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Hi there! I’m Robert.

I have, from time to time, experienced considerable difficulties in prioritizing, planning for, and focusing on the work that matters. These struggles have overwhelmed me – many times! – and I know that I’ll be defeated again. But not as regularly, not as profoundly, and not for as long. I’ve learned how to apply some useful science.

My personal and professional challenges in getting the important stuff done have often been around:

  • Prioritizing the work to be done, based on my values and vital long-term goals, and not as a panicked reaction to some deadline of questionable “urgency”.
  • Developing a reasonable (achievable and actionable) step-by-step plan I can execute to drive towards the desired results.
  • Creating an environment – both external and internal – that fosters getting quality work done while safeguarding myself against self-defeating perfectionism and distracting rabbit holes.
  • Generating the mental focus to overcome inertia, and then maintaining the steady discipline required to make incremental progress until the objective is achieved.

While everyone’s situation is unique, I’ve witnessed enough family, friends, and colleagues wrestle with the same concerns to convince me that these are fairly universal challenges. My experience shows that there is hope. It’s taken a lot of careful study of the science, false starts, systematic self-experimentation, and a willingness to laugh at myself (repeatedly!), but I’m now making consistent progress in getting the stuff that matters most … done.

I want to share here whatever wisdom I’ve won. I hope to clearly lay out the research-based knowledge of what works well for many, paying special attention to documenting my personal experience on how the science is most effectively and practically deployed. Now that I’m getting a handle on solving this productivity puzzle for myself, I’d like to help you do the same!

We all deserve to live our best life – with passion, serenity, and an assured focus.

About

This is REBowman.com, the “professional interest” website for Robert E. Bowman-Labbie (professionally – Robert E. Bowman). I use this site to explore personal productivity, living intentionally, and managing projects and programs.

Special interests include: aligning values with action, cultivating “flow” and focus, organizational methods and tools, and the program vs project vs task mindset. Often information will be backed up by links to quality research – but from time to time I hope you will forgive the occasional unsubstantiated personal anecdote.

Professionally, my career has largely been in program and project management across a wide variety of industries, but I’ve also enjoyed serving in business analyst and training roles. My current employer provides healthcare insurance as part of an integrated healthcare delivery system, and working these past few years with these colleagues to solve these business challenges ranks at the top of my career experiences.  And yes, while that statement is 100% true, I know how it sounds. Well, you don’t have to believe me, that’s ok.

Personally, I’m so happy to have found both the LOML and a fantastic city, after an earlier false start. Sometimes trauma forces us in new directions that prove to be far better than we can imagine at the time. I enjoy endurance running, creative fiction and nonfiction, geeky pleasures, and tech gadgets. I try to live with compassion and kindness.

I’d love to hear from you – whether in a comment on the blog, via e-mail or Twitter.