Welcome to my November monthly report. As we approach the end of the year I'm starting to reflect on everything I've accomplished in 2015 and planning what I want 2016 to look like. The new year is synonymous with setting goals and I'll be having a good think over the next month about what I'm going to work on in 2016.
IMAGE: The iRefi.co.nz boys at the top of Mt Maunganui New Zealand on a company work retreat.
KEY STATS
- In November, I spent approximately 65 hours working on my side business, that's around 16 hours a week.
- To date, I've made a little over US$2,500 on sales from the Personal Productivity Toolkit. This is a nice start and I'm now focusing on improving the content in the toolkit and the marketing that surrounds it.
- Email subscribers are now up to 5,508, which is about 5% growth on last month. This is lower growth than what I've usually seen in the past as I made a big effort in November to remove inactive subscribers from my email list. I basically sent an email to anyone who was being unresponsive and not opening emails. I even asked people to unsubscribe if there were no longer interested in them. This resulted in a bunch of unsubscribes (as you can imagine) but should help to improve the overall quality of my email list.
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
1. Re-Launched the 7-Day Productivity Plan
I spent a considerable amount of time redesigning and rewriting the 7-Day Productivity Plan. This is my free email course that introduces people to the essentials of productivity. Since launching the original 7-Day Productivity Plan in February 2015, 2,197 people have completed the email course. I thought it was about time I relooked at the content and I rebuilt the course from the ground up, questioning every bit of content and rewriting every email.
I'm really proud of the new email course. Each email opens with a “QUICK WIN” to deliver an instant bit of productivity advice. I've also made the emails clearer and more concise, so readers can learn a great deal in a short amount of time. If you want to sign up or revisit the 7-Day Productivity Plan, you can do so here.
2. Working on updates to the Personal Productivity Toolkit
Since the launch of the Personal Productivity Toolkit, I've been working on a few updates to the toolkit. Nothing major; I needed to remake the “Getting Started with Asana” video after the Asana rebranding (plus some other stuff). Customers will be receiving an update very soon…
3. I need your help
Okay, so here's the deal – I'm writing a blog post (should go live next week) and it's going to be a big list of Christmas gift ideas for productivity geeks. I want to include lots of really cool stuff and I need some ideas of things to include.
If you have any ideas of cool stuff for the office, notebooks, apps or other productivity related things can you please let me know. Post a comment below with your ideas and I can include them in the blog!
4. Started a marathon training plan that doesn't involve much running
Last month I read an AWESOME book called Unbreakable Runner by T.J. Murphy and Brian MacKenzie. It's all about how you can use high-intensity and low-volume workouts to train for long-distance runs like marathons and even ultramarathons. The book questions a lot of the traditional ideas around marathon training – mainly that you need to go out and run for hundreds of miles every week to prepare for a race.
Instead, you can use the techniques from the book (called “CrossFit Endurance”) to train in a much more productive way. The training incorporates a mix of CrossFit exercises and running drills to strengthen and condition your body to withstand long runs. Not only can you prepare for long distances with fewer hours on the road, but there's a much lower risk of having an injury.
So, with that in mind, I'm going to be working towards my first marathon in 2016. I've already conquered a half-marathon, but I'd love to crack a sub-3:30 marathon as well. I thought I'd post my goal here so that it's public and I'm counting on you to hold me accountable!
5. We had a great work retreat to Mt Maunganui
We had a great work retreat to the beautiful Mt Maunganui last week. I say “retreat”, but we actually did a lot of work. We used the time away to strategize about what we want the business and product to look like over the next few years. I can't say too much publically, but we're heading in a really exciting direction and hope to achieve big things in the world of online finance.
Planning is an essential part of being productive and it was great to take the time to work out our goals for the short and medium-term. I actually think now is a great time to start thinking about your goals and ambitions for 2016. If you wait until the new year, you risk wasting time while you work out what you want to do and before you know it a whole month will have gone by and you won't have made any progress. Act now and start working out what YOU want to achieve in 2016.
OTHER STUFF
Okay, other stuff… um.. not much else.
There's a referendum on whether we should change the New Zealand flag at the moment. I voted on that.
I'm trying out Spotify at the moment. Can't decide between that and Apple Music (both have their pros and cons).
I dropped my iPhone today, that was annoying.
What's up with you? Leave me a comment!
Thanks for reading,
– Paul