Project Getaway - Part 1 - Bali, Indonesia

[phil]

Original post: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=5266

Official site: http://www.projectgetaway.net

Follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Getaway/124665277544795


This is going to be huge. Think "Project Hollywood" from The Game, but for 4HWW lifestyle designers.

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First official day - Monday, September 27th

We've moved to our main villa in Seminyak today from a smaller villa in Uluwatu.

Nine people so far, with more joining this week. From Denmark, France, Columbia, US.

A GIANT villa compound, with a live-in staff of FIFTEEN.

A photo/film crew of three will document the adventure.

Last week we've gone surfing, went paragliding along cliffs, and did crossfit everyday. Everyone is super productive, some working together on team projects, others on individual muses.


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs626.snc4/58587_160725077272148_124665277544795_519818_23916 10_n.jpg

[adam.sn]

Hmm... this sounds like fun. I might take you guys up on the next one. Certainly cheaper to go on vacation than stay in North America.

Cheers & liberation to all!

- Adam

[phil]

Day two
Crossfit @ 11 am

Indonesian dishes served for lunch - prepared and served by the villa staff

A few of us braved the traffic, went to an electronics store to negotiate THREE big flat screen monitors, plus keyboards, mice, etc.

So much more productive when working on a big screen than a laptop :)

Weather is HOT, but otherwise everyone's rockin'

Ordered in takeout for dinner (Greek food)

Arriving yesterday:
http://projectgetaway.net/sites/default/files/arrivee1.jpg
http://projectgetaway.net/sites/default/files/arrivee2.jpg
http://projectgetaway.net/sites/default/files/rsz_landscape1.jpg

[phil]

Day three
Wow, this is good.

I went into town early after breakfast to avoid traffic.

Stocked up on some new t-shirts, shorts, shampoo, etc.

Missed the 11 am crossfit session, but ended up swimming a ton of laps later.

Got a ton of programming/development work done:
1) working on a technical info system - storing tech info in a database form, and building a CSV file parser
2) searching for a copywriter, getting samples, and moving forward on my page copy project + newsletter copy project

Yummy food prepared by the villa staff
Fresh fruit shakes - yum!

Setup a big dining table outside on the lawn. At dinner we had a productivity brainstorming session. Felt a lot like an AA session, but for facebook and email addicts.

Once the video guys arrive in a few days, we'll make some productivity tip videos.

One sweet idea I had: Build a simple web-based ordering system for use at our villa. Wherever we are in the compound, we can just go to a page, view a menu, and order something. Say, a mango smoothie, coke, a bowl of peanuts, foot massage, etc... We'd indicate where we are (pool 1, villa 2, etc..). The order would pop up on the kitchen staff's screen.

Lifestyle design to the max!

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs358.ash2/63844_162596440418345_124665277544795_529966_57105 58_n.jpg
(pool @ villa 2 - actually the smallest pool!)

[phil]

Day four

Had a 90 minute massage under a cabana by one of the pools. Cost: $15!

Compiled some productivity tips

ENVIRONMENT
- Have a good start in the day.
- Work when you work best. Even if it’s at 4am.
- Have a routine.
- Drink water, be healthy, exercise, take (power) naps.
- No TV. But music is allowed.
- Create the conditions of an open-space office. Make sure someone can see your monitor.

ANNOYANCES
- The priority is to create, not to react. So don’t read emails before you start working: finish one task before opening the Pandora Inbox. Or at least, take five minutes to actually produce something. Creating brings more energy.
- “First time right”. Reopening a file is energy and time-consuming. Finish it and move on.
- Use a call-center if people harass you with phonecalls.
- Train people to communicate the way you want them to communicate, for example only short answers, only when it’s really needed, only calling you “Master of the Universe”.

STOP PROCRASTINATING
- Use an egg timer like BlingClock: http://www.blingclock.com/, which will constantly remind you that you have only 20 minutes to send those four emails.
- Feel guilty!!
- Use RescueTime: http://www.rescuetime.com/ in order to raise your awareness about how you actually spend your time.
- Use Midnight Inbox: http://www.midnightbeep.com/products/midnight-inbox/. Have a pop-up asking you every 15 minutes if what you’re currently doing is valuable. If not, the pop-up continues to disturb you every 2 minutes.
- Have a friend who asks you at the end of the day if you achieved your goals. The friend can even pretend to be angry :)
- Work in airplanes! No Internet = productivity. If you don’t have a personal airplane, control your Internet-addiction with strict rules: check e-mails only once or twice a day, or only 10 minutes. Try to spend one day per week without Internet. The same goes for facebook :) Not reading your emails allows you to take control over your schedule.

ORGANIZE
- To-do lists are awesome.
- Not to-do lists are also awesome.
- Divide the tasks into sub-tasks. No task should take more than 45 minutes to achieve.
- Prepare the next day before you go to bed.
- Include the guilty pleasures in the planning, like taking a shower or meet your friends.
- Don’t have billions of e-mail adresses: all communication should get through only one Inbox, maybe two if you use a smartphone.
- When you have a new idea, write it down and finish whatever you were doing before.

SOCIALIZE
- Work with another person to motivate each other.
- Involve people: organize appointments about the tasks you need to do. It helps to commit - to deadlines but also to real people.
- Employ people. If it’s worth it.
- Don’t employ people. They’re complicated :)
- Communicate clearly. Send, and make sure you receive, only relevant emails.

MOTIVATION
- Tie yourself to your chair until you finish doing a boring task. It works like a constant reminder.
- Focus on the goal and its benefits. Remember the big picture.
- Create motivation groups.
- Make sure you’re doing the right thing: what’s the value of what you’re doing? Is it a choice?
- Don’t freak out if you spend too much time on facebook. But be productive during the amount of time during which you have decided to work.
- Money. Is it a success if you don’t earn money?
- Be passionate. Even for the boring things: pretend that you’re someone else, who actually enjoys financial/administrative tasks. Be passionate about everything.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs022.snc4/33476_163107923700530_124665277544795_532468_64283 47_n.jpg

[phil]

Day five
Test drove an old, but tricked out Toyota Landcruiser for rent. Sweet paint job, big tires, and stereo system. Looks cool, but drives/handles like hell. Wasn't for me, but for one of the others. Only $20 / day.

It was a funny sight, seven masseuses showed up promptly at 3pm. Those of us getting hour-long balinese massages scattered about, under cabanas, etc.

Two new guys flew in today from Denmark to join Project Getaway. Now its 11 of us. More on their way.

[phil]

Day six
Relaxing Saturday at the villa.

We hosted a cocktail party. Here's some guys wandering around passing out invites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR4Uqvt_qts

[phil]

Day seven - Sunday
I went to bed at 5 am last night. Oh well, relaxing / lazy day. I don't drink, but a lot of other people were recovering a bit from the party.

Some people are feeling sick, perhaps from the home-made arak, which is an Indonesian specialty alcohol. Apparently nine people died from it last year.

A few more massages under the cabana's.

One more guy arrived today (part of the camera crew). So we're 12 people now.

Went out finally into town, for a nice Japanese restaurant, and drinks at a chill lounge/bar later.

Back by midnight, and a quick dip in the pool. Got a big day tomorrow of Scuba diving :)

Perfect timing on this shot! Just about to dive into water.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs335.ash2/61498_163108067033849_124665277544795_532478_46565 58_n.jpg

[phil]

Day Eight
SCUBA diving! One of the best dive's I've done. Been diving in California, Hawaii, Japan, Cyprus, and Malawi (Africa).

The drive / traffic out there sucked, but once we were in the water, was so beautiful. 28 degrees, saw a shark, squid, octopus, stingray, and tons of soft colorful coral.

Supposed to be an awesome wreck dive here, but its a 3 hours drive. I say we just get a helicopter :)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs746.snc4/64671_164278806916775_124665277544795_540537_17156 91_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs373.ash2/65124_164279030250086_124665277544795_540548_77591 15_n.jpg

[Johnny2029]

That looks amazing guys! I posted a link on my facebook and I sincerly hope some of my friends and colleges will get their ass on a plane to Bali ASAP. I'm currently living at a MMA training camp in Thailand and doing my 4hww thing here. But Project: Getaway looks AMAZING! Best of luck to you guys!

[ScottVA]

that looks great - I am working on starting a muse and way so I can enjoy that life soon..

[AlexMoen]

How often do you plan on doing trips like this?

[phil]

Couple times a year maybe.

What other destinations are on your radar?

[AlexMoen]

Well, I'll be throughout China for still another 6-10 months, but these kinds of trips you're setting up are something I'd definitely do afterward. Bali is on my list, as is SE Asia, and I'm also thinking coastal South Africa (this is aside from the somewhat standard list of Oktoberfest in Germany, Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, and Running of the Bulls/La Tomatina in Spain).

I'll keep my eye out in the future though, for sure.

[phil]

Yeah I'm keen for Cape Town, SA

Enjoy the rest of CN :)

[NickG]

Hope to see a Project Getaway trip for Summer of 2011! I'd love to go on one of these. I get out of classes by May 6th and start back up in September.

Keep us posted!

Thanks,
Nick

[Mr RC]

Looks killer.

How are you guys all finding meeting each other and getting all the work done?

[phil]

Couple days left of the official Project Getaway, then 4 of us will stay in Bali and rent a smaller villa for a month or two.

My productivity is about the same as usual, but I've been doing this nomadic work thing for a while now, so I'm used to it. From what I hear though, others have been really productive. Some more so than at home. And some feel the warm beach environment isn't conducive to work. Some think a big city like NYC may be more stimulating for work/productivity. But for me, this is an awesome balance.

We'll have a 30 minute documentary / video with participant interviews soon.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs076.ash2/37132_10100124555726221_10000325_55898344_6362684_ n.jpg

[americanoracle]

fyi your website is currently fubar and has been for awhile now, nothing but the video loads.

[phil]

Seems to work fine: http://www.projectgetaway.net/

[Bodekaer]

Hi everyone,

We just launched the new Project Getaway site, and an awesome Movie Trailer together with it.
It is quite funny!

Go have a peak at:
www.projectgetaway.com (http://www.projectgetaway.com)
:)

Phil: Mads just booked tickets for HK - I'll most likely join you all on the 10th as well.

[rachana]

Hey people I am new to this post. I am leaving in the Villas in Bali (http://www.miavilla.com). I don't have much idea about this so please give me some useful information related to this so even I can be the part of this post.
Thanks in advance,
Regards,
Rachna