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April 28, 2004

Putting things on "pause"....

What are your "pause buttons"? I was on stage with Beverly Kaye this morning in Phoenix, and she mentioned a wonderful little trick that we all do, but probably not enough. She said, "What do you do to put the pause button on, so you can just stop and reflect about what you've been doing (like, this week) and what you want to be doing (like, next week)?" I reflected on what my own "pause buttons" were, and was heartened that I was able to come up with quite a few. A hot bath, pruning my trees, a nice dinner with my lady and friends, a good massage, a good movie, playing GO on my computer, to mention a few. These are real doing-nothing-with-a-vengeance kind of things that interrupt my patterns and give me very different kinds of zones to get into. I also do spiritual retreats at least once a year, sometimes more, and those are a biggee in this regard.

My a-ha is that I could use more of that pause that refreshes during my weekly review, or perhaps once a month, that's neither a completely think-of-nothing space nor a totally operational kind of debrief like my weekly review. Writing in my journal comes close to what  I think I need more of, but it's still not exactly what I saw I could use. There's still a place to develop for myself for a kind of self-reflection about how things are going...perhaps mapping to what I consider "20,000-ft" thinking - the checklist of areas of focus and interest in life and work. Hmmm. And I teach this stuff...!

Posted by David at 09:22 AM | Comments (4)

April 13, 2004

Coaching to 40,000 feet

It was quite inspiring to do workflow coaching for a 37-yr-old CEO last weekend, here in southern California, who had not only already read Gettting Things Done, but had dictated more than two pages of type-written notes of questions and comments about relevant-to-him pieces. Before we even started, he had mind-sweeped half an in-basket of notes, had a Brother labeler all set and ready, so we hit the road running with the coaching. It took about two hours to complete the collection phase, then about eight more hours to process it all, in the meantime getting him set up in Outlook for his action and project lists. He tossed his Blackberry ("Crackberry" as he called it!), agreeing with my recommendation that e-mail should be processed most efficiently for most people from at least a laptop, and he ordered a Palm to distribute his Outlook lists into for portability. (Though there are exceptions, this is usually the best configuration for most people in an Outlook environment). By the afternoon of day two, we had created a 20,000-ft checklist of his key areas of responsibility and focus, with attendant projects created, and were evaluating the two top goals of his life, ensuring we had projects and actions for those. Then we went to a local driving range and hit balls for an hour!  My idea of a productive two days....

Posted by David at 10:41 AM | Comments (5)

April 06, 2004

Misc travel notes, esp. for foodies

One of the things I love about my lifestyle is the huge range of interesting and rich environments and people (and food) I get to experience in such a short span of time. Last Friday I ended a fabulously fun GTD public seminar in Chicago, with 75 people from a huge range of organizations - Fortune 50 to local churches to universities to national ad agencies. And we were, as usual, just folks together, dealing with the same stuff. And great food and drink and schmoozing with Anne and Jodi at Trattoria 10 and then Blackbird.  

Then down to St. Louis, at the relatively new Westin, right next to Cardinal stadium. Very hip restoration of an old downtown building, with a nice gym, and terrific restaurant, Clark Street Grill. Try their sea bass and asparagus salad. Did a one-day seminar for Ameren, the large and newly merged energy supply company  in St. Louis. Had to thread through barricades to get to Ameren Monday, as Bush was tossing the first ball at the stadium right next door to me!

Then to Los Angeles today, ready for one of my one-day's for IMS (Institute for Management Studies) here downtown tomorrow. (I'm doing more than a dozen of these a year for this very nice group of folks who provide a pre-marketed and organized window into the corporate training world for me). And I just had one of the finest meals I've had in quite a while at the Water Grill right in the middle of downtown (Chilean turbot, yumm). I still don't "get" downtown L.A. (I mean like, who actually goes there, and when? ...though I'm always tickled when something new and terrific shows up on my radar that makes it seem that central L.A. is getting hipper and more energetic, instead of degenerating into some Kurt-Russellian future sci-fi nuclear waste garbage heap.

Posted by David at 09:42 AM | Comments (2)

April 04, 2004

Why no research on "time management"?

Thought I'd share an email I got tonight, and my response. Would be interested to hear anyone else's potential replies.... DA

Mr. Allen:

I am a fan of your books and approach to time management and organization. But I have been struck by one fact, why isn't there any academic research into time management and organization?  Is it because it is so simple? If so, why do so many intelligent, accomplished adults struggle so much with time management?  I am dumbfounded why there isn't any academic-based research to confirm your approach or others...or am I missing a large body of work that is out there?  Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

AA

Arif,

You know, that's a good question. My immediate intuitive response is: because "time management" is the inaccurate definition of the problem. You can't manage time. The best question is, What do we mean by "time management?" The answer to that could give you the reason it hasn't been addressed, and where to go for your answer.

David

Posted by David at 07:33 AM | Comments (8)

April 03, 2004

My book as psychic reader?

I ran into someone who said he and his staff were having a great time using Getting Things Done (on audiotape) like one of those 8-ball cubes you turn upside down when you ask a question and it gives you an answer! They would ask a question, randomly run the tape forward and put it on Play. He said it was amazing how appropriate what I was saying at that moment on the tape was the perfect answer! (Warning: do not try this at home.)

Posted by David at 10:55 AM | Comments (1)