Every year since 2010 I look forward to the quiet time between Christmas and New Years where I can set aside a couple of hours to review the previous year and be thoughtful about how I want to approach the following year.
- 2010 was going to be “proactive,” but ended up being a lesson in how to endure in the face of adversity. — Read my 2010 year in review.
- 2011 was going to be about you (the reader), but ended up being a selfish year. It was the best year of my professional life. — Read my 2011 in review.
- 2012 was the year of no expectations. After all, 2011 was amazing. Unfortunately, 2012 was completely unsustainable. — Read my 2012 in review.
- 2013 was supposed to be about balance. Instead, I joined a start-up. There was ZERO balance, but I learned a helluva lot. — Read my 2013 in review.
- In 2014, I developed what I call my 5 pillars for a healthy and happy life. It might’ve seemed like a quiet year, but I was grinding away at some big wins. — Read my 2014 in review.
2015
Here were the goals for 2015:
More walks. More listening. More love. More humility. More patience. More perspective. More spontaneity. More gratitude. Always more gratitude. More creativity. More music. More family. More friends. More fiction. More fun.
In an effort to accomplish those goals, I knew I needed to become less busy. As Dina Kaplan says, “Busy should be a confession, not a boast.”
Why is it that we must always be busy, passive and compliant? Why do we no longer value setting aside time to think? To feel? Because they’re are a drag on “growth”; a burden on “productivity”; they slow down the furious acceleration of the bullshit machine. (Umair Haque, The Bullshit Machine)
Busy has a dangerous allure and, sadly, it can become a way of life. This disease of being “busy” is spiritually destructive to our health and well being. It saps our ability to be fully present with those we love the most in our families, and keeps us from forming the kind of community that we all so desperately crave, writes Omid Safi in “The Disease of Being Busy.”
To kick off the year, I wanted to unpack some of the reasons *I* was so busy.
In order to do that, I really delved into the research and literature around the reasons we’re all so busy, most notably: the current lack of work/life balance and busyness as a form of procrastination. I was guilty of both.
In addition to being very easily distracted by external noise, I also procrastinate a bit (in the form of completing ‘easier’ tasks to avoid more important, albeit less urgent, projects.)
As a result, I’m not as productive and my output doesn’t match what *I think* it should be. To make up for it, I often work long hours and come in on weekends, which ultimately means I spend less time with my wife, my friends, my family, a good book, playing ,etc.
Understanding the underlying culprit would be critical to identifying solutions.
So in 2015, I set out to do the following:
- Work less
- Decrease my digital clutter and consumption
- Identify and adhere to my ideal day
- Say “no” much more often
- Schedule more leisure time
- Continue to develop systems and process to automate things and save time
Did it work? … Somewhat.
I cleared digital clutter by unsubscribing to all but a handful of blogs and newsletters. For long-time readers, you’ll also notice that I wrote much less this year.
I feel like I got a lot better about evaluating the opportunity cost of the things that matter and saying “no” more often so that I could say “yes” to more quality time with Alaina and to re-charging, which doesn’t necessarily look like rest.
As far as working less, that’s still a work in progress — and I suspect it will continue to be (i.e. check out my 2016 goals), but I felt like I was successful for the first 4-5 months of the year. I took control of my calendar and started blocking more time for work vs. interruptions (see: meetings).
That said, once our summer campaign season started at work, a lot of this mindfulness went by the wayside and I worked a lot, including most weekends. It’s (mostly) worth it when you’re able to lead cool campaigns (here, here and here) that raise more than $1.75 million for cancer research.
I’ll claim responsibility for some of the excess work and attribute some of it to a lack of (people) resources. In any event, we’ll chalk it up to learning and hope to improve in time for next year’s campaign season.
After all, there are some big things ahead in 2016. Things that might demand a bit of my time and attention.
Top Posts of the Year:
An exploration of why society is so busy these days (work and procrastination), how we ended up here, and what I’m (personally) doing to remedy my own busyness. Complete with 12 additional resources unpacking the “busy” phenomenon.
4 Timeless Business Lessons From Obvious Adams
Four great business reminders from this awesome little (70 page) book that was first published in 1916.
The Art of the Pitch: Persuasion and Presentation Skills that Win Business
One of the things I love most about my job the thrill of landing a new alliance. It’s something I want to keep getting better at it so I’ll get more opportunities to ‘pitch.’
Though the book is written from the perspective of an advertising agency executive, the principles within are broadly applicable to anyone selling their idea to someone else who can help bring it to life. The link above includes 50 of my favorite takeaways.
25 Takeaways from Austin Kleon’s “Steal Like an Artist”
It was a busy summer and I was laboring through lots of work and big, dense books. I needed something to jump start my idea muscle and reignite my creativity outside of the day gig. Thankfully, I found Austin Kleon’s “Steal Like an Artist” to be an inspiring guide to creativity in the digital age and a book you can easily consume in one sitting.
5 Quick Observations as a Result of Working During Vacation
All those words above about working less? Yeah…I’m still learning.
What? I already confessed that I got a little off track during campaign season. Anyway, I basically conclude that naps and expectations are good, distractions are bad and timing is important.
As an aside, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I wrote this post, and shared Chris’ post (below), during the summer months when I was growing resentful and trying to re-calibrate.
Six Lessons from the Death of My Best Friend (Guess post by Chris Winfield)
This summer, Chris shared with our mastermind group that his best friend had passed away. As a (beautiful) tribute, he shared some of the most important things his friend taught him over the years.
As I read what Chris had learned, I was instantly reminded of what’s important in life. My wife and I used to have a saying after a tough day, “It’s just marketing.” A reminder that we did our best, and that rarely are things as important as they seem in the moment. I’m grateful Chris let me share his words on this blog; what a great wake up call.
This has to be one of the best commencement speeches of all time. It covers covers subjects like “the difficulty of empathy” and “the importance of being well adjusted.” I especially love the emphasis the notion that we should consciously choose how to perceive others, think about meaning, and act appropriately in everyday life.
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