« November 2006 | Main | January 2007 »
December 29, 2006
Wind Storms
I'm the first to admit that the weakness in my workflow is email. I LOVE EMAIL--especially new email. New email is always more exciting than the stuff I got 5 minutes ago, much less 5 months ago. I have to really watch that I don't stay stuck in front of the fire hydrant of Send/Receive all of the time, at the expense of the work I've already defined. I'm probably not alone in this :)
Well, our email server has been down for the last 24 hours due to a major wind storm in Ojai. I have had no business email during that time. Nothing new to distract me from the things I need to do, could do or might like to do, such as the value-add stuff I tend to put off: seminars I could listen to, articles I could write, books I could read, PowerPoint slides I could update, etc. These kinds of things have no due date and no one tracking me on whether I do them or not.
Over the years, it's been interesting to me to see the progression of my GTD systems. I have pretty well mastered the action and project levels. I'm very well organized by most people's standards, but that doesn't mean I am always working on the right stuff. The good news is that I'm getting better at recognizing when I'm stuck on a track that's not the best one for me. Sometimes it takes a wind storm to shake things loose.
Posted by Kelly at 09:54 AM | Comments (1)
December 28, 2006
What's the motivation to do GTD?
I was listening to a seminar where David Allen talks about motivation and GTD. Oh, let me sidetrack here and say that I was listening to it on my brand spankin' new red iPod Nano, compliments of Santa.
I was struck by his comment, "If you need to get motivated to do something, then you're not motivated to do it." People will sometimes comment to me in seminars that my lists and system seems like a lot of work to maintain. It honestly never occurs to me to be work or something that I need to build in a lot of motivation to maintain. I just do it because I can't imagine not doing it. The scuzz factor, as David calls is, would be too great if I didn't do any of this. And, the rewards are too sweet to miss out on. He tells a funny story about people brushing their teeth. Most adults these days can relate to brushing their teeth without an external motivation to do it. Sure, as kids, our parents had to tell us to brush them. Eventually though, our own internal monitor took over and the motivation was just there. It becomes like second nature. That's how I experience GTD and my systems.
I had a group of 100 people yesterday in a seminar in Minneapolis. Most of them were new to GTD. My advice to them and for anyone new to all of this is to start small. Pick an area that will bring you the biggest relief. Where's your gnawing sense of anxiety right now in your workflow? Email overwhelm? Paper or reference filing out of control? Scattered to do lists? Consider what you would like to do or experience differently about that. Then apply the best practices of GTD to that area consistently for a month. I've heard it takes about 32 days to make something a habit, good or bad, so doing it once or twice may not lay the new tracks down that you want.
If you've been around GTD for a while is there any area to expand or improve upon? Any parts of David's books you want to revisit? With the New Year approaching, I think it's a good time to take a look at what kind of things I'd like to be true in 2007.
Happy New Year. I wish you all the best.
Posted by Kelly at 03:32 PM
December 20, 2006
Make your lists portable
I can't tell you how many times in seminars people ask me, "If I'm putting all of these lists on my work computer what do I do when I'm not near my computer?" My response is always the same: make your lists portable. A handheld device (Palm, BlackBerry etc.) is a great choice, especially if your IT dept. will support it. If a handheld is not your thing then print your lists. I know lots of people these days who choose a hybrid system of digital and paper. They print their lists to keep with their note pad as they bounce around between meetings, work, home etc.
I was listening to one of David Allen's podcasts with Merlin Mann where David emphasizes the need to portabalize your lists. If you create your GTD lists but then don't have those lists at a place or time when you can take action, then the information on your lists will eventually crawl back into your brain. If your brain also knows that what you put on those lists won't be with you when you can do something about it, you'll create an unconscious resistance to using those lists. If you're a GTD fan, you've heard the drill by now:
Your brain is a great place to have ideas, it's a terrible place to manage them.
Pretty much any electronic system will give you a printing option for the Calendar and Tasks. Outlook gives extra options under print setup for printing to specific paper devices, like a Franklin Planner.
I sync all of my lists to my Treo. I love that I can have my entire system in the Palm of my hand and get some things added and knocked off my lists at the oddest times. Did you ever have a time where you unexpectedly had to wait and could have tackled some simple things like phone calls? With your lists with you, those weird windows of time will be well spent. If nothing else, get a quick review done while you're waiting in those endless holiday shopping lines.
Posted by Kelly at 09:14 AM | Comments (10)
December 09, 2006
Walk in the door and drop it
OK, so this may seem like a really no-brainer tip but it's one that I've found to be a key system for our home organization. Two key things usually come home with me when I walk in the door: keys and receipts. So I put up a hook tucked into a nook right near where I walk in the door. We never have to do a hunt and gather for our keys as a result. Next to it is a simple shoebox size plastic bin labeled "Receipts 2006." John and I throw all of our personal receipts into that bin for nearly anything we spend money on. When the new year comes, I'll put that bin on a storage shelf and create a new one for 2007. I keep old receipts bins for about 2 years then toss them. I actually have had to look back through some old receipts bins at times when something broke, to lookup a store, price we paid etc., so I've found it useful to hang on to them. And I really don't bother to worry about what goes in there either. I just throw it all in for any kind of personal purchase (online shopping, groceries, gas, whatever.)
The only receipts that don't go in there are the ones I think I'll need for taxes, such as deductions, donations etc. There are far less of those, so they just go into a manilla folder in our files called "Taxes 2006." Easy when tax time comes to have that ready to go.
Posted by Kelly at 06:56 PM | Comments (3)
December 07, 2006
What's your slippery slope?
Have you ever noticed that an area of your house that started as a temporary storage place is now the black hole for stuff? (Hey--after 2 years it's not likely you're going to need that empty box your printer came in so do yourself a favor and toss it.) Or, the first flat surface when you walked in your house that was a place you used to drop today's mail is now a two-foot pile? Or, leaving a few of those emails in your inbox that were must do's by the end of the day 4 months ago have somehow turned into 467? A few weeks of not exercising and the thought of getting back on the treadmill even for a simple workout feels like being asked to run a marathon? I call that the slippery slope. Before you know it, things can go from bad to worse and digging out of it can seem daunting.
The good news is that it's usually less work than you think to get it back to the place you want it to be, especially if you start with small steps. If email is your weak area, pick 25 old emails to go through to start. That'll take you about 12 minutes. (30 seconds per email.) If it's an area that like your paper filing that's out of control, break it into more doable steps like purging one letter or one drawer at a time. If you've got a storage area that is overgrown with stuff, decide to get rid of 5 things at a time rather than overwhelming yourself with the thought of having to clean the place all at once. With exercise, 5 minutes on the treadmill is better than nothing, at least in my case.
And if you're a GTD'er you probably know by now that ANY part of the Weekly Review is better than nothing! Pick one thing from the list and commit to that. Done a mindsweep lately?
Posted by Kelly at 04:25 PM
December 04, 2006
GTD email tips for BlackBerry users
The team at RIM who writes their BlackBerry Connection newsletter recently interviewed me about GTD for their users. Check it out:
Empty that Inbox! Manage your messages with a system
Posted by Kelly at 01:49 PM
