Tips
Tips
Practical tips that fit this site's voice: EVs, ownership questions, and success, focus, and persistence habits. Tip text is copied verbatim from the inventory.
Compare EV charging cost before you buy
Compare EV charging cost before you buy: home electricity, building and public charger prices differ a lot, so run the cost-per-kWh math for your yearly miles.
Before buying an electric car, write down your questions
Before buying an electric car, write down your questions: service cost out of warranty, insurance, power outage behavior, and loan versus lease versus cash.
Use "belt and suspenders" communication
Use "belt and suspenders" communication: share big changes more than once, in more than one channel.
Four pillars of great project management
Four pillars of great project management: Transparency, Accountability, Documentation and Communication.
Count your active projects; for him, more than about 100 means he is swamped.
Have the weekly review project show up a day or two early (Thursday)...
Have the weekly review project show up a day or two early (Thursday) so you can knock off steps ahead of time.
Keep a "Quit 5 Things" list all year
Keep a "Quit 5 Things" list all year; each December pick five things to quit, then make each one a project in January.
Put a running acronym list at the top of the project doc.
Put a running acronym list at the top of the project doc.
Never give dates when you set expectations for your own work
Never give dates when you set expectations for your own work; keep a buffer.
If you stop at 50 minutes, spend the last 10 adding value
If you stop at 50 minutes, spend the last 10 adding value: document the work, test again, build a report, or plan next steps.
When a project needs a product you have not used, tell the client up...
When a project needs a product you have not used, tell the client up front and pad the scope for learning, so that time is agreed and bookable.
Plan projects weekly: Thursday everyone plans, Friday write the status report by looking at work done and planned, then feed both into AI.
Build trust across three triangles
Build trust across three triangles: Transparency, Collaboration and Partnership with the client; and Communication, Accountability and Documentation inside the team.
Flag any opportunity where scoping time passes 5% of its value.
Flag any opportunity where scoping time passes 5% of its value.
Use more than one word in a subject and think who, what, where,...
Use more than one word in a subject and think who, what, where, when, why and how you'd find the email in 10 years.
Make next week's plan concrete with a clear bar, such as at least 32...
Make next week's plan concrete with a clear bar, such as at least 32 hours planned and Monday set up, so nobody has to guess what "planned" means.
For highly committed calendar items, also capture a task so...
For highly committed calendar items, also capture a task so belt-and-suspenders keeps it from slipping.
Line up about 20 to 40 percent more work than your hours target for...
Line up about 20 to 40 percent more work than your hours target for the week, because some of it will stall waiting on clients.
Treat roles as dynamic: track current, temporary, emerging and past roles so each gets projects and attention.
Pick your number: an organization can only focus on about ten goals a year, and a person on about 30 active projects.
Find your limit by honest check-ins each week
Find your limit by honest check-ins each week: 100 active projects was too much, so were 80, 50 and 40; 30 felt good.
Don't put review items in the weekly review if they could be scheduled
Don't put review items in the weekly review if they could be scheduled; ask why weekly.
Measure your stress against your project and next-action counts, the...
Measure your stress against your project and next-action counts, the way health apps measure your body, to see where your commitments are outrunning you.
In every handoff ask: what is the next action, and is it yours or mine?
GTD 3.0: one was the book, two were the tools, three will be stats, AI and automation.
After 20 years of GTD the lessons are time, priority and people, not...
After 20 years of GTD the lessons are time, priority and people, not tools.
Do the "no thinking" work first
Do the "no thinking" work first: plan and break projects down in advance so predefined work needs no decisions when you sit down.
Day-specific actions on the calendar have no context, no link to a...
Day-specific actions on the calendar have no context, no link to a larger outcome, do not scale, and cannot be reviewed or started early.
Work is done alone; teamwork is weaving together the work done by individuals.
Make remote work accountable (work needs an owner, timeliness and...
Make remote work accountable (work needs an owner, timeliness and clarity), transparent (can people see the work without asking?), and fun.
Standardize the Next Action field on opportunities
Standardize the Next Action field on opportunities: update it every 7 days, use the format "MM/DD: next action to get closed won", include the expected signature date once you reach scoping, and ma...
Limit yourself to about 10 active websites and tier them by revenue...
Limit yourself to about 10 active websites and tier them by revenue share (champ, producer, growth, hobby, charity, support) so you know where to spend your time.
Turn your 'cants' into a 'can' list.
Turn your 'cants' into a 'can' list.
Read the sales document from the bottom up like a story, noting...
Read the sales document from the bottom up like a story, noting timing and what was said, and write your questions as you go.
After training users, hold an "open session" two weeks later where...
After training users, hold an "open session" two weeks later where they bring questions and feedback from using the system
For a customer webinar, try an interview-style fireside chat where...
For a customer webinar, try an interview-style fireside chat where you softball questions and they tell their story; it is easier and more natural.
Set a reminder task at 80 percent of total hours so overruns are...
Set a reminder task at 80 percent of total hours so overruns are caught early.
Email signatures are like swear words
Email signatures are like swear words: use them sparingly, with caution and in the right situation.
Stalling on a big task? Break it into thresholds (e.g. inbox under...
Stalling on a big task? Break it into thresholds (e.g. inbox under 50, then under 25).
Check the hidden inboxes: go through the last 10 days of photos for anything that needs a reminder.
Before vacation, defer next actions out to after you return, but...
Before vacation, defer next actions out to after you return, but don't cluster them all on your first day back.
Put boundaries on weekly-review sweeps (for example three weeks of...
Put boundaries on weekly-review sweeps (for example three weeks of calendar, 10 days of photos) so you finish instead of scrolling forever.
Keep each day's list to about 20 items and skip high/medium/low...
Keep each day's list to about 20 items and skip high/medium/low priorities; a short list lets you pick the next most important thing at a glance.
When you defer something, pick a random day in the month, not the...
When you defer something, pick a random day in the month, not the 1st, so everything does not pop back up on the same day.
Picture each day as 24 diamonds
Picture each day as 24 diamonds; treating hours as that precious makes it easier to guard and prioritize them.
Check Monday's calendar on Thursday so anything early Monday morning...
Check Monday's calendar on Thursday so anything early Monday morning can be prepped during the week, not over the weekend.
Define procrastination as not doing something and feeling bad about it
Define procrastination as not doing something and feeling bad about it; capturing and deciding removes the bad feeling.
Keep a list of every address you have lived at
Keep a list of every address you have lived at; security questions will ask, and you will forget.
Declutter clothes by writing how many you need before opening the...
Declutter clothes by writing how many you need before opening the closet.
To go paperless, start with a public commitment (for example "50%...
To go paperless, start with a public commitment (for example "50% less paper in two years") because announcing it changes behaviour.