Productivity Hacks: Become a Human Hacker
This post is part of a series in which LinkedIn Influencers share their secrets to being more productive. See all their #productivityhacks here.
When I found out that this month's theme was productivity hacks, I was initially kind of hesitant. The truth is that this is probably my greatest weakness by far. Look, I don't envy anybody, but I find myself slightly envious when I read posts on Lifehacker, or hear from friends of mine who are using apps to be hugely efficient.
Whether it's Clear, or Evernote, or Springpad, I envy people who have the ability to be organized and can use productivity hacks. It's deeply ingrained in me. It probably stems from the same reason that I failed all my classes. There are a lot of things out there that I'm just honestly not great at doing. I'm a little higher level, a little more team-focused, and a little more strategic. Don't get me wrong, I'm a good do-er. I'm not a non-do-er. I worked the retail floor, I answer my email, I respond to my tweets, but I've always been disrespectful of my time, even though I've valued it the most.
For the sake of answering this question, what I've done well is surround myself with great people. As a matter of fact, here is my productivity hack: With Linkedin and Medium becoming bigger and bigger parts of my content strategy last year, I took one of the best content producers at my company, Steve Unwin, and had him become, in essence, my editor-in-chief. When I produce source material (like recording my thoughts for this article), he cleans it up for editorial and remixes different parts of it for Facebook, Slideshare, etc. I have an amazing assistant, I had a C.E.O. for my book. Ultimately, the way I hack is by creating a tremendous team of people around me.
I'm a human hacker.
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I hope this provided some value! If the idea of being a human hacker resonated with you, it would mean a lot to me if you shared it with your LinkedIn contacts.
Photo:William Perugini/Shutterstock.com
Director, Resource Management at Korn Ferry
10ySurrounding yourself with the right team can help you both professionally and personally. I believe that it is more than surrounding yourself with just a good staff as a manager, but it is also as important to surround yourself with the right peers and friends.
Home is where the heart is.
10yI am a human hacker too. I was a home schooling SAHM turned homeschooling WAHM. I definitely don't want to rid of the mom part but I had no problem ridding and hiring other humans doing my other "jobs." I have a house cleaner, a chef, several "teachers" to help with my little genius, and a bunch of tools and apps that help make it all happen. I know that money is an issue for many but when you begin to see in several ways that your time is way more of value and brings in money - and wasted away when cleaning the bathroom - then it makes sense to have the professionals do it.
Award Winning Coach and Mentor | Creator of The Habit Method ® and The Lifeflow Planner | 4 X Productivity Books | Mission to help women leaders avoid burnout and find balance with success.
10yWe may not all be able to hire a great team but we should recognise when its time to get help. Using interns or young people looking for work experience can take the work overload. They may not be the experts that Gary Vaynerchuk has access to but it can make a difference. As David Allen Company said "You can do anything, but not everything" and Gary I will send you a copy of my book, Chaos to Control it may help :)
Project Manager - Retired at Project Pro
10yOne of the things that I have found is that I do not have time to know it all to the level of detail and understanding that are needed to make things happen. But what I have to agree with Gary on is that if you surround yourself with the best people who do have that in-depth knowledge you can accomplish ANYTHING. This continues to be my philosophy as has been for many years. It made my people look good and in turn made me look good. And that is a Win/Win you cannot beat.