Transcript
0:00 [Music] you need to make time for insightful creative work right A lot of times we don't do this because we are afraid and so I want to share with you three tips that I have used to make time for insightful creative work first one is Placebo productivity so let's say I need to write a very difficult strategy Doc and I know I've been procrastinating it on it for weeks now right but I need to write this talk what I decide is say
0:27 it's Monday today and I want to block some time in my calendar on Friday to work on this document because it's a no meeting day for it's my company so what I'll start doing starting say Tuesday or Wednesday is I'll do a bunch of placebo productivity tasks which is basically all sorts of end tasks and O tasks and like really unpleasant end tasks really unpleasant or tasks I will get them off my plate I will just keep doing those
0:51 tasks on Wednesday and Thursday because what happens after that is when Friday arrives first of all I'm just like sick of these nno tasks right now I have no Escape I have no excuse I cannot distract myself further with any n or o task right so that's the first tactic second I already mentioned like create deep work blocks in calendar and this third tactic is perhaps the most important which is when that Friday arrives I do not work from the same
1:21 place that I normally work not from my home office or not from my like office office I go to a v-work because that change of place forces us to think differently because if you're in the same place you will end up with the same habits that you have of like checking slack and let me answer this email and let me update this bug report oh let me see what this other team is saying about their status in fact some of the best
1:46 work I did at stripe was from a v-work here in Oakland huge book recommendation the war of art not the Art of War that's also a good book but this is the war of art right this is written in the context of writing in Creative work but it's equally applicable to product managers and product leaders because we are in an inherently creative role and it walks through all sorts of tactics and this kind of inner mind battle that we have
2:09 on working on creative things and how you break that [Music] time
Summary
- **Placebo Productivity**: Engage in low-priority tasks leading up to a dedicated workday to eliminate distractions and prepare mentally for focused work.
- **Deep Work Blocks**: Schedule uninterrupted time in your calendar specifically for creative tasks.
- **Change of Environment**: Work from a different location, such as a co-working space, to stimulate fresh thinking and avoid habitual distractions.
- **Book Recommendation**: "The War of Art" is suggested as a valuable resource for understanding the creative process and overcoming mental barriers.
- **Creative Roles**: Emphasizes that roles like product management are inherently creative and require dedicated focus to thrive.