WHAT’S A WORK STYLE? DO I HAVE ONE?

The short answer is, YES! Of course you do!

The sneaky secret is that it doesn’t have to be fancy, use complex tools or have an industry standard name, and it doesn’t even have to be the exact same style every time.

Work Style (like much of what I talk about around here 😉) goes by lots of names, work flow, processes, systems, project management, task management, and probably tons more. But it’s really pretty simple.

It’s just the way you work.

How do you motivate yourself, where do you find inspiration, how do you stay on top of everything that needs to get done, and all the other special unique-to-you bits that only you can add.

Ok so what’s mine?

Do you ever try life hacks, and they work for awhile but then putter out?

For years I was hoping that the secret ingredient was right around the corner, that one tool to rule them all… but it was more like the key to the door to wizard’s chess (thanks in advance for getting both of those references). I tried so many productivity styles and so may apps thinking that the magic moment when everything came together for good was just one more app or intensive day of reorganizing away.

Spoiler alert… it wasn’t.

Double spoiler alert… doesn’t exist.

I don’t know how many times I tried to migrate my entire business and life organization to Asana because it was free and worked so well for so many people. But after burning several hours of data transfer, I would still stop checking it, sometimes after only a couple days, and then start looking for another tool.

I told myself that toxic perfectionist’s story, that it was because I wasn’t committed enough, it’s just a lack of determination. If I could just [fill in the blank] then it would work.

It never occurred to me that it wasn’t just a matter of determination, it was also a matter of style.

Asana didn’t work for me because it didn’t organize information the way my brain organizes information.

It’s simple enough to see this now, but I needed to know what my work style was in order to use the tools made for it, and more importantly, to know when I was using a tool that wasn’t going to work for me.

Your work style can be made of any combination of tools — post it notes, digital list apps, a wall calendar, phone reminders. And let’s not forget those important soft tools — patience, organization, memory, learning styles.

Your work style is the foundation, and any assortment of tools make up the house you build on it. If you want to build an awesome house, you have to know what kind of foundation you’re workin with.

If you don’t know where to begin, or know your style and you’re still stuck, let’s talk :)