Make the most of it.
Atul Gawande is one of my favorite writers and a wise observer of organizations and people. Though it's ostensibly about medicine, this lecture can teach us all about ways to solve problems and get results.
I was just reading this thread on the David Allen Company forum and got inspired to look at my lists. I've gone back and forth about whether to keep my lists in electronic or handwritten form, and lately I've been using an Excel spreadsheet. I printed the spreadsheet out and took a look.
There are clearly many next action items on my list that I don't really have to do. They're more "could dos." I also noticed that the items at the bottom of my list are generally more pressing, because they're the ones I've added recently. It seems that I actually complete and add new items at the end of the list, and all the ones at the top just sit there.
So I was wondering whether one way to counteract this phenomenon would be to hand write my next action list. Maybe hand writing a list every week during my weekly review would make my list more realistic, simply because I would be too lazy to keep re-writing items I knew I wasn't really going to do? Maybe writing them down would make me think about them?
The productivity blogs have been rumbling about a couple of new organizational ideas to explore, including Mark Forster's book Do It Tomorrow and Mission Control. I haven't delved too deeply into them yet, but one idea bubbled up that I've put into practice, which is planning your day.
At work I use a writing pad from Tops that is divided into sections. Every morning I review my master task list and pick out the tasks I'm going to do that day. I write them on my pad in the left section.
Then I print my calendar for the day from Outlook and figure out how much time I have in between meetings. I then pencil in (on the calendar) my plans for accomplishing the day's Most Important Tasks and when I'm going to do them. It's a bit like the "Unschedule" in Neil Fiore's book The Now Habit.
During the day I capture new stuff - thoughts, new tasks, phone messages - on the right side of my notepad. At the end of the day I update my master task list with the things I've completed and the new things I've captured. Throughout the day I avoid looking at my master list or my email because they distract me. My end of day ritual includes email-responding and processing.
Kate Davis has a good post that's giving me some other ideas, and which matches my experience over the past couple of weeks. She's actually created a form for herself (available for download) with a checklist.
I might go there eventually, but for now I like the freedom of my ever-present notepad. I find that I'm incredibly lazy, and even having to look in my drawer for a notebook and find a page to write on, or find an index card, is too much work. I need a capture tool that is always available. Plain old 8.5" x 11" pads fit the bill. Otherwise, I don't write things down, and I end up in a downward spiral of non-GTDness.
Recently I’ve become interested in mindfulness meditation practice, and started participating in classes at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center. These days, mindfulness meditation means a non-secular approach to becoming more present in the current moment, and using mediation techniques to reduce stress and relax. These articles will give you a sense of what I’m talking about.
My first real introduction to the techniques was MARC’s “Day of Mindfulness” workshop, in which we experienced different types of seated meditation, walking meditation, and even mindful eating. I expected to get bored or fall asleep, but surprised myself by remaining alert all day and enjoying myself immensely. The teacher, Diana Winston, was very gentle and supportive, and my fellow students all seemed like well-meaning, intelligent people who were keen to learn a new skill for coping with our busy world. I left the day feeling very relaxed and centered, vowing to start a mindfulness practice of my own.
I’ve managed to meditate a few times, and I’m finding that I miss it when I don’t do it. It helps me to concentrate on doing one thing at a time, and allows me to step back from stressful situations to relax for a moment and gain perspective. It really only takes a few minutes here and there throughout the day, and brings an important new skill to your life.
Study Finds Working At Work Improves Productivity | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "According to a groundbreaking new study by the Department of Labor, working—the physical act of engaging in a productive job-related activity—may greatly increase the amount of work accomplished during the workday, especially when compared with the more common practices of wasting time and not working."
From Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing, by Jed McKenna:
The reason for writing it down on paper or on a computer where you can see it is because the brain, unlikely as it may sound, is no place for serious thinking.
