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Exciting Tech Roles + Beyond the Grind: Tips for Joyful Productivity

Exciting Tech Roles + Beyond the Grind: Tips for Joyful Productivity

Micah Piippo
November 11, 2024

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Welcome back to Beyond Deadlines newsletter—a free perk for people looking to improve in Planning and Scheduling. Each week, we provide tactics, prompts, jobs and food for thought. We want you to succeed today, tomorrow and throughout the rest of your career.

Turn the daily grind into a source of daily joy. To maintain harmonious passion, design practice around deliberate play. Set up fun skill-building challenges—like Evelyn Glennie learning to play a Bach piece on a snare drum, Steph Curry trying to score twenty-one points in a minute, or medical residents honing their nonverbal communication skills by using nonsense words in improv comedy games.

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Let’s face it… Project status meetings can feel like a never-ending cycle. But what if we could bring excitement to the routine?

💡 Here’s how to turn these meetings from dull to dynamic:

1. Build Momentum with a “Break the Chain” Challenge

Encourage team members to update tasks before each meeting. Every completed task adds a “link” to a virtual chain. Watching the chain grow? Surprisingly satisfying!

2. Crown the Best Status Update

Make it a friendly competition. Recognize the most informative update each week—maybe with a quirky trophy or a prime seat. It adds some excitement and motivates everyone to bring their best.

3. Keep It Fun with “Status Bingo”

Create bingo cards with common project phrases or inside jokes. As people give updates, mark off the terms—first to bingo wins bragging rights. It’s playful, engaging, and keeps everyone on their toes.

Add a touch of creativity to routine meetings, and you might just see your team’s energy and productivity soar.

Create Excellent Process

Copy and paste this prompt into ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude.

Act as a creative engagement coach who transforms routine tasks into enjoyable, skill-building experiences. Develop an approach to help individuals turn their daily responsibilities into moments of joy and growth by incorporating playful challenges and innovative exercises.

Use examples such as Evelyn Glennie learning to play a Bach piece on a snare drum, Steph Curry’s fast-paced scoring challenge, or medical residents improving communication through improv with nonsense words to inspire similar fun practices.

Present a framework that outlines how to set up, personalize, and adapt these challenges for various skill levels, blending productivity with a sense of fun. Keep the tone inspiring, motivating, and accessible to encourage participation. Before you begin, ask me 3 questions to help improve your answer.