Years ago, I was working for a large corporation and was given a big promotion. I went from being an individual contributor to running the department and dealing with other parts of the business.
I had tasks and responsibilities flying at me from all angles, and I eventually found that things were slipping – I was letting my customers down, I was letting my staff down, and most importantly, I was letting myself down.
I realized that as smart as I thought I was, my system of keeping things in my head and on random post-it notes slapped around my cubicle was not cutting it, and I needed to find another way. That is when my deep dive into productivity started.
Things went even farther when I started working for myself. I no longer had staff, but I was all of a sudden in charge of everything.
It happens that I am a geek, so I enjoy figuring out systems, researching methodologies, and trying out different apps.
Looking back on it now, instead of spending all that time reading blogs and figuring stuff out on my own, I would have been much better served finding someone who had figured all this stuff out and just getting them to point me in the right direction.
If something like the Productivity Blueprint by the guys at Asian Efficiency had been around back then, I would have been all over it.
Click here to find out more about the Productivity Blueprint.
The Asian Efficiency Crew
Asian Efficiency is a website run by Thanh Pham and Aaron Lynn. I don’t keep track of these sorts of stats (I’m sure they would), but I am sure I have shared more of their articles on social media than from any other source.
I am constantly impressed by the quality of free stuff that they put out on their blog. So much so that the first time I met Thanh at Macworld, I berated him for not putting out enough stuff that I could pay for.
They finally released OmniFocus Premium Posts, a guide for the task manager that I use, and it made me angry. Angry that I hadn’t thought to use some of their techniques myself and had wasted so much time before buying their product. I’m supposed to be good at this stuff!
On the train back from the World Domination Summit last year where I met Aaron for the first time, I remarked to a friend that I wished I had things figured out when I was Aaron and Thanh’s age like they do. I am pretty sure I was sitting around playing Quake.
When Thanh approached me about their new product and asked if I wanted to be a part of it, I said “Yes” first and then asked “What is it?” second.
The Course
The Productivity Blueprint is a video course recorded in a professional studio in Hollywood.
At a high level, it is split into four modules: Beating Procrastination, Improving Focus and Self-Discipline, Reducing Distractions and Interruptions, and Email Productivity.
The videos for each module are split into bite-sized pieces, which is smart. You aren’t sitting there watching some long video and having your mind wander.
They’ve taken an interesting approach to the content. It is not purely “tips and tricks” based and it is not application workflow-specific.
Their idea is that the more you go through the content, the more you will get out of it. Their expectation, which I agree with, is it will go something like this:
- The first time you watch the videos, you will pick up tips and tricks and actions that you can put to use right away. I can attest to this. I’ve picked up some project strategies that have really helped me get moving on some things I’ve been dragging my feet doing.
- The second time you watch the videos, you will find that your mindset is changing and you will start looking at the work you need to do in a different, and more efficient way.
- The third and future times you watch the videos, you will find there are some universal principles you can apply to your life, not just your work. As they say, you will be “ready to live productively rather than just know about productivity.”
The course comes with a bunch of worksheets to put the principles into action, and one cool feature is it has little “action screencasts” to show you some strategies and examples for completing the worksheets.
Lifetime Coaching
I had to read this twice to make sure that I wasn’t misinterpreting, but if you purchase the Productivity Blueprint, they’ll provide you with lifetime(!) personal email coaching. Here is how they put it:
Whenever you have questions, concerns or you simply need some personal advice… just email us and we will help you out right away. It’s like having a personal coach right along with you, with just a couple of taps and clicks away… FOREVER.
The first 100 customers also get a private phone coaching session.
Brooks Interrogated
If you purchase the “one payment” option (see below) you are also provided the opportunity to purchase the Premium version, which includes a bunch of bonuses, action plans, and interviews with a bunch of extremely productive people and… me. I was sick that day so I don’t exactly remember what I talked about (and am afraid to watch), but I am sure it was brilliant. I’m eager to dig into some of the other interviews.
A Suggestion
I’ve been going through the Productivity Blueprint and if you haven’t figured it out by now, I am impressed. The only suggestion for improvement I can think of is it would be nice if there was a time listed for each video so that you know if you have time to jump into it or not.
Having said that, knowing those two, it is some carefully thought-out omission to beat procrastination. Who knows.
Is The Productivity Blueprint Right For You?
Given everything above, it will probably surprise a lot of you when I say that the Productivity Blueprint is probably not right for most people.
I don’t say that because of the content. The content is great. I say that because the Blueprint costs $997, or two payments of $597. In other words, it is not cheap.
Before I go further, I will say up front that I am an affiliate of the Productivity Blueprint, so I will receive a referral fee if you purchase the Blueprint through my link. As a thank you for that, if you do buy it through my link, forward me a copy of your receipt and I will do a free coaching call with you to help you out with the paperless portion of your new productive life.
If you are just looking for some hacks to improve your email or reduce distractions, the Productivity Blueprint is probably overkill.
If you are in a situation where $997 would have a negative financial impact, then you are probably better off buying some books and trying things out yourself.
However, if you are in a situation where the extra time saved by improving your productivity, where getting more projects completed, and where focusing on becoming a high performing individual can translate to increased earnings, something like the Productivity Blueprint is an investment and can make sense.
Only you know where you fall on this spectrum.
If you are interested, click here to learn more or purchase the Productivity Blueprint.
