A few thoughts on taking notes

I have seen people take notes, at work, and in their personal lives; people take notes. When someone is trained on a new procedure at work they will write it down in a notebook, when someone wants to get in touch with a new contact they write the phone number down; notes cover our desks, cork boards, and fridges. But what do you do with note? What good does having the note on that piece of paper do for you?

A couple of habits can come in handy:

• Drop all your notes into one place at the end of the day, go through them every day or two and either do them if they or short, save or file them if they are reference, or through them away if you don't need them.
• Add phone numbers into your phone the second you get them
• If you don't have paper to write with e-mail yourself or leave yourself a voicemail, process the notes when in a place you can add them to a todo list.  

The best tip I ever got related to notes - Read Getting Things Done, the Art of Stress Free Productivity by David Allen and put it into practice, if you put the methods in the book into practice you can free up a lot of clutter in your life. 

How do you choose which thing to do when you have a choice between priorities?

Throughout life we have commitments big and small. From small chores, to obligations, and promises we have commitments we make to people, organizations, and ourselves. Systems like GTD are great because they help us to gather all of our commitments into a trusted system so we don’t stress over what we have to do, but what about priority? If I have two things on my list with equal priority how do I choose?

Some would say, it doesn’t matter; you pick one, make it your priority, then work on the other. I disagree; just as open loops and uncaptured commitments can take our attention, so can a secondary priority. How do I put all my attention on one item when another one is equally important? Somewhere in my mind it is being worked on and taking my focus. Unless I can remove that other commitment from the equation, full focus will not be available to me. What thinking has to take place before I can fully focus on one of my priorities?

The technique that works for me is creating a project that plans my time. With two or more priorities that hold equal importance to me to the point that one is stealing focus I have to spend time planning how am going to split my time. If I commit to a certain amount of time working on completing next actions that bring me closer to one priority outcome knowing that in a certain amount of time I will stop and work on next actions bringing me to another priority outcome I can focus because I have time committed in a trusted system.

I use the calendar for this. Once I have identified that I am having trouble focusing because of shared priority I take time to plan. I use my available time to split my time between my priorities. Once this schedule is in place I can focus. It is the same premise of GTD as capturing open commitments, I am simply capturing and processing conflicting priority into a trusted system; in the place my blackberry calendar which triggers alarms.

Pay close attention to your focus as you work; if your focus is interrupted in any way as you work towards outcomes, capture that into your system. A note that says “my focus is interrupted on project x” works just fine, this can help you identify ways you can improve your workflow and create projects for setting your time in order to focus your whole mind creating better work.

How do I do my best?

How do I do my best? What does that mean?

The first thing that comes to mind is working hard. If I work as hard as I possibly can is that my best? That doesn't take balance, health, and wellness into mind. So how do I really do my best?

It is a question of values. I can only do my best if I know what my values are and I am working towards them, if I am truly being myself and am working hard towards my core values I am doing my best.

In my case one of my values is keeping a balanced and healthy lifestyle so if I work calmly and focused it is much closer to my best then working hard and frantic.

My GTD practice for 2010

I have been practicing GTD since 2004 and my system has evolved much over the ears. I have decided that my GTD practice for 2010 is all about attention - paying attention to what has my attention and responding appropriately.

I have spent a lot of time in discussion with my GTD practicing friends in person and on the boards about the right way to do GTD; when and how often to do weekly reviews, when and how often to look at higher levels, what contexts to have, which lists to process first, should due dates be tracked, how do you use a tickler?, how do you prioritize?, how to capture? and many more statements and questions about the right way to practice.

I find myself brought back to David Allen's statement, "If you don’t pay attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves".

I have been finding more and more that GTD is about responding appropriately to what has your attention, not keeping everything perfectly orderly all the time (unless clutter is what has your attention), not reviewing lists on a strict schedule (which I have found can be counterproductive if there are things on the mind distracting focus), not doing it the right way because there is no right way since everyone's attention is attracted to do different things.

What is going to change in my system? not much, I am still going to use Outlook for list management at work and Remember the milk at home, I am still going to be capturing on paper and using an inbox for processing, and I am still going to be using my calendar and someday/maybe list as a tickler; so what am I changing? I am changing the way I think about GTD.

My big change for 2010 is taking it back to basics. I will be paying more attention to what has my attention, this will determine how often I review the different aspects of my system and what I am looking at when I review them.

My Big Giant Weekly Review Review

I did a big giant review of my weekly review today to make my weekly review better suit my needs, my purpose, and the outcomes that are important to me. Blogger didn't like my formatting so here is a link to the PDF download of the entire review using the natural planning model.

Does personal productivity make productive personnel

I have been a GTD practitioner and member of the GTD community for almost 5 years now and a recurring statement comes up a lot.
"My work would be great if everyone practiced GTD!"
The statement has made me wonder. Do productive individuals create a more productive environment?
My kneejerk response has been yes until I thought of the crucial question.

What are they producing?

If they are producing outcomes that don't fall into course with the goals of the company then having productive employees may not improve a company.

The answer to this problem is to make sure that the company is practicing GTD at the higher levels as well as the individual employees. If the company has reviewed it's higher horizons of focus and has communicated that to the employees the GTD practice can benefit the company.

Oranizational GTD creates more productive personnel by aligning the control and perspective of the individual with the company's goals.

Why !daily works for me

Disclaimer - This article refers to terminology specific to GTD.

For about 6 months now I have had a daily checklist called !daily (exclamation point added to move it to the top of my lists in Remember the Milk). !Daily came from a project "Create a Daily checklist" that I set after listening to Barbara Bailey's interview on the @context podcast. Barb had mentioned that she had a Daily checklist and it worked wonders for keeping her on top of her day to day so I added the project and about 3 months later !daily was born.

I walked through the natural planning model to determine the Purpose and principles so I knew what would go on the list.

Purpose - to develop daily habits
Principles - flexible, friendly, positive. - I will not be dissapointed if I don't complete an item.
I didn't determine an outcome at this time:

What has the outcome been? I wake up every morning and start doing items on the list without even checking it!

Here is my list
01 Iaido
Minimum (usually ends up being more) Practice my circle Drill in Iaido (Anything labeled 01 is something I do every day, the other's I am flexible on)
01 Read physical Bible
Pull out my actual book bible (rather than read online) and read my bible.
01Yoga
Minimum, 1 set of sun salutations but it usually ends up being more.
@prayer
Pray for the people on my @prayer list
Check the calls context
Check my @calls list and schedule or defer all calls.
Cursillo Devotional
As part of Lutheran Cursillo of Southern California, we have a devotional in which we prayer for 2 team members each day, it includes a Bible verse as well. This task will run through October.
Google Reader
Read all blogs in my must read list on Google Reader that take less than 2 minutes. Send the rest to Del.icio.us for Read Later. These include but are not limited to:

• My Daily Devotion on http://www.lhm.org
• My Daily Bible verse on http://www.biblegateway.com
• Tara Rodden Robinson - The productivity Maven - http://zugunruhecoaching.typepad.com/
• The Entrepreneur Notes -http://theentrepreneurnotes.com

Gratitude Journal
A time to focus on what I am grateful for.
Pray a prayer of thanks first over the budget, then do today's budget balance
This one used to just be called Budget but changed recently after a reminder that all we have we owe to God in a sermon at Church.
Review your blogs
I open each of my blogs on a new tab, read my last posts and post something new if I either feel like it or it has been about a week since my last post.
Write one sentence in the Ballard Story
Here is where I work on Ballard.
Review New Posts on GTDConnect
Here I review GTDconnect's forum's new posts like an inbox.
Post To GTDConnect
This item is every 3 days - Post a new forum post to GTDconnect.
Add one photo to j:\digital Art
I added this recently to do every two days - Add a photo I have taken to my digital art folder on my computer. I added this after I found I wasn't doing it by habit anymore.
Review Readlater list on Del.icio.us
This is another every 3 days - all the websites and blog posts I added because I didn't have time when I found them. I usually process 1 or 2.

How to make sure what I do is what I should do

To simplify my GTD system I would describe it as being broken up into larger outcomes and next actions.

Larger outcomes are categorized as:
Projects
Goals
Roles
Responsiblities
Visions
Life Purpose

Next actions are categorized as:
!office
!home
!home - Checkbook
@calls
@email
@errands

Larger outcomes are anything that requires more then one step or a categorization that is important to me in my life. For example:
Get my bike fixed would be a larger outcome categorized as project because it can be completed regularly quickly (over a week or so), and is made up of next actions - call bike shop, budget the money, take bike to bike shop, followup call, etc

Maintain Healthy Lifestyle is a larger outcome categorized as a responsiblity because in addition to requiring next actions it may require projects, habits, etc.


To make sure i am doing what I should be doing I verify that what I am doing fits into one of my larger outcomes.

When I set a next action it may come from a project or it may just come to mind. If something comes to mind I can decide if it is worthwhile by asking myself, does this fall into one of the larger outcomes that is important to me, or should I set a larger outcome that would add to my quality of life? If the answer is no, the item might not be worth doing. I can also follow the flip side of this and review my larger outcomes (during my weekly review) to verify that I have projects and next actions set for them, this makes sure I am working towards the things I have decided are important to me.

Lost task - Natural planning model

This morning I opened my !daily context in rmilk and discovered that my daily reminder task was empty. I took it as an opportunity to walk through the natural planning model and re-purpose the task. Please take a look inside my brain and review the process I went through.

08:31 6/23/2009

It is Tuesday June 23rd; year of our Lord 2009 and my reminder task is blank! Most likely an accident caused by milksync, outlook and deleting things on my Blackberry but I have to say, as we all know there are no accidents and I have to accept this as such; not an accident. So let's think... What do us or in this case I do when a task is wiped clean. Renegotiate the task using the natural planning model.

The natural planning model is 5 steps.

1. Purpose and principles (why and under what rules)

2. Desired outcome (best possible "what" that exists because of the actions included in the project)

3. Brainstorming (long list of ideas, this is a mindsweep but also revolves around steps 1 and 2. What are all the ways to get to 2 using 1?

4. Organizing (taking the what is useful from 3. and organizing it into a timeline, project plan, list, etc. Creating a form for the project).

5. Next actions (listing the next actions and organizing them by context)

After typing up the 5 steps of the natural planning model I begin to think that there should be a step before step 1. I am going to call that step 0 - Current reality.

0. Current Reality - what is true? What is my existing truth that I plan to build upon with this project/goal/vision etc.

So, first off I am going to get started.

0. Current reality - What is true?

What is true that is relevant at this time?

I am 30 years old; slightly overweight on the brink of major change (I know this through a feeling. I have an active prayer life and in the past have suffered from anxiety which results in some controlling tendencies. I am in a great relationship, have an awesome job and am constantly working on improving and getting better. When I am not fighting I am training is one of my favorite sayings. I am also about to go on a one week vacation.

So truth -

Past - anxiety and controlling tendencies

Current - 30, slightly overweight, on the brink of change)

Future - vacation

1. Purpose - reminders helping me to manage my anxiety. Principles - flexible, never rigid, reviewing doesn't take longer than 2 minutes.

2. Outcome - My anxiety is managed, I love my self and act with love to those around me

3. Brainstorming

Remember to be prayerful

Remember to be confident

Remember you can be your own manager

Remember you are great!

Remember to pray, pray now

Remember your baptism

Remember that it is all good because it is from God's will

Remember to breath.

Remember that others are children of God

Remember that God's grace is enough so there is no need to be anxious

Remember to affirm your day

Daily reminder

In outlook

In remember the milk

On blackberry

Reviewed daily?

Short?

Read all?

Add reminders?

Can I skip?

Every other day?

Should the reminders be related to all aspects of me?

They should focus on being present. If I am present I am not anxious.

4. Organization

Place a daily reminder in rmilk (which will sync to bb and outlook at home)

Add reminders which enforce being present, being loving, being prayerful, and having a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Take a moment to reflect during each session and adding to and removing from the list as needed. This moment will be a time to be present across all moments.

5. Next actions - open rmilk and add recurring note called daily reminder in the !daily context.

Now I have a task I can review daily which will give me a time to reflect and be present. It is a time for affirmation, and renewal.

Series 1 Volume 1 2009

I started a new journal today and I would love to explain the feeling but I don't know if I could put it into words; I think you would have to be a journaler to understand. I open the pages of the new book and it is exciting, "What will I write?" "what will it's purpose be?"

Series 1 Volume 1 2009 is what I labeled it. Is there any significance to that? Nope; it is what came to mind right before I typed up a label on my label maker. I have hundreds of journals I have filled up over the years and they have different labels: Spirit, notebook, inventory, even Journey through Chaos and Rapture. I even have a bunch that I didn't label at all, my most recent notebook was red so it didn't need a name. This one is a large Moleskine standard ruled notebook and it happens to be named Series 1 Volume 1 2009; the next one might be Volume 2 or it might have a completely different name.

The first thing I wrote after dating and numbering the page (just in case I have to reference the page in other notes) was,

"What is series 1, volume 1?"

I wrote that I wasn't sure what it was going to be but I knew exactly what it wasn't going to be; a collection of random lists and junk. It also would not pertain to other work, it would not contain book notes, class notes, work notes, or project notes. I may write about those things in this notebook but it would not be a a book to bury random notes in. It would be more of an outlet, a place to empty my mind and keep it flowing like the stream I want it to be.

It would also not be a catolog of my day. I have written these kinds of journals before and they can be very rewarding but I didn't want to make a commitment that I didn't think I could keep. I can commit to having a notebook as an outlet and writing in it often but I wasn't willing to commit to a daily catolog, this seems like welcoming a battle I cannot win. I would commit to keeping the journal on me and keeping a GTD context in my system @journal that I could write about appropriate musings but not for project planning or writing (my book).

So by defining what it isn't I have defined what it is. A series of thoughts journaled regularly, an outlet for my feelings and higher level thoughts and a place to develop my writing from a different side of the brain. A place to live at 30,000 feet and higher

Natural planning model - another tool for fighting resistance

I was walking through my daily checklist today and noticed for the past few days I have been going numb to my gratitude journal and my daily affirmation. I was getting to the point where I looked at those items and went "ugh, I am fine, I don't really need to do these, I am grateful, my days are going well, I don't need them." I shot an e-mail to @tararodden who suggested I mix things up a bit, maybe reword my affirmations as questions, switch to a different model for the gratitude journal (Thanks for the help Tara, you really helped me, you are an awesome coach!) and that triggered my BFO!

I wasn't present I was caught up in working on my lists and not focused on the original purpose of my daily items. I needed to re-enter the basic building blocks of what I was trying to do in the first place. So I delved into the natural planning model.

I questioned:

What are the purpose and principles of the daily task in question?
I stated what the original purpose was; for example I started the daily gratitude journal to help keep me present and aware of the blessings in my life.
I then stated what purposes it formed as I practiced it:
It kept me in perspective as I was brought to focus on things I formerly thought as negative in my life but now would never change. It has helped me to stay prayerful which ties into my current purpose statement bingo, value. No longer numb!

I quickly came up withe a new desired outcome followed by some fast brainstorming, organization and I now know how to reorganize my tasks to keep them vibrant.

My advice here is if going numb to any process in GTD, your system, your projects, etc, try reviewing it with the natural planning model, you can fall upon breakthroughs in your projects and get more creative, creating even better work.

Thanks for the idea of rewording my affirmations as questions Tara, I am implementing that into my daily affirmation.

Twitter – is there value in it?

About a month ago I decided to sign up for a twitter account (1/26 to be exact after reading about it on @TaraRodden’s blog) and it has been enlightening. I had resisted Twitter for a long time because I thought it would be a waste of time. After reading Tara’s Post which showed examples of how twitter can bring you more in touch with your friends and lead to more mindful working, I figured I would give it a trial run. After signing up, it searched my Gmail address book and told me that several people I already knew were on it and following their conversations lead me to even more people. I then needed a way to post from my Blackberry and to link twitter to my Facebook account; after a quick google search I found Twitterberry and Facebook Twitter.

What do post on twitter?

• What I am doing (When it is appropriate)
• How I am doing (Prayer, energy level)
• What I want (Affirmations)

What do I read on twitter?

• The last few posts when I feel like looking at them (I do not have a built in agreement to check all updates all the time so Twitter has not become an IN (Thanks for the advice @gtdguy).
• Replies to me (This has become an IN)
• DM’s to me (This has become an IN as well)
• Sometimes I check http://search.twitter.com/ for #hashtags of my interests #GTD, #Photography, #prayer, #meditation

What value do I get out of twitter?

• It keeps me in touch with my friends
• It keeps me in touch with people I have wanted to form friendships but time, busyness, etc had gotten in the way.
• It helped my blog by keeping my short observations and ideas on twitter leaving deeper and more meaningful topics to the blog
• It helps keep me accountable and encourages me to be better

How does twitter help keep me accountable?

This is something I just stumbled onto. I noticed that a lot of my friends were posting what they were working on, where they were in GTD, prayers, etc so I started to do the same. I immediately started getting massive amounts of encouragement back from my friends. This was amazing! I would get a real boost out of the support and comments from my existing friends and new friends who stumbled up the given tweet somehow.

If I posted I was struggling with something immediately I would get advice and encouragement back. If I posted a blog that I wasn’t really excited about someone would get excited about it and post me something on twitter. This has been amazing for my motivation and helps me feel accountable for my writing, photography, and personal growth; my friends want me to succeed and I don’t want to let them down!

Where do I see twitter going?

I believe twitter will continue to do what it has been doing and I am happy with that. It will continue to:

• Bring me into contact with new people
• Keep me in touch with my friends and potential friends
• Encourage my writing and personal growth
• Surprising me

I just want to end this with a big thank you to my new big sister Tara for introducing me to Twitter, you posted that at just the right time! Twitter is an awesome tool that if used correctly can result in great networking, great friendships, true interdependance.

an observation in prayer

I can't believe I have been forgetting to confess! I came to the realization that I haven't been confessing in prayer. No wonder I was carrying so much extra baggage! I was holding onto it rather than trusting in God's forgiveness. 

Here is a place where GTD and my religion are crossing paths. In order to attain mind like water it is to be free of big obstructions and clutter. Holding on to guilt and sin is definitely not conducive to that.

My prayer

Lord I confess that I am sinful! and I praise you for your gift of grace! 

Amen

The weekly Review - Part 4 - more weekly review - get creative and the dreaded someday/maybe list

I don't keep a Someday/Maybe list; I keep 6 (seriously). I call them Incubate.

• Incubate - Maybe - work
• Incubate - Maybe - Personal
• Incubate - Someday - Work
• Incubate - Someday - Personal
• Incubate - Projects - Work
• Incubate - Projects - Personal

This may seem complicated but I find it as complex as it has to be. The goal here is to expedite my weekly review. As I said in a previous post I don't do the same review every time and I don't necessarily do it 'weekly' at the set time. I do my review based on need and I base what I review on need.
I review whatever has the most resistance, doubt, lack of focus; since one of the goals of GTD is mind like water I'll put it this way, I look into my mind and whatever is surrounded by the cloudiest water, I review.

Now if my project list is cloudy even after I have developed a clear next action for each project, or if I feel overwhelmed with the list, I take projects with lower priority off of the lists. The projects then go to Incubate - Projects - (work or personal)

During the Get creative phase of the weekly review sometimes I develop projects that are outside of the scope of my current reality. These can either go in Incubate - someday (I totally plan on doing them) or incubate - maybe (maybe someday I might)

I review incubate - projects during most weekly reviews when I feel like I have a large number of completes, I review incubate - someday and incubate - maybe in my creative phase when I need ideas or when I feel extremely clear (I can see all the way to the bottom of the lake of my mind)

What the incubate lists give me over a generic someday/maybe bucket is context on what to review and when it also helps me to seperate delayed projects that aren't on my project list to free up clutter. I had found that a long someday/maybe list resisted review but several shorter lists were easier to review more often.

A little about my GTD System Part 3 - more weekly review

Get current
This isn't exactly a next step but an evolution on Get Clear. I am not stopping my search to get clear; I just have emptied that level of my brain that I am not actively thinking of anything. Am I completely clear? No, my subconscious is working on many different levels on many different things and they can come up at any time. If anything comes to mind to distract me from getting current I note it on an index card or page and put it in my inbox (making sure to date it)

Usually at this stage I analyze, where am I most unclear, what is the first thing to come to mind?

It could be my Project list or it could be an NA list. If I feel like my contexts are becoming overwhelming and hard to prioritize intuitively I will go there first, if I feel like I may have a lot of open loops in projects I will review that first. Let's say I decide on projects:

My projects are categories in outlook named Projects - work and Projects - home. They are filtered by the word Projects so they display in the same view grouped by categories (separate but in the same context)

If I am reviewing projects, I am checking each project one at a time and making sure 2 things are true.

1. Each project has a clear outcome defined. If the outcome is obvious based on what I have named the project, I move to the next project, if not I define what that is in the project notes.
2. I have at least one action defined in an appropriate context. I will make notes in the task notes depending on what I decide, what context the NA is in (@calls, @email, @home) and the date I decided to do this. This comes in handy next week when I review again because if I calendared the NA I know this is taken care of.
   

If I am unclear about any NA contexts I will review those next, these are usually @home and @@@office (Multiple @ for sorting).

Once again I review each NA one at a time and this is what I am looking for:

1. The NA is a clear next action; it is not an outcome or a project.
2. It is associated with a project. I used to note this in the subject with RE: PROJECT NAME but now I am noting it in the contacts field (Thank you Jim McCullen) in outlook 'Project Name (I put a single quote before it so Outlook doesn't confuse it with any existing contacts)

If an NA is not associated with a project I analyze why it is in the list and if it is related to larger outcomes such as goals, roles, responsibilities, vision, or purpose. If it isn't I question why it was on there and usually delete or defer it (Sometimes these are work tasks that have been delegated that aren't related to any projects, if that is the case I connect them with the responsibility - 'Other tasks as needed. :)

A little about my GTD System Part 2 0 - A bit on my weekly review

I do a weekly review once or twice a week and I don't do it on a set day. When I do a review is based on a few things.

1. My anxiety levels
2. If I ever have the thought "What exactly is the best thing to work on?" and I can't come up with an answer by looking at my lists

David Allen describes the weekly review as getting clear, getting current, and getting creative. I kind of break this into steps and at the same time I kind of don't. For example:

Get Clear
I usually start with a breathing exercise. This can be 1 or more cleansing breaths, a formal centering exercise, or maybe even a few push ups (clears my head by focusing on the physical rather than the mental, this is even better if it is a clap push up because I have to be completely present or I fall on my face). If I am not clear on which part of my system I am going to review first (yes, I base this on need, I don't do my review in the same order every time) I do a quick mind sweep, I do this either in notepad on the PC or on a memo pad (sometimes I just love the feel of pen on paper...and sometimes I hate it). This isn't a list of things to review, this is a list of things to get off my mind so I can review my system, I can add these to my system after I am done with my review, if it is bothering me that they are in my inbox I file it under mindsweep and set a next action in my @office list to process the list. I also keep a stack of index cards or a memopad handy for a mindsweep during my review, if anything interrupts me I drop it onto this sweep. I do not do my review with closed door because I consider this a test of my system and a chance to practice dealing with interruptions. This entire process takes 5-15 minutes.

A little bit about my GTD system

My GTD system is a 3 tier system at the moment.

Home
I have a dual monitor PC running Outlook 2007 (this is recent, it was outlook 2003 for a long time prior to my recent virus issues), a 4 drawer ancient metal file cabinet that was drawn out of hell (I need a nice expensive wooden one) and a metal side opening inbox which is ok (but I would like a nice wooden one here too). I file with a Brother label maker, manillla file folders (smushed into my crappy file cabinet with book ends) and capture on a yellow memo pad and index cards.

Mobile
I sync outlook to a blackberry curve. I use the blackberry for processing, capture (This works pretty well and I am adamant to stick with it). The greatest thing about the blackberry is I can mobile blog with e-mail and take little pictures of things that amuse me (a cool way to capture too).

Work
Dual monitor running Outlook 2003, a file drawer and a OLGA 4 drawer side opening cabinet, 1 folder per hanging file of course labeled with a Brother label maker. My inbox is a fake leather bound front opening inbox which I freakin love but it is wearing pretty bad. At work I capture on index cards while walking the floor and a memopad at my desk.

Pumped! but not centered

At work today I had another experience of an energy surge triggered by completing some very large outcomes. The whole way home I felt great and energized and ready to move forward with a lot of different things. I was energized, adrenalized and excited but was I centered? No.
I received another divine tap on the shoulder and realized that I was not in a good state. My mind was racing with possibility and when I really focused my awareness on my body I realized I was in fact a little nauseated. The super adrenaline rush of finishing projects might have felt good but it wasn't conducive to mind like water. I acted fast:

• Quick Mind sweep:
• Install office
• Download photos off camera
• Process Inbox
• Install Monitor
• Homework
• Blog Post (I didn't complete this one in order because waiting for office to install was the perfect time to do my blog post).

I felt reasonably clear and engaged in some meditation. I performed Eric Maisel's 6 breath, 6 thought centering exercise.

1. (I am completely) (Stopping)
2. (I expect) (Nothing)
3. (I am ready) (For anything) – This entry is actually, define your work so I defined the state I wanted to be in.
4. (I embrace)(this moment)
5. (I trust)(my resources)
6. (I return)(with strength)

Once finishing this, I felt good. I felt calm but still full of energy but now the energy came with focus. It was a channeled stream rather than a torrent. I then chose to follow y intuition when it came to my mind sweep, I did the first thing that came to mind, I got the monitor and hooked it up, started to install office (which is taking a while because I had to redownload from the Microsoft site), and worked on this post. I still have a few other things to do, including ones i had captured previously but the cool thing about being centered is I can choose next actions and move forward towards outcomes without concious thought, I am following my intuition.

Does this mean I don't need thought? No, I am still going to process the rest of my list and process through my inbox but now I am much more clear and current and can trust that the actions I choose are the right actions to take.

Clean your garage

Yesterday at work I hit Inbox zero (yes, it does happen on occassion). I had finished processing my e-mail, assigned tasks in my help desk queue and processed my inbox (this one is the most simple conceptually but always garners the most resistance). I was left in the eutopian world free of distraction known as mind like water for a little while and was able to move forward on a couple of key projects and set them up to move with their own momentum which should last a week or two. Big success. But what did that leave me when I went home?

A ton of extra energy, and I have to tell you it felt great. Then I walked into my bed room/office and witnessed the tornado create by myself and Sarah just going back to class and not being home as much. Laundry was everywhere, there were papers pouring out of the entertainment center, school books were all over the floor and the desk was a cluttered mess (mostly my mess too, Sarah is running 14 units so she isn't home enough to make one). What happened?

I almost took on the victim role. It was 16:30 and I had Pan-Technicon at 18:30 so I almost turned on the TV, waited till class began and left to class leaving the mess waiting for me and crowding up most of my psychic RAM. But no, I had been praying pretty hard for guidance and God tapped me on the shoulder and said "No Brian, you have 2 full hours, this is the time you never get to clean and since you were able to clean the decks at work, you have the energy to do it". And I did. And the cool thing about it was amazing creative power was released. The energy I took from work was devoted to the room which, as I made progress, released more energy inspiring me to move my computer to a night stand on the right side of my desk creating study room and room for my inbox which was previously crowded next to my noisy PC.

I finished at 18:25 and was able to make it to class with renewed energy and have enough energy to spend some time with my good friend Daniel after (And for those of you who know I am training for a run, I did not drink any beer) and was inspired to practice some Iaido.

So this is a great example of a David Allen principle. "A surefire way to inspire a creative visions is to clean your garage...closet, desk, room, etc"

Do a Review, any review will do!

I look around at my desk today and think.

What is the best thing for me to be doing right now?

Which one of my big important projects do I work on? Do I take a break (because I am due)? Do I go get a drink of water or do I work on something else? Which item on my numerous lists do I work on? I can’t choose my highest priority project because I have no idea what that is, everything is screaming, do me now.

The message that this tells me is I am not clear, not current, and probably not creative because I have stray thoughts in my mind. Does this mean my system has completely gone to hell and I have lost track? No, I still have my lists in various contexts and Horizons of focus so I can still return to them but is it time to return to them? No.

It is time for a weekly review.

Resistance: A weekly review Brian?

12hourhalfday: Yes

Resistance: But you already did one of those last Friday and it is Monday now. It is a weekly review, not a whenever I feel like it review. That is lunacy. You should do busy work until your uncompleted commitments cause you great anxiety.

Does this inner conversation ever happen to you? I have it often. The term weekly review is a misnomer; it is more of a context and Horizon review (and a brain dump). I do a weekly review on Friday so I can enjoy my weekend and know that I don’t have to worry about work till Monday. But when I come back on Monday I have a morning meeting, 100 e-mails, and input from every employee in my company (this last item is an exaggeration but it feels like it sometimes) all before 9am completely throwing me back off the wagon and into mental chaos. So I do a quick Monday morning review.

What is the Monday morning review for me?

1. An affirmation of how I will feel and what my day, and week will like at their ends.


2. Process my inbox, e-mail, and help desk queue (30 minute limit, I use a 30 second rule rather than a 2 minute rule)


3. A brain dump


4. A review of my project list (no need to review Incubate (What I call someday/Maybe), I did that on Friday.)


5. A break where I take pictures or juggle


6. A creative review of my week.

Even David Allen does multiple reviews if he needs them. My advice: Pretend you have a meter floating above your head which rates your control and perspective for the day. That meter ever dings into the Victim role (no control, no perspective), do a review. You may have to review your NAs (next actions), your projects, Your roles, your responsibilities, your goals, or any larger outcomes but do a review, review it in some way. This may be what you need to get back on track.