Speed : Velocity :: Busy : Productive

(they're not the same!)

👇🧵1/
🤓🚨

High school physics refresher

Speed is a magnitude only. I might be moving 150 mph (241.4 km/h), but it can be in any direction or combination of directions.

Maybe I'm traveling 150mph, but I'm lurching this way and that, going nowhere in particular

2/
Velocity is a "vector"—it has magnitude AND direction. If my velocity is 150mph, it's pointed somewhere.

I know where I'm headed, and how fast I'm getting there

3/
Speed is like being busy
Velocity is like being productive

150mph means nothing if you don't know where you're going

In fact, when you DO know where you're going, you can reduce your velocity significantly and still get there faster. You can take your time

4/
True productivity is a combination of Purpose (where you're going) and Process (how you get there).

Both Purpose and Process are things you create. Apps like @CompliceGoals and people like @GeorgeSilverman or @Roamfu can help—I can help, too (rjn.st/exec-coach)!

5/
I create my Purpose and Process in @RoamResearch

I use journaling (@tracyplaces) to develop and discover my Purpose

I use #GTD (as I built it in Roam—courses.rjnestor.com/p/powerful-tas…) as my main Process

GTD keeps me on top of critical routines & habits and aligned with my Purpose

6/
"If I'm so busy all the time, why do I feel like I never accomplish anything?"

If that 👆 sounds familiar, then you know the difference between busy & productive

Create your Purpose, and let your Process point you in that direction. Think velocity, not speed

7/🛑
And @LaptopLifeLisa's Roam for Results! She eats process for lunch (not sure that metaphor works but I'm going with it).

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More from @rjnestor

8 May
Busy ≠ Productive

#GTD doesn't own you.

GTD is a tool that, aligned with your purpose and priorities, keeps your projects pointed in the right direction.

1/
My Dad used to love this joke:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have some good news and some bad news up here in the cockpit.

The bad news is, we're lost.

The good news is, we're making good time!"

Busy without purpose equals going nowhere fast

2/
You can develop your purpose with apps like @Malcolm_Ocean's @CompliceGoals or frameworks like @GeorgeSilverman's #GoMeta.

I develop my purpose with different types of journaling (@tracyplaces) in @RoamResearch, and align my GTD process (also in Roam) with it.

3/
Read 4 tweets
4 May
Productivity isn't getting lots of stuff done.

It's getting IMPORTANT stuff done.

🧵👇1/

#GTD #productivity
My @RoamResearch fellow #Roamans know me as the creator of the GTD-style course "Powerful Task Management in Roam Research" (courses.rjnestor.com/p/powerful-tas…)

#GTD is only part of the picture, though. You can complete 10,000 tasks a day and still be unproductive. 2/
Productivity = Purpose + Process

REAL productivity is working toward something important. And what's awesome is that YOU get to decide what "important" means to you.

Working with Purpose means working toward what's important to you. But how do you discover what's important? 3/
Read 14 tweets
15 Mar
Through my coaching and courses, I’ve had the privilege to work with lots of @RoamResearch users over the past 6 months. I’ve noticed their difficulties tend to fall into one of two categories: 👇🧵 1/
Either

1. They know what they want Roam to do for them but they don’t know how to make it happen, or

2. They understand the fundamentals of Roam but can’t find useful ways to harness it in their own workflows. 2/
And many, if not most, new users struggle with the graph-and-nodes concept of Roam vs. the forced hierarchies of apps they’ve used in the past (e.g., Notion, Evernote). If you’ve ever asked yourself “But where do I PUT this note?”, then you know what I mean. 3/
Read 10 tweets
8 Mar
I've been grappling with something two of my clients—who collaborate together—said during a coaching a few weeks back. "Writing for a collaborator is great, because it has to be clear—and writing for your future self in a Zettelkasten has to be just as clear." 👇 🧵 1/
A Zettelkasten (henceforth "ZK") is a system to take in knowledge, develop it, connect, combine and compound it, and publish it in some form. The mechanism for processing the knowledge is a conversation with your ZK—effectively a conversation with your past and future selves. 2/
For years, I've coached that productivity is communicating with yourself. Leaders and colleagues recognize that clear communication is central to effective collaboration, but we are almost NEVER clear with our future selves. And that keeps us from getting important stuff done! 3/
Read 10 tweets
22 Oct 20
Everything valuable in @RoamResearch starts from this foundation, so elegantly stated by @Conaw:

If you're new to Roam, or just need a refresher, here's a thread on what that means. 1/
1. "Content dictates form." This is a favorite quote of mine from composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Roam helps you discover the shape of your thoughts rather than imposing a shape on them. 2/
2. @RoamResearch has no "rules" (that I know of). But if you follow a few best practices, your simple input will yield surprising insight.
- Use [[pages]] to identify important topics
- Use indenting to structure ideas
- Use block references to "optimize" specific thoughts
3/
Read 10 tweets
19 Oct 20
When I first started using @RoamResearch, I struggled to find a good workflow for writing multiple drafts. This 10-minute video shows the solution that works for me. It combines tags/filters, versions, focus on block, and more!
The key to this writing workflow is differentiating "brainstorm" & "organize" passes from drafts.

I want brainstorm & organize passes to always be accessible. But I want drafts to be version-controlled.
@RoamResearch makes this simple. For early passes, I use separate blocks:

- [[pass]] [[1]] [[brainstorm]]
- <1st pass>
- [[pass]] [[2]] [[organize]]
- <2nd pass>

To write the 2nd pass, I open the 1st in the sidebar and "focus on block" with the 2nd. Clean and easy.
Read 6 tweets

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