Introduction

Those who know me like to divide my personality into Patrick (my first name) and Charlie (my middle name and what friends have called me for years). Patrick is a reliable, measured person, bloody useful and very well organised.

Charlie on the other hand will leave his house on Friday at 4pm with a friend and drive non stop to Jon O Groats, skinny dip, drive non stop to Lands End, skinny dip and then call in at the family home for brunch on the way back to London. They represent the ying and yang that I think we all have in us, the functional and creative.

As the head of a creative company it turned out embracing these two sides was really useful, it is our role here to think up creative and interesting ideas but it is quite equally our role to deliver those in a commercial environment to deadlines. This blog is all about the Patrick in all of us, how to approach any project in a way that helps you get things done while leaving room for the qualitative magic in life.

After 15 years in project management and 6 running a company, that organised and commercially minded side of me is called upon more often than the creative. During that time I have either sought out lessons or learnt through mistake and landed on an approach that seems to work well, not just for me but for my team too.

So if you're struggling to find the inspiration or energy to get your creative projects done, read on for The Power of Patrick (PoP)!

What Is the Power of Patrick?

The PoP is, naturally, totally plagiarised. A combination of tricks that I have taken from experience, books and other people that I found work well for me and could also work well for you I hope but feel free to steal just the bits you like from my approach, that is exactly how I got to my list!

The root of the entire system is actually a mindset: do it now.

For example: mid meeting a question comes up and we think 'X will know the answer to that, make a note to find out'. PoP will ring them, there and then, 25 seconds later the answer is in place and instead of an entire meeting finishing in abeyance it can conclude on solid information. It often involves picking up the phone actually, emails are terrible and Slack channels only a minor improvement in my mind. Nothing beats talking to people and getting it done now.

Around this there is a wider framework because it would be disaster if I stopped work every time a question popped up to do it now but if you start with a genuine desire to get it done now, a lot will flow from there.

With that in mind there is one last thing to consider: I believe tasks fall into two broad categories: Deep Work and Reactive Work. Deep work needs to be distraction free and is best scheduled at a time of day that you find yourself able to give your highest quality output. Reactive work can jump around, multi-task and be on call for people.

So we end up with: write it down, do it now and cross it off.

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1. Write it down

Write it down represents a couple of important things: The very literal writing of to-do lists, in my opinion, the most powerful tool we posses for clearing our minds. Then planning our time around the list unlocks the magic and efficiency.

So lets do this step by step:

1. Brain dump your to-do list, get it all out there and in any old order.
2. Cathartic eh!
3. You can now divide that list into two buckets: Deep Work and Reactive Work.

For most people their roles dictate that most of the day is weighted to one or the other, for example our Project Managers exist for reactive work while the 3D visual team need time and space to go deep into a single task. I am sure the same will be true for you but understand that every role has some element of both deep work and reactive.

3. Prioritise. I prioritise in two ways: The first is by order of 'move the needle' aka impact. Will this really help move things along? The second is in order of 'I don't want to do that.' We all have tasks we don't relish doing but the PoP mindset says ok lets just get them over with first then.
4. Structure the week day by day, block time in your calendar take notice of your body and what suits you, for example I can't manage deep focus from 3pm-5pm but its a great time for short sharp tasks, phone calls and learning. I understand that I will need to leave space for meetings to pop up so build reactive time into the day but most importantly I work out when the deep work can happen, lock it off and I don't move it for anyone that isn't family.

By the way, make sure to take time to experience other people's creativity as well. Attend art exhibitions, listen to podcasts, or watch documentaries that all forms part of the creative process.

All set, you can now relax, you have a list of tasks so your brain doesn't need to remember them. You understand some tasks will need clear time while others can be grouped into a fast fire period of ticking things off. Most importantly of all you have a plan for the week that suits you, protects creative time but ensures what needs to be done, will be done.

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2. Do it now.

As I said above, this is a mindset shift. We have a to-do list and we made a plan which should help quieten the running stream of noise in your head.

Work in blocks and each time just tackle the job at the top of the list working down. This is so relaxing once you have set it up, for example as I write this article I know that until my computer pings to tell me the next item is coming up I have nothing else to think about apart from this task, in this moment.

So look at the task and just go for it. Create a sense of useful urgency too, if you can get an answer faster by calling then call people! If you just send an email to move the task forward you can't tick it off your list and it will be back tomorrow. Instead see if you can find a way to mark it as done.

For deep work, that probably means turn your phone off, close your emails and get stuck in. If that is a sprint of tasks then just do them in order and never miss an opportunity to go direct to the source if it will speed things up.

Key tip for this part of the process, have your to-do list open or a pen and sticky note around. Anyone who has ever tried meditation will know, the brain likes to wander a little. That is just as true during a piece of work and if something comes up you want to remember then we need somewhere to write it down straight away so we can forget about it and get back to the task in hand.

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3. Cross it off.

Who doesn't like a nice dopamine reward, its like getting a well-done sweetie! Crossing off a completed task (especially one you didn't want to do) most certainly gives you just that. The act of reviewing is an incredibly important part of this process. For your own tasks it will help you recognise how long things really take to complete to improve the plan going forward and for collaborative tasks it allows the team to re-balance the list and ensure each part is keeping pace.

For teams, I am a big advocate of making the effort to spend quality face-time together but instant communication tools like Slack with screen share and huddles are amazing for our international collaboration and make it possible to feel like a unit despite the distance. The key is to book in regular sprint review meetings, keep that meeting short and on point and immediately update the priorities and task list then back to it!

Then each Sunday evening I am back to the start, writing down the list, dropping it into buckets and giving it priority before popping it in the calendar.

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How Can We Integrate This Technique Into Our Team Culture?

The great thing about the Power of Patrick is that it's infectious - by practicing it, you pull in others too. This means that when done right, it can create a culture of creative freedom and efficiency within your team. The key to integrating this technique is to think of it as an attitude, not just a method; by creating an open dialog and encouraging everyone to take ownership of their work, you create an environment that's conducive to creative thinking while also meeting deadlines.

One more thing - it is actually quite possible, easy even, to take this too far. I try to remember the phrase: 'timetabled fun' and the very natural reaction to that of thinking 'this clearly won't be fun then'. You need to enjoy work, you are going to spend a lot of your life doing it. So the final piece of advice I would have is to leave some of your day NOT planned and be easy on yourself for the days where the plan doesn't work out. Its a journey after all. But, if you can adopt the, 'do it now' mindset, more often than not you will find projects complete, goals are accomplished and one Friday afternoon you are on your way to Scotland with 6 cans of Redbull and a 6 CD changer full of classics tunes!

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