As part of the Ready for Anything Yahoo! Group, I'm leading the charge to read a chapter a week of Ready for Anything. I will be posting my submissions to the group here.
This chapter, more than anything else, outlines the true definition of what the "Getting Things Done" methodology is about - clearing your head. I do mini-mind sweeps all the time - mostly in my head, and not writing them down, which is silly.
I have spent the first few weeks of 2009 REALLY working on capturing everything and putting it in my system. I've done that pretty well, but I've slipped - here is a great reminder of what happens. The idea of buy milk / buy a company REALLY hits home for me - there is no line between business and personal, but my mind still wants to.
The chapter was kind enough to have me write down the two things I have to do tomorrow morning - put the recycles at the curb and ensure I take the car seats out of the car so they can go in my wife's van. Now written down, and I will see it on the "put it in front of the door method": it's on the coffee maker.
Mar 1, 2009
Review of Pocketday
I had some time off recently, and was staying around the house, so I had a chance to play with Pocketday, which bills itself as "The Ultimate Today Screen for your Blackberry". This is a nifty little tool that, while interesting, didn't suit my needs.
Pocketday's power is in the "
Today" level of screen. It is a nice clean interface, and provides a good snapshot of standard "top level" vital Blackberry stuff: battery remaining, signal strenght, time, date. The default puts a Google search bar at the top of the screen, which is very handy, and links to Google mobile. All the remaining sections are configurable for the order they appear in, their colour, etc.
You have access to your missed calls, unread email and text messages, memos, appointments, tasks, weather, stocks, clocks, news, etc. The weather, stocks and news are all configurable, and the number of tasks, e-mails, upcoming appointments, etc., are configurable.
Pocketday has one great feature, which I used to try it out - it lets you create a task from an e-mail, just like I can on my desktop. Works as advertised. A real plus!
There were two main drawbacks to Pocketday. Pocketday and the BB's SMS messaging don't interact as well as Pocketday and the BB's e-mail do. When you read an SMS message, it doesn't mark it read on the BB. You have to go to the message list on the BB to do that, which means exiting out of Pocketday. Everytime I got one, I had to go into the SMS application and mark it as read. Really, quite an annoyance.
The other thing is the interface. It is a very nice looking interface for a Palm from 2000. We've all grown up now, and garish clashing colours that you set yourself don't really cut it any more.
A nice application, but I'm giving it a pass. YMMV.
Pocketday's power is in the "
Today" level of screen. It is a nice clean interface, and provides a good snapshot of standard "top level" vital Blackberry stuff: battery remaining, signal strenght, time, date. The default puts a Google search bar at the top of the screen, which is very handy, and links to Google mobile. All the remaining sections are configurable for the order they appear in, their colour, etc.You have access to your missed calls, unread email and text messages, memos, appointments, tasks, weather, stocks, clocks, news, etc. The weather, stocks and news are all configurable, and the number of tasks, e-mails, upcoming appointments, etc., are configurable.
Pocketday has one great feature, which I used to try it out - it lets you create a task from an e-mail, just like I can on my desktop. Works as advertised. A real plus!
There were two main drawbacks to Pocketday. Pocketday and the BB's SMS messaging don't interact as well as Pocketday and the BB's e-mail do. When you read an SMS message, it doesn't mark it read on the BB. You have to go to the message list on the BB to do that, which means exiting out of Pocketday. Everytime I got one, I had to go into the SMS application and mark it as read. Really, quite an annoyance.
The other thing is the interface. It is a very nice looking interface for a Palm from 2000. We've all grown up now, and garish clashing colours that you set yourself don't really cut it any more.
A nice application, but I'm giving it a pass. YMMV.
Chapter 8 - Closing Open Loops Releases Energy.
As part of the Ready for Anything Yahoo! Group, I'm leading the charge to read a chapter a week of Ready for Anything. I will be posting my submissions to the group here.
(Hello folks! Sorry that this is exactly a WEEK late. Chapter 9 will come through later tonight. Anyone else have any comments on this one?)
For anyone that has ever listened to the GTD Fast CD's, do you remember the part when David Allen says "Have you ever cleaned a garage?" It is wistful. I've done that, cleaned a garage, a basement, a closet - and felt great after. This is precisely what he is talking about doing in this chapter.
Tackling the big projects gives you a mental lift, the "sense of accomplishment", which gives you a huge mental boost. It provides a fantastic feeling of freedom, and in David Allen's mind, it unlocks some creativity.
I'm not so sure of that, but then I've neglected to write down each idea that I get while I'm cleaning my garage, so who am I to judge? Now excuse me, I've got a basement to clean...
By the way....
This chapter has 3 of my all-time favourite quotes in it, especially Edison's and Fr. D'Souza. Fr. D'Souza's, especially, hit home - the feeling of "if only I do before I start" or "if only I have before I begin". Remember: Carpe Diem
(Hello folks! Sorry that this is exactly a WEEK late. Chapter 9 will come through later tonight. Anyone else have any comments on this one?)
For anyone that has ever listened to the GTD Fast CD's, do you remember the part when David Allen says "Have you ever cleaned a garage?" It is wistful. I've done that, cleaned a garage, a basement, a closet - and felt great after. This is precisely what he is talking about doing in this chapter.
Tackling the big projects gives you a mental lift, the "sense of accomplishment", which gives you a huge mental boost. It provides a fantastic feeling of freedom, and in David Allen's mind, it unlocks some creativity.
I'm not so sure of that, but then I've neglected to write down each idea that I get while I'm cleaning my garage, so who am I to judge? Now excuse me, I've got a basement to clean...
By the way....
This chapter has 3 of my all-time favourite quotes in it, especially Edison's and Fr. D'Souza. Fr. D'Souza's, especially, hit home - the feeling of "if only I do
Feb 19, 2009
Chapter 7 - Priorities function only at the conscious level.
As part of the Ready for Anything Yahoo! Group, I'm leading the charge to read a chapter a week of Ready for Anything. I will be posting my submissions to the group here.
This chapter is ringing very true to me right now. The last 10 or so weeks, I have managed to avoid the "blow up" stage, but I've also let my weekly reviews slip. I will be doing one tomorrow afternoon.
However, it is a lot of people around me that seem to be letting things slide until they do blow up that are really eating at me - mostly because I hear the brunt of it. (I'm now hoping that no one in my office is on this list). It is a very non-productive state, and when you are one of the few that feels like you are in a productive state, capturing everything, then things tend to be more noticeable around you.
There are many many things that are not in my system right now, but I'm trying to get them all in. I'm also trying to get things OUT. I have a context that specifically deals with some of my work, and it needs to be ploughed through. It will be a good weekend project, I think. It will certainly help me get some clarity back in my context lists.
Out of curiousity - is anyone else reading? Anyone else following? I've found this is much easier to do when divorced from my weekly review, because I don't feel like reading the 3 page chapters is an after thought. If you are, please comment!
This chapter is ringing very true to me right now. The last 10 or so weeks, I have managed to avoid the "blow up" stage, but I've also let my weekly reviews slip. I will be doing one tomorrow afternoon.
However, it is a lot of people around me that seem to be letting things slide until they do blow up that are really eating at me - mostly because I hear the brunt of it. (I'm now hoping that no one in my office is on this list). It is a very non-productive state, and when you are one of the few that feels like you are in a productive state, capturing everything, then things tend to be more noticeable around you.
There are many many things that are not in my system right now, but I'm trying to get them all in. I'm also trying to get things OUT. I have a context that specifically deals with some of my work, and it needs to be ploughed through. It will be a good weekend project, I think. It will certainly help me get some clarity back in my context lists.
Out of curiousity - is anyone else reading? Anyone else following? I've found this is much easier to do when divorced from my weekly review, because I don't feel like reading the 3 page chapters is an after thought. If you are, please comment!
Feb 8, 2009
Chapter 6 - 2 Commitments in your head create stress and failure.
As part of the Ready for Anything Yahoo! Group, I'm leading the charge to read a chapter a week of Ready for Anything. I will be posting my submissions to the group here.
While this one is, like Chapter 5, somewhat of a rehash of the basic
tenets of GTD, this one I like because it does talk about the conflict
with trying to remember 2 things - just 2 bloody little things! - on
your way to the office, or wherever. One, probably. Two - neither.
It reinforces that the system must be worked by getting your mind
clear and, more importantly, DECIDING on the next action.
I also find it interesting that there is a quote from John-Roger,
David Allen's spiritual leader. I suppose it had to be included, but
Mr. Allen really is part - and a leader - of an odd religious group.
While this one is, like Chapter 5, somewhat of a rehash of the basic
tenets of GTD, this one I like because it does talk about the conflict
with trying to remember 2 things - just 2 bloody little things! - on
your way to the office, or wherever. One, probably. Two - neither.
It reinforces that the system must be worked by getting your mind
clear and, more importantly, DECIDING on the next action.
I also find it interesting that there is a quote from John-Roger,
David Allen's spiritual leader. I suppose it had to be included, but
Mr. Allen really is part - and a leader - of an odd religious group.
Feb 1, 2009
Chapter 5 - Infinite Opportunity is Utilized by Finite Possibility
As part of the Ready for Anything Yahoo! Group, I'm leading the charge to read a chapter a week of Ready for Anything. I will be posting my submissions to the group here.
I admit that this chapter makes me a skeptic. This one clearly shows that the 52 chapters of the book were drawn from the GTD Connections newsletter, or the rough equivalent from the time, and were likely before the book. They are, truly, a 60 second rehash of GTD.
However, one of the by-the-ways got me. Have a got a checklist of my job description? No.
Have I ever had one? No.
Do I have one for each of my life's area of focus? No.
Hmmm... good finish to a snoozer article. I think I have some work to do.
I admit that this chapter makes me a skeptic. This one clearly shows that the 52 chapters of the book were drawn from the GTD Connections newsletter, or the rough equivalent from the time, and were likely before the book. They are, truly, a 60 second rehash of GTD.
However, one of the by-the-ways got me. Have a got a checklist of my job description? No.
Have I ever had one? No.
Do I have one for each of my life's area of focus? No.
Hmmm... good finish to a snoozer article. I think I have some work to do.
Jan 25, 2009
Chapter 4 - Getting to Where You're Going Requires Knowing Where You Are.
As part of the Ready for Anything Yahoo! Group, I'm leading the charge to read a chapter a week of Ready for Anything. I will be posting my submissions to the group here.
Reading this chapter gives me a clarification of the purpose of the weekly review, and the idea of the levels (ie: runway, 10,000 feet, etc.). If you read into that that this chapter is somewhat repetitive - yeah, I kind of think it is, but in a good way.
I have it in my weekly review checklist that, on the first weekly review of the month, I am to review my goals. Really, anything above runway (tasks) and 10,000 (projects) is a long-term goal. So it is nice to have this one coming up a week before I will be doing that
review.
There are so many things that I need to look at, hard, both personally and professionally. And I need to do it all the time, not just more often. I need to nudge and push them along. I think that is the point - if we don't know what we are doing at the most basic level, how do we expect to push things along to achieve what we want in the long run.
Reading this chapter gives me a clarification of the purpose of the weekly review, and the idea of the levels (ie: runway, 10,000 feet, etc.). If you read into that that this chapter is somewhat repetitive - yeah, I kind of think it is, but in a good way.
I have it in my weekly review checklist that, on the first weekly review of the month, I am to review my goals. Really, anything above runway (tasks) and 10,000 (projects) is a long-term goal. So it is nice to have this one coming up a week before I will be doing that
review.
There are so many things that I need to look at, hard, both personally and professionally. And I need to do it all the time, not just more often. I need to nudge and push them along. I think that is the point - if we don't know what we are doing at the most basic level, how do we expect to push things along to achieve what we want in the long run.
Jan 18, 2009
Chapter 3 - Knowing your committments creates better choices of new ones.
As part of the Ready for Anything Yahoo! Group, I'm leading the charge to read a chapter a week of Ready for Anything. I will be posting my submissions to the group here.
Reading this chapter really helped crystalize how things have been going for me. I've done weekly reviews the last three weeks, and another one is to be done tomorrow morning. I do have a sense of anxiety about the fact that my e-mail wasn't clear on Friday, and neither was my inbox.
It was amazing though - Friday I spend clearing some old junk out of our offices, to make room for folks who need the space. It was really satisfying, but took most of the workday. It is as satisfying as cleaning a garage. And the whole time, I knew it was the RIGHT thing to be doing. I knew my other committments, and this was one of my projects and it was the right time to undertake it. It allowed me to clearly think through some of the things.
I have most of my committments, if not all of them, tracked in my trusted system - for work anyway. One of the "by the way" questions was where do I need more structure. I need it in my home. I need to really set GTD up in my house somehow, and stick to it the way I stick
to it at work.
Reading this chapter really helped crystalize how things have been going for me. I've done weekly reviews the last three weeks, and another one is to be done tomorrow morning. I do have a sense of anxiety about the fact that my e-mail wasn't clear on Friday, and neither was my inbox.
It was amazing though - Friday I spend clearing some old junk out of our offices, to make room for folks who need the space. It was really satisfying, but took most of the workday. It is as satisfying as cleaning a garage. And the whole time, I knew it was the RIGHT thing to be doing. I knew my other committments, and this was one of my projects and it was the right time to undertake it. It allowed me to clearly think through some of the things.
I have most of my committments, if not all of them, tracked in my trusted system - for work anyway. One of the "by the way" questions was where do I need more structure. I need it in my home. I need to really set GTD up in my house somehow, and stick to it the way I stick
to it at work.
Jan 14, 2009
Chapter 2 - You can only feel good about...
Unlike what is discussed in this chapter - the brain dump - I've done my brain dump in little chunks over the past month. Even that has helped to get my mind clear.
I find the discussion about checking which one you want to do next the most interesting part of this chapter. This week I am working on my second-largest challenge after the weekly review, which is actually WORKING from my lists. It is a terrible problem for me, as I often
write it down and still work from my head. Very rarely do I "review all of [my] options of what to do and make the best choices" - I'm working intuitively on work I know I have to do, but not often from my lists.
I try and do a minor brain dump during my weekly reviews, but it doesn't always work that way. I'm going to shortly be pasting the trigger word list from the book (it's on one of my lists) into my notebook so that I can get at it right beside my Weekly Review Checklist.
As to the by-the-ways, I'm using Outlook 2000. Sometime in the spring, I put in a vb script that creates a task from an e-mail. It gives the task the name "Follow up on:" and then tacks on the subject from the e-mail. All very slick. Except I was just clicking and saving, and the tasks were unweildy because a) there were many, and b) I wasn't giving them names that meant ANYTHING to me. I weeded a TON of those out this week, and will have a nice tidy to-do list by the end of this week.
You know, when I'm hoping to do another Weekly Review.
I find the discussion about checking which one you want to do next the most interesting part of this chapter. This week I am working on my second-largest challenge after the weekly review, which is actually WORKING from my lists. It is a terrible problem for me, as I often
write it down and still work from my head. Very rarely do I "review all of [my] options of what to do and make the best choices" - I'm working intuitively on work I know I have to do, but not often from my lists.
I try and do a minor brain dump during my weekly reviews, but it doesn't always work that way. I'm going to shortly be pasting the trigger word list from the book (it's on one of my lists) into my notebook so that I can get at it right beside my Weekly Review Checklist.
As to the by-the-ways, I'm using Outlook 2000. Sometime in the spring, I put in a vb script that creates a task from an e-mail. It gives the task the name "Follow up on:" and then tacks on the subject from the e-mail. All very slick. Except I was just clicking and saving, and the tasks were unweildy because a) there were many, and b) I wasn't giving them names that meant ANYTHING to me. I weeded a TON of those out this week, and will have a nice tidy to-do list by the end of this week.
You know, when I'm hoping to do another Weekly Review.
Jan 10, 2009
New year, new direction.
The new year always fills me with some kind of excitement. Planning (sometimes for the first time, really, in months), being creative, being filled with energy - nearly overwhelming. The new year is always a fun time.
This week, I managed to do some planning last weekend, including goal setting and cleaning up. I was coming off two weeks of vacation. When I got to the office on Monday, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it wasn't a gong show. I cleaned up, I did some organizing, and having done a mini weekly review on Sunday, I hoped to do another Wednesday.
The week flew by. I got stuff done. I didn't do a WR on Wednesday, like I hoped. But I got some minor projects completed, lots of tasks done, and was even in training for a full day on Thursday. Never did I get overwhelmed (maybe because so much of my staff was in training throughout the week), never did I get overworked. I had relaxed control.
I did do a Weekly Review, Friday afternoon. I did a thorough one. Sometime last year I put a VBScript into Outlook 2000 that lets me make a tast from an e-mail, and I had lots of those there that were stale, outdated or done, but poorly named. Weeded 'em all out. I weeded out old stale phone calls. If they need me, they will call back, but I know I had returned many of those. I got a lot of stuff out of there that had started to rot. I worked through two e-mail folders - on for Next Actions, one for Waiting Fors - that was holding stuff that may or may not be on the lists, and put it on the list, or deleted what was done.
It took a long time on Friday, but I did it. Then, I started to plow through them. My calls list was too long, as was my follow ups and waiting fors. Oh my, I felt so good knocking them off. And I did get more creative. And when I got home, I felt like it was ok to be home, that nothing needed to be done this weekend from the office end of things.
Just like the post below, it is true - cleaning up does create new directions.
By the way - I heard a little suggestion about using Baroque music as a way to shut out the background noise during the weekly review. I loaded some onto a CD (you kids should look up what those are), along with several other instrumental albums including the iconic Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, and it was remarkably calming and useful during the weekly review. I recommend it!
This week, I managed to do some planning last weekend, including goal setting and cleaning up. I was coming off two weeks of vacation. When I got to the office on Monday, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it wasn't a gong show. I cleaned up, I did some organizing, and having done a mini weekly review on Sunday, I hoped to do another Wednesday.
The week flew by. I got stuff done. I didn't do a WR on Wednesday, like I hoped. But I got some minor projects completed, lots of tasks done, and was even in training for a full day on Thursday. Never did I get overwhelmed (maybe because so much of my staff was in training throughout the week), never did I get overworked. I had relaxed control.
I did do a Weekly Review, Friday afternoon. I did a thorough one. Sometime last year I put a VBScript into Outlook 2000 that lets me make a tast from an e-mail, and I had lots of those there that were stale, outdated or done, but poorly named. Weeded 'em all out. I weeded out old stale phone calls. If they need me, they will call back, but I know I had returned many of those. I got a lot of stuff out of there that had started to rot. I worked through two e-mail folders - on for Next Actions, one for Waiting Fors - that was holding stuff that may or may not be on the lists, and put it on the list, or deleted what was done.
It took a long time on Friday, but I did it. Then, I started to plow through them. My calls list was too long, as was my follow ups and waiting fors. Oh my, I felt so good knocking them off. And I did get more creative. And when I got home, I felt like it was ok to be home, that nothing needed to be done this weekend from the office end of things.
Just like the post below, it is true - cleaning up does create new directions.
By the way - I heard a little suggestion about using Baroque music as a way to shut out the background noise during the weekly review. I loaded some onto a CD (you kids should look up what those are), along with several other instrumental albums including the iconic Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, and it was remarkably calming and useful during the weekly review. I recommend it!
Jan 4, 2009
Ready for Anything!
I have always tried to make a chapter of "Ready for Anything" a part of my weekly review. There are 52 chapters. Huh, there are 52 weeks. Maybe this goes together?
As a reinvention of my GTD Self, I lead the charge to read a chapter a week on the Ready for Anything Yahoo! Group, and I will be posting my posts to the group here.
Cleaning up Creates New Directions
Here I go and get everyone hyped up, and what happens? No post from me! I've been doing my weekly review and my build up, so here's what I got from this chapter.
Really, this is about the importance of the weekly review. I will spare everyone the too-oft repeated "if you aren't doing the weekly review..." admonishment. Most of us aren't doing it every week. Doing one once in a while deserves a pat on the back. I'm not "black belt" and am fine with that.
I weeded out my list tonight, even killing some categories that I had, which were frankly stupid. I didn't need separate projects lists, I just needed one. I definitely only needed one Someday/Maybe list! (Don't even ask.) So I managed to get current - sort of.
Tomorrow I go back to my office for the first time since December 19th. It will be busy - catching up, sorting through my physical inbox, as my e-mail box is clean as of tonight. Fortunately I have some staff development going on with many of my staff members, and
that will occupy most of them for the day, so I will get some ability to get things caught up and into my system.
I'm going to peg Wednesday afternoon to do another weekly review, once I've got all the new work stuff in. I hope I stick to that. What I did really take from this, and the most powerful part I have found, is something I already do - when I have no idea what to do or where to
turn, when I'm feeling totally ineffective, I pick up the first thing in front of my nose and I deal with it. I concentrate on dealing with it, and it gets done. Then the next. After a few, I'm productive as anything.
As to the "By the Way" questions, it was good to pull back a touch and think about the areas where I do need to do some cleaning up - areas where I have outstanding projects that I haven't recorded, that sort of thing. (I don't intend to treat this as a book report, so I'm not
telling where these are!.) It also helped me to clarify which the next one to tackle is.
As to "what can I forgive" - a little bit hokey, I always figured, but then again, there is always something I can forgive too.
Have a great week!
As a reinvention of my GTD Self, I lead the charge to read a chapter a week on the Ready for Anything Yahoo! Group, and I will be posting my posts to the group here.
Cleaning up Creates New Directions
Here I go and get everyone hyped up, and what happens? No post from me! I've been doing my weekly review and my build up, so here's what I got from this chapter.
Really, this is about the importance of the weekly review. I will spare everyone the too-oft repeated "if you aren't doing the weekly review..." admonishment. Most of us aren't doing it every week. Doing one once in a while deserves a pat on the back. I'm not "black belt" and am fine with that.
I weeded out my list tonight, even killing some categories that I had, which were frankly stupid. I didn't need separate projects lists, I just needed one. I definitely only needed one Someday/Maybe list! (Don't even ask.) So I managed to get current - sort of.
Tomorrow I go back to my office for the first time since December 19th. It will be busy - catching up, sorting through my physical inbox, as my e-mail box is clean as of tonight. Fortunately I have some staff development going on with many of my staff members, and
that will occupy most of them for the day, so I will get some ability to get things caught up and into my system.
I'm going to peg Wednesday afternoon to do another weekly review, once I've got all the new work stuff in. I hope I stick to that. What I did really take from this, and the most powerful part I have found, is something I already do - when I have no idea what to do or where to
turn, when I'm feeling totally ineffective, I pick up the first thing in front of my nose and I deal with it. I concentrate on dealing with it, and it gets done. Then the next. After a few, I'm productive as anything.
As to the "By the Way" questions, it was good to pull back a touch and think about the areas where I do need to do some cleaning up - areas where I have outstanding projects that I haven't recorded, that sort of thing. (I don't intend to treat this as a book report, so I'm not
telling where these are!
As to "what can I forgive" - a little bit hokey, I always figured, but then again, there is always something I can forgive too.
Have a great week!
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