Insights from Lisa Bodell on Simplifying Your Life

Last week, I had the privilege of listening to Lisa Bodell from Future Think, and I wanted to share some valuable insights from her talk. Lisa is a brilliant thinker who focuses on the need to simplify our lives and escape the complexity trap we've all fallen into. Here are a few highlights and fantastic tips she shared on creating simplicity:

Tip #1: Eliminate Unnecessary Meetings Lisa suggested getting rid of as many meetings as possible. She presented a simple yet powerful idea: the phone is for urgency, emails for information, and meetings are for decisions. This hit me hard because I can recall many instances where I've held meetings when an email would have sufficed.

Tip #2: Turn Agendas into Questions If meetings are for decisions, label the Google Calendar invite with what we'll be discussing and need to decide upon. Converting the agenda into questions gives people time to think about it before the meeting, so they come prepared for a meaningful conversation.

Tip #3: Use NNTR and BLUF Acronyms Lisa introduced two fantastic acronyms: NNTR and BLUF. When you send an email, put "NNTR" at the top, meaning "No Need to Respond," or in the first sentence of the email, put "BLUF," which stands for "Bottom Line Up Front." These acronyms help streamline communication and make it more efficient.

Tip #4: Embrace Time Blocking (or Time Boxing) One of my favorite concepts from Lisa's talk was "Fridays are finished days." This means setting aside time to wrap up projects. I realized that many long-term projects never got finished because I hadn't set aside the time to actually complete them. Time blocking ensures you dedicate specific periods to focus on and finish tasks.

You can check out some of Lisa's resources, including her popular TED Talk, to gain more insights. I hope these tips are helpful; I know I will be adding them to my toolkit this week.