#this is virtually just a huge monster of a brain dump

[skepticalcatfrog]

Kerch, Ghezenism, and the Van Eck Family

The title pretty much sums it up. This is a rather extensive analysis, and to be honest with you all it is 2,500+ words. So get into this absolute beast at your own risk!

~~~

From my experience in this fandom, I've seen it discussed very frequently how important religion is in the Grishaverse. Not only is it very deeply developed, to the point where many of the different countries have unique beliefs - which I'm not sure is seen very often in newer literature - but the various religious systems are also deeply important to many major characters, such as Matthias and Inej. However, one aspect of Grishaverse religions that seems to be overlooked somewhat often is the Kerch religion of Ghezenism. This may just be me, but I have a lot of thoughts on it. A big reason for that is that Wylan is, and always has been, my favorite character, and the culture surrounding Ghezen is actually a very important part of his character for many reasons. When you look into it in the way that I have, you discover that there are a lot of peculiar aspects of Ghezenism that make it stand out, as well as many ties that it has to major aspects of the story.

Right away, one thing that makes Kerch religion different from the others is how deeply connected to the economy it is. So much so that a lot of aspects of the two subjects are one and the same. Given that Ketterdam is a city largely fueled by commerce, it makes sense that Ghezenism would heavily tie into Kerch culture as well. Symbols of Ghezen can be found in many places throughout the city, even beyond the Church of Barter. A very good example of this is Vellgeluk, the island where the Crows meet Van Eck expecting to get their reward from the Ice Court heist: “Smugglers called it Vellgeluk, “good luck,” because of the paintings still visible around the base of what would have been the obelisk tower: golden circles meant to represent coins, symbols of favor from Ghezen, the god of industry and commerce,” (Six of Crows, Chapter 44). This just goes to show how many people in Ketterdam, and the wider country of Kerch as well, put their faith in Ghezen. Vellgeluk is a chosen place for smugglers to do business, specifically because favors of Ghezen are still present there. 

Another interesting part of that passage is the fact that Ghezen is referred to as the god of industry and commerce. Kerch may have other gods, but as far as I can remember - and I may be wrong, but I don't think I am - we never hear about any of them. A similar situation can be found in Fjerda, where Djel is specifically the god of life, implying the existence of other gods. In Fjerda, it is very clear that Djel is mainly what they base their culture and belief system around. This makes perfect sense for a god of life, but isn't Ketterdam’s situation a bit more unusual? The most frequently discussed god, Ghezen, represents industry. We can assume Ghezen is the primary god within the Kerch religious system. Not to mention that their largest church is called the Church of Barter, barter obviously being a term that has much to do with economics. Ketterdam, if not the entire country of Kerch, seems to have no real concept of the separation of church and state. They quite literally hold auctions inside of the church; the auctioning of Kuwei is not a singular event.

The impacts of religion can also be seen in the culture and behavior of the people of Kerch, as seen in a brief section of Crooked Kingdom. “Kerch women—even the wealthy ones—didn’t bother with anything as frivolous as embroidery or needlepoint. Ghezen was better served by tasks that benefited the household,” (Crooked Kingdom, Chapter 14). Obviously, things like this are much more typical of religion. But I would argue that even this holds traces of the same values expressed by the connection between Ghezenism and the economy. It is specifically mentioned here that Kerch women are encouraged to participate in tasks that will “benefit the household”. This displays one of the very prominent aspects of the Ghezenite religion, which is that one of the most important things a person can do is be productive, and create a prosperous life for themselves and their family.

In addition to direct ties between Ghezenism and the Kerch economy, occasionally the legal system is put into the mix as well. While considering what consequences his father might face after the events of the auction, Wylan reveals this piece of information: “Knowingly entering into a false contract for the purpose of subverting the market wasn’t just illegal, it was considered blasphemy, a blight on the works of Ghezen, and the penalties were harsh,” (Crooked Kingdom, Chapter 41). Essentially what he means by this is that not only is tampering with the economy against the law, but it is also heavily frowned upon in a religious sense, and anyone who does so will face punishment from both sides. This is extremely unique, even within the Grishaverse. This single sentence also reveals another very interesting thing about Kerch society. The market, as it exists in Ketterdam, is believed to be a creation of god - it is referred to here as being a part of the “works of Ghezen”. That, more than anything, is concrete proof of just how interconnected the economy of Kerch is with its primary religion. This also means that committing a crime such as Van Eck did isn't simply illegal (which we can assume he has no issues with), it is also an act that goes against his own religion. But stop to consider for a moment: does he really have a problem with that either?

There are numerous examples throughout both books of Van Eck blatantly abusing the values of his own religion. On its own, the teachings of Ghezenism aren't inherently bad. After all, things such as tampering with the market for your own gain are actively discouraged using the threat of blasphemy, which I'd say is generally beneficial. The issue, however, arises when Van Eck in particular attempts to twist some of these values in order to justify his own actions. If there is one single quote from the duology that exemplifies this, it would be this one: “Ghezen shows his favor to those who are deserving, to those who build cities, not the rats who eat away at their foundations. He has blessed me and my dealings. You will perish, and I will prosper. That is Ghezen’s will,” (Six of Crows, Chapter 45). Van Eck openly believes that, since he is a member of the upper class, he is somehow more deserving of a blessing. He is insistent that “Ghezen's will”, or what he interprets as what Ghezen wishes for him to do, is to trample others in order to further his own success. 

It doesn't matter to him who stands in his way, and it never will, because his goal is only to make himself more wealthy; he simply hides this behind a thin veil of piety. This motivation is especially clear when he is speaking to Inej while he is holding her captive. “When I leave this world, the greatest shipping empire ever known will remain, an engine of wealth, a tribute to Ghezen and a sign of his favor. Who will remember a girl like you, Miss Ghafa? What will you and Kaz Brekker leave behind but corpses to be burned on the Reaper’s Barge?” (Crooked Kingdom, Chapter 7). He frames people less fortunate than him - in this case Kaz and Inej - as forgettable and unimportant. The only thing he considers truly important is wealth, which he equates to power. He even references Ghezen here, claiming again that all of his actions, as well as his empire and legacy, are meant to show his dedication to his religion. He also claims that his ability to attain this level of success is a sign that Ghezen favors him. That in particular is a display of his extremely warped view of Ghezenism. The truth is that his success can only be attributed to his unethical actions, but the fact that he claims it is due to Ghezen's favor means that he will never be able to be convinced that he is wrong. He has what he believes to be an airtight justification.

His classism is also extremely evident, while indirectly, in an exchange between Kaz and Wylan earlier on in Crooked Kingdom. ““Your father much for charity?” “No. He tithes to Ghezen, but he says charity robs men of the chance at honest labor,”” (Crooked Kingdom, Chapter 2). This shows that Van Eck is very protective over his wealth. Which, quite frankly, is more likely than not the exact opposite of what Ghezenism is intended to promote. Based on what we are shown from an outside perspective, it seems as though one of the main aspects of Ghezenism is to create a prosperous economy for everyone. However, what Van Eck seems to believe is that he is intended to simply accumulate as much wealth as he possibly can, and keep it all for himself.

It is incredibly clear that Van Eck doesn't care about the well-being of anyone other than himself when it comes down to it. It could be argued that he cares for Alys, and will care for their child when it is born, but this simply cannot be proven. Just look at the exact mirror of this situation: Marya and Wylan. Wylan states about his parents, “I think he really loved her. They fought all the time, sometimes about me, but I remember them laughing a lot together too,” (Crooked Kingdom, Chapter 14). If we are to believe that this is true, and Van Eck truly did love Marya, that doesn't change the fact that he didn't hesitate to send her away as soon as he discovered that Wylan couldn't read or write. There is no evidence to say that he wouldn't do the same to Alys, under similar circumstances. 

And, of course, this all leads back to the matter of Wylan. When Van Eck decided that Wylan wouldn't be useful to him, he stopped caring about him very quickly. Near the end of Six of Crows, we hear more of the specifics on Van Eck's opinion of Wylan. “I have hired the best tutors from every corner of the world. I’ve tried specialists, tonics, beatings, hypnotism. But he refused to be taught. I finally had to accept that Ghezen saw fit to curse me with a moron for a child. Wylan is a boy who will never grow to be a man. He is a disgrace to my house,” (Six of Crows, Chapter 45). Van Eck believes that Wylan is a curse from Ghezen, purely because he thinks that Wylan will be incapable of producing profits for their business. This is perhaps one of the most egregious examples of his blatant abuse of his own religion, because he is entirely willing to abandon and even murder his own son in order to fulfill his goals, which he claims is all Ghezen's will.

There is no feasible way Wylan would be able to grow up being raised by Van Eck, and not be affected by his religious ideas in some way. In fact, there is evidence contained in the text that proves this rather thoroughly. There are even certain things that have already been cited within this analysis that can be circled back to, such as the quote just above. This quote exemplifies the sort of treatment Wylan was subjected to while growing up. This is mostly speculation, but it's safe to assume he was told at a very young age that his own father considered him a punishment from god. That is objectively terrible, and we know that by the age of eight his father was his only parent. The psychological impacts that that would have on a child that young are unimaginable. 

Additionally, we can return to this quote from Crooked Kingdom: “When I leave this world, the greatest shipping empire ever known will remain, an engine of wealth, a tribute to Ghezen and a sign of his favor. Who will remember a girl like you, Miss Ghafa? What will you and Kaz Brekker leave behind but corpses to be burned on the Reaper’s Barge?” (Crooked Kingdom, Chapter 7). While Van Eck is not talking to Wylan here, and Wylan isn't even present at the time, this passage still indirectly displays Van Eck's feelings about Wylan. Here he is expressing the fact that he maintains that if a person is not able to create wealth and prosperity for themselves, they are essentially useless. As we know from the previous example, he believes this of Wylan as well.

It is evident that Wylan was taught Ghezenite values from a young age. While examining the exterior of the Church of Barter, his thoughts include this: “He didn’t need to be able to read the words engraved over the arch. He’d heard his father repeat them countless times. Enjent, Voorhent, Almhent. Industry, Integrity, Prosperity,” (Crooked Kingdom, Chapter 31). This is confirmation that Van Eck frequently encouraged Wylan to think about these values, and it can be inferred that it likely wasn't in a particularly positive manner. Industry, integrity, and prosperity are clearly the three main ideals of this religion, and we can easily be led to the conclusion that Van Eck is certain his son is capable of none of them.

It is also suggested that Wylan may even associate his father's disapproval with religion subconsciously as well. A good example of this is in Crooked Kingdom, after Wylan is taken to the Church of Barter. “Van Eck shook his head. “Every time I think you cannot disappoint me further, you prove me wrong.” They were in a small chapel topped by a dome. The oil paintings on the wall featured battle scenes and piles of armaments,” (Crooked Kingdom, Chapter 31). While this is also simply meant to provide the reader with a description of the environment, the juxtaposition between the two halves of this passage cannot be an accident. What we can observe here is that after Van Eck once again expresses his ever-present disappointment with Wylan, emphasis is immediately put on the fact that they are in the church. This, along with the other passages listed, creates a clear link between Wylan's negative relationship with his father and the effects that their shared religion has had on it.

What I consider to be one of the most important quotes for this subject, despite also being the shortest one used, comes near the end of Six of Crows. After Wylan has played his role in foiling Van Eck's plan to trick the Crows, he says this: “Maybe you can pray to Ghezen for understanding, Father,” (Six of Crows, Chapter 45). This is sort of the first act of retribution that the reader sees from Wylan. He has just made his father look like a fool, and then he practically spits in his face by taking the thing that was used against him for so long - their religion - and using it against his father instead. Not only is this moment incredibly satisfying, it also marks the beginning of Wylan's growth as a character that eventually leads to him being able to stand up to his father in more ways.

Despite being arguably the least explored Grishaverse religion in online spaces, I find Ghezenism to be extremely interesting when it comes to the ways it ties into the themes of the story. It represents wider, more general themes found throughout the book, such as the idea that people often value their own success over the well-being of others, but it contains even more when examined under a closer lens. It opens the door to a completely new aspect of further analyzing the relationship between Wylan and his father, and introduces vital elements of in-depth characterization for both of them. The way Wylan and Van Eck each view the same religion is highly indicative of their individual values, and that is a very interesting thing to expand upon. It simply goes to show just how much thought went into creating both the culture of this world, and the characters who live within it.

[notspoondere]

The End of an Era - September 2017 Banlist

Longform analysis of the previous format and banlist under the cut.  I haven’t read any other analyses of the banlist prior to writing this, so the material underneath is all original.  It’s also my first impressions, so bear with me if I forgot a few details here and there.

The past few formats of the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG have been extremely diverse and creative, with a great number of decks competing for the #1 spot... of being the second best deck after Zoodiacs, who, according to Yugiohtopdecks, are now the most represented deck of all time in terms of topping tournaments. It would not be an understatement to say that it is possibly the strongest non-FTK deck ever created, and by far the most consistent. In case you missed that somehow, here's a list of just some of the ways Zoodiacs have impacted the metagame (Take a shot every time I mention a unique support card for an entirely different archetype if you want to get wasted really quickly):

It was figured out fairly quickly that any Rank 3 engine would be able to summon any Zoodiac from the deck through M-X-Saber Invoker. There are a few good 1-card Rank 3 engines in the game right now, but all of the unlimited generic ones use a normal summon--because the only one that didn't, Speedroid Terrortop, got limited as a result of its use in this deck.  (Note that Speedroid Taketomborg, the monster which Terrortop searches to make a rank 3, is not a “Garnet” in the sense that the entire engine fails if you draw it. Drawing both still makes the Rank 3 without eating your normal summon.)

In addition, Fire Fromation - Tenki could search any monster in the deck, since Zoodiacs were also all level 4 Beast-Warriors. This got the card briefly Limited in the OCG.  (Note that the deck already had three copies of Ratpier and three copies of Barrage, which could pop itself to summon Ratpier from the deck, so in effect, the deck ended up with 12 cards that searched or summoned Ratpier before Ratpier was Semi-Limited on the next list after the archetype’s release.)

Upon release, a Rank 8 spam variant was discovered with Coach Captain Bearman. Zoodiacs had access to an 8-axis and it turned out to be suboptimal.  Keep in mind the once-per-turn 1-material summon for each of the Zoodiac Extra Deck monsters does not mention Level; it only has to be a Zoodiac monster.

Elder Entity Norden was used in most decks (including Zoo for a time) as an Instant Fusion target to make a quick Rank 4. Later variants after Chakanine's release used Zoodiac Broadbull to search Lunalight Black Sheep, which you could discard to search Fusion Substitute and repeatedly Fusion Summon Elder Entity Norden in order to repeatedly make Daigusto Emeral, which, in so many words, allowed Zoodiacs to draw 5 cards off of one Speedroid Terrortop (or plus similarly hard off of Barrage), which would surely include powerful hand traps like Maxx “C”/Ash Blossom/Ghost Ogre/etc. This was finally the tipping point for Norden in the TCG, as he was Forbidden on the June 2017 emergency banlist soon after. Note that the OCG had already banned him by the time Zoodiacs were released. (Also note that this would not stop players from griping about drawing Speedroid Taketomborg.)

Even after Norden was banned, the deck was by far the most powerful deck in the format. Paleozoics had a decent matchup, but fell by the wayside as True Draco appeared, towering over Zoodiacs in terms of raw power but not in terms of consistency (and eventually a hybrid of both took first at the NAWCQ). Forgotten cards like Shuffle Reborn and My Body as a Shield saw serious play in preparation for the Zoodiac mirror, while cards like Dimensional Barrier and Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit fell off and quickly reappeared once people figured out the deck wasn’t going anywhere. Targeted destruction was considered powercrept until this deck appeared. They even started appearing as engines in rogue top decks like Lightsworn and Pendulum Magicians. Even after getting banlisted twice, even after people started maindecking Droll & Lock Bird, and even after Links, the deck prevailed. (In the OCG, it still managed to appear after Barrage and Drident got banned and Ratpier got Limited by abusing the card advantage off of Broadbull to work as a stun deck. Or so I heard.)  Eventually, and without question, Zoodiacs created a Tier 0 format.

Until today, that is. Took them long enough! Let’s get into the cards.

Forbidden:

Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter

I’ll mention this alongside Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior since they both have similar effects, although the latter was Limited. This is a fairly straightforward hit to the True Draco deck’s access to quick and cheap card advantage on the opponent’s turn. Ignis and Dinomight were not the strongest cards in the deck, but they added a lot to the deck’s consistency.

Grandsoil The Elemental Lord

This card creates a bunch of FTKs off of Firewall Dragon and is played in virtually no other decks. Dino FTK got Top 32 at YCS Toronto recently, and Konami has never been kind to FTK decks ever since they let Frog Burn win worlds. Ugh.

True King Lithosagym, The Disaster

The True Kings were not exactly the new-age Dragon Rulers people expected them to be. In fact, they (mostly Lithosagym) only saw play in one deck: True King Yang Zing Dinosaurs, which eventually won Worlds this year. And we all know how Konami feels about decks that manage to win Worlds.

There was a pretty long combo that let you consistently pop two Babycerasaurus to summon this thing, letting you banish cards from your opponent’s Extra Deck for doing something you would have happily done already. It also made up half of the materials for True King of All Calamities, a boss monster that actually has no hand trap counter short of Psy-Framegear Gamma, which saw play for partially this reason (and for other handtraps, but...). I’m glad to see this gone.

Denglong, First of the Yang Zing

Denglong was usually the other part of True King of All Calamities, since you could change his level to 9 by dumping any of the True Kings into your Graveyard. He also led to a 1-card double Quasar negate combo off of one Souleating Oviraptor (or Fossil Dig, or basically any way to summon Oviraptor). I really doubt Yang Zings will be playable after this, but Yang Zing Dinos needed to get hit for sure and I guess this is one way to do it.

Daigusto Emeral

Wait, what the fuck?

...

Seriously? Gusto have a banned card now? Who thought they had it in them.

The Gusto archetype has never made much of a splash competetively, but they eventually got a generic Rank 4 (that they can barely use) in the form of Daigusto Emeral, which was a key part of the Zoodiac Fusion Substitute combo... which was totally wiped out last banlist. The deck still ran two copies for a while after, but eventually once Link Summoning came around, the space just wasn’t there. Few decks run it at all nowadays.

Which makes its appearance here all the more confusing. Seriously, Konami, what the fuck?

Zoodiac Broadbull/Zoodiac Drident

The era is over. Broadbull was a free +1 and Drident added another threat to any board. The best cards in the best deck ever are gone. Or so we hope.

Limited:

Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior

See Dinomight Knight.

Miscellaneousaurus

A monster that gives Dinos protection during the Main Phase, recursion from grave, a free engine to summon a level 1 Tuner from deck, and an easy way to build up a huge Tyranno Infinity when needed. Miscellaneousaurus did all this and more. The OCG hit Oviraptor instead, so I’m surprised this got hit, but either one hurts the deck a lot (although I think Oviraptor is the stronger of the two).

Zoodiac Ratpier

A card that summons itself as an engine was just a great idea, wasn’t it? Now the material effect is completely unusable, so Ratpier is just an archetypal Foolish Burial on legs. How the mighty have fallen.

Dark Hole/Interrupted Kaiju Slumber

This is an interesting one. Slumber was obvious because it was another two copies of Dark Hole that synergized with the Kaijus that everyone would have run regardless, but Dark Hole at 2 has been a thing for a while. For what it’s worth, getting hit by this hurt a lot if your board consisted of the only Link Monsters your deck had the space for, but if that was that huge of a concern, they’d have hit Raigeki too. Hmm.

Gateway of the Six

Six Samurai managed to top at a Portland regional some time last year. I don’t know how, but the guy who did is an absolute hero. Otherwise, the deck has done nothing for years, and this card is at 3 in the OCG and Six Sams are doing nothing there.

True King’s Return

Archetypal Monster Reborn on a deck that seriously didn’t deserve it.

Semi-Limited:

BLS Envoy of the Beginning

It is weird to say that this card is now completely irrelevant, but here we are.  BLS Envoy has been power crept. What a game. (It’s probably still fun to play around with, though.)

Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer

Luster Pendulum was a free reoccurring +1 after a Pendulum Summon, but that hardly matters now that Extra Deck Pendulum Summons are restricted by the new format. He’ll probably still turn up in Pendulum decks, though; do not take this to mean that the card is bad now.

Mathematician/El Shaddoll Fusion

This got limited because of Shaddolls a long time ago, and that deck has been dead since they hit Construct.

Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

I have literally only seen this card played in Mermails since its errata. It’s doing nothing at 1 and will do nothing at 2.

T.G. Hyper Librarian

Synchro spam is also more-or-less dead, so this is probably fine coming back as well. Level Eater is still creeping in the distance, however...

Brain Control

Same story as Brionac, has seen no play since its errata.

Burial From a Different Dimension

This has been at 1 for a long time, hasn’t it? I think it was hit because of Zombies or DAD or something.

Keep in mind that Zombies are still quite good right now. This is flirting with danger, Konami... I say as I order two copies for Zombiesworn.

Preparation of Rites

Nekroz hype? That’s the deck that got this limited, and they’re almost playable now that nearly every other deck has been nerfed. We’ll see.

EDIT: This is for Vendreads, don’t know how I didn’t realize this immediately.

EDIT 2: Vendreads don’t use this card, what am I saying.  This is for other decks.

Unlimited:

Debris Dragon/Dragon Ravine

Remnants from the Dragon Rulers banlist. These haven’t seen play in a while at 2, probably won’t at 3.

Honest

This used to be quite the hand trap, but battle hand traps, much like battle traps other than Mirror Force, have fallen by the wayside.

It’s still worth considering for the surprise factor, IMO. Who still runs Honest in 2017!?

Rescue Cat/Witch of the Black Forest

More cards that have seen no play since their erratas.

Rescue Rabbit

Holy shit.

This card is still way too good.

I think this is supposed to tell us to go buy World Chalice, but this is the nuttiest way to go about doing that I could possibly imagine.

Konami, are you feeling alright?

Summoner Monk

Rank 4 spam card that’s seen less and less play lately.

Charge of the Light Brigade

This has been Semi-Limited for a long time due to its use as a mill engine with Lumina/Raiden. Putting it at 3 helps Lightsworns, obviously, but it also helps Infernoids, too. Not significantly enough for either of them to become tier 1 again (probably), but still, it’s appreciated.

Wavering Eyes

Hardly relevant, since Pendulum mirrors don’t happen much and decks aren’t so focused on popping their own scales. Back in the day, though, Konami made a huge mistake printing this as a common.

EDIT: I could not possibly have been more wrong. This card should not have been unhit, holy shit. Pendulum mirrors are actually everywhere since the deck’s only expensive card is Duelist Alliance and this card is too fucking good.

EXTRA:  Cards That Did Not Get Hit, Somehow

Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King

The True Draco boss monster, often cited for his poor design, is still obscenely powerful.

Dragonic Diagram

The True Draco Field Spell, which let you pop a card in hand or on field to search a True Draco spell/trap once per turn and gives Tribute Summoned True Draco monsters battle protection once per turn. This card seriously does too much.

Did you know that Diagram dropped to $20 per copy in anticipation that it would get hit by the banlist? It used to be $60.

EDIT: There is currently a listing for a $1 copy of this card, but you have to buy a $420 Ghost Beef in order to get it. Now that’s value.

Maxx “C”

This card is the sackiest card in the game right now. It singlehandedly wins games going second, and has done so so many times in high-level tournament play that I was sure it’d get hit. Even the OCG put it to 2. It looks like it’s still around, but who knows for how long.

Card of Demise

A key draw card of some Chain Burn and some True Draco variants, Card of Demise is a nearly free +2 for any deck that doesn’t Special Summon during their turn, or any deck with a lot of backrow. Many players, myself included, are frustrated with this card’s design and the playstyle it promotes, but Konami didn’t hit it at all here.

Trickstar Reincarnation

Independent of any synergies with the rest of the archetype, comboing this with Droll & Lock Bird makes your opponent banish their entire hand and draw nothing in return. This is still legal; Konami has decided that this is totally okay.

Kill me.

EDIT:  Extra 2:  Cards That Did Not Get Unhit, Somehow

Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk

Please, Konami, my family is dying. This deck’s opening combo is a hard draw of two cards and it only goes +2.

El Shaddoll Construct

#FreeHim

Evilswarm Exciton Knight

Why did you even reprint this if you weren’t going to unban it?

Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz

Hahaha just kidding. Fuck this card.

That about wraps it up. This next format is going to be crazy. Or maybe it’ll just be True Draco again, who knows.

The next set, Circuit Break, comes out in the TCG on October 20th (Sneak Peek on 14th/15th), and the next banlist comes in November at the soonest.  If True Draco doesn’t come back from this, it will be an interesting month until SPYRALs take over the meta entirely (as is likely to happen, given their results in the OCG.)

Until next time.

[cstesttaken]

10 Time Management Tips Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know – SEO NYC & Digital Marketing

When we ask entrepreneurs what they are struggling with, it’s incredibly common to hear, “I want to get more done.” This comes to us as no surprise; the ability to use time wisely is one of the most valuable skills an entrepreneur can have in their productivity arsenal.

Whether you’re already working on your business full-time, or trying to squeeze in a few effective hours of work after the kids are in bed in the evenings, it’s crucial you make well informed decisions about what you are working on right now.

Far too often entrepreneurs allow themselves to be distracted from doing the work that really matters. Or, worse yet, we allow ourselves to slip into patterns of working on what’s easy, instead of what’s important.

But to build a successful business, you’re going to need to focus on the work that actually moves the needle forward.

That’s why, in this article, we’re going to share with you 10 time management techniques that will allow you to confidently identify what work needs to be done, and then carry out those tasks to completion.

After reading this article, you’ll be able to undertake tasks with the confidence that your activities will provide value for the time invested, gain you better traction with your target audience, and move you steady closer to achieving your business goals.

1. The “Brain Dump”

When you have dozens of different tasks and ideas floating around inside your head all at once, it can swiftly become overwhelming. That’s why the simple process of getting those ideas down onto the page can be hugely cathartic.

Cathartic: providing psychological relief through the open expression of strong emotions.

Whether you’re jotting the ideas onto a scrap of paper or typing them up in a to-do list app, the simple process of engaging in a brain dump will cut through the feelings of overwhelm, calm your mind, and allow you to begin the process of analyzing, organizing, and prioritizing the ideas, projects, and tasks you have on your slate.

You can’t organize and prioritize effectively until you’ve dumped everything in your head onto the paper.

This is the process David Allen recommends in his massively popular productivity best seller, Getting Thing Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity. Allen argues that by writing down everything that needs to be accomplished and then tackling small tasks immediately, rather than avoiding them, we can prevent the brain freeze that results from trying to juggle too many ideas at once.

You want to be more productive and get more done? Stop trying to keep all the balls in the air at once. CAPTURE your ideas on paper… all of them… every damn one of them. You’ll be stunned how much this task alone can clear your brain for the necessary prioritization that follows.

2. The Ivy Lee Method

The desire to be more productive and make better use of your time isn’t a new pursuit. As James Clear explored in his article, The Daily Routine Experts Recommend for Peak Productivity, the concept of “productivity hacks” goes back over a century to when consultant Ivy Lee helped transform productivity levels within the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in 1918.

The Ivy Lee Method that Clear recommends in his article involves the following six step process:

Step 1: At the end of each work day, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.

Step 2: Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance.

Step 3: When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task.

Step 4: Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.

Step 5: Repeat this process every working day.

It’s very simple: at the end of the day write down what you want to accomplish first tomorrow. Literally couldn’t be easier because at the end of the day you may have the wisest clarity about which tasks are the most important next.

To be honest, in practice we’ve found you only need to write down 2-3 tasks (depending on the kind of work you do), which makes it even easier.

We discussed this topic in-depth in episode 99 of The Fizzle Show, when we spoke with two experts about the value of productivity journaling. Highly recommended if you want to learn how to make this tactic a part of your every day life.

Identifying in writing what you need to do first thing tomorrow only takes a few minutes, but it can lead to some incredible results.

3. The Eisenhower Method

This might be weird, but I want you to say this out loud even if there’s someone nearby that will think you’re weird:

“There is a difference between URGENT tasks and IMPORTANT tasks, and I will become an expert at telling them apart.”

The process of prioritizing tasks demands entrepreneurs have an understanding of the difference between important and urgent tasks.

In an address to the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches in 1954, Dwight Eisenhower famously noted, “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” The former president characterized this paradox as representing “the dilemma of the modern man.”

These thoughts led to the creation of “Eisenhower Method” of time management, which is discussed at length by Stephen Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill in their bestselling book, First Things First.

The Eisenhower Method involves organizing tasks into one of four quadrants and then taking action to address them accordingly:

Important/Urgent Quadrant – Tasks are done immediately and personally

Important/Not Urgent Quadrant – Tasks get an end date and are done personally

Unimportant/Urgent Quadrant – Tasks are delegated

Unimportant/Not Urgent Quadrant – Tasks are dropped

Running your task list through this matrix will certainly help you spot the tasks that simply don’t need to be done right now.

The reality is that most people spend virtually all of their time working on urgent items, instead of what is important, so the Eisenhower Method can be a real game-changer for many entrepreneurs.

4. CEO / Worker Bee

While striving to be more productive is, of course, an admirable pursuit, one needs to be careful about how much time is spent doing WORK ABOUT WORK. We want to be working on our business, not just in it.

That’s why in our Fizzle Course, “Productivity Essentials”, we focus exclusively on the productivity systems and work-flows that are going to be effective for online business builders.

As entrepreneurs, we have two critical modes of being; in the course, we call these CEO Mode and Worker Bee Mode. Identifying these two modes and catering to them allows us the leverage the strengths of both.

CEO Mode involves the planning and strategy work. This is where you get creative, think big, and solve complex problems. It’s in this mode that you think about what needs to be done next. (When you’re implementing the Eisenhower method or the Ivy Lee method, you’re in CEO mode.)

Worker Bee mode involves doing the actual work of taking action on the tasks the CEO has identified as most important. You’re no longer thinking about what needs to be done. Instead, you’re actually doing it.

The goal is to establish a clear delineation between these two roles. If you’re working as a member of a team, this can be fairly easily done, but for a solopreneur in particular, it will take conscious effort to resolve the tension between the two demanding modes of being.

You’ll likely find yourself wanting to fall back into CEO mode while in the midst of doing the, perhaps less fun, tasks of the Worker Bee. As such, you’ll need to resist the temptation. You can’t operate in both modes at the same time and, at the end of the day, execution is everything.

The best laid plans are meaningless if your Worker Bee never executes on them, so delineate specific time in your schedule each week for both your CEO visioning and the Worker Bee tasks that need to be completed.

Learn more about CEO/Worker Bee modes, the ViNO method for writing tasks, and more in the Fizzle course Productivity Essentials with Chase Reeves. Signup today and get a free trial.

5. Reverse Engineer Your Blueprint

Many people building an online business have only vague idea of what they want to build and accomplish. Without a clear path to follow, it’s difficult to confidently commit to what actions should be taken next.

Whether you’re starting a blog, launching a podcast, or building online store, it’s important to have a clear understanding of how something similar was developed in the past and then grown over time.

When a filmmaker decides to make a horror film, they understand intimately the elements of that kind of story. Instead of reinventing the genre, the smart filmmaker can use the commonly known elements of the genre (monster, suspense, unsuspecting group of college kids in a cabin, “don’t go in there Julie!”, etc.)

It’s the same with your business! There’s a GENRE your business is an extension of and you need to understand what it is and how the successful business builders who came before found success.

Think of it as reverse engineering what came before. The same exact tactics and sequence may not work, but there’s patterns and principles that can absolutely help create a plan for your business.

If you aren’t clear on where you should be spending your time, ask yourself, “What proven patterns already exist in my chosen field? Are there mentors I can model, or existing blueprints or roadmaps I can follow?”

Here’s an idea: find someone who’s further along than you in your industry and go back to the earliest things you can find from them. This is especially easy with podcasters, YouTubers and bloggers. Compare their first articles, videos and episodes to their most recent and ask yourself: what have they learned between here and there?

When you reverse engineer what came before, you can find insights that save you years and get you ahead of the pack. This is one of the reasons we built The Fizzle Roadmap. Our roadmap deconstructs the process of building a successful online business, and then lays out the work-flow in a step-by-step system you can follow confidently because you know that the next step you take will be the right one.

To get started on the roadmap and begin your free two week trial of Fizzle today, click here.

6. Reconnect with Your Why

It’s not always at the beginning of a project that we find ourselves confused about how to best use our time. In fact, often it comes once a project is already well underway.

Sometimes we put our heads down and focus with such intensity that when we finally take a moment to look up and take in our surrounding, we discover we’ve gone way off track. It is in these moments, when you’re struggling with self-doubt and making decisions only to second guess them moments later that you should reconnect with your “why”.

You aren’t building a business just to pay the bills. There is a deeper significance to the work you’re doing and the contribution you want make in the world.

In his book Start with Why and his popular Ted Talk of the same name, Simon Sinek presents what he calls the “Golden Circle of Human Motivation”. The Golden Circle is three concentric rings organized like a bulls-eye, with each ring encapsulating one of three concepts: What, How, and Why.

Sinek argues that while many successful companies and leaders know what they want to do, as well as know how to do it, they are at a loss for why they want to do it. The organizations and leaders that are able to inspire a passionate following are those that are intimately connected to their why.

Jamie Tworkowski, who is featured in one of our Founder Stories within Fizzle, created the non-profit organization To Write Love on Her Arms in order to bring hope for people struggling with addiction, depression, self-injury, and thoughts of suicide while also investing directly into treatment and recovery.

That’s his why. What’s yours?

Successful business leaders know the foundational reason behind why they do what they do, so when you’re wondering whether a certain task is worth your time, ask yourself whether it supports your why.

This step might sound cheesy or whimsical to you, but it can and will help you make incredibly powerful decisions in your life and business.

7. Chunk Up Projects into Scheduled Tasks

Many of the tips we’ve already shared encourage you to get ideas out of your head, but there’s an additional benefit to having tasks written down that we haven’t yet addressed in detail: it allows for chunking and scheduling of work.

Sometimes the weight of everything we want and need to get done can be overwhelming, but when we break them down into a series of small, manageable tasks, we realize the challenge we have before us isn’t nearly as difficult as we originally thought.

There’s a real art to chunking up your tasks into the right size chunks. If a chunk is too small it can feel unimportant. But if a chunk is too big you can get lost in it.

(By the way, hearing the word “Chunk” this many times makes us want to curl up with a blanket and watch The Goonies, but we’ll keep going because you’re worth it. We’re hoping at least🙂

Here’s a simple example of chunking. If your big project is to “Publish the new website,” then maybe you can chunk that project up by the pages to make or stages of the work. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than: 1. finish the home page, 2. finish the about page, 3. finish the blog page, etc.

Chunking up your projects like this will have a massive result on not only how much progress you make, but also how you feel about your work because you won’t get lost as much and you’ll get to mark things off the list more often… don’t underestimate how good that can feel and how much your project needs you to feel good every now and again.

Here at Fizzle, we like to use a couple different tools to help with the chunking, organizing, and scheduling of tasks and projects.

As noted in The Most Important 10 Tools Our Online Business is Built On, we’re fans of Asana, a team-based task tool that helps us keep track of what we’re each working on, and what everyone else is working on. We use Asana to organize meetings, set weekly task lists, keep track of upcoming features, and plan our editorial calendars. It’s incredibly simple and flexible, and it’s free for up to 30 team members.

Both these tools help prevent overwhelm by allowing us to chunk projects down into manageable systems, so that we can focus our efforts on what really matters.

8. Time Box Your Projects

Let’s face it… for the vast majority of us, there’s practically nothing more motivating than a deadline.

Regardless of whether its three weeks out, or three months, contractually mandated, or self-assigned, a deadline is usually the kick-in-the-pants we need to get our butts in gear.

Parkinson’s Law states, “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” You can use this law to your advantage by assigning yourself deadlines and using the ticking clock as a motivator to push through resistance.

You’re never going to be able to accomplish everything you want to accomplish, so analyzing your work within a specific box of times will force you to focus in your efforts on what can be realistically achieved in the assigned time-frame.

Let me say that again because it’s important:

You’re never going to be able to accomplish everything you want to accomplish, so analyzing your work within a specific box of times will force you to focus in your efforts on what can be realistically achieved in the assigned time-frame.

Need to write a blog post? Give yourself a day to get it done. Want to a write a book? Give yourself three months or three years. The time-frame isn’t as important as the fact that you’ve established a deadline. Not only do you now have a great motivator to get the work done, but also a metric that you can use to measure progress towards your goals.

9. Identify the Stakes

Much like deadlines, stakes can be an incredible motivator to get work done and use time wisely. Stakes are the consequences of not doing the work, and/or the rewards for accomplishing your goals.

Tim Ferriss calls stakes “the carrot and the stick” of personal productivity, and putting them to play in your business just might give you the boost of motivation you need to move your business forward in a significant way.

A great approach to establishing stakes for yourself is through community interaction, accountability partners, and mastermind groups.

We had the power of community in mind when we built Fizzle. We included not only a vibrant forum but also a sub-forum specifically dedicated to connecting Fizzler members with others looking to join mastermind groups, and another dedicated to sharing successes (because nobody is going to celebrate for you!).

You may not need to join Fizzle to have this kind of support, cheerleading and accountability, opting instead for putting together your own mastermind group or weekly hangout with friends to talk about what the week’s been like.

Human beings are great at telling ourselves excuses as to why we didn’t do what we said we were going to do, but it’s a lot more difficult to get on the hot seat with your mastermind group and tell it to them. Accountability partners tends to be great B.S. detectors, so reach out to others in your niche as so that you benefit from the power of a group accountability and stakes.

10. Manage Your Energy

Perhaps ironically, our final tip for getting more work done is… do less work.

Despite the cult of hustle that has sprung up of late, the fact is that we all need to recharge our batteries from time to time.

As fun as it can seem to go on a caffeine-fueled no-sleep euphoric work sprint, you’re eventually going to pay the price for that approach. The Silicon Valley ideology of work until you drop rarely leads to long-term success, and we want you in this for the long hall. (Watch our video: 3 Reasons Why Hustle is Hurting You.)

The older you get, the more you realize that exercise, meditation, relaxation, and nutrition don’t just promote a healthy body and mind, but also serve as the very fuel you need in order to get your work done.

After three years of working 80 hour weeks, our own Corbett Barr experienced complete burn out. It was only after he took a long sabbatical that he found himself re-charged enough to found the website that eventually grew into Fizzle. If he hadn’t been willing to take that time away from work, you wouldn’t be reading this article today.

While a months-long sabbatical may not be a reality for you at this time, taking small chunks of time each day for relaxation and play is immeasurably valuable. Turn off the phone, unplug from the Internet, go for a walk in the woods, have cocktails with friends, or watch a movie with your family. How you recharge will be different for everyone, but the point is that you need to live your life. Time away from the business can be as important as time in it.

Too many entrepreneurs believe the lie that they are not good enough or successful enough, and that they have to do more in order to become someone worthwhile. Not only is that a lie, it’s a sure recipe for burnout. As Parker Palmer puts it:

“Though usually regarded as the result of trying to give too much, burnout in my experience results from trying to give what I do not possess.”

You must manage your body’s resources wisely. You have a finite amount of energy and focus, and when you are running yourself ragged day after day, those levels will begin to diminish at an increasingly rapid pace.

Treat yourself with kindness. Listen to your heart, respect your body, enjoy your life and your family, and your productivity will only benefit.

PRODUCTIVITY WISDOM: Time away from your business can be as important as time in it.

Try Our Productivity Essential Course for Free

Enjoy this article and want more time-management tips from the Fizzle crew?

Check out Fizzle’s Productivity Essentials Course. (To see what it’s like click here to start a free trial.)

Why? Well, we all need a system to help us get things done.

BUT not a system so complex that we spend more time working on the system than we do on the work.

We need a simple productivity system that helps us stay motivated and focused without sidetracking our progress.

And, frankly, that means you might benefit from some insights from other entrepreneurs as they share some lessons learned.

Because, no matter how you slice and dice it, as indie entrepreneurs we live and die by our ability to get things done.

So, we made a course teaching what we think is the essential productivity system for indie entrepreneurs. You can find fancier or more complex systems out there, but chances are the ideas in this course are at the guts of all those systems. So, why not get the core right and customize he peripherals yourself?

As a reader of the blog here, you can try the course out for free in a 2 week free trial. We hope you’ll like this course enough to stay for our other courses and weekly group calls for entrepreneurs. (We have 40+ other courses and a scheduled group call every Friday.)

Source

https://seonycdigitalmarketing.wordpress.com/2016/10/25/10-time-management-tips-every-entrepreneur-needs-to-know/