Category: Productivity

How do I: deal with doubt

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Progress towards any goal or vision erodes doubt, whether fast or slow. More people will believe what it will be once they see it, hear it, understand it, and want it too. Not everyone will share your doubt. Even fewer will share your goal or vision. Don’t let that stop you.

Will I take missteps? Yes, reevaluate when that occurs. Doubt does not result in failure. Failure occurs after starting due to a lack of persistence and forethought. Doubts might derive from forethoughts or considerations.

You can move in baby steps, a leisure walk of progress, and eventually, in full sprint forward.

New ideas are sometimes like infants, so treat them like one. Hear, see then move just like a baby does. Remember crawl, walk, run. Yes, there will be falls, and then you get right back up.

Doubt should be a brief pause and think, not endless stalling due to “I am not ready because [fill in the excuse]”. If your target market is not ready, the market will give you clear signs that say so. When we believe in it more than doubt it, we should act on it. Even if we go at it alone until we have something to show for it. Move forward around constraints, obstacles, and most importantly, your own doubts.

If your idea is solving a problem, if it has an audience, and clients willing to pay for your solution, keep pushing forward despite doubts. We will not free everyone from doubts, and that should not be anyone’s goal.

Perfection does not exist. Stop stalling and doubting whether you are ready to launch something if your idea’s minimum viable product (MVP) works and sells. You can continue to iterate and improve it as you move forward and need to in a prioritized manner.

Doing something new is not about waiting for anyone’s acceptance or permission. We do something new despite our fears, uncertainties, and doubts (FUD). We do the uncomfortable things to finish a phase we started, be first, win, and keep moving forward toward what we still need to improve.

Doubt can cause frustration. Frustration can be refocused as fuel toward that progress we need to see. We want that thing to become real to the point that we manifest it into some form we need it to be.

Make a list of the pros and cons of doing what you think about doing.

Take account of the ‘what-ifs’ to get them out of your head and note them as documentation in your little book of doubt. Some doubts might be risks or just opportunities to tackle in the future. Many doubts you can laugh at sooner rather than later. Enjoy the journey even if you don’t travel.

Tools I Use: speech to text

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In the tool kit of accessibility functions most computers have today that I use often is speech to text.

Once enabled with a quick command, all you do is annunciate and the computer will write what it hears you say.

I have to emphasize that you do need to annunciate, not simply mumble what you say to the computer and expect it to understand what you say, including syntax. Period. Editing comes later anyhow.

Thanks to advances in speech recognition, speech-to-text works quite well now. If the speech recognition is trained on your voice and the way you say things based on a script you read to train it, the speech-to-text function can work even better. The best speech recognition tools can learn based on your edits and corrections.

In the past, I wrote about text to speech to save time reading/reviewing electronic documents and articles. Speech to text is just another productivity superpower you can use on a daily basis.

Most of us can speak rather than type since our hands are already quite occupied. This computer function can save you time and energy by potentially making you more productive like it does for me.

Do you use speech to text daily?

How do I: evaluate any work opportunity

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We can all find work opportunities for ourselves if we look today. How do you evaluate any work opportunity?

We all have the opportunity to find meaningful work if we know what we’re looking for and how to evaluate it. When I consider any work opportunity, I use six key criteria to help guide my decision-making:

1. Is it remote work?

Remote work has been a priority for me since early 2019, well before the pandemic changed how many people think about work. For roles that don’t require physical handling of objects, being on-site isn’t just unnecessary, it can be counterproductive. As an extrovert, I value connection, but I also value how our time is spent, adaptability, and flexibility even more.

Remote work reduces wasted hours commuting, expands opportunity beyond geography, and supports both global and local relationships through technology. Leading organizations have embraced this shift, realizing that top talent can thrive anywhere. If a company still insists on in-person digital work without a clear need, it may be holding onto outdated assumptions instead of evolving toward the future.

2. Am I paid well?

Compensation should reflect both the value and the impact of the work. Remote work doesn’t diminish the quality of services provided; it often enhances them. I’ve seen consistent demand for my expertise, and as a result, my rates have increased, not decreased. When clients recognize the value I bring and how easy it is to work with me, we both win. Fair pay remains a baseline for mutual respect and commitment.

3. Are they listening to me?

Mutual communication and respect are foundational. If my input isn’t being heard or considered, it limits the impact I can make. I want to work with people who are open, curious, and willing to collaborate. That’s where progress happens. Active listening, thoughtful feedback, and shared understanding are all signs of a healthy work relationship.

4. Can I make a difference?

I look for opportunities where I can make a real contribution, where my skills and insights lead to positive change. If no one is listening or there’s no space to create value, then it’s not a fit. My goal is never to clock hours; it’s to deliver meaningful outcomes. Being able to make a difference is not just good for the client, it’s motivating and fulfilling for me, too.

5. Is it what I want to do?

Work should align with evolving interests and priorities. As circumstances change, so do our definitions of fulfillment. I regularly ask myself: Am I still energized by this work? Am I learning and growing? Am I aligned with the mission and values? We all deserve to work in ways that are both effective and rewarding. The goal isn’t just to get by. It’s to thrive.

6. Am I treated well?

Respect and collaboration matter. I value a culture where people treat each other with professionalism, empathy, and integrity. While challenges and disagreements are part of any job, how we engage with one another defines the quality of the work environment. When expectations are clear and conversations are respectful, we build trust, and that leads to better outcomes for everyone.

Other factors?

When any of these six factors starts to break down, it’s worth pausing to reevaluate. We all have different standards for what makes work meaningful, and those standards evolve over time.

What matters most to you when evaluating any work opportunity?
What are your non-negotiables?

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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.

Things I Don’t Use: Paper

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There have been a lot of efforts to become paperless over the past few decades. If a company has piles of people, that is hard to make it a paperless company you mandate being paperless unless you make it a chore to print anything.

If we can clearly display what might be printed on a large enough screen that is the first step. Users, readers, and reviewers of said content still need the ability to:

  • annotate
  • approve
  • assign
  • collaborate
  • edit
  • iterate
  • read
  • share
  • sign
  • view
  • write

on the content that could be printed but rather not today. And all of these actions can be achieved without printing anything by any number of productivity software suites we are all familiar with by Google, Microsoft, and others. Printing on paper makes little sense nowadays since it, by definition, limits the uses and viewability of the printed content. Again, if you want to limit its viewability, do not print it in the first place assuming the content is born-digital.

Unless the point of printing something is to reduce distribution today and/or limit royalties without the means to actually track its readership, printing on paper has no further purpose.

Print for work

I have worked with organizations that have at least 1.2 printers per person which only encourages printing. Most of the printing was done uselessly unless the print out was a project deliverable…instead of soft (digital) copy. Having printers next to you without getting up from your workspace promotes endless printing for senseless reasons. Remove the printers and remove the urge to print pretty quickly.

I have worked within very few companies that have no printers available anywhere unless you hunt for them, then get permission to output paper for some other (often useless) reason. The harder you make it to print anything that can just be seen or worked on a screen, the less likely anyone will print something.

Print to read

Some people think it is required to print something in order to read something once or maybe twice. We realize after that, the paper gets lost or trashed. Some print something to hand the paper to someone rather than sharing the content to that same person electronically. I have spoken to quite a few university professors that are guilty of this phenomenon.

Awareness

It has nothing to do with retention nor archiving because that grossly assumes organization and that this paper can be found quickly again for reference.

It is not a luxury to print on paper, but rather a selfish mindset to print uselessly. It is a point of awareness to not print at all. You don’t actually have to hold it in your hand in order to read, sign it or pass it on.

Signatures

No one (aside from maybe ourselves) pays any attention to our own signatures. Yes, that’s right. Physical signatures are useless.  Complete wastes of time. Authentication via e-signatures with the date, timestamp, IP address, and GPS location from where it was authenticated is much more specific than anyone’s handwriting will ever be. Courts of law accept e-signature far more than handwritten signatures. Why? Ever heard of forged signatures? You can literally draw anything instead of your own handwritten signature and no one will pay any attention to it today. Including your bank and your credit card company today. Same reason why many merchants don’t require any signatures for payment anymore. Signatures are a total waste of time and resources to supply the means to sign. Even printing receipts which are rarely kept and can not be archived since they are often printed on thermal paper where the writing fades after one year.

Some people print something in order to sign it, then scan the signed paper, only to email the scanned PDF to someone else. E-signatures resolve all this. All useless by today’s digital-first and remote-first work standard now for those who actually care about their workforce since their own work does require them to move anything physically.

Nostalgia

Already a distant memory. Forgotten for the same reasons as writing checks. If you remember writing checks as a means of payment, you likely remember what fun it is to stand in line as each person drafts a check from scratch as you wait and watch. Slow, cumbersome, and useless today.

Payment

Fraud not only led Europe to ban all checks years ago, while the US was getting chips on credit cards.  Contactless apps transfer funds faster anywhere in the world or locally down the street.

Handwriting

Remember all those handwriting lessons from elementary school? Well, they don’t even go to school anymore let alone learn to draw their own name with characters. Typing on a screen is the norm. My handwriting is illegible, just like a medical doctor’s handwriting. I will let you guess which one is more important to be clearly understood. Just another reason to get rid of handwriting altogether.

Why USe Paper?

So why use paper? Paper does not help to organize anything we do. We are clearly terrible at using it properly, storing it, archiving it or finding it again in an efficient and effective manner. We don’t need to use paper to read, write, collaborate, iterate, sign nor transfer its contents to anyone. I loath paper and avoid using it at any cost.

There is one use for paper products that may have a future unless we go back to older ways before toilet paper existed.