18 Productivity Haikus – Get Things Done and Achieve Inner Peace through the Power of Poetry
By Joshua on January 15 2008
Recently, I was reading about Leo's concept of Haiku Productivity at Zen Habits, and it occurred to me, "Wouldn't it be great if instead of Haiku Productivity, there was a whole collection of productivity tips in haiku form?" Yes, I'm crazy. But it sounded like a good idea at the time.
So armed with my craziness, I proceeded to email some of my favorite bloggers and ask if they would be willing to contribute. Amazingly, they seemed to like the idea. Even Leo himself found time to send something in. Here are the results.
Naomi of Ittybiz
One thing at a time.
Just one, again, forever.
Oh, and lots of naps.
Shane of Shane & Peter
Shane sent in two variations on a haiku.
learn to separate
important and the urgent
closer to your dreams
a daily triage
important from the urgent
closer to your dreams
Peter of Shane & Peter
Not to be outdone, Peter sent in two completely different poems.
manufacture time
learn to lovingly say no
honesty is best
list your thoughts right now!
a clear head is all you need
to make good choices
Mark of My Tropical Escape
"How I create Blog Posts"
clear the mind clutter
empty the inbox mail stuff
draft the homerun post
Jarkko Laine of Insanely Interested
Not today.
When leaves are green,
I will find a new goal.
Skellie of Skelliewag and Anywired
Set up a timer
Work until it is empty
Finish only then
Samuel of Wake Up Later
instead of reading
this haiku, you ought to be
getting some work done
James of JCM Enterprises
Do not multitask.
Spend ten minutes on each task
Then switch to the next.
Jon of Freelance Folder
Jon sent in three haikus, asking me to choose what I liked best.
I Limit Myself
Checking E-mails Once A Day
Happy Clients Still
Selene of iDesign Studios
Selene sent in four haikus, but then narrowed it to two.
So much to be done
Multi-tasking's not the way
Concentrate on one
No more distractions
Stop email, phone, blogs, IM
Time to get it done
Selene's husband
But thanks to the participation of her husband, she ended up sending the most haikus. This wife/husband team wins the enthusiasm award. :-)
Sitting on my ass
This may come off sounding crass
Get off it and move!
Eric of theAdmin.org and Little Stream Software
Every night I write,
my list to do tomorrow
to sleep with a clear mind.
Christine of SelfMadeChick
Fear breeds distraction
Beyond fear lies a zone where…
Time is abundant
My contribution
computers distract
the healthier way to work
is pen and paper
Finally, from Leo of Zen Habits, who inspired the whole thing
water dripping can
erode a mountain slowly
focus on one thing
Thanks to everyone who contributed! Now that you've read through these, why not post a haiku tip of your own in the comments?
What our readers said
Awesome! Thanks for the enthusiasm award, lol.
I love all of the Haiku’s!
There are some amazing bloggers on this list, so I feel honored that you asked me to write something, too. Thanks again for thinking of me! :)
Thanks for inviting me to participate, Joshua. Cool to see everyone else’s, too!
@Selene: Thanks for participating. You’re definitely in my awesome bloggers list. :-)
@James: Thanks to you too. I’m quite happy with all of the great haikus people were willing to share!
Hi Joshua,
Thanks for inviting me to participate!
Have a GREAT day.
Mark
I’m going to echo what others are saying: Thanks for inviting me! It feels great to be a part of this great list of Haikuists.
@Mark & Jarkko: I’m just glad you guys had time to send one in! Thanks!
This is such a great idea Joshua! I enjoyed every single one. Thank you for inviting me to participate :)
+1. This was a great idea Joshua.
This was a lot of fun – great idea. I love leo’s entry.
I hate to say it, but I think Samuel’s wins it for me. Granted, there’s not a hope in hell I’ll act on it, but there you go. Any haiku that can make me laugh in 17 syllables is a pretty damn good haiku in my book.
@Everyone: Thanks for participating!
@Christine: I’m glad you liked them. Some of them are quite amazing.
@Eric: I still think it’s a bit crazy, but maybe crazy isn’t always bad?
@Shane: Leo’s haiku is pretty awesome. :-)
@Naomi: So is yours. It had me laughing quite a bit when it arrived in my inbox. “Oh, and lots of naps.” :-)
Ready, Fire, Aim
Do Something, Build Momentum
Move Forward From There
@ Dave – You shoot before you aim? Dude… That’s a great recipe for spinning wheels!
Not exactly, James -
For those who are paralyzed
By analysis,
Action breaks the spell.
Rather than spend too much time
Debating, just act.
Readers, you know well
All those almost-did” projects;
Trigger, never pulled.
When “what ifs” rule you,
Snap yourself into action
Act, reflect, repeat.
A caveat, though -
This is just “jump-start” advice,
Not “one size fits all.”
Plan major projects
As thoroughly as needed,
Aim first, then fire.
But when drive is weak,
Strengthen it with fierce action.
Fire, guns blazing.
That makes perfect sense.
Thank you for clarifying,
And for inspiring.
But firing my guns
Is dangerous potential!
I just might succeed.
;)
No problemo, James.
Your call out to clarify
Was necessary.
Wow! A haiku slinging duel! :-)
My own “tribute Haiku”:
I learned from Christine
“Create a void to attract”
Then execute now
Naomi taught me
Take a good look then jump in
with both feet. Boots on.
Leo’s list is three
Do one, focus upon it
Then move to the next
And my philosophy:
Your work – write it down
Or it will not happen soon
Keep it in context
You guys have been working alone for way too long. :) LOVE IT.
Can you do it now?
Why put off any longer?
Check off list item!
Thanks for the haiku, Matt!
Your site looks really interesting. Do you have a blog anywhere? If not, it’s a great way to attract business, especially for a writer.
Thanks, Joshua. I have a couple of personal/hobby blogs that I update intermittently (including reviewsinhaiku.com (heh) ), but I haven’t kicked off my professional blog yet.
One reason (excuse) is that I haven’t found a Wordpress theme that I could tweak that would dovetail nicely with my website design.
The big reason is not knowing what to focus on. I’m not sure if my blog should be about the business of copywriting, or about the industries I specialize in.
Maybe I don’t need to be that focused. Since either would be appropriate for what I do, both could be appropriate for what I do. Post what comes to mind, and let categories sort it out.
As you can see, I’m kind of spinning my wheels on the blog right now.
@ Matt – Try a Brian Gardner theme. He has some free ones and they’re nice. As for focus for your blog, start blogging. Figure out your focus after, because trust me, your blog will evolve in unpredictable ways :)
@Matt: Love the Reviews in Haiku. :-) Like James, I’d also suggest just writing the blog now and setting up themes and stuff as you go along. My blog here started off with a theme that didn’t remotely resemble the rest of my website. And I certainly couldn’t have predicted the directions the writing has gone.
@Stephen: Loving the haikus! Sorry I missed your comment before. I just dug it out of the spam filter.
One blog at a time
Read them like books on subjects
Savour their advice.
—
Today, this was my productivity advice. There is a lot of good things to pick up, one does not have to read a blog every day. =) Thanks, great thread!