Is it cool to keep a log of all the things you do? I tried it for a while now and have to say, yes it’s cool. it let’s you track your progress and eliminate time wasters. as many of you already know, I “tim ferris” my life to be able to use my time the way I want to.
I run a log on my laptop using MacJournal, which works fine and doesn’t have any fancy features that keep you from staying productive.
I also realized it makes sense to write down daily successes, everything from “been to gym” to “got that deal signed”. writing down successes makes your progress trackable and it gives you a sense of your own productivity. also, you can go back and check if you’re still on target or if you’re procrastinating.
I decided that in 2010 I’ll do a quarterly review of the things I’ve done to get myself on target again and to improve my productivity. it’s not an elaborate load of work, just a few notes and a few bulletpoints. the review doesn’t take longer than 30 minutes.
here’s my first quarter of 2010. things I’ve done:
1. designed a new online music licensing model catering to the film and advertising industry (will be online in april)
2. researched the idea of opening a coffeetruck in munich. (which doesn’t work at this point due to city regulations)
3. I went running 120k in january.
4. started kettlebell training (still doing and loving it. want to get certified in the summer)
5. got a basement room to free the apartment of all our “office stuff”. the apartment is now living space exclusively, no office anywhere in sight!
6. remodelled the apartment into a semi-loft (knocked out some walls)
7. cleaned out my music studio. there’s no more music business stuff in my studio, only instruments and recording equipment)
8. I got an attractive drop-shipping deal from my audio book distributor.
9. I batched all projects throughout 2010 (currently working on 5 big music related projects)
10. got tickets for cirque du soleil on my birthday (wanted to see their show for years)
11. I played lots of shows around town
12. got the design for the “dead on arrival” book (will be available soon)
13. wrote new songs (+few sketches) for the new album “music of ghouls” (basically all songs for the new album are finished and ready for recording)
14. got a revolving stage built and used it in two shows
15. put on a big show with dancers and acrobats. Virtual Reality Circus.
16. connected with new artists
17. started a regular live online stream from my studio (“in the shed with juergen” runs every monday at 7pm CEST)
18. got equipment from a friend for april recording (starting on the new album)
19. started to do solo performances (upright bass & voice) with great success and great feedback
20. learned about dynamic pricing models
21. designed a fanbased funding method for my projects
these are in no specific order. I did all this while still spending half a day with my daughter and wife, basically working half a day. (working includes playing shows and writing music, which I don’t consider work but bliss!)
and what’s to come for the 2nd quarter? more shows, more cool projects to help musicians improve their practicing effectiveness, and a 2 month trip to new york to record parts of my album, hang and have fun!)
btw: any new yorkers out there who hear about an apartment for rent in july and august (pref. in the east village) let me know.
p.s. I’d be interested in your experiences with keeping a log, batching actions and your overall tim ferris experience.
(Photo by Arthur Chapman on a Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 )
