Yesterday Michael Schechter and I launched our new joint venture: Workflowing.
Like Schechter, I’ve been split across too many online realms for too long. So I’m not only consolidating my projects into less portals, I’m also going to be better clarifying what will go up here and what will go up at Workflowing. Managing multiple social media profiles has become onerous as well – even with tools like HootSuite. By streamlining things into one profile, I won’t be splitting my focus (and Schechter’s) – and I won’t be giving those that follow our respective work too many places to go either.
Why Workflowing? You’ll find the answer to that in our initial post at the site.
But the bigger question many of you will have is: What exactly is Workflowing?
Schechter, who originated the idea, explained it best:
“Workflowing is a collaboration between Michael Schechter, Mike Vardy and others. It looks to highlight work that can help you to do more. For many – especially those who need it most – the ideas of productivity and workflow have lost their meaning. We look to do better.”
The “others” that are mentioned include writers we respect and admire who will regularly contribute to Workflowing, initially through the Workflowing Weekly newsletter and (ideally) on the site once we really get up and running this summer.
We’re going to evolve Workflowing in front of your eyes – much in the same way that Patrick Rhone has evolved his new Minimal Guides project – so it won’t always be clean and crisp. I think the best way to describe this process is that we’ll be building a better mess (an obvious nod to Schechter’s site) into something even better over time. We’ll want feedback as we do this, because this site aims to help all of us do better – even (or especially) us.
As for the things you’ll find at Workflowing…they are outlined on our first post at the site, which you’ll find here. At first, we’ll be delivering weekly newsletters – founded in the spirit of the recently halted Read & Trust offerings – and you can subscribe to those at the top of the Workflowing home page.
This means some changes to our Mike Techniques project – as in, we are going to roll it into Workflowing. The free members-only podcast will remain under the Workflowing banner (with a name change), and the newsletter will morph into the Workflowing Weekly newsletter. The more personal aspects that we’ve been posting on the original newsletter will make their way to our personal sites as more of the more straightforward productivity posts start to live on Workflowing.
But what does all of this mean for this blog?
Not much…for now. I’ll be shifting some of what I’d put here over to Workflowing once the site develops beyond the initial weekly newsletters. But as of now you’ll see a new look here at the site as I moved from WordPress to Squarespace. I’ve been using Squarespace for MikeVardy.com for a while now, and with the addition of e-commerce options to the platform I decided to pull the trigger. I’ve had a lot of fun preparing the new site – which is only a slight redesign in my mind – and I’d love to hear what you think of the new look (including the removal of the “.com” from “Productivityist”) in the comments.
Which brings me to the last part of the new way I’ll work.
I’ve decided to roll MikeVardy.com into this site as well. This site will be my online home going forward, and I’ll be able to better maintain all aspects of my controllable web portals right from here. (I’ll also be saving a bit of money every month – which is an attractive byproduct of this move.)
I’m really excited about these changes. I’m really excited about Workflowing. I’m streamlining all of my online work and creating a better overall focus, which is important for me to…well…do better.
