https://simplecast.com Late Nights with Trav and Los Best friends, Trav & Los, talk late into the night, exploring new ideas for creative professionals. They argue over concepts, share secrets, and interview their industry heroes. 2019 Late Nights with Trav and Los en Fri, 1 Jan 2021 14:00:00 +0000 Fri, 1 Jan 2021 14:00:10 +0000 http://travandlos.com Late Nights with Trav and Los https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/49d0e39c-a5e4-4321-aba9-5d4244f90e65/1058549d-50d9-4766-be3b-a1791f74272a/3000x3000/1445217302artwork.jpg?aid=rss_feed http://travandlos.com serial Best friends, Trav & Los, talk late into the night, exploring new ideas for creative professionals. They argue over concepts, share secrets, and interview their industry heroes. Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya no https://feeds.simplecast.com/weVLqLY9 Design, Creativity, Creation, Mobile, Websites, DevTips, Sketch, Photoshop, Freelancing, Creative Business, Webdesigner, Webdesign, Creative Professional, self-help, self-learning, self-learner, mentor, teaching, help, focus, productivity, curiosity, writ Trav and Los travandlos@gmail.com 90c78ffa-c7eb-4c5e-8e86-89a174f17813 Do You Feel Safe? — How psychological safety makes us better creators Do you feel safe here?

Google’s PILab identified psychological safety as the biggest differentiator between highly effective and less effective teams. Psychological safety is a general term for team members’ willingness to take interpersonal risk as they work together. Members of psychologically safe teams are more likely to feel included, accepted, respected, and to feel safe to take risks, to admit mistakes and to show vulnerability.

What can you do to build psychological safety?

  1. Include each team member in social activities, such as lunch or ping pong, especially when he or she is not part of the ‘in crowd’. In meetings, formal or informal, make sure they feel invited to contribute.

  2. Accept others for who they are, even when there are things about them that you may not like. Keep in mind that they are people — not just co-workers who are instrumental in getting your job done.

  3. Listen to what your team member has to say and make sure you’re on the same page; don’t simply wait for the end of their speech to continue your argument.

  4. Recognize the contribution of others - acknowledge their contribution. You’ll discover that sharing the pie of credit with others makes the pie larger.

  5. Show vulnerability and admit mistakes — recognizing your own imperfections and mistakes relieves you from the need to project the image of perfection.  It also makes room for others to do the same.

  6. Make room for conflict — it is okay to strongly disagree. Having said that; focus on the conflicting ideas, not on the people who advocate them.

]]> Fri, 1 Jan 2021 14:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Jayna Neilson) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/56-13b53d14 Do you feel safe here?

Google’s PILab identified psychological safety as the biggest differentiator between highly effective and less effective teams. Psychological safety is a general term for team members’ willingness to take interpersonal risk as they work together. Members of psychologically safe teams are more likely to feel included, accepted, respected, and to feel safe to take risks, to admit mistakes and to show vulnerability.

What can you do to build psychological safety?

  1. Include each team member in social activities, such as lunch or ping pong, especially when he or she is not part of the ‘in crowd’. In meetings, formal or informal, make sure they feel invited to contribute.

  2. Accept others for who they are, even when there are things about them that you may not like. Keep in mind that they are people — not just co-workers who are instrumental in getting your job done.

  3. Listen to what your team member has to say and make sure you’re on the same page; don’t simply wait for the end of their speech to continue your argument.

  4. Recognize the contribution of others - acknowledge their contribution. You’ll discover that sharing the pie of credit with others makes the pie larger.

  5. Show vulnerability and admit mistakes — recognizing your own imperfections and mistakes relieves you from the need to project the image of perfection.  It also makes room for others to do the same.

  6. Make room for conflict — it is okay to strongly disagree. Having said that; focus on the conflicting ideas, not on the people who advocate them.

]]> Do You Feel Safe? — How psychological safety makes us better creators Travis Neilson and Jayna Neilson 00:58:36 Trav is joined by his wife Jayna and they discuss how psychological safety plays a critical role in creative output and collaboration in teams, groups, and families. Trav is joined by his wife Jayna and they discuss how psychological safety plays a critical role in creative output and collaboration in teams, groups, and families. no full 56 1 3a6dd62b-cbde-4157-b9c9-cac43186a7c6 New job at Google, gets on bus to Apple... Travis wants to go back to school so he accepts a job at Google. On his first day he ends up getting on a bus to Apple, not Google.

The rest of the story is about how introspection into ones own strengths and weaknesses can lead you to companies like Google.

Music produced by Morqix: https://soundcloud.com/morqix/body-symmetry-chakra-collab

]]> Wed, 1 Jan 2020 10:49:01 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/47-cd3ec7ea Travis wants to go back to school so he accepts a job at Google. On his first day he ends up getting on a bus to Apple, not Google.

The rest of the story is about how introspection into ones own strengths and weaknesses can lead you to companies like Google.

Music produced by Morqix: https://soundcloud.com/morqix/body-symmetry-chakra-collab

]]> New job at Google, gets on bus to Apple... Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:16:16 Travis wants to go back to school so he accepts a job at Google. On his first day he ends up getting on a bus to Apple, not Google. Travis wants to go back to school so he accepts a job at Google. On his first day he ends up getting on a bus to Apple, not Google. thought leaders, bus, development, los, apple, thought leadership, design, technology, tav, google, web, photoshop, trav and los, business no full 47 1 d8be12e2-7468-4e12-b9a8-ef4ae476d031 Unconscious Bias — The Importance of Understanding Things As They Are Trav tells Los about the importance of recognizing your Unconscious Bias, and ways that we can overcome the negative aspects of it.

]]> Wed, 1 Jan 2020 09:00:03 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/46-7d656013 Trav tells Los about the importance of recognizing your Unconscious Bias, and ways that we can overcome the negative aspects of it.

]]> Unconscious Bias — The Importance of Understanding Things As They Are Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:34:31 Trav tells Los about the importance of recognizing your Unconscious Bias, and ways that we can overcome the negative aspects of it. Trav tells Los about the importance of recognizing your Unconscious Bias, and ways that we can overcome the negative aspects of it. design, thinking, "unconscious bias", work, interviewing, psychology, business, meditation, google no full 46 1 482be90a-294a-4d4d-b594-cdac27ed2da8 The Three Pillars of Creation Three Pillars of Creation = Experience + Trends + Intuition

 

Experience

There really is no substitute for experience. It is a hard-won reference for everything that we do. In fact, every new thing that we learn is born from the womb of our experience. It colors everything we know and do, and there is no way around that.

90% of the email answers I give are to “just make stuff” What we all need is more experience, and the only way to get that is to just do it.
 

Trends

Trends are an important ingredient in the recipe of creation. Through being aware of trends we have the ability borrow against the collective knowledge and insight of the rest of the world. If a piece of knowledge is solid enough to make it into the general lexicon, we can cautiously assume that the idea has been tested and tried and remains sound overall.

Having said that, be weary of trends. Things are not always popular because they are good ideas. Use your experience and intuition to validate trends. Doing something just because everyone else is, is never a good idea. Have a reason. Always.
 

Intuition

As new parents in the hospital, my wife and I franticly asked the nurses and doctors about every little detail of infant care. I was so freaked out by this little pink batch of skin and bone that was now my responsibility. Eventually the response came to be “Listen, calm down. Just trust your instincts, you’ll be alright.”

Human intuition is a powerful thing, often when we are creating we make a choice simply because it feels right.

I’m sure you’ve had the experience of having to explain a choice that you made because it just made sense. And now that you are using language to explain it, you see how really brilliant you were in making it. Those are fun moments.

Conclusion

Understanding these pillars – these input sources of creation – will better help us to demystify the act of creation itself. To be a successful creator in the long run we must ever be gathering experience, observing trends, and trusting our intuition.

]]> Wed, 1 Jan 2020 09:00:03 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/43-a83b6a14 Three Pillars of Creation = Experience + Trends + Intuition

 

Experience

There really is no substitute for experience. It is a hard-won reference for everything that we do. In fact, every new thing that we learn is born from the womb of our experience. It colors everything we know and do, and there is no way around that.

90% of the email answers I give are to “just make stuff” What we all need is more experience, and the only way to get that is to just do it.
 

Trends

Trends are an important ingredient in the recipe of creation. Through being aware of trends we have the ability borrow against the collective knowledge and insight of the rest of the world. If a piece of knowledge is solid enough to make it into the general lexicon, we can cautiously assume that the idea has been tested and tried and remains sound overall.

Having said that, be weary of trends. Things are not always popular because they are good ideas. Use your experience and intuition to validate trends. Doing something just because everyone else is, is never a good idea. Have a reason. Always.
 

Intuition

As new parents in the hospital, my wife and I franticly asked the nurses and doctors about every little detail of infant care. I was so freaked out by this little pink batch of skin and bone that was now my responsibility. Eventually the response came to be “Listen, calm down. Just trust your instincts, you’ll be alright.”

Human intuition is a powerful thing, often when we are creating we make a choice simply because it feels right.

I’m sure you’ve had the experience of having to explain a choice that you made because it just made sense. And now that you are using language to explain it, you see how really brilliant you were in making it. Those are fun moments.

Conclusion

Understanding these pillars – these input sources of creation – will better help us to demystify the act of creation itself. To be a successful creator in the long run we must ever be gathering experience, observing trends, and trusting our intuition.

]]> The Three Pillars of Creation Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:16:46 Trav tells Los about his theory of where creative ideas come from. Experience + Trends + Intuition Trav tells Los about his theory of where creative ideas come from. Experience + Trends + Intuition work, creative work, creation, design, business, combine, creative, copy, transform no full 43 1 2be19781-0792-4d11-a281-ebc1052bc168 Season 3 Trav & Los Premiere: Distractions Become Your Habits Show Links:

Intro:

Welcome to the Late Nights with Trav and Los Season 3 Premier and Finale!

I’m Los, your host tonight and Tav is joining us as the listener proxy.

Discussion Points:

* Catch Up

* Los

* Company was acquired via a merger with a company called Twenty

* Our goal is to enable and enrich experiences by bringing people together in real life.

* Building out Los Montoya Design Co on the side

* Trav

* Little Music Boxes

* Topic

* Nir Eyal

* Nir Eyal is the bestselling author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, which drew on his years of experience in the video gaming and advertising industries. He has taught courses on applied consumer psychology at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and at Fortune 500 companies. His writing on technology, psychology and business appears in the Harvard Business Review, the Atlantic, TechCrunch and Psychology Today.

* I want to more specifically talk about the thesis that “Being Indisctractable will be the skill of the future” around his forthcoming book “Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.”

* This is interesting to me and want to expand on it with you for two reasons:

* 1. We’ve talked about focus a bit in the previous seasons and

* 2. Out of anyone I know, you continue to demonstrate how “indistractable” you can get and accomplish some pretty rad creative endeavors.

* Distractions are the name of the game right now:

* Pings

* Knocks

* Emails

* Text Messages

* Social Media

* in a sense, our devices have “hijacked” our brains and it’s harder to disconnect from work in this interconnected world.

* Distractions aren’t your fault, but they are your responsibility. So, how do we equip ourselves to manage these distractions?

* So, what’s a distraction?

* It’s something that draws us away from what we want to do, whether it’s to accomplish a task at home or work, enjoy time with a loved one, or do something for ourselves.

* Distractions can become habits and we may be unable to sustain the focus required for creativity in our professional and personal lives.

* We are inundated by digital distractions.

* On the opposite side, we have Traction. Which is any action that moves us towards what we want. Actions done with intent. Traction is doing what you say you will do.

* So, what prompts us to “traction” or “distraction”?

* External triggers

* Cues from our environment that tell us what to do

* Internal triggers

* Cues that come from within

* How?

* We are going to walk through and discuss these points from the medium post. They are well worded and actionable:

1. Master Internal Triggers

2. Make time for traction

  1. PICK YOUR VALUES!!!!

3. Hack back External Triggers

4. Prevent distraction with pacts

Conclusion:

The world is split into two types of people: those who allow their attention and their lives to be manipulated by others, and those who proudly call themselves indistractable.

]]> Fri, 27 Sep 2019 05:40:21 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Carlos Montoya, Travis Neilson, Nir Eyal) https://travandlos.webflow.io Show Links:

Intro:

Welcome to the Late Nights with Trav and Los Season 3 Premier and Finale!

I’m Los, your host tonight and Tav is joining us as the listener proxy.

Discussion Points:

* Catch Up

* Los

* Company was acquired via a merger with a company called Twenty

* Our goal is to enable and enrich experiences by bringing people together in real life.

* Building out Los Montoya Design Co on the side

* Trav

* Little Music Boxes

* Topic

* Nir Eyal

* Nir Eyal is the bestselling author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, which drew on his years of experience in the video gaming and advertising industries. He has taught courses on applied consumer psychology at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and at Fortune 500 companies. His writing on technology, psychology and business appears in the Harvard Business Review, the Atlantic, TechCrunch and Psychology Today.

* I want to more specifically talk about the thesis that “Being Indisctractable will be the skill of the future” around his forthcoming book “Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.”

* This is interesting to me and want to expand on it with you for two reasons:

* 1. We’ve talked about focus a bit in the previous seasons and

* 2. Out of anyone I know, you continue to demonstrate how “indistractable” you can get and accomplish some pretty rad creative endeavors.

* Distractions are the name of the game right now:

* Pings

* Knocks

* Emails

* Text Messages

* Social Media

* in a sense, our devices have “hijacked” our brains and it’s harder to disconnect from work in this interconnected world.

* Distractions aren’t your fault, but they are your responsibility. So, how do we equip ourselves to manage these distractions?

* So, what’s a distraction?

* It’s something that draws us away from what we want to do, whether it’s to accomplish a task at home or work, enjoy time with a loved one, or do something for ourselves.

* Distractions can become habits and we may be unable to sustain the focus required for creativity in our professional and personal lives.

* We are inundated by digital distractions.

* On the opposite side, we have Traction. Which is any action that moves us towards what we want. Actions done with intent. Traction is doing what you say you will do.

* So, what prompts us to “traction” or “distraction”?

* External triggers

* Cues from our environment that tell us what to do

* Internal triggers

* Cues that come from within

* How?

* We are going to walk through and discuss these points from the medium post. They are well worded and actionable:

1. Master Internal Triggers

2. Make time for traction

  1. PICK YOUR VALUES!!!!

3. Hack back External Triggers

4. Prevent distraction with pacts

Conclusion:

The world is split into two types of people: those who allow their attention and their lives to be manipulated by others, and those who proudly call themselves indistractable.

]]> Season 3 Trav & Los Premiere: Distractions Become Your Habits Carlos Montoya, Travis Neilson, Nir Eyal 00:56:04 In this Season 3 Premiere and Finale: Trav & Los talk about what they've been up to since last episode and then dive deep into how your distractions usually end up becoming your habits. In this Season 3 Premiere and Finale: Trav & Los talk about what they've been up to since last episode and then dive deep into how your distractions usually end up becoming your habits. season 3 premiere & finale, los montoya design co., season 3, little music boxes, los, podcast, trav & los, youtube, travis, trav, season 3 premiere, carlos no full 1 3 ec67c8d8-b4a3-4267-9b4f-3fc92237b1b3 The Last Episode Hello, this is Travis. Los has been roaming around in the Utah desert for a few months,
And I'm alone in a hotel room in New york, trying to force myself to edit this podcast that I've been
putting off for too long.

This is a particularly hard episode to make. I'm guessing you've read the title, so you know what I'm
talking about. In this episode Los and I agree to end the podcast. It's officially over.

In this episode you'll hear me dance around the topic for a while and finally work up the courage to
suggest we end. It's kind of funny, it's mostly sad, but also joyful.

Los and I are going to talk about some of the standout highlights of making late nights for the
past few years, and give short updates about what is going on in our lives.

I like it. I think it's a good episode. You know, it kind of reminds me of this thing Los and I would
always tell each other when making content like this; we would say "End strong" – just end strong.

It's okay if you loose your place or stumble around in the middle, just make sure to end on a high point. — And I think we do that here. I think this is a beautiful expression of what in my mind was always the best thing about this podcast: that Los and I love each other. I think that comes through —strongly.

]]> Tue, 7 Aug 2018 22:57:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/5c6c7347-7957ad68 Hello, this is Travis. Los has been roaming around in the Utah desert for a few months,
And I'm alone in a hotel room in New york, trying to force myself to edit this podcast that I've been
putting off for too long.

This is a particularly hard episode to make. I'm guessing you've read the title, so you know what I'm
talking about. In this episode Los and I agree to end the podcast. It's officially over.

In this episode you'll hear me dance around the topic for a while and finally work up the courage to
suggest we end. It's kind of funny, it's mostly sad, but also joyful.

Los and I are going to talk about some of the standout highlights of making late nights for the
past few years, and give short updates about what is going on in our lives.

I like it. I think it's a good episode. You know, it kind of reminds me of this thing Los and I would
always tell each other when making content like this; we would say "End strong" – just end strong.

It's okay if you loose your place or stumble around in the middle, just make sure to end on a high point. — And I think we do that here. I think this is a beautiful expression of what in my mind was always the best thing about this podcast: that Los and I love each other. I think that comes through —strongly.

]]> The Last Episode Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:24:45 This is a particularly hard episode to make. I'm guessing you've read the title, so you know what I'm talking about. In this episode Los and I agree to end the podcast. It's officially over. This is a particularly hard episode to make. I'm guessing you've read the title, so you know what I'm talking about. In this episode Los and I agree to end the podcast. It's officially over. no full 139 1 4068563a-4483-4a92-b6a8-6daa66df82b5 How To Not Take Yourself Too Seriously Wed, 15 Nov 2017 20:50:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/5498e3da-b8e206f8 How To Not Take Yourself Too Seriously Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:19:12 Trav and Los talk about the value of being able to doubt your assumptions and provide a little test that you can use to determine if your assumptions are based on good values. Ultimately, they conclude that if your assumptions are asking other people to change, they may not be productive assumptions. Trav and Los talk about the value of being able to doubt your assumptions and provide a little test that you can use to determine if your assumptions are based on good values. Ultimately, they conclude that if your assumptions are asking other people to change, they may not be productive assumptions. no full 138 1 84db0265-a8c4-407d-bf46-cd787fc14446 How to make deep connections quickly Trav and Los talk about meeting new people and making deep connections quickly. Download the questions we used as conversation prompts when we led the first night at Epicurrence this year.

See the list of questions here: https://paper.dropbox.com/doc/Speed-meeting-prompts-with-Trav-Los-aFWCavu40GtqXOb6f3kyH

]]> Wed, 8 Nov 2017 15:07:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/ca06dce5-cee42c9a Trav and Los talk about meeting new people and making deep connections quickly. Download the questions we used as conversation prompts when we led the first night at Epicurrence this year.

See the list of questions here: https://paper.dropbox.com/doc/Speed-meeting-prompts-with-Trav-Los-aFWCavu40GtqXOb6f3kyH

]]> How to make deep connections quickly Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:22:02 Trav and Los talk about meeting new people and making deep connections quickly. Download the questions we used as conversation prompts when we led the first night at Epicurrence this year. Trav and Los talk about meeting new people and making deep connections quickly. Download the questions we used as conversation prompts when we led the first night at Epicurrence this year. no full 137 1 8153ee6b-3adc-4891-9f14-5cff04c36e50 Los has a new job Wed, 1 Nov 2017 14:19:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/e490470d-08bd1627 Los has a new job Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:30:16 Los recently switched employers and Travis wants to know how to make the best impression at a new job. This is actually a good episode, lol. Los recently switched employers and Travis wants to know how to make the best impression at a new job. This is actually a good episode, lol. no full 136 1 cefb4eb9-4289-4abe-814d-03ab529b000b Viable Minimum Product In this episode we take a look at how the ethos of "Minimum Viable Product" has been lost in translation. We break it down, unpack it, and talk to the spirit of what once was the MVP.

]]> Tue, 24 Oct 2017 07:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/vmp-6856de37 In this episode we take a look at how the ethos of "Minimum Viable Product" has been lost in translation. We break it down, unpack it, and talk to the spirit of what once was the MVP.

]]> Viable Minimum Product Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:25:46 In this episode we take a look at how the ethos of "Minimum Viable Product" has been lost in translation. We break it down, unpack it, and talk to the spirit of what once was the MVP. In this episode we take a look at how the ethos of "Minimum Viable Product" has been lost in translation. We break it down, unpack it, and talk to the spirit of what once was the MVP. no full 135 1 1a562952-6703-49d4-913a-d7cd818d74ec Getting Started as a Public Speaker In this episode, we unravel a thread of an idea and watch it unravel into a fantastic walkthrough from Travis around some potential actions we could take to get started as a public speaker.

]]> Tue, 10 Oct 2017 15:26:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/publicspeaking-fabe5fe8 In this episode, we unravel a thread of an idea and watch it unravel into a fantastic walkthrough from Travis around some potential actions we could take to get started as a public speaker.

]]> Getting Started as a Public Speaker Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:31:41 In this episode, we unravel a thread of an idea and watch it unravel into a fantastic walkthrough from Travis around some potential actions we could take to get started as a public speaker. In this episode, we unravel a thread of an idea and watch it unravel into a fantastic walkthrough from Travis around some potential actions we could take to get started as a public speaker. los, late nights with trav and los, late nights, public speaking, podcast, business, design, tech, network, late nights update, twitter, the tech, facebook, trav, intro, the future, instagram no full 134 1 3ec71393-2ad8-4e51-84e0-5bf26796db88 The Fantastic Story of Oliver Blank Trav tells Los about meeting a designer who took a stand for what he believes in.

]]> Tue, 26 Sep 2017 23:20:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/c5ab550a-0739a689 Trav tells Los about meeting a designer who took a stand for what he believes in.

]]> The Fantastic Story of Oliver Blank Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:32:49 Trav tells Los about meeting a designer who took a stand for what he believes in. Trav tells Los about meeting a designer who took a stand for what he believes in. no full 133 1 0e2de826-a438-448a-aa04-6778a85662be Tools, not Rules (live conference talk) Tue, 19 Sep 2017 20:37:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/31c5eea1-3eea2a33 Tools, not Rules (live conference talk) Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:36:07 Trav gives a live presentation in front of a small group about lessons learned after three years of podcasting. Thank you to invisibletalks.com for putting the event together! Trav gives a live presentation in front of a small group about lessons learned after three years of podcasting. Thank you to invisibletalks.com for putting the event together! no full 132 1 2e03a55a-e122-49e2-b47a-00409549d4ba Alex Tran + New Designer + Fresh In this episode we talk to Alex Tran about being a Junior Designer and his journey into design

]]> Tue, 29 Aug 2017 14:57:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/2a7e628e-2a7e628e In this episode we talk to Alex Tran about being a Junior Designer and his journey into design

]]> Alex Tran + New Designer + Fresh Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:26:08 In this episode we talk to Alex Tran about being a Junior Designer and his journey into design In this episode we talk to Alex Tran about being a Junior Designer and his journey into design lumen bigot, the future, pablo stanley, the tech, instagram, business, late nights update, facebook, trav, twitter, tech, carlos montoya, podcast, intro, travis neilson, network, late nights with trav and los, late nights, design, los no full 131 1 5e971b29-b225-40fd-bbf9-0ecd4d22d821 Aidan Simpson – Part 2 Trav and Aidan talk about the art of podcasting and how Aiden thinks about the work he is currently involved in.

]]> Tue, 22 Aug 2017 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/db1b2abd-db1b2abd Trav and Aidan talk about the art of podcasting and how Aiden thinks about the work he is currently involved in.

]]> Aidan Simpson – Part 2 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:33:27 Trav and Aidan talk about the art of podcasting and how Aiden thinks about the work he is currently involved in. Trav and Aidan talk about the art of podcasting and how Aiden thinks about the work he is currently involved in. no full 130 1 40a5982d-2a10-4792-821f-5169eb53646d Aidan Simpson – Part 1 Trav sits down with Aidan Simpson to talk about how his life experiences contribute to the creative work that he does today.

]]> Tue, 15 Aug 2017 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/129-3caa02fb Trav sits down with Aidan Simpson to talk about how his life experiences contribute to the creative work that he does today.

]]> Aidan Simpson – Part 1 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:34:39 Trav sits down with Aidan Simpson to talk about how his life experiences contribute to the creative work that he does today. Trav sits down with Aidan Simpson to talk about how his life experiences contribute to the creative work that he does today. no full 129 1 dfd9a6e7-b302-451a-a3f3-89dcd81df12b Pleasure + Purpose = Happiness Travis talks with Chas about trying to balance pleasure and purpose to find happiness

]]> Tue, 8 Aug 2017 22:40:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/128-612608a9 Travis talks with Chas about trying to balance pleasure and purpose to find happiness

]]> Pleasure + Purpose = Happiness Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:37:12 Travis talks with Chas about trying to balance pleasure and purpose to find happiness Travis talks with Chas about trying to balance pleasure and purpose to find happiness no full 128 1 fcd4bcb8-c6a6-4ea3-ba2d-35108ffcd4e6 Craft & Launching & Balance & Dark UX Patterns In this episode Trav and Los talk about Craft & Launching & Balance & Dark UX Patterns

Episode Sponsor:
http://bit.ly/FreshBooks001

]]> Tue, 1 Aug 2017 07:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/127-4063b90a In this episode Trav and Los talk about Craft & Launching & Balance & Dark UX Patterns

Episode Sponsor:
http://bit.ly/FreshBooks001

]]> Craft & Launching & Balance & Dark UX Patterns Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:32:29 In this episode Trav and Los talk about Craft & Launching & Balance & Dark UX Patterns In this episode Trav and Los talk about Craft & Launching & Balance & Dark UX Patterns carlos montoya, los montoya, freshbooks, network, travis neilson, lumen bigot, pablo stanley, podcast, diseño cha cha cha, design no full 127 1 4ff900f7-287e-4d17-b04b-0ec62f6feff0 Branding the network with a name in 30 minutes In this episode Trav and Los brand the podcast network and give it a name in about 30 minutes.

Episode Sponsor:
http://bit.ly/FreshBooks001

]]> Tue, 25 Jul 2017 07:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/126-f8a3d4d3 In this episode Trav and Los brand the podcast network and give it a name in about 30 minutes.

Episode Sponsor:
http://bit.ly/FreshBooks001

]]> Branding the network with a name in 30 minutes Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:37:39 In this episode Trav and Los brand the podcast network and give it a name in about 30 minutes. In this episode Trav and Los brand the podcast network and give it a name in about 30 minutes. business, design, instagram, network, late nights update, los, the tech, the future, travis neilson, late nights, pablo stanley, carlos montoya, trav, podcast, late nights with trav and los, tech, twitter, facebook, lumen bigot, intro no full 126 1 6cb79539-e693-49c2-bc45-ca66e827be53 What are you willing to struggle with? Trav and Los ponder the difference between struggling for something, and struggling with something. They arrive at an important realization that "it's the time in line, not the ride, that matters."

Episode Sponsor:
http://bit.ly/FreshBooks001

]]> Tue, 18 Jul 2017 10:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/125-9aa59b9d Trav and Los ponder the difference between struggling for something, and struggling with something. They arrive at an important realization that "it's the time in line, not the ride, that matters."

Episode Sponsor:
http://bit.ly/FreshBooks001

]]> What are you willing to struggle with? Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:17:17 Trav and Los ponder the difference between struggling for something, and struggling with something. They arrive at an important realization that "it's the time in line, not the ride, that matters." Trav and Los ponder the difference between struggling for something, and struggling with something. They arrive at an important realization that "it's the time in line, not the ride, that matters." no full 125 1 2416141f-edca-4b4a-bd16-308ff6235c35 In Defense Of The Ordinary Travis talks to Los about what it means to really appreciate life. They realize that it's the everyday mundane that is the part that that we really need to value.

Episode Sponsor:
http://bit.ly/FreshBooks001

]]> Tue, 11 Jul 2017 12:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/124-734f99f1 Travis talks to Los about what it means to really appreciate life. They realize that it's the everyday mundane that is the part that that we really need to value.

Episode Sponsor:
http://bit.ly/FreshBooks001

]]> In Defense Of The Ordinary Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:11:32 Travis talks to Los about what it means to really appreciate life. They realize that it's the everyday mundane that is the part that that we really need to value. Travis talks to Los about what it means to really appreciate life. They realize that it's the everyday mundane that is the part that that we really need to value. no full 124 1 f0b884ea-319b-4dde-a134-0f0d6e9cad21 Ready for the Late Nights podcast network? In this episode Trav and Los talk to Lumen and Pablo about starting a podcast network and what that would look like.

Episode Sponsor:
http://bit.ly/FreshBooks001

Diseño Cha Cha Cha:
https://www.disenochachacha.com/

]]> Wed, 5 Jul 2017 06:34:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/123-cd8ed95c In this episode Trav and Los talk to Lumen and Pablo about starting a podcast network and what that would look like.

Episode Sponsor:
http://bit.ly/FreshBooks001

Diseño Cha Cha Cha:
https://www.disenochachacha.com/

]]> Ready for the Late Nights podcast network? Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:30:00 In this episode Trav and Los talk to Lumen and Pablo about starting a podcast network and what that would look like. In this episode Trav and Los talk to Lumen and Pablo about starting a podcast network and what that would look like. diseño cha cha cha, pablo stanley, freshbooks, network, design, lumen bigot, travis neilson, los montoya, carlos montoya, podcast no full 123 1 225714e5-775a-4519-a744-aabdd3b44606 Trav and Los try and seduce two new design podcasters Trav and Los try and seduce two new design podcasters

New Podcast!: https://www.disenochachacha.com/

Music: https://soundcloud.com/chrldltn/cumbia-sobre-el-mar-quantic

]]> Tue, 20 Jun 2017 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/122-81b9eaf9 Trav and Los try and seduce two new design podcasters

New Podcast!: https://www.disenochachacha.com/

Music: https://soundcloud.com/chrldltn/cumbia-sobre-el-mar-quantic

]]> Trav and Los try and seduce two new design podcasters Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:37:20 Trav and Los try and seduce two new design podcasters Trav and Los try and seduce two new design podcasters podcast, late nights update, late nights, facebook, instagram, pablo stanley, intro, the future, late nights with trav and los, the tech, travis neilson, los, lumen bigot, business, network, twitter, carlos montoya, trav, tech, design no full 122 1 2f9c66b6-7b90-4f7e-84b7-ea73f2e33f35 Travis Is A Child Travis is mad because adulthood has no map, and pre-pubescence does.

]]> Thu, 8 Jun 2017 20:06:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/121-7dd65d0a Travis is mad because adulthood has no map, and pre-pubescence does.

]]> Travis Is A Child Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:19:07 Travis is mad because adulthood has no map, and pre-pubescence does. Travis is mad because adulthood has no map, and pre-pubescence does. no full 121 1 7625e782-76d6-48fc-8de2-583f6dd6c997 Real Honesty (pt.2) – Feat. Helen Tran, Chas Barton, & Kunal Patel We invite Helen Tran, Chas Barton, and Kunal Patel to gather around a table and try to answer some really difficult questions with real honesty.

]]> Tue, 2 May 2017 17:07:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/120-1b6d1974 We invite Helen Tran, Chas Barton, and Kunal Patel to gather around a table and try to answer some really difficult questions with real honesty.

]]> Real Honesty (pt.2) – Feat. Helen Tran, Chas Barton, & Kunal Patel Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:30:34 We invite Helen Tran, Chas Barton, and Kunal Patel to gather around a table and try to answer some really difficult questions with real honesty. We invite Helen Tran, Chas Barton, and Kunal Patel to gather around a table and try to answer some really difficult questions with real honesty. no full 120 1 2f174bd3-64b5-4834-9d7f-f8625d0d92b3 Real Honesty – Feat. Helen Tran, Chas Barton, & Kunal Patel We invite Helen Tran, Chas Barton, and Kunal Patel to gather around a table and try to answer some really difficult questions with real honesty.

]]> Mon, 1 May 2017 16:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/119-45ec3940 We invite Helen Tran, Chas Barton, and Kunal Patel to gather around a table and try to answer some really difficult questions with real honesty.

]]> Real Honesty – Feat. Helen Tran, Chas Barton, & Kunal Patel Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:47:28 We invite Helen Tran, Chas Barton, and Kunal Patel to gather around a table and try to answer some really difficult questions with real honesty. We invite Helen Tran, Chas Barton, and Kunal Patel to gather around a table and try to answer some really difficult questions with real honesty. no full 119 1 e05952a2-62db-4a90-b6f7-bb0e9edccaa4 The Stages of Group Development Stages of Group Development

The idea behind this was developed in 1965 by a man named Bruce Tuckman

He identified 4 stages at first. Fifth was added later.

  • Forming
    • Represents a time, just coming together
    • Anxiety and uncertainty
    • want to be accepted
    • conflict
    • controversy
    • personal opinions are avoided
    • the point and focus for group members during this stage is to become familiar with each other and their purpose, not on work.
      • Understanding of the group’s purpose
      • determining how the team will be organized
      • discussion of major milestones
      • outlining general group rules
      • discovery of what resources will be available for the group
  • Storming
    • conflict and competition are at its greatest
    • they start to feel confident
    • begin to address some of the more important issues surrounding the group
    • group’s tasks
    • individual roles and responsibilites
    • group members
    • the more dominant group members emerege
    • less-confrontational suppress feelings
    • all members have an increased need for clarification
      • not many groups are able to move forward
      • they need clarity
  • Norming
    • Group becomes a cohesive unit, morale is high
    • sense of community is established
    • remain focus on groups purpose or goal
    • members are flexible, interdependent and trust each other.
    • Leadership is shared, and
    • members are willing to adapt to the needs of the group
    • information flows seamlessly and is inhabited due to the sense of security members feel in the norming stage
  • Performing
    • This is the peak of the group
    • this is marked by high productivity
    • group members are unified, loyal and supportive.
    • competence in all members is seen, allowing for a high level of autonomy in decision making.
    • the overall objective of the group in this stage is to complete their mission and fulfill their purpose through goal achievement
  • Adjourning
    • once goals and objectives have been achieved
    • at this point it’s important to achieve closure for the group on a positive note
    • important to recognize the group members for their accomplishments and celebrate the group’s overall success
]]> Tue, 18 Apr 2017 08:24:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/118-0e46413a Stages of Group Development

The idea behind this was developed in 1965 by a man named Bruce Tuckman

He identified 4 stages at first. Fifth was added later.

  • Forming
    • Represents a time, just coming together
    • Anxiety and uncertainty
    • want to be accepted
    • conflict
    • controversy
    • personal opinions are avoided
    • the point and focus for group members during this stage is to become familiar with each other and their purpose, not on work.
      • Understanding of the group’s purpose
      • determining how the team will be organized
      • discussion of major milestones
      • outlining general group rules
      • discovery of what resources will be available for the group
  • Storming
    • conflict and competition are at its greatest
    • they start to feel confident
    • begin to address some of the more important issues surrounding the group
    • group’s tasks
    • individual roles and responsibilites
    • group members
    • the more dominant group members emerege
    • less-confrontational suppress feelings
    • all members have an increased need for clarification
      • not many groups are able to move forward
      • they need clarity
  • Norming
    • Group becomes a cohesive unit, morale is high
    • sense of community is established
    • remain focus on groups purpose or goal
    • members are flexible, interdependent and trust each other.
    • Leadership is shared, and
    • members are willing to adapt to the needs of the group
    • information flows seamlessly and is inhabited due to the sense of security members feel in the norming stage
  • Performing
    • This is the peak of the group
    • this is marked by high productivity
    • group members are unified, loyal and supportive.
    • competence in all members is seen, allowing for a high level of autonomy in decision making.
    • the overall objective of the group in this stage is to complete their mission and fulfill their purpose through goal achievement
  • Adjourning
    • once goals and objectives have been achieved
    • at this point it’s important to achieve closure for the group on a positive note
    • important to recognize the group members for their accomplishments and celebrate the group’s overall success
]]> The Stages of Group Development Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:21:02 Los gives us some insight into an idea coined in 1965 about the different stages groups go through when in a group. Los gives us some insight into an idea coined in 1965 about the different stages groups go through when in a group. tech, late nights with trav and los, podcast, business, the future, trav, late nights, design, twitter, facebook, instagram, los, network, late nights update, the tech no full 118 1 e448bf69-cb88-4eb4-9c7d-657a1586a743 A Lesson To My Younger Self If you could give your younger self one piece of advise, what would it be?

]]> Fri, 14 Apr 2017 17:04:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/117-a0ce3032 If you could give your younger self one piece of advise, what would it be?

]]> A Lesson To My Younger Self Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:19:20 If you could give your younger self one piece of advise, what would it be? If you could give your younger self one piece of advise, what would it be? no full 117 1 a9086b3d-ef1f-440a-8c25-1841b7f5f226 Five Love Languages (and how to use them) Trav tells Los about the five languages of love and how we can use this paradigm to communicate more effectively with everyone around us.

]]> Tue, 4 Apr 2017 06:40:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/116-e7a9b23c Trav tells Los about the five languages of love and how we can use this paradigm to communicate more effectively with everyone around us.

]]> Five Love Languages (and how to use them) Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:15:26 Trav tells Los about the five languages of love and how we can use this paradigm to communicate more effectively with everyone around us. Trav tells Los about the five languages of love and how we can use this paradigm to communicate more effectively with everyone around us. no full 116 1 f9beeb75-a0f1-44f4-b5e0-487a89532718 Think To Talk (a method for collaboration and communication) In this episode Trav talks about the way he likes to think through problems in groups and Los introduces the idea that some people are "Talk to Think" and other are "Think to Talk". A can't miss episode.

]]> Tue, 28 Mar 2017 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/115-c6e72fe9 In this episode Trav talks about the way he likes to think through problems in groups and Los introduces the idea that some people are "Talk to Think" and other are "Think to Talk". A can't miss episode.

]]> Think To Talk (a method for collaboration and communication) Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:30:01 In this episode Trav talks about the way he likes to think through problems in groups and Los introduces the idea that some people are "Talk to Think" and other are "Think to Talk". A can't miss episode. In this episode Trav talks about the way he likes to think through problems in groups and Los introduces the idea that some people are "Talk to Think" and other are "Think to Talk". A can't miss episode. no full 115 1 54f16a22-7244-4b88-bf8c-5ad32feefb5b How to get a podcast started In this episode Los walks us through some of the ideas to keep in mind when starting a podcast.

Outro music: https://soundcloud.com/dancewiththedead/around-the-world-dance-with-the-dead-remix

Podcasting: Late nights get started guide

How to get started

  1. Is it solo or with a friend?
  2. Interview style?
  3. Story telling?
  4. Is it live or asynchronous?

The Gear

Microphone

Shure SM7B Vocal Dynamic Microphone, Cardioid (3)
Amazon.com: Shure SM7B Vocal Dynamic Microphone, Cardioid: Musical Instruments

In-person recording

Zoom H6 6-track portable recorder (1) Amazon.com: Zoom H6 Six-Track Portable Recorder: Musical Instruments

Clean audio gain

Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter CL-1 (1) Amazon.com: Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter CL-1: Musical Instruments

Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter CL-2 (1) https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Microphones-CL-2-Cloudlifter/dp/B002WZK3BC/ref=sr_1_4?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1480529314&sr=1-4&keywords=cloud+microphones+cloudlifter+cl-1

Audio interace

Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 (1) Amazon.com: Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 (2nd Gen) USB Audio Interface with Pro Tools | First: Musical Instruments

Microphone Mount

Because I travel with my set up, I use the RODE boom arms.

RODE PSA1 Swivel Mount Studio Microphone Boom Arm (3) https://www.amazon.com/RODE-Swivel-Mount-Studio-Microphone/dp/B001D7UYBO/ref=pd_bxgy_267_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0AN5W5CWH0YCMNTHP582

Microphone pop filter

Dragonpad USA Pop filter Studio Microphone Mic Wind Screen Pop Filter (3) Amazon.com: Dragonpad USA Pop filter Studio Microphone Mic Wind Screen Pop Filter: Musical Instruments

XLR Cables

Mogami Gold Studio 03 XLR to XLR Quad Conductor Patch Cable 3 feet (6) https://www.amazon.com/Mogami-Gold-Studio-03-Conductor/dp/B0002E1P2G/ref=pd_sim_267_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SD37MW4EJT28697PBYCZ

Mobile carrying case

Everything but the Audio Interface fits in this case. I use a Fender bass case and took out all of the dividers inside to make room for the gear.

Fender Deluxe Case for Precision Bass - Black (1) https://www.amazon.com/Fender-Deluxe-Case-Precision-Bass/dp/B0002L0458/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1480530098&sr=8-6&keywords=fender+bass+guitar+case

The Software

Hindenburg Audio

Garage band

Auphonic

]]> Tue, 21 Mar 2017 12:38:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/114-1a315647 In this episode Los walks us through some of the ideas to keep in mind when starting a podcast.

Outro music: https://soundcloud.com/dancewiththedead/around-the-world-dance-with-the-dead-remix

Podcasting: Late nights get started guide

How to get started

  1. Is it solo or with a friend?
  2. Interview style?
  3. Story telling?
  4. Is it live or asynchronous?

The Gear

Microphone

Shure SM7B Vocal Dynamic Microphone, Cardioid (3)
Amazon.com: Shure SM7B Vocal Dynamic Microphone, Cardioid: Musical Instruments

In-person recording

Zoom H6 6-track portable recorder (1) Amazon.com: Zoom H6 Six-Track Portable Recorder: Musical Instruments

Clean audio gain

Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter CL-1 (1) Amazon.com: Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter CL-1: Musical Instruments

Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter CL-2 (1) https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Microphones-CL-2-Cloudlifter/dp/B002WZK3BC/ref=sr_1_4?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1480529314&sr=1-4&keywords=cloud+microphones+cloudlifter+cl-1

Audio interace

Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 (1) Amazon.com: Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 (2nd Gen) USB Audio Interface with Pro Tools | First: Musical Instruments

Microphone Mount

Because I travel with my set up, I use the RODE boom arms.

RODE PSA1 Swivel Mount Studio Microphone Boom Arm (3) https://www.amazon.com/RODE-Swivel-Mount-Studio-Microphone/dp/B001D7UYBO/ref=pd_bxgy_267_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0AN5W5CWH0YCMNTHP582

Microphone pop filter

Dragonpad USA Pop filter Studio Microphone Mic Wind Screen Pop Filter (3) Amazon.com: Dragonpad USA Pop filter Studio Microphone Mic Wind Screen Pop Filter: Musical Instruments

XLR Cables

Mogami Gold Studio 03 XLR to XLR Quad Conductor Patch Cable 3 feet (6) https://www.amazon.com/Mogami-Gold-Studio-03-Conductor/dp/B0002E1P2G/ref=pd_sim_267_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SD37MW4EJT28697PBYCZ

Mobile carrying case

Everything but the Audio Interface fits in this case. I use a Fender bass case and took out all of the dividers inside to make room for the gear.

Fender Deluxe Case for Precision Bass - Black (1) https://www.amazon.com/Fender-Deluxe-Case-Precision-Bass/dp/B0002L0458/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1480530098&sr=8-6&keywords=fender+bass+guitar+case

The Software

Hindenburg Audio

Garage band

Auphonic

]]> How to get a podcast started Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:29:56 In this episode Los walks us through some of the ideas to keep in mind when starting a podcast. In this episode Los walks us through some of the ideas to keep in mind when starting a podcast. tech, podcast, network, business, the future, the tech, late nights with trav and los, late nights update, trav, twitter, late nights, los, design, facebook, instagram no full 114 1 5367cf30-9e2f-41ce-a8d0-9d0426870497 The Future of Late Nights In this episode, Los walks us through the Future of Late Nights With Trav and Los.

Intro & Outro music: Daniel Deluxe - Star Eater
https://soundcloud.com/nrwrecords/daniel-deluxe-star-eater

]]> Tue, 14 Mar 2017 07:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/113-f404e3c3 In this episode, Los walks us through the Future of Late Nights With Trav and Los.

Intro & Outro music: Daniel Deluxe - Star Eater
https://soundcloud.com/nrwrecords/daniel-deluxe-star-eater

]]> The Future of Late Nights Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:24:33 In this episode, Los walks us through the Future of Late Nights With Trav and Los. In this episode, Los walks us through the Future of Late Nights With Trav and Los. tech, network, late nights with trav and los, twitter, podcast, trav, late nights, the tech, late nights update, los, facebook, instagram, business, the future, design no full 113 1 6a2a48a5-8b6d-4975-8a0a-d7c0ff3f1259 Undiiscovered Ep 2 — Morqix ##Morqix: https://soundcloud.com/morqix
##Desperate Measures release date March 15, 2017 on PhutureCollective: https://soundcloud.com/phuturecollective/sets

Welcome to another Late Nights with Trav and Los, I’m your host Los Montoya.

The episode you are listening to is the second episode of our new segment called; Undiiscovered. A show dedicated to bringing you the raw sounds of new and emerging musicians.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Matt McDonald who produces under the moniker of Morqix.

Born in Germany and raised in Northern Virginia, Morqix is an indie electronic producer living in Austin, TX. Starting in early 2016, Morqix is already making major headway in the electronic music scene, with his first few releases landing him upwards of 300k listeners and featured on blogs and channels like Suicide Sheep, Beautiful Buzzz, Run the Trap, High Clouds and Acid Stag, to name a few.

Morqix has an insatiable hunger to create upbeat feel good music while testing the bounds of his favorite genres. His love and knowledge of all things music has allowed him to create songs which unapologetically bridge genres, blending lush future bass sounds with trap, dubstep, hip-hop, jazz and funk vibes for good measure. The end result is a sound which refuses to be categorized, and finds a home with music lovers of all backgrounds.

We get the privilege of getting a pre-release exclusive and interview for his latest track Desperate Measures.

]]> Tue, 7 Mar 2017 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Los Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/112-4031dca5 ##Morqix: https://soundcloud.com/morqix
##Desperate Measures release date March 15, 2017 on PhutureCollective: https://soundcloud.com/phuturecollective/sets

Welcome to another Late Nights with Trav and Los, I’m your host Los Montoya.

The episode you are listening to is the second episode of our new segment called; Undiiscovered. A show dedicated to bringing you the raw sounds of new and emerging musicians.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Matt McDonald who produces under the moniker of Morqix.

Born in Germany and raised in Northern Virginia, Morqix is an indie electronic producer living in Austin, TX. Starting in early 2016, Morqix is already making major headway in the electronic music scene, with his first few releases landing him upwards of 300k listeners and featured on blogs and channels like Suicide Sheep, Beautiful Buzzz, Run the Trap, High Clouds and Acid Stag, to name a few.

Morqix has an insatiable hunger to create upbeat feel good music while testing the bounds of his favorite genres. His love and knowledge of all things music has allowed him to create songs which unapologetically bridge genres, blending lush future bass sounds with trap, dubstep, hip-hop, jazz and funk vibes for good measure. The end result is a sound which refuses to be categorized, and finds a home with music lovers of all backgrounds.

We get the privilege of getting a pre-release exclusive and interview for his latest track Desperate Measures.

]]> Undiiscovered Ep 2 — Morqix Los Montoya 00:23:24 The episode you are listening to is the second episode of our new segment called; Undiiscovered. A show dedicated to bringing you the raw sounds of new and emerging musicians. In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Matt McDonald who produces under the moniker of Morqix. The episode you are listening to is the second episode of our new segment called; Undiiscovered. A show dedicated to bringing you the raw sounds of new and emerging musicians. In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Matt McDonald who produces under the moniker of Morqix. raw sounds, late nights with trav and los, show, artist, music, artists, new, morqix, musician, undiiscovered, live, phuture collective, emerging, podcast, live performance, indie no full 112 1 42210e81-67c9-4510-905c-90f943c50090 Los Is A New Man Los talks about the major changes he's made in his life that have resulted in greater creative output and higher satisfaction.

]]> Tue, 28 Feb 2017 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/111-ca2ac940 Los talks about the major changes he's made in his life that have resulted in greater creative output and higher satisfaction.

]]> Los Is A New Man Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:34:01 Los talks about the major changes he's made in his life that have resulted in greater creative output and higher satisfaction. Los talks about the major changes he's made in his life that have resulted in greater creative output and higher satisfaction. no full 111 1 85aa46c8-afd5-47d4-85c6-afeb028d8bd3 The Nothing Word Trav tells Los about the word he is trying to avoid using, enabling him to have more honest and specific conversations.

]]> Tue, 21 Feb 2017 07:40:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/110-5dd7f8a7 Trav tells Los about the word he is trying to avoid using, enabling him to have more honest and specific conversations.

]]> The Nothing Word Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:21:38 Trav tells Los about the word he is trying to avoid using, enabling him to have more honest and specific conversations. Trav tells Los about the word he is trying to avoid using, enabling him to have more honest and specific conversations. no full 110 1 8397e901-3226-4d9f-907c-4949c044b418 Undiiscovered Ep 1 — John Henry's Farm Welcome to another Late Nights with Trav and Los, I’m your host Los Montoya. My other half, Trav, has been out of the country with work. In this episode, I introduce you to a new show that I’m producing and hosting.

The new segment is called Undiiscovered, a show dedicated to bringing you the raw sounds of new and emerging musicians. For the first episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing and taping a live performance with John Henry’s Farm, an ol' timey fingerpicking funky blues band.

To listen to more music from John Henry's Farm, and to support them go to:

https://tradiio.com/john-henrys-farm or https://johnhenrysfarm.bandcamp.com/

You can also find on on itunes: https://itun.es/us/mnoiA and on cdbaby: https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/johnhenrysfarm2

]]> Wed, 8 Feb 2017 03:40:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Los Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/109-b2a77bde Welcome to another Late Nights with Trav and Los, I’m your host Los Montoya. My other half, Trav, has been out of the country with work. In this episode, I introduce you to a new show that I’m producing and hosting.

The new segment is called Undiiscovered, a show dedicated to bringing you the raw sounds of new and emerging musicians. For the first episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing and taping a live performance with John Henry’s Farm, an ol' timey fingerpicking funky blues band.

To listen to more music from John Henry's Farm, and to support them go to:

https://tradiio.com/john-henrys-farm or https://johnhenrysfarm.bandcamp.com/

You can also find on on itunes: https://itun.es/us/mnoiA and on cdbaby: https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/johnhenrysfarm2

]]> Undiiscovered Ep 1 — John Henry's Farm Los Montoya 00:14:18 In this episode, I introduce you to a new show that I’m producing and hosting. The new segment is called Undiiscovered, a show dedicated to bringing you the raw sounds of new and emerging musicians. In this episode, I introduce you to a new show that I’m producing and hosting. The new segment is called Undiiscovered, a show dedicated to bringing you the raw sounds of new and emerging musicians. podcast, emerging, live performance, artist, artists, john henry's farm, raw sounds, music, show, musician, live, indie, late nights with trav and los, new, undiiscovered no full 109 1 48faa684-cd28-4f66-977b-2f2227db70d3 Your Portfolio is Your Pitch (with Mai Tran) Mai Tran joins Travis to talk about how to turn your portfolio into a pitch deck that wins work.

Music by MRSJXN

]]> Thu, 2 Feb 2017 05:51:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/108-318ce586 Mai Tran joins Travis to talk about how to turn your portfolio into a pitch deck that wins work.

Music by MRSJXN

]]> Your Portfolio is Your Pitch (with Mai Tran) Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:27:42 Mai Tran joins Travis to talk about how to turn your portfolio into a pitch deck that wins work. Mai Tran joins Travis to talk about how to turn your portfolio into a pitch deck that wins work. no full 108 1 a104bb23-122b-49ce-9d4c-b4fb7d9d77e9 Learn To See Your Problems As Funnel Problems Travis shares a way to look at some types of problems – think of them as a funnel!

Inspired by Jack Conte's video "Everything is a funnel" Watch the Video

]]> Tue, 24 Jan 2017 21:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/107-cb95981b Travis shares a way to look at some types of problems – think of them as a funnel!

Inspired by Jack Conte's video "Everything is a funnel" Watch the Video

]]> Learn To See Your Problems As Funnel Problems Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:15:45 Travis shares a way to look at some types of problems – think of them as a funnel! Inspired by Jack Conte's video "Everything is a funnel" Travis shares a way to look at some types of problems – think of them as a funnel! Inspired by Jack Conte's video "Everything is a funnel" no full 107 1 210d2838-6919-48c7-a7bd-5b4ba328c070 Unstoppable We play a game, then talk about being unstoppable.

Music:

https://soundcloud.com/andrewapplepie/hit-the-gas-1

https://soundcloud.com/sweaters/drop-the-game-sweater-beats-remix

]]> Tue, 17 Jan 2017 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/106-86bff87d We play a game, then talk about being unstoppable.

Music:

https://soundcloud.com/andrewapplepie/hit-the-gas-1

https://soundcloud.com/sweaters/drop-the-game-sweater-beats-remix

]]> Unstoppable Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:14:13 We play a game, then talk about being unstoppable. We play a game, then talk about being unstoppable. wisdom, losmontoya, trav, late nights with trav and los, motivation, silicon valley, drop it like its hot, devtips, design, los, unstoppable, knowledge, self help, designer, neilson no full 106 1 8fb67e0b-0354-4dcf-a58c-d558941301a1 A new year catch-up and chat After not recording in the same place for a month, we are back and have a chat.

Music:

https://soundcloud.com/dyallas/still-there

https://soundcloud.com/dubdogzdownloads/heathens

YOU ARE ALL AWESOME! THANKS FOR LISTENING :)

]]> Tue, 10 Jan 2017 09:28:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/105-13ea27c9 After not recording in the same place for a month, we are back and have a chat.

Music:

https://soundcloud.com/dyallas/still-there

https://soundcloud.com/dubdogzdownloads/heathens

YOU ARE ALL AWESOME! THANKS FOR LISTENING :)

]]> A new year catch-up and chat Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:21:34 After not recording in the same place for a month, we are back and have a chat. After not recording in the same place for a month, we are back and have a chat. late nights with trav and los, design process, process, los montoya design, self help, design thinking, carlos montoya, design, travis neilson, professional complacency, late nights, episode 105, los montoya no full 105 1 44af5337-6f80-484b-bcd7-d919961006a1 Phone Tag – Vol.1 Los and Trav leave messages for each other over the holidays.

]]> Wed, 4 Jan 2017 17:13:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/104-a3b3c73b Los and Trav leave messages for each other over the holidays.

]]> Phone Tag – Vol.1 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:26:52 Los and Trav leave messages for each other over the holidays. Los and Trav leave messages for each other over the holidays. no full 104 1 ff23a970-62c6-4217-8ca3-15b7dcfc36a7 Give Creatively Trav chats with guest host John Eze about ways that we can use our creativity to give more of ourselves.

About Jeremy's work > jeremycowart.com

]]> Tue, 27 Dec 2016 11:01:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/103-1fb045b7 Trav chats with guest host John Eze about ways that we can use our creativity to give more of ourselves.

About Jeremy's work > jeremycowart.com

]]> Give Creatively Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:17:48 Trav chats with guest host John Eze about ways that we can use our creativity to give more of ourselves. Trav chats with guest host John Eze about ways that we can use our creativity to give more of ourselves. no full 103 1 b9445687-46e5-4f75-a6db-97f118abb720 How To Meet New People (and make them like you) How to meet someone new

(and make them like you)

  • Smile
  • Be inquisitive, ask thoughtful questions
  • body language, mirroring
  • Be open to peoples POV
  • What are your Goals when meeting someone new?
]]> Wed, 21 Dec 2016 16:25:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/102-7eeca51f How to meet someone new

(and make them like you)

  • Smile
  • Be inquisitive, ask thoughtful questions
  • body language, mirroring
  • Be open to peoples POV
  • What are your Goals when meeting someone new?
]]> How To Meet New People (and make them like you) Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:19:47 Trav shares with Los his recipe for making first encounters with new people go well. Trav shares with Los his recipe for making first encounters with new people go well. no full 102 1 975fa1ab-cb71-4c59-a744-fa4497a0a8ee Show Your Worth – How to tell the story of your value If you want to be seen as relevant, you have to start now to collect the evidence that tells the story of the things you do, the value that you bring.

You need Objective Evidence

1. Track Impact

  • Track metrics that will allow you to show the impact you bring. (The changes you made increased click-through by X%, increasing revenue by Y.)
  • Cross team impact. /you built a tool or library that streamlined others work, increasing their efficiencies./

2. Document difficulty

  • Before starting a long-term task, write a design doc or project plan discussing different possible approaches, and get feedback on it. Docs written after the fact are obvious to spot, rather than real evidence of difficulty. Capture the inherent difficulties in diagrams and tables for quick review. Make sure the docs have your name on them!
  • Ensure your bugs and changelists clearly show the difficulties and design trade-offs.

3. Exhibit leadership

  • Interact with and help guide other teams.
  • Give internal or external talks.
  • Meet with outside vendors.
  • Write “getting started” guides.
  • Find ways to share your expertise.
  • Propose new ideas or build a proof-of-concept system, and get buy-in from stakeholders.
  • Evangelize best practices.
  • Mentor junior team members.
  • Host interns.
  • Volunteer for work that benefits everyone
]]> Tue, 13 Dec 2016 10:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/101-a708f36f If you want to be seen as relevant, you have to start now to collect the evidence that tells the story of the things you do, the value that you bring.

You need Objective Evidence

1. Track Impact

  • Track metrics that will allow you to show the impact you bring. (The changes you made increased click-through by X%, increasing revenue by Y.)
  • Cross team impact. /you built a tool or library that streamlined others work, increasing their efficiencies./

2. Document difficulty

  • Before starting a long-term task, write a design doc or project plan discussing different possible approaches, and get feedback on it. Docs written after the fact are obvious to spot, rather than real evidence of difficulty. Capture the inherent difficulties in diagrams and tables for quick review. Make sure the docs have your name on them!
  • Ensure your bugs and changelists clearly show the difficulties and design trade-offs.

3. Exhibit leadership

  • Interact with and help guide other teams.
  • Give internal or external talks.
  • Meet with outside vendors.
  • Write “getting started” guides.
  • Find ways to share your expertise.
  • Propose new ideas or build a proof-of-concept system, and get buy-in from stakeholders.
  • Evangelize best practices.
  • Mentor junior team members.
  • Host interns.
  • Volunteer for work that benefits everyone
]]> Show Your Worth – How to tell the story of your value Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:19:25 If you want to be seen as relevant, you have to start now to collect the evidence that tells the story of the things you do, the value that you bring. *You need Objective Evidence* If you want to be seen as relevant, you have to start now to collect the evidence that tells the story of the things you do, the value that you bring. *You need Objective Evidence* no full 101 1 21b7af8d-e387-4e88-aa98-3ff619d6a881 Episode 100: Staying relevant as a designer In episode 100, Los is your host and talks about staying relevant as a designer. Also, he makes it a little special too :)

Music by Polo & Pan : https://soundcloud.com/polo-pan

]]> Tue, 6 Dec 2016 02:19:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/100-b7425098 In episode 100, Los is your host and talks about staying relevant as a designer. Also, he makes it a little special too :)

Music by Polo & Pan : https://soundcloud.com/polo-pan

]]> Episode 100: Staying relevant as a designer Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:41:06 In episode 100, Los is your host and talks about staying relevant as a designer. In episode 100, Los is your host and talks about staying relevant as a designer. carlos montoya, design, late nights with trav and los, los montoya, los montoya design, self help, professional complacency, travis neilson, late nights, design thinking, episode 100, design process, process no full 100 1 99e28f86-f4e0-4969-9078-d0b2d62c2ae9 Getting over professional complacency Los is back as the host for the episode and he recounts a recent experience with professional complacency.

]]> Tue, 29 Nov 2016 09:37:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/99-17c181cf Los is back as the host for the episode and he recounts a recent experience with professional complacency.

]]> Getting over professional complacency Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:37:20 Los is back as the host for the episode and he recounts a recent experience with professional complacency. Los is back as the host for the episode and he recounts a recent experience with professional complacency. late nights, travis neilson, design thinking, los montoya, los montoya design, carlos montoya, professional complacency, design process, late nights with trav and los, self help, process, design no full 99 1 465acf03-c2e7-45b4-a28b-a7938c86d41f Shea Lewis – Growing Up We are back with Shea. We talk about how his associates are helping him to grow into his new position. We talk about the journey of self discovery; what and how someone should go about improving themselves.

]]> Tue, 22 Nov 2016 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/98-e87c14dc We are back with Shea. We talk about how his associates are helping him to grow into his new position. We talk about the journey of self discovery; what and how someone should go about improving themselves.

]]> Shea Lewis – Growing Up Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:35:37 We are back with Shea. We talk about how his associates are helping him to grow into his new position. We talk about the journey of self discovery; what and how someone should go about improving themselves. We are back with Shea. We talk about how his associates are helping him to grow into his new position. We talk about the journey of self discovery; what and how someone should go about improving themselves. no full 98 1 e2516d65-660b-45fa-ad03-0b7e4e72d9aa Shea Lewis – Young Gun Entrepreneur, designer, young gun – Shea Lewis joins us at the table to talk about growing up, finding yourself and learning from others.

]]> Tue, 15 Nov 2016 16:44:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/97-075a7ff2 Entrepreneur, designer, young gun – Shea Lewis joins us at the table to talk about growing up, finding yourself and learning from others.

]]> Shea Lewis – Young Gun Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:43:19 Entrepreneur, designer, young gun – Shea Lewis joins us at the table to talk about growing up, finding yourself and learning from others. Entrepreneur, designer, young gun – Shea Lewis joins us at the table to talk about growing up, finding yourself and learning from others. no full 97 1 218be9e1-929c-48f4-aca6-fe3f149f6e53 Helen Tran — The Journey Part Two In our second episode with Helen Tran, we discover and expand on her journey to becoming a professional creative.

Some links:

  • www.helentran.com
  • https://twitter.com/tranhelen
  • intro music: https://soundcloud.com/dyallas/shes-right-here
  • outro music: https://soundcloud.com/autografmusic/team
  • design conference: www.epicurrence.com
  • epicurrence video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNHzaOzDrHs&feature=youtu.be
]]> Tue, 8 Nov 2016 09:21:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/96-ae206941 In our second episode with Helen Tran, we discover and expand on her journey to becoming a professional creative.

Some links:

  • www.helentran.com
  • https://twitter.com/tranhelen
  • intro music: https://soundcloud.com/dyallas/shes-right-here
  • outro music: https://soundcloud.com/autografmusic/team
  • design conference: www.epicurrence.com
  • epicurrence video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNHzaOzDrHs&feature=youtu.be
]]> Helen Tran — The Journey Part Two Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 01:20:10 In our second episode with Helen Tran, we discover and expand on her journey to becoming a professional creative. In our second episode with Helen Tran, we discover and expand on her journey to becoming a professional creative. treecat, self help, inclusion, men, trav, devtips, trav and los, business, design, atlassian, woman in tech, vagabond, google, montoya, diversity, podcast, travis, neilson, carlos, 2016, women, los, visual design no full 96 1 1454442b-aa5f-4d79-b10d-f44c1a52a19c Helen Tran — Vagabond Part One In this episode, Trav and Los venture to Moab, UT for a design conference called Epicurrence. We meet the wonderful Helen Tran and instantly knew we had to invite her onto the podcast.

Some links:

  • www.helentran.com
  • https://twitter.com/tranhelen
  • episode music: https://soundcloud.com/fresh_edm/wild-wild-west-by-filibusta
  • design conference: www.epicurrence.com
]]> Tue, 1 Nov 2016 08:56:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/95-35fd709b In this episode, Trav and Los venture to Moab, UT for a design conference called Epicurrence. We meet the wonderful Helen Tran and instantly knew we had to invite her onto the podcast.

Some links:

  • www.helentran.com
  • https://twitter.com/tranhelen
  • episode music: https://soundcloud.com/fresh_edm/wild-wild-west-by-filibusta
  • design conference: www.epicurrence.com
]]> Helen Tran — Vagabond Part One Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 01:09:21 Trav and Los meet Helen Tran at a Epicurrence in Moab, UT. We meet up after and recorded parts of our conversation to share with our podcast listeners :) Here's to you. Trav and Los meet Helen Tran at a Epicurrence in Moab, UT. We meet up after and recorded parts of our conversation to share with our podcast listeners :) Here's to you. carlos, self help, neilson, travis, devtips, visual design, los, design, trav, trav and los, montoya, vagabond, google, podcast, business, atlassian, 2016, treecat no full 95 1 2d7ca8c5-20f9-4496-865b-cbd98c63a1e3 Designing You Authentic Self – Part 2 We had an awesome opportunity to share the recording of this episode with a live audience along with a guest, the talented designer Jamie Leach. AIGA hosted a meet up and we had a great time, met some fantastic people.

This is the second of a two part recording.

The title of this 2 part series is “Designing your authentic self” this second episode focuses on finding your unique voice in your craft.

]]> Tue, 25 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/94-6e02a7a0 We had an awesome opportunity to share the recording of this episode with a live audience along with a guest, the talented designer Jamie Leach. AIGA hosted a meet up and we had a great time, met some fantastic people.

This is the second of a two part recording.

The title of this 2 part series is “Designing your authentic self” this second episode focuses on finding your unique voice in your craft.

]]> Designing You Authentic Self – Part 2 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:39:48 We had an awesome opportunity to share the recording of this episode with a live audience along with a guest, the talented designer Jamie Leach. AIGA hosted a meet up and we had a great time, met some fantastic people. This is the second of a two part recording. The title of this 2 part series is “Designing your authentic self” this second episode focuses on finding your unique voice in your craft. We had an awesome opportunity to share the recording of this episode with a live audience along with a guest, the talented designer Jamie Leach. AIGA hosted a meet up and we had a great time, met some fantastic people. This is the second of a two part recording. The title of this 2 part series is “Designing your authentic self” this second episode focuses on finding your unique voice in your craft. no full 94 1 a60e67bc-cf19-43c8-823c-0eb3dbd63dbe Designing You Authentic Self – Part 1 We had an awesome opportunity to share the recording of this episode with a live audience along with a guest, the talented designer Jamie Leach. AIGA hosted a meet up and we had a great time, met some fantastic people.

This is a two part recording, next week we’ll hear the second part.

The title of this 2 part series is “Designing your authentic self” this first episode is covers the idea of self-awareness, what it is, why we need it, and how to discover an appreciation for everyones little brand of crazy.

It’s a good conversation, hope you like it. Next week we talk about using that awareness to find an authentic voice in your craft.

]]> Sun, 16 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/93-5de9fc56 We had an awesome opportunity to share the recording of this episode with a live audience along with a guest, the talented designer Jamie Leach. AIGA hosted a meet up and we had a great time, met some fantastic people.

This is a two part recording, next week we’ll hear the second part.

The title of this 2 part series is “Designing your authentic self” this first episode is covers the idea of self-awareness, what it is, why we need it, and how to discover an appreciation for everyones little brand of crazy.

It’s a good conversation, hope you like it. Next week we talk about using that awareness to find an authentic voice in your craft.

]]> Designing You Authentic Self – Part 1 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:25:17 We had an awesome opportunity to share the recording of this episode with a live audience along with a guest, the talented designer Jamie Leach. AIGA hosted a meet up and we had a great time, met some fantastic people. This is a two part recording, next week we’ll hear the second part. The title of this 2 part series is “Designing your authentic self” this first episode is covers the idea of self-awareness, what it is, why we need it, and how to discover an appreciation for everyones little brand of crazy. It’s a good conversation, hope you like it. Next week we talk about using that awareness to find an authentic voice in your craft. We had an awesome opportunity to share the recording of this episode with a live audience along with a guest, the talented designer Jamie Leach. AIGA hosted a meet up and we had a great time, met some fantastic people. This is a two part recording, next week we’ll hear the second part. The title of this 2 part series is “Designing your authentic self” this first episode is covers the idea of self-awareness, what it is, why we need it, and how to discover an appreciation for everyones little brand of crazy. It’s a good conversation, hope you like it. Next week we talk about using that awareness to find an authentic voice in your craft. no full 93 1 4e5c6a49-a1a8-46b4-bde3-fd5b8af1a6b3 Meditation Made Easy with Daniel Young Daniel Young talks with us about the meditation class he teaches, and the benefits of mindfulness.

]]> Tue, 11 Oct 2016 16:11:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/92-765717b1 Daniel Young talks with us about the meditation class he teaches, and the benefits of mindfulness.

]]> Meditation Made Easy with Daniel Young Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:50:23 Daniel Young talks with us about the meditation class he teaches, and the benefits of mindfulness. Daniel Young talks with us about the meditation class he teaches, and the benefits of mindfulness. no full 92 1 5827a443-5604-4cc3-9448-e93bd96d7e86 Daniel Young doesn't get stuck Daniel Young stops by the show and tells his story. We learn about constantly reinventing yourself, being brave, and avoiding that feeling of getting stuck in life.

Join us for the live show next week:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aiga-meetup-live-podcast-designing-your-authentic-self-tickets-28347372755

]]> Tue, 4 Oct 2016 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/91-4ffbd413 Daniel Young stops by the show and tells his story. We learn about constantly reinventing yourself, being brave, and avoiding that feeling of getting stuck in life.

Join us for the live show next week:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aiga-meetup-live-podcast-designing-your-authentic-self-tickets-28347372755

]]> Daniel Young doesn't get stuck Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:47:44 Daniel Young stops by the show and tells his story. We learn about constantly reinventing yourself, being brave, and avoiding that feeling of getting stuck in life. Join us for the live show next week: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aiga-meetup-live-podcast-designing-your-authentic-self-tickets-28347372755 Daniel Young stops by the show and tells his story. We learn about constantly reinventing yourself, being brave, and avoiding that feeling of getting stuck in life. Join us for the live show next week: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aiga-meetup-live-podcast-designing-your-authentic-self-tickets-28347372755 no full 91 1 3ab413e5-bcb4-4adc-b859-554f59a904ef Becoming a better Visual Designer Episode Music:

https://soundcloud.com/yourrapbeatstv/kaveli-beats-my-name-is-epic-eminem-type-choir-rap-beat-hip-hop-instrumental-2016

https://soundcloud.com/nick-panlook/nickelodeon-till-the-end-sample

###How to become a better Visual Designer.

First, what is a Visual Designer? A designer, who understands design principles and critically applies them to solve complex problems visually: balancing craft and execution.

So, how do you become a better Visual Designer, if you have a grasp of the basics.

You must design, with intentionality. That means that when you are designing, your designs are based on solid design principles, research, and attention to detail. How does one do that?

You get good at asking yourself a set of questions while you design.

  • What is my type hierarchy?
  • What patterns am I using?
  • How do these patterns compare to existing or established patterns?
  • What are the margins and padding rules?
  • Are my icons clear?
  • How consistent are my design choices?
  • Does everything on the design need to be there?
  • How would I define my color palette?
  • Is spelling, grammar, and punctuation correct?
  • What’s the content strategy?
  • How does the flow of the page read?
  • How would this design translate to another platform?

Practice, practice, practice. Show your work, get feedback. Observe design in the world and form opinions. Look at established design systems like material design and Human Interface Guidelines. Look at websites, apps, and excellent work on Dribbble and ask yourself: Why is this working?

]]> Tue, 27 Sep 2016 06:48:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/90-cc67a597 Episode Music:

https://soundcloud.com/yourrapbeatstv/kaveli-beats-my-name-is-epic-eminem-type-choir-rap-beat-hip-hop-instrumental-2016

https://soundcloud.com/nick-panlook/nickelodeon-till-the-end-sample

###How to become a better Visual Designer.

First, what is a Visual Designer? A designer, who understands design principles and critically applies them to solve complex problems visually: balancing craft and execution.

So, how do you become a better Visual Designer, if you have a grasp of the basics.

You must design, with intentionality. That means that when you are designing, your designs are based on solid design principles, research, and attention to detail. How does one do that?

You get good at asking yourself a set of questions while you design.

  • What is my type hierarchy?
  • What patterns am I using?
  • How do these patterns compare to existing or established patterns?
  • What are the margins and padding rules?
  • Are my icons clear?
  • How consistent are my design choices?
  • Does everything on the design need to be there?
  • How would I define my color palette?
  • Is spelling, grammar, and punctuation correct?
  • What’s the content strategy?
  • How does the flow of the page read?
  • How would this design translate to another platform?

Practice, practice, practice. Show your work, get feedback. Observe design in the world and form opinions. Look at established design systems like material design and Human Interface Guidelines. Look at websites, apps, and excellent work on Dribbble and ask yourself: Why is this working?

]]> Becoming a better Visual Designer Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:27:52 In this episode, Los walks us through what are the questions you ask yourself as a visual designer and how later on they become intuitive. In this episode, Los walks us through what are the questions you ask yourself as a visual designer and how later on they become intuitive. los, carlos, business, visual design, google, 2016, trav and los, design, devtips, treecat, trav, podcast, atlassian, neilson, travis, montoya, self help no full 90 1 79370f84-f424-4443-ab62-a3bb3f2af51c How to become a designer in 2016 Episode Music: https://soundcloud.com/dyallas/inquisition

Episode 88: Becoming a designer without design school

How do we do that?

  1. Learn the tools
    2. Sketch and photoshop
    3. Origami and Framer JS for prototyping
  2. Take online courses
    3. Envato
    4. Coursera
    5. Lynda
    6. CreativeLive
    7. Skillshare
  3. Get feedback
    4. From a mentor or a peer
    5. Online feedback communities
    6. HH Design
    7. HH Illustrate
    8. Designer’s Guild
    9. The Designers League
    10. IxDA
  4. Build fundamentals
    5. The design of Everyday Things (Donald Norman): A well known primer on the rules of usable design, with good and bad examples.
    6. Universal Principles of Design (William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler): An encyclopedia of key design concepts and examples
    7. Don’t Make Me Think! (Steven Krug): Web usability and user testing
    8. Thinking with Type (Ellen Lupton): A guide to typography for print and on screens
    9. Graphic Design: The new Basics (Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips): An introduction to graphic design and how to use visual language in design
  5. Stay up to date with the field
    6. Sidebar
    7. It’s Nice That
    8. InVision Digest
    9. Product Design Weekly
  6. Go to IRL design meetups
    7. CreativeMornings
    8. Dribbble Meetups
    9. Designers + Geeks Meetups
  7. Gain experience
    8. Find an internship
    9. Start and Finish a side project
]]> Tue, 20 Sep 2016 07:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/89-489909b7 Episode Music: https://soundcloud.com/dyallas/inquisition

Episode 88: Becoming a designer without design school

How do we do that?

  1. Learn the tools
    2. Sketch and photoshop
    3. Origami and Framer JS for prototyping
  2. Take online courses
    3. Envato
    4. Coursera
    5. Lynda
    6. CreativeLive
    7. Skillshare
  3. Get feedback
    4. From a mentor or a peer
    5. Online feedback communities
    6. HH Design
    7. HH Illustrate
    8. Designer’s Guild
    9. The Designers League
    10. IxDA
  4. Build fundamentals
    5. The design of Everyday Things (Donald Norman): A well known primer on the rules of usable design, with good and bad examples.
    6. Universal Principles of Design (William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler): An encyclopedia of key design concepts and examples
    7. Don’t Make Me Think! (Steven Krug): Web usability and user testing
    8. Thinking with Type (Ellen Lupton): A guide to typography for print and on screens
    9. Graphic Design: The new Basics (Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips): An introduction to graphic design and how to use visual language in design
  5. Stay up to date with the field
    6. Sidebar
    7. It’s Nice That
    8. InVision Digest
    9. Product Design Weekly
  6. Go to IRL design meetups
    7. CreativeMornings
    8. Dribbble Meetups
    9. Designers + Geeks Meetups
  7. Gain experience
    8. Find an internship
    9. Start and Finish a side project
]]> How to become a designer in 2016 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:25:09 In this episode we talk about how to become a designer without going to design school. In this episode we talk about how to become a designer without going to design school. life, startup, love, twert, photoshop, sketch, self improvement, business, knowledge, importance, life, codes, bootstrapped, design, illustrator, communication, trav, code, games, los, late nights no full 89 1 12b7b465-5054-4dc7-93d5-7e738080656a Jon Lax – Closing Teehan + Lax, and The Future Of Design We sit at the table of Jon Lax and he shares his reaction to the backlash on the internet when they closed TeeHan and Lax. Jon also gives us insight into how he sees the future of design playing out.

]]> Tue, 13 Sep 2016 15:40:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/88-e301806d We sit at the table of Jon Lax and he shares his reaction to the backlash on the internet when they closed TeeHan and Lax. Jon also gives us insight into how he sees the future of design playing out.

]]> Jon Lax – Closing Teehan + Lax, and The Future Of Design Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 01:01:53 We sit at the table of Jon Lax and he shares his reaction to the backlash on the internet when they closed TeeHan and Lax. Jon also gives us insight into how he sees the future of design playing out. We sit at the table of Jon Lax and he shares his reaction to the backlash on the internet when they closed TeeHan and Lax. Jon also gives us insight into how he sees the future of design playing out. design, thinking, teehan and lax, facebook, geoff teehan, awareness, jon lax no full 88 1 14337ec0-918b-4a70-88b3-f949993def41 Jon Lax – Growing up & Design Philosophy We sit at the table with Jon Lax and talk about his childhood and how that informed his design philosophy. This is part 1 of 2.

Jon's Eulogy for his mother – https://medium.com/@jlax/madam-justice-joan-lax-9f9782004359#.mdvskbjqy

]]> Tue, 6 Sep 2016 16:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/87-cd5af2f2 We sit at the table with Jon Lax and talk about his childhood and how that informed his design philosophy. This is part 1 of 2.

Jon's Eulogy for his mother – https://medium.com/@jlax/madam-justice-joan-lax-9f9782004359#.mdvskbjqy

]]> Jon Lax – Growing up & Design Philosophy Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:48:59 We sit at the table with Jon Lax and talk about his childhood and how that informed his design philosophy. This is part 1 of 2. We sit at the table with Jon Lax and talk about his childhood and how that informed his design philosophy. This is part 1 of 2. pricing, leadership, growth, john lax, design, self improvement no full 87 1 69412fb2-5bd2-48ee-afaf-a58518c5f0ee What is important to you? In this episode, Los had planned to talk about one thing and we end up talking about how does one find importance?

Episode music:

https://soundcloud.com/dyallas/with-me

https://soundcloud.com/andrewapplepie/little-brother

]]> Tue, 30 Aug 2016 07:01:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/86-f2073187 In this episode, Los had planned to talk about one thing and we end up talking about how does one find importance?

Episode music:

https://soundcloud.com/dyallas/with-me

https://soundcloud.com/andrewapplepie/little-brother

]]> What is important to you? Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:18:57 In this episode, Los had planned to talk about one thing and we end up talking about how does one find importance? In this episode, Los had planned to talk about one thing and we end up talking about how does one find importance? photoshop, los, twert, life, startup, games, trav, knowledge, codes, sketch, life, importance, design, code, communication, bootstrapped, self improvement, late nights, business, love, illustrator no full 86 1 97caf5aa-2575-420f-bd27-21e6dfa73335 Storytelling for Designers ###Music

Dj Quad Mix - https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads/back-in-time-vlog-music

Dyalla Remix - https://soundcloud.com/dyallas/lets-go-out

Stranger Things Remix - https://theartistunion.com/tracks/26ccfb

Kimbra Remix - https://soundcloud.com/search?q=kimbra%20remix


##Storytelling for designers

Today’s episode is about storytelling.

This is a conversation around what the role of storytelling looks like for a modern designer in this creative economy.

Because, the most successful, companies/designers, who are able to convert known and unknown customer needs, into a story the customer can get behind, end up becoming the best in the industry.

I tweeted this yesterday “The emotions evoked by the stories you tell is what sells a product. It’s no longer about the features.”

So, the conversation prompts are these:

  1. What are some of the companies that are great storytellers?Why?
  2. What role does story telling play in what you do?
  3. What are some things we can do as designers to help evoke the emotions that make it easier for customers to get behind your brand?
  4. How does it work when you are working at a company and storytelling is not part of the culture. What are some things you can do, to help create a culture that understands the importance of great storytelling?
  5. If you are in high school, first year in college, or fresh out of college, and you are listening to this, why is this important to you?

Podcast review:

Thanks!

]]> Tue, 23 Aug 2016 18:23:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/85-af61a1af ###Music

Dj Quad Mix - https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads/back-in-time-vlog-music

Dyalla Remix - https://soundcloud.com/dyallas/lets-go-out

Stranger Things Remix - https://theartistunion.com/tracks/26ccfb

Kimbra Remix - https://soundcloud.com/search?q=kimbra%20remix


##Storytelling for designers

Today’s episode is about storytelling.

This is a conversation around what the role of storytelling looks like for a modern designer in this creative economy.

Because, the most successful, companies/designers, who are able to convert known and unknown customer needs, into a story the customer can get behind, end up becoming the best in the industry.

I tweeted this yesterday “The emotions evoked by the stories you tell is what sells a product. It’s no longer about the features.”

So, the conversation prompts are these:

  1. What are some of the companies that are great storytellers?Why?
  2. What role does story telling play in what you do?
  3. What are some things we can do as designers to help evoke the emotions that make it easier for customers to get behind your brand?
  4. How does it work when you are working at a company and storytelling is not part of the culture. What are some things you can do, to help create a culture that understands the importance of great storytelling?
  5. If you are in high school, first year in college, or fresh out of college, and you are listening to this, why is this important to you?

Podcast review:

Thanks!

]]> Storytelling for Designers Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:49:47 In this episode, hosted by Los, the duo discuss storytelling and the place it holds in design and other industries. In this episode, hosted by Los, the duo discuss storytelling and the place it holds in design and other industries. knowledge, creative, games, professional, bootstrapped, self improvement, los, sketch, life, codes, illustrator, photoshop, communication, trav, business, design, late nights, code, startup no full 85 1 2a616969-4b8c-484d-9e4a-f8d6c4bc2879 Andy Law is a Creative Professional – Part Two Trav and Los go to Netflix to chill with Andy Law. Part Two.

]]> Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:10:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/84-6567b52e Trav and Los go to Netflix to chill with Andy Law. Part Two.

]]> Andy Law is a Creative Professional – Part Two Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:41:49 Trav and Los go to Netflix to chill with Andy Law. Part Two. Trav and Los go to Netflix to chill with Andy Law. Part Two. no full 84 1 41ccba38-2fb5-4344-b2c9-4716f91dfd46 Andy Law is a Creative Professional – Part One Trav and Los go to Netflix to chill with Andy Law.

]]> Tue, 9 Aug 2016 21:20:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/83-a527646a Trav and Los go to Netflix to chill with Andy Law.

]]> Andy Law is a Creative Professional – Part One Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:51:21 Trav and Los go to Netflix to chill with Andy Law. Trav and Los go to Netflix to chill with Andy Law. no full 83 1 d01d191c-a1b0-4d19-8d35-5749c76b849f An interview with Guy Kawasaki: advice, jokes, and live-streaming In this episode Guy Kawasaki talks to us about the state of live-streaming, gives us some advice, and cracks a few jokes :)

Check out Canva here : https://www.canva.com/

Episode music: https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads/go-with-me-vlog-music

Los's Minute Vlogger series: https://instagram.com/losmontoya

DevTips: https://youtube.com/devtipsfordesigners

]]> Tue, 2 Aug 2016 07:31:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/82-ad872ee5 In this episode Guy Kawasaki talks to us about the state of live-streaming, gives us some advice, and cracks a few jokes :)

Check out Canva here : https://www.canva.com/

Episode music: https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads/go-with-me-vlog-music

Los's Minute Vlogger series: https://instagram.com/losmontoya

DevTips: https://youtube.com/devtipsfordesigners

]]> An interview with Guy Kawasaki: advice, jokes, and live-streaming Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:28:11 Guy Kawasaki talks to us about the state of live-streaming, gives us some advice, and cracks a few jokes :) Guy Kawasaki talks to us about the state of live-streaming, gives us some advice, and cracks a few jokes :) philz, late nights, facebook, trav, los, live streaming, guy kawasaki, tech, communication, self improvement, startup, design no full 82 1 049d39a5-1a8a-45a0-ad0b-33066d9d1416 Los's creative process ##Follow Los's #minutevlogger Vlog on Instagram https://instagram.com/losmontoya

###Music by Aspire : https://soundcloud.com/pryced/aspire

Episode 81 - What’s my Vlogging workflow like
Intro

Welcome to another Late Nights!

Topic

Today, I’m going to talk to you all about how I go about thinking through how I am going to produce daily content on the vlog.

Step 1

Understand what your day will look like tomorrow.

It all starts with planning, if you listen back to “Maximise your productivity with these 14 daily habits” you will hear me talk about planning.

I have a Trello board that is broken up into my weekly and daily tasks. By doing, this I can start to get an idea for what my day is going to be like tomorrow.

Step 2

Once you understand what your day will look like, think about what is going to be the most interesting part of the day that I can share.

Step 3

I create and write a mini outline that helps me think through what

  • my hook is
  • the music i’ll be using
  • what my transition will be like
  • the main part of the story
  • and my outro
Step 4

Once I understand this, I’ll fill the different pieces out throughout the day. I’ll fill them out as they appear in my day. Because I planned, I know what to look for.

Step 5

Put it all together, this is the part I have the most fun with. Re-arrange, cut, etc. It’s where my artistic style meets what I captured. It’s really fun to see what you’ve had in your mind all day, put together in a neat little bow.

Some thoughts

I want to keep it all mobile, so everything I capture is on mobile, and all my editing is on my phone. I can then quickly post it up on Instagram, litter it with some hashtags, and post it up.

Thus far, I’m liking it. There is only one thing I don’t like. That is the compression Instagram does on my video. It looks great in iMovie and then Instagram does it’s thing. I’m sure as mobile video picks up, that Instagram will get better at it.

]]> Tue, 26 Jul 2016 07:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/81-1d77fc84 ##Follow Los's #minutevlogger Vlog on Instagram https://instagram.com/losmontoya

###Music by Aspire : https://soundcloud.com/pryced/aspire

Episode 81 - What’s my Vlogging workflow like
Intro

Welcome to another Late Nights!

Topic

Today, I’m going to talk to you all about how I go about thinking through how I am going to produce daily content on the vlog.

Step 1

Understand what your day will look like tomorrow.

It all starts with planning, if you listen back to “Maximise your productivity with these 14 daily habits” you will hear me talk about planning.

I have a Trello board that is broken up into my weekly and daily tasks. By doing, this I can start to get an idea for what my day is going to be like tomorrow.

Step 2

Once you understand what your day will look like, think about what is going to be the most interesting part of the day that I can share.

Step 3

I create and write a mini outline that helps me think through what

  • my hook is
  • the music i’ll be using
  • what my transition will be like
  • the main part of the story
  • and my outro
Step 4

Once I understand this, I’ll fill the different pieces out throughout the day. I’ll fill them out as they appear in my day. Because I planned, I know what to look for.

Step 5

Put it all together, this is the part I have the most fun with. Re-arrange, cut, etc. It’s where my artistic style meets what I captured. It’s really fun to see what you’ve had in your mind all day, put together in a neat little bow.

Some thoughts

I want to keep it all mobile, so everything I capture is on mobile, and all my editing is on my phone. I can then quickly post it up on Instagram, litter it with some hashtags, and post it up.

Thus far, I’m liking it. There is only one thing I don’t like. That is the compression Instagram does on my video. It looks great in iMovie and then Instagram does it’s thing. I’m sure as mobile video picks up, that Instagram will get better at it.

]]> Los's creative process Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:31:14 Los walks us through his current creative process and uses his vlog on Instagram as a case study Los walks us through his current creative process and uses his vlog on Instagram as a case study self improvement, illustrator, sketch, los, bootstrapped, photoshop, code, games, late nights, knowledge, startup, life, communication, codes, business, trav, design, creative, professional no full 81 1 b5dac237-8862-4f68-86a2-a6c6daf95722 Make your idea a reality Los's Vlog on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/losmontoya/

Music by Jeff Kaale: https://soundcloud.com/jeff-kaale/secret-sauce-ft-cookin-soul

Episode 80 - Vlogging
Intro

Welcome to another late nights!

Hook

Today’s episode is pretty much solely going to be about what we’ve done the last couple of weeks and my newest creative endeavour I am embarking on.

What have we done?
  • Adobe
  • InVision
  • Some new guests
  • Brainstormed some new ideas
  • Some negotiations
My newest creative endeavour
  • I’ll be vlogging daily on instagram under my account @losmontoya
  • So when we started this podcast, one of the things I wanted to get better at, was taking an idea, forming an opinion around it, and then regurgitating back in a way that was understood by anyone listening.
  • I want to do something similar with vlogging.
    • I want to be able to create, for myself, on-demand, daily stories.
    • My hope is that I’ll learn how to capture story in one minute, and I hope I get better as time goes on.
    • Also, instagram’s minute platform is a tight constraint for a daily vlog. Did you know that I’ve coined the hashtag #MinuteVlogger? A Los original
Conclusion

Don’t wait for things to be perfect, jump into the pool, start splashing around and see what happens. If you have an idea, own it, and go after it.

]]> Tue, 19 Jul 2016 15:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/80-10e94a04 Los's Vlog on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/losmontoya/

Music by Jeff Kaale: https://soundcloud.com/jeff-kaale/secret-sauce-ft-cookin-soul

Episode 80 - Vlogging
Intro

Welcome to another late nights!

Hook

Today’s episode is pretty much solely going to be about what we’ve done the last couple of weeks and my newest creative endeavour I am embarking on.

What have we done?
  • Adobe
  • InVision
  • Some new guests
  • Brainstormed some new ideas
  • Some negotiations
My newest creative endeavour
  • I’ll be vlogging daily on instagram under my account @losmontoya
  • So when we started this podcast, one of the things I wanted to get better at, was taking an idea, forming an opinion around it, and then regurgitating back in a way that was understood by anyone listening.
  • I want to do something similar with vlogging.
    • I want to be able to create, for myself, on-demand, daily stories.
    • My hope is that I’ll learn how to capture story in one minute, and I hope I get better as time goes on.
    • Also, instagram’s minute platform is a tight constraint for a daily vlog. Did you know that I’ve coined the hashtag #MinuteVlogger? A Los original
Conclusion

Don’t wait for things to be perfect, jump into the pool, start splashing around and see what happens. If you have an idea, own it, and go after it.

]]> Make your idea a reality Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:19:43 Los starts a new art project and has you hold him accountable for seeing it through!! Los starts a new art project and has you hold him accountable for seeing it through!! bootstrapped, trav, communication, sketch, los, illustrator, self improvement, business, startup, codes, design, code, photoshop, knowledge, late nights, games, twert, life no full 80 1 cf3071ab-46ce-4d3b-986b-d61b7721a4eb Do It Live! – Reflections on hosting a red carpet event Trav and Los discuss what they learned from hosting a Red Carpet Movie Premiere.

]]> Tue, 12 Jul 2016 11:30:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/79-17cf34ee Trav and Los discuss what they learned from hosting a Red Carpet Movie Premiere.

]]> Do It Live! – Reflections on hosting a red carpet event Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:17:04 Trav and Los discuss what they learned from hosting a Red Carpet Movie Premiere. Trav and Los discuss what they learned from hosting a Red Carpet Movie Premiere. no full 79 1 6f2e4241-a866-43f2-922f-8051a851fa4f Increase Influence by Moving Upstream Trav and Los chat about how to maximize the influence they have on the organization and the product by getting as far as possible up the stream.

]]> Tue, 5 Jul 2016 10:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/78-b73f61b0 Trav and Los chat about how to maximize the influence they have on the organization and the product by getting as far as possible up the stream.

]]> Increase Influence by Moving Upstream Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:16:21 Trav and Los chat about how to maximize the influence they have on the organization and the product by getting as far as possible up the stream. Trav and Los chat about how to maximize the influence they have on the organization and the product by getting as far as possible up the stream. no full 78 1 07679625-e2a7-4717-9c3c-19f64b09dfb3 Crucial Conversations Song :https://soundcloud.com/djkidkobra/antonio-banderas-el-mariachi

Red carpet live-stream: https://www.facebook.com/invisionapp/

Intro

I want to read a definition for you completely out of context.

%% “A discussion between two or more people where (1) stakes are high, (2) opinions vary, and (3) emotions run strong” and the outcome greatly impacts their lives.

The reason I read that to you is because that is the definition of a Crucial Conversation, which ends up being the topic for tonights podcast.

You and I have both been in discussions where the following is present:

  1. Stakes are high
  2. Opinions vary, and
  3. Emotions run strong

I know I have been in these discussions where they didn’t end well, someone leaves with feelings hurt and has an adverse impact on their lives.

To prepare for this episode I found a lot of notes online that all stem from this one book called, Crucial Conversations, Tools for talking when stakes are high. I bought the book today and prepped this episode from the notes I found online.

I wanted to share this episode with you because recently the occurrence of Crucial Conversations have been increasing at work, and I am not as prepared for them as I need to be, so I’ve been meditating on the topic for a few days now and it’s time to share what I’ve come to learn.

My hope for this episode is to introduce you with the tools to prepare for high-stakes conversations, transform intense emotions and hurt feelings into powerful dialogue, and make it safe to talk about almost anything.

How the book came to be

The authors of Crucial Conversations didn’t set out to write a book on communication; rather, they began by researching the behaviours of top performers. They found that most of the time, top influencers were indistinguishable from their peers. But as soon as the stakes grew high, emotions ran strong, and opinions differed, top performers were significantly more effective. What the authors observed during this study and captured is a distinct and learnable set of skills that produce immediate results.

Breakdown

The book focuses on three main ideas, and four very useful models:

Main ideas

  1. Start with heart
  2. Master your stories
  3. Step out, make it safe, step in

Mental models

  1. STATE (Share facts, Tell a story, Ask for others paths, Talk tentatively, Encourage testing)
  2. CRIB (Commit to seek mutual purpose, recognise the purpose behind the strategy, invent a mutual purpose, brainstorm new strategies)
  3. AMPP (ask to get things rolling, mirror to confirm feelings, paraphrase to acknowledge the story, prime when you’re getting nowhere)
  4. ABC (agree, build, compare)
START WITH HEART

The big thing here is to pause before you even utter a word and get clear on what you want out of the interaction.

The goal here is to move blood flow from the fight or flight areas of your brain to your cognitive ones. Asking questions refocuses the brain and works as a pattern interrupt for what would otherwise be a downward spiral of results you don’t want.

Start by asking these four questions:

  1. What do I want for myself?
  2. What do I want for others?
  3. What do I want for the relationship?
  4. How would I behave if I really wanted those results?

The last question specifically checks for congruence. By asking these questions you can easily identify a behaviour you can change.

Granted, doing this in the middle of a conversation takes skill and practice, so a tip is to prepare these questions before a crucial conversation.

An interesting metaphor I came across for these conversations is the idea of seeing the space between you and the other person as a “pool of shared meaning”, a pool you both should work to feed with information.

This focuses the conversation back on sharing and transparency as opposed to secrecy and more aggressive debate and negotiation techniques.

MASTER MY STORIES

Others don’t make you mad, you make you mad. In particular, the stories we tell ourselves is what make us mad. Between stimulus and response there’s a space, and in that space you’re allowed to retrace your path, tell yourself a different story and derive different actions from the same stimulus. Others don’t push your buttons, only you do.

The flow isn’t see->feel->act, but see->tell a story->feel->act.
Telling yourself bad stories will lead to feeling bad feelings and acting in a way that’s unproductive.

There’s three ways to break this cycle:

  1. Retrace your path, get back to facts. What really happened in terms of things you can see, hear? Replace “you looked at me angry” by “your face frowned and you started using your phone”
  2. Spot the 3 clever stories. Learn how to spot a Victim story (it always happens to me), a Villain story (i know he’s out to get me) or a Helpless story (there’s nothing i can do to change this)
  3. Tell the rest of the story. Turn victims into actors (change your strategies), villains into humans (what’s the positive intention) and the helpless into the able (what is the best next thing to do)

A good way to share your own story with others is to use the STATE model (Share your facts, Tell your story, Ask for others paths, Talk tentatively, Encourage testing of the findings).

But what about when other people are using a Silence strategy and are unwilling to share their stories (the “ask for other’s paths” part of the STATE model)?

In this case use the AMPP model to help feed the pool of knowledge with details of the interaction (ask to get things rolling, mirror to confirm feelings, paraphrase to acknowledge the story, prime when you’re getting nowhere).

STEP OUT, MAKE IT SAFE, STEP IN

Dialogue is only available when both parties have a sense of security. There is a case for engaging a conversation in dual-watch mode: watching the conversation for content while also watching it for conditions.

Engaging the conversation in both content and form is important because it allows you to spot early signs that create a lack of safety.

When either party feels like safety is lacking, they usually result into one of two opposite strategies:

  1. Silence [masking, avoiding, withdrawing] or
  2. Violence [controlling, labelling, attacking].

Once safety is broken, it’s usually due to one of two things:

  1. Lack of mutual purpose. When one or both parties are not working towards the same goal, the same purpose.
  2. Lack of mutual respect. When one or both parties feel like the other one doesn’t respect the interests being presented (or worse, the people presenting them!). Respect is like air, if it’s not there, that’s all people think about — yet if it’s there, the purpose of living is not to keep breathing.

There is also a case for “stepping out of the conversation”, “making it safe” and then “stepping back in”. This is a tool that could produce great results.

There are four things that are helpful to do this:
1. Apologise. Just genuinely say you’re sorry — you don’t have to win always, pick your battles. Marshall Goldsmith has gold in his hands when he says: “When it’s sports you want to… win! — when it’s important you want to… win! — when it’s not important you want to … win?”
2. Contrast. This technique is a golden-nugget! The concept is very simple: start with a [don’t] followed by a [do] statement, followed by the [gap]. This is best used when you spot an early sign of lack of safety and want to course correct before the other person jumps to the wrong conclusions. Example: [don’t] I don’t mean to imply you’re not a trust-worthy developer, [do] just last week we worked together on the X feature and you proven to be autonomous and dependable. [gap] What I am saying is that you need to communicate more often on your progress.
3. The CRIB model. (Commit to seek mutual purpose, recognise the purpose behind the strategy, invent a mutual purpose, brainstorm new strategies). This is a similar model to what you find in books like “Getting to Yes”. Again, super useful!

There is this idea of a pattern interrupt and it’s a tool you use early in a conversation when you start to see any sings of lack of safety beginning to emerge.

It looks like this:

%% “it looks like we don’t share the same goals on this one. I’m sure there’s space for us to work together in a way that looks good for both of us. So before we move any further, help me understand what would you like to get out of this?”.

This interrupts the pattern that the conversation may have continued on.

WHAT IF YOU DISAGREE?

So what do you do if you disagree? Well, you remember your ABC’s.

Agree, Build, Compare.

First, make sure you’re not in violent agreement. How many times have you found yourself in the middle of a discussion in where emotions run strong, but you’re all agreeing to the same thing?

In this instance you could use a pattern interrupt, it looks like this:

%%“Well, it looks like we all violently agree on this one [chuckles] — Here’s what I heard: we’re moving on by doing [X] followed by [Y] and that [Z] is the person responsible — does that sound fair to everyone — great let’s tackle the next one“.

The essence here is to agree when you’re agreeing, don’t turn an argument into an agreement.

Second, it’s acknowledging that we are wired to look for points of disagreement.

Instead, setup an attitude of curiosity (like if you’re a scientist observing something that’s happening, or a police officer trying to find out what’s going on). Look for points of agreement and build-on instead of pointing-out the gaps that you see.

Say “in addition to what you said […]” instead of “you forgot […]“.

Third, compare how the situation was presented to how you see it by using tentatively language such as “I see things slightly differently“.

Doing it in this order, these disagreements turn into relationship and idea enhancers.

Conclusion

Well, there it is. I hope that I was successful in introducing you to tools that will help you prepare for high-stakes conversations and help you transform those moments into additive experiences.

]]> Tue, 28 Jun 2016 14:39:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/77-cc432b2c Song :https://soundcloud.com/djkidkobra/antonio-banderas-el-mariachi

Red carpet live-stream: https://www.facebook.com/invisionapp/

Intro

I want to read a definition for you completely out of context.

%% “A discussion between two or more people where (1) stakes are high, (2) opinions vary, and (3) emotions run strong” and the outcome greatly impacts their lives.

The reason I read that to you is because that is the definition of a Crucial Conversation, which ends up being the topic for tonights podcast.

You and I have both been in discussions where the following is present:

  1. Stakes are high
  2. Opinions vary, and
  3. Emotions run strong

I know I have been in these discussions where they didn’t end well, someone leaves with feelings hurt and has an adverse impact on their lives.

To prepare for this episode I found a lot of notes online that all stem from this one book called, Crucial Conversations, Tools for talking when stakes are high. I bought the book today and prepped this episode from the notes I found online.

I wanted to share this episode with you because recently the occurrence of Crucial Conversations have been increasing at work, and I am not as prepared for them as I need to be, so I’ve been meditating on the topic for a few days now and it’s time to share what I’ve come to learn.

My hope for this episode is to introduce you with the tools to prepare for high-stakes conversations, transform intense emotions and hurt feelings into powerful dialogue, and make it safe to talk about almost anything.

How the book came to be

The authors of Crucial Conversations didn’t set out to write a book on communication; rather, they began by researching the behaviours of top performers. They found that most of the time, top influencers were indistinguishable from their peers. But as soon as the stakes grew high, emotions ran strong, and opinions differed, top performers were significantly more effective. What the authors observed during this study and captured is a distinct and learnable set of skills that produce immediate results.

Breakdown

The book focuses on three main ideas, and four very useful models:

Main ideas

  1. Start with heart
  2. Master your stories
  3. Step out, make it safe, step in

Mental models

  1. STATE (Share facts, Tell a story, Ask for others paths, Talk tentatively, Encourage testing)
  2. CRIB (Commit to seek mutual purpose, recognise the purpose behind the strategy, invent a mutual purpose, brainstorm new strategies)
  3. AMPP (ask to get things rolling, mirror to confirm feelings, paraphrase to acknowledge the story, prime when you’re getting nowhere)
  4. ABC (agree, build, compare)
START WITH HEART

The big thing here is to pause before you even utter a word and get clear on what you want out of the interaction.

The goal here is to move blood flow from the fight or flight areas of your brain to your cognitive ones. Asking questions refocuses the brain and works as a pattern interrupt for what would otherwise be a downward spiral of results you don’t want.

Start by asking these four questions:

  1. What do I want for myself?
  2. What do I want for others?
  3. What do I want for the relationship?
  4. How would I behave if I really wanted those results?

The last question specifically checks for congruence. By asking these questions you can easily identify a behaviour you can change.

Granted, doing this in the middle of a conversation takes skill and practice, so a tip is to prepare these questions before a crucial conversation.

An interesting metaphor I came across for these conversations is the idea of seeing the space between you and the other person as a “pool of shared meaning”, a pool you both should work to feed with information.

This focuses the conversation back on sharing and transparency as opposed to secrecy and more aggressive debate and negotiation techniques.

MASTER MY STORIES

Others don’t make you mad, you make you mad. In particular, the stories we tell ourselves is what make us mad. Between stimulus and response there’s a space, and in that space you’re allowed to retrace your path, tell yourself a different story and derive different actions from the same stimulus. Others don’t push your buttons, only you do.

The flow isn’t see->feel->act, but see->tell a story->feel->act.
Telling yourself bad stories will lead to feeling bad feelings and acting in a way that’s unproductive.

There’s three ways to break this cycle:

  1. Retrace your path, get back to facts. What really happened in terms of things you can see, hear? Replace “you looked at me angry” by “your face frowned and you started using your phone”
  2. Spot the 3 clever stories. Learn how to spot a Victim story (it always happens to me), a Villain story (i know he’s out to get me) or a Helpless story (there’s nothing i can do to change this)
  3. Tell the rest of the story. Turn victims into actors (change your strategies), villains into humans (what’s the positive intention) and the helpless into the able (what is the best next thing to do)

A good way to share your own story with others is to use the STATE model (Share your facts, Tell your story, Ask for others paths, Talk tentatively, Encourage testing of the findings).

But what about when other people are using a Silence strategy and are unwilling to share their stories (the “ask for other’s paths” part of the STATE model)?

In this case use the AMPP model to help feed the pool of knowledge with details of the interaction (ask to get things rolling, mirror to confirm feelings, paraphrase to acknowledge the story, prime when you’re getting nowhere).

STEP OUT, MAKE IT SAFE, STEP IN

Dialogue is only available when both parties have a sense of security. There is a case for engaging a conversation in dual-watch mode: watching the conversation for content while also watching it for conditions.

Engaging the conversation in both content and form is important because it allows you to spot early signs that create a lack of safety.

When either party feels like safety is lacking, they usually result into one of two opposite strategies:

  1. Silence [masking, avoiding, withdrawing] or
  2. Violence [controlling, labelling, attacking].

Once safety is broken, it’s usually due to one of two things:

  1. Lack of mutual purpose. When one or both parties are not working towards the same goal, the same purpose.
  2. Lack of mutual respect. When one or both parties feel like the other one doesn’t respect the interests being presented (or worse, the people presenting them!). Respect is like air, if it’s not there, that’s all people think about — yet if it’s there, the purpose of living is not to keep breathing.

There is also a case for “stepping out of the conversation”, “making it safe” and then “stepping back in”. This is a tool that could produce great results.

There are four things that are helpful to do this:
1. Apologise. Just genuinely say you’re sorry — you don’t have to win always, pick your battles. Marshall Goldsmith has gold in his hands when he says: “When it’s sports you want to… win! — when it’s important you want to… win! — when it’s not important you want to … win?”
2. Contrast. This technique is a golden-nugget! The concept is very simple: start with a [don’t] followed by a [do] statement, followed by the [gap]. This is best used when you spot an early sign of lack of safety and want to course correct before the other person jumps to the wrong conclusions. Example: [don’t] I don’t mean to imply you’re not a trust-worthy developer, [do] just last week we worked together on the X feature and you proven to be autonomous and dependable. [gap] What I am saying is that you need to communicate more often on your progress.
3. The CRIB model. (Commit to seek mutual purpose, recognise the purpose behind the strategy, invent a mutual purpose, brainstorm new strategies). This is a similar model to what you find in books like “Getting to Yes”. Again, super useful!

There is this idea of a pattern interrupt and it’s a tool you use early in a conversation when you start to see any sings of lack of safety beginning to emerge.

It looks like this:

%% “it looks like we don’t share the same goals on this one. I’m sure there’s space for us to work together in a way that looks good for both of us. So before we move any further, help me understand what would you like to get out of this?”.

This interrupts the pattern that the conversation may have continued on.

WHAT IF YOU DISAGREE?

So what do you do if you disagree? Well, you remember your ABC’s.

Agree, Build, Compare.

First, make sure you’re not in violent agreement. How many times have you found yourself in the middle of a discussion in where emotions run strong, but you’re all agreeing to the same thing?

In this instance you could use a pattern interrupt, it looks like this:

%%“Well, it looks like we all violently agree on this one [chuckles] — Here’s what I heard: we’re moving on by doing [X] followed by [Y] and that [Z] is the person responsible — does that sound fair to everyone — great let’s tackle the next one“.

The essence here is to agree when you’re agreeing, don’t turn an argument into an agreement.

Second, it’s acknowledging that we are wired to look for points of disagreement.

Instead, setup an attitude of curiosity (like if you’re a scientist observing something that’s happening, or a police officer trying to find out what’s going on). Look for points of agreement and build-on instead of pointing-out the gaps that you see.

Say “in addition to what you said […]” instead of “you forgot […]“.

Third, compare how the situation was presented to how you see it by using tentatively language such as “I see things slightly differently“.

Doing it in this order, these disagreements turn into relationship and idea enhancers.

Conclusion

Well, there it is. I hope that I was successful in introducing you to tools that will help you prepare for high-stakes conversations and help you transform those moments into additive experiences.

]]> Crucial Conversations Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:31:13 In today's episode we talk through what a crucial conversation is and a few tips on how to best have them. In today's episode we talk through what a crucial conversation is and a few tips on how to best have them. sketch, trav, and, los, late nights, late nights with trav and los, startup, advice, san francisco, instagram, brainstorming, code, design, bay area, google, facebook no full 77 1 c30b8c30-1336-4422-addf-6ed2214e36b5 Maximise your productivity with these 14 daily habits Episode 75

Music used in the episode: https://soundcloud.com/beat-fatigue/1-beat-fatigue-optimus-jive

Pomodoro technique: http://pomodorotechnique.com/

14 daily habits for maximising your productivity
What to do when you are overwhelmed

Intro

In our lives we have moments where we are busy, moments when we are busier, and moments when we are the busiest. For the foreseeable future I will be in one of my most busiest seasons.

My wife and I have a third child joining the family, I’m tripling my efforts at work to make a positive impact on what I have influence over, and at the same time I am also doubling down on my maker efforts outside of work. Now, Maker, is a choice word here, because:

  1. It encompasses anything I make; the podcast, art, making a better self, making a safe home, making lasting relationships, making better choices, etc.
  2. A Maker is first and foremost, a maker, and then a sharer. We live in a society that is great at sharing and re-posting. I guess we can call ourselves the re-post society?! I simply want to make, more than I share.

So, in summation, I am busy person. and recently I have become a busier person, only this time I wasn’t prepared, and it was scary. I wasn’t prepared because, although you can foresee an arbitrary amount of it, the other, is unplanned, unexpected, and overwhelming.

This episode, is dedicated to all of you who are overwhelmingly experiencing a deficit in attention; whose root cause, is, being busy.

Some thoughts on busy-ness.

Being busy is ok. In fact, I don’t think I will ever “not” be busy. So how do we best manage busy-ness, such that, we are successful with our endeavours and focus? That’s what I want to talk about today.

Overwhelmed

Let me first tell you that, for the last couple of weeks, I feel like I’ve been walking in circles, not knowing what to focus on, or what to do next. I’ve had my moments of success, focus, and productivity, yet those moments were mostly fleeting.

Here is a small list of the feelings that have been overwhelmingly present:

  • discouragement
  • disappointment
  • confusion
  • frustration
  • lack of control
  • lack of focus
  • feeling like a waste of time
  • etc.
So, What did I do?

I took some time to ponder the following question:
%%What are the moments in my life when I feel in control, productive, successful, focused, happy, eager, and motivated?
and
%%What is the common denominator for those moments?

Here is the answer: I was set up for success in all of those moments. The interesting thing to note here, is that, I took the time to set myself up for success. So how do you set yourself up for success?

I compiled a list of my greatest hits. This is a list of the moments in my life where I was successful in maximising productivity. This is a list of habits to protect as I take another stab at developing and nourishing them. I want to share this list with you.

Want to know something they all have in common? They are all habits that you can and should exercise daily.

14 daily tips to follow

  1. Doing it now

    • Do it now, decide it now, delegate it now, enjoy it now, finish it now, start it now. Whatever it is, get it done now. Getting it done now, rather than, later, has brought me the most success.

  2. Monthly, weekly, and daily planning

    • I have a Trello Board that I call the productivity planner in which I have monthly, weekly, and daily planning.

  3. Relentless focus on one task at a time

    • Multitasking is a lie, it is not possible. Sure, one needs to be flexible and able to shift one’s own attention from one thing to another, but the moments where I have been most successful, are the moments when I am able to block out distractions and temptations and focus on one thing at at time, and follow this most importing thing until it is done, handed off, socialised, published, shared, hung on a wall, etc.
    • I use a technique called Pomodoro. I’ll link the technique in the show notes. In a nutshell, the idea is simple. You focus for 25-35 minutes on a task, take a 5 minute break, and then re-focus on the same task until it is done.

  4. Starting with a task that will free up the most energy

    • You have to start your day off with something. What is the task that will free up the most mental energy. That might be the scariest thing, the hardest thing, the easiest thing, etc. For me, this is how I measure what I work on first. “If this was the only thing you did today you’d be satisfied.”
    • Doing this will free up the most mental energy to move onto your next task

  5. Manage distractions and delay them

    • When I am on my game, I have a running list of distractions on a piece of paper on my desk. At any point, when I am distracted, tempted towards distraction, or feeling a lack of energy, I jot them down.
    • I let the list get to the point, where I think it’ll take about 25 minutes to manage the distractions. I’ll then focus on the distractions for 25 minutes and clear my list :)

  6. Say no to the things that create little value and do not get you closer to your goals

    • When things are going well, I am focused on the things that bring me the most value.
    • When things are not going well, I am focused on the things that bring me the least amount of value.
    • The goal is to create more value, you do this by growing your ability to say no to everything in your life that doesn’t move you towards your goals.
    • Don’t say yes to low-value people and activities.
    • Fanatically guard your time so you can exponentially advance towards your goals

  7. Do one extra

    • Make one extra call, send out one more email, design one more component, write one more line of code, one more sentence, etc. When you add up all these one-extras, they just might make the difference. It usually does for me.

  8. Learn when to cut your losses

    • If you are not getting what you need from a person, a strategy, a partnership, or a hobby, make the hard decision early so you free up your time to find something that will give you what you need.

  9. A relentless dedication to your goals

    • When things get tough, work through it, have grit, and persevere. The end result is always worth it.

  10. Double down on what is working

    • I have heard this before, if it aint broke, then why fix it?
    • I’m telling you to do this, if it’s working, then double down your efforts on what is working. The outcome is better than if you let it alone.

  11. Have integrity

    • This one is simple, say what you say you are going to do. Be on time, finish what you said you would do. Do it all without excuses and even when you don’t feel like it because the more you practice it the better you get at it.
    • Integrity attracts the best people.

  12. Maximise your learning from your own life

    • After a project, event, meeting, thought, interaction, ask yourself the following questions:
      • What went well?
      • What would I do different next time?
      • What are the most important lessons for me to take from this experience?
    • Doing this will help you get better each day.

  13. End your day by identifying the MIT for tomorrow

    • At the end of the day, make notes for how the day went, measure your productivity, and note what happened that caused your level of productivity for the day.
    • Plan your day for tomorrow and set yourself up for success.

  14. Wherever you are, be there

    • Lastly, when I am maximising my productivity I am feeling successful. What usually accompanies this feeling is joy, growth, and peace of mind. As such, this is an outcome of intensely being present on your goals.
    • So to follow that thought, I try to be 100% present wherever I am
      • a meeting
      • a project
      • family
      • spouse
      • children
    • This last habit gets harder every day, attention seekers are everywhere, so when you are distracted, or your mind wanders and you are feeling a deficit, notice it, and bring your attention back to where you are and what matters most in the moment.
]]> Tue, 21 Jun 2016 07:01:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/76-1371b71b Episode 75

Music used in the episode: https://soundcloud.com/beat-fatigue/1-beat-fatigue-optimus-jive

Pomodoro technique: http://pomodorotechnique.com/

14 daily habits for maximising your productivity
What to do when you are overwhelmed

Intro

In our lives we have moments where we are busy, moments when we are busier, and moments when we are the busiest. For the foreseeable future I will be in one of my most busiest seasons.

My wife and I have a third child joining the family, I’m tripling my efforts at work to make a positive impact on what I have influence over, and at the same time I am also doubling down on my maker efforts outside of work. Now, Maker, is a choice word here, because:

  1. It encompasses anything I make; the podcast, art, making a better self, making a safe home, making lasting relationships, making better choices, etc.
  2. A Maker is first and foremost, a maker, and then a sharer. We live in a society that is great at sharing and re-posting. I guess we can call ourselves the re-post society?! I simply want to make, more than I share.

So, in summation, I am busy person. and recently I have become a busier person, only this time I wasn’t prepared, and it was scary. I wasn’t prepared because, although you can foresee an arbitrary amount of it, the other, is unplanned, unexpected, and overwhelming.

This episode, is dedicated to all of you who are overwhelmingly experiencing a deficit in attention; whose root cause, is, being busy.

Some thoughts on busy-ness.

Being busy is ok. In fact, I don’t think I will ever “not” be busy. So how do we best manage busy-ness, such that, we are successful with our endeavours and focus? That’s what I want to talk about today.

Overwhelmed

Let me first tell you that, for the last couple of weeks, I feel like I’ve been walking in circles, not knowing what to focus on, or what to do next. I’ve had my moments of success, focus, and productivity, yet those moments were mostly fleeting.

Here is a small list of the feelings that have been overwhelmingly present:

  • discouragement
  • disappointment
  • confusion
  • frustration
  • lack of control
  • lack of focus
  • feeling like a waste of time
  • etc.
So, What did I do?

I took some time to ponder the following question:
%%What are the moments in my life when I feel in control, productive, successful, focused, happy, eager, and motivated?
and
%%What is the common denominator for those moments?

Here is the answer: I was set up for success in all of those moments. The interesting thing to note here, is that, I took the time to set myself up for success. So how do you set yourself up for success?

I compiled a list of my greatest hits. This is a list of the moments in my life where I was successful in maximising productivity. This is a list of habits to protect as I take another stab at developing and nourishing them. I want to share this list with you.

Want to know something they all have in common? They are all habits that you can and should exercise daily.

14 daily tips to follow

  1. Doing it now

    • Do it now, decide it now, delegate it now, enjoy it now, finish it now, start it now. Whatever it is, get it done now. Getting it done now, rather than, later, has brought me the most success.

  2. Monthly, weekly, and daily planning

    • I have a Trello Board that I call the productivity planner in which I have monthly, weekly, and daily planning.

  3. Relentless focus on one task at a time

    • Multitasking is a lie, it is not possible. Sure, one needs to be flexible and able to shift one’s own attention from one thing to another, but the moments where I have been most successful, are the moments when I am able to block out distractions and temptations and focus on one thing at at time, and follow this most importing thing until it is done, handed off, socialised, published, shared, hung on a wall, etc.
    • I use a technique called Pomodoro. I’ll link the technique in the show notes. In a nutshell, the idea is simple. You focus for 25-35 minutes on a task, take a 5 minute break, and then re-focus on the same task until it is done.

  4. Starting with a task that will free up the most energy

    • You have to start your day off with something. What is the task that will free up the most mental energy. That might be the scariest thing, the hardest thing, the easiest thing, etc. For me, this is how I measure what I work on first. “If this was the only thing you did today you’d be satisfied.”
    • Doing this will free up the most mental energy to move onto your next task

  5. Manage distractions and delay them

    • When I am on my game, I have a running list of distractions on a piece of paper on my desk. At any point, when I am distracted, tempted towards distraction, or feeling a lack of energy, I jot them down.
    • I let the list get to the point, where I think it’ll take about 25 minutes to manage the distractions. I’ll then focus on the distractions for 25 minutes and clear my list :)

  6. Say no to the things that create little value and do not get you closer to your goals

    • When things are going well, I am focused on the things that bring me the most value.
    • When things are not going well, I am focused on the things that bring me the least amount of value.
    • The goal is to create more value, you do this by growing your ability to say no to everything in your life that doesn’t move you towards your goals.
    • Don’t say yes to low-value people and activities.
    • Fanatically guard your time so you can exponentially advance towards your goals

  7. Do one extra

    • Make one extra call, send out one more email, design one more component, write one more line of code, one more sentence, etc. When you add up all these one-extras, they just might make the difference. It usually does for me.

  8. Learn when to cut your losses

    • If you are not getting what you need from a person, a strategy, a partnership, or a hobby, make the hard decision early so you free up your time to find something that will give you what you need.

  9. A relentless dedication to your goals

    • When things get tough, work through it, have grit, and persevere. The end result is always worth it.

  10. Double down on what is working

    • I have heard this before, if it aint broke, then why fix it?
    • I’m telling you to do this, if it’s working, then double down your efforts on what is working. The outcome is better than if you let it alone.

  11. Have integrity

    • This one is simple, say what you say you are going to do. Be on time, finish what you said you would do. Do it all without excuses and even when you don’t feel like it because the more you practice it the better you get at it.
    • Integrity attracts the best people.

  12. Maximise your learning from your own life

    • After a project, event, meeting, thought, interaction, ask yourself the following questions:
      • What went well?
      • What would I do different next time?
      • What are the most important lessons for me to take from this experience?
    • Doing this will help you get better each day.

  13. End your day by identifying the MIT for tomorrow

    • At the end of the day, make notes for how the day went, measure your productivity, and note what happened that caused your level of productivity for the day.
    • Plan your day for tomorrow and set yourself up for success.

  14. Wherever you are, be there

    • Lastly, when I am maximising my productivity I am feeling successful. What usually accompanies this feeling is joy, growth, and peace of mind. As such, this is an outcome of intensely being present on your goals.
    • So to follow that thought, I try to be 100% present wherever I am
      • a meeting
      • a project
      • family
      • spouse
      • children
    • This last habit gets harder every day, attention seekers are everywhere, so when you are distracted, or your mind wanders and you are feeling a deficit, notice it, and bring your attention back to where you are and what matters most in the moment.
]]> Maximise your productivity with these 14 daily habits Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:35:46 no full 76 1 f86d3a5f-59fa-4fcb-b465-295ff8bfd9b3 Selling Your Ideas How to sell

Nicholas Boothman author of “Convince Them in 90 Seconds or Less”

  • 90sec?
  • tv commercials do it in 30 seconds, magazine ads in 3.
  • If you go over 5 minutes trying to convince someone, you’ve lost.
  • Confirmation bias: tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions, leading to statistical errors.
  • trust, clarity and emotional impact, and they have to happen at the same time.

trust

Trust comes from the first impression and comes from lots of body language. We don’t always have the luxury of time to build that trust when we need to quickly sell.

Clarity

Your message has to make sense … and it usually it has to be in the positive.

If you say to someone, 'Don't hesitate to contact me,' they don't know what you mean. What you really mean is, 'Phone me Friday,' or, 'Call me if you need some help.’

Speak clearly, don’t qualify what you want. Instead of saying “my services are available” – say “When I make a website for you, it will directly impact your business, drive more leads, and give your company the presence on the internet that it needs.”

Emotional Impact

The emotional impact is the big one. Eighty percent of the time, people make decisions based on their emotions, even though they think they're being rational.

Think of the emotional triggers that led to you making a recent purchase. Did you picture how that purchase would impact your life? Did you envision yourself driving that car, placing that furniture in your living room, or taking photos with that new camera before you bought it?

That story came from somewhere. If we can attach our ideas to our prospects desires, they themselves will work to make it a reality.

This is catching the vision.

Use what means you have, in person talks, email, video, social influence (show them other people using your service or product). To implant in their mind the image of them benefitting from whatever you have.

The lost art of the follow up

People are quick to make emotional decisions and quick to loose that emotion. That is why you should follow up with them. Early and often.

A quick email, a phone call, whatever. Remind them that you exist and that your idea can still change their lives.

Follow up. You will have a much higher success rate if you just follow up with the people that you have already pitched.

]]> Tue, 14 Jun 2016 07:07:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/74-90fd78b6 How to sell

Nicholas Boothman author of “Convince Them in 90 Seconds or Less”

  • 90sec?
  • tv commercials do it in 30 seconds, magazine ads in 3.
  • If you go over 5 minutes trying to convince someone, you’ve lost.
  • Confirmation bias: tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions, leading to statistical errors.
  • trust, clarity and emotional impact, and they have to happen at the same time.

trust

Trust comes from the first impression and comes from lots of body language. We don’t always have the luxury of time to build that trust when we need to quickly sell.

Clarity

Your message has to make sense … and it usually it has to be in the positive.

If you say to someone, 'Don't hesitate to contact me,' they don't know what you mean. What you really mean is, 'Phone me Friday,' or, 'Call me if you need some help.’

Speak clearly, don’t qualify what you want. Instead of saying “my services are available” – say “When I make a website for you, it will directly impact your business, drive more leads, and give your company the presence on the internet that it needs.”

Emotional Impact

The emotional impact is the big one. Eighty percent of the time, people make decisions based on their emotions, even though they think they're being rational.

Think of the emotional triggers that led to you making a recent purchase. Did you picture how that purchase would impact your life? Did you envision yourself driving that car, placing that furniture in your living room, or taking photos with that new camera before you bought it?

That story came from somewhere. If we can attach our ideas to our prospects desires, they themselves will work to make it a reality.

This is catching the vision.

Use what means you have, in person talks, email, video, social influence (show them other people using your service or product). To implant in their mind the image of them benefitting from whatever you have.

The lost art of the follow up

People are quick to make emotional decisions and quick to loose that emotion. That is why you should follow up with them. Early and often.

A quick email, a phone call, whatever. Remind them that you exist and that your idea can still change their lives.

Follow up. You will have a much higher success rate if you just follow up with the people that you have already pitched.

]]> Selling Your Ideas Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:31:16 Trav talks about using trust, clarity, and emotional impact to sell your ideas powerfully and quickly to the right people. Trav talks about using trust, clarity, and emotional impact to sell your ideas powerfully and quickly to the right people. no full 74 1 1afd12aa-0bbc-4f52-bbff-b6cd0d80b13c The Elevator Pitch – Why you need it, and how it works. A better elevator pitch.

I was reading a post on imgr today where the person gave the advice that people should develop an elevator pitch when looking for a job.

A few comments made me laugh

So, Go to random companies and ride the elevator all day in hopes you catch a ride with a big-wig and strike up a conversation? - clutchthepearls

Of the 6 companies I have worked for, only 1 had an elevator. - jackofshadows51

Sounds like your career has had some ups and downs. - BrecaAndTheSeaBeasts

While it has, the elevator wasn't the cause. Mostly not being valuable enough to the company to survive some of the downturns :-) - jackofshadows51

I don't think that's what elevator pitch means? Granted, I've not actually looked it up - justhereforvoting

View the post: http://imgur.com/gallery/xlXDc

Los, what is an Elevator pitch?

Definition

  • An Elevator pitch is a short and persuasive sales pitch.
    • Why not just an explanation of what you do? SELL!
    • Its called an elevator pitch because it has to be so succinct and clear that you can deliver it in the time it takes to have an elevator ride.

Imagine

  • Imagine you are walking through the airport, or office, or restaurant. It’s not a perfect place for a long personal conversation. Maybe its a bit noisy, maybe you are in a rush.
    • You run into an old client, or friend, or professional contact of some sort. He asks you what you are doing now or what your company does. You open your mouth, and then pause. Where on earth do you start?

Anatomy of an elevator pitch

  • There are a lot of ways to construct a compelling story, Keep in mind that this is what we are doing. All selling is story telling.
  • The model I’ll present tonight is one used by Simon Sinek. Speaker, author. “Power of why.”
    • 1.What, 2.How, 3.Why.
    • I’ll add a last one: “And so”, or “Therefore” - this is a call to action, this is the “Pitch” of the message. This is the sell.

What

Let’s build your perfect elevator pitch Los. What are you doing?

“I’m working on a podcast for creatives. It’s called Late Night’s with Trav and Los.”

How

How are you doing this? Is there anything unique or special about how you do your thing?

“My cohost and I switch weeks hosting the show and have complete autonomy over the content and edit. We record outdoors and at night. Our podcast has a very familiar vibe, in that people often comment saying it feels like just hanging out with old friends, we talk about being healthy and productive professionals in todays creative economy.

Why

Why do you do what you do? What is the emotional connection that you can convey that the audience can relate too?

“We have so much fun, it’s not often you get to have purposeful, in-depth, conversations with someone you respect. And maybe even more than that, a lot of people write to us and share how these conversations are helping them. It’s a pretty great feeling.”

Therefore, or the “Goal Statement”

  • Your pitch must have a goal statement at the end. This is the “Pitch” of the message. e.g. “At the moment I’m hoping to transition into (blank), ideally in the (blank) industry.”

“For the past 60 episodes we have been mostly presenting topics on our own, just the two of us, and growing nicely. But recently we decided to start developing richer stories, and also inviting more influencers and gatekeepers on the show, to hopefully reach a bit of a wider audience.”

]]> Tue, 7 Jun 2016 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/73-8e5c99b8 A better elevator pitch.

I was reading a post on imgr today where the person gave the advice that people should develop an elevator pitch when looking for a job.

A few comments made me laugh

So, Go to random companies and ride the elevator all day in hopes you catch a ride with a big-wig and strike up a conversation? - clutchthepearls

Of the 6 companies I have worked for, only 1 had an elevator. - jackofshadows51

Sounds like your career has had some ups and downs. - BrecaAndTheSeaBeasts

While it has, the elevator wasn't the cause. Mostly not being valuable enough to the company to survive some of the downturns :-) - jackofshadows51

I don't think that's what elevator pitch means? Granted, I've not actually looked it up - justhereforvoting

View the post: http://imgur.com/gallery/xlXDc

Los, what is an Elevator pitch?

Definition

  • An Elevator pitch is a short and persuasive sales pitch.
    • Why not just an explanation of what you do? SELL!
    • Its called an elevator pitch because it has to be so succinct and clear that you can deliver it in the time it takes to have an elevator ride.

Imagine

  • Imagine you are walking through the airport, or office, or restaurant. It’s not a perfect place for a long personal conversation. Maybe its a bit noisy, maybe you are in a rush.
    • You run into an old client, or friend, or professional contact of some sort. He asks you what you are doing now or what your company does. You open your mouth, and then pause. Where on earth do you start?

Anatomy of an elevator pitch

  • There are a lot of ways to construct a compelling story, Keep in mind that this is what we are doing. All selling is story telling.
  • The model I’ll present tonight is one used by Simon Sinek. Speaker, author. “Power of why.”
    • 1.What, 2.How, 3.Why.
    • I’ll add a last one: “And so”, or “Therefore” - this is a call to action, this is the “Pitch” of the message. This is the sell.

What

Let’s build your perfect elevator pitch Los. What are you doing?

“I’m working on a podcast for creatives. It’s called Late Night’s with Trav and Los.”

How

How are you doing this? Is there anything unique or special about how you do your thing?

“My cohost and I switch weeks hosting the show and have complete autonomy over the content and edit. We record outdoors and at night. Our podcast has a very familiar vibe, in that people often comment saying it feels like just hanging out with old friends, we talk about being healthy and productive professionals in todays creative economy.

Why

Why do you do what you do? What is the emotional connection that you can convey that the audience can relate too?

“We have so much fun, it’s not often you get to have purposeful, in-depth, conversations with someone you respect. And maybe even more than that, a lot of people write to us and share how these conversations are helping them. It’s a pretty great feeling.”

Therefore, or the “Goal Statement”

  • Your pitch must have a goal statement at the end. This is the “Pitch” of the message. e.g. “At the moment I’m hoping to transition into (blank), ideally in the (blank) industry.”

“For the past 60 episodes we have been mostly presenting topics on our own, just the two of us, and growing nicely. But recently we decided to start developing richer stories, and also inviting more influencers and gatekeepers on the show, to hopefully reach a bit of a wider audience.”

]]> The Elevator Pitch – Why you need it, and how it works. Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:29:22 Everyone need to have an "Elevator Pitch" – It's a quick script that you keep in your pocket that let's you talk about what you do, the right way. Here are a few steps to a great elevator pitch. Everyone need to have an "Elevator Pitch" – It's a quick script that you keep in your pocket that let's you talk about what you do, the right way. Here are a few steps to a great elevator pitch. no full 73 1 f3609644-a45e-4977-b2ee-b8716af51081 It gets personal: Listener questions #'s 3, 4, & 5 Trav and Los host an entire episode dedicated to answering listener questions.

Music: https://soundcloud.com/syntheticepiphany/bob-marley-no-woman-no-cry

Referenced article around Job Fulfillment: https://medium.com/@mags/the-four-dimensions-of-job-fulfillment-and-a-map-to-find-them-81198b50cd79#.9gnl4j6pu

]]> Wed, 1 Jun 2016 05:50:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/72-63689ad8 Trav and Los host an entire episode dedicated to answering listener questions.

Music: https://soundcloud.com/syntheticepiphany/bob-marley-no-woman-no-cry

Referenced article around Job Fulfillment: https://medium.com/@mags/the-four-dimensions-of-job-fulfillment-and-a-map-to-find-them-81198b50cd79#.9gnl4j6pu

]]> It gets personal: Listener questions #'s 3, 4, & 5 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:49:26 Trav and Los host an entire episode dedicated to answering listener questions. Trav and Los host an entire episode dedicated to answering listener questions. planning, design, reflection, gsd, mve, benefits of creativity, the bay area, photoshop, trav, thought knowledge, speakers, trav and los, creativity, mvp, thinking, life-hacking, create, experience canvas, sketch, silicon valley, los, experts no full 72 1 2dff6751-4016-4e20-9f15-fd0eed72ff86 The job to be done Every day we use physical and digital products. I mean, every day we hire physical and digital products. Today we talk about the "job to be done" of the products you hire everyday and how you can start thinking about the "job to be done" of the things you make.

Article: https://medium.com/@eportelance/the-iceberg-of-jobs-to-be-done-5ad423fa84ff#.mhhzu7lc8

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGuSM3yUxik

Intro Music: https://soundcloud.com/lordrecollectif/daft-punk-random-access

Outro Music: https://soundcloud.com/hbrtmusic/odesza-say-my-name-hbrt-random-access-memories-edit

]]> Mon, 23 May 2016 07:25:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/71-55a6972c Every day we use physical and digital products. I mean, every day we hire physical and digital products. Today we talk about the "job to be done" of the products you hire everyday and how you can start thinking about the "job to be done" of the things you make.

Article: https://medium.com/@eportelance/the-iceberg-of-jobs-to-be-done-5ad423fa84ff#.mhhzu7lc8

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGuSM3yUxik

Intro Music: https://soundcloud.com/lordrecollectif/daft-punk-random-access

Outro Music: https://soundcloud.com/hbrtmusic/odesza-say-my-name-hbrt-random-access-memories-edit

]]> The job to be done Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:44:39 Today we talk about the "job to be done" of the products you hire everyday (phones, chairs, phones, cups, etc.) and how you can start thinking about the "job to be done" of the things you make. Today we talk about the "job to be done" of the products you hire everyday (phones, chairs, phones, cups, etc.) and how you can start thinking about the "job to be done" of the things you make. design, twert, los, startup, codes, games, late nights, business, life, knowledge, communication, illustrator, photoshop, code, self improvement, sketch, bootstrapped, trav no full 71 1 ab602d9e-a5a8-4fa2-b270-36a3e4f50c61 Tools, Not Rules – a recipe for good collaboration Lean heavily on building tools and opportunities for yourself and others, rather than trying to follow a prescription or bounding yourself and others with new rules

Each episode is a test. We learn from each episode and apply the lessons to new episodes. Maybe not in ways that you think, or that you see right away. The last narrated episode was 7 months ago. But that definitely planted the seeds for what I did this last week.

  • Trav thinks it might be about placing tools in the bag to use later on.

  • Sometimes Trav is really interested in a tool, or process and itches to use it. He's been wanting to narrate and episode for a while, so when he had an opportunity, he took it. It was a risk, but we embrace trust and improvisation here.

  • We have built a flexible structure for the show, over time we add tools, not rules

  • Being a good creator is all about sampling from a wide variety of influences and using and mixing those tools.

    • Copy, Combine, Transform.
      • people have said that this last episode was reminiscent of serial, radio lab and a few other podcasts, but no-one mentioned this american life, which i will admit was my biggest influence in structuring the episode.
      • Ira Glass impersonation
]]> Tue, 17 May 2016 11:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/70-9f390d97 Lean heavily on building tools and opportunities for yourself and others, rather than trying to follow a prescription or bounding yourself and others with new rules

Each episode is a test. We learn from each episode and apply the lessons to new episodes. Maybe not in ways that you think, or that you see right away. The last narrated episode was 7 months ago. But that definitely planted the seeds for what I did this last week.

  • Trav thinks it might be about placing tools in the bag to use later on.

  • Sometimes Trav is really interested in a tool, or process and itches to use it. He's been wanting to narrate and episode for a while, so when he had an opportunity, he took it. It was a risk, but we embrace trust and improvisation here.

  • We have built a flexible structure for the show, over time we add tools, not rules

  • Being a good creator is all about sampling from a wide variety of influences and using and mixing those tools.

    • Copy, Combine, Transform.
      • people have said that this last episode was reminiscent of serial, radio lab and a few other podcasts, but no-one mentioned this american life, which i will admit was my biggest influence in structuring the episode.
      • Ira Glass impersonation
]]> Tools, Not Rules – a recipe for good collaboration Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:21:24 Trav and Los reflect on the collaboration that makes this show a joy to create and distill a few powerful ideas. Trav and Los reflect on the collaboration that makes this show a joy to create and distill a few powerful ideas. no full 70 1 0d9db5da-88b9-417e-aa0d-ad95b32e1265 Imposter Syndrome Trav travels across the United States and speaks to people all over about their experience with Imposter Syndrome.

Special Guests:

  • Ross Popoff-Walker – http://rosspw.com/
  • Nick Zakrasek – https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickzakrasek
  • Pauline Rose Clance – http://paulineroseclance.com/
  • Marty Nemko – http://www.martynemko.com/
  • Denise Cummins – http://www.denisecummins.com/

Take Dr. Clance's Imposter Phenomenon test... http://paulineroseclance.com/pdf/IPscoringtest.pdf

All Music from http://epidemicsound.com

Special thanks to Los, who never gave me his permission to record him. Sucker.

– Travis

]]> Tue, 10 May 2016 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/69-ef26d354 Trav travels across the United States and speaks to people all over about their experience with Imposter Syndrome.

Special Guests:

  • Ross Popoff-Walker – http://rosspw.com/
  • Nick Zakrasek – https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickzakrasek
  • Pauline Rose Clance – http://paulineroseclance.com/
  • Marty Nemko – http://www.martynemko.com/
  • Denise Cummins – http://www.denisecummins.com/

Take Dr. Clance's Imposter Phenomenon test... http://paulineroseclance.com/pdf/IPscoringtest.pdf

All Music from http://epidemicsound.com

Special thanks to Los, who never gave me his permission to record him. Sucker.

– Travis

]]> Imposter Syndrome Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:39:57 Trav travels across the United States and speaks to people all over about their experience with Imposter Syndrome. Trav travels across the United States and speaks to people all over about their experience with Imposter Syndrome. work, creative work, imposter syndrome, collaboration, imposter phenomenon, pauline rose clance, business, creativity no full 69 1 af142dc3-d29b-4146-afb6-dbfa7f82bea4 Experience Canvas: A framework for your product Los walks us through The Experience Canvas: a framework for project teams of any size to ensure that the end result – whether it’s a minimum viable product (MVP), a new feature roll-out, even a process or other business initiative – is thorough, considered, user-centred and lean, without compromising on flexibility. The emphasis is on the experience to be achieved by that result; a minimum viable experience (MVE), if you will.

Blog: http://blogs.atlassian.com/2013/10/fight-the-dark-side-of-lean-ux-with-the-experience-canvas/
Song: https://soundcloud.com/skeewiff/sesame-street-twelve-skeewiffs

]]> Tue, 3 May 2016 17:02:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/68-a92e3f91 Los walks us through The Experience Canvas: a framework for project teams of any size to ensure that the end result – whether it’s a minimum viable product (MVP), a new feature roll-out, even a process or other business initiative – is thorough, considered, user-centred and lean, without compromising on flexibility. The emphasis is on the experience to be achieved by that result; a minimum viable experience (MVE), if you will.

Blog: http://blogs.atlassian.com/2013/10/fight-the-dark-side-of-lean-ux-with-the-experience-canvas/
Song: https://soundcloud.com/skeewiff/sesame-street-twelve-skeewiffs

]]> Experience Canvas: A framework for your product Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:39:51 Los walks us through The Experience Canvas: a framework for project teams of any size to ensure that the end result – whether it’s a minimum viable product (MVP), a new feature roll-out, even a process or other business initiative – is thorough, considered, user-centred and lean, without compromising on flexibility. The emphasis is on the experience to be achieved by that result; a minimum viable experience (MVE), if you will. Los walks us through The Experience Canvas: a framework for project teams of any size to ensure that the end result – whether it’s a minimum viable product (MVP), a new feature roll-out, even a process or other business initiative – is thorough, considered, user-centred and lean, without compromising on flexibility. The emphasis is on the experience to be achieved by that result; a minimum viable experience (MVE), if you will. create, photoshop, thinking, planning, mve, creativity, mvp, trav, life-hacking, the bay area, trav and los, experience canvas, experts, speakers, benefits of creativity, gsd, reflection, silicon valley, thought knowledge, los, sketch, design no full 68 1 6d9b9ce5-d929-4158-8b9c-c08dced0a3ee I'm not good enough - Listener Question #2 Ep. 67

Song - [https://soundcloud.com/steezmonks/louis-armstrong-aint-got-that-swing-steezmonks-remix-3]

Intro

Welcome to another episode of Late Nights with Trav and Los, I am hosting tonight and to my left is the ever wonderful, ever bearded, bestie co-host, Traaaaaav.

It feels good to host again. I wanted to talk about last weeks episode for a few minutes before we get going with the podcast.

I found it incredibly insightful. That being good, isn’t enough if you want to make a name for yourself. That really resonated with me. I also, loved that it was an answer to a listener question.

So for today’s episode, we will be answering another listener question. This one is interesting because it’s about publishing.

You ready? Ok, here it is:

Play listener question

OK, so Anton posed two questions here. The first question asks this:

As publishers, how do we get to the point where we feel that the content we create is ready to be published?

The second question asks:

How do we get past the point of doubt. How do we get past the thought that the content we created isn’t even worth publishing?

Before we take a stab at answering these questions, I want to give a call out to some early podcast episodes we published around publishing:

  1. The first one was called why you should be a publisher episode 18 and was framed around the benefits of publishing.
  2. The second was was called Share To Win! episode 30 and was framed around the idea that by publishing, you create more opportunities to get discovered

If you notice, both of these talk about the benefits of publishing.

So, back to Anton’s first question: How do we get to the point where we feel that the content we create is ready to be published? In other words, when do we think we are “good enough”?

I want to read you 2 quotes:

  1. The first one is this “If you make things and share them, your heart will at some point be broken. If you never share, it will harden. Your choice.” — Todd Henry
  2. and the second one is this “You have to be brave, before you can be good.” — a supporting character to a comic book Travis read back in May of 2015.

Both of these quotes where from a podcast episode called, A case for bravery this was episode 19. The point I am trying to make here is that what we share at times will be good enough and other times it won’t. The main take-away from this is to be Brave. You have to get comfortable failing, and failing in public.

The second thing I’d like to mention is something Sean McCabe said in one of his podcasts. The question posed to him was this, why should I even talk about something that has been taught, created, shared hundreds of times already. His answer, was simple. Your unique point of view has not been shared yet. I find solace in that advice, that what I have to say, even if I believe I am duplicating someone else’s work, will still be beneficial to some people. My uniqueness, my take on a problem, my life experiences and how I choose to deliver a message will have a lasting impact on people. That’s how I know that whatever I create is good enough, because it is unique to me.

The second question asked by Anton was this:

How do we get past the point of doubt. How do we get past the thought that the content we created isn’t even worth publishing?

I think our answer to the first question can be summed up to answer this one too:

  1. Be brave to overcome doubt and know
  2. that what you have created is worth publishing because you have unique experiences and your content will resonate with a completely different set of people and have a lasting impact on their lives.
]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2016 07:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/67-64ff4d3e Ep. 67

Song - [https://soundcloud.com/steezmonks/louis-armstrong-aint-got-that-swing-steezmonks-remix-3]

Intro

Welcome to another episode of Late Nights with Trav and Los, I am hosting tonight and to my left is the ever wonderful, ever bearded, bestie co-host, Traaaaaav.

It feels good to host again. I wanted to talk about last weeks episode for a few minutes before we get going with the podcast.

I found it incredibly insightful. That being good, isn’t enough if you want to make a name for yourself. That really resonated with me. I also, loved that it was an answer to a listener question.

So for today’s episode, we will be answering another listener question. This one is interesting because it’s about publishing.

You ready? Ok, here it is:

Play listener question

OK, so Anton posed two questions here. The first question asks this:

As publishers, how do we get to the point where we feel that the content we create is ready to be published?

The second question asks:

How do we get past the point of doubt. How do we get past the thought that the content we created isn’t even worth publishing?

Before we take a stab at answering these questions, I want to give a call out to some early podcast episodes we published around publishing:

  1. The first one was called why you should be a publisher episode 18 and was framed around the benefits of publishing.
  2. The second was was called Share To Win! episode 30 and was framed around the idea that by publishing, you create more opportunities to get discovered

If you notice, both of these talk about the benefits of publishing.

So, back to Anton’s first question: How do we get to the point where we feel that the content we create is ready to be published? In other words, when do we think we are “good enough”?

I want to read you 2 quotes:

  1. The first one is this “If you make things and share them, your heart will at some point be broken. If you never share, it will harden. Your choice.” — Todd Henry
  2. and the second one is this “You have to be brave, before you can be good.” — a supporting character to a comic book Travis read back in May of 2015.

Both of these quotes where from a podcast episode called, A case for bravery this was episode 19. The point I am trying to make here is that what we share at times will be good enough and other times it won’t. The main take-away from this is to be Brave. You have to get comfortable failing, and failing in public.

The second thing I’d like to mention is something Sean McCabe said in one of his podcasts. The question posed to him was this, why should I even talk about something that has been taught, created, shared hundreds of times already. His answer, was simple. Your unique point of view has not been shared yet. I find solace in that advice, that what I have to say, even if I believe I am duplicating someone else’s work, will still be beneficial to some people. My uniqueness, my take on a problem, my life experiences and how I choose to deliver a message will have a lasting impact on people. That’s how I know that whatever I create is good enough, because it is unique to me.

The second question asked by Anton was this:

How do we get past the point of doubt. How do we get past the thought that the content we created isn’t even worth publishing?

I think our answer to the first question can be summed up to answer this one too:

  1. Be brave to overcome doubt and know
  2. that what you have created is worth publishing because you have unique experiences and your content will resonate with a completely different set of people and have a lasting impact on their lives.
]]> I'm not good enough - Listener Question #2 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:23:32 Los answers our second listener question: How do we get past the point of doubt. How do we get past the thought that the content we created isn’t even worth publishing? How do we get past the feeling of not being good enough? Los answers our second listener question: How do we get past the point of doubt. How do we get past the thought that the content we created isn’t even worth publishing? How do we get past the feeling of not being good enough? no full 67 1 8ac7029b-e57a-44f3-9717-9d55d3840dbb How To Make A Name for Yourself How to make a name for yourself

Being good isn’t enough, you need a network

In his decades-long study of creativity, management psychology expert Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described what he called a “systems approach.” Since "creative" work tends to be subjective, he posited a model that included three systems:

  • The Domain
  • The Field
  • The Individual

Domain:

Master your craft

Field:

Get your work in front of people who are seen as authorities in the field.

Individual

You and your work must be deemed of value by the gatekeepers.

Communities create opportunities for creative work to succeed.

Don’t be lucky, be connected.

Start today.

  • Identify the gatekeepers
  • demonstrate value, make them want to invest in you
  • Help and serve others

In doing so, you will find access, and connection, and friendship that will be a strength to you for your entire career and entire life.

Referenced article –Entrepreneur.com

]]> Mon, 18 Apr 2016 15:14:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/66-011d2db6 How to make a name for yourself

Being good isn’t enough, you need a network

In his decades-long study of creativity, management psychology expert Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described what he called a “systems approach.” Since "creative" work tends to be subjective, he posited a model that included three systems:

  • The Domain
  • The Field
  • The Individual

Domain:

Master your craft

Field:

Get your work in front of people who are seen as authorities in the field.

Individual

You and your work must be deemed of value by the gatekeepers.

Communities create opportunities for creative work to succeed.

Don’t be lucky, be connected.

Start today.

  • Identify the gatekeepers
  • demonstrate value, make them want to invest in you
  • Help and serve others

In doing so, you will find access, and connection, and friendship that will be a strength to you for your entire career and entire life.

Referenced article –Entrepreneur.com

]]> How To Make A Name for Yourself Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:33:26 Travis shares with Los the secret to how creative ideas are spread. It's not about how good you are, it's who you help. Travis shares with Los the secret to how creative ideas are spread. It's not about how good you are, it's who you help. no full 66 1 56fe6a23-65f4-4f4e-9341-aaed47220cea KEEP YOUR HEAD – Listener Question #1 Keep good mental health by:
  1. Learning about your flow state.
  2. Getting a support system
  3. Taking care of your health
  4. Not avoiding the work
]]> Tue, 12 Apr 2016 07:45:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/65-f175374f Keep good mental health by:
  1. Learning about your flow state.
  2. Getting a support system
  3. Taking care of your health
  4. Not avoiding the work
]]> KEEP YOUR HEAD – Listener Question #1 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:25:41 Trav and Los answer a listener question about maintaining mental health along with a full work load. Trav and Los answer a listener question about maintaining mental health along with a full work load. no full 65 1 8e62e58d-edf4-4c4a-b994-31cd24591120 The gap between taste and skill Los writes one sentence down and then we podcast about it. We talk about the gap between taste and skill as a response to one of our Twitter followers. Always a great reminder :)

Travis makes a reference to a quote and it's by the great Ira Glass. The quote is below for your reading pleasure!

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

]]> Tue, 5 Apr 2016 15:12:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/64-3aeedddf Los writes one sentence down and then we podcast about it. We talk about the gap between taste and skill as a response to one of our Twitter followers. Always a great reminder :)

Travis makes a reference to a quote and it's by the great Ira Glass. The quote is below for your reading pleasure!

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

]]> The gap between taste and skill Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:19:28 Los writes one sentence down and then we podcast about it. We talk about the gap between taste and skill as a response to one of our Twitter followers. Always a great reminder :) Los writes one sentence down and then we podcast about it. We talk about the gap between taste and skill as a response to one of our Twitter followers. Always a great reminder :) experts, benefits of creativity, speakers, taste, design, brainstorming, silicon valley, los, thought knowledge, reflection, photoshop, create, trav and los, life-hacking, show up, planning, gsd, creativity, thinking, trav, the bay area, sketch no full 64 1 7bf64f12-b91a-4916-8620-a37ea8757369 8 ways to build trust Today I want to talk about trust. Trust is a super broad topic, so the focus for this episode, is about trust in the workplace.

And to be even more specific. I want to talk about trust as it pertains to it being a soft-skill you must have and subsequently develop as a designer. This is something you can focus on building anywhere. You can build this skill at an in-house design team, a design agency, or as a freelance designer.

I will talk you through how to develop and focus on this soft-skill. The key take-aways that will be synthesised for you will come from my own experiences, Travis’s insights, and some research I have done for you on the glorious internet.

So Travis, what does trust look like when it’s done right?
What does trust look like when it’s done wrong?

What do you do to build trust in the workplace? or better yet, what have you done in the past and what are you actively doing now? The key-word here, is that building trust, is an active experience.

Ok, awesome answers. If I can give you only one take-away, it is that I want you all to positively influence trust in your teams.

And since I mentioned previously that trust is an active experience, here is how you can actively start a conversation with your team before a project, during a project, or even after a project.

Eight things you can do to be a positive influence for trust in your teams. These eight things can all be a conversation starter with your team, however, before you use each one of these topics as a conversation piece with your team, you must first lead by example. So here they are.

  1. Clarity - Your goal is to be as transparent and open as possible with your team. You want to avoid uncertainty or vagueness as it pertains to you. Remember, as I have said before, every interaction is a brand-interaction. So what does this look like? In a simple example I have experienced myself, if I am about to miss a deadline, I’ll make sure my team knows that as soon as I know it. I’ll let them know that I need help. I have also had times when a project has been assigned to me and it’s the first time I am doing a task, this for example can be, managing an outside agency to help design something. I’ll let the team know that I haven’t done this before and I’m excited to learn and that I will lean on those that know what they are doing if I run into any problems.
  2. Connection - It is natural for people to follow others and build relationships. What can you do to connect and engage with your team? What can you do to improve relationships and reduce conflicts? For example, you can set up a team outing and get to know the people you are working with outside work, or set up a time to play a board game, or set up what I have taken for myself, a “cuddle session” where you meet for 30 minutes and talk about each others weekends.
  3. Compassion - We need to care about each other. How are you showing concern for your team? What are you doing to be compassionate and empathetic to your team? For example, when you can tell someone is frustrated with something, don’t wait for them to ask for help. Walk over, look over their shoulder and see if you can help. Even if you can’t the mere fact of you walking over will give them some encouragement and solidarity in the problem or frustration they are experienceing.
  4. Value - People love to support and be around people that have the same values. What are you doing to help each other align on values. These values don’t need to be moral values, they can be workplace values, or project specific values. So before you start a project, you can create Rules of Engagement. A list of values you all create together. For example, one can be this, if you need help, ask for it!
  5. Competency - We have confidence in those who stay fresh, innovative and competent. What are you doing to grow your competency? In a previous episode, I spoke about building self-confidence and how it’s a by product of two other skills. The first is, understanding where your strengths and weaknesses are and compare that to what your peers think. The second is focusing, on narrowing the delta between the two. Have you spent time being introspective?
  6. Integrity - We trust those who demonstrate a commitment to action. How can you take responsibility and fulfil it? When you raise your hand to get something done, are you committed to see it through?
  7. Contribution - We are all motivated and engaged when we deliver results. People trust results. Are you consistently getting things done?
  8. Consistency - We love consistency. We are creatures of habit. Are you consistently delivering on what you set out to do? Is your teams trust and confidence rising or falling in your ability to consistently get things done?
  9. What else is important to you?

Now after you have gone through all of these you will have an accurate picture of where you stand in providing and increasing trust within your team. Once you have an accurate picture you can switch these questions towards your team. For example, you would set up a meeting for an hour with your team before a project or during a project and let everyone know that you are going to run a

]]> Tue, 29 Mar 2016 08:04:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/63-3ebf9432 Today I want to talk about trust. Trust is a super broad topic, so the focus for this episode, is about trust in the workplace.

And to be even more specific. I want to talk about trust as it pertains to it being a soft-skill you must have and subsequently develop as a designer. This is something you can focus on building anywhere. You can build this skill at an in-house design team, a design agency, or as a freelance designer.

I will talk you through how to develop and focus on this soft-skill. The key take-aways that will be synthesised for you will come from my own experiences, Travis’s insights, and some research I have done for you on the glorious internet.

So Travis, what does trust look like when it’s done right?
What does trust look like when it’s done wrong?

What do you do to build trust in the workplace? or better yet, what have you done in the past and what are you actively doing now? The key-word here, is that building trust, is an active experience.

Ok, awesome answers. If I can give you only one take-away, it is that I want you all to positively influence trust in your teams.

And since I mentioned previously that trust is an active experience, here is how you can actively start a conversation with your team before a project, during a project, or even after a project.

Eight things you can do to be a positive influence for trust in your teams. These eight things can all be a conversation starter with your team, however, before you use each one of these topics as a conversation piece with your team, you must first lead by example. So here they are.

  1. Clarity - Your goal is to be as transparent and open as possible with your team. You want to avoid uncertainty or vagueness as it pertains to you. Remember, as I have said before, every interaction is a brand-interaction. So what does this look like? In a simple example I have experienced myself, if I am about to miss a deadline, I’ll make sure my team knows that as soon as I know it. I’ll let them know that I need help. I have also had times when a project has been assigned to me and it’s the first time I am doing a task, this for example can be, managing an outside agency to help design something. I’ll let the team know that I haven’t done this before and I’m excited to learn and that I will lean on those that know what they are doing if I run into any problems.
  2. Connection - It is natural for people to follow others and build relationships. What can you do to connect and engage with your team? What can you do to improve relationships and reduce conflicts? For example, you can set up a team outing and get to know the people you are working with outside work, or set up a time to play a board game, or set up what I have taken for myself, a “cuddle session” where you meet for 30 minutes and talk about each others weekends.
  3. Compassion - We need to care about each other. How are you showing concern for your team? What are you doing to be compassionate and empathetic to your team? For example, when you can tell someone is frustrated with something, don’t wait for them to ask for help. Walk over, look over their shoulder and see if you can help. Even if you can’t the mere fact of you walking over will give them some encouragement and solidarity in the problem or frustration they are experienceing.
  4. Value - People love to support and be around people that have the same values. What are you doing to help each other align on values. These values don’t need to be moral values, they can be workplace values, or project specific values. So before you start a project, you can create Rules of Engagement. A list of values you all create together. For example, one can be this, if you need help, ask for it!
  5. Competency - We have confidence in those who stay fresh, innovative and competent. What are you doing to grow your competency? In a previous episode, I spoke about building self-confidence and how it’s a by product of two other skills. The first is, understanding where your strengths and weaknesses are and compare that to what your peers think. The second is focusing, on narrowing the delta between the two. Have you spent time being introspective?
  6. Integrity - We trust those who demonstrate a commitment to action. How can you take responsibility and fulfil it? When you raise your hand to get something done, are you committed to see it through?
  7. Contribution - We are all motivated and engaged when we deliver results. People trust results. Are you consistently getting things done?
  8. Consistency - We love consistency. We are creatures of habit. Are you consistently delivering on what you set out to do? Is your teams trust and confidence rising or falling in your ability to consistently get things done?
  9. What else is important to you?

Now after you have gone through all of these you will have an accurate picture of where you stand in providing and increasing trust within your team. Once you have an accurate picture you can switch these questions towards your team. For example, you would set up a meeting for an hour with your team before a project or during a project and let everyone know that you are going to run a

]]> 8 ways to build trust Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:38:37 Los walks us through the 8 things he focuses on for building trust with pretty much anyone. Los walks us through the 8 things he focuses on for building trust with pretty much anyone. 8 tips for trust, trav and los, life-hacking, developing trust, workplace, trusting, thinking, trust, gsd, thought knowledge, the bay area, planning, experts, photoshop, teams, silicon valley, speakers, design, trav, sketch, reflection, los no full 63 1 5a9ccc9a-6b6b-400c-bef9-635e7a553a75 Should you Specialize or Generalize in your Career? Should I generalize or specialize in my career?

Reagan Quote

“I believe designers are all designers not just one type. An organization does this (narrow a designers scope) to help better define the individual and role but in reality a designer should understand many roles”

I think it mostly comes down to personality. We have two things here. The first is who you are, as a person. What are your interests and skills. What do you have to offer and what makes you happy.

Then the second thing is what the world needs. Or rather, what do the people that you know what have money need. It’s easier to hire a specialist at a big company. A small company can use a generalist more.

To it really comes down to you, what can you do, and what do you want?

I’ve got some specific talking points here that we can argue over.

  1. It’s Easier to Specialize

    • Less to learn, remember, and keep up on.
    • Doesn’t take as long to be useful in just one thing, generalizing takes time.

  2. Income generation

    • Pro specialize

      • Competitive field? You might be better off specializing, corner a niche market and only focus on that specific field.
      • Specialists can work faster, move on to the next thing and make more money.
      • Higher quality work / charge more per piece. Do you buy a rolex at walmart?

    • Pro generalize

      • The more possibilities you have for generating income, which increase as you generalize, the less you will suffer during economic hard times, and the easier it will be to generate income. When the specialist is tapping a dried well.
      • Sell add-ons (Design AND Build the website)

  3. Job Security

  • Pro generalize

    • what if your chosen speciality is no longer in demand?
    • You are more capable to push the boundaries of a skill, because it can be influenced by the other things you study.
    • Harder for others to do exactly what you do, not really a replaceable part.

  • Pro specialize

    • Easier to sell yourself. People put you in boxes.
    • Companies often look to fill a role.
    • Skill set is clearly defined, not vague like a generalist
  1. Personal Satisfaction

  • Pro specialize

    • Cal newport says that passion comes from being good at your work, not the other way around.
    • Easier to get 10,000 hours if you do the same thing all the time.
    • Flow is easier to come by when you are not distracted

  • Pro generalize

    • Don’t get bored a lot, avoid burnout
    • more opportunities to find something that really resonates with you
    • meet all kinds of different people

_Outtro

  • Whichever path you take, push yourself outside your comfort zone on a regular basis. You might end up stagnating if you don’t. Pushing your boundaries helps you grow by necessitating more learning, researching, and studying, and it will keep you motivated and energized in your career.

  • Does it have to be one or the other? I’ve noticed that I was more scattered earlier in my career. And over time learned to focus myself. I had very real and specific talks about this topic with friends and colleagues. It ends up, everyone just kinda does what they do.

  • There is also the concept of the T-shaped designer. One who has a competency in a vast many topics, but can dive really deep on one or two specialities.

]]> Tue, 22 Mar 2016 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/62-c0ffcc8c Should I generalize or specialize in my career?

Reagan Quote

“I believe designers are all designers not just one type. An organization does this (narrow a designers scope) to help better define the individual and role but in reality a designer should understand many roles”

I think it mostly comes down to personality. We have two things here. The first is who you are, as a person. What are your interests and skills. What do you have to offer and what makes you happy.

Then the second thing is what the world needs. Or rather, what do the people that you know what have money need. It’s easier to hire a specialist at a big company. A small company can use a generalist more.

To it really comes down to you, what can you do, and what do you want?

I’ve got some specific talking points here that we can argue over.

  1. It’s Easier to Specialize

    • Less to learn, remember, and keep up on.
    • Doesn’t take as long to be useful in just one thing, generalizing takes time.

  2. Income generation

    • Pro specialize

      • Competitive field? You might be better off specializing, corner a niche market and only focus on that specific field.
      • Specialists can work faster, move on to the next thing and make more money.
      • Higher quality work / charge more per piece. Do you buy a rolex at walmart?

    • Pro generalize

      • The more possibilities you have for generating income, which increase as you generalize, the less you will suffer during economic hard times, and the easier it will be to generate income. When the specialist is tapping a dried well.
      • Sell add-ons (Design AND Build the website)

  3. Job Security

  • Pro generalize

    • what if your chosen speciality is no longer in demand?
    • You are more capable to push the boundaries of a skill, because it can be influenced by the other things you study.
    • Harder for others to do exactly what you do, not really a replaceable part.

  • Pro specialize

    • Easier to sell yourself. People put you in boxes.
    • Companies often look to fill a role.
    • Skill set is clearly defined, not vague like a generalist
  1. Personal Satisfaction

  • Pro specialize

    • Cal newport says that passion comes from being good at your work, not the other way around.
    • Easier to get 10,000 hours if you do the same thing all the time.
    • Flow is easier to come by when you are not distracted

  • Pro generalize

    • Don’t get bored a lot, avoid burnout
    • more opportunities to find something that really resonates with you
    • meet all kinds of different people

_Outtro

  • Whichever path you take, push yourself outside your comfort zone on a regular basis. You might end up stagnating if you don’t. Pushing your boundaries helps you grow by necessitating more learning, researching, and studying, and it will keep you motivated and energized in your career.

  • Does it have to be one or the other? I’ve noticed that I was more scattered earlier in my career. And over time learned to focus myself. I had very real and specific talks about this topic with friends and colleagues. It ends up, everyone just kinda does what they do.

  • There is also the concept of the T-shaped designer. One who has a competency in a vast many topics, but can dive really deep on one or two specialities.

]]> Should you Specialize or Generalize in your Career? Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:29:33 Trav brings up some positives and negatives about specializing or generalizing in your career. Trav brings up some positives and negatives about specializing or generalizing in your career. no full 62 1 1b89fdc2-8fe0-4b24-9a30-6c30b0730f0c Reagan Kim is the nicest person I’ve ever met Reagan Kim is a talented and genuine person. Regan was Trav's mentor when he joined Google. He's worked at Fox Entertainment, Netflix, Google, and now Facebook. He walk us through his journey and we pull out the principles of his success.

]]> Tue, 15 Mar 2016 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/61-0ed755f3 Reagan Kim is a talented and genuine person. Regan was Trav's mentor when he joined Google. He's worked at Fox Entertainment, Netflix, Google, and now Facebook. He walk us through his journey and we pull out the principles of his success.

]]> Reagan Kim is the nicest person I’ve ever met Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:43:30 Reagan Kim is a talented and genuine person. Regan was Trav's mentor when he joined Google. He's worked at Fox Entertainment, Netflix, Google, and now Facebook. He walk us through his journey and we pull out the principles of his success. Reagan Kim is a talented and genuine person. Regan was Trav's mentor when he joined Google. He's worked at Fox Entertainment, Netflix, Google, and now Facebook. He walk us through his journey and we pull out the principles of his success. no full 61 1 96a1da4e-7561-4c65-b523-c06d78286d96 Building Self Confidence Feb 24, 2016

#Developing Self-Confidence

My wife asked me a couple of weeks ago. How can you be so confident all the time?

You want to know my answer? I told her, I got it from my momma.

For your sake, dear listener,let me expand that answer:

I grew up in a home where my dad usually worked 2 jobs to provide for us, or worked at odd hours of the day where I didn’t see him much. And as such, I was around my mom most of the time, at least in my formative years. I gained a major portion of my confidence from her, she would say things like, I know I’m beautiful and of course people love me, can’t you see how awesome I am.

Now this wasn’t said with a prideful tone. She would always have an underlying joker’s tone to it, always playful.

In today’s episode I want to deliver a message around self-confidence and how true confidence can’t be faked, it is a by-product of two more important skills:

unwavering self-awareness and a continuos fervor for learning

#Self-awareness

Q:What is it?
The ability to be assess your own strengths and areas for development.

Q:How do you build self-awareness?
Practice. Create a list of the skills you deem most important for your role, your life, whatever you care about. Then assess yourself on each of those skills. Which are you great at, which are you terrible at, which are you somewhere in the middle?

Q:Then, what do you do?
Get others to assess you. You can’t ask people to go down the list like you did, you have to do it in the moment. Right after you do something that required a skill on your list, ask people how you did.

For example,

  1. “What was the best/most effective thing I just did there?”
  2. “What’s one thing I could do better next time?”

What you’ll find is a gap from where your self-perceptions are and where other people’s perceptions of you are like. Your goal is to decrease that gap over time.

Q:What’s next?
You’ll have a sense of what you are good at and what you are bad at. Now your role is to be ok with it and grow by-way of learning.

#Coninuous Fervor for learning

You must believe that all skills can be developed through hard work and commitment, that wherever you are now is just a starting point. Having this mindset will not only empower you: it will create a love for learning and a resilience to criticism.

This last part is important, because as you learn, you will make mistakes. You will be criticised there is no way around it. Get comfortable in being corrected and questioned.

If you do this, you will be less afraid of revealing to others that you’re bad at something and more willing to put in the effort to improve at it.

Q:If someone tells you, that you are bad at something how do you react?
Good on you if you instantly become inquisitive and ask “what could I be doing differently?”, “Who’s someone that’s great at this thing?”, “How do you think people get good at this thing?”, etc. Do you become offended by the criticism, or do you thank the person?

#Closing Thoughts

Self-awareness and a fervour for learning are the skills to focus on, not confidence. With a continued effort in developing those two skills, you’ll exhibit all the characteristics of a confident person and you’ll develop real confidence as you patiently become an expert in the areas where you invest your effort.

]]> Tue, 8 Mar 2016 14:54:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/60-2ae933cd Feb 24, 2016

#Developing Self-Confidence

My wife asked me a couple of weeks ago. How can you be so confident all the time?

You want to know my answer? I told her, I got it from my momma.

For your sake, dear listener,let me expand that answer:

I grew up in a home where my dad usually worked 2 jobs to provide for us, or worked at odd hours of the day where I didn’t see him much. And as such, I was around my mom most of the time, at least in my formative years. I gained a major portion of my confidence from her, she would say things like, I know I’m beautiful and of course people love me, can’t you see how awesome I am.

Now this wasn’t said with a prideful tone. She would always have an underlying joker’s tone to it, always playful.

In today’s episode I want to deliver a message around self-confidence and how true confidence can’t be faked, it is a by-product of two more important skills:

unwavering self-awareness and a continuos fervor for learning

#Self-awareness

Q:What is it?
The ability to be assess your own strengths and areas for development.

Q:How do you build self-awareness?
Practice. Create a list of the skills you deem most important for your role, your life, whatever you care about. Then assess yourself on each of those skills. Which are you great at, which are you terrible at, which are you somewhere in the middle?

Q:Then, what do you do?
Get others to assess you. You can’t ask people to go down the list like you did, you have to do it in the moment. Right after you do something that required a skill on your list, ask people how you did.

For example,

  1. “What was the best/most effective thing I just did there?”
  2. “What’s one thing I could do better next time?”

What you’ll find is a gap from where your self-perceptions are and where other people’s perceptions of you are like. Your goal is to decrease that gap over time.

Q:What’s next?
You’ll have a sense of what you are good at and what you are bad at. Now your role is to be ok with it and grow by-way of learning.

#Coninuous Fervor for learning

You must believe that all skills can be developed through hard work and commitment, that wherever you are now is just a starting point. Having this mindset will not only empower you: it will create a love for learning and a resilience to criticism.

This last part is important, because as you learn, you will make mistakes. You will be criticised there is no way around it. Get comfortable in being corrected and questioned.

If you do this, you will be less afraid of revealing to others that you’re bad at something and more willing to put in the effort to improve at it.

Q:If someone tells you, that you are bad at something how do you react?
Good on you if you instantly become inquisitive and ask “what could I be doing differently?”, “Who’s someone that’s great at this thing?”, “How do you think people get good at this thing?”, etc. Do you become offended by the criticism, or do you thank the person?

#Closing Thoughts

Self-awareness and a fervour for learning are the skills to focus on, not confidence. With a continued effort in developing those two skills, you’ll exhibit all the characteristics of a confident person and you’ll develop real confidence as you patiently become an expert in the areas where you invest your effort.

]]> Building Self Confidence Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:28:47 Los talks to Pavan and Travis about building self confidence. We sing in the end! :) Los talks to Pavan and Travis about building self confidence. We sing in the end! :) photoshop, communication, bootstrapped, startup, code, sketch, twert, illustrator, business, knowledge, self improvement, trav, late nights, los, codes, life, games, design no full 60 1 5b5b6543-8f9a-41a3-9d74-a0dde3118c8d Get up, get started, and make something ##Los meets a startup founder at a coffee shop and tells that story.

###Link to contest information here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BCZGEnHs_0H/?taken-by=travandlos

###Quick take aways:

  • The Story
  • Find something you are frustrated about
  • Fix it
]]> Tue, 1 Mar 2016 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/59-129a84de ##Los meets a startup founder at a coffee shop and tells that story.

###Link to contest information here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BCZGEnHs_0H/?taken-by=travandlos

###Quick take aways:

  • The Story
  • Find something you are frustrated about
  • Fix it
]]> Get up, get started, and make something Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:37:45 Los meets a startup founder at a coffee shop and tells that story. Los meets a startup founder at a coffee shop and tells that story. google, instagram, late nights with trav and los, brainstorming, advice, startup, trav, code, san francisco, sketch, los, late nights, design, facebook, bay area, and no full 59 1 2dccfba2-a07e-4a62-9006-0e189f9cf4de Purpose and Branding What I’d like to see a bit more of is people being concerned with their purpose and being true to that. As a follow-on asking the question “How can I appropriately tell that story with the intent of bringing others on board to this purpose.”

]]> Tue, 23 Feb 2016 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/58-baba4b02 What I’d like to see a bit more of is people being concerned with their purpose and being true to that. As a follow-on asking the question “How can I appropriately tell that story with the intent of bringing others on board to this purpose.”

]]> Purpose and Branding Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:29:24 Trav and Los talk with Cory Miller about allowing your purpose to direct your brand. Trav and Los talk with Cory Miller about allowing your purpose to direct your brand. no full 58 1 10a04f98-3088-407d-8228-8e5af9253d48 Cory Miller is a Good Human Cory Miller is a good human

Cory Miller, Designer, Podcaster, Product Director @ SeanWes, Entrepreneur, Father, Husby, more. — We are going to get into all of that in a few minutes, but where did it all start? I want the origin story.

Topics discussed:

  • Design
  • Shirts
  • Product Director
  • Podcast
  • Branding
]]> Tue, 16 Feb 2016 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/57-35c82b03 Cory Miller is a good human

Cory Miller, Designer, Podcaster, Product Director @ SeanWes, Entrepreneur, Father, Husby, more. — We are going to get into all of that in a few minutes, but where did it all start? I want the origin story.

Topics discussed:

  • Design
  • Shirts
  • Product Director
  • Podcast
  • Branding
]]> Cory Miller is a Good Human Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:35:43 Trav and Los invite Cory Miller, the good human, onto the show. We ask Cory one question and fill up a half hour with content. Podcasting is easy! Trav and Los invite Cory Miller, the good human, onto the show. We ask Cory one question and fill up a half hour with content. Podcasting is easy! biography, creativity, design, business, cory miller, trav and los, self-help, interview no full 57 1 27b081da-f509-41d5-a32e-eae3d2081de6 Brainstorming technique #2: New rivers Los tackles part two of a two-part series around brainstorming. In this episode we dive into New Rivers.

]]> Tue, 2 Feb 2016 20:44:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/55-eb51d497 Los tackles part two of a two-part series around brainstorming. In this episode we dive into New Rivers.

]]> Brainstorming technique #2: New rivers Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:24:02 Los tackles part two of a two-part series around brainstorming. In this episode we dive into New Rivers. Los tackles part two of a two-part series around brainstorming. In this episode we dive into New Rivers. benefits of creativity, los, creativity, trav and los, thinking, new rivers, life-hacking, reflection, brainstorming, silicon valley, photoshop, create, sketch, experts, design, thought knowledge, trav, mind mapping, the bay area, planning, speakers, gsd no full 55 1 3624c77f-1c4d-4793-9942-a39eb9bed823 Brainstorming technique #1: Mind mapping Los introduces a two-part series around brainstorming. In this episode we dive into Mind mapping.

]]> Tue, 26 Jan 2016 09:43:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/54-41af9b41 Los introduces a two-part series around brainstorming. In this episode we dive into Mind mapping.

]]> Brainstorming technique #1: Mind mapping Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:23:41 Los introduces a two-part series around brainstorming. In this episode we dive into Mind mapping. Los introduces a two-part series around brainstorming. In this episode we dive into Mind mapping. bootstrapped, code, illustrator, self improvement, los, games, sketch, business, communication, trav, photoshop, design, twert, life, knowledge, startup, codes, late nights no full 54 1 cbe23a0c-47f1-4e0f-ab68-9802b362fe5e Year In Review — Our favorite Moments, Fan Mail, and Our Plans for the Future Thank you everyone for making 2015 a great year for the show!

Episodes mentioned in this show

  1. How We Really Create (travandlos.com/38)
  2. Set and Achieve Better Goals (travandlos.com/10)
  3. How I increased my creative output 150% by simply changing the way I sleep (Polyphasic Sleep) (travandlos.com/38)
  4. Burnout – What it is, how to avoid and overcome it (travandlos.com/22)
  5. Steal a collage education (travandlos.com/23)
  6. Expectational Debt (travandlos.com/52)
  7. The loss of thought (travandlos.com/37)
  8. Full-Process Designer (travandlos.com/26)
  9. Sometimes We Fail Hard (travandlos.com/44)
  10. Chase the Carrot (travandlos.com/11)

Guests

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2016 10:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/53-5f2ecf37 Thank you everyone for making 2015 a great year for the show!

Episodes mentioned in this show

  1. How We Really Create (travandlos.com/38)
  2. Set and Achieve Better Goals (travandlos.com/10)
  3. How I increased my creative output 150% by simply changing the way I sleep (Polyphasic Sleep) (travandlos.com/38)
  4. Burnout – What it is, how to avoid and overcome it (travandlos.com/22)
  5. Steal a collage education (travandlos.com/23)
  6. Expectational Debt (travandlos.com/52)
  7. The loss of thought (travandlos.com/37)
  8. Full-Process Designer (travandlos.com/26)
  9. Sometimes We Fail Hard (travandlos.com/44)
  10. Chase the Carrot (travandlos.com/11)

Guests

]]> Year In Review — Our favorite Moments, Fan Mail, and Our Plans for the Future Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:37:36 Trav and Los talk about a year of podcasting. They read fan mail, share favorite episodes, and talk about the year to come. Trav and Los talk about a year of podcasting. They read fan mail, share favorite episodes, and talk about the year to come. communication, art, work, creativity, relationships, friendship, business, design no full 53 1 0f02422d-1a1a-4856-bc60-7812d2834bf3 Expectational Debt Expectational Debt
  • back from vacation
  • trying to get ahead of the work
  • expectations of others

We are indebted by the expectations of our employers, community leaders, friends, family, and maybe most demanding of all; ourselves.

  • How do we impose debt onto ourselves?
    • incomplete projects
    • other peoples requests
    • emotional-based long term commitment

Without completely being aware of it, we can sell the expectations of our time and energy pretty cheaply.

  • debt can be positive, its how all relationships work

Controlling Debt

  • like finances, a lot of debt can be going to places without even knowing it

  • make a list of your roles / responsibilities

  • Identify bad debt

  • Cal Newport calls it deep work and light work (Critical output / vs emails)

    • The ability to focus is the new IQ

Have strength to redouble your good commitments, and abandon your bad debt.

]]> Tue, 12 Jan 2016 17:40:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/52-22940f52 Expectational Debt
  • back from vacation
  • trying to get ahead of the work
  • expectations of others

We are indebted by the expectations of our employers, community leaders, friends, family, and maybe most demanding of all; ourselves.

  • How do we impose debt onto ourselves?
    • incomplete projects
    • other peoples requests
    • emotional-based long term commitment

Without completely being aware of it, we can sell the expectations of our time and energy pretty cheaply.

  • debt can be positive, its how all relationships work

Controlling Debt

  • like finances, a lot of debt can be going to places without even knowing it

  • make a list of your roles / responsibilities

  • Identify bad debt

  • Cal Newport calls it deep work and light work (Critical output / vs emails)

    • The ability to focus is the new IQ

Have strength to redouble your good commitments, and abandon your bad debt.

]]> Expectational Debt Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:23:25 Trav returns home from a relaxing vacation only to find himself buried in "Expectational Debt" — What is this? How do we solve this problem? Trav returns home from a relaxing vacation only to find himself buried in "Expectational Debt" — What is this? How do we solve this problem? no full 52 1 1b85dc4a-97b7-4971-9be5-c3bcc07969b7 Designing you, me, and 2016 Los helps you think of yourself as a startup and you become the product.

]]> Tue, 5 Jan 2016 10:27:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/51-fe24b230 Los helps you think of yourself as a startup and you become the product.

]]> Designing you, me, and 2016 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:19:39 Los helps you plan for the new year Los helps you plan for the new year new year, design, los, los, photoshop, 2016, trav, business, startup, self-help, sketch no full 51 1 47c9f92f-de2f-4de0-bfce-ebcc0f41d867 The Benefits of Creativity Los tells Trav about the benefits of creativity.

Also, our 50th Episode :) Thank you for listening and we are grateful to have you as a part of our Late Nights podcast ;)

Enjoy this episode and tweet us if you want to chat, or facebook us!

]]> Tue, 29 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/50-1180e71b Los tells Trav about the benefits of creativity.

Also, our 50th Episode :) Thank you for listening and we are grateful to have you as a part of our Late Nights podcast ;)

Enjoy this episode and tweet us if you want to chat, or facebook us!

]]> The Benefits of Creativity Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:16:00 Los tells Trav about the benefits of creativity. Also, our 50th Episode :) Los tells Trav about the benefits of creativity. Also, our 50th Episode :) gsd, trav and los, photoshop, creativity, design, benefits of creativity, experts, sketch, reflection, los, thought knowledge, silicon valley, planning, trav, the bay area, create, speakers, thinking, life-hacking no full 50 1 e17fc645-0d98-405c-8185-cbee9a57de87 How to Get Motivated How to Get Motivated

What motivates you?

Los says "Creative Freedom" but doesn't want to talk about it right now.

It seems like a lot of my friends and followers are suffering simultaneously from the same ailment; lack of motivation.

Indeed I, myself, have been fighting a healthy dose of resistance lately. I have one particular project that has dragged on for months and months and everyday the obstacles that stand between me and completion seem to be piling up.

So this is the question I've been getting a lot lately: “How do you remain motivated enough to see a project through? I just seem to loose interest…”

Not surprisingly, Calvin has our answer:

Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip
 

Make a deadline

In my experience, there is nothing that provides more motivation, inspiration, and pressure to complete than a deadline. The more public, the more hardline, the more grave the consequence for failure — the better!

Parkinson's law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

If you really want to get it done, set a date right now for when you will have it done. It will take exactly that long, says Cyril Parkinson.

Why this works

If you tell yourself and the world that you’ll release version one of your startup idea on such and such a date, you’ll have it done. It’s as simple at that. Your reputation and integrity are on the line.

If you whisper quietly to yourself that you’d like to finish that sci-fi novel sometime soon, it won’t happen. It’s not real enough, and there is nothing at stake. Nothing will change if you don’t meet that quiet goal. As humans, we are quite okay with nothing changing. It's comfortable. Safe.

But if you put your personal brand on line and fail, something will change – something very personal and significant. You are not going to let this happen.

Let me give you an example: The first week of January I’ll be releasing another DevTips annual report. I do this every year. I review what my goals were last year, what I got done, and what my goals are for next year.

This serves as a guiding star for everything I do. Every moment I waste not getting those things done has to be accounted for.
 

Your task

Make your goals as public and specific as possible. Soon you’ll be the person others ask: “How do you get so much done while I’m just watching netflix?”

]]> Tue, 22 Dec 2015 12:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/49-83122dbb How to Get Motivated

What motivates you?

Los says "Creative Freedom" but doesn't want to talk about it right now.

It seems like a lot of my friends and followers are suffering simultaneously from the same ailment; lack of motivation.

Indeed I, myself, have been fighting a healthy dose of resistance lately. I have one particular project that has dragged on for months and months and everyday the obstacles that stand between me and completion seem to be piling up.

So this is the question I've been getting a lot lately: “How do you remain motivated enough to see a project through? I just seem to loose interest…”

Not surprisingly, Calvin has our answer:

Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip
 

Make a deadline

In my experience, there is nothing that provides more motivation, inspiration, and pressure to complete than a deadline. The more public, the more hardline, the more grave the consequence for failure — the better!

Parkinson's law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

If you really want to get it done, set a date right now for when you will have it done. It will take exactly that long, says Cyril Parkinson.

Why this works

If you tell yourself and the world that you’ll release version one of your startup idea on such and such a date, you’ll have it done. It’s as simple at that. Your reputation and integrity are on the line.

If you whisper quietly to yourself that you’d like to finish that sci-fi novel sometime soon, it won’t happen. It’s not real enough, and there is nothing at stake. Nothing will change if you don’t meet that quiet goal. As humans, we are quite okay with nothing changing. It's comfortable. Safe.

But if you put your personal brand on line and fail, something will change – something very personal and significant. You are not going to let this happen.

Let me give you an example: The first week of January I’ll be releasing another DevTips annual report. I do this every year. I review what my goals were last year, what I got done, and what my goals are for next year.

This serves as a guiding star for everything I do. Every moment I waste not getting those things done has to be accounted for.
 

Your task

Make your goals as public and specific as possible. Soon you’ll be the person others ask: “How do you get so much done while I’m just watching netflix?”

]]> How to Get Motivated Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:09:45 Trav tells Los the secret to getting motivated. It's actually very simple... Trav tells Los the secret to getting motivated. It's actually very simple... goals, skill, business, motivation, design, creativity, work no full 49 1 f430ea87-e8ba-4017-b2ec-f93ee23a69c4 The Value of Reflection I prefer to reflection over celebration

Benefits of Meditation or Reflection

  • See clearly what leads to happiness, success, failure and stress

  • relate new knowledge to prior understanding

  • Helps you to think in both abstract and conceptual terms (loosens thinking, enable connections)

  • apply specific strategies in novel tasks

  • understand their own thinking and learning strategies

  • Transforms your experience into genuine learning about individual values and goals and about larger social issues.

  • Works against the perpetuation of stereotypes (unconscious bias) by raising your awareness of the social structures surrounding you.

  • Increases the likelihood that you will remain committed to your goals beyond the short term. (reinforcing convictions)

  • Reflective practice is a way of studying your own experiences to improve the way you work. It is very useful for people who want to carry on learning throughout their lives. The act of reflection is a great way to increase confidence and become a more proactive and qualified professional.

Tips for meditation

In my research for this episode I came across this awesome article with some great practical tips for meditation for beginners.

zenhabits.net/meditation-for-beginners-20-practical-tips-for-quieting-the-mind/

Here are a few that I really liked:

  1. Meditate with Purpose. Beginners must understand that meditation is an ACTIVE process. The art of focusing your attention to a single point is hard work, and you have to be purposefully engaged!

  2. Experiment. Although many of us think of effective meditation as a Yogi sitting cross-legged beneath a Bonzi tree, beginners should be more experimental and try different types of meditation. Try sitting, lying, eyes open, eyes closed, etc.

    I often just turn a nap into a meditation session if for some reason I can’t sleep. I’ll just lay there and try to be quiet and reflective. If anyone were to observe me I would appear to be asleep.

  3. Generate moments of awareness during the day. Finding your breath and “being present” while not in formal practice is a wonderful way to evolve your meditation habits.

A Zen Experience

I had a weird experience the other day as I was walking to work. I came upon a really beautiful red-breasted bird perched atop a street sign. It was singing. Unapologetically singing, loudly and beautifully.

I stopped, and after a second or two of enjoyment I took out my phone to capture it on video, but the phone was in camera mode, and I had a hard time fussing with the thing to get it to be in video mode. — All the while missing out on the moment, not being present because I was distracted by the phone UI.

I was frustrated by that. I knew I was killing the moment by fussing with the phone, and it really bothered me.

But then something magical happened. Something transcendent. I had the experience of being outside of the moment, outside of the phone, the bird, myself. And I observed the moment for what it was. No longer was I Travis trying to capture a moment with his phone. But I saw that I became the moment. I was a part of it. The bird wasn’t the moment anymore, the scene of this idiot not being able to operate his phone in time to capture a beautiful thing and thereby missing the spirit of the thing, was the moment.

And it was beautiful.

Alan Watts on Zen

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

  • Alan Watts

The world would be better if you were more reflective. That’s just the simple truth of it all.

]]> Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/48-66628084 I prefer to reflection over celebration

Benefits of Meditation or Reflection

  • See clearly what leads to happiness, success, failure and stress

  • relate new knowledge to prior understanding

  • Helps you to think in both abstract and conceptual terms (loosens thinking, enable connections)

  • apply specific strategies in novel tasks

  • understand their own thinking and learning strategies

  • Transforms your experience into genuine learning about individual values and goals and about larger social issues.

  • Works against the perpetuation of stereotypes (unconscious bias) by raising your awareness of the social structures surrounding you.

  • Increases the likelihood that you will remain committed to your goals beyond the short term. (reinforcing convictions)

  • Reflective practice is a way of studying your own experiences to improve the way you work. It is very useful for people who want to carry on learning throughout their lives. The act of reflection is a great way to increase confidence and become a more proactive and qualified professional.

Tips for meditation

In my research for this episode I came across this awesome article with some great practical tips for meditation for beginners.

zenhabits.net/meditation-for-beginners-20-practical-tips-for-quieting-the-mind/

Here are a few that I really liked:

  1. Meditate with Purpose. Beginners must understand that meditation is an ACTIVE process. The art of focusing your attention to a single point is hard work, and you have to be purposefully engaged!

  2. Experiment. Although many of us think of effective meditation as a Yogi sitting cross-legged beneath a Bonzi tree, beginners should be more experimental and try different types of meditation. Try sitting, lying, eyes open, eyes closed, etc.

    I often just turn a nap into a meditation session if for some reason I can’t sleep. I’ll just lay there and try to be quiet and reflective. If anyone were to observe me I would appear to be asleep.

  3. Generate moments of awareness during the day. Finding your breath and “being present” while not in formal practice is a wonderful way to evolve your meditation habits.

A Zen Experience

I had a weird experience the other day as I was walking to work. I came upon a really beautiful red-breasted bird perched atop a street sign. It was singing. Unapologetically singing, loudly and beautifully.

I stopped, and after a second or two of enjoyment I took out my phone to capture it on video, but the phone was in camera mode, and I had a hard time fussing with the thing to get it to be in video mode. — All the while missing out on the moment, not being present because I was distracted by the phone UI.

I was frustrated by that. I knew I was killing the moment by fussing with the phone, and it really bothered me.

But then something magical happened. Something transcendent. I had the experience of being outside of the moment, outside of the phone, the bird, myself. And I observed the moment for what it was. No longer was I Travis trying to capture a moment with his phone. But I saw that I became the moment. I was a part of it. The bird wasn’t the moment anymore, the scene of this idiot not being able to operate his phone in time to capture a beautiful thing and thereby missing the spirit of the thing, was the moment.

And it was beautiful.

Alan Watts on Zen

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

  • Alan Watts

The world would be better if you were more reflective. That’s just the simple truth of it all.

]]> The Value of Reflection Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:17:53 Trav tells Los about the odd way he likes to celebrate his birthday. Trav and Los discuss the value of meditation and reflection. Trav tells Los about the odd way he likes to celebrate his birthday. Trav and Los discuss the value of meditation and reflection. birthday, creativity, startups, design, business, creation, meditation, reflection, self-help no full 48 1 ceb6b088-85d2-4958-b727-798cda7de015 Discover and Make: a Framework for Creativity Trav tells Los how much he liked a previous episode and uses it as an example in discussing new creative ideas he was recently exposed to.

]]> Tue, 24 Nov 2015 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/45-925bdd9e Trav tells Los how much he liked a previous episode and uses it as an example in discussing new creative ideas he was recently exposed to.

]]> Discover and Make: a Framework for Creativity Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:28:13 Trav tells Los how much he liked a previous episode and uses it as an example in discussing new creative ideas he was recently exposed to. Trav tells Los how much he liked a previous episode and uses it as an example in discussing new creative ideas he was recently exposed to. discovery, "design thinking", creativity, work, "creative process", creating, google, learning, business, "user experience", making, "design research" no full 45 1 a6a50e38-2b69-45cc-bd67-f2f4578151bb Sometimes, we fail hard I (los) try to get Travis involved in an on-air problem solving design exercise. It doesn't work, at all. We then go on a related tangent about ads and content creation.

]]> Tue, 17 Nov 2015 09:06:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/44-b2e80b96 I (los) try to get Travis involved in an on-air problem solving design exercise. It doesn't work, at all. We then go on a related tangent about ads and content creation.

]]> Sometimes, we fail hard Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:25:20 I (los) try to get Travis involved in a on-air problem solving design exercise. It doesn't work, at all. We then go on a related tangent about ads and content creation. I (los) try to get Travis involved in a on-air problem solving design exercise. It doesn't work, at all. We then go on a related tangent about ads and content creation. train, message, click bate, advertisement, podcasts, california, content creation, ads, los, sketch, radio, trav, creative economy, youtube, illustrator, problem solving, san francisco, photoshop, design, design, trav and los, youtube red no full 44 1 5935e16b-f0c6-4604-8465-01cb0fbe1759 Jared Erondu Jared Erondu (of TeeSpring, Tree House, and The Industry) stops by to talk to us about getting his start, navigating a creative career, and always being true to yourself.

]]> Tue, 3 Nov 2015 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/42-f94d1fe0 Jared Erondu (of TeeSpring, Tree House, and The Industry) stops by to talk to us about getting his start, navigating a creative career, and always being true to yourself.

]]> Jared Erondu Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:47:47 Jared Erondu (of TeeSpring, Tree House, and The Industry) stops by to talk to us about getting his start, navigating a creative career, and always being true to yourself. Jared Erondu (of TeeSpring, Tree House, and The Industry) stops by to talk to us about getting his start, navigating a creative career, and always being true to yourself. design, designer, 'jared erondu', creativity no full 42 1 1ef6f33e-07b2-4d7e-a894-30d537ee06c8 How to create the perfect task? Los talks about how to write the perfect task to get ideas progressing forward.

]]> Tue, 27 Oct 2015 07:25:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/41-f9e3fe7d Los talks about how to write the perfect task to get ideas progressing forward.

]]> How to create the perfect task? Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:13:11 Los talks about how to write the perfect task to get ideas progressing forward. Los talks about how to write the perfect task to get ideas progressing forward. learning, progress, late nights, business, sketch, peninsula, photoshop, san francisco, web, los, bay area, development, thought leaders, trav and los, design, and, technology, task writing, trav no full 41 1 3e16da37-a91e-43df-9f10-8215119e0d6a Hosting a Jeffersonian Dinner #Jeffersonian Dinners

##Intro

I want to talk about what a Jeffersonian Dinner is.

###Q:Have you heard of this?

Context:

Imagine being invited to a dinner in 1819 at Monticello, at the elegant Virginia home of Thomas Jefferson — president, scientist, farmer, connoisseur, scholar, and author of the Declaration of Independence.

Around his table, you’d encounter some of the leading sprits of the age — men and women steeped in politics, literature, the arts, the sciences, theology, history, mores, and manners — people that Mr. Jefferson invited because he found them, intriguing and delightful to spend a stimulating evening with. An evening like this was also a prime source of education both for Mr. Jefferson himself and for the guests around the table, all of whom were engaged citizens, eager to share and debate the varied ideas that would shape the fortunes and spur the development of their rapidly-growing young nation.

This was the original Jeffersonian Dinner and these dinner’s have been had by many people ever since.

I came across this idea of a Jeffersonian Dinner in an article I pinned to read about 6 months ago, and as I was looking for a topic, I found this gem again!

###Q: So what are some benefits of attending a Jeffersonian Dinner?

A: By attending a Jeffersonian Dinner, it can be a great way to launch the creation of a new cause-centered community. It can also help you to expand the network of individuals connected with an existing community. And although money is not the central focus of the evening, it is likely that, in the end, a Jeffersonian Dinner can activate far more resources than a traditional fundraising event, like an annual gala.

###Q: So what makes a modern Jeffersonian Dinner and how do you plan one?

A: A dinner is broken up into 3 parts.

Planning:

  • Invite 8-15 people with a common interest (music and kids, innovation in education, women’s health care, design thinking and education)
  • Invite a mix of people, some who know one another while others do not
  • Avoid inciting a big Kahuna (a celebrity, etc) Everyone at the dinner should feel equally free to contribute.
  • Choose a quiet location
  • Select an opening question that is related to the dinner theme and encourages each person at the table to tell a personal story (e.g., What technology innovation in the last ten years has most changed your life?)
  • Solicit brief written biographies (100-150 words) from each participant in the dinner
  • Send out the opening question and biographies ahead of time so people will be ready to carry on the conversation
  • Select a dinner moderator — someone with a light style but who can move the conversation around and stimulate discussion.

During dinner:

  • 7 p.m.: Cocktails, light conversation before seating
  • 7:30 p.m: Moderator opens by explaining the ground rules. Most important rule: No talking to your neighbour, the goal is to have a whole-table conversation
  • Ask each person at the table to respond to the opening question
  • Moderator introduce a follow-up question to link the opening answers to the general them of the evening. The goal is to move from “me” to “us”
  • Let the discussion begin! Moderator will keep the conversation relevant, prevent side discussion from breaking up the table, and ensure that no one or two people are overly dominant.
  • 9:15 p.m.: Moderator asks each person at the table to describe any ideas or thoughts they had during the discussion that they would like to follow up on or work with someone on…or just think about more.
  • 9:30 p.m.: End dinner. Informal one-on-one conversations usually continue

After dinner(within 2 weeks):

  • Moderator sends out a note giving the dinner participants’ contact information and summarising the follow-up points listed at the dinner’s end
  • Follow up over the next few weeks, helping people connect with one another and with the nonprofit organisation if desired. Nonprofit leaders may choose to set up on-on-one meetings with the dinner attendees they thought were interested in following up

###Q:So how do we make this relevant to us

A: Well, I want to host one :) I think this can be applied to school, work, or friends and borrow a few ideas from the Jeffersonian Dinner

  • <14 people, 1 table, 1 question, 1 discussion
  • in it’s simplest form, the Jeffersonian Dinner is simply a way to collaborate with a group of people you might now otherwise work with

#Fin

]]> Tue, 20 Oct 2015 09:08:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/40-3691eb81 #Jeffersonian Dinners

##Intro

I want to talk about what a Jeffersonian Dinner is.

###Q:Have you heard of this?

Context:

Imagine being invited to a dinner in 1819 at Monticello, at the elegant Virginia home of Thomas Jefferson — president, scientist, farmer, connoisseur, scholar, and author of the Declaration of Independence.

Around his table, you’d encounter some of the leading sprits of the age — men and women steeped in politics, literature, the arts, the sciences, theology, history, mores, and manners — people that Mr. Jefferson invited because he found them, intriguing and delightful to spend a stimulating evening with. An evening like this was also a prime source of education both for Mr. Jefferson himself and for the guests around the table, all of whom were engaged citizens, eager to share and debate the varied ideas that would shape the fortunes and spur the development of their rapidly-growing young nation.

This was the original Jeffersonian Dinner and these dinner’s have been had by many people ever since.

I came across this idea of a Jeffersonian Dinner in an article I pinned to read about 6 months ago, and as I was looking for a topic, I found this gem again!

###Q: So what are some benefits of attending a Jeffersonian Dinner?

A: By attending a Jeffersonian Dinner, it can be a great way to launch the creation of a new cause-centered community. It can also help you to expand the network of individuals connected with an existing community. And although money is not the central focus of the evening, it is likely that, in the end, a Jeffersonian Dinner can activate far more resources than a traditional fundraising event, like an annual gala.

###Q: So what makes a modern Jeffersonian Dinner and how do you plan one?

A: A dinner is broken up into 3 parts.

Planning:

  • Invite 8-15 people with a common interest (music and kids, innovation in education, women’s health care, design thinking and education)
  • Invite a mix of people, some who know one another while others do not
  • Avoid inciting a big Kahuna (a celebrity, etc) Everyone at the dinner should feel equally free to contribute.
  • Choose a quiet location
  • Select an opening question that is related to the dinner theme and encourages each person at the table to tell a personal story (e.g., What technology innovation in the last ten years has most changed your life?)
  • Solicit brief written biographies (100-150 words) from each participant in the dinner
  • Send out the opening question and biographies ahead of time so people will be ready to carry on the conversation
  • Select a dinner moderator — someone with a light style but who can move the conversation around and stimulate discussion.

During dinner:

  • 7 p.m.: Cocktails, light conversation before seating
  • 7:30 p.m: Moderator opens by explaining the ground rules. Most important rule: No talking to your neighbour, the goal is to have a whole-table conversation
  • Ask each person at the table to respond to the opening question
  • Moderator introduce a follow-up question to link the opening answers to the general them of the evening. The goal is to move from “me” to “us”
  • Let the discussion begin! Moderator will keep the conversation relevant, prevent side discussion from breaking up the table, and ensure that no one or two people are overly dominant.
  • 9:15 p.m.: Moderator asks each person at the table to describe any ideas or thoughts they had during the discussion that they would like to follow up on or work with someone on…or just think about more.
  • 9:30 p.m.: End dinner. Informal one-on-one conversations usually continue

After dinner(within 2 weeks):

  • Moderator sends out a note giving the dinner participants’ contact information and summarising the follow-up points listed at the dinner’s end
  • Follow up over the next few weeks, helping people connect with one another and with the nonprofit organisation if desired. Nonprofit leaders may choose to set up on-on-one meetings with the dinner attendees they thought were interested in following up

###Q:So how do we make this relevant to us

A: Well, I want to host one :) I think this can be applied to school, work, or friends and borrow a few ideas from the Jeffersonian Dinner

  • <14 people, 1 table, 1 question, 1 discussion
  • in it’s simplest form, the Jeffersonian Dinner is simply a way to collaborate with a group of people you might now otherwise work with

#Fin

]]> Hosting a Jeffersonian Dinner Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:25:49 Los hosts a show on Jeffersonian Dinners. We discuss the history of the Jeffersonian dinner, the structure, the rules, and how to host your own. Los hosts a show on Jeffersonian Dinners. We discuss the history of the Jeffersonian dinner, the structure, the rules, and how to host your own. jefferson, late nights, photoshop, dinner, adobe, thought leaders, design, late nights with trav and los, president, sketch, trav and los no full 40 1 f3aa98b4-6d24-46d6-ba97-d3bf08cf5d4c The Five Fears That I Have 5 fears I have

  1. Everyone will think I’m a fraud

    Impostor syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments. Despite external evidence of their competence, those with the syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved.

    A month before his death, he reportedly confided in a friend, saying “the exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.”

    Solution: Realize that Everyone else feels like that. Become okay with it.

    Psychological research done in the early 1980s estimated that two out of five successful people consider themselves frauds and other studies have found that 70 percent of all people feel like impostors at one time or another. So get over it.

  2. I am a fraud, and everyone will find out soon

    This week I published a video in which I invited another developer to do a code review of my JS. So far 3K people have seen it. So now they know.

    Solution: Okay, now they know. So now I don’t have to worry that they will find out, because that already happened. What now? Keep moving.

  3. I will run out of ideas

    This is kind of a new one for me. Now that I’ve been sharing ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while and sometimes I sit down to spit out a new piece of content and I feel like the well is dry.

    Solution: Sean McCabe of Seanwes suggests to “Don’t worry about repeating yourself. People need to hear things multiple times and there are always new people finding your show or blog.”

  4. People will loose interest in what I’m doing

    I’ve always been afraid of getting old, But now I’m afraid of becoming irrelevant. My work relies on myself being able to have relevant ideas and being able to mold something meaningful from them.

    Solution: My value is not the work I did yesterday. My entire body of work speaks for itself.

    Solution: People only care about your work as long as it benefits themselves.

    I googled “people will loose interest in my work” and every result was about people struggling with their own work ethic. No one cares about you, relax. Then make something that helps someone.

  5. It will never be this good again

    In economics and decision theory, loss aversion refers to people's tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Most studies suggest that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains.

    Living like this is like driving while looking solely in the rear view mirror. It’s impossible to make good decisions.

    Solution: Maybe you are right. YOLO!

]]> Tue, 13 Oct 2015 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/39-59abd6d6 5 fears I have

  1. Everyone will think I’m a fraud

    Impostor syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments. Despite external evidence of their competence, those with the syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved.

    A month before his death, he reportedly confided in a friend, saying “the exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.”

    Solution: Realize that Everyone else feels like that. Become okay with it.

    Psychological research done in the early 1980s estimated that two out of five successful people consider themselves frauds and other studies have found that 70 percent of all people feel like impostors at one time or another. So get over it.

  2. I am a fraud, and everyone will find out soon

    This week I published a video in which I invited another developer to do a code review of my JS. So far 3K people have seen it. So now they know.

    Solution: Okay, now they know. So now I don’t have to worry that they will find out, because that already happened. What now? Keep moving.

  3. I will run out of ideas

    This is kind of a new one for me. Now that I’ve been sharing ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while and sometimes I sit down to spit out a new piece of content and I feel like the well is dry.

    Solution: Sean McCabe of Seanwes suggests to “Don’t worry about repeating yourself. People need to hear things multiple times and there are always new people finding your show or blog.”

  4. People will loose interest in what I’m doing

    I’ve always been afraid of getting old, But now I’m afraid of becoming irrelevant. My work relies on myself being able to have relevant ideas and being able to mold something meaningful from them.

    Solution: My value is not the work I did yesterday. My entire body of work speaks for itself.

    Solution: People only care about your work as long as it benefits themselves.

    I googled “people will loose interest in my work” and every result was about people struggling with their own work ethic. No one cares about you, relax. Then make something that helps someone.

  5. It will never be this good again

    In economics and decision theory, loss aversion refers to people's tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Most studies suggest that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains.

    Living like this is like driving while looking solely in the rear view mirror. It’s impossible to make good decisions.

    Solution: Maybe you are right. YOLO!

]]> The Five Fears That I Have Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:27:18 Trav tells Los about the five fears that currently plague him. Trav tells Los about the five fears that currently plague him. psychology, inspiration, fear, creator, design, work, business no full 39 1 92c031aa-5e11-4c91-8072-c1793f68a235 How We Really Create How to get better at making things, or HOW WE REALLY CREATE!

Have you ever read something or heard someone say something so wonderful and powerful that your heart starts beating almost right out of your chest? I love those moments. I live for those moments.

A few years ago I watched a series of lectures by Kirby Ferguson. The title of the series is called Everything Is A Remix. I've discussed these lectures before. They are paradigm shifting. I recommend them. Especially his TED talk called Embracing the Remix. In fact, if you want to stop listening to this just to go look them up on YouTube I think you would be glad you did.

Anyhow, in his lectures Kirby talks about the three key steps of creation. They are Copy, Transform, and Combine.

Copy

No one starts out original. We cannot create anything new until we have a solid foundation of knowledge and understanding in our line of work. Copying is how we learn.

Transform

Taking an idea and creating variations. Major advances are usually not original ideas, but the breaking point in a long history of progress by many different individuals.

Combine

The most dramatic results happen when various ideas are combined together. By connecting ideas together, creative leaps can be made.

As Kirby outlined the progression of a creative work, he led my attention from entertained to interested, from enthralled to moved and transformed.

I grew up in the post-industrial american school system. We are trained to obey, repeat, and memorize. There is nothing creative about the training I received as a child. In fact, creation — as outlined by Kirby to copy, transform, and combine — is looked down upon and smothered by threats and shameful labels. We have a strange obsession with being original, and often confuse that with being authentic.

Imagine the freedom and validation I felt when Kirby outlined my secret shame as a strength. I had, as a young and aspirational creative, been secretly copying the works of those I admired for years. I repurposed and recomposed their own ideas to meet my needs. I did it in the shadows. Hoping to never be discovered. Never wanting to be branded a plagiarist or unoriginal.

But now Kirby tells me its okay. Not only that, it's the correct path.
 

Insight / Tips

As I look back over my personal history I can see that these steps of creativity of (copy, transform, combine) are not just descriptive of a creations lifespan, but also that of the creator itself.

When I was a boy I would steal my Mom's tracing paper and trace my comic book pages for hours. I would get lost in the lines and curves. I didn't understand it at the time, but I was learning about scale and contrast, light and shadow, hierarchy and story telling. I was just trying to draw a cool superhero, but I was being trained by my generations masters.

Eventually I could draw the characters from memory, after a little while longer I could improvise their poses and create my own little silly stories. I would mix styles and place my favorite characters in scenes that I had seen in movies or read about in books.

Soon enough I was creating new characters made up of elements of my favorite heroes. Wings and claws, guns and katanas, glowing fists and belts with far too many pouches (it was the 90's after all.)

Only now I can look back and see own my personal progression through the stages of copying, transforming, and combining to make something new and personally valuable.

It might be fun to someday outline the various influences that combine to make the DevTips style of videos.
 

Task

Recognize and celebrate the origin of your ideas. Be honest with yourself and your audience. Enable yourself to have a real conversation about your work, your passion, and your influences. 

Being aware of how creation comes about will make you more open to the things that you can draw upon and use to create something new.

Or as Kirby puts it:
 

Our creativity comes from without, not from within. We are not self-made, we are dependent on one another. Admitting this to ourselves isn’t an embrace of mediocrity and derivativeness — it’s a liberation from our misconceptions, and its an incentive to not expect so much from ourselves and to simply begin.

]]> Tue, 6 Oct 2015 17:30:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/38-04304e89 How to get better at making things, or HOW WE REALLY CREATE!

Have you ever read something or heard someone say something so wonderful and powerful that your heart starts beating almost right out of your chest? I love those moments. I live for those moments.

A few years ago I watched a series of lectures by Kirby Ferguson. The title of the series is called Everything Is A Remix. I've discussed these lectures before. They are paradigm shifting. I recommend them. Especially his TED talk called Embracing the Remix. In fact, if you want to stop listening to this just to go look them up on YouTube I think you would be glad you did.

Anyhow, in his lectures Kirby talks about the three key steps of creation. They are Copy, Transform, and Combine.

Copy

No one starts out original. We cannot create anything new until we have a solid foundation of knowledge and understanding in our line of work. Copying is how we learn.

Transform

Taking an idea and creating variations. Major advances are usually not original ideas, but the breaking point in a long history of progress by many different individuals.

Combine

The most dramatic results happen when various ideas are combined together. By connecting ideas together, creative leaps can be made.

As Kirby outlined the progression of a creative work, he led my attention from entertained to interested, from enthralled to moved and transformed.

I grew up in the post-industrial american school system. We are trained to obey, repeat, and memorize. There is nothing creative about the training I received as a child. In fact, creation — as outlined by Kirby to copy, transform, and combine — is looked down upon and smothered by threats and shameful labels. We have a strange obsession with being original, and often confuse that with being authentic.

Imagine the freedom and validation I felt when Kirby outlined my secret shame as a strength. I had, as a young and aspirational creative, been secretly copying the works of those I admired for years. I repurposed and recomposed their own ideas to meet my needs. I did it in the shadows. Hoping to never be discovered. Never wanting to be branded a plagiarist or unoriginal.

But now Kirby tells me its okay. Not only that, it's the correct path.
 

Insight / Tips

As I look back over my personal history I can see that these steps of creativity of (copy, transform, combine) are not just descriptive of a creations lifespan, but also that of the creator itself.

When I was a boy I would steal my Mom's tracing paper and trace my comic book pages for hours. I would get lost in the lines and curves. I didn't understand it at the time, but I was learning about scale and contrast, light and shadow, hierarchy and story telling. I was just trying to draw a cool superhero, but I was being trained by my generations masters.

Eventually I could draw the characters from memory, after a little while longer I could improvise their poses and create my own little silly stories. I would mix styles and place my favorite characters in scenes that I had seen in movies or read about in books.

Soon enough I was creating new characters made up of elements of my favorite heroes. Wings and claws, guns and katanas, glowing fists and belts with far too many pouches (it was the 90's after all.)

Only now I can look back and see own my personal progression through the stages of copying, transforming, and combining to make something new and personally valuable.

It might be fun to someday outline the various influences that combine to make the DevTips style of videos.
 

Task

Recognize and celebrate the origin of your ideas. Be honest with yourself and your audience. Enable yourself to have a real conversation about your work, your passion, and your influences. 

Being aware of how creation comes about will make you more open to the things that you can draw upon and use to create something new.

Or as Kirby puts it:
 

Our creativity comes from without, not from within. We are not self-made, we are dependent on one another. Admitting this to ourselves isn’t an embrace of mediocrity and derivativeness — it’s a liberation from our misconceptions, and its an incentive to not expect so much from ourselves and to simply begin.

]]> How We Really Create Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:22:50 Trav tells Los about a transformative realization that came from watching a series of lectures. Trav tells Los about a transformative realization that came from watching a series of lectures. design, transform, copy, combine, creation, creative no full 38 1 5e68ed61-7fef-4cda-bfb1-30d27377cc3f The loss of thought #The loss of thought

Most of us have problems or ideas that we want to solve or elaborate on and one of the hardest parts of these problems and ideas is finding the time to think about them. Have you noticed that most of the time when you are taking a shower or a bath, you somehow come up with something brilliant or insightful? Something actionable?

There are many things in our lives that require our attention some are important and some aren’t, either way, our time to think is lost and taken away from us.

So what is unique about the shower or bath that allows us to think?

It is one of the only moments that is built into our routine where we don’t have gadgets, internet, family, peers, or pets fighting for our attention. In the shower, you are still, contemplative, with yourself. You have, by accident, built in time to think.

Imagine if you had more time to think and reflect? How many more problems could you find solutions to? How many different and brilliant ideas could you uncover?

So for the next few minutes, Travis and I are going to get out of your way and give you the time you need to think. Reflect on how you are going to start your school or workday. Reflect on how your day ended. Reflect on what you can start doing, continue doing, and stop doing immediately.

Thank you for listening and enjoy the next few thoughtful minutes.

]]> Wed, 30 Sep 2015 06:23:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/37-a9bc93e3 #The loss of thought

Most of us have problems or ideas that we want to solve or elaborate on and one of the hardest parts of these problems and ideas is finding the time to think about them. Have you noticed that most of the time when you are taking a shower or a bath, you somehow come up with something brilliant or insightful? Something actionable?

There are many things in our lives that require our attention some are important and some aren’t, either way, our time to think is lost and taken away from us.

So what is unique about the shower or bath that allows us to think?

It is one of the only moments that is built into our routine where we don’t have gadgets, internet, family, peers, or pets fighting for our attention. In the shower, you are still, contemplative, with yourself. You have, by accident, built in time to think.

Imagine if you had more time to think and reflect? How many more problems could you find solutions to? How many different and brilliant ideas could you uncover?

So for the next few minutes, Travis and I are going to get out of your way and give you the time you need to think. Reflect on how you are going to start your school or workday. Reflect on how your day ended. Reflect on what you can start doing, continue doing, and stop doing immediately.

Thank you for listening and enjoy the next few thoughtful minutes.

]]> The loss of thought Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:11:00 Trav and Los talk about the importance of thinking. Trav and Los talk about the importance of thinking. los, reflection, silicon valley, gsd, design, trav, the bay area, photoshop, planning, speakers, experts, trav and los, life-hacking, sketch, thinking, thought knowledge no full 37 1 6aa0d6af-1a7c-4d50-a9e8-3fa839ebb493 Jonathan Cutrell of Developer Tea: Interview Questions we discuss

  • How long have you been doing DevTea?

  • What is the elevator pitch of DevTea?

  • why did you start?

  • What is the most popular episode about?

  • What is your favorite episode about?

  • How much time goes into an episode?

  • What before that? Anything public?

  • You have a very clear message on DevTea, What was involved in developing that unique voice for yourself?

  • I've noticed that you've incorporated more hard skill based discussion into Devtea, what difficulties/ insights have you come across from trying new things?

  • If you were to coach someone in gaining their own unique voice, where would you start?

  • Where do you turn for content ideas?

  • We were recently asked this: Once you make awesome content, how do you get people to notice it?

  • You recently co-founded a podcast network, spec.fm. What is your goal there? Why start a network?

  • What has been the outcome so far?

  • What do you hope your listeners will take away from the work you do?

]]> Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:15:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/36-3eade470 Questions we discuss

  • How long have you been doing DevTea?

  • What is the elevator pitch of DevTea?

  • why did you start?

  • What is the most popular episode about?

  • What is your favorite episode about?

  • How much time goes into an episode?

  • What before that? Anything public?

  • You have a very clear message on DevTea, What was involved in developing that unique voice for yourself?

  • I've noticed that you've incorporated more hard skill based discussion into Devtea, what difficulties/ insights have you come across from trying new things?

  • If you were to coach someone in gaining their own unique voice, where would you start?

  • Where do you turn for content ideas?

  • We were recently asked this: Once you make awesome content, how do you get people to notice it?

  • You recently co-founded a podcast network, spec.fm. What is your goal there? Why start a network?

  • What has been the outcome so far?

  • What do you hope your listeners will take away from the work you do?

]]> Jonathan Cutrell of Developer Tea: Interview Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:54:09 Jonathan Cutrell speaks with us about his work on the Developer Tea podcast. His goals, his methods, and how he learned to find his voice. Jonathan Cutrell speaks with us about his work on the Developer Tea podcast. His goals, his methods, and how he learned to find his voice. publishing, business, developer tea, podcasting, coding, interview, jonathan cutrell no full 36 1 bcc7023f-274a-40ae-8118-fe9822996891 How To Enjoy Yourself At A Conference How to enjoy yourself at a conference

  1. Focus on the people you meet.

    • the most valuable part of the conference is in the hallways between sessions.
    • Not your heroes
    • people looking at their phones / get off your phone
    • be brave
    • Don’t have agenda, other than being interested in people

  2. Have an open schedule, go to all the parties and don’t be lame. Be in introvert when you get home.

  3. Make yourself easy to connect to after the conf

    • having a card is basic
    • make a sticker, or something fun
    • have a reason that they should remember you
      • make a little project, have a giveaway, write a medium post or something.

  4. have a system for recording who you meet.

    • note who they are AND WHAT YOU TALKED ABOUT - jog their memory later

  5. Follow up with ppl you met after you get home

    • email
    • twitter
    • linked in
    • again, have a reason
]]> Tue, 15 Sep 2015 14:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/35-01649fca How to enjoy yourself at a conference

  1. Focus on the people you meet.

    • the most valuable part of the conference is in the hallways between sessions.
    • Not your heroes
    • people looking at their phones / get off your phone
    • be brave
    • Don’t have agenda, other than being interested in people

  2. Have an open schedule, go to all the parties and don’t be lame. Be in introvert when you get home.

  3. Make yourself easy to connect to after the conf

    • having a card is basic
    • make a sticker, or something fun
    • have a reason that they should remember you
      • make a little project, have a giveaway, write a medium post or something.

  4. have a system for recording who you meet.

    • note who they are AND WHAT YOU TALKED ABOUT - jog their memory later

  5. Follow up with ppl you met after you get home

    • email
    • twitter
    • linked in
    • again, have a reason
]]> How To Enjoy Yourself At A Conference Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:27:28 Trav went to Texas to attend Circles Conference and shares with Los a few pointers on how to make the most of the time at a conference Trav went to Texas to attend Circles Conference and shares with Los a few pointers on how to make the most of the time at a conference meetups, business, conference, first impressions no full 35 1 ca6e2c93-90bb-418b-a5cd-54e8550187df How To Write An Email That Gets Noticed Travis tell Los how to write an email. Sounds basic, but you'd be surprised. You should listen.

How to write an email that gets noticed.

  1. Write a concise, quickly actionable subject line.

  2. Quickly introduce yourself and if appropriate what makes you worth a damn. Or pay a simple - yet well considered compliment.

  3. Quickly to the point. Keep it focused.

  4. Don't attach anything

  5. Proofread. Omg proofread.

  6. Make your request of the recipient quickly actionable.

    • what do you think of x, vs do you agree with x?
    • what can you donate, vs can you donate x?
    • would you like to have a call, vs can I give you a call Tuesday morning?

  7. Design your email so that their response can be as quick and simple as possible.

8, End happy

]]> Tue, 8 Sep 2015 21:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/34-b560745b Travis tell Los how to write an email. Sounds basic, but you'd be surprised. You should listen.

How to write an email that gets noticed.

  1. Write a concise, quickly actionable subject line.

  2. Quickly introduce yourself and if appropriate what makes you worth a damn. Or pay a simple - yet well considered compliment.

  3. Quickly to the point. Keep it focused.

  4. Don't attach anything

  5. Proofread. Omg proofread.

  6. Make your request of the recipient quickly actionable.

    • what do you think of x, vs do you agree with x?
    • what can you donate, vs can you donate x?
    • would you like to have a call, vs can I give you a call Tuesday morning?

  7. Design your email so that their response can be as quick and simple as possible.

8, End happy

]]> How To Write An Email That Gets Noticed Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:18:51 Travis tell Los how to write an email. Sounds basic, but you'd be surprised. You should listen. Travis tell Los how to write an email. Sounds basic, but you'd be surprised. You should listen. life hack, working tips, email, productivity, communication no full 34 1 d0d6419b-a462-4ec0-83c3-b5b3291128dc Thoughts On The New Google Logo SPECIAL EDITION: Trav and Los look at the reactions to Google's new logo, and then give their own.

]]> Thu, 3 Sep 2015 23:40:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/33-679edf67 SPECIAL EDITION: Trav and Los look at the reactions to Google's new logo, and then give their own.

]]> Thoughts On The New Google Logo Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:12:53 SPECIAL EDITION: Trav and Los look at the reactions to Google's new logo, and then give their own. SPECIAL EDITION: Trav and Los look at the reactions to Google's new logo, and then give their own. news, branding, logo, tech, design, google, opinion no full 33 1 2ad8a215-e2c1-4742-a879-f7bf28c68343 Get stuff done - developing this one skill Los talks about a powerful skill anyone can obtain without a mentor or teacher.

]]> Tue, 1 Sep 2015 07:01:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/32-9fc95ad7 Los talks about a powerful skill anyone can obtain without a mentor or teacher.

]]> Get stuff done - developing this one skill Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:17:47 Los talks about a powerful skill anyone can obtain without a mentor or teacher. Los talks about a powerful skill anyone can obtain without a mentor or teacher. illustrator, self improvement, life, photoshop, business, trav, code, startup, bootstrapped, los, sketch, knowledge, codes, twert, late nights, games, communication, design no full 32 1 aeda0486-7adb-42e8-a152-c0c934f65e75 Stop limiting yourself In this episode Trav and Los talk to you about not limiting yourself and what you can do to expand you capacities.

Stop Limiting yourself! Medium article referenced: https://medium.com/life-learning/bruce-lee-doesn-t-care-if-you-die-if-you-don-t-do-this-one-thing-ac06cf597e58

]]> Wed, 26 Aug 2015 00:33:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/31-811603a6 In this episode Trav and Los talk to you about not limiting yourself and what you can do to expand you capacities.

Stop Limiting yourself! Medium article referenced: https://medium.com/life-learning/bruce-lee-doesn-t-care-if-you-die-if-you-don-t-do-this-one-thing-ac06cf597e58

]]> Stop limiting yourself Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:20:25 In this episode Trav and Los talk to you about not limiting yourself and what you can do to expand you capacities. In this episode Trav and Los talk to you about not limiting yourself and what you can do to expand you capacities. startup, business, photoshop, illustrator, bootstrapped, los, communication, self improvement, design, knowledge, games, life, late nights, trav, codes, code, sketch, twert no full 31 1 8ee5ae61-28f4-425c-bab0-bbcef0763d21 Share To Win! Share To Win!

Why You should be a publisher

I’ve talked about why you should be a publisher before. — travandlos.com/18

What should you share?

Scoop up the scraps of your work and spend a few minutes putting them in a format that you can share. You we talked about your process. Share that.

  • Share your notebook
  • make voice recordings - podcast!
  • scrapbook
  • take photographs of your process
  • make videos of yourself working
  • Share your research
  • your references and inspirations
  • drawings
  • plans
  • sketches
  • user interviews
  • pinboards
  • prototypes
  • demos
  • diagrams
  • collections
  • stories

Austin Kelon says “this isn’t about making art, its about simply keeping track of what's around you.”

Sharing your work is the only way to get interest in the things you do. Share your creativity, get discovered.

]]> Tue, 18 Aug 2015 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/30-49dc9351 Share To Win!

Why You should be a publisher

I’ve talked about why you should be a publisher before. — travandlos.com/18

What should you share?

Scoop up the scraps of your work and spend a few minutes putting them in a format that you can share. You we talked about your process. Share that.

  • Share your notebook
  • make voice recordings - podcast!
  • scrapbook
  • take photographs of your process
  • make videos of yourself working
  • Share your research
  • your references and inspirations
  • drawings
  • plans
  • sketches
  • user interviews
  • pinboards
  • prototypes
  • demos
  • diagrams
  • collections
  • stories

Austin Kelon says “this isn’t about making art, its about simply keeping track of what's around you.”

Sharing your work is the only way to get interest in the things you do. Share your creativity, get discovered.

]]> Share To Win! Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:25:05 Trav tells Los about why you should share what you are working on, and what are some good ideas of things to share. Trav tells Los about why you should share what you are working on, and what are some good ideas of things to share. sharing, technology, social media, building an audience, empathy no full 30 1 33df68c5-0a19-4cbd-829c-4547140b008e The Full Process The Full Process

Eddy said that the whole time He was thinking “Process” — as in big company bureaucracy and red tape. It's not about that. I want to talk about the Creative Process.

Why have a process at all?

I get emails a lot from people who are frustrated with their own work.

  • This is partially the crucible of creative education. Just the fact that you do suck and you need just to do the work and get better with time.

  • The other part is that they are not working the right way. It’s like trying to drive to disneyland with a map of Texas, or no map at all.

    • trying to design before all the questions are answered
    • I sometimes get comments from people complaining about the first few videos of my start to finish series because we don’t touch code until the fourth video.

Some Reasons

  1. Remove the stress of creating Ex nihilo (out of nothing)
  2. Prepares your mind for creative influences
  3. the process can actually be the source of the solution
  4. Makes it easier to work with a team
  5. Showing process gives more credibility to your client or boss
  6. Helps you to be organized and to maintain many projects at once
  7. more

What is the process?

Discover -> Make -> Observe -> Repeat ->

|——––––––––––– ask questions –––––––––––|

"To follow the process you need to calm down and follow the process"

1. Discover

On the Wistia blog Jeff Vincent remarks that “your initial meeting, or creative discovery call, is the first – and most important – step to collaborating on a creative project. This meeting lays the groundwork for you and your client’s working relationship, outlines your process, and establishes the direction your [ project ] will take.” [source]

In the discovery phase you need to

  • determine success metrics
  • identify stakeholders
  • determine the target audience
    • develop empathy for them. learn to care about what they care about.
  • nail the core message
  • gather inspiration
  • make a plan for the production phase
  • DOCUMENT!

2. Make

This is where your unique skill, vision, and value come into play. Just make stuff.

3. Observe

This is where you take your creation and you ask the hard questions. Compare the results to your success metrics. Did you succeed?

None of this should be a surprise you you because in the process you need to be asking questions the whole time. But this is the phase where you really test your ideas. Put your prototypes in the hands of users. Do some multivariate testing.

Tim Ferriss famously printed his book cover options out and took them to the local book store. He sat with a counter and clicked it when ever someone picked up that cover design. After a few tries he had a winner. Have you seen the cover? It looks like crap, but it works. That’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t matter if it’s pretty, it matters if it works. He wasn’t trying to impress people on dribble, he was trying to sell books. It’s different.

I got a question in an email last week. “how do you know that some design is right when you work alone? Do you have some procedure you follow?”

I said: “Usually before you start designing you have a set of requirements or goals. If your design meets those requirements then it is a success. Easy!”

His reply: “You know is not that simple. :)”

4. Repeat

Repeat doesn’t need to be at the end. Repeat is a theme that happens through out, just as you are asking questions throughout the whole project you are committing to a cycle of question, try, test, repeat. Micro cycles and macro cycles.

Eddy says me: “is point #4 doable in the real-world?? A full-process designer is more concerned with process than outcomes, trusting that good process will always lead to good outcomes. What if you do some work and you learn that you had some incorrect initial assumptions?”

So yes, this process accounts for that because you should be using it on the micro and macro level, asking questions throughout, discovering, making, observing and repeating.

]]> Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/29-30e47c05 The Full Process

Eddy said that the whole time He was thinking “Process” — as in big company bureaucracy and red tape. It's not about that. I want to talk about the Creative Process.

Why have a process at all?

I get emails a lot from people who are frustrated with their own work.

  • This is partially the crucible of creative education. Just the fact that you do suck and you need just to do the work and get better with time.

  • The other part is that they are not working the right way. It’s like trying to drive to disneyland with a map of Texas, or no map at all.

    • trying to design before all the questions are answered
    • I sometimes get comments from people complaining about the first few videos of my start to finish series because we don’t touch code until the fourth video.

Some Reasons

  1. Remove the stress of creating Ex nihilo (out of nothing)
  2. Prepares your mind for creative influences
  3. the process can actually be the source of the solution
  4. Makes it easier to work with a team
  5. Showing process gives more credibility to your client or boss
  6. Helps you to be organized and to maintain many projects at once
  7. more

What is the process?

Discover -> Make -> Observe -> Repeat ->

|——––––––––––– ask questions –––––––––––|

"To follow the process you need to calm down and follow the process"

1. Discover

On the Wistia blog Jeff Vincent remarks that “your initial meeting, or creative discovery call, is the first – and most important – step to collaborating on a creative project. This meeting lays the groundwork for you and your client’s working relationship, outlines your process, and establishes the direction your [ project ] will take.” [source]

In the discovery phase you need to

  • determine success metrics
  • identify stakeholders
  • determine the target audience
    • develop empathy for them. learn to care about what they care about.
  • nail the core message
  • gather inspiration
  • make a plan for the production phase
  • DOCUMENT!

2. Make

This is where your unique skill, vision, and value come into play. Just make stuff.

3. Observe

This is where you take your creation and you ask the hard questions. Compare the results to your success metrics. Did you succeed?

None of this should be a surprise you you because in the process you need to be asking questions the whole time. But this is the phase where you really test your ideas. Put your prototypes in the hands of users. Do some multivariate testing.

Tim Ferriss famously printed his book cover options out and took them to the local book store. He sat with a counter and clicked it when ever someone picked up that cover design. After a few tries he had a winner. Have you seen the cover? It looks like crap, but it works. That’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t matter if it’s pretty, it matters if it works. He wasn’t trying to impress people on dribble, he was trying to sell books. It’s different.

I got a question in an email last week. “how do you know that some design is right when you work alone? Do you have some procedure you follow?”

I said: “Usually before you start designing you have a set of requirements or goals. If your design meets those requirements then it is a success. Easy!”

His reply: “You know is not that simple. :)”

4. Repeat

Repeat doesn’t need to be at the end. Repeat is a theme that happens through out, just as you are asking questions throughout the whole project you are committing to a cycle of question, try, test, repeat. Micro cycles and macro cycles.

Eddy says me: “is point #4 doable in the real-world?? A full-process designer is more concerned with process than outcomes, trusting that good process will always lead to good outcomes. What if you do some work and you learn that you had some incorrect initial assumptions?”

So yes, this process accounts for that because you should be using it on the micro and macro level, asking questions throughout, discovering, making, observing and repeating.

]]> The Full Process Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:29:23 On the heels of a recent episode called "The Full Process Designer" — we want to talk about what exactly The Process is. On the heels of a recent episode called "The Full Process Designer" — we want to talk about what exactly The Process is. no full 29 1 85c66315-112c-4292-9077-c7c96b3c009c Speak so people want to listen to you In this episode Trav and Los talk about what you can do, such that, people will want to listen to you.

]]> Wed, 5 Aug 2015 17:31:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/28-f181097a In this episode Trav and Los talk about what you can do, such that, people will want to listen to you.

]]> Speak so people want to listen to you Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:27:49 In this episode Trav and Los talk about what you can do, such that, people will want to listen to you. In this episode Trav and Los talk about what you can do, such that, people will want to listen to you. sketch, popular now, photoshop, codes, art, work, creative work, speaking, listen, hello, creative, code, now, illustrator, late nights, design, learn, communicating no full 28 1 2e196ab9-b244-41fe-ab44-bf11a654928d Empty your cup, empty your mind. Trav and Los have a late night chat about how we are beginners, amateurs, and experts all at the same time.

We refer to this medium article on Shuhari: https://medium.com/designing-atlassian/shuhari-design-mastery-378e78e7d062

]]> Wed, 29 Jul 2015 14:12:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/27-4ec5f513 Trav and Los have a late night chat about how we are beginners, amateurs, and experts all at the same time.

We refer to this medium article on Shuhari: https://medium.com/designing-atlassian/shuhari-design-mastery-378e78e7d062

]]> Empty your cup, empty your mind. Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:19:56 Trav and Los have a late night chat about how we are beginners, amateurs, and experts all at the same time. Trav and Los have a late night chat about how we are beginners, amateurs, and experts all at the same time. no full 27 1 c38ff795-9017-4f2a-80f3-81c651bb0a68 Full-Process Designer Full-Process Designer

  1. A full-process designer concerns themself with the entire creative process (Reflect -> Make -> Observe -> Repeat)

  2. A full-process designer does not let the excitement of starting a new project carry them past the important initial steps.

  3. A full-process designer has focused their skill set on being able to take an idea from inception to completion, yet is able to interface with, and welcomes the collaboration of others more specialized in their vertical.

  4. A full-process designer is more concerned with process than outcomes, trusting that good process will always lead to good outcomes.

  5. A full-process designer is not confined by tools or trends although uses these things to achieve the desired result.

  6. A full-process designer documents their thinking and will never expect someone to understand their vision without context.

  7. A full-process designer can lead as well as follow.

  8. A full-process designer asks questions throughout the entire process.

  9. A full-process designer understands how to create as well as sell their work.

  10. A full-process designer understands that the quality of the conversations held are largely responsible for the outcome of the process. The quality of the resulting product reflects the quality of the creative process—and the curiosity and determination of the participants.

]]> Tue, 21 Jul 2015 13:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/26-0a81c09f Full-Process Designer

  1. A full-process designer concerns themself with the entire creative process (Reflect -> Make -> Observe -> Repeat)

  2. A full-process designer does not let the excitement of starting a new project carry them past the important initial steps.

  3. A full-process designer has focused their skill set on being able to take an idea from inception to completion, yet is able to interface with, and welcomes the collaboration of others more specialized in their vertical.

  4. A full-process designer is more concerned with process than outcomes, trusting that good process will always lead to good outcomes.

  5. A full-process designer is not confined by tools or trends although uses these things to achieve the desired result.

  6. A full-process designer documents their thinking and will never expect someone to understand their vision without context.

  7. A full-process designer can lead as well as follow.

  8. A full-process designer asks questions throughout the entire process.

  9. A full-process designer understands how to create as well as sell their work.

  10. A full-process designer understands that the quality of the conversations held are largely responsible for the outcome of the process. The quality of the resulting product reflects the quality of the creative process—and the curiosity and determination of the participants.

]]> Full-Process Designer Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:29:24 Travis has an idea. He shares with Los how to talk about Designers who are involved with the whole process, end to end. Travis has an idea. He shares with Los how to talk about Designers who are involved with the whole process, end to end. work, creativity, process, design, leadership no full 26 1 21336457-7017-4f93-9bbe-474dad192ad5 Sell Your Work, Sell Yourself Question: How are you a salesman?

Mark Landis

  • There is a Documentary about him on Netflix, it’s called “Art & Craft” — he’s one of the most successful art forgers. It’s quite amazing he would recreate Picaso’s, among other
    things magic markers and canvases bought at walmart.

  • He convinced over 45 museums to hang his paintings on their walls.

You or I could not tell the difference between an authentic Picasso and one from Landis. So what makes Picasso’s work with millions and Landis’s a scam?

The story!

“You might think that the pleasure you get from a painting depends on it’s color and it’s shape and it’s pattern. And if that’s right, it shouldn’t matter whether it’s an original or a forgery. — but our brains don’t work that way —When shown an object or given a plate of food, or shown a face, people’s assessment of it — how much they like it, how valuable it is — is deeply affected by what you tell them about it.”

— Paul bloom, Psychology Professor

So this is where I say that every successful artist and creator is a salesman.

Are you placing your work on in your portfolio unaccompanied by context or explanation?

A smart creative displays case studies, not portfolio projects.

If you think your art speaks for itself. You are wrong.

]]> Tue, 14 Jul 2015 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/25-7b198e90 Question: How are you a salesman?

Mark Landis

  • There is a Documentary about him on Netflix, it’s called “Art & Craft” — he’s one of the most successful art forgers. It’s quite amazing he would recreate Picaso’s, among other
    things magic markers and canvases bought at walmart.

  • He convinced over 45 museums to hang his paintings on their walls.

You or I could not tell the difference between an authentic Picasso and one from Landis. So what makes Picasso’s work with millions and Landis’s a scam?

The story!

“You might think that the pleasure you get from a painting depends on it’s color and it’s shape and it’s pattern. And if that’s right, it shouldn’t matter whether it’s an original or a forgery. — but our brains don’t work that way —When shown an object or given a plate of food, or shown a face, people’s assessment of it — how much they like it, how valuable it is — is deeply affected by what you tell them about it.”

— Paul bloom, Psychology Professor

So this is where I say that every successful artist and creator is a salesman.

Are you placing your work on in your portfolio unaccompanied by context or explanation?

A smart creative displays case studies, not portfolio projects.

If you think your art speaks for itself. You are wrong.

]]> Sell Your Work, Sell Yourself Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:17:14 Trav tells Los why it's important to act like a salesman when presenting your work. Trav tells Los why it's important to act like a salesman when presenting your work. creativity, selling, portfolios, case studies, creative health no full 25 1 7f14fc7a-ff35-4860-a6fb-505ecbc6d61e How to have a better conversation with anyone In this episode we remove a word from our vernacular and rethink our habitual sentence structures for better conversations.

TL:DL;

  • Remove "Just" and structure your sentences in a "yes, and..." format! Listen through for the full details!
  • "No, But!" is more of a mindset to avoid than the word itself. The use of the word "but" is still good to use to contrast ideas!
]]> Tue, 7 Jul 2015 07:09:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/24-9287c998 In this episode we remove a word from our vernacular and rethink our habitual sentence structures for better conversations.

TL:DL;

  • Remove "Just" and structure your sentences in a "yes, and..." format! Listen through for the full details!
  • "No, But!" is more of a mindset to avoid than the word itself. The use of the word "but" is still good to use to contrast ideas!
]]> How to have a better conversation with anyone Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:25:16 In this episode we remove a word from our vernacular and rethink our habitual sentence structures for better conversations. In this episode we remove a word from our vernacular and rethink our habitual sentence structures for better conversations. games, life, design, illustrator, photoshop, self improvement, business, startup, code, late nights, los, twert, bootstrapped, codes, trav, communication, knowledge, sketch no full 24 1 28fda3bb-2af9-4b6a-b224-61df30ccc79e Steal a College Education Learn how to steal a college education. Hack that education! If you have access to the internet, then you have access to all the knowledge you need. What is hard about learning is not knowing what you don't know. We talk you through a simple exercise to learn what you don't know.

]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2015 16:58:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/23-980390b6 Learn how to steal a college education. Hack that education! If you have access to the internet, then you have access to all the knowledge you need. What is hard about learning is not knowing what you don't know. We talk you through a simple exercise to learn what you don't know.

]]> Steal a College Education Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:16:24 Learn how to steal a college education. Hack that! Learn how to steal a college education. Hack that! college, trav, los, education, developer, design no full 23 1 ffffbe5c-cd9a-427c-9ba7-b9ca18b9f37d Burn Out - What it is, and how to avoid and overcome it. Travs Thesis

Burn out happens when you don't believe in what you are doing.

Avoid Burnout

Los says that if you want to avoid burn out, you should not burn out.

Overcome Burnout

Trav says that if you are currently experiencing burnout, you should try to find a shoulder to lean on.

Caleb Meredith

"Burn out is when you tell yourself you don't believe in what your doing because that's easier than continuing"

Lukaz Morawski

"or when what you are doing becomes a routine"

Karim

"burnout happens when you are stuck in whatever you are doing. When you stop learning the fun in zapped !"

Priomh

"IMHO burnout happens as a result of not managing your burn rate. I am not referring to financial "burn rate", but physical and mental burn rate. It is so easy to get burned out if you are not clear aboutwhat you are trying to accomplish, so I somewhat agree. Not believing in what you are doing is a huge part of that.

"A common factor for my own burnout that I personally have found is that I am not addressing subconscious issues. Dave Allen gives some great advice on this and said the root of most stresses in life is not knowing what you want and not addressing the task at hand.

  1. What are you trying to do?
  2. How are you going to do it?
  3. Write your answers down.
  4. Execute on them A.S.A.P

Wash Rinse Repeat"

Mike Heitzke

"I don't disagree necessarily, but that sounds more like "What you realize right before you start looking for other jobs".
IMO burnout happens when there's no clear objectives, unclear/unrealistic timelines, a lack of direction, lack of leadership/ownership. Working on a project for any length of time that has any of these characteristics can burn you out."

G Bowden

"Back in the day a basketball coach I had once told me, "show my a player who is burnt out and I'll show you a player who doesn't recover properly"

Seye Kuyinu

"I don't agree. I think burnout has a lot to do with managing time and communication. You may love what you do and believe what you do but when you don't know when to prioritize and manage resources(both human and material"

Ben Regali

"Agree to disagree!

Sounds like a kick in the nuts to all people who worked hard on things they love and still had to experience burnout.

Edit: I don't think there is more than one reason why this happens, but being swamped and working too much are definitely one those reasons. People have different stress levels."

]]> Tue, 23 Jun 2015 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/22-05b3d6f2 Travs Thesis

Burn out happens when you don't believe in what you are doing.

Avoid Burnout

Los says that if you want to avoid burn out, you should not burn out.

Overcome Burnout

Trav says that if you are currently experiencing burnout, you should try to find a shoulder to lean on.

Caleb Meredith

"Burn out is when you tell yourself you don't believe in what your doing because that's easier than continuing"

Lukaz Morawski

"or when what you are doing becomes a routine"

Karim

"burnout happens when you are stuck in whatever you are doing. When you stop learning the fun in zapped !"

Priomh

"IMHO burnout happens as a result of not managing your burn rate. I am not referring to financial "burn rate", but physical and mental burn rate. It is so easy to get burned out if you are not clear aboutwhat you are trying to accomplish, so I somewhat agree. Not believing in what you are doing is a huge part of that.

"A common factor for my own burnout that I personally have found is that I am not addressing subconscious issues. Dave Allen gives some great advice on this and said the root of most stresses in life is not knowing what you want and not addressing the task at hand.

  1. What are you trying to do?
  2. How are you going to do it?
  3. Write your answers down.
  4. Execute on them A.S.A.P

Wash Rinse Repeat"

Mike Heitzke

"I don't disagree necessarily, but that sounds more like "What you realize right before you start looking for other jobs".
IMO burnout happens when there's no clear objectives, unclear/unrealistic timelines, a lack of direction, lack of leadership/ownership. Working on a project for any length of time that has any of these characteristics can burn you out."

G Bowden

"Back in the day a basketball coach I had once told me, "show my a player who is burnt out and I'll show you a player who doesn't recover properly"

Seye Kuyinu

"I don't agree. I think burnout has a lot to do with managing time and communication. You may love what you do and believe what you do but when you don't know when to prioritize and manage resources(both human and material"

Ben Regali

"Agree to disagree!

Sounds like a kick in the nuts to all people who worked hard on things they love and still had to experience burnout.

Edit: I don't think there is more than one reason why this happens, but being swamped and working too much are definitely one those reasons. People have different stress levels."

]]> Burn Out - What it is, and how to avoid and overcome it. Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:25:03 Trav asks twitter about "Burn Out" and shares the results with Los. Los and Trav Play a game. Los loses. Haha! Trav asks twitter about "Burn Out" and shares the results with Los. Los and Trav Play a game. Los loses. Haha! creativity, creative health, burn out, creative block no full 22 1 c22c14a9-ba5a-46ec-93b0-0e7e1d0580b3 Change Will Lead To Insight "Change will lead to insight far more often than insight will lead to change." — Milton Erekson
  • Los sees this as a call to change your perspective and has found that moving your feet helps.
  • Trav's take is that you should try to change something about your work and see what insights form.

Either way, Milton likes YooHoo! (Or Yahoo, lol :)

]]> Tue, 16 Jun 2015 11:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/21-cbdd7db0 "Change will lead to insight far more often than insight will lead to change." — Milton Erekson
  • Los sees this as a call to change your perspective and has found that moving your feet helps.
  • Trav's take is that you should try to change something about your work and see what insights form.

Either way, Milton likes YooHoo! (Or Yahoo, lol :)

]]> Change Will Lead To Insight Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:14:28 Trav presents a quote about how to gain insight quickly. He and Los discuss this, 7-11 hotdogs, how to walk backwards, and more! Trav presents a quote about how to gain insight quickly. He and Los discuss this, 7-11 hotdogs, how to walk backwards, and more! gtd, creativity, design, business, illustration, get things done, action, creative, insight, startups, inspiration no full 21 1 b613176e-6ac6-4dc8-85a8-01074c7094b6 Seek first to understand the why? Before starting any project or sharing any work, first seek to understand the why? not the what.

In this episode we talk to you about why it's important to understand the why behind anything you are doing or will do.

]]> Tue, 9 Jun 2015 10:26:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/20-2247225c Before starting any project or sharing any work, first seek to understand the why? not the what.

In this episode we talk to you about why it's important to understand the why behind anything you are doing or will do.

]]> Seek first to understand the why? Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:18:48 Before starting any project or sharing any work, first seek to understand the why? not the what? Before starting any project or sharing any work, first seek to understand the why? not the what? self help, los, design, late nights, motivation, late, creator, trav, trav and los no full 20 1 c1572055-ca18-42e2-891c-67baf8c03fa1 A Case For Bravery Rejection

You are what you love, not what loves you. That’s from Adaptaion, written by Charlie Kaufman. I quoted that before, but I mis-attributed it.

The point is - so what? You will likely get rejected or even made fun of. So what?

"If you make things and share them, your heart will at some point be broken. If you never share, it will harden. Your choice." — Todd Henry

Obscurity

This one is easy. You already are obscure. So, move on.

Failure

What even is failure? On our patron podcast we talked about how failure is a necessary step toward success. All great works were born from great failures.

Starvation

“I’m not good enough”

I as reading a comic book this morning on the train, and one of the secondary characters has this kind of throw-away line. “Well, you have to be brave before you can be good.”

Parting thought

Dr Brené Brown has studied vulnerability for over a decade. One of the key things her research has brought to light is that there wasn't ever a single instance of bravery that didn't require being vulnerable as well.

]]> Tue, 2 Jun 2015 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/19-35d46e4c Rejection

You are what you love, not what loves you. That’s from Adaptaion, written by Charlie Kaufman. I quoted that before, but I mis-attributed it.

The point is - so what? You will likely get rejected or even made fun of. So what?

"If you make things and share them, your heart will at some point be broken. If you never share, it will harden. Your choice." — Todd Henry

Obscurity

This one is easy. You already are obscure. So, move on.

Failure

What even is failure? On our patron podcast we talked about how failure is a necessary step toward success. All great works were born from great failures.

Starvation

“I’m not good enough”

I as reading a comic book this morning on the train, and one of the secondary characters has this kind of throw-away line. “Well, you have to be brave before you can be good.”

Parting thought

Dr Brené Brown has studied vulnerability for over a decade. One of the key things her research has brought to light is that there wasn't ever a single instance of bravery that didn't require being vulnerable as well.

]]> A Case For Bravery Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:22:16 no full 19 1 72a3769d-5d4e-4f13-a956-5a00ce00fa09 Why You Should Be A Publisher Why you should start publishing today

What is publishing?

  • Creating content with a speciffic audience in mind.

Why you should start publishing today

  1. You will become a better thinker
    Knowing a skill or a fact is something entirely different than being able to relate it to an audience in a relatable and consumable way. You learn to simplify and clarify, which is an invaluable skill.

  2. You will be more intentional about your life
    Once you start writing about your life and the thoughts that shape it, you’ll begin thinking more intentionally about who you are, who you are becoming, and whether you like what you see or not. And that just may be reason enough to get started.

    Everything is a potential source for your next blog post or video or podcast.

  3. You’ll develop an eye for meaningful things
    We pickup and discard valuable lessons every day. We have truly profound moments that never really crack through our ultra distracted attention spans.

    Being responsable to an audience forces to look at life with a new lens. You are more critical and observant of cause and effect around you. You learn to draw connections that you would otherwise have no real reason latch on to.

  4. Make friends and meet interesting people
    This one is not hard to justify. We are on the phone right now with one of fthe coolest guys I’ve ever met and never would have had that oppertunity without making the descision to be a publisher.

  5. You will be able to influence and inspire others.
    About 5 years ago I wrote a blog post in which I said (I know it’s tacky to quote yourself, but at least its not a tweet, thats always weird.) I said “To be a valuable person, to truly live an extraordinary life, you must strive to reach and influence as many people as deeply and as profoundly as you possibly can.”

    A few weeks ago here on this podcast I said that ”webs of weak ties are how ideas are spread”

    So basicly, start blogging and live an extraordinary life.

  6. Build Confidence
    Like anything, putting yourself out there becomes easier with repetition. Standing up in front of people and relying a clear message, wether it’s to an audience of 1, or 100K, is a great way to build self confidence.

  7. It feels really good when people appreciate you

    I’m not talking about an upvote or a like. I’m talking about when someone takes the time out of their day to thank you for being an instrument in changing their life

  8. An audience is a hard-won, yet valueable asset that you can leverage throughout your entire career

    • recommendations
    • job oppertunities
    • buy your product
    • promote your product
    • provide resources
    • offer moral support
    • provide man-power
    • be social proof
    • be your friends
]]> Tue, 26 May 2015 17:35:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/18-6033a441 Why you should start publishing today

What is publishing?

  • Creating content with a speciffic audience in mind.

Why you should start publishing today

  1. You will become a better thinker
    Knowing a skill or a fact is something entirely different than being able to relate it to an audience in a relatable and consumable way. You learn to simplify and clarify, which is an invaluable skill.

  2. You will be more intentional about your life
    Once you start writing about your life and the thoughts that shape it, you’ll begin thinking more intentionally about who you are, who you are becoming, and whether you like what you see or not. And that just may be reason enough to get started.

    Everything is a potential source for your next blog post or video or podcast.

  3. You’ll develop an eye for meaningful things
    We pickup and discard valuable lessons every day. We have truly profound moments that never really crack through our ultra distracted attention spans.

    Being responsable to an audience forces to look at life with a new lens. You are more critical and observant of cause and effect around you. You learn to draw connections that you would otherwise have no real reason latch on to.

  4. Make friends and meet interesting people
    This one is not hard to justify. We are on the phone right now with one of fthe coolest guys I’ve ever met and never would have had that oppertunity without making the descision to be a publisher.

  5. You will be able to influence and inspire others.
    About 5 years ago I wrote a blog post in which I said (I know it’s tacky to quote yourself, but at least its not a tweet, thats always weird.) I said “To be a valuable person, to truly live an extraordinary life, you must strive to reach and influence as many people as deeply and as profoundly as you possibly can.”

    A few weeks ago here on this podcast I said that ”webs of weak ties are how ideas are spread”

    So basicly, start blogging and live an extraordinary life.

  6. Build Confidence
    Like anything, putting yourself out there becomes easier with repetition. Standing up in front of people and relying a clear message, wether it’s to an audience of 1, or 100K, is a great way to build self confidence.

  7. It feels really good when people appreciate you

    I’m not talking about an upvote or a like. I’m talking about when someone takes the time out of their day to thank you for being an instrument in changing their life

  8. An audience is a hard-won, yet valueable asset that you can leverage throughout your entire career

    • recommendations
    • job oppertunities
    • buy your product
    • promote your product
    • provide resources
    • offer moral support
    • provide man-power
    • be social proof
    • be your friends
]]> Why You Should Be A Publisher Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:38:07 Trav tells Los about his dream about how everyone could be a publisher, and outlines some compelling reasons to do so. Trav tells Los about his dream about how everyone could be a publisher, and outlines some compelling reasons to do so. creativity, knowledge, publishing, business, work, promotion, marketing, inspiration, design, self publishing no full 18 1 4d39f073-dfe4-4e39-b5e0-b2138627ad05 How To Get Constructive Feedback In this episode we teach you some tips and tricks that will help you define the type of feedback you want from your peers or clients.

]]> Mon, 18 May 2015 07:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/17-90e8931f In this episode we teach you some tips and tricks that will help you define the type of feedback you want from your peers or clients.

]]> How To Get Constructive Feedback Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:23:41 In this episode we teach you some tips on how to get constructive and accurate feedback. In this episode we teach you some tips on how to get constructive and accurate feedback. business, devtips, self help, los, help, feedback, constructive, design, travis, sketch, atlassian, travandlos no full 17 1 b24fcc02-ff59-4fa3-9ff6-a8a466fe28ac The Art of Listening We talk about the importance of active listening and what you can do to get better at it.

Link to the article Los reads from: https://medium.com/designing-atlassian/how-to-get-better-at-listening-956736d499d8

Kirshnamurti: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti

]]> Tue, 12 May 2015 07:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/16-017c7d23 We talk about the importance of active listening and what you can do to get better at it.

Link to the article Los reads from: https://medium.com/designing-atlassian/how-to-get-better-at-listening-956736d499d8

Kirshnamurti: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti

]]> The Art of Listening Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:27:33 We talk about the importance of active listening and what you can do to get better at it. We talk about the importance of active listening and what you can do to get better at it. atlassian, trav, tech-news, listening, art, learn, san francisco, business, bay area, podcast, trav & los, los, medium, design, tech, self-help no full 16 1 5753f492-d606-4def-bfc9-5162894462ee Trav's Little Book of Knowledge Here are the points we discuss from Trav's Book of Knowledge

  1. Whatever you do; do the best you can because the work will live forever.
    — Jackie Chan

  2. You can deal with anything today if you have a compelling future
    — Tony Robbins

  3. You will never influence the world by trying to be like it. 

  4. Most people focus on a few strong ties. But webs of weak ties are how ideas are spread.

  5. You don’t need to know everything about everything to do anything.

  6. If you describe the problem better than anyone else, people will believe that you have the best solution.

  7. Do this, or don't this. Choose.

  8. You are what you love not what loves you. (In reference to having your self-esteem be built on the opinions of others.)

  9. Most of the people we see in the arts are not there because they had the most to offer, but because they wanted to be there the most.
    — Jerry Seinfeld

  10. I keep track of my successes by counting my failures
    — Walt Disney

  11. We are all a little stupid and a little brilliant.

  12. End Strong.
    People remember the end. You can have a slow start, and a weak middle, but make sure you end strong.

  13. You can suffer from anxiety and not know it.

  14. There are finite and infinite games. You want to play the infinite game. 

  15. Take this seriously. Not personally.

  16. If I fall in love with my songs, I'll never write music.
    — Kyle cease

  17. All of your plans are stupid. All plans are stupid and a waste of time, until they work, then they are totally worth it. And you never know what plan will work, so you might as well get started on your stupid plan.

]]> Tue, 5 May 2015 08:01:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/15-d11f4a84 Here are the points we discuss from Trav's Book of Knowledge

  1. Whatever you do; do the best you can because the work will live forever.
    — Jackie Chan

  2. You can deal with anything today if you have a compelling future
    — Tony Robbins

  3. You will never influence the world by trying to be like it. 

  4. Most people focus on a few strong ties. But webs of weak ties are how ideas are spread.

  5. You don’t need to know everything about everything to do anything.

  6. If you describe the problem better than anyone else, people will believe that you have the best solution.

  7. Do this, or don't this. Choose.

  8. You are what you love not what loves you. (In reference to having your self-esteem be built on the opinions of others.)

  9. Most of the people we see in the arts are not there because they had the most to offer, but because they wanted to be there the most.
    — Jerry Seinfeld

  10. I keep track of my successes by counting my failures
    — Walt Disney

  11. We are all a little stupid and a little brilliant.

  12. End Strong.
    People remember the end. You can have a slow start, and a weak middle, but make sure you end strong.

  13. You can suffer from anxiety and not know it.

  14. There are finite and infinite games. You want to play the infinite game. 

  15. Take this seriously. Not personally.

  16. If I fall in love with my songs, I'll never write music.
    — Kyle cease

  17. All of your plans are stupid. All plans are stupid and a waste of time, until they work, then they are totally worth it. And you never know what plan will work, so you might as well get started on your stupid plan.

]]> Trav's Little Book of Knowledge Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:32:43 Travis opens up his notebook and walks us through a number of points he found significant enough to write down. This is his Book of Knowledge. Travis opens up his notebook and walks us through a number of points he found significant enough to write down. This is his Book of Knowledge. business, inspiration, work, design, creativity, knowledge, wisdom no full 15 1 0b791263-01d5-4bf1-88a1-fea8591de256 How I increased my creative output 150% by simply changing the way I sleep - part 2 Part 2 of Trav telling Los about his new Polyphasic sleep schedule

I’ve been on this schedule for a month, here are some of my insights:

  1. Days are long again, like when I was a kid. Days are not really a thing, but you track time by events or phases. I got to work. I come home. I have family time. I have DevTips time. It’s not really night and day anymore. the sun is up sometimes, and it’s not other times. I loose track of the weekday really easily.

  2. You are adding to your lifetime. Not piling on years at the back, filled with medications and other issues. I’m living longer than most people today.

  3. I feel more connected to the earth, to the rhythms of nature more than the concerns of the humans around me. I feel different than everyone. Like I know something they don’t. Like I can see something beautiful that they just walk by. When my colleagues come into the office in the morning (its morning for them) I’ve been awake for 8 hours and have been making videos and stuff for a long time already.

  4. People are really accepting of my new schedule. It’s not really that hard. I take naps at work, which is probably the coolest thing ever. I’ve left meetings to nap. I’ve napped at other peoples offices. It’s not really that weird, and people are very understanding.

  5. I get a lot done. A lot.

  6. It’s not easy, and I’m not perfect. It’s cold these days and my bed is so warm and comfy. I’ve overslept a few times. Those days are hard, I feel like I’ve let self down, and there goes that days extra time. It’s easier to stay up late than wake up early. But I’m focusing on not throwing in the towel on the larger picture when I make small immediate mistakes.

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2015 08:01:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/14-1a91be00 Part 2 of Trav telling Los about his new Polyphasic sleep schedule

I’ve been on this schedule for a month, here are some of my insights:

  1. Days are long again, like when I was a kid. Days are not really a thing, but you track time by events or phases. I got to work. I come home. I have family time. I have DevTips time. It’s not really night and day anymore. the sun is up sometimes, and it’s not other times. I loose track of the weekday really easily.

  2. You are adding to your lifetime. Not piling on years at the back, filled with medications and other issues. I’m living longer than most people today.

  3. I feel more connected to the earth, to the rhythms of nature more than the concerns of the humans around me. I feel different than everyone. Like I know something they don’t. Like I can see something beautiful that they just walk by. When my colleagues come into the office in the morning (its morning for them) I’ve been awake for 8 hours and have been making videos and stuff for a long time already.

  4. People are really accepting of my new schedule. It’s not really that hard. I take naps at work, which is probably the coolest thing ever. I’ve left meetings to nap. I’ve napped at other peoples offices. It’s not really that weird, and people are very understanding.

  5. I get a lot done. A lot.

  6. It’s not easy, and I’m not perfect. It’s cold these days and my bed is so warm and comfy. I’ve overslept a few times. Those days are hard, I feel like I’ve let self down, and there goes that days extra time. It’s easier to stay up late than wake up early. But I’m focusing on not throwing in the towel on the larger picture when I make small immediate mistakes.

]]> How I increased my creative output 150% by simply changing the way I sleep - part 2 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:31:09 Part 2 of Trav telling Los about his new Polyphasic sleep schedule Part 2 of Trav telling Los about his new Polyphasic sleep schedule polyphasic, life hacks, polyphasic sleep, productivity, work no full 14 1 7631f625-324a-4d8d-a509-5153758425e9 How I increased my creative output 150% by simply changing the way I sleep Polyphasic Sleep

  • What is your most valuable resource?

  • How would your life change if you added 4 to 6 more waking hours to your day? What would you do?

hours gained over time

  • 16 hours becomes 20 per day
  • That’s 28 hours a week
  • 336 per year — 42 work days (month and 1/2)
  • I call this new month “Slumbtember”
]]> Tue, 28 Apr 2015 08:01:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/13-1fbe69fc Polyphasic Sleep

  • What is your most valuable resource?

  • How would your life change if you added 4 to 6 more waking hours to your day? What would you do?

hours gained over time

  • 16 hours becomes 20 per day
  • That’s 28 hours a week
  • 336 per year — 42 work days (month and 1/2)
  • I call this new month “Slumbtember”
]]> How I increased my creative output 150% by simply changing the way I sleep Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:24:34 Trav tells Los how he finally figured out how to function on only 4 hours of sleep per day. Polyphasic Sleeping FTW! Trav tells Los how he finally figured out how to function on only 4 hours of sleep per day. Polyphasic Sleeping FTW! life hack, sleep patterns, startups, designer, polyphasic, creativity, life hacks, design, polyphasic sleep, sleep, work no full 13 1 6717644d-ef84-4a51-9261-3fc58cefac17 How To Get A Job and Keep It Have you ever struggled in getting a job? What do you do during a phone interview? How do you approach an in-person interview? How do you negotiate an offer? What do you do in your first 90 days to keep the job? Tune into this weeks podcast and get some insights into "Interview Hacking"

We discuss all of these and more during this late night podcast.

Join in :)

]]> Wed, 22 Apr 2015 17:57:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/12-aaea5029 Have you ever struggled in getting a job? What do you do during a phone interview? How do you approach an in-person interview? How do you negotiate an offer? What do you do in your first 90 days to keep the job? Tune into this weeks podcast and get some insights into "Interview Hacking"

We discuss all of these and more during this late night podcast.

Join in :)

]]> How To Get A Job and Keep It Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:52:48 In this episode we talk about the 10 steps Los has followed to get a job and keep it. In this episode we talk about the 10 steps Los has followed to get a job and keep it. no full 12 1 122238f3-e2a4-46e9-bac3-35b65bd67904 Chase The Carrot! Today we talk about the fear of success and how to manage that fear! Enjoy :)

]]> Wed, 8 Apr 2015 05:03:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/11-ea072ab2 Today we talk about the fear of success and how to manage that fear! Enjoy :)

]]> Chase The Carrot! Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:25:46 Keep chasing the carrot! Keep chasing the carrot! trav, measure, patreon, artist, devtips, los, failure, self improvement, business, design, success, musician, fear, followers, trav and los, self-help no full 11 1 c5bcfec6-2576-4377-8837-e401af9c5ce3 Set and Achieve Better Goals Setting Goals and achieving them
  1. Only work on one thing at a time
  2. Make changes during periods of calm
  3. Make your goal as clear and specific as possible
  4. Set things up on autopilot (routines)
  5. Make to-do lists
  6. pre-commitment
  7. Tackle the tough things first
  8. Keep yourself and your surroundings tidy and clean
  9. Surround yourself with those who have similar goals
  10. Delay gratification instead of nixing it altogether
  11. remove deterrents. Don’t make the right decision over and over again.
]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2015 08:01:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/10-4cd409f2 Setting Goals and achieving them
  1. Only work on one thing at a time
  2. Make changes during periods of calm
  3. Make your goal as clear and specific as possible
  4. Set things up on autopilot (routines)
  5. Make to-do lists
  6. pre-commitment
  7. Tackle the tough things first
  8. Keep yourself and your surroundings tidy and clean
  9. Surround yourself with those who have similar goals
  10. Delay gratification instead of nixing it altogether
  11. remove deterrents. Don’t make the right decision over and over again.
]]> Set and Achieve Better Goals Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:57:12 Trav and Los discuss 12 tips that can help you set and achieve better goals. Trav and Los discuss 12 tips that can help you set and achieve better goals. comedy, goals, development, business, career, design, self-help, achieve no full 10 1 83b7b80c-0db3-41e4-a3e1-0e5524e3e861 Our First Guest! Travis and I go to a meetup. We meet Travis McCleery. He is awesome. He comes and podcasts with us! Yes, we are winning at life.

We take a look at how Travis ends up at Evernote.

Find Travis McCleery on twitter with the handle @cleerdesign or take a look at some his work here http://cleerdesign.com/

]]> Wed, 4 Mar 2015 06:43:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/9-8db703d2 Travis and I go to a meetup. We meet Travis McCleery. He is awesome. He comes and podcasts with us! Yes, we are winning at life.

We take a look at how Travis ends up at Evernote.

Find Travis McCleery on twitter with the handle @cleerdesign or take a look at some his work here http://cleerdesign.com/

]]> Our First Guest! Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 01:03:10 In this show we interview Travis McCleery, designer at Evernote. In this show we interview Travis McCleery, designer at Evernote. illustrator, photoshop, silicon valley designer, sketch, design, interview, money on my mind, self help, visual design, podcast, winner, ftw, interview no full 9 1 33a1a3a9-56c8-487e-a073-79b39ef32d02 What do you do when you are not inspired?
  • Break it down
    • Make a list of the small parts of your project.
    • Anthony Trollope, a 19th century writer said “A small daily task… will beat the labour of spasmodic hercules"
    • Do anything to move the ball. Don’t end the day having done nothing to progress your work.
    1. Rely on your preparation
    • Day work and Night work
    • leave your work half finished and now all you have to do is complete your idea.
    1. Get a ritual
    • Woody Allen famously said “80% of success is showing up”
    • put your shoes on
    • loses idea of a token.
    1. Harness the power of Frequency
    • frequency makes starting easier
    • frequency keeps ideas fresh
    • frequency keeps the pressure off
    • frequency sparks creativity
    • frequency nurtures frequency
    1. Prune the branches
    • Eventually the new branches will steal resources from the initial branches. Eventually the entire vine will succumb to systemic mediocrity.
    • Cut out anything that is not essential

    We don't have the luxury of inspiration. Inspiration is a nice companion on our journey to brilliance, but it is not a necessary companion at the beginning of the journey. Inspiration tends to join you when you are already on your way.

    • Todd Henry
    ]]>     Tue, 17 Feb 2015 09:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/8-d9b8c488
  • Break it down
    • Make a list of the small parts of your project.
    • Anthony Trollope, a 19th century writer said “A small daily task… will beat the labour of spasmodic hercules"
    • Do anything to move the ball. Don’t end the day having done nothing to progress your work.
    1. Rely on your preparation
    • Day work and Night work
    • leave your work half finished and now all you have to do is complete your idea.
    1. Get a ritual
    • Woody Allen famously said “80% of success is showing up”
    • put your shoes on
    • loses idea of a token.
    1. Harness the power of Frequency
    • frequency makes starting easier
    • frequency keeps ideas fresh
    • frequency keeps the pressure off
    • frequency sparks creativity
    • frequency nurtures frequency
    1. Prune the branches
    • Eventually the new branches will steal resources from the initial branches. Eventually the entire vine will succumb to systemic mediocrity.
    • Cut out anything that is not essential

    We don't have the luxury of inspiration. Inspiration is a nice companion on our journey to brilliance, but it is not a necessary companion at the beginning of the journey. Inspiration tends to join you when you are already on your way.

    • Todd Henry
    ]]>     What do you do when you are not inspired? Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 01:02:26 Based on a discussion he had with his 4 year old, Travis hosts a show on the topic of working while feeling uninspired. Based on a discussion he had with his 4 year old, Travis hosts a show on the topic of working while feeling uninspired. work life, creative tips, work ethic, creative block, creativity no full 8 1     c13e92f0-3bc1-4cea-b353-d8fa9a97c2b7 It All Starts With Writing Mustache, Mustache, Mustache, Mustache.

    ]]>     Tue, 3 Feb 2015 08:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/7-6b97dcfd Mustache, Mustache, Mustache, Mustache.

    ]]>     It All Starts With Writing Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 01:06:08 Travis has a new mustache and then we talk about writing. Travis has a new mustache and then we talk about writing. designer, call to action, winner, winning, design, writing, san francisco, tech, bay area, help, inspiration, medium no full 7 1     4784368b-d183-43b8-b259-04e4266cac4b Los Talks About Life and Junk 00:00 - Trav and Los catch up. Travis misses Los' touch.

    4:00 - Travis has a few questions for Los before we start...

    5:22 - "How did you switch careers?"

    10:53 - Los is charismatic during interviews

    15:13 - Los' parents are hustlers

    17:40 - Twelve-year olds are useless

    19:30 - Los started businesses when he was 16

    32:03 - We often don't recognize the things we are passionate about

    35:43 - Working with small businesses

    42:30 - Care about your clients

    47:32 - Los' client management style

    59:49 - "Are you human?" — Los' dad

    1:12:39 - Los gets mad inspirational and junk!

    1:18:00 - Trav and Los sing!

    1:21:00 - Trav and Los want to fight you

    1:23:00 - Los reads some tweets or something

    1:22:20 - "Corndogs for everyone!"

    1:23:00 - Goodnight :D

    ]]>     Tue, 20 Jan 2015 10:00:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/6-7e2e49b3 00:00 - Trav and Los catch up. Travis misses Los' touch.

    4:00 - Travis has a few questions for Los before we start...

    5:22 - "How did you switch careers?"

    10:53 - Los is charismatic during interviews

    15:13 - Los' parents are hustlers

    17:40 - Twelve-year olds are useless

    19:30 - Los started businesses when he was 16

    32:03 - We often don't recognize the things we are passionate about

    35:43 - Working with small businesses

    42:30 - Care about your clients

    47:32 - Los' client management style

    59:49 - "Are you human?" — Los' dad

    1:12:39 - Los gets mad inspirational and junk!

    1:18:00 - Trav and Los sing!

    1:21:00 - Trav and Los want to fight you

    1:23:00 - Los reads some tweets or something

    1:22:20 - "Corndogs for everyone!"

    1:23:00 - Goodnight :D

    ]]>     Los Talks About Life and Junk Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 01:23:45 Travis has a quick question for Los before they start the show. Two hours later the show never started. Such is a Late Night with Trav and Los. Travis has a quick question for Los before they start the show. Two hours later the show never started. Such is a Late Night with Trav and Los. work ethic, business, art, design, life hacks, industry no full 6 1     2157c23b-cf27-40f8-b012-b648fcded188 Focus Your Passion 06:18 - Travis and Los sing to you

    02:10 - Travis reads an iTunes podcast review

    06:50 - Light housekeeping

    08:40 - Trav and Los rejected from a podcast network??

    11:30 - Los shows up

    16:30 - Travis talks about his mentoring sessions

    29:48 - Travis continues to ramble... (ramblings with Travis)

    32:48 - Question: How do you manage all your creative interests?

    34:20 - Travis talks about creative interests

    36:19 - Enjoy the work for itself

    36:50 - Los starts to answer the question

    37:44 - Travis gets real

    38:44 - The importance of establishing your passion

    40:40 - Los applies advice to himself

    44:06 - What a modern designer uses

    46:44 - Los sweats

    50:00 - Travis is reserved on the notion of "Say NO"

    55:48 - Los is frustrated with saying "no" and "yes"

    56:18 - We question our effectiveness

    59:40 - How do you determine what your passion is?

    1:00:00 - Bro, you have to pick one.

    ]]>     Tue, 6 Jan 2015 09:20:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/5-3067afab 06:18 - Travis and Los sing to you

    02:10 - Travis reads an iTunes podcast review

    06:50 - Light housekeeping

    08:40 - Trav and Los rejected from a podcast network??

    11:30 - Los shows up

    16:30 - Travis talks about his mentoring sessions

    29:48 - Travis continues to ramble... (ramblings with Travis)

    32:48 - Question: How do you manage all your creative interests?

    34:20 - Travis talks about creative interests

    36:19 - Enjoy the work for itself

    36:50 - Los starts to answer the question

    37:44 - Travis gets real

    38:44 - The importance of establishing your passion

    40:40 - Los applies advice to himself

    44:06 - What a modern designer uses

    46:44 - Los sweats

    50:00 - Travis is reserved on the notion of "Say NO"

    55:48 - Los is frustrated with saying "no" and "yes"

    56:18 - We question our effectiveness

    59:40 - How do you determine what your passion is?

    1:00:00 - Bro, you have to pick one.

    ]]>     Focus Your Passion Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 01:01:11 As creatives we tend to have competing creative interests and hobbies. Tonight we talk about that and maybe we learn how to manage those interests. As creatives we tend to have competing creative interests and hobbies. Tonight we talk about that and maybe we learn how to manage those interests. creative, bro, logo, passion, focus, behance, say no, trav, prioritize, business, how to focus, design, say yes, dribbble, late night, los, self help, designer, branding no full 5 1     43167287-30ea-403f-9d32-91ca5c667ea0 Reflect to Thrive 33:23 - I sent out a weird birthday email - http://travisneilson.com/notes/7-birthday.html

    2:10 - The worst part of birthdays

    6:46 - @_ellenbrook released a product called http://morningpages.net

    9:40 - Travis has a man-crush on Jack Conte - http://youtu.be/mZ02alEkbLw

    10:57 - Peter Hollins and Jackie Evancho Rocked the house - http://youtu.be/9VdwDiedS0Y

    13:02 - What is Patreon? - http://www.patreon.com/

    19:51 - Eff an umbrella, gimme a poncho!

    23:36 - Voice actors documentary - http://www.iknowthatvoice.com/

    25:51 - Using Patreon to increase value to listeners

    34:19 - Having a pay-community can increase interaction quality

    36:37 - Travis might be afraid of rejection

    38:59 - Travis wrote a note for his birthday

    41:22 - “That one movie” - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0841046/

    Travis’ interactive birthday poems: http://travisneilson.com/32-years-of-poetry/

    ]]>     Tue, 23 Dec 2014 18:06:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/4-99f387e2 33:23 - I sent out a weird birthday email - http://travisneilson.com/notes/7-birthday.html

    2:10 - The worst part of birthdays

    6:46 - @_ellenbrook released a product called http://morningpages.net

    9:40 - Travis has a man-crush on Jack Conte - http://youtu.be/mZ02alEkbLw

    10:57 - Peter Hollins and Jackie Evancho Rocked the house - http://youtu.be/9VdwDiedS0Y

    13:02 - What is Patreon? - http://www.patreon.com/

    19:51 - Eff an umbrella, gimme a poncho!

    23:36 - Voice actors documentary - http://www.iknowthatvoice.com/

    25:51 - Using Patreon to increase value to listeners

    34:19 - Having a pay-community can increase interaction quality

    36:37 - Travis might be afraid of rejection

    38:59 - Travis wrote a note for his birthday

    41:22 - “That one movie” - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0841046/

    Travis’ interactive birthday poems: http://travisneilson.com/32-years-of-poetry/

    ]]>     Reflect to Thrive Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 01:24:01 Los and Trav discuss the benefits and drawbacks of community building. We are looking at Patreon. Travis celebrates his birthdays in a very unusual way. They discuss the importance of reflecting on the past to prepare for a successful future. Los and Trav discuss the benefits and drawbacks of community building. We are looking at Patreon. Travis celebrates his birthdays in a very unusual way. They discuss the importance of reflecting on the past to prepare for a successful future. community, jack conte, reflection, peter hollins, meditation, design, birthdays, creativity, mentoring, patreon no full 4 1     57b20bbe-f2ca-420d-9909-82e731e722c5 How to find a mentor Travis takes Los to the airport while they discuss the best way to find and engage mentors.

    Review the podcast so far (00:00:01)

    • It feels good to make, to publish
    • Brocasting is fun
    • Put in work up front to find your rhythm and voice

    Finding a Mentor is like dating (07:17:16)

    Best Practices in contacting a mentor (16:24:12)

    • Choose the platform you contact them on carefully
    • Keep a good tone, be thankful
    • Try to offer value right away
    • what can you supplement their operation with?
    • who could you introduce them to?

    Some don'ts

    • Ask for a job
    • Ask for help right away
    • Correct their mistakes
    • Gush

    Value based relationships (33:44:11)

    • You need to provide unique consistent value over time
    • Offer value right away
    • Don’t stop!
    • Be ready, they will naturally offer value in return
    • Show a lot of gratitude about any help you get. Make a big deal about it.

    A few action steps (56:23:05)

    • Make a list of potential mentors
    • Note where best to make contact
    • Contact them all
    • Give first
    • Be consistent, be ready
    ]]>     Wed, 10 Dec 2014 09:02:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/3-755df4f7 Travis takes Los to the airport while they discuss the best way to find and engage mentors.

    Review the podcast so far (00:00:01)

    • It feels good to make, to publish
    • Brocasting is fun
    • Put in work up front to find your rhythm and voice

    Finding a Mentor is like dating (07:17:16)

    Best Practices in contacting a mentor (16:24:12)

    • Choose the platform you contact them on carefully
    • Keep a good tone, be thankful
    • Try to offer value right away
    • what can you supplement their operation with?
    • who could you introduce them to?

    Some don'ts

    • Ask for a job
    • Ask for help right away
    • Correct their mistakes
    • Gush

    Value based relationships (33:44:11)

    • You need to provide unique consistent value over time
    • Offer value right away
    • Don’t stop!
    • Be ready, they will naturally offer value in return
    • Show a lot of gratitude about any help you get. Make a big deal about it.

    A few action steps (56:23:05)

    • Make a list of potential mentors
    • Note where best to make contact
    • Contact them all
    • Give first
    • Be consistent, be ready
    ]]>     How to find a mentor Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 01:04:48 Travis takes Los to the airport while they discuss the best way to find and engage mentors. Travis takes Los to the airport while they discuss the best way to find and engage mentors. mentor, dating, communication, creative mentor no full 3 1     e6dc9782-767e-4af8-b8a2-9c9b4c47a3e9 How to be Self-learning Part 2 Be sure to tweet us @TravAndLos

    How to be self-learning

    I want to talk about the most impactful concepts I’ve encountered and developed while optimizing my learning. This episode is two parts.

    Part 2 Intro (00:00:01)

    6. Focus on Productivity (00:02:18) Hardest thing about learning is often finding time to do it. Working to become more productive will create the time and willpower you need. Focus on habits to increase productivity.

    7. Mix it up (00:12:08) There are multiple ways to learn today so mix it up. Books, magazines, blogs, audiobooks, articles, podcasts, lectures, movies, documentaries, online video, apps, music and debates. Listening to experts disagree with each other is a great way to approach a topic with an open mind.

    8. Avoid Confirmation Bias (00:23:09) Remember to always keep an open mind and seek out contradictory opinions. This will keep you more balanced, informed and objective on the topic. It’s easy to limit your consumption to content that agrees with you.

    9. Bring your friends (00:45:06) Surround yourself by other people that are interested in the same things you are, it makes the learning process more rewarding. Book clubs, meet-ups, dinners or just spending the evening talking with someone close to you are great ways to grow and support each other.

    10. Relate as you go (00:48:29) If you can attach a new idea or concept to something well established in your mind, grasping and remembering concepts becomes a breeze. I can retain new information well when I can draw connections to things I have experience with. At least Isaac Asimov thinks this is were great ideas come from.

    Outro (01:03:00)

    Most important part to learning is putting what you have learned to use.

    ]]>     Mon, 24 Nov 2014 05:59:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/2-a76a36d3 Be sure to tweet us @TravAndLos

    How to be self-learning

    I want to talk about the most impactful concepts I’ve encountered and developed while optimizing my learning. This episode is two parts.

    Part 2 Intro (00:00:01)

    6. Focus on Productivity (00:02:18) Hardest thing about learning is often finding time to do it. Working to become more productive will create the time and willpower you need. Focus on habits to increase productivity.

    7. Mix it up (00:12:08) There are multiple ways to learn today so mix it up. Books, magazines, blogs, audiobooks, articles, podcasts, lectures, movies, documentaries, online video, apps, music and debates. Listening to experts disagree with each other is a great way to approach a topic with an open mind.

    8. Avoid Confirmation Bias (00:23:09) Remember to always keep an open mind and seek out contradictory opinions. This will keep you more balanced, informed and objective on the topic. It’s easy to limit your consumption to content that agrees with you.

    9. Bring your friends (00:45:06) Surround yourself by other people that are interested in the same things you are, it makes the learning process more rewarding. Book clubs, meet-ups, dinners or just spending the evening talking with someone close to you are great ways to grow and support each other.

    10. Relate as you go (00:48:29) If you can attach a new idea or concept to something well established in your mind, grasping and remembering concepts becomes a breeze. I can retain new information well when I can draw connections to things I have experience with. At least Isaac Asimov thinks this is were great ideas come from.

    Outro (01:03:00)

    Most important part to learning is putting what you have learned to use.

    ]]>     How to be Self-learning Part 2 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 01:08:57 Today we have access to unimaginable amounts of information, which in turn makes it easier for us to learn outside of the classroom. So, what are the steps we can take to be self-learning? Today we have access to unimaginable amounts of information, which in turn makes it easier for us to learn outside of the classroom. So, what are the steps we can take to be self-learning? self-learning, how, mentor, teaching, learn, curiosity, focus, productivity, write, help, self-learner, how to, self-help no full 2 1     2865a1e1-64f8-4fdc-ab23-4f26657f8ee9 How to be Self-learning Part 1 Be sure to tweet us @TravAndLos

    How to be self-learning

    I want to talk about the most impactful concepts I’ve encountered and developed while optimizing my learning. This episode is two parts.

    Part 1 Intro (00:3:43)

    Summary (00:8:13)

    1. Follow your curiosity (00:11:13) This is your compass for self-learning, and immersing yourself in the things that interest you is the best way to digest and make sense and understand your topic to it’s core.

    2. Write it Down (00:16:53) It took me some time, but once I started organizing my thoughts on paper or computer I noticed a profound change. Our brains are capable of amazing things, but by trying to depend on your brain to remember all of your ideas and to-do’s, takes a drastic toll for it to operate at its best.

    3. Find your Ambassadors (00:20:09) This is important. Choosing the right people to take advice from in life is one of the most important skills to have. Yes, a skill. Look for people that are humble, compassionate, and above all else are authentic/real.

    4. Tune your speed (00:41:16) Finding the optimum balance between speed and comprehension is an ongoing process. Always be pushing yourself to find that sweet spot. Sometimes that means slowing down and at times that means speeding it up. Always be on the lookout for playback speed options in your audio and video apps.

    5. Plan on Teaching (00:44:02) Everyone knows that the best way to learn is to teach it, and by opening myself to the possibility, I increase my overall understanding. Sometimes the way to create good habits is to trick ourselves into it.

    Outro to Part 1 (00:48:08)

    ]]>     Mon, 24 Nov 2014 05:45:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/1-b8fe81ae Be sure to tweet us @TravAndLos

    How to be self-learning

    I want to talk about the most impactful concepts I’ve encountered and developed while optimizing my learning. This episode is two parts.

    Part 1 Intro (00:3:43)

    Summary (00:8:13)

    1. Follow your curiosity (00:11:13) This is your compass for self-learning, and immersing yourself in the things that interest you is the best way to digest and make sense and understand your topic to it’s core.

    2. Write it Down (00:16:53) It took me some time, but once I started organizing my thoughts on paper or computer I noticed a profound change. Our brains are capable of amazing things, but by trying to depend on your brain to remember all of your ideas and to-do’s, takes a drastic toll for it to operate at its best.

    3. Find your Ambassadors (00:20:09) This is important. Choosing the right people to take advice from in life is one of the most important skills to have. Yes, a skill. Look for people that are humble, compassionate, and above all else are authentic/real.

    4. Tune your speed (00:41:16) Finding the optimum balance between speed and comprehension is an ongoing process. Always be pushing yourself to find that sweet spot. Sometimes that means slowing down and at times that means speeding it up. Always be on the lookout for playback speed options in your audio and video apps.

    5. Plan on Teaching (00:44:02) Everyone knows that the best way to learn is to teach it, and by opening myself to the possibility, I increase my overall understanding. Sometimes the way to create good habits is to trick ourselves into it.

    Outro to Part 1 (00:48:08)

    ]]>     How to be Self-learning Part 1 Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:56:15 Today we have access to unimaginable amounts of information, which in turn makes it easier for us to learn outside of the classroom. So, what are the steps we can take to be self-learning? Today we have access to unimaginable amounts of information, which in turn makes it easier for us to learn outside of the classroom. So, what are the steps we can take to be self-learning? self-learning, mentor, teaching, curiosity, focus, productivity, learn, help, how, self-learner, how to, write, self-help no full 1 1     e031f4e6-b41e-4c5f-8c09-48058ed1e47e The intro episode Trav and Los intro you to the podcast :)

    ]]>     Fri, 23 May 2014 01:35:00 +0000 travandlos@gmail.com (Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya) https://travandlos.simplecast.com/episodes/0-48016322 Trav and Los intro you to the podcast :)

    ]]>     The intro episode Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya 00:17:15 Trav and Los intro you to the podcast :) Trav and Los intro you to the podcast :) business, facebook, the future, the tech, twitter, network, late nights, los, late nights update, trav, podcast, late nights with trav and los, design, intro, instagram, tech no full 0 1