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May 25, 2006

Someday maybe...

I first heard about having a list of things to do "Someday/Maybe" when I was about 10 years old. You can imagine the fantastic and wild ideas that came bubbling out of me as soon as I heard that I was "allowed" to think about all the wonderful things I could do, be, and invent in the adult life ahead of me.

Many years, and many notebooks, journals and file folders chock full of design plans, lists, and images later, I still believe in the power of the Someday/Maybe as a way of giving ourselves permission to have creative ideas, even when we can't commit to them in the moment.

I came across this site today from a life coach who is encouraging people to capture their biggest dreams and aspirations on her free website, SuperViva. The feature I liked most about it is that you can easily mark an item on your list "Active" or "Backburner". The backburner seems to me another way of saying, I still like this thought enough to keep it, but I just don't have the resources to commit to it right now. It can take some courage to move that fantastically cool idea OFF your "To-Do" list and over to your Someday/Maybe/Backburner list because then you have to trust that sometime in the future you will have more time, more energy, or more money; and that you will get to some of those cool ideas.

The other issue of trust is whether or not you will remember that cool idea, which is where GTD comes in as a fail-safe way of keeping track of things without relying on your fallable memory. For me the weekly review has made all the difference in being able to trust that my Someday/Maybe list is alive and well. I review it every week, no matter how large it gets, knowing that I'm keeping those items around for a reason. Often times I find I've already done a few things on the list without even planning it that way, and I also end up removing the items that just don't have value for me anymore.

Just hearing the term "Backburner" after such a long time of being used to the terminology "Someday/Maybe" reminded me that this isn't just a list I keep because a smart guy said so. It's a list I keep because my dreams matter to me now just as much as they did when I was 10 years old.

Posted by Lisa at 09:29 AM

May 24, 2006

5 Reasons to have a post-it cube in your car

A while back I wrote about some of my favorite capture tools (a fancy way of saying devices that allow you to write things down instead of keeping the ideas in your head). Here are 5 more reasons that everyone should have a post-it cube and a pen affixed to the steering wheel of their car:

1. The next time an out-of-towner asks you for directions to a restaurant, street, or neighborhood; try drawing a mini-map instead of trying to describe it out loud. I've lived in a lot of tourist towns, and not only do the tourists appreciate it, it takes about half the time and a quarter of the goofy-looking hand gestures to communicate your directions effectively.

2. When you're on the road and your chewing gum, mint, etc. gets stale, wrap it in a sticky note instead of fumbling around for a scrap of paper. (If you've ever had a piece of gum melt in your car, you can understand how nice this peace of mind is.)

3. Are you dropping off a book or a document for a friend? If they aren't home you can just stick a post-it on top of the delivery to let them know who it's for, that it's from you, if you need it back, and leave it in the mail-box or on the porch.

4. Sometimes being in your car can trigger new thoughts or reminders that are much easier to process into your system if you write them down right away. i.e. "Check pressure in tires", "Schedule an oil change", or "Waiting for new auto insurance documents to arrive since 5/15/06."

5. Since a lot of people fill their commuting time with music, the radio, or audiobooks, it's especially nice to be able to jot things down like "Download the new Jack Johnson song from iTunes," or "Look into current events on the BBC website," or "Research jazz clubs for next Chicago trip." Then you can get back to enjoying whatever you are listening to, knowing that you can always handle that cool new thought back at the ranch.

Posted by Lisa at 09:01 AM | Comments (2)

May 17, 2006

Two steps to a clear mind

I was lying awake in bed thinking when I suddenly stopped myself and said "Hey, what do you think you're doing lying here thinking? Just get everything off your mind and go to sleep." Probably spoken like a true brown belt, one who has achieved a considerable degree of proficiency with a GTD system, but is smart enough to know I'm not there yet!

So I got out of bed and as usual wrote down a few stray thoughts that were gently nudging me towards my capture tool. But the instant I did that, another thought popped in (actually the inspiration for this blog). Funny how that happens.

Perhaps there are two cuts to getting things off your mind. The first step, which is actually not-so-obvious, is writing it down. It often seems unnatural or even scary at first to write down the small stuff, as if our ballpoints are actually chisels that will carve our words into eternity. But once we do write it down, the relief from not having to think of it is phenomenal, one of the biggest ah-ha moments I've watched people have at the RoadMap seminars.

The second cut of a clean and clear mind is this: Let it go. Not only do you have to be willing and commit to letting the thought go, you also have to do whatever it is that's necessary in order for you to let it go. I can only feel that tiny rush of freedom when I write down "Mow the lawn" if I feel pretty confident that I will process that note relatively soon into a system that I will review frequently enough that I will have the right information at the right moment to mow that lawn (before it eats my lawn chairs).

So why is it that sometimes even when I have something captured and "in the system" I continue to think about it? (Besides the obvious factor which is that an active and healthy mind enjoys a good deal of thinking in the spaces in between). My theory is that the only reasons to ever continue to think about something you already have identified as a clear next action step are these:

1) The thought is too juicy and delicious to leave it in your system for later (i.e. Who cares that I know exactly what to do to make my first trip to Chile happen tomorrow, I'm just bouncing around knowing that I'm on my way!)

2) Some part of me can't let that thought go because there is more information in it, about it, or with it to be processed in a more effective way. (The far less sexy: I know we created a successful outcome at that last project meeting, but I have this tiny niggly feeling we made the wrong call on our marketing slogan).

Either one of these boils down to: you haven't let that thought go yet, whether that's by choice or by less-than-conscious choice. Neither state is worse than the other, but the second one takes a bit more work to resolve than the first, which is self-resolving.

In the interest of aiming for mind like water, here are a few tricks I've picked up to bring myself back into the present moment:

-Awareness of breath. It so simple and tremendously powerful as a way of reconnecting with the natural moving rhythm of the breath. It also reconnects you to your body, which is important when you're deep in mentally-powered work.
-Step back and ask "Why am I thinking about this? Is there something I am trying to do or accomplish by thinking about this?" If so, choose to set aside some time either now or later to really devote yourself to this thinking, you might uncover some great new information, or just as good, you might find out that the next action step needed a lot more clarity and focus.
-Laughter- nothing refocuses you like a sudden uncontrollable burst of humor. This exercise is best done in contagion.
-Talk about it out loud. Propel your thoughts out, start up a conversation with an obliging friend or colleague and see where an outside perspective takes you. This can also help uncover hidden information and clarify the true next action step or successful outcome you are looking for to get back to mind like water.

I would love to hear from any of you who might be reading this about your experiences with aiming for an empty head, and with being present in the moment.

Posted by Lisa at 11:51 PM | Comments (2)

May 15, 2006

Ask yourself "why?"

I thought I'd share the checklist I've been using recently when I create or review a new project. It's made a big difference for me to not have to think of these questions each time I work with a project. Instead I can think about them in a deeper way.

Project Checklist

-Do I have a clear next action step that I can identify for this project now?
-Is there any equipment, software, or information that I need before I can move forward on this project?
-Am I waiting for anything?
-Is there a deadline on this project?
-What Area of Responsibility does this relate to for me? (See page 52 of Getting Things Done for more on this.)
-Are there any key people with whom I should be talking about this?
-Why am I doing this?

The more obvious it is that you should do something, the more important it is to ask why. - Kent Beck & Martin Fowler

Posted by Lisa at 11:27 AM

May 10, 2006

Two piles are better than one

As I was reading through an article on managing email in an Outlook environment written by GTDer Richard Kuo, what stuck out most for me was the fact that he had hinted at what I consider one of the most powerful coaching tools available. He says:

Decide whether each e-mail needs to be acted on, and either move it to Action Required or Reference as necessary.

Essentially he's suggesting two simple buckets for your emails instead of one. Deceptively simply, the following question often proves a critical coaching question when a client is knee-deep in processing their inbox:

Is it actionable?

Too often it's easier to shuffle around the various reminders and commitments in our world. (i.e. Ever found yourself changing the due date on a task in a robotic way?) Even when it's all collected in an inbox it can seem easier to rotate the stacks rather than pick away at them. At some point it comes down to a yes or no answer, and I was refreshed by the way this blogger suggests people take the first stab at inbox-emptiness by putting a clear line between pile 1 and pile 2.

What's a reasonable "first-stab" you could be taking towards your objective now?

Posted by Lisa at 10:23 PM | Comments (1)

May 09, 2006

Another great weekend- at school

I'm just settling in from a really fantastic weekend at University of Santa Monica where I've been studying applied spiritual psychology this year. The highlights for me this weekend were getting revved up about the second year of the program starting next fall, the fact that I find myself laughing more than in any other classroom (I've taken courses on humor that didn't come close) and best of all this incredible sense of community and connection to my class of 250-some dedicated people. Many of the folks I meet in our classroom exercises have had incredibly rich careers in all different walks of life, and are now so thrilled to be turning towards counseling.

One assignment that I've found so much value in this year is the exercise of creating detailed descriptions of the vision I have for my life, broken up into separate mindmaps based on each Area of Focus. So as I planned out my ideal vision of my health for instance, which included everything from an exercise plan to experiencing regular and deep sleep, I incidentally had a great opportunity to review all of the Areas of Focus/Responsiblity in my life before planning out specific next actions. It's so essential to occasionally pop up above the clouds and get a sense of how I'm doing in the main areas of my life, and USM has given me a great way to do that.

I'm now making it a part of my custom weekly review check-in to ask myself to reflect- Which area of focus has had most of my attention this week? And which one has had the least? Just looking at that often reveals to me some factors that were previously unconscious. This prompts me to wonder, what would happen if we recorded the 20,000 ft. (Area of Focus) level for every single next action step we identify and process? It would be a fair amount of work, perhaps more than it's worth, but I'll bet some interesting information would probably arise...

"What has your attention?"

Posted by Lisa at 08:06 PM

May 03, 2006

Managing email

If you're like most people these days, you've experienced what it's like to have an email inbox that is out of control. The key for dealing with it is to treat this space like any inbox- a place to gather incoming information that you will process frequently. There are really only 3 options for what you decide about any email-

Is it actionable?
Is it reference?
Is it trash?

It has made a world of difference in my life since I've made it a rule for myself that emails don't get to just "live" in my inbox, instead I decide the first time I read them whether or not to do something with them. I would never want to return to the added stress of not knowing what's lurking in my inbox. Check out this hysterical comic strip that illustrates some of the worst possible practices for handling email.

For anyone who may be reading this who can relate to Cathy's mother, give yourself the gift of a great sigh of relief- and start working that inbox down to zero using David Allen's Workflow Diagram. You can download it for free here, and it's also on page 32 of Getting Things Done or page 160 of Ready For Anything.

Posted by Lisa at 01:35 PM