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 at 09:29 AM

June 02, 2006

Centering and Mind Like Water

I recently joined an intermediate pottery class at Firehouse Pottery with Frank Massarella here in Ojai, California. I must say it is SO refreshing and wonderful to be committed in an ongoing way to something that is purely relaxing for me. I was partly inspired by the weekly "creative nights" that my brother and his wife schedule weekly, and suddenly I find myself setting aside time for something totally wonderful.

I got into ceramics in my senior year of high school and later did my senior project teaching hand building techniques at an orphanage in Mexicali, Mexico. Ever since then I've been seeking ways to stay in touch with the clay, it's one of those things that just opens my heart in such a big way. In college I particpated in a pottery cooperative, and took handbuilding classes that taught me to form pots as native Americans do. So here I am just getting back into one of my favorite hobbies.

My new class is going well so far, and teaching me a lot beyond just the physical techniques of throwing pottery. I've always been interested in how the centering process requires a significant amount of calm, focus, and attention. I highly recommend this book, Centering, In Pottery, Poetry and the Person by Mary Caroline Richards. Centering clay is a powerful metaphor for being centered in yourself.

I had a fun experience with centering last week in my class. I have always held my breath during the centering process as a way of staying totally focused on the motions of my hands and arms. It's been a conscious choice for me to do so, but when my new teacher strolled by me last week she said, "Breathe, Lisa, breathe!!" And I did. I gave it a try and found that I am perfectly capable of keeping a steady rhythmic breathing going while I center even large pieces of clay. It was so relaxing! I'm sure that taking yoga has something to do with how peaceful it feels to be aware of my moving breath right in the midst of attemping to create a perfect stillness in the clay. It's always fun to discover a deeper level of relaxation.

Then as I was leaving the studio, I overheard a beginner in the class say, "It's so weird, I can't even think about all the things I have to do while I'm in this class. It's great!"She had her first taste of mind like water!

I'm so thankful for GTD and all of the techniques and tools I've picked up over the years that allow me to get totally emerged in creating and playing, letting time disappear altogether.

Posted by at 01:54 PM | Comments (3)

July 19, 2006

Creative Seeds & Zaadz

Here's a site well worth mentioning and browsing if you have some time: Zaadz. Very different from MySpace or Facebook or other networking sites, Zaadz is a community for like-minded people who want to affect positive change in the world. Joining the site means an application process to make sure that only committed and compassionate people take part- quite a departure from other sites that have been built on giving something away to any consumer. The people at Zaadz seem to walk their talk as far as I can tell, and the whole process shines with integrity and an attitude of service.

I'm happy just knowing that the internet is being used in this way, and I can't wait to delve in and connect with some of these fantastically motivated people.

The name of the site, Zaadz, really strikes my fancy. The name translates to "seeds". I once took a course on The Psychology of Creativity in which there was a lot of talk about "seeds of creativity" and how to cultivate them. Between that course and what I've learned about GTD over the last 6 or 7 years, I've taken up collecting seeds as one of my favorite activites. Most often these little gems are ideas, or fragments of ideas. Sometimes they are sketches of pottery that I see in my dreams, or a quotation from a friend that caught my ear, or pieces of emails that stirred my mind. All of these little seeds germinate over time, and I trust that I am making a good investment by staying open to inspiration from the world. And I have to credit David Allen for teaching me a system that gives me the freedom to cultivate seeds. Instead of feeling like my brain is maxed out, I know that my system can store as much as I will allow it to; that attitude alone creates space for seeds.

Does anyone have similar experiences with collecting seeds that mature later on? One of the greatest things I learned at UC Santa Cruz was the value of listening to subjective human experiences and counting them as real and valid evidence in the game of psychology. It's with the attitude that anyone can be an expert on his own inner reality that I'm making myself available to talk about creative seeds. I would love to hear about how you experience your own creativity working, in any form that it appears in. If you collect seeds, how do you do it? And when do you see your seeds start to become something bigger than you?

Posted by at 10:13 PM | Comments (1)

October 31, 2006

Getting to the essence

If you haven't yet subscribed to this free newsletter from Michael Bungay Stanier, named Canadian Coach of the Year, have a look at his recent ruminations here: Outside the Lines - October 2006

In his main article he talks about getting to the essence in three ways. Essentially it's about simplifying your life along these 3 dimensions:

1. Essential people
2. Essential work
3. Essential stuff

What struck me is most about this list is that I tend to list these essentials in the reverse order for a very particular reason. When getting started with Getting Things Done, or when getting back on the wagon after a lapse, the best way to begin is with stuff.

Some good beginning behaviors to tackle stuff:

Clean a drawer
Purge (or setup!) your A-Z files
Get an inbox
Collect your stuff in one neat corral
Process your inbox using a Workflow Diagram
Process your email backlog
Clean out your purse, wallet, or trunk

Now what about essential work? This phase tends to come in only once you have a good enough overview of your "stuff" to see what your work actually is! Now that you're clean and clear, review your lists and ask yourself if this work is bad, good, or great. I've found using Michael's tips on the 3 types of work has been very valuable. I try to get as many "great work" items on my projects list as possible, and when I see an item that has been stale for a long time I ask myself if it's because it's bad work and needs to be re-evaluated, clarified, or creatively enhanced. The great thing about GTD is that it gives you the freedom to ask these questions about your work, moment-to-moment and during the weekly review.

Essential people? Often people least expect GTD to be a tool for enhancing relationships, and they are shocked when it does precisely that. How can GTD help you keep essential people in your life? It's simple really. The more you are clear on your agreements and communicate consciously about them, the more the quality of your relationships will become apparent. It's easy to maintain and enhance essential relationships when you know who's got the ball and what your successful outcome is as a team. It's also easier to spot relationships that are no longer serving their purpose when you have a system in place to track how things are moving along, who's keeping their agreements, and the true vision and purpose of the endeavor.

Thanks to Michael for the gems he puts out there!

Now go out there and use GTD to "Get clear, get current, get creative!"

Posted by at 10:07 AM | Comments (2)