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Simplicity Rules

Adam DuVander on keeping it simple

  • About Adam

Power Hour

February 3, 2005 by Adam DuVander

Working from home since 2001 has taught me a lot about productivity. My first summer was spent in San Francisco without DSL or WiFi living in a house with one phone line and five people.

It could only get better. When I moved back to Oregon, I set myself up with a separate room. Unfortunately, I shared it with the laundry. My next space, the basement.

Now I have finally carved myself a near-perfect location and I have done some of my best work this past year. With all the excuses gone, though, I found there were still problems in the distractions. Some of these time-wasters are even part of my job.

Enter the POWER HOUR. Yes, the capitalization is necessary. For one hour during my workday, I focus exclusively on one project. Anything that could be a distraction is turned off and ignored. If I gets ideas, I write them down and deal with them at the end of an hour.

Distractions to eliminate:

  • Email
  • Instant messaging
  • Telephone (ringer off)
  • Cell phone (completely off)
  • Radio – even music
  • Another one to add to that list is television. I didn’t include it because I learned long ago that it needs to be completely eliminated. If the TV is on, I’m never doing real work.

    I work for an hour or so and then start my POWER HOUR around 10. My original reason for this is because I listen to NPR and Talk of the Nation begins at 11. I’ve found that early is better anyway, because productivity breeds productivity. If I have my POWER HOUR earlier in the day, it helps my post-POWER HOUR work as well.

    Why not have a POWER DAY? I need some of my distractions for my work. Say an emergency email or phone call comes in from a client. It can probably wait an hour, but rarely can it wait all day. Also, it takes a lot of effort to focus on one project for an entire hour.

    About six months ago, I moved to an office. It’s still just me, but I’m away from the additional distractions that intrinsically exist in working at home. Of course, there is a whole new collection of distractions, so that means from 10 to 11, the POWER HOUR is in effect.

    Early 2005

    January 29, 2005 by Adam DuVander

    • I continue to work with BestPlaces. There’s not much I can talk about, but we’re working on some big changes. The good kind.
    • Working in my own office continues to rule. It’s so much better than working at home, except I don’t get as much laundry done.
    • Jenny and I are coaching basketball. The kids are 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. We have a good team and it’s a lot of fun.
    • Twice a week I get together with friends and make some music in the basement. I sing about half the songs and I’m learning to play an almost passable bass.
    • With the inaugural issue of WifiPDX a success, I have been working on the next issues. More to come.
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    Simplicity Series

    • Designing the Obvious
    • Paradox of Choice
    • Laws of Simplicity

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