Hey, happy Monday.
Last week I told you about how to stop working in Survival Mode and activate the Progress Loop thanks to the Make Progress tools with OKRs.
You can find my words here, while you can find the full recording of the event here.
Instead, in this note I want to share with you a practice that you could adopt right away, as soon as you finish reading this email.
You’ll need 10 minutes.
Probably the best spent of the day.
You will thank me tomorrow.
Future Diary
By the time you stop to reflect on how the day went, it is too late to tell you a different story.
Even if everything starts with good intentions, it is inevitable that the outside world will step in with a leg up on the to-do list.
Then nothing. One can only take note of it. What has not been done today is added to what we will have to do tomorrow.
I asked myself, why do I have to read a diary page that I will not like?
People In STRTGY use an operating system called ProgressOS. All information is linked together, and the system brings to the surface, for each of us, the priorities of the day.
Very often there are always more things to be done than can be finished. The system automatically carries incomplete tasks to the next day and ensures that no one loses chunks.
But how not to lose motivation?
How to make sure that each of us experienced a day to be satisfied with?
I have personally tested this new habit. For me it is incredibly useful.
The diary page I would like to read when the day ends–I write it when the day begins.
I divide the sheet into 3 parts:
- Morning
- Afternoon
- Extra time
I wonder: what would make this day really productive?
I do not simply write down the tasks in the order in which I need/want to complete them.
I write what I want to achieve.
If I have a sales call in my tasklist: I write down how it went.
If I have to work on a project: I write down what extra piece of the project there will be.
Limit unplanned work
There is only one rule: draw from the backlog as much as possible.
If it is not in the backlog, it is probably not important.
I read somewhere that 75% of what we do is unplanned work. I think even more than that. Work that has not been planned and suddenly seems important to us.
Distractions, meetings, unforeseen…
Each journal line must contain the link-or reference-to the task I worked on.
It may happen that it is not there. Then I simply write down what is important to do, and I will make reflections later.
What is important is to design your own time.
With intentionality and presence.
Making a commitment to oneself. And keeping it.
Working in public
My diary is public in the corporate system. And so is that of those who work with me.
It is a way of understanding:
- what is important to the other
- his understanding of business
- The rationales behind the choice of priorities
But more than anything else … it is useful to anticipate an inevitable disappointment: not being aligned.
The diary is a communication tool.
It means communicating what your time is worth protecting.
Publishing one’s journal allows one to set an example.
Commenting on one’s team member’s journal allows one to correct the course of the day before it is too late.
It is important for
- delegation
- planning
- the use of resources
And reduce meetings to “take stock.”
Warning.
There is nothing more dangerous than a corporate culture that does not work.
Not everyone can adopt this practice. It requires a high degree of transparency and vulnerability.
One might be tempted to unrealistically enrich one’s diary for the sole reason that someone will read it. By creating tasks that did not exist until the minute before to design a faux-productive day.
One might be tempted to comment annoyingly on others’ diaries thus ending up increasing micromanagement.
I am fully aware of this.
As are likewise that the that we are the consequence of our repeated decisions and behaviors.
It is not the tool that is the problem, it is the context in which it is used.
Reflecting on time
I recommend that you do the same.
Throughout the day I keep my journal page open in the first tab of the browser. Constantly I read it to mentally anticipate the success I want to achieve.
No one wants to let himself down.
As I go along I update her on how she is doing and at the end of the day I try to figure out how faithful I have been to the self that wrote that page.
- What went well?
- What didn’t work?
- What can I do so that tomorrow I can be in better control of my time?
Each week I collect the pages of the previous days. I ask my contributors to do the same.
- How much unplanned work fell between priorities and reality?
- How much were we able to influence the weather by working as a team?
- How do we celebrate small progress?
- How do we solve the obstacles?
Where to start?
It duplicates my template on Notion.
Or reconstruct the pattern in your systems.
Then keep me updated on your progress. I do care,
ALWAYS MAKE PROGRESS ⤴
Give your team back time to work on a great strategy
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Applications are open to work with me and a small number of executives, on the adoption of the Make Progress Method in the October cohort.
Align strategy and execution, accurately identify priorities, and prepare to achieve extraordinary results. Choose a time from my calendar to calculate the project ROI based on your baseline situation and discover the work schedule.
