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August 02, 2007
Stop digging and start climbing
We've all been there: I feel stuck so I might as well get busy doing something...anything...so I at least feel like I'm at least making progress. Email is wonderful for this. Send/Receive never fails to distract me into a busy trap. It grew up on the same farm as procrastination. I'm not saying plenty of valuable work doesn't show up in email, but I think anyone these days can relate to getting stuck in the infinite loop of email rather than doing what we know we should be doing instead. Just because it landed on email doesn't mean it's your job.
How do you know that what you're doing is the best use of your time, talent & attention? We've all had our internal tap on the shoulder (or kick in the gut) telling us, "HEY, YOU! You know you're not doing what you're meant to be doing!" Trust that. I don't know about you, but I'd rather get those reminders from my own internal monitoring before my boss does.
One of the best GTD tools I use to keep myself on track with doing what I'm meant to be doing is in what David calls the Horizons of Focus:
50,000 - Purpose (why are you here, what's important to you?)
40,000 - 3-5 year vision & strategy
30,000 - 1-2 year goals and direction
20,000 - Areas of responsibility, focus and interests
10,000 - Projects
Runway - Current Actions
Specifically, the 20,000 foot level defines your areas of responsibility, focus and interests. Most people tend to have 5-7 "hats" that they wear professionally and personally that make up the 20k level. That doesn't stop things showing up on the runway level that demand my attention, but it sure makes it clearer to know what to take on as next actions and projects. It's pretty simple for me, when I get something that doesn't map to something for me on the 20k level, such as "Present GTD classes", there's a good chance it's not a priority for me and it's easier to say no. Or, it's an opportunity for to get even clearer about what my 20k level is since it does change.
I'd suggest sitting down and mapping out your 20k level, especially if you've been wanting more clarity on your priorities. Make two columns: Work and Personal. What areas are you measured by in your job? What are the roles you play personally? That's the kind of stuff that makes up your 20k level. See if that makes a difference in some of the things on your Projects and Action lists. Would you choose anything different? Would you let go of anything?
Posted by Kelly at August 2, 2007 04:08 PM
Comments
I have a pseudo related comment. I read "blog" posts with google reader. It appears that the GTD blogs are of a few that only allow the first sentece to be read. I have to gleen interest from that and then click-through to read the entire post. While I could see this would be prudent for blogs with advertising strung through them, but that is not the case here. And is this not against the GTD philosophy? If I am stop digging and start climbing, should I not be able to read the entire post from a feed reader?
Thanks for listening and I appreciate the wisdom from these GTD blogs.
Posted by: Dave at August 30, 2007 10:16 AM
Hi Dave
I sent your request along to our IT team and they are looking into this. Apparently it's just a setting change. Stay tuned.
Kelly
Posted by: Kelly at August 31, 2007 12:07 PM
I also appreciate the wisdom in these GTD blogs. But I agree about changing your feed to a full-text feed. Please, publish full-text! Some people won't even subscribe to your feed because it's only previews.
In addition, forcing your readers to make extra clicks to read the whole blog post is equivalent to putting speed bumps in their way. And I just read your "eliminating speed bumps" post! ;-)
Posted by: Paul W. at September 1, 2007 05:44 AM
You should be getting full-text feeds now, thanks to my IT guys who worked on this when I sent along your request. Thanks for letting us know you wanted this changed.
Kelly
Posted by: Kelly at September 4, 2007 04:00 PM
Thanks, Kelly and IT guys! I am seeing the full text feed now and I really appreciate it. Now, can we get the Company Master RSS feed switched to full text? ;-)
Posted by: Paul W. at September 4, 2007 08:16 PM
