Productive Flourishing
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Articles on productivity. Productive Flourishing is a community of people who'd rather roll up their sleeves and start doing something with their ideas than merely sit and dream. Founder Charlie Gilkey is a author, speaker, business strategist, podcaster, and more. Before starting Productive Flourishing, he was an Army Joint Force Logistics Officer while working on his Ph.D. in Philosophy.
Productive Flourishing
1d ago
Next week, we welcome April, and (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) we are starting to see the light of spring and feel a newness in the air.
For me, it always brings a renewed sense of energy — as if waking up from a long winter's nap — and I'm able to take in the world with fresh eyes and a sense of wonder and possibility.
Hustle culture might call this moment "crunch time," encouraging us to use this energy to push harder, faster, and longer to get things moving before the summer slows hit.
But here at PF, we don't believe much in "crunching." When it comes to moving ..read more
Productive Flourishing
1w ago
We all have parts of our day that we know we’re not using as well as we could. We can understand and be frustrated about this without going to the extremes of obsessive optimization thinking or trying to make every minute of the day the most productive, joyful, or flowful that it can be.
While we could make how we use those not-the-best blocks of the day about our character, willpower, or grit, I think it’s simpler and healthier to call it as it truly is: we each have some bad or neutral habits that kick in during those blocks of the day.
I said in 2015 in Are Your Habits Working For You, w ..read more
Productive Flourishing
1w ago
Thanks to everyone who joined our combined PF Monthly Community Coaching Call and Better Team Habits Office Hours last Wednesday. It was great to have our two communities come together, and it made for an excellent conversation!
We talked about:
How organizations should approach making political statements or distancing from problematic sources they previously referenced
How to balance activities that fuel personal growth and development with family responsibilities
The implications of AI on leadership and entrepreneurship
Determining where to direct your resources — investing in ..read more
Productive Flourishing
1w ago
Silhouette of a thumbs up. Jan Antonin on Unsplash.
We’re smack in the middle of the month today — a good time for a mid-month review.
In addition to the six questions Charlie poses in that post, another good supplemental question you may want to consider: What’s good enough?
Take that a step further, and it starts to connect to “What goals or projects [then] need to be adjusted or dropped?” But there’s a nuance about “good enough” that’s related to both level of success and level of “doneness” (what’s referred to in software circles as “definition of done.”).
A few follow-up questions ..read more
Productive Flourishing
2w ago
"People are donating money to us! I don't want to be taking people's money!"
Angela was looking up at me, confused about what was going on. Per usual, I had no idea what she was talking about.
"What's going on? What do I need to fix?" I was grumpy because with everything else going on, the last thing I felt like dealing with was a social/public imbroglio.
Angela had hip surgery last week and Christine, one of our many great neighbors, offered to set up a meal train for us. When Angela told me about it, I thought it was just a phrase like ‘call tree’, referencing a community practice.
Little ..read more
Productive Flourishing
2w ago
Photo by airfocus on Unsplash
Yes, you know that planning your quarter would be a good thing to do. Making time to do it and figuring out how to do it can be a challenge. Stop struggling and “meaning to get to it.”
Instead, join us for our next PF Quarterly Planning session on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, where we’ll help our members lock in on their objectives, identify where they want to be in three months, and set a course to get there.
In this 90-minute session, you’ll:
Take a victory lap to celebrate your successes to date.
Cheer on your fellow driven possibilitarians — other creative ..read more
Productive Flourishing
2w ago
Dachshund gazes out from under pillows. Jessica Johnston on Unsplash.
Daylight saving time1 starts this weekend. I won’t spend a lot of time arguing why daylight saving time is an archaic institution that needs to be ended.2
Instead, I’m going to encourage you (and myself) to accept this change when it happens, plan for the hour of sleep lost — or keep your sleep, and plan to lose an hour of daylight (which seems like the exact opposite of daylight “saving”, but I digress.)
Because daylight savings is a sign of the onset of springtime, it’s a good opportunity to consider a reset of one or mo ..read more
Productive Flourishing
1M ago
One hand passing a heart to another. Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Brain Injury Awareness Month1 begins today. As someone who has experience traumatic brain injury (TBI), I wanted to highlight some of the things I’ve learned on this journey with my own TBI:
How my neural injury and lapses have inspired me (and Charlie, too) to change and adapt, while also teaching me how to ask for and receive help.
I have a healthier relationship with my brain than ever before. And, that healthier relationship with my brain has been a part of me living more authentically from my heart and day by day becomin ..read more
Productive Flourishing
1M ago
Bonfire. Hans Isaacson on Unsplash.
In March, we’re coming up on the spring equinox.
Day and night will again be approximately in balance.
Before celebrating the equinox was “new age,” it was an ancient practice, a time of growth and renewal in many cultures.
For the Celts, it was also the time to honor our creativity and new inspiration. Brigid, goddess of spring, fertility, and life, was a powerful figure of transformation and change.
(Now Ireland celebrates Saint Brigid, patron saint of farmers, nuns, midwives, poets — and interestingly, beer.)
A common tradition w ..read more
Productive Flourishing
1M ago
October 2023 was our final Monthly Momentum Call. Going forward, they’ll be called Monthly Community Coaching Calls and are part of the paid subscription to Productive Flourishing.
Thanks to everyone who joined our February Community Coaching call last week. We covered a lot of ground during this call and discussed topics like:
How to look at life from its many different dimensions
Things to consider when making a shift in your business
How to determine if creating an online community is right for you
Creating our personal parameters for success
The intersection of capability ..read more