Author of Rune of the Apprentice, Director of Apotheosis Studios, and video game aficionado.<...
Researchers found that employees’ moods when they clocked in tended to affect how they felt the rest of the day. Early mood was linked to their perceptions of customers and to how they reacted to customers’ moods. And most important to managers, employee mood had a clear impact on performance, including both how much work employees did and how well they did it.
We did this international study and found that more people reported having great insights in their shower than they did at work. Disconcerting, I guess. It seemed like there’s definitely some benefits to being in a relaxed state.
Five studies examined whether the processes associated with unfulfilled goals would interfere with tasks that require the executive function, which has a limited focal capacity and can pursue only one goal at a time. In Studies [Study 1] and [Study 2], activating a goal nonconsciously and then manipulating unfulfillment caused impairments on later tasks requiring fluid intelligence (solving anagrams; Study 1) and impulse control (dieting; Study 2).
Committing to a specific plan for a goal may therefore not only facilitate attainment of the goal but may also free cognitive resources for other pursuits. Once a plan is made, the drive to attain a goal is suspended–allowing goal-related cognitive activity to cease–and is resumed at the specified later time.
Think for a moment about the great artists of the last hundred years and how they worked—people like Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Jackson Pollock... Nobody told them: "You must paint this sort of picture. You must begin painting precisely at eight-thirty A.M. You must paint with the people we select to work with you. And you must paint this way." The very idea is ludicrous.
Steve Maier at the University of Boulder, in Colorado, says that the degree of control that organisms can exert over something that creates stress determines whether the stressor alters the organism’s functioning... Over and over, scientists see that the perception of control over a stressor alters the stressor’s impact.
Defining your work entails clearing up your in-tray, your digital messages, and your meeting notes, and breaking down new projects into actionable steps.
This pattern is what we call the progress principle: of all the positive events that influence inner work life, the single most powerful is progress in meaningful work; of all the negative events, the single most powerful is the opposite of progress—setbacks in the work.
One easy way to be self-compassionate is just ask yourself, “What if I had a very close friend who was experiencing the exact same thing that I am experiencing now?” The idea is you use that same quality of warmth, support, encouragement, tenderness, understanding with yourself that you more typically show to other people.
Just having friends nearby can push you toward productivity. “There’s a concept in ADHD treatment called the ‘body double,’ ” says David Nowell, Ph.D., a clinical neuropsychologist from Worcester, Massachusetts. “Distractable people get more done when there is someone else there, even if he isn’t coaching or assisting them.” If you’re facing a task that is dull or difficult, such as cleaning out your closets or pulling together your receipts for tax time, get a friend to be your body double
I am now well into the second rewrite of the book. When I say rewrite, I really mean it. The whole thing is getting rewritten from scratch. The plot has really crystallized, and I’m really at home with each of the characters.
Part of making the story tighter has also meant consolidating the secondary characters. I’ve eliminated one big sub plot, a love story among two of the supporting characters that was very interesting, but frankly took away from the main arc of Joel and Sylvia. Eliminating this "distraction" from the overall plot, has allowed me to make room for more action.
The book is now broken up into three acts, each defined by ruminations on the future history of the Mona Lisa, and 1980’s pop songs.
Act I: Ciao Bella, song: Karma Chameleon by Culture Club
After the solar storm of April 15, 2301 botched the Mona Lisa’s teleportation from Rome to New York, da Vinci’s masterpiece was gone forever. A globally cherished artifact destroyed—along with hundreds of people unfortunate enough to be on, or in the path of motor-powered vehicles in the vicinity of Italy at the time.
A solar storm is what it sounds like: a generic term for increased activity in the Sun. In this case, a massive solar flare, followed by something called a colossal coronal mass ejection. That’s a fancy way of saying gargantuan electromagnetic solar shitstorm. A solar flare is initiated by the sudden release of energy stored in the Sun’s corona, causing the Sun’s plasma to heat up to tens of millions of degrees, accelerating and spewing out all sorts of radiation, resulting in a solar eruption. One way to think about it is to imagine an Earth-sized zit popping on the Sun’s forehead. Okay, that’s a pretty gross visual, but now it’s in your head, and out of mine.
In this particular solar storm, the energy from the corona eruption also caused an equally devastating coronal mass ejection which is a much slower-moving, billion-ton cloud of plasma. This cloud floated over Italy at a very unfortunate moment.
A more powerful electromagnetic pulse than mankind could ever hope to tame, the solar energetic particles hit the Earth with such force they ionized the sky, creating a vast cloud of energetic electrons that bounced around inside the atmosphere destroying electronics and fusing conductive wires everywhere.
Back then, when they teleported something, atomic sections of the object in transport were destroyed—cleared—concurrently along with their confirmed intact arrival at their destination. When the teleportation process was complete, the place of origin was officially deemed clear of the teleported object, and the item at the destination was henceforth considered to be the original.
By the time the people in charge realized there was a mistake in their teleportation protocol, nothing could be done to save the Mona Lisa. Rows of atoms perfectly replicating centuries old masterstrokes suddenly unravelled into nothing. The painting dissolved into a cloud of worthless gray quantum foam.
It wasn’t for a lack of redundancies, it’s just that black swans don’t play by the rules—and this one was a particularly petulant pen.
Prior to this travesty, most of the religious types were ambivalent to teleportation. It was a form of freight, not transportation. The very notion of organic teleportation was considered a fool’s errand, a technically impossible farce, owing to the fidget problem: living things fidget, so a good real-time atomic model that could accurately predict and transmit what they’d do next was still a scientific wet dream.
Nonetheless, some of the most orthodox religiosos could be found picketing in front of one location or another prior to the first public exhibition of teleportation. The devotees’ qualms with teleportation basically boiled down to two main arguments:
First, there was something to do with forbidden fruit. Bible thumpers had been generally grumpy about the practical commercial manipulation of quantum foam. Quantum foam is the stuff the universe is made of, so I guess their point was we shouldn’t have been messing with God’s Play-Doh.
The second divine umbrage, raised by an interfaith leader named Roberto Shila, was a more succinct channeling of the Tower of Babel story, which had oft been espoused to be an anti-technological omen. Shila’s zealous interpretation of the story was that the Babylonians had embraced their understanding of science and its workings under the premise of altruism, or at least an attempt to prevent another forty day and forty night flood, to the extent that they felt they would be able to spar with God on his turf. To Shila’s ilk, teleportation was basically a new flavor of the Babylonian stairway to heaven. In other words, teleportation was worse than us playing with God’s toys—it was us playing God.
Neither of those gripes were particularly novel at the time, nor unique to teleportation, as both were previously cited in admonition of genetic engineering, connected implants, and medical nanotechnology. So they were largely ignored by the general public other than a few journalists looking for “both sides of the story.”
But that all changed after the Mona Lisa disappeared.
Sure, accidents happen all the time. On that unfortunate day boats sank, drones crashed, trucks collided—all with invaluable souls and cargo on board. Any vessel in which the Mona Lisa might have otherwise been travelling would have also been devastatingly impacted by the same solar flare. But witnessing something so globally precious fade into nothing in real time sure had a lasting effect on people.
Ciao, bella.
Act II: Isleworth, song: Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes
The Mona Lisa, as I grew up to know it, was a painting which was once known as the Isleworth Mona Lisa, the authenticity and history of which was once fraught with contention.
Shortly before World War I, an English art collector discovered a Mona Lisa "lookalike" in the home of a Somerset nobleman in whose family’s possession it had been for nearly a century. This discovery led to the conjecture that Leonardo painted two portraits of Lisa del Giocondo, a.k.a. The Mona Lisa: The infamous one destroyed in the aforementioned da Vinci Exhibition, and the one discovered in Somerset and then brought to Isleworth, where it eventually came to be known as the "Isleworth Mona Lisa."
The story goes that da Vinci began painting Mona Lisa in 1503, but left her unfinished. Then, in 1517 a fully finished Mona Lisa painting surfaced in Leonardo’s private possession shortly before his death. The latter painting is believed to be the same that was destroyed in 2137. Based on this contradiction, supporters of the authenticity of the Isleworth Mona Lisa claim it is the first iteration of Mona Lisa, made at least partially by Leonardo 10 years before the “actual” Mona Lisa was painted.
Adding heft to this theory, in 1584, the same century in which the Mona Lisa was painted, an art historian named Gian Paolo Lomazzo wrote about "della Gioconda, e di Mona Lisa” (the Gioconda, and the Mona Lisa). Since "La Gioconda" was sometimes used as an alternative title for the Mona Lisa, the reference implied that these were, in fact, two separate paintings, with the Isleworth Mona Lisa being the younger version of her more famous sister.
What I’m getting at is that these days when people go to a museum to see the Mona Lisa, they’re really admiring the Isleworth Mona Lisa, despite the plaque beneath it which explains in detail that the two paintings weren’t the same, and especially since the memory of the elder portrait’s destruction is so etched in our collective memories.
Yet ask any ogler standing before her, and to them she’s still the Mona Lisa. Just as it was for me growing up.
So does that mean the painting formerly known as the Isleworth Mona Lisa is now actually the Mona Lisa?
Act III: La Giaconda, song: Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order
Many believe that much of the Mona Lisa’s charm is wrapped up in her mystery. Her enigmatic smile is emblematic of the notion that she and Leonardo da Vinci are hiding secrets from the viewer. Efforts at solving this mystery or puzzle have largely focused on the identity of the sitter, who is generally accepted as Madonna Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine merchant, Francesco del Giocondo, hence Mona (short for Madonna) Lisa or La Gioconda (the feminine Giocondo).
But the beauty of the Mona Lisa isn’t who she is, the painting’s symmetry, or lack thereof. It’s not the color composition, or the brush strokes.
The beauty of the Mona Lisa, the reason it endures, in whatever medium, is the mystery that encapsulates the smile that greets us, it beckons us to ask one fundamental question: who are you?
Rise is in the wild! Many of you have already received your copy and have sent images of the book to me. Thanks for that. I was in the throes of Post Con Depression following Dragoncon when these images began rolling in. Instant boost to the happiness scale.
For today’s update, I’m featuring a story by an author that’s a bit more established than the others I’ve been promoting this week. Rick Heinz has already successfully funded a book through Inkshares: The Seventh Age: Dawn, and is a contributing member to the Too Many Controllers anthology collection. While my main purpose in sharing these updates is to draw attention to books that need an extra boost to reach an audience, I had to make an exception for this one.
The Seventh Age: Dystopia is the follow up to The Seventh Age: Dawn. It’s a high-powered urban fantasy story centered on the sudden jarring return of ancient magic to the modern world.
In Dawn, the world was re-introduced to magic. Supernatural creatures and forces poured back into the world, thanks to meddling shadow organizations and secret societies. Now, one year later, Dystopia brings us a world where magic is not merely present, but industrialized.
Greedy corporations, determined to turn a profit on a world-shattering phenomenon, have built a whole new industry on the research, development, and distribution of magically-infused products. Everything from experimental ability enhancing magical pharmaceuticals to Pegasus meat has flooded the market in a new and strange industrial boom.
But is there more to this new magic-centered economy than meets the eye? Just how much power do these secret societies hold? What greater ramifications will this new world show in time? I’m as excited to find out as anyone else. Please give Seventh Age: Dystopia a look!
Read this article by Eric Barker and thought of my time funding ’Rune of the Apprentice.’ Hope it is helpful to anyone currently funding... or anyone still trying to be productive!
How To Be Productive Without Being Miserable: 8 Proven Secrets
Click here to read the post on the blog or keep scrolling to read.
There’s plenty of good advice on how to be productive. But most of it makes you feel like you need to turn yourself into a machine. You don’t want to be Robby the Robot.
Here’s the thing: you often don’t need help with the doing part. You know what to do. Sit down and finish the damn task. But you don’t. Why? Often it’s about feelings.
What really gets in your way?
- "It scares me."
- "I don’t feel like it right now."
- "This sucks and I don’t wanna do it."
Those are feelings. And if you don’t deal with those feelings, all the mechanistic lifehacks in the world aren’t going to help you scratch things off your to-do list.The best productivity system is the one you stick with. And if a system makes you miserable, it’s not going to last. End of story. So can you be more productive without turning into Siri or Hal 9000?
The research and experts say the answer is, "Yes." Let’s get to it...
Start The Day Happy
The sound of the alarm clock should not signal, "Time for the pain to begin."
So indulge yourself a little in the morning. Whatever puts you in a good mood, allow yourself some of that. TV, video games, something tasty -- whatever.
Research shows your mood in the morning affects your productivity all day:
You’ll never be as productive as you could be if you don’t make a little effort to improve your mornings.
(To learn the 7 step morning ritual that will keep you happy all day, click here.)
Okay, you’re starting the day off happy and that leads to productivity. But how can you come up with new ideas and clever solutions to problems without a machine-like 27 step brainstorming process?
This answer is easy, fun, and feels great...
Scrub Your Way To Creativity
Research shows there’s a strong relationship between feeling relaxed and being creative. And what’s the most relaxing part of the average person’s day? That morning shower.
Scott Barry Kaufman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, found that 72% of people have new ideas in the shower — in fact, far more often than when they’re at work. Here’s Scott:
So step into the shower with more than soap -- bring a problem to noodle on. You’re primed to be at your most creative, so take advantage of the opportunity.
(To learn what Harvard research says will make you happier and more successful, click here.)
Your rubber ducky is giving you the "Eureka" moment you needed. But bad feelings can be an obstacle to getting things done once you hit the office.
Your mind can be filled with worries that play over and over like a song stuck in your head. This common condition has a name. And a solution...
Close Loops To Kill Worries
Researchers call it the Zeigarnik effect. But nobody can pronounce that so you and I will just call it, "Oh-Lord-God-Please-Make-The-Anxiety-Stop."
When you’ve got something you know you need to take care of but you haven’t done anything about it, your brain is like an annoying smartphone app that won’t stop with the notifications.
And guess what? The problem is even worse than you thought. Those constant worries aren’t just annoying and anxiety-inducing, studies show they also make you stupid:
So how do you clear your head? Write down the concern along with a quick plan of what you’re going to do to address it.
Once you’ve done that, your brain can relax. It closes the loop and ends the Zeigarnik effect:
(To learn how to use writing to overcome anxiety, tragedy or heartache, click here.)
You’re happy, creative and your head is clear. But now the task in front of you is filling you with dread. How can you get motivated to start something you absolutely do not feel like doing?
Make Awful Tasks Your Own
Dan Pink, bestselling author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, says the research shows one of the keys to motivation is a feeling of autonomy.
From Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us:
So take five minutes and find a way to make an awful task your own. Rather that mechanistically following a standard process, think about what you can bring to this. How will you choose to handle it?
How much of yourself can you inject into the process? What will make this more interesting? How can you leverage your strengths or your abilities to do it your way?
The more you make the work something uniquely "you", the more motivated you’ll be.
(To learn more from Dan on how to motivate yourself, click here.)
The dread is dead. But you still might procrastinate. You can make a task your own but you might be downright afraid of it, overwhelmed or just insecure about your ability to handle the project.
How do you get those awful feelings out of the way so you can unleash the kind of productivity that will put a dent in the Earth?
Break Down Procrastination
Anything that increases your perception of control over a situation — whether it actually increases your control or not — can substantially decrease your stress level.
Via Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long:
And don’t just trust the research. Astronauts, Special Forces soldiers and even Samurai agree: a feeling of calm control can reduce how much you stress about a task.
But what’s an easy way to get that control flowing through your veins?
David Allen, the guy behind the popular Getting Things Done productivity system, says we often feel stressed because projects seem too big and scary. So break intimidating tasks down into tiny steps that you can easily manage.
From Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity:
I’m pretty sure Genghis Khan’s to-do list didn’t say, "Remember to conquer Asia tomorrow." Whoa. Too big.
The post-it note on his desk probably said, "Just decimate the tribe next door." And then the next tribe. And then the next. That’s manageable. And before you know it, you’ve got your own continent.
(To learn how to stop being lazy, click here.)
Okay, you’re conquering the bad feelings that prevent accomplishment. But how do you increase the good feelings to get even more done? It’s not hard...
Keep Progress Visible
You probably have a "to-do" list. But I’ll bet you don’t have a "did-it" list.
When I spoke to the awesome Josh Kaufman, bestselling author ofThe Personal MBA, he said a "did-it" list is a critical tool.
It allows you to see your progress. And Teresa Amabile‘s research at Harvard found that the single most motivating thing is progress in meaningful work.
Via The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work:
So keep a list of all the things you’ve accomplished today where you can see it. That’s dehydrated concentrate of motivation, that’s what that is.
You might think, "Well, I know what I did today." That’s not enough. Write it down. Take a tip from the happiness research. When you take a moment to write down the things that made you happy that day, they have more power.
(To learn the best way to manage your time, click here.)
So you do all these things... but you’re still not as productive as you need to be. And that makes you feel lousy. How do you prevent those feelings from putting you back in the productivity doghouse?
Forgiveness Keeps You Going
When you don’t get everything done that you expected to, the most common reaction is to beat yourself up. Again, mood and productivity are connected. And guess what?
Beating yourself up only makes it harder for you to get things done.
Forgiving yourself is like a miracle drug. Instead of "letting you off the hook" and making you lazy, research shows it actually reduces future procrastination, increases creativity, and boosts self-control.
Want to be more self-compassionate? It’s easy. Talk to yourself the way you would talk to a friend who was feeling down about not being productive. Kristin Neff, a professor at University of Texas at Austin, explains:
Be nicer to yourself when you screw up and you’ll not only feel better -- you’ll get more done.
(To learn the schedule that the most productive people use every day, click here.)
Alright, we’ve learned a lot. Let’s round it all up and get the final tip on the emotional path to improving productivity...
Sum Up
Here’s how to be productive without becoming a miserable robot:
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Start the day happy: How you wake is how you work. Having a little fun early means better results later.
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Scrub your way to creativity: Bring a challenge into the shower and come out with a solution.
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Close loops to kill worries: Make a plan and write it down to silence the voice in your head.
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Make awful tasks your own: Put your own spin on how you do something and you’ll be more motivated.
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Break down procrastination: Conquer Asia one tribe at a time, Genghis.
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Keep progress visible: Put a "did-it" list next to the "to-do" list for motivational rocket fuel.
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Forgiveness keeps you going: Beating yourself up kills productivity. Treat yourself like you would a good friend.
These days one of the biggest enemies you deal with is distraction. But there’s a fun solution to this: work near a super-productive friend.Even if they’re not helping you, just being around them can improve your focus. How powerful is this? Powerful enough to help people with ADHD.
Via Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are:
You won’t be super-productive by trying to pretend you’re a machine.
If you really want to get things done you can’t just keep your head down. You also need to keep your smile up.