 10, Rest Even When You're Busy

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

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

We often believe we need credentials to do useful or valuable work. Whether it’s having a college degree, a training certificate, or a professional license, credentials help us seem less like an imposter. But we’re all imposters on some level when we work on hard problems with no easy answers.

You might ask yourself: Why did I get picked? Why am I being charged to solve this issue? Why am I stepping up and choosing to lead or choosing to follow?

Don’t wait for reassurance or validation. Instead, hone the ability to trust yourself. You will never get enough assurance of a favorable outcome. You will never get enough approval for what you did. If you’re creating useful work, there’s no way to please everyone. Worrying about what others think is a quest for guarantees, but there are no guarantees when it comes to creative work.

Do, ship and repeat if you want to make things better with creative work. You don’t always need credentials to start.

In episode 23 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn:

1) What creative work is

2) You have a choice to be creative or to become a hack, a hustler, or a cog

3) The power of showing up, even when you don't feel like it or when you have Imposter Syndrome

4) Creativity is not a talent or a gift, but is a deliberate practice that allows you build the skills to be creative

5) Why focusing on the process is more important than striving for a favorable outcome

6) Why you need to set a schedule and time block when you will take your action steps

7) Why you must set constraints and upper limits to generate better ideas and execute more quickly

8) How perfectionism holds you back and why you need to ship your work when it's good enough for the intended audience

The Incrementalist ebook is on sale for $4.99, until June 20. After that, the regular minimum price of $9.99 will apply. You can find it at leanpub.com/incrementalist. 

Resources cited: 

• Seth Godin, The Practice: Shipping Creative Work
• Dyan Williams, The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 21, Find and Keep a Hobby You Love
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 7, Time Blocking and Time Boxing to Get the Right Things Done

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

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

We tend to think that important and valuable work has to be hard. This could be writing a book, leading a team, designing a new product, running a business, or preparing a presentation. But too much effort is counterproductive when it leads to chronic stress, health problems, sleep issues, and burnout. 

You first need to decide where to focus your energy. Once you determine the essentials, how do you make them as easy as possible to do?   

Work can be effortless if you break it down into small, easy to manage chunks. It can also feel effortless if you pair it with a fun activity. 

In episode 22 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn three big ideas for Effortless Productivity: 

1) How to move into an Effortless State (i.e., think the most essential things can be the easiest to do). 

• Invert
• Enjoy
• Release
• Rest
• Notice

2) How to take Effortless Action (i.e., do find the easier path)

• Define
• Start
• Simplify
• Progress
• Pace

3) How to get Effortless Results (i.e., get the right results without burning out)

• Learn
• Lift
• Automate
• Trust
• Prevent

4) What happens next matters most. Whatever happened in the past pales in comparison to the power you have to choose what to do now.  Instead of working harder and harder, and exhausting and burning yourself out, you can choose a more effortless path. 

5) The Incrementalist ebook is on sale for $4.99, until June 20. After that, the regular minimum price of $9.99 will apply. You can find it at leanpub.com/incrementalist. 

Resources cited: 

• Greg McKeown, Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most
• Dyan Williams, The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 21, Find and Keep a Hobby You Love

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

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

A hobby is an activity you enjoy doing with little or no focus on the long game or the end results. You do it for fun or leisure in your free time. 

Your work or your business can be your passion. But even if you enjoy them, they are not your hobby. They come with risks and consequences that can affect your income, your reputation, and your status.  

A hobby and a passion can be related, but there are subtle differences between the two. A passion is a strong feeling for something you would love to do repeatedly and regularly. It could be your vocation or calling that transcends your profession or career. It is sometimes connected to your work, life goals or big dreams.

With a hobby, it’s easier to take it or leave it, depending on what’s going on in your life. When you already have a full schedule with many obligations and demands to meet, why would you add a hobby to it? If a hobby is something you can live without, why even bother having one?

In episode 21 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn:

1) A hobby and a passion might be connected, but are not the same

• The difference between pursuing your passion like a profession or like a hobby
• The difference between a secondary, casual hobby and a primary, serious hobby

2) Why maintaining a hobby that delights you is a double-win practice for life and work

3) Hobbies fall into different categories, including -

• exercise or movement 
• outdoor recreation and activity
• entertainment and information consumption 
• collecting things
• creative endeavors

4) The multiple reasons to find and keep a hobby you love - 

• develops the meta skill of learning
• enhances your creativity
• boosts your confidence in all areas of life
• increases patience and perseverance
• builds resilience and willpower 
• breaks monotony and gets you out of a rut
• recharges your energy and refreshes you physically, mentally and emotionally 
• centers and grounds you
• builds connections and social bonds
• makes you and your life more interesting
• lets you have more fun in your life

5) How to rediscover or discover a hobby you love

6) Unnecessary creating is part of making big changes in small steps. In celebration of the 20th episode of The Incrementalist podcast, the accompanying ebook is now on sale for $4.99 (up to June 20). Check it out at leanpub.com/incrementalist. 

Resources cited: 

• Michael Hyatt & Megan Hyatt Miller, Win at Work and Succeed at Life: 5 Principles to Free Yourself from the Cult of Overwork
• Dyan Williams, The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 19, Create Peak Moments for a Meaningful Life

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

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

When I launched The Incrementalist podcast, I committed to making at least 10 episodes before I would allow myself to quit. No matter how I felt – excited or not, I would record and publish a minimum of 10 episodes. I have since doubled that metric. 

Intensity of effort matters, especially in the beginning of a project. But it comes in short bursts. It is fueled by excitement and passion. You ride the waves, but you don’t control them.  

You use intensity as allowed. You go faster, pick up the pace, when you can afford to, when you have high energy and strong willpower. But you can start to get overwhelmed, stressed and deflated as you power though. 

While intensity ebbs and flows, consistency is steadier and more sustainable. Even when you feel unmotivated, you can keep taking daily actions to get to where you need to be. You stack up good habits and routines and take small steps to start the project or finish it.

Daily decisions, choices and actions shape the trajectory of your life. They either lead you down a path of desire or a path of disaster. The Compound Effect formula is: small smart choices + consistency + time = radical difference 

With compounding, you reap huge rewards from a series of small, smart choices. Sometimes there are no obvious wins, and just subtle shifts. Over time they add up to massive results. 

In episode 20 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn:

1) How the compound effect works - 

• The Magic Pennies
• 3 friends in a boat

2) Daily discipline is necessary to trigger the compound effect

3) Tracking your actions is critical to making choices and building habits

• Track your behaviors to observe how you got where you are
• Visualize or picture where you want to be
• Track your lead metrics (inputs, actions, and things you control or influence)
• Track your choices (cues and times of day that trigger certain behaviors
• Stay consistent in your actions

4) Behaviors get compounded and shape your life through this formula:

• YOU and YOUR CHOICE + BEHAVIOR + HABIT + COMPOUNDED = GOALS

5) The power of momentum (the Big Mo)

• Old habits are like inertia, the pull of gravity. Once you start and gain momentum, you make faster progress
• In a rocket launch, most of the fuel is consumed in the first few minutes of acceleration. The rocket needs tons of energy to move out of the gravitational pull and into orbit. After that, it takes less fuel to keep going. 

6) Book ending your day with evening rituals and morning rituals develops daily discipline

7) Taking 100% responsibility for your choices and actions empowers you to co-create with any given situation

8) The Next Five Years question to help you determine what to stop doing and start doing

9) In celebration of the 20th episode of The Incrementalist podcast, the accompanying ebook is now on sale for $4.99 (up to June 20). Check it out at leanpub.com/incrementalist. 

Resources cited: 

• Darren Hardy, The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success
• Dyan Williams, The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 14, Morning Routines and Rituals to Start Your Day
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 15, Evening Routines and Rituals to End Your Day
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 2, Building Good Habits
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 3, Breaking Bad Habits

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

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

A defining moment is a short experience that is both memorable and meaningful. It could be a month or a few seconds. These moments often relate to a new job, a new relationship, a relocation, or a vacation.

In episode 19 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn:

1) The four elements of peak moments

• Elevation - moments of elevation rise above the everyday, above the routine
• Insight - moments of insight bring realization and transformation
• Pride - moments of pride capture us at our best
• Connection - moments of connection are shared with others

2) The acronym EPIC will help you remember the elements, but peak moments don't have to be epic. They can be small but deeply personal, or painful, yet transformational. 

3) The benefits of peak moments 

• Make your life more memorable and meaningful
• Enhance your leadership, teaching and communication skills
• Create a better experience for customers, clients, patients, students, employees and others
• Improve your relationships and deepen connections

4) The effects of Duration Neglect and the Peak-End Rule - why we forget the duration of an event or experience and remember fragments of it (peaks, pits, beginnings and endings or transitions)

5) The four types of defining moments 

• Transitions, which are to be marked. Example - reverse wedding (ritual of transition to remove wedding ring following death of spouse)
• Peaks, which are to be remembered
• Pits, which are to be filled 
• Milestones, which are to be commemorated. Example - GE's Adventure Series at children's hospitals (industrial designer and his team shift their focus from the MRI machine to the experience of children getting an MRI done)

6) How to create peak moments

• Moments of Elevation - boost the sensory appeal; raise the stakes; break the script
• Moments of Insight - trip over the truth; stretch for insight
• Moments of Pride - give specific, sincere recognition; multiply milestones; preload your response in advance
• Moments of Connection - shared laughter; shared purpose and mission; shared struggles and challenges

Resources cited: 

• Chip Heath & Dan Heath, The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

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

Making time for what matters is hard when you're on the Busyness Wagon and stuck in the Infinity Pool.

The Busyness Bandwagon is the culture of constant busyness. In the high tech, modern world, busyness is a status symbol – the busier you are, the more in demand you are, and the more successful you become. That’s the common belief.

Infinity Pools are apps, services and products that have infinite content and are always on.  There’s social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; video streaming like YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime, and web browsers like Safari, Google Chrome, and Bing, which give you 24/7 access to information around the world. You can dip back into Infinity Pools at any time to find fresh content. There’s always more water in the pool.

In episode 18 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn:

1.  Why it's important to get off the Busyness Bandwagon and avoid Infinity Pools

2.  Four steps to repeat daily to make time for what matters - 

• Highlight - choose your highlight of the day (i.e. identify the one big thing to do today, which ideally will take 60 to 90 minutes)
• Laser - beat distractions like social media, email and news feeds (i.e. find laser mode to focus on the big thing)
• Energize - build energy in your body and brain (i.e. have the energy to do the big thing)
• Reflect - decide which tactics you want to keep, drop or tweak (i.e. determine what worked and what didn't work in making time for the big thing)

3. Three strategies to choose your highlight - 

• Urgency - what’s the most pressing thing I have to do today? 
• Satisfaction - which highlight will bring me the most satisfaction? 
• Joy - when I reflect on today, what will bring me the most joy? 

4. Tactics to build laser focus, recharge your body and brain, and reflect on your day to decide on what to do tomorrow

Resources cited: 

• Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky, Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day 
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 16, Hack Back Email 

Download Transcript

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

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

The main goal of smart note-taking is not to stay informed. It’s to increase understanding and build your knowledge base, which you can apply to your creative projects and productive work. 

You learn best when you connect ideas and evaluate the information. Does this confirm, contradict, or add to your existing knowledge? Have you mastered the subject enough to explain it or teach it to others through a presentation, an article, or a paper? How will your knowledge hold up in a test or in a real-world situation?

In episode 17 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn:

1) The difference between being familiar with a subject and actually knowing it

2) Why writing is a core part of the thinking process, i.e. the medium in which you think and not the outcome of your thinking

3) The Zettelkasten slip box method for smart note-taking, which was invented by Niklas Lumaan -- a German sociologist who published at least 58 books and nearly 400 scholarly articles on various topics

4) The three types of notes to make - 

• Fleeting notes, e.g. highlighting and underlining text; jotting down quick notes
• Literature notes, e.g. writing notes in your own words for future projects
• Permanent notes, e.g. storing notes in the Zettlekasten for long-term knowledge

5) The "reference slip box" is for source citations and brief notes while the "main slip box" is for permanent notes

6) The profound benefits of having an external system for note-taking and managing knowledge

• you have a standardized, process-oriented method for organizing ideas and retrieving them
• you create bottom-up work so you're not starting from scratch or with a blank slate
• you avoid the linear path to writing and instead pull from existing notes and ideas
• you learn more and apply more from your reading
• you become a more critical and original thinker

Resources cited: 

• Sönke Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing Learning and Thinking - for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

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

When you’re being responsive and responsible, you can easily slip into reactive mode. You end up neglecting important work that is less urgent but brings more long-term value. 

With the rise in social media, texting, and messaging platforms like Slack, some might say email is dead. But email continues to be alive and well.

In episode 16 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn:

1. Internal triggers (e.g. boredom, anxiety, frustration) and external triggers (e.g. pings and dings) lead to distraction

2. The critical question to ask in deciding whether an external trigger is helpful or not

3. The opposite of distraction is traction

4. Time spent on email = the number of messages received multiplied by the average time spent per message.  T = n x t

5. Seven tips to hack back email -

• Stop the influx at its source.
• Process your email, instead of just check, scan or read your email.
• Block time for batch processing your email.
• Close out or shut down email when you’re doing focused work. And switch off auto-alerts.
• Take email off your phone or handheld device.
• Use proper email etiquette. 
•  Improve your workflow to reduce back and forth communication. 

6. A dysfunctional workplace – where you are always connected - is the real culprit. Tech overuse creates a vicious cycle of responsiveness, where you have less control over your time, think you need to be always available to get ahead, and set expectations to be always on. At indistractable organizations, leaders set examples for doing focused work and acknowledge the problems of 24/7 access.

Resources cited: 

• Nir Eyal, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 2, Building Good Habits
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 3, Breaking Bad Habits

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

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

Your shut-down sequence - before bedtime - creates the environment for you to rest, relax and sleep. Without a full rejuvenation overnight, it’s harder to take charge of your day.    

In episode 15 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn:

1. The importance of both productive tasks and restorative tasks in your evening routine. You need to review your day and plan for the next as well as relax and rest completely. If you wind down enough before your bedtime, you will have space for an effective evening routine. 

2. The value of sleep and how the sleep cycle works -

• Stage 1 - alpha state
• Stage 2 - theta state
• Stages 3 and 4 - delta state
• REM sleep 

3. Ways to create a sleep sanctuary to improve sleep quality and duration

4.  Key things to avoid in your evening routine - 

• Screens (e.g. TV, computer, laptop, tablet, phone) in the 30 to 90-minute period before bedtime
• Dinner in the 2 to 3-hour period before bedtime 
• Vigorous exercise and full workout in the 4 to 6-hour period before bedtime
• Caffeine intake after 2 to 3 p.m. or in the 5 to 8-hour period before bedtime
• Alcohol consumption in the 3-hour period before bedtime

5. Key things to include in your evening routine - 

Productive tasks -

• Review your day and preview the next day
• Do prep work, e.g. pick out clothes and clean up your work space and living space
• Learn new information or practice a hobby

Restorative tasks - 

• Journal
• Read fiction or other nonwork-related book
• Enjoy a teatime ritual with noncaffeinated herbal tea (e.g. camomile or Valerian root) about an hour before you go to bed 
• Do gentle movement or exercise
• Practice relaxing breathwork
• Pray or meditate or listen to mellow music

6. The advantage of a maintaining a consistent bedtime, synching with your circadian rhythm, and building good sleep habits

Resources cited: 

• Shawn Stevenson, Sleep Smarter 
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 8, How to Plan Your Ideal Week
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 14, Morning Routines and Rituals to Start Your Day

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

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