NORTHERN PLANNER

I was a hopeless account handler. 

When too much time around too many people sucks your energy, when you don't love organising, you love doing, this was inevitable.

It just took some time to realise what I was actually good at and what I enjoyed doing.

More importantly, I could be realistic about what I hated.

What felt good rather than what looked good. 

Netflix understands we are at war between what we think we should be enjoying and what we enjoy.

They base less and less activity on our watch lists and more on what we actually watch. 

Because our watch lists are our idea of ourselves, things we think Friends would admire. When we're all actually watching endless repeats of Friends. 

The more time you spend on things you enjoy, the more you actually enjoy them.

This matters for work. 

To do your best, you have to choose what you'll be bad at. 

Not just the things you have no talent for, the things you won't make any effort on, so you can put more into what matters.

You can't do everything. 

One of those things for me is Slack. It takes twenty two minutes for the mind to recover from distraction, so I largely switch Slack off and make the most of the focus.

I spend little time on something that's expected, more on doing better work.

Yes, I miss important messages, it comes at a cost, but like all good investments, it tends to pay back.

And if people really want me, they can phone. 

The busy fool doesn't lack energy, but focus. 

Seriously, multi-tasking is a fallacy. It's great for feeling and looking busy, but it's a Trojan horse for average work.

Just as lots of interests are great, you can try lots of stuff on for size and find what you love.

But doing less things well is the recipe for feeling alive.

Multi-tasking means lukewarm.