Some of you may recognize the title as the words behind the acronym TED as in TED Talks.
You may also have seen the acronym TEDx Talks, the X meaning that the event was “fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.”
It was recently my inspiring opportunity to attend a TEDx day in Victoria, a thoughtful birthday present from daughter, who may never fully grasp the amazing day she provided her mother. Thank you, Meg, I love you!
This week I have decided to share some of the moments that impacted my day at TEDx Victoria: Emergence.
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One of the speakers who set my pen to writing furiously was on the stage for such a brief time that I almost felt cheated. He did, however, leave me with several pages of notes in my “Little Book of BIG Ideas”.
Mike Vardy is a Productivityist who challenged us to get rid of our time-pieces. “One of the biggest barriers when it comes to being productive is the notion that we simply “don’t have enough time”.”
He used the example of casinos: in which you never see a clock. The reason he explained was that they want us to concentrate on the task at hand, not the time.
“We have to stop focusing on being ruled by time and start focusing on being ruled by task instead. Being ruled by time leaves you dealing with items of urgency. Being ruled by task allows you to deal with items of importance.“
As an entrepreneur who is still working a day job, as well as having dependents, getting rid of my time-pieces is a luxury I can’t indulge in right now. But it strikes me as the perfect way to get things done. Circadian rhythms take over, Tasks are done when they are completed; meals are eaten when you are hungry; sleep comes when you are tired.
No more rushing to get something done before the next thing happens. No more prioritizing tasks by available time. The more I think about it, the more productive it sounds.
Mike’s closing was an Aha! moment for me: “stop worrying about due dates and start making every date a “do date”.” Brilliant!
What do you think?
(You can catch more of Mike Vardy’s thoughts at http://productivityist.com/ )
That’s a great closing line. And I’ve never thought about tasks allowing us to address items of importance while time locks us in to the game of urgency before, but I can see that. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent post Agnes and like the bit “Tasks are done when they are completed; meals are eaten when you are hungry; sleep comes when you are tired.” That sounds like me !! Thanks for sharing.
Interesting post and concept. I think it is a great thing to aspire to but one difficulty is that the people we work for, work with, and live with are still on the “clock” so to speak so it hard to do that in all aspects of life.
That is the reality for so many of us, Heather… but I still have hope! 🙂
I sometimes get more done when I know I have a time restraint, so even though I can see what he is saying, Ithink there are times to do it his way and times to use your clock.
Pressure by clock, Ree, I agree!
When I’m in the middle of things I don’t realize just how time is going by. I don’t worry about it when in full flow but it don’t half go!
Always better to DO rather than “timewatch”
I love the concept Agnes. But like you, I still have to be cognizant of time due to my job. However, there are times when I do get into the flow where I totally forget ‘time’. Those also happen to be my most productive times.
Sometimes I set a clock when I am doing tasks and other times I just let it flow, it depends on the task I am doing. More flexible when doing more creative tasks, use a timer for the more boring and mundane tasks as it focuses my mind when I have a time limit!