Category: Action Method

Comparing Energy Lines

We were pleased to see coverage on Apartment Therapy of a faithful “energy line” user. In case you don’t remember, the “energy line” was a Behance tip from February, 2007. It seems that Kate, profiled here, has made use of her energy line at the office (we really appreciated the picture provided as well)!

As you can see, she has quite a few items at the “extreme” side of the spectrum (especially compared to the Behance team’s energy line, see photo below). Kate: we would suggest being more stringent on which projects really require extreme focus, and which ones are merely “high” or “medium”…

Energy Line

Surrounding With Progress @ 2Advanced

We were pleased to see the concept of “decorating with progress” from Jonathan Moore and Elder Jerez, Jr. at 2Advanced Studio.

Studio with Progress Everywhere

Following up on the Behance tip, “Surround Yourself With Progress,” we got to see the practice in action around Elder’s desk.  Once Elder completes design comprehensives for a client he prints them out and covers his workspace with them. Thanks for the pics, guys.

Action Method Feedback

Great feedback from great bloggers is always a nice way to start out a Friday. Thank you to Schneiderism and J.D. Humphrey’s for the shout-outs. We’re thrilled to hear from creative professionals that feel more productive as a result of the method. As you may know, we originally developed the Action Method for our own work…and then we shared it with some friends…and then the word got out and it became a side business (and passion) for us.

Also, many thanks to those of you that have emailed us with suggestions and feedback, we read every single one and appreciate the support.

Popular Heads

Our tip released today, Surround Yourself with Progress, is spreading across the internet at a speedy rate. I am enjoying seeing the back of our heads all around the web. It is kind of humorous to us in a way. We are even linked on a site in a language we cannot recognize. Maybe someone can comment on what it is?

hrlog.nl

I’ve also read a number of comments on the article along the way. People may wonder about the aesthetics of posting your action steps. If one doesn’t want to cover their office as much as we have, smaller paper means less wall space (or whatever space) used. I do have to say though, it is crazy for any of us to look at our “Done Wall” and think back to when it was bare. We really do feel a lot of accomplishment and pride by looking at our constructive mess.

Of Air Conditioning & Action

It has been hot in NYC; and we were contemplating whether a sauna environment sparks action or stalls it all together.

Nevertheless, we’ve been trying to stay focused with only a few digressions. We were happy to see the response to our recent Behance.com Tip on surrounding yourself with action-inducing art. While the concept is a little extreme, the point rings true for our team and others we know. Thanks to LifeDev for picking up on it, despite the fact that the tip is a bit contrarian to the typical productivity principle of clearing away anything that is completed.

We were also pleased to see Write Well Me’s take on some of our favorite Tips; great to hear her resonance with some of them…

Behance & Being Happy

Behance was featured this morning on Sirius Radio’s LIME talk show with Karen Salmansohn. Behance founder Scott Belsky spoke about the need for more productivity in the creative community along with some of the research Behance has conducted on the topic. He also went through some best practices based on the Action Method. We love what Karen is up to and encourage you to check out her website…you might even sign up for her “Want to be Happy, Dammit” newsletter.

One topic that came up was the connection between passion and groundbreaking creativity. Widely-known author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced chicks-send-me-high, seriously) writes about the state of “flow” as the prime zone for creative output. Of course, there are risks associated with becoming overly immersed in such a state: you may fail to keep track of the overall project’s goals! Nevertheless, passion-driven creativity is the fuel for the greatest breakthroughs and most forward-thinking design.

One designer we came across, thanks to the powers of Technorati, is Bryan Rees, based in South Carolina. Brian’s front page features “Branding : Design : Passion.” And it seems that Bryan has a history of executing ideas.

So, key take-away: Be passionate, and exercise the discipline to channel it to make ideas happen.

Andreessen’s Insights on Productivity

Marc Andreessen has an insightful post on productivity that can certainly be extended to personalize the Action Method.

A few highlights:

  • Don’t keep a schedule: Andreessen cites Arnold Schwarzenegger’s story, as told in the book A Perfect Mess, that emphasizes the importance of focusing on whatever is most important at any given time, rather than keeping a schedule that ultimately gets in the way of making progress.
  • “Keep three and only three lists: a Todo List, a Watch List, and a Later List.”
  • “Each night before you go to bed, prepare a 3×5 index card with a short list of 3 to 5 things that you will do the next day.”

I encourage you to check out the full post, as it is full of useful insights on managing email (rather than letting it manage you), using the ipod as a tool to ward OFF distraction, and other helpful goodies…

Behance Select Retail Partnerships

After many inquiries, Behance has established retail partnerships with a few select stores across the US.  These retails partners are the first to carry the Action Method product line.

Berkeley, CA: Twig & Fig
San Francisco, CA: Museum of Modern Art
Boston, MA: Institute of Contemporary Art
New York, NY: Reed Space
New York, NY: Paper Presentation Center
Allentown, PA: We Jet Set
Philadelphia, PA: AIA Bookstore & Design Center
Seattle, WA: Peter Miller Architecture & Design Books

We’re also pleased to announce our first online retail collaboration with YouWorkForThem.