2x2: One way to overcome indecision

Hello friends, Later today (Friday the 11th) my team and I will be hosting the graduation call for our [January Focus Academy](. This group had 135 folks who went through the Focus Course. It was amazing to see them get breakthroughs with their schedules, get better clarity about their goals and the “why” behind them, and, of course, finally get back some margin and breathing room in their day. This has been our fourth Academy group that we have hosted like this, and it gets better every time. Our next Focus Academy takes place in September. You can join the wait-list [here]( if you think you may want to join us. * * * That said, welcome to another edition of 2x2. Below you will find a couple interesting links to check out; and then, secondly, are a couple of ideas. Check this out 1: [Work, Family, Scene: You Can Only Pick Two]( What Ryan Holiday and Austin Kleon have to say about how to make time for it all. 2: [How to Overcome Indecision]( Speaking of tradeoffs, this is a fantastic little clip with my friends Josh Kaufman and Mo Bunnel talking about how to avoid indecisiveness. Something to think about 1: What makes an overly urgent and busy life so dangerous? I just stumbled back across this quote from Greg McKeown’s book, Essentialism: “If you believe being overly busy and overextended is evidence of productivity, then you probably believe that creating space to explore, think, and reflect should be kept to a minimum.” 2: It takes effort to say YES (but YES is the whole point) List all the mainstream productivity or time management advice that comes to the top of mind… what do you think would be on that list? A lot of advice like: don’t sleep in, don’t use your phone in the morning, don’t check email before lunchtime, don’t binge watch Netflix, don’t have social media on your phone, etc… Why is so much productivity advice about what NOT to do? The choices we make around our time and productivity should be about what we are saying YES to. It’s just that knowing what we want is a lot harder to figure out. It’s easier (and more dramatic) to focus on what to avoid than it is to take the time to figure out what to embrace. In fact, the whole reason we are saying NO to some of those things is so that we can actually say YES to what we really want to do. I am not going to check my email before lunch because I would rather spend that time writing. You are not a productive person simply because you do NOT check email in the morning. It’s what you do instead — what you choose to say YES to during that time — that makes you productive. * * * — Shawn P.S. Next week: The Law of Tradeoffs [In-Depth App Training for Power Users]( To unsubscribe, click [here](. Blanc Media, 714 Main St., Grandview, MO 64030, United States