Dec
18
2007
Interesting insight:
Now, “the fiddler” - This is the guy (and I know what I’m talking about here - this was me about 3-4 months ago) who spends just about all of his time poking around the web, looking for specific GTD implementations that other people use. I suppose this either comes from a place of “the grass is always greener”, or perhaps they just get bored too easily with their paltry Moleskine, or maybe their current web app just isn’t ringing their bell the way it used to. These are the types that get so caught up in modifying and tweaking their system that they don’t actually do any of the things on those lists. Again, I speak from experience - I’ve tried just about every type of notebook, pen, paper and software imaginable as a candidate for the “perfect” GTD system. You know what I’ve discovered?
…
Fiddlers, listen up: Switch to paper. I’m talking the absolute lowest-fi system you can tolerate. Get rid of the fancy notebook, the expensive software and the pen made from the carcass of some endangered species. Go buy a couple boxes of crappy manila folders, a box of bic pens, a few reams of plain white printer paper and a pocket dayrunner-style calendar. Use only these tools (aside from your phone and your brain) and set yourself up caveman style. Force yourself to live in the GTD wilderness for awhile (which is paradise to some, by them way) and you’ll start to appreciate the way some of the higher-tech setups work. Or you’ll fall completely in love with it and never go back.
It certainly will save me money over the Palm T/X I have been lusting over recently. Then again…they did just lower the price…
Oct
11
2007
As a repeat victim of clutter (read as I can’t find a bloody thing on my desk at times) I’m always looking for good tips and suggestions. Zen Habits is always a great source for this and their link to Less Stress: Declutter Your Desk provides a bunch of good ideas. Now I just need to find someone to do it for me…
Ask the readers: Best tips for decluttering? | zen habits
Aug
22
2007
One of the toughest aspects of any system for personal management is sticking with it. I don’t care what magical solution is being pitched this week, if you don’t do it consistently then it’s nothing more than another time-sucking task. So how do you keep your butt on the wagon and make progress?
Habits
We all have habits, some good, some bad. The trick is they’re just that…habits. In many cases we do them without thinking or if we don’t do them it nags at the back of our mind until we do. Trick one is to get your productivity tasks to be come habits. You want to feel incomplete without completing them. It usually takes things a few weeks of frequent repetition to become a habit so be prepared to remind yourself often. You can bribe yourself with some small reward for maintaining your habit if it helps or chastise yourself if you fail. The most important part is…find something that works for you.
Testing the habit
“How do I know when it’s a habit?” I hear this one a lot. The easiest way I know how to test this is to see how hard it is to break. If you’re working on capturing everything in a single notebook see if you can make yourself not use the notebook and use a post-it instead. If it feels “wrong” you’re getting close. If it’s easy, you’re not ready grasshopper.
Habits go everywhere
Your habit needs to follow you wherever you go. If your habit is to capture your gas purchase for mileage tracking (yep, something I do every fill up) you have to set things up so you can facilitate your habit rather than skipping it. I keep a pen in the glove box so I never have an excuse to not write down my mileage on my receipt and then I log it in a Google Spreadsheet. I know it’s a habit because if I don’t do it, it bugs me until I do.
Expanding your habit
Try to cultivate habits that can expand and encompass other aspects of your life you need to manage. If you’re working on managing your finances and your habit is “capture everything” find a way to capture your finances so you work on that at the same time.
Keep looking for something that works for you…discard what doesn’t…and work what does over and over again.
Aug
14
2007
One of the common traits of a personal productivity program is the idea of “capture it now”. Rather than trying to remember everything, write it down and deal with it when it’s time to process. I could use all kinds of computer references or philosophical axioms to illustrate this but it’s just not necessary to do.
If you write it down you can’t forget it!
There’s a reason that they keep a written record of court trials…a reason they want paper ballots for voting. Capture it and you free up the space in your mind to address the next thing that comes along.
About how long do you think something stays in short-term memory? 15 – 20 seconds. In other words, if you don’t do something with a thought, you lose it in less than 30 seconds. So if you want to capture those $50,000,000 and 50 cent ideas and everything in between, you better act fast.
Over at SlackerManager.com they have a number of suggestions about capture methods and techniques (although the one about the legal pad in the men’s room for the convenience of the VP is a bit beyond my reasoning) following the simple habit of writing everything down does free up lots of mental space and energy. Try it…you’ll be surprised.
Technorati Tags: GTD, productivity, management
Aug
14
2007
Milestones in life as in projects are those measuring points that give us reference and focus. Sometimes personal milestones can mean more than any project plan or schedule.
This is where “natural milestones” come in. As a personal manager, you need to find those times when you cross natural thresholds and can take a bit of time to measure and assess where you stand and where you’re going. Even the hamster climbs out of his wheel every so often (unfortunately, he finds out he’s at the same place he started.)
Read the complete article at SlackerManager.com
Technorati Tags: productivity, planning, management
