Personal Productivity Megathread

[Rob Monster]

I am a big fan of productivity hacks -- how to get a lot done in a day. There are some folks here that I know think similarly, and are generous with their ideas and input. I want to see if we can all raise our A-games by sharing productivity hacks that let us get more done in a day. My original list is a bit generic and was posted in a LinkedIn article:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/startup-productivity-2018-robert-monster/

I have been thinking more about this topic lately. I am hoping that like-minded folks with experience can share some of their favorite productivity hacks. If folks do have good hacks, please bring them and we'll see if we can help lots of folks do great in domains and in life! If we work together, we can make the pie BIGGER rather than fight over the small pie.

 

[Samer]

Most reliable, simple link, could find on the subject:

Mashable is reliable source; acquired $50M, 2017
(Yes, my defense of “reliable” -is being acquired! )

blame for their decline.. “jack of all trades” reporting on everything, without a niche focus.. anyway..

appreciated this type of reporting.. Most info, I could find on the subject, outside this 2010 WSJ piece.

 

[Samer]

“Other research highlights the hand's unique relationship with the brain when it comes to composing thoughts and ideas.Virginia Berninger, a professor of educational psychology at the U of Washington, says handwriting differs from typing it requires executing sequential strokes to form a letter, whereas keyboarding involves selecting a whole letter by touching a key.” (2010 WSJ link above)

Writing on paper isn't just for writers folks!
You can be productive, write down your goals dreams end of the day, closer to accomplishing, if nothing to write about, helps you, better understand urself! technology age; easy 2 forget, writin on paper is not a lost art!

I’m only half-kidding but...
I bet, i still have a faster wpm than you, Rob ;.)
(not sayin ur slow typer.., think u wud b fastest Np)

 

[Cal2]

So, find your niche based on your unique circumstance, gift or talent, and then work with others who have their own unique situations. I believe when we do that, the possibilities are pretty endless.

On 'unique', a friend thinks I should be a provocation (a 'po') consultant, creating 'productive disruption':
http://www.debonogroup.com/podisruption.php

I told him I see the value of such a skill as highly underrated by most, and will remain that way by most for a long time - so I don't see any real $ in it as a consultant. Also more practice required on my part before I'd feel comfortable labeling myself a consultant for it.

But the productivity possibilities from doing it properly enough...

 

[Rob Monster]

Quick comment on tools -- in this case computer hardware tools.

As you might imagine, my inbox is getting more full these days. For as long as I have been running Epik, it was always a policy to clear the inbox before bedtime. On Monday, that meant staying up until 2:30 am.

On Tuesday, I finally hit the wall -- I went to bed with hundreds of unread emails in the inbox, including a masterpiece analysis from @Ategy.com. I had hit the limit. Productivity D-day had arrived!

My laptop had been as optimized as possible, but as you can see the condition of some of the keys on my keyboard, the old machine had been beaten into submission.

On Wednesday morning, I migrated to a brand new Macbook -- the fastest one I could buy. It was an indulgence since Apple products are of course terribly overpriced. However, I still use them.

Over the course of Wednesday, with 2 laptops going, I was able to slay the inbox dragon, and also finally able to clear out a big NamePros message backlog -- mostly submissions for the Root Certificate poll.

The moral of the story is to keep your blade sharp. If you tend to multi-task, with many applications and windows open at anytime, you might need an upgrade on the tools before returning to the field.

 

[Ategy]

If folks do have good hacks, please bring them and we'll see if we can help lots of folks do great in domains and in life! If we work together, we can make the pie BIGGER rather than fight over the small pie.

Best hack for me was combining my walks with Steamie and listening and re-listening to old episodes of Domain Sherpa! Considering we easily do 50km a week at 4km/hr, in the last 2-3 years I've gone through them all several times. My newest phone died a couple months ago, and I'm still on my older one that only gets about 2 hours of battery life .. so these days it's actually nice, I listen to an episode or two, then silence for an hour or two (we've gone on walks as long as 5 hours/20km). I will always be eternally grateful to @Michael Cyger for this (and so is Steamie btw .. lol)!

In terms of domaining hack, I'm constantly tweaking my massively complex excel sheets for doing my daily lists for NameCult. Can't really share too much of my secret sauce since I want to continue to get good domains for cheap .. however the one thing with going through domain lists if you want to find cheap diamonds in the rough that other people miss .. is actually unfortunately NOT to have hacks. There are about 50,000 domains that expire every day at GoDaddy, so I obviously don't go through all of them, but I do go pretty deep one by one by eye. My 2nd biggest sale was a 24 character 3-word closeout that most would have never have found .. and if they had they would have been scared of potential trademark issues .. but because I've listened to all the podcasts on the subject and read a lot on TMs, I knew it was theoretically safe, which allowed me to push to 5x their opening offer without being scared.

I have no clue how you all can work on a laptop .. I've got so much stuff going on that I need my 2 screen .. my next PC (hopefully soon as this one is having a hard time keeping up with my Excel demands .. lol) will likely allow me to have 3!

For productivity, it is good to take some days off and relax a lot

Because NameCult is daily lists, I can't really take days off. I don't really know why though, as I make less with my blog on an hourly basis than I do domaining or with my "real world" job. At this point the only reason I keep at it is because I'm thinking of getting into wholesaling, so it would obviously be great to promote my names. We'll see though .. I keep telling myself I need to stop .. of maybe keep at the list, but sell it to HugeDomains or someone that will give me real ongoing money for it! My "real world" job is pretty destructive on my knees these days .. so I'm actually looking at ways to leave and maybe do domain related things only. But I've been there since the 90's and have decent benefits and a pretty good schedule .. so it's not an easy decision.

On Tuesday, I finally hit the wall -- I went to bed with hundreds of unread emails in the inbox, including a masterpiece analysis from @Ategy.com. I had hit the limit. Productivity D-day had arrived!

I'm pretty well known for my long emails ... but they're usually long for a reason. Most importantly, written communication can often leave a lot of room for ambiguity and lack of precision .. I like to be as clear as possible and leave as little room for misinterpretation as possible. That being said .. I am trying to cut back at that. But looking at this post .. I guess I'm failing at that! lol

On Tuesday, I finally hit the wall -- I went to bed with hundreds of unread emails in the inbox, including a masterpiece analysis from @Ategy.com. I had hit the limit. Productivity D-day had arrived!

Sorry for that .. lol .. hope at least you got some good ideas out of it!
If you're a fan of Silicon Valley, it's safe to say that my emails alone are responsible for at least 50% of Datageddon! lol

 

[marcreative]

This thread might disappear, but just to keep it real, I wanted to share a picture of my two biggest productivity hacks of 2019:

1. Outdoor standing desk/office

Show attachment 129980

This from just now -- the desk is off our back deck in Seattle. I am planning to work outside all winter when not traveling. ICYMI, I don't commute to an office. Our people are all over the world.

2. Breakfast high in anti-oxidants:

Cottage cheese
Greek yogurt
Blueberries
Goji berries
Pomegranate seeds
Chia seeds
Walnuts
Cinnamon
Manuka honey

maybe i am late, but i am soooooooooooo loving the picture there, so peaceful! really nice! it would be great to work at such place like that

 

[Rob Monster]

maybe i am late, but i am soooooooooooo loving the picture there, so peaceful! really nice! it would be great to work at such place like that

You like that office? I have had much nicer ones. My personal fav is probably Seychelles.

Work until the wind picks up and then go windsurf.... Good times.

 

[marcreative]

You like that office? I have had much nicer ones. My personal fav is probably Seychelles.

Show attachment 133674

Show attachment 133675

Work until the wind picks up and then go windsurf.... Good times.

Yessss sooo sooo very much, wow the next picture just outstanding, remind me somewhere, oh oh bali or jogjakarta in indonesia.

 

[ResoluteDomains]

To have dogs is actually very good, they are constantly lowering our stress levels......

Not so much if those dogs are your various neighbor's dogs and as they walk them by your house they allow them to poop and pee anywhere on your yard killing whatever is hit.

And.....then your kids go out and play in the front yard only to roll around and land in pooped on / peed on grass.

If that doesnt raise the stress levels then the bratty and childish response from the neighbors, when asked to stop, will certainly increase the BP and its also not so good on productivity.

 

[tonyk2000]

Great pictures shared in this thread. I tried something similar (seashore - ocean coast in South America, 100% non-urban areas), was all good and peaceful. Also, healthy and productive With an exception that all laptops and even usb memory sticks corroded in a year or so, a side effect of the Pacific Ocean being so close... Can definitely recommend such a lifestyle...

 

[bballdude823]

Thanks all for the good productivity hacks. Several years ago my friends in tech told me to buy domains and I had no idea what they were or their worth. Over the last year domaining has been a hobby of mine that intrigued me so much. As you can see from past posts a year ago I had no idea about domains and what good domains were. I believe everyone believes their junk is good and try to convince themselves otherwise. I have learned a lot thanks to @Rob Monster and several others and only come to namespro to read these great threads and pickup domains at discount.

That being said for productivity hacks I have a lot. Here on the east coast there is a big biohacker community I am involved with. Meaning hacking the brain, sleep, anti-aging etc to improve quality of life.

Being that i'm in my 20's and I care about preventative measures and brain health I will share some of my hacks. If someone is interested in more in depth feel free to message me.

Sleep is the most important. Whether you sleep 5 hours or 10 hours everyone is different and their body/brains need different amounts dependent on so many factors.

Sleep hygiene:
-Make sure you're clean before going into bed
-Black out shades. Light messes with Melatonin
-Eye mask if you don't want black out shades/curtains
-Air filter
-Sleep with phone away from head(radiation near brain isn't ideal)
-Chillipad ( I need the room to be cold. This goes under the mattress)

Meditation. Whether it be 5 minutes or 20 minutes. Sometimes just breathing for 5 minutes. I have bee into holotropic breathing lately. Check Youtube for what works for you. Also visualization and manifesting what you want. I know it sounds woo woo but I believe if you visualize then write down that is your blue print. You can't build a house without blue prints first!

I do intermittent fasting every morning and only eat my meals in a window from (2pm-10pm) during the week. Keeps me sharp and don't have to worry about food spiking blood sugar. Instead of long fasts like 3-5 days I believe what works best for me is 12-16 hour fasting windows. Lots of info you can read on this. Ben Greenfield comes to mind.

Make sure you are getting air everyday. GO for a walk at lunch. Before bed, first thing in the morning. Whatever works in your schedule. Even better to see the sun rise as it sets your circadian rhythm for the day.

Do some form of sweating. Whether it be sitting in sauna, working out at the gym, resistant band training, sprints, or 20 minute walk. If you are short on time I recommend https://www.amazon.com/Body-Science-Research-Strength-Training/dp/0071597174

You can find a video of it on youtube. Tim Ferriss talks about it.


Make a blueprint for the day and week about what you want to accomplish. I feel when I write things down I am held accountable and there is no procrastination.

Healthy relationships. Steer clear of toxic people sucking your energy. Take breaks. Power naps in the afternoon.

Eating healthy: Grass fed meats, fish, organic fruits and vegetables. Supplement if you need. If i could only recommend one supplement it would be colostrum. I have several supplements I take but don't want to overload. Filtered water is a must

Stay grounded. Get blood work done.

It is okay to lookout for others but don't be afraid to be selfish at times. One of my favorite quotes I don't remember where I heard it from. “If I am not for myself, who will be? If I am only for myself, what am I? "