Category: Change

How do I: Do More That Matters

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You have more demands, distractions, and responsibilities on your time than ever before. So how do you actually do more without burning out, spinning your wheels, or wasting time on things that don’t matter?

This isn’t about working longer hours or grinding yourself into the ground. It’s about working smarter, optimizing your efforts for better outcomes, and executing with intention. This is about removing what doesn’t work, automating what can be systemized, and doubling down on the actions that drive results.

Below is a no-nonsense list of habits, principles, and strategies that I have used to maximize effectiveness, impact, and productivity. Pick what works for you, implement, iterate, and keep moving forward.

  1. Be Prepared. We live in a world full of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA). Be ready.
  2. Be Resilient and Adaptable. Principles and core values matter.
  3. Be Persistent. Follow up.
  4. Be Vigilant. Pay attention to what matters. Notice changes. Stay ahead.
  5. Stay Consistent. Build habits, routines, and scalable systems.
  6. Always Be Capturing (ABC). Your memory is unreliable. Document everything by default.
  7. Eliminate. Simplify. Automate. Delegate. Prioritize. Execute. Repeat.
  8. Test Your Systems. Have backups. What works today may break tomorrow. Regularly stress-test your processes, tools, and teams.
  9. Learn to Discern. Not everything deserves your time or attention.
  10. Take Action. Complaining, comparing, and worrying solve nothing. Action eliminates fear and anxiety.
  11. Ask Better Questions. Assumptions are expensive. Better questions get better answers.
  12. Negotiate Everything. Every deal, decision, and opportunity has options, both on and off the table.
  13. Choose, Then Move. When faced with a fork in the road, pick a direction or forge a new path. Avoid analysis paralysis and indecision.
  14. Guard Your Energy, Time, and Money. Use them wisely. Audit each regularly.
  15. Schedule Everything. Don’t make to-do lists. Put tasks directly on your calendar. Assign time blocks to everything. When necessary, move or repeat this time block periodically.
  16. Batch Similar Tasks. Group repetitive work to maintain flow and efficiency. Tasks are opportunities for efficiency and optimization.
  17. Exercise Patience (Strategically). If waiting isn’t worth it, eliminate the task or skip the wait entirely.
  18. Use Constraints to Your Advantage. Constraints force creativity and efficiency.
  19. Step Outside Your Comfort Zone. Growth requires discomfort. Seek controlled challenges.
  20. Be Adaptable Like Bamboo. Stay flexible but strong in any situation.
  21. Be Accountable. Hold people accountable to what they commit to as you do.
  22. Push forward to decisions. It is either a yes or no, not maybe. Remove those gray areas and make them crystal clear.
  23. Speed is a Competitive Advantage. Don’t wait for permission nor consensus. Start. Play the long game too.
  24. Design Your Environment for Success. Your habits are shaped by your surroundings. Optimize your workspace, digital tools, and daily routines for peak performance.
  25. Perfection is a Myth. “Perfect is the enemy of done.” Stop using perfection as a delay tactic or excuse not to ship it.
  26. Follow Through Relentlessly. Execution matters more than ideas.
  27. Hydrate. You’re mostly water. Keep it that way. You will think clearly too.
  28. Eat for Nutrition, Not Stress. Food is fuel, not therapy.
  29. Move Daily. Walk. Stretch. Exercise. Your body and mind depend on it.
  30. Sleep 6 to 8 Hours. Rest is non-negotiable. Schedule sleep like any other priority.
  31. Set a Morning and Evening Routine.
  32. Get Sunlight Every Day. Natural light regulates energy and focus.
  33. Use all your senses. Don’t overburden one.
  34. “Lead, follow or get out of the way.” Pick one based on the situation.
  35. “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Choose your circle wisely.
  36. Contribute to Communities. Seek groups that challenge and support growth. Help those who want to help the group.
  37. Be Present. Add Value. If you’re not contributing, earning, or learning, ask why you’re there.
  38. Time is Non-Refundable. Use it wisely or regret it later.
  39. When in Doubt, Start. Don’t wait for permission or others to join you. Begin, iterate, and adjust as needed. You won’t be 100% ready, and that is okay.
  40. Delegate to AI first. If an AI can do something faster, cheaper, and better than a person, let it. Monitor, refine, iterate, and focus on what only you should do. If an AI can’t do it, delegate it to other people who can.
  41. Be Mistaken for a Machine. Consistency is a compliment, but automate whenever possible to free yourself for higher-value work.
  42. Define Success Clearly. Set measurable goals. Vague ambitions lead to vague results.
  43. People consume content in different ways. Some like to listen. Some like to read. Some like to watch. Some like a combination of content in different formats. Feed your audience value.
  44. Teach to Learn. Explaining something to others forces clarity, getting the basics right, and deeper understanding. If you can’t teach it, you don’t truly know it.
  45. Write to Think Clearly. Make it a daily habit.
  46. Find the gaps. Change perspectives. Try inversion. Seize the opportunity.
  47. Do the Boring Stuff. Success isn’t just about big wins, it’s about showing up and executing daily, even on the unglamorous tasks that move the needle. Do the work no one else wants to do.
  48. Master Asynchronous Communication. Meetings are often a waste of time. Use async tools (email, project management software, video recording, podcasting) to minimize unnecessary back-and-forth.
  49. Be Your Own Case Study. Test strategies, track results, measure differences, and refine based on real-world data. Become the proof of what works.
  50. Ask “Why?” and “What Else?” Regularly. Curiosity drives better decisions. Remain curious and inquisitive.

If you implement even a handful of these principles, you can execute at a higher level, avoid burnout, and get more done in less time. Stop waiting for a sign. Keep taking action on what matters. Day 1 starts today.

Questions?

How Do I: work remotely now and into the future

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Raju Panjwani interviewed Henrik de Gyor about remote work for his show: BOLD CONSCIOUS CONNECTIONS. We talk about some insights about remote work and address some elephants in the room like RTO.

Do you have questions about remote work for your business? Schedule a call

How do I: deal with constant change

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When it comes to change, remain aware of it. 

Accept it or reject it. It will not care either way. So why should you?

Dance with change when possible. 

Then, move forward, with or without that change in mind.

Change is rarely within our control, so it should not control our lives unless we allow it. 

We may zag when it zigs, and we should be ok with that.

It is not about feelings because change does not care.

We can try to be an agent of change.

Don’t wait for acceptance or approval. Otherwise, very little gets done.

Move forward regardless of change. 

Move purposefully with a clear focus, forward momentum, and good intentions. 

Worst case scenario, we learn more.

How do I: deal with perfection

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Perfect ≠ Done

Perfection is not a realistic goal because it does not really exist. If it did, it would be a constantly changing ideal that is a futile attempt to meet. That level is different for everyone, each situation, and once you fictionally reach it, the level changes again. Perfection is more of an excuse used to not move forward since the goal is not possible to obtain. Perfect is really the enemy of done because perfection hinders achievement.

We can not define what perfection should look like nor reproduce it. Yet we can improve on “perfect” over time. So does it really exist?

Good, great or excellent can be a smart goal once articulated outside of our minds once we understand what those expectations look like and then execute it. The journey (getting it done) may not be what we first expected. We can adapt to changes until it is done.

Perfection according to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Airman’s Odyssey

If this quote is a true statement, perfection is similar to simplicity. Simplicity keeps changing, hoping for the better.

Calling a cab to using Uber. Just like computers improve every year, so do our mobile phones. Owning a vacation home to any Airbnb location of our choosing. Even owning a supercomputer can improve by renting the use of a quantum computer in the cloud only when you need access to it. Owning vs. accessing the latest, most improved thing.

As I write this, being in the office has been simplified to not going anywhere physically unless you create or move physical objects for your own work. You do not need to be in anyone’s office space, but your own work environment that you choose.

Do not aim for perfection. Everything changes over time. Aim for good, great or excellent. And keep clarifying by simplifying.

Image of person working at desk

How I do: work remotely and thrive

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Since early 2020, there has been a significant growth in remote workers. Many were forced to do so, whether they were ready or not. Some adapted well while others are still adapting or resisting. Some workers are considering working in a hybrid (some time in the office and some time remote), which makes little sense since you do not accomplish anything more in an office away from home.

Have a dedicated workspace where you can focus on work.

If you really look at how you spend your time, measure your productivity, and have meaningful/impactful communication, you will have more online than in person. And I say that as an Extravert.

If you really become self-aware of your time in an office, you will be less productive, less communicative with valued impact, and more wasteful commuting, walking around to places that have decreasing value for every step you take in an office. The empty office is a waste of time and money. Stop defending the commercial real estate spend that is a sunk cost and dump it already.

I was called by several Fortune 50 companies that had the illusion that my time should suddenly be 20% to 50% cheaper now that everyone can work remotely based on their projected “cost of living”. Allow me to correct them publicly as I did over the phone before I declined their bid for me to work for them. This goes for every employer or contract, though.

My work does not change in scope or difficulty regardless of where I am physically located to do the work. Neither do the rates I charge.

Let us very publicly burst the bubble that employers pay anything close to “the cost of living” where they are located. Some day, Human Resources professionals will stop using ‘cost of living’ as an excuse when they have not researched this themselves in their locality today, nor updated regularly based on where their employees are located. Let us stop this fiction since we live in reality.

Each role has a budget set aside for it. What is the budget for this position? Know ahead of time what you should be paid for this role.

By the way, distributed companies (those that have little to no offices with thousands of workers), offer the same pay scale to everyone, based on their title and role, regardless of their location worldwide because it is the employees’ choice where they live and work. Not the employers. If it is not a choice, employers will have fewer applicants, fewer experienced professionals, and fewer employees in the near future, even when they really need them.

Why does it matter where the company is located? It is understood that many companies will have pay grades and pay scales that slide up and down. I am not advocating for the unionization of workers, especially if you have negotiation skills and work experience to back it up.

What can employers do better to adapt to remote workers?

Here are some ways to set expectations publicly.