Harmony
Tuning the noise of the world into a resonant, functional system.
Getting a Clear Signal
You can't make out what's coming through until you squelch the interference. It helps to identify and reduce the sources of mental and environmental noise so you can make out the signal more clearly.
Pieces that Fit Together
All of the tools, routines, and habits need to fit together and work together. True balance happens when you're not backtracking or adapting one process to another just to keep up.
Diagnostic Checks
It saves a tremendous amount of time to periodically check whether your working methods and environment are doing what they're supposed to do, the way they're supposed to do it. Solving little issues regularly prevents a lot of the big ones from ever showing up.
Right-sizing Your World
Your physical and digital workspaces need to be large enough to contain a reasonable number of projects without shuffling files or boxes. And they need to be small enough that you don't spend more time moving around and looking for things than you do being productive.
Tactile Rhythm
You need some goals, hobbies, or tasks in your life that requires methodical physical effort. Creating, organizing, and cleaning all help to align your mental state and restore your cognitive abilities.
Expecting Failure
All of your plans and systems need enough built-in flex that you can work around a few failures. Whether it's switching to some other project and circling back -- or, better yet, having backup methods and directions ready in advance -- you need to plan for failures so that they don't derail you.
Eliminate Friction
Identifying the small, daily annoyances that drain momentum is part and parcel of doing a good job. Harmony requires ruthlessly engineering unnecessary friction out of existence.
Complementary Collaboration
Partnering with others whose skills complement your own is one of the fastest ways to make giant strides. Don't be afraid to ask for help and seek out others who can do the things you can't.
Aligning Tasks with Your Moods and Cycles
You should time obligations so they get done when you're in the right frame of mind and the correct level of energy. Reactive urgency should rarely be a part of your day, and always because someone else changed the rules.
Daily Review
Always, always use strong logging as you go, so you can look back at the end of the day and find the places where you could do batter. Just dumping scribbled notes on a dedicated piece of paper will do, but there are many different ways to use modern tools to maintain this journal.
Intentional Downtime
You need to build relaxation, recreation, and silence into your day. No matter how pressed you feel or how urgent the deadlines are, you must have space to play without complex thinking.
Aesthetics Matter
The best tools in the world won't help if they're hard to use. Choose not only functionality, but elegance, looks, and ease of use. If the tool doesn't disappear into the woodwork, it's no good as a tool.