My guest this week is Christopher Cox, author of the book, “The Deadline Effect: How to Work Like It’s the Last Minute, Before the Last Minute.” There is something about deadlines. They can motivate and inspire us to do great work and they can create urgency – would we ever complete any significant project without a deadline? – but they can also cause anxiety and stress.

In his extensive research for the book, Christopher Cox visited a ski resort before opening day, a fine-dining restaurant before the grand opening and even an Easter Lilly farm as they planned ahead for Easter. In the process, he learned how successful organizations use deadlines to effectively mobilize and align resources. In this episode we discuss techniques and strategies we can employ to use deadlines to increase our own productivity and, perhaps even achieve a state of flow.

So, if you want to eliminate procrastination, get more done and feel better doing it, you won't want to miss this one.

Topics Covered:

• How deadlines reduce anxiety and help us be more productive.
• Why people mistakenly associate deadlines with anxiety when they are actually remembering the unpleasant feeling of procrastination.
• Why it's effective to space out deadlines.
• What is the planning fallacy and how to avoid it.
• How to work "right to left" to ensure your big project comes in on time.
• What we can learn from how ski resorts meet their opening day deadline every year.
• How to use a "soft deadline with teeth."
• What we can learn from people who prepare for deadlines that are random.
• How, if we can achieve a state of being "constantly productive, constantly prepared," we will experience a state of flow.
• Why "as soon as possible" is the worst deadline you can set

Resources

• The Deadline Effect: How to Work Like It's the Last Minute, Before the Last Minute, by Christopher Cox.

Connect with Christopher Cox

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cwhe

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-cox-5a70467/

Connect with Sean Murray

Email: seanm@seanmrealtimeperformance.com

Twitter: @seanpmurray111

Website: RealTime Performance, Inc.

Weekly Newsletter: RealTime Performance Newsletter

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

My guest today is Bob Cancalosi, the author of several books about journaling, most recently, Four Loops Learning: Reflection Points. Bob has been journaling for over 20 years. I talk with him about why he got started, what kept him going through the years and how it's enhanced his life. He also talks about getting diagnosed, three years ago, with a rare head and neck cancer, and how journaling has helped him through a very trying ordeal, and now it's changed his perspective on life.

If you are already journal daily, you'll love this conversation and if you don't currently journal, look out, because Bob just might inspire you to start.

Topics:

• How a fear of complacency drove Bob to start journaling
• Why he writes about anything that motivates or inspired him
• Why "leaders how are deliberately more reflective are profoundly more effective"
• Why it's important to go back and read the past 50 pages of your journal to extract the most impactful ideas.
• How journaling helps leaders slow down, think deeper and mitigate risks before they make decisions
• What is "additive thinking" and how it can help us
• Why it's much more effective to write in your journal by hand versus typing into a laptop.
• Why the adage "repeat to remember and remember to repeat" is so important for journaling
• Why the key to journaling is prioritizing and acting on your biggest ideas
• Why its better to share knowledge with others rather than horde it
• -Why it's important to define our purpose

Resources

Four Loop Learning: Reflection Points, by Bob Cancalosi

Connect with Bob Cancalosi

Website: https://www.fourlooplearning.com/

Twitter: @BobCancalosi

LInkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-cancalosi-03039418/

Connect with Sean Murray

Email: seanm@seanmrealtimeperformance.com

Twitter: @seanpmurray111

Website: RealTime Performance, Inc.

Weekly Newsletter: RealTime Performance Newsletter

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In today's episode I talk with John Garrett, investment manager at MA Financial and the author of the popular blog, Investment Master Class. John talks about how being a successful investor requires continuous learning, and how the practice of writing has helped him become a better investor.

What You'll Learn

• Why some companies "fight the fade"
• What Garrett learned by reading Nick Sleep's investment letters
• The importance of taking a multi-disciplinary approach to learning
• Why the Santa Fe Institute is such a great resource for investors
• Advice for those just getting started in the industry

Resources

• Investment Master Class

Connect with John Garrett

• LInkedIn: John Garrett
• Twitter: @mastersinvest

Connect with Sean Murray

Email: seanm@seanmrealtimeperformance.com

Website: RealTime Performance, Inc.

Weekly Newsletter: RealTime Performance Newsletter

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.