SuperGood Productivity Tips
A new productivity tool to try, new music to listen to and other random tips
Earlier this summer I read a book Make Time: How to Focus On What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky.
From that book, I learned a very interesting concept which the pair refers to as “The Busy Bandwagon.” The idea is explained simply as the following:
The Busy Bandwagon is our culture of constant busyness—the overflowing inboxes, stuffed calendars, and endless to-do lists. According to the Busy Bandwagon mindset, if you want to meet the demands of the modern workplace and function in modern society, you must fill every minute with productivity.
I think sometimes my quest for being productive has me on this busy bandwagon. Although I am the go-to girl for giving recommendations for productivity systems or planners because sis has had hella, I still find that my systems sometimes are all over the place and as indecisive as they claim my Libra zodiac sign is. I have literally tried everything - Asana, Notion, Trello, TeuxDeux, Any.Do, Todoist, paper planners, bullet journals and I always end up short even though I am willing to try them all.
I say all this to say, I’m still on a quest to find a perfect system which is why I was so excited to meet Jen, co-founder of the Accomplist app in the Ladies Get Paid Slack group. She mentioned that she had just launched a new productivity tool and I was all about it - and got a chance to speak with her about the app. Here were two of my highlights:
Giving up perfectionism has improved my mental and physical health. We spend so much time beating ourselves up that it distracts us from enjoying life. We can start to feel worthless because we don't measure up to some unachievable ideal when in reality we're complete badasses who accomplish great things every day.
I think that your daily to-do list should be long and comprehensive. We forget how much we have to do to simply survive. Doing laundry while working from home is convenient, but it does take you away from doing other things. If doing the laundry isn't on your to-do list, you'll put too many other things on your list and then wonder why you didn't get to it all.
Also, here are a few other resources to help you determine how to be more and/or less productive: 99U’s book Manage Your Day-to-Day. Articles: The Power of Low Stakes Productivity, 10 things you don’t need to do in quarantine—because not being productive is okay also Stop Trying to Be Productive. Fast Company’s Podcast Secrets of The Most Productive People
Please let me know in the comments below how your productivity has shifted in the times that are our new reality. Have you found a system that works for you to stay organized? Has your WFH life shifted your whole productivity system? Are there any tools you love most? Let me know.
In other news, here are some things that I have consumed lately that I think you should as well - first with things to read:
Key takeaways on Americans’ views of and experiences with dating and relationships: Dating is hard. Having to get to know people, and ask all the questions is a second job also. Recently released research from Pew Research based on a survey conducted on October 16-28, 2019 among 4,860 U.S. adults indicated that dating is harder than previous generations among other things. One point I found to be very interesting was:
Americans are less accepting of other practices. For example, open relationships – that is, committed relationships where both people agree that it is acceptable to date or have sex with other people – are viewed as never or rarely acceptable by most Americans. About half of adults (48%) say having an open relationship is never acceptable, 20% say it’s rarely acceptable and 32% say it’s sometimes or always acceptable.
Being Alone: I really loved this essay on what it means to be alone. It’s also very interactive which made the read even better to me.
HBO’s Lovecraft Country’s many pop culture tropes and references: Have you watched the two episodes of Lovecraft Country yet? I suggest checking it out - although I’m not sure I can engage with you about it quite yet. I’ll be honest I don’t really understand what is going on. This guide helped me gain a little bit more clarity.
Now here are a few things to listen to:
On the music front I am obsessed with the new Duckwrth album SuperGood hence this week’s subject line. Honestly, I’m not shocked that I loved the album so much because I kind of stan Duckwrth’s music. We are both from the Bay Area and I remember seeing him as the opening act for different shows and honestly I am so proud/excited to see his growth as an artist to finally see him get the shine that he deserves. This album is the perfect summer soundtrack even in this stay at home life that we are living in. My favorite songs on the album are: “Money Dance” “Quick” “World on Wheels” and “Tuesday.”
In other new music, Nas released a new album King’s Disease and I plan to take a deeper dive into it this week. Also, Mulatto finally released her debut album Queen of Da Souf and it’s great. Also so interesting to see her growth from the Rap Game to now - her season is on Netflix if you’re ever bored.
Amber Mark made a cover of Sisqo’s “Thong Song,” and I’m on the fence. I think the song is fine but on the other side, I’m kind of questioning why there was a need to remake the “Thong Song.” Listen here and let me know your thoughts. Lastly, loved the new single from Nao and Lianne La Havas “Woman.”
All these songs and more have found their way on my “Summer Vibes” playlist. Follow and listen to it here.
That’s it for this week! Find me on the interwebs on Twitter and Instagram and let’s chit chat.