I was recently told about a productivity tactic that I have been challenged and happy to use.

“O.H.I.O.” stands for “only handle it once,” and is an idea that comes via Outward Bound Golden. In the last few months I have been amazed by my lack of productivity at times, so the challenge of working remotely has given me the opportunity to improve on short-comings.

TImothy Ferris’ awesome book The Four Hour Workweek, is one that I revisited via audiobook on my drive from Portland to Moab, and he challenges that if you want to work less, you have to have something to fill your time.  Here is one of those things, and a prime example of O.H.I.O. in action:

I was blessed to find myself with the opportunity to get basically any bike I wanted.  Exhaustive research led me to this beauty a 6″ travel all-mountain machine that can pedal to the top of anything, and beat just about any bike there down.  It’s built-out burly to get me through all types of riding as I am unlikely to get lucky again and find myself getting a free downhill rig.  One bike to last me for a long time.

Given the opportunity to work less, I would love to bike more in the warm months.  Today on the trail as I struggled to take in enough pine-scented air, I relished the opportunity to be outside, getting exercise, going fast, and catching air.

So how do I get to do more of this? The FHWW suggests eliminating the Office Space-esque time wasters that we all have.  To start check your email twice a day at noon, and five.  This is where OHIO comes in.  When not checking my email like a fiend after a high, I have to be powerful and efficient.  If I get an email, I deal with it while its open for the first time, not reading, then coming back to it.  This reduces the time I spend emailing, yet makes me more productive.  BONUS!

At a bar recently I brought the Only Handle it Once idea up in relation to nice things.  Many people I know are coming to a point where we find ourselves with tons of stuff.  By saving a little, and getting the XXXX we really want, we end up having less, enjoying it more and for longer.

This is a renumerating of what is really the underlying philosophy of my clothing design.  Clothing so good you only have to handle it once.  This recent trip was the second testing trip for that pair of shorts.  Casual, durable, athletic, self-cleaning, these shorts are slated for a Spring ‘11 release, but will be the pair of shorts you pull out everyday, whether your day takes you to the dump, the trail or the bar.  Here’s me checking the range of motion.  Suffice it to say, I had to handle that rock a few times.