This article is part of a series called, "Maximum Productivity " in which I’ll explore the topic of perspective.

See the rest of the series here:
Intro: Maximum Productivity: Series Introduction
Part 1: Maximum Productivity: Perspective
Part 2: Maximum Productivity: Attitude
Part 3: Maximum Productivity: Focus
Part 4: Maximum Productivity: Persistence
Part 5: Maximum Productivity: Adventure
Part 6: Maximum Productivity: Connections

I guess the first point to understand is what is productivity?  While productivity as a definition is simply producing readily and abundantly, that itself leaves a huge gap for what you are producing.  And that is where I will start things off in this series by looking at life, tasks, work and everything people do and wish to do from a perspective that matters or has some purpose!  Being productive is useless if it’s not on the things that matter to you.  So perspective is first.

Perspective

Perspective is really about looking at where productivity can be applied in your life.  It’s about taking a step back to analyze your situations and environment to see what it is you want to be productive at.  This allows you to put more efforts and productive work towards the things that are in some way meaningful to you.  To gain that perspective there are a number of things you can do to change your normal perspective and realize what does matter.

• Explore your passions
• Discuss and even debate with others
• Read books that question or expand your views
• Ask others for their opinions and stay open minded
• Write your will or obituary for yourself
• Explore and understand the legacy you want to leave
• Imagine yourself in other people’s situations and challenges
• Look at how your creativity can change your perception
• Study and learn new things to gain new understanding
• Ignore your gut or instinctive response

All of these things can help you to step back from what is normal in your life and analyze new situations from a distance.  It’s critical to CHANGE and EXPAND your views on every subject without limiting yourself to your old beliefs.  It’s often those new areas that will truly let you see not only what you can do to be productive but also why that is important!

Identity

The way you see things is a big part of one’s identity so expanding that and exploring it deeply is done to really take a deep look at oneself.

• Do you know what drives and motivates you to do the things you do?
• Could you explain all of your actions to others and would you be happy to hear that explanation?
• Is the time you spend on things productive to you?
• Are you OK with that whether it is or isn’t?
• How much time do you spend productively?
• Can you change that and do you want to?

The things you consider to be productive should be the things you enjoy doing and want to do.  That is part of what drives you to do it and so of course this drive has to come from within to have any lasting impact.  That is why I encourage you to reflect on those questions above, answer them truthfully and look at what reveals itself.  It’s impossible to just become productive overnight and it is a slow process to change since it’s your identity, not just your productive actions, that must also change to shift to seeing that new perspective that is required in everything.  That perspective change will enable you to learn easier from new experiences and adapt quicker to changes.  This will make controlling your productivity much easier. Expanding and seeing with more perspective is also helpful to look for improvements, optimizations and ways to be more productive.  Instead of just thinking the current way is the only or best way to do something, you can accept suggestions, changes and help to increase your productivity.

Who Do You Do It For?

This concept of perspective applies not only in looking at productivity directly and seeing areas to improve that but also in why you do it.  What makes you want to those things and motivate you to improve.  To what end?  Do you have something to achieve in working at those areas?  Some people do it for approval, to be liked, to make themselves happy, to meet others.  Some do it for status, material things, health or longevity.  I personally look at productivity more from an angle of service to others.  I want to do things that are productive not only for me, but for others, for strangers, for family, for new friends, old friends, and for God.  Those are things that I highly value they motivate me to drive forward in creating more time, more productivity and more results in the areas that are service oriented.

So who do YOU do things for?  Can you say that you are working with a purpose, a mission and set of values?  I hope if you don’t that you stop to take a look at why you do things, what will leave you happy if you only had short time to live and that you are able to be productive with the things you want out of life.  That, my friends, is what perspective is for and I hope I’ve been able to shed a little bit of new light on this first article in a series for maximizing your productivity.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23

Posted by Mike King under Life & Personal | 16 Comments »

I get a lot of questions from people who have seen my profile online about mountain unicycling and ask what that is all about. So, I thought I’d talk a bit about what mountain unicycling is and what it means to me as well as some pictures and additional links about the sport.

First of all, yes mountain unicycling is a sport, possibly an extreme sport. Most people have never even heard of it or seen someone mountain unicycling but there are many unseen unicyclists out there and even a few well known ones. There are several different styles of unicycling as a sport, I personally prefer mountain unicycling and some street. There is also trials unicycling, freestyle and of course more traditional uses for performance and commuting but those aren’t really specific sports. These styles are described well on the unicycling wikipedia page here if you want to know more. So What’s My Story About Unicycling? I got into unicycling as a young kid (I just saw one in a store one day and decided I wanted to learn) and have been riding now for 19 years. Some years I’ve put over 1000km onto my unicycles and so yes, I do ride a fair bit. I commute on it to work now and then, do some street riding with other unicyclists around the city but mostly spend my time unicycling in the summer getting offroad and taking some rugged mountain trails in the Alberta Rockies. Most of the trails I use are hiking trails and mountain bike trails. I generally take trails that are between 10-15 km long and that can take 2-3 hours to ride. This is pretty typical ride for me and with the elevation changes, 15km in the mountains is one serious workout. My muni (short for mountain unicycle) has no brakes, no gears, no shocks, and you can’t coast which means you are always pedaling (whether you are going up or down) and you are standing up on your feet for most of the ride since your legs do all the shock absorbing for you. Why Mountain Unicycling? The question everyone wants answered, why do you unicycle? Well, the reasons I unicycle are many. These include:

• Its challenging and great exercise (its VERY physically demanding)
• Requires a very determined personality (which I thrive to have)
• Exhilarating and exciting when you can successfully ride a brutally steep and rough trail
• Very affordable since there is no costs over and about the equipment needed (unlike most sports)
• Refreshing and beautiful especially when in the wilderness
• Fantastic conversation starter
• Its unique (you don’t have to do what everyone else does)

So, I started a club for mountain unicycling in Calgary a few years ago, have met a lot of great people and unicyclists through it and I continue to get out on one wheel to do more riding in the wilderness. You can find out lots more about unicycling from any search engine or my club site and I’d be happen to answer any questions as well. You can see some pictures from over the years where I’ve been mountain unicycling and some of the gorgeous surroundings and terrain in the slideshow below.

Posted by Mike King under Personal | 5 Comments »

Well, there was a fair bit of snow last night leaving a couple inches on the roads and whenever it snows a lot I am probably one of the very few people who actually LIKE getting to work.  Why you ask?  Because I’m am an offroad unicyclist and I love to ride in the snow, especially when driving would be slow, risky and just not much fun.  Its also warmed up today for the first day in a few weeks where its actually just up to the freezing mark.

So, today I hopped on the unicycle before work and enjoyed a nice relaxing (but still quite cold) ride into the office.  It takes me about 25 minutes to commute nearly 5 km.  Its great exersize and more fun in the snow than just a normal bike trail ride in. I just throw on the ipod and listen to a book or some music and try to avoid being seen too much by the traffic as I really don’t like to attract any attention on my ride in.  Now, that seems like a bit of a oxymoron for a unicyclist but since I normally only ride offroad in the mountains where there are VERY few people, I think I can still honestly make that claim.

However, I was unable to avoid the attraction from motorists today as someone felt the need to call into a morning radio show (the EyeOpener on CBC) and warn people to watch out for the unicyclist on there way to work.  I’m really not sure why I would be any kind of threat, its not like I was riding down the middle of the freeway!  I keep to myself off the sides of the road and take as many back streets as possible.  They warned not to be distracted by the unicyclist.  I and my colleague who heard this on the radio, got quite a kick out of this and thought it was a funny story.  So, there you go.

Posted by Mike King under Personal | No Comments »

I finally did my first ocean scuba dive while in Mexico at the beginning of November and it was awesome! Unfortunately, the pictures at 55ft from a my digital camera don’t do it justice. Its so much more colorful and beautiful than these pictures show. You really need some great lights and red filters on your camera for good underwater pictures. Anyway, the experience was so peaceful and enjoyable, and I can’t wait to do it again!!

Click on any of the images to see a large version…

Posted by Mike King under Personal | No Comments »

Went out today for some street extreme unicycling downtown Calgary. I haven’t been out on the street for over a year, since nearly all my unicycling is done off road mountain unicycling. Anyway, even though its been a LONG time since doing an urban assault, I was still able to hold up to some of the local riders focused entirely on street. I ride a hunter frame 24″ uni which is nice and rigid for trials and street riding, but the 24″ wheel is heavy and much more difficult to maneuver than the smaller 20″ trial unicycles every else rides. One of the riders (Daniel) does some HUGE gaps and hucks off stairs! He’s easily got me beat for the height of his drops and he’s getting some really nice height on jumps straight up to rubber. I nearly always peddle climb up anything that is over 26″ tall. That is where you hop up to the peddle and swing the unicycle up from its peddle the rest of the way on top of the obstacle. Its a great way to climb up any object and helps you get up that extra 12 inches of reach that the pedal has over the bottom of the tire. It was great to get out and especially nice to know I was able to still help some of these guys learning new skills and especially the pedal climbs.

Posted by Mike King under Personal | No Comments »

Author: Daniel C. Dennett

Overall, the book is interesting but not the way Dennett left so many areas of the ‘unknown’ scientific gaps implied. This made it very un-stimulating for me. Certainly, some very interesting aspects with quite a bit of animal mind research and related consciousness but many things are implied and assumed. Overall, I was quite bored reading

this one and disappointed in what it left me thinking about (which wasn’t anything that will last). If you’re interested in consciousness and having some brain straining concepts with consciousness, read material by Deepak Chopra.

Posted by Mike King under Learning & Personal | No Comments »