How to Maximize 1:1s, The Idea Trap & AI Productivity Tool
How to Maximize 1:1s, The Idea Trap & AI Productivity Tool
Happy Valentine’s Day! 💕
This week I’ve got a structure to help you maximize your 1:1s, get out of the Idea Trap, and a cool AI productivity tool to help you plan your day. But before we get into it, a quick poll:
I. How to Maximize 1:1s
A one-on-one sounds simple in theory. A regularly scheduled meeting between two people, you and your boss. But using this time effectively isn’t always easy. Try this five act structure to maximize your 1:1s by:
Connect - Start by connecting personally and building rapport. Spend the first 5 or 10 minutes on personal before diving into work. Be authentic. Be vulnerable. Especially in this remote culture, it’s important to create space for what would naturally happen in the office.
Accomplishments - Quickly share out of some things you’ve recently accomplished.
Issues - Share the issues you’re facing and where you need them to block or support you.
Priorities - Share your priorities in order, then ask “how would you adjust my priorities?” (so crucial!)
Feedback – Ask for feedback regarding a specific meeting, presentation, general, etc. It’s important to create space to get feedback outside of review cycles so you can continue to grow professionally.
Pro Tip: one thing I’ve learned at Amazon is to keep a shared document with my notes from my 1:1. Great resource for visibility, performance reviews, if you get a new manager, etc.
Getting out of the Idea Trap
Too often in brainstorms or the early ideation phase, instead of exploring we’re trying to immediately come up with the perfect idea. The reality is, your best ideas are often your last ideas. Because the creative process is one of natural evolution. We try something, it doesn’t work how we’d hope or we learn something new, we try something else, it sparks a new idea…
It’s when “pen meets paper” that we start to figure out what works. There are infinite ways to do things. So to get out of the idea trap: go for quantity.
Design 50 completely different versions of a key screen. Come up with 75 business ideas. Or 100 company names! Whatever you’re working on, pick a number that sounds crazy — because after a certain point you’ll get all the low hanging fruit ideas out and then the fun will really begin. You may really love your 14th idea but you have more, and better ideas to surface. And at some point you’ll have to start coming up with designs just to fill the paper. They’ll no longer be precious. This is my favorite part because you’re about to get to new places. Lean in and have fun with it. (Maybe you hit the ceiling at 44 ideas, that’s fine. You’ll know when you’re there :)
Remember: Setting wild, aggressive idea quotas can help people push past more obvious, early-stage ideas and uncover those truly novel opportunities.
III. AI Productivity Tool: Motion
There are now 13 months in a year. Motion uses artificial intelligence to plan your day.
Looking for productivity AI tools? Check out Motion. They’re backed by Y Combinator, SignalFire, and Sam Altman. On a mission to solve the problem of focus and deep work.
I’m currently using the free trial. So far it’s been a great way to automate my schedule as meetings move and life happens. Integrating my calendars, to do lists… increasing my peace of mind.
Check it out: https://www.usemotion.com/
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading!
Until next week,
raika