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!

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.

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!

Splashshopper and GTD

I have been searching, ever since I got my first Blackberry 20 months ago, for a checklist program so that I could port my Palm Weekly Review checklist over to my Blackberry. Then I finally got smart.

I purchased Splashwallet from Splashdata, Inc. a while back, with Splashshopper included. This is, at the heart, a checklist program. I really don't know that I will ever use it as a shopping list, although I have (mostly to play) , and it is handy as all get out. But it is basically a big checklist manager.

Wait. That's what I was looking for! Below, my Splashshopper template. Give it a try, and enjoy!

GTD Weekly Review.vsh

Overwhelmed by outdated lists.

I have been struggling t get back onto Getting Things Done for a long time. One of the things that was blocking me effectively was a lack of weekly reviews, which lead to crippling and disorganzied Next Action lists that had not been pruned, weeded, de-duplicated - but it was overwhelming. There was a particular client where I had multiple tasks, and they were in fact no longer a client. The tasks had all been done.

The frustration level was very high, and I resolved just to plow through them and, in place of a weekly review, get rid of everythng that was old or outdated or duplicated. Then I realized - that is a good deal of what the weekly review is about. The action has caused me to feel less numbed by my previous inaction.

So there it is - GTD is about ACTION. Getting Things Done is descriptive not of a system, but of the actions that you pursue.

The Weekly Review ISN'T a RAM Dump

I have a huge psychic blockage when it comes to the weekly review. I can't stand to think about it because so many times, when I think of doing one, I think it has to be a full RAM dump - mostly because it has been so long since I've done a WR.

I just did, basically, a weekly review. It took me 10 minutes. Was it comprehensive? No. Did I cover everything? No. Did I get some junk off my lists? Yes, and it feels great. I've done a partial. When I get a few minutes this afternoon, I will go through my @Action e-mail folder and categorize all of those - there's only about 100. That will make my life a lot more manageable.

Success by obstinance

Let me say this: SUCCESS! I managed to do a weekly review today. It took a long time, and I had to get rid of some stuff left over from bad habits (read laziness) that meant I was really tied up most of this morning. Plus, I didn't block everything out - I still dealt with staff, some phone calls, etc.

I had an epiphany though while I was doing my review. The weekly review itself had become "stuck", to use David Allen's term, stuck by the fact that I was essentially trying to do a RAM dump at the same time as the review. Once I moved off from that, things flew.

I'm still all backwards about how I GTD - my blurring of the collection/Weekly Review/processing stages has probably delayed everything. However, I'm now getting into the full swing of things.

And for anyone interested, my stupidity/laziness from above was putting in tasks without setting a category, trusting that I will do that as I do the Weekly Review. 100 things to categorize in Lookout before I can get the WR done. Simple thing to do, but it takes time.

Things conspire against me...

You would thing that, booking a time on the Friday afternoon of a (Canadian) long weekend - a time when I *should* be golfing - would be perfect for a relaxed, productive weekly review. Not so much.

An influx of production work - enough that I cannot delegate it all - means that I'm pressed into service on front-end production business. That's ok, I don't mind - but now I am having to look at when to do the WR. I've been out of the office so much lately that I'm currently planning to do it tomorrow morning, so I can clear our my inbox and move things along at the same time.

Wish me luck - I will post again if I've been successful.

KD mobile

Incremental progress

It's been month since the last post, and the month has been incredibly busy. Between vacations, family visiting and some personal difficulties, I've managed to get my system round about to being in order. It's not quite there, but it's getting better.



No weekly review yet, although I think Friday afternoon will be a splendid time for one. So, I've marked it on my calendar. Friday, August 3rd, at 2:30 pm. I will be doing a weekly review. Hopefully by 4:30 pm, I can post that I've done a weekly review.



Working as hard, and as sporadically, at the "collection" phase as I could, digging out of a hole of "other work", and dealing with a serious family issue have all lead me to - wait for it - put off the weekly review. It's amazing to me how many times I can put it off as I have got some other pressing fire to put out. However, I've got everything together that I need to do it, so Friday it is.

Progress? What Progress?

I have made a concerted effort, I truly have. I have whittled down the list of things I need to do. But I have still not managed to get a true weekly review done. It's getting a bit frustrating. I was with my boss this week, and used the old analogy of trying to "drink from a firehose" to describe how my job was going. Fortunately he understands.

I'm trying. Tuesday morning (Monday is the Canada Day holiday, and Canada is 140 years old tomorrow....) I intend to clear the decks and do a whole bunch of stuff to get towards a weekly review. I've been doing a dump, a collection, all sorts of various parts of GTD, but have not cohesively put it all together.

Eagle-eyes will note that I'm re-reading GTD. I've just started. I want to get back to where I was about a year ago, where I was doing my reviews regularly, had time to plan, etc., etc. That will take me about 3 weeks, I figure. Starting Tuesday. This time I promise.

Now raise your hand if you're in the same boat I am, so that I know I'm not the only one.

Getting Things Done - without a Weekly Review

Nope, this is not something I'm going to recommend. It's just that this week, all I have done is put out fires. I need a month of Sundays and I will feel caught up, but I figure with the next few days I can put my head above water. Perhaps.

How do others out there manage when they let their weeks get away from them?

The Weekly Review

The Weekly Review – The Heart of “Getting Things Done”

I admit it.  I am right now a closet runway planner.  I am only looking at GTD from a runway level, and the 10,000 foot level – very rarely higher.

10,000 feet feels different than I thought it would – it feels like getting through the week, and all I am doing is checking off to-dos that I’ve done.  Then again, that is a good thing, although I could check them off when I did them and that would be even better.  But there is more to it than that – there is a ton of self management that is involved in that process.  It gives me a feeling of being in control, of deciding, what I am doing next.  It makes me feel like nothing is slipping through the cracks, and that is terribly important.

One of the keys that I’ve found to ensuring that nothing is slipping is taking notes throughout the day.  Most people I know would freak to find out I was “taking notes on them” but that isn’t the principle.  It lets me process my notes from the previous day and ensure that nothing is slipping.  It lets me keep a record, so that I know what I have committed to – childish, but if I haven’t written it down, it’s like my mind doesn’t think it exists.  I’ve heard lots of people rave over Moleskine notebooks – heck I even bought my wife one for Christmas, and she loves it.  However, I’ve found a great, cheap notebook that does the trick, and you can find something for your needs too.  If you have to know, mine is the Blueline A9C, a steal for about 8 bucks Canadian, and from a Canadian company too.  Reviewing my notes from the week prior during my weekly review or the first thing on the first morning in the office really helps me to stay focused on that runway and 10,000 foot level.

Now if I can just get myself to soar a little bit higher….

Trying to achieve balance

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted.

It has been fairly intense lately – not insane, but intense.  I’ve had to determine what my priorities are.  Maybe my priority should be shorter blog posts.  ;->

In any event, it’s been since the middle of last month since I’ve blogged.  I’m still buzzing out on doing weekly reviews (although I’m trying them on Monday mornings now), and still loving the fact that I am getting things done.  I am on top of my workload, have delegated major projects without micro-managing, and am also trying to organize an office move at the same time.  I still love the pace, but I’m try9ing to find enough balance where I can include blogging once or twice a week.

I’ve been trying hard to achieve a lot of balance.  I’ve cut down on the mindless reading that I’ve done online, and have focused on just a few sites that I scan every day or two.  I’ve cleaned up my page here, and it should do nicely for the next while.  I’ve really focused on my family, and creating a hard edge regarding my work and home balance.

This will actually be much easier once we move offices as well, as my commute will be much more sensible.  But until then, I will be busy planning, reviewing, working, and generally trying to get things done.  Pardon the pun!

A long time between posts, and a lot of progress

A long time between posts, and a lot of progress.

It’s been before Christmas since I’ve posted, so Happy New Year.  It’s been a great year for me so far, and if this is a sign of things to come, bring it on!  I have to say that making the decision that GTD was “right for me” has been one of the greatest gifts I have ever given myself.  Not only did I find a system that I can implement, understand, and not feel guilty about, it is simple, allows (allows?  Encourages!) the use of gadgets, and lets me sleep well at night.

I’ve taken to calling David Allen “my cult leader”.  I read a lot of GTD blogs, and I will update list shortly.  SWMBO has even started to read GTD, although she admits that the first section of the book is kind of hard to wade through.  Not like the molasses of wading through The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, but still wading.  (I have to admit, I’ve read the book three times, and I think Getting Things Done should have the first and second sections switched around.)  But at least she is reading it.  I’ve recommended it to a co-worker in another of our branch offices, and even one of our clients who has noticed “something” different about the way I’ve been working.

My inboxes?  Still clear.  My desk?  Still uncluttered, except for the working stuff I keep all over.  I know that I should change, but I’m using 3 wire baskets, side by side, as my “In”, “Out”, and “Pending” buckets.  I like it, they work for me.  (Sometimes, my in-basket has to take 3 inch thick files, so I need a sturdy, deep one.)  My files?  The new ones are all labeled thanks to my Brother P-touch 1280; the rest of the files will be taken care of during our upcoming office move.

I’ve managed a couple of weekly reviews, however, only at the runway level.  They seem rushed, like I’m trying to find out how they work.  It seems like all I’m doing is making sure that everything that should be on my lists is there, and everything that has been done has actually been checked off.  I’m sure that I haven’t got everything on my list yet – I have 95 taks, including 12 projects, but I’m working on it.  I will keep at the weekly review, and try to put more and more into them – goals, long range planning.  I’m likely to change when I do them – maybe Sunday evening at my dining room tab le just isn’t the right time or place.  The thing is – I really have a good feeling about what I’m doing, irrespective of the weekly review.  

So I’ll keep at it.  I’m really quite satisfied with how things are going.  I’m quite happy with where my priorities have moved to – and that’s probably why.