Calm Achiever - Blog
Actionable Advice to Help You Get Things Done®
GTD® For Beginners (8 Part Series)
When are you at your best? Is it when you're overwhelmed, stressed out and have too much on your mind? Or when your mind is relaxed, and you have the freedom to focus on the most meaningful things? The answer is obvious, but when you look for help on productivity,...
How I Design My Year (2021)
Around 12 years ago, I picked up the book "Your Best Year Yet." Using the book I intentionally planned for the coming year, in a way that I had never done before. Then something amazing happened. Not only did the process helped me create meaningful goals, but with the...
Holacracy Vs Management Hierarchy
How do most organizations structure themselves? They follow a system called the Management Hierarchy.The Management Hierarchy is not an ineffective system. In fact, it's a great system that allows for a clear chain of command, clarity on whom to go for decisions,...
Use a Role-Based Structure to Enable Mastery, Autonomy and Purpose
Becoming an entrepreneur is a role many aspire to. It carries an aura of freedom, control & power.Perhaps you've taken the path of entrepreneurship because you wanted freedom from the corporate life or because you have an amazing idea you want to bring into...
GTD is Not About Time-Management
In the hundreds of GTD workshops we've conducted, the one resounding concern people want to address is time management. I call it the ‘I don't have enough time’ syndrome. From CEO’s to interns, its symptoms have spared none. We complain about not having enough time,...
GTD is Not About Doing Everything On Your List
Productivity gurus will always tell you that ticking off all the items on your checklist is the ultimate win. So you walk out of the arena proudly like the heavyweight champion of the WWE who took on all the tasks. I’ll admit, in theory that’s an encouraging...
Book Summary: Brave New Work – Are You Ready to Reinvent Your Organization?
Do you ever find yourself living in the matrix? You're doing the same thing everyday, but not questioning why? It's the same in our organizations. There are a set of assumptions under which we operate at work without questioning why we need them. Ever stopped to...
GTD® is Not About Achieving Goals in The Future
Do you love making goals? I think most of us do. We all enjoy foreseeing our ideal future. Like the house we want to live in, the money we want to have in our bank, the relationships we want in our lives. We are all pro goal makers. But being a pro goal maker doesn’t...
How I Used GTD to Build a Yoga Habit During Lock-down
The lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic has seen my routines go for a toss No social meetingsNo travelingNo chit-chat with gym buddies! Do you have a similar story to tell? Like most of us, I too am working from home. Though, at the moment, life does not...
A Formula to Guarantee Focus & Completion
I had unwavering focus. Nothing could distract me. What normally would take me weeks, I can get done in an hour. My attention was so acute, I felt like I had the attentive power of Buddha himself. This is how I am studying on the last day just before an important...
Stop Carrying the Weight Of the World. Capture Instead.
This is a common sight at Indian Railway stations. That's how porters carry luggage from one's car to their carriage. A participant at my last workshop shared a lovely analogy: "Imagine you're travelling by train, you notice a passenger seated across the aisle.There's...
How Holacracy Gamifies the Workplace to Boost Team Engagement
Allow me to paint you a picture of 2 companies: Company A is a place where people come to work because they have to. They come in as late as they can and leave 10 minutes early. In between, they make themselves look busy, but in reality, they're doing the bare minimum...
6 Parallels between Holacracy and Nonviolent Communication
I discovered Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in 2015, and then Holacracy in 2016. At the time I didn’t see the similarities between the two. But after some deeper practice, I realized how complementary they are. If these practices are new to you, here are some quick...
Create a Private Podcast to Make the Best Use of Your Travel Time
Imagine you're in an amusement park with the most fantastic rides. Each ride offers you a thrilling experience. And you want to experience them all. But... you just have 30 mins. That's time to enjoy only one. You're not sure when you're going to visit the park next....
How to Be a Power Delegator to Unleash Your Team’s Talent
I used to think that the key to success was just hard work. Meaning the more time and effort I’d put in, the greater the output. I wasn’t completely wrong, but I realized over time while working hard is important, it only gives incremental benefits. Have you heard of...
My Top Productivity Apps in 2020
In almost every GTD workshop I've facilitated, I get asked "Ali, what tools do you use?" I hesitate to answer because I don't want people to think its the tools that makes one productive. It's how you use the tools. Remember, Leonardo Da Vinci just had paper and...
Create a Feel-Good Checklist to Overcome Anxiety
Have you had thoughts like: "Why does this always happen to me?" "How dare he or she speak to me in this way!" "This is not fair." "It's not my fault, this should not be happening to me." There are times I feel completely stressed out. I can't think...
Make 2020 Your Best Year Ever
It's that time of the year where we make plans for the coming year. While most people make resolutions. I and Arif have a ritual to do an annual review. It's a series of questions to reflect on how the year went by. What we learned from it. Reflect on our guiding...