- **By**: [[Nicholas Bate]] - **Date Published**: - **Date Read**: 2025-04-03T08:05:52+01:00 - [**Read Original**](https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2013/03/tidy-up-as-you-go-along-be-it-cooking-diy-or-selling-your-software-solution-remember-the-small-stuff-as-it-is-big-stuf.html) - **Tags**: **Note:** Below is the text from an online article – none of the writing is by me. ## About ## My books - [Bate, Nicholas: Love, Life & Legacy](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQPCFNZJ?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Bate, Nicholas: Bram, A Spy Story](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C33Z9MQV?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Bate, Nicholas: Meet Molly: Masks, Malevolence and Magic](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08Y8SHS4H?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Bate, Nicholas: Molly and The Isle of Kasta](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09P483TR7?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Bate, Nicholas: Molly and Ben](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CL4DZVNR?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Nicholas Bate: Do What You Want: The Book That Shows You How to Create a Career You'll Love](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0273771086?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Nicholas Bate: You, Only Better: Find Your Strengths, be the Best and Change Your Life.](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0857084720?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Nicholas Bate: Being the Best: The A-Z of Personal Success](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1841125210?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Nicholas Bate: Instant MBA](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1905940831?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Nicholas Bate: Get a Life: Setting Your Life Compass for Success](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1841126489?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [The Business Skills Collection: Go Home E-Mail Free; Bags of Energy Now; Give Great Presentations; Make Better More Often; Boost Your Productivity](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00R04DCQ8?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Nicholas Bate: Love Presenting Hate (badly used) Powerpoint](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0956784828?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Nicholas Bate: Brilliant at the Basics of Business](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/095678481X?tag=strategicedgeltd) - [Bate Nicholas: How to be Brilliant](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0956784801?tag=strategicedgeltd) ## 3 Free Books - - JfDI! [Download EPUB](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/files/JfDI_just-do-it_NicholasBate.epub) [Download MOBI](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/files/JfDI_just-do-it_NicholasBate.mobi) - How to sell brilliantly [Download EPUB](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/files/How_to_sell_brilliantly.epub) [Download MOBI](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/files/How_to_sell_brilliantly.mobi) - Unplugged [Download EPUB](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/files/Unplugged.epub) [Download MOBI](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/files/Unplugged.mobi) - - [](http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/680963) [How to think like...](http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/680963) - [](http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/675670) [The Beatles](http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/675670) - [](http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/707851) [101](http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/707851) - [Moleskine Meditations - Reflections on the Notebook](http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/936769) - - [Key notes](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/keynotes.pdf) - [Personal Excellence](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/worddocs/PersonalExcellence2007.doc) - [](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/sellingwithouttears_4website.pdf) - [](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/How_to_write_and_publish.pdf) - [Podcasts](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/files/Nicholas_Bates_10_core_tips_to_be_brilliant.mp3) - [7 by 7](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/seven.pdf) - [A - Z of Parenting](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/parenting.pdf) - [A - Z of Personal Wealth](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/wealth.pdf) - [TTD (Things to do)](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/ttd.pdf) - [What are you reading](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/reading.pdf) - [The A - Z of Sales Excellence](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/a-z.pdf) - [Account Review](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/accountreview.pdf) - [Boost Your Productivity](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/boost.pdf) - [Call Planner](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/callplanner.pdf) - [Life Balance](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/lifebalance.pdf) - [Rainmaker](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/rainmaker.pdf) - [The Rules of Life](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/rules.pdf) - [You Were There](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/youwerethere.pdf) - [How To Think Like](http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/pdfs/howtothinklike.pdf) || ### Life Tips 101 1. **Tidy up as you go along**. *Be it cooking, DIY or selling your software solution.* 2. **Remember the small stuff.** *As it is big stuff to somebody else.* 3. **Focus on simplicity.***The answer is always there.* 4. **Drink decent tea and coffee**. *Do the simple pleasures properly.* 5. **You have never, ever 'made it'**. *You simply get to a place where you have a better vantage point than many. Do not squander such a position.* 6. **Check your posture**. *It will reflect how you are treating your body.* 7. **No piece of technology can yet be as creative as your brain at its best**. *Look after it.* 8. **Eat more plant protein**. *All data suggests it is life enhancing with no side effects.* 9. **No girlfriend was ever meant 'to be understood'.** *Where's the fun in that?* 10. **Often when we think we are hungry we are simply thirsty**. *Drink water first.* 11. **Multiply Italian design style** *with almost anything and you won't go far wrong.* 12. **Become you own expert**. *Never leave your wealth, your health nor your politics (solely) to a (perhaps) impressive CV.* 13. **A Master List is different to a To Do List**. *The former has 'want to do's as well as the latter's 'Have to do's.* 14. **Jeans are even cooler** *when not worn all the time.* 15. **You need a Sinatra greatest hits on your playlist.** *Every man and every woman will have their Sinatra moments. Don't be caught out.* 16. **Your start-up will take three times as long as the spreadsheet predicted to become profitable***. Make the adjustment now and you will be fine.* 17. **Don't wait until Breaking Bad becomes the new cult.** *Watch it now.* 18. **The alarm clock is for back-up***. Not wake up: get enough sleep.* 19. **1 or 2 or 3 dip recession?***Doesn't matter: stay focused, work hard and delight customers.* 20. **Save time instantly**. *From meetings, unnecessarry travel, lack of anticipation of what's coming up in the schedule and TV.* 21. **Creativity isn't a technique**: *it's a way of being.* 22. **Selling is generating quantity of possibilities***, to which you then add an amazing quality* of pitch. 23. **They don't know**. *But their idea might take you to the solution*. Listen to understand. 24. **What's measurable is often so much less important than what is not measurable**. It's a length, a sum, a weight which gives us confidence. *It's false confidence. * 25. **Time only speeds up when you get older because of sameness.** Build more variety and you'll have that delightful childhood speed again. 26. **David Bowie showed putting the work in and delivering great produc** t may even mean you don't need social media. 27. **Ensure significant amounts** of your day is investing. In your learning or health or relationships or..*.It'll make future days easier.* 28. **Remind yourself you need a damn good reason to get into debt.***And nice shoes isn't it.* 29. **Talking beats e-mail**. *And sometimes hugging beats talking.* 30. **Any conversation can be re-started.** *It ain't about pride. It's about humility.* 31. *Be it early or late or hidden away somewhere*, **you will need peace and quiet for your greatest work.** 32. *You are never stuck***. You simply need to shift.** 33. You doing art isn't about pictures. **It's about fully releasing those demons.***It helped Pollock a little.* 34. *When you really crave your drug of choice* **is exactly the time it would be best to avoid it.** 35. *Technology rarely makes things easier.* **Just busier**. 36. *1h of silence. A whole day of silence*. **What might it do for you?** 37. *Your creative breakthrough is* **a breath, a glance, a doodle away.** 38. *Cheap notebooks are good*. **They are not intimidating.** 39. *Money wealth rarely brings true freedom*. **But thinking wealth, does.** 40. *Question the assumptions*. **Therein lies your new strategy for success.** 41. **Routine is reassuring**. *But it can stop you growing.* 42. **Doing less** is often very productive. 43. **You and a boxing bag** can change your world. 44. *Try a different meeting location.* 45. **Aggressive people in business have lost their way**. Help them back on the path by not putting up with their sh\*t. 46. **Read the label on the packet**. *Accept no substitutes for real food*. 47. Halve the TV viewing, double your reading. **Triple your brain power.** 48. **Nothing is meant to be easy**. *Ending up on Planet Earth in 2013 was a pretty big break to start with.* 49. *P&Qs, R&R and LOL.* **All essential for everyday sanity.** 50. The *paper* book will never die. **It will just become very special again.** 51. " **Failure is Not an Option** " (Gene Kranz, Apollo 13) is no bad message to head your note-pad as you kick off another project meeting. 52. **All is relative**. *Raise your standards of delivery and you'll be more in demand. Reduce your need for perfection and life is a whole lot easier.* 53. **Energy** =mass *times* the speed of light *squared*. *Eat more and you will need to move more.* 54. **Make Saturday day 1 of your week** *and you'll be up-and-running by Monday.* 55. **The best version of you is staggeringly close**. *Stop copying, start innovating.* 56. **Cars were meant to replace horses**. *Not walking.* 57. **Remember the dinosaurs?** Getting bigger all the time. Taking to the air more and more. Squabbling a lot? Quite. 58. [**Be Bold**](https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0956784852/strategicedgeltd). *Period.* 59. **Less caffeine**. More hot water and sliced ginger. 60. **When you want ideas**, give yourself a numerical target. *Your brain will work harder.* 61. **There are plenty of parallel universes to choose from**. *They originate in your imagination and are manifested through your daily decisions.* 62. **Be courteous**. *It always works.* 63. Replace confectionery with dates. *Try medjool.* Try slightly chilled medjool. 64. Create your perfect ' **Start Me Up** ' playlist of the 100 perfect tracks to re-focus and energise you. *Keep handy for emergencies.* 65. Never forget urgent is often not that important. But crucially much of the important only becomes urgent *when it is too late*. More detail & tips in [Paradoxical Productivity](https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0956784860/strategicedgeltd). 66. Decide to see more sun-rises, sun-sets and the moon. 67. **To write more** you need to *read more.* 68. *Try a longer hug.* 69. Place at eye-line in work cubicle: *"I don't know where I am going from here but I promise it won't be boring"* David Bowie. 70. Re-boot your Master List. Your definitive list of not only what you have to do. **But what you want to do.** 71. Life is not getting tougher. *You're just realising how much goes on under the bonnet/hood.* 72. **The most powerful strategy in the galaxy: start**. *Just think: Big Bang and take it from there...* 73. *Try a different route.* 74. **Start** before you need to. 75. You don't need to *explain everything*. 76. Try a **higher 'B** ' pencil for faster flow across the page and more 'connect' with the idea. 77. **Surprise your competitors** by coming out of the sun. 78. Work at getting sound, deep uninterrupted sleep. 79. **Learn more**. *Forget a little*. 80. Excellence is great. **Consistency in excellence is awesome**. 81. **Tomorrow** is indeed a fresh start. 82. Reduce the stuff in your life: **it's causing drag.** 83. Plan it. Do it. Review it. **Kaizen.** 84. **Arriving a bit early** allows you to plan and reflect. Arriving a bit late damages your reputation. 85. You can **be a leader any time**. You don’t need to wait until it appears in your job title. 86. At school, the process for discovering an unknown was called **algebra**. In the organisation it is called asking good questions and listening to the reply. 87. Getting noticed- *fairly or not* -has a pretty high threshold. Keep doing great work. Consistently. **And you will be noticed.** 88. Make decisions based on **strategy, facts and people**. Not e-mail. 89. Notice irritation rising. **It's a danger sign.** 90. Drive *even more carefully*. 91. Become a **good presenter**; it's a vital skill in any organisation. 92. Have a routine for efficiency (getting stuff done). **Vary that routine** for effectiveness (getting the right stuff done). 93. **Give praise**. It motivates. 94. **Stop doing** the non-excellent stuff. 95. **Re-read the classics**. The wisdom therein is astonishing. 96. **Live life** long, wide and deep. 97. *Remember you can do anything but not everything.* 98. It's failure or feedback. **Your choice**. 99. Get a plan. 100. Work the plan. 101. ***Take a tip a day. And act.*** ## Archives - [April 2025](https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2025/04/index.html) - [March 2025](https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2025/03/index.html) - [February 2025](https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2025/02/index.html) - [January 2025](https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2025/01/index.html) - [December 2024](https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2024/12/index.html) - [November 2024](https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2024/11/index.html) - [October 2024](https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2024/10/index.html) - [September 2024](https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2024/09/index.html) - [August 2024](https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2024/08/index.html) - [July 2024](https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2024/07/index.html)