Circular Schedule
This is one of the first interesting ideas in productivity that I've seen in a long time.
GTD's starting to bore
Is it just me, or does it seem like David Allen has run out of ideas? I follow him on Twitter, Facebook, GTD Times, etc., and it just seems like a lot of repetition. Just sayin.
Rob Long is a GTDer
Thought it was cool to hear producer and writer Rob Long, of "Cheers" fame, talking about GTD in his most recent podcast.
Checking in
Just a few tidbits:
- I got about 100 pages into David Allen's new book, but it seemed like a rehash of GTD and I got bored and stopped reading.
- For the past couple of months I've been using Mark Forster's deceptively simple Autofocus system and finding it very helpful.
- I adore my new Kindle.
- You can follow me on Twitter, though I'm not really talking about productivity much these days.
Why Computers Can't Kill Post-Its - Forbes.com
This is for Merlin Mann
Lately I've been playing around with some publications at work, putting my rudimentary Photoshop and InDesign skills to use, and it occurred to me that one thing that makes a good designer is the ability to pull all the little bits together -- making sure all the fonts are consistent and go together, reducing the size of the text where appropriate, positioning the images in just the right place, adding a border or a graphic element here and there. All those things come together to make a good design, and separate the amateurs (like me) from the pros.
Now stay with me here, because this is a bit of a stream of consciousness post and I'm not sure what it all means. In one of Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea books (sorry, I can't remember which and Wikipedia is no help), the main character Ged (or is it Tenar) stays at a castle with his companion, a little animal that I picture as being like a squirrel. Within moments after they get settled in their room, a servant quietly brings a litter box and unobtrusively places it on the floor. Reading that tiny detail the first time, that someone was thoughtful enough to provide a potty for the little animal, practically made me weep. The way LeGuin engaged with the mundanities of life and included them in the picture she was painting, brought the entire scene to life and pulled me into the story.
In Everyday Zen (I think), Joko Beck tells the story of some her students, whom she was teaching about mindfulness and paying attention. She notes how one of the students gets up from the table and walks away without pushing in his chair. How could he really be mindful if he didn't notice the chair?
These are the things that came to mind when I read Merlin Mann's recent meditation on arcs and The Wire.
The single most memorable part of the Wire for me is Snoop -- her accent, her clothes, her voice, her androgyny. She made the series for me. To my whitebread eyes, she seemed strange, and charismatic, and scary, and absolutely real.
To me it wasn't the intersecting story arcs that made The Wire, it was the details. The nails in the nailgun that boarded up the houses full of murder victims and eventually gave them away to Lester. The way the cops threw beer cans on the roof of the station. The fact that Mr. Pryzbylewski washed Duquan's clothes for him because he was homeless and the other kids at school made fun of him because he stank. Those touches are what's missing in most television shows, and in most writing.
Maybe it's because I'm a girl, but to me, the blogs that matter are the ones that give me a glimpse into someone else's life. The promise of personal blogging is the chance to connect with a total stranger who's a good writer and observer, who's honest and generous with their life. See Tenuous At Best for an example. I've never met her, but I look forward to hearing from Not Very Anonymous Mom, and I care about what happens to her and her family.
In On Writing Stephen King compares writing to telepathy. He has a picture or idea in his mind, writes about it, and by doing so gives me the chance to see it too. Unfortunately, bad writers, whose thinking is fuzzy and whose writing is vague, just send me static and make my brain hurt. Most of today's bloggers are unfortunately of the second variety, and their collective cloud of white noise creates a background of anxious, meaningless, vague nonsense that is destroying our ability to pay attention to what matters. For god's sake people, let's cut it out.
Le Sigh
No Schedules, No Meetings--Enter Best Buy's ROWE | The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss:
"ROWE stands for Results-Only Work Environment. In a ROWE, each person is free to do whatever they want, whenever they want, as long as the work gets done. Currently, there are two authentic ROWEs—Fortune 100 retailer Best Buy Co, Inc. and J. A. Counter & Associates, a small brokerage firm in New Richmond, WI. At both organizations, the old rules that govern a traditional work environment—core hours, “face time,” pointless meetings, etc.—have been replaced by one rule: focus only on results.
In the 4-Hour Workweek, you helped people understand that because of technology, people don’t have to defer living until retirement. They can design their own lifestyle. Now imagine what would happen if the entire culture of a workplace went through the same transformation. That’s what a ROWE is. A ROWE is a work culture that gives people the power to take control of their lives. As long as they get their job done, they’re free."
Dave gets all Buddhist on us
David Allen: Control Or Spontaneity: The Paradox - Living on The Huffington Post:
"There is a freedom that is only approachable by the sacrifice of our attachments to anything, including our organization and commitments."
Bravo! I heartily concur.
But what if I read lots of blog posts about productivity?
Letter to a young procrastinator. - By Seth Stevenson - Slate Magazine:
"Understand that this will never, ever change. You will always be lazy, and you will always procrastinate. I know it's tough for you to hear, but it's a harsh truth that you need to internalize."
You mean everyone's not out to get me?
SMILT NON-FICTION - Reviewing Reviewers--Kluge:
But before you despair that humans are doomed to a life of lost keys, irrational beliefs and false memories, Marcus does supply us with a whole host of ways to trains our brains to act more rationally. My personal favorite is his first, “Whenever possible, consider alternative hypotheses.” He recommends forcing yourself to come up with a list of alternatives even if you are absolutely certain that your husband is breaking drinking glasses out of spite and not because the sink is a little too deep for its intended purposes. Some of his other tips also involve forcing your brain to get out of the habit of relying on its more instinctual (and less reliable) thought processes and practice using our more conscious frontal lobes. This kind of advice may seem obvious when you read them but try and think about the last time you actually took advice such as, “Whenever possible, don’t make important decisions when you are tired or have other things on your mind.” Or “Always weigh benefits against costs.”
Explains a lot
The Science of Thinking Smarter: A Conversation with Brain Expert John J. Medina:
"...the brain isn’t interested in reality; it’s interested in survival."
Still reading...
Comprehension Climbs When You Slooooow Doooown:
"It should take you two and a half seconds to read this sentence."
This must have something to do with neuroplasticity
Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset: Which One Are You? - Michael Graham Richard:
"People who hold the Growth Mindset believe that intelligence can be developed, that the brain is like a muscle that can be trained. This leads to the desire to improve."
I really want to read this book - Kluge by Gary Marcus
Los Angeles Times: Does your brain have a mind of its own?:
"Consider, for example, the difficulty that most people having in sticking to abstract goals like 'I intend to lose weight' or 'I plan to finish this article before the deadline.' Nice thoughts, but not formulated in terms that your ancestral, reflexive brain might understand. The work-around? Translate those abstract goals into a form your ancestral systems -- which traffic largely in dumb reflexes -- can understand: if-then. If you find yourself in a particular situation, then take a specific action: 'If I see French fries, then I will avoid them.' As Peter Gollwitzer, my colleague in New York University's department of psychology, has shown, even simple changes like these can markedly increase the chances of success."
Amazon.com: Subscribe & Save
This seems really cool. You just pick out items you order regularly but not weekly, like coffee or shampoo, and they send them to you automatically. I'm off to sign up...
Improve your typing.
My best score was 86 wpm. Could it possibly be true that someone types 511 wpm?
TypeRacer
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