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.

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.

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.

Working on a purpose statement

One of my daily projects is to brainstorm my purpose statement (A statement to help continually drive and guide my actions and choose my priorities). For the GTD minded this is the 50,000 foot level.

 

My process started with the natural planning model and works it's way to a draft statement:

 05:36 1/12/2009

I am guided by God to use my free will to make healthy choices in activity and diet, be friendly to those around me and be loving, learn continually, and look for opportunities to spread God's word, I live in the moment past expectations good and bad. I live prayfully letting God guide my choices. I accept failure as success in the learning process.

 It is still a work in progress; below is the process reading from most recent to first entry so if you want to get an idea of the process, start from the bottom and end with the entry above.

 11:49:33 Sun, Jan 11, 2009

I am sitting in the lunch area at the orange county swap meet and am pondering my purpose. I have stated some principles and am working on a purpose statement from them.
Here is a good foundation:
I am guided by God
I can add to this:
With the free will given to me by God I choose to make healthy choices in activity and diet, be friendly to those around me, be loving, learn continually, and look for opportunities to spread God's word. I live in the moment past expectations good or bad.

1/6/08 8:26

A life purpose should be based on principles

• What are my principles?


• Do good


• Being nice to people is good


• Be nice to people


• Spread God's word


• Live in the moment


• never stop learning


• act the beginner


• be relaxed


• control your emotions


• Take care of your body


• Live prayfully


• Keep your mind like water


• Keep your commitments to yourself as well as others


• Don't buy anything you won't use and when you use it, use the hell out of it.


• Anything can be learned from a book.

For next time; how do I present these principles as a purpose?

06:29 12/30/2008

I just wrote up a few notes in my "notebook" but it wasn't flowing so now I am typing.

Brainstorming my life purpose

I have a lot of anxiety about this project. Why? Because it is big; this is my life purpose we are talking about.

• What if I eff it up?


• What if I make a mistake here? There is a frase, "my life is ruined" and it never really is but let's say you pick the wrong life purpose then your life really is ruined.


• Ok, slow down and breathe. Let's explore what is causing the anxiety. Worry that you will ruin your life.


• How is my life so far?


• Scale of 1-10 - 10 My life is good, I am working in the job I want and have always wanted and I m with a girlfriend that loves me and I love her That is more then I need so life is good, I have a home with little expense and have a very loving family.

So how can I build on that?

2008

• Iaido


• Taught the class


• Gained back weight lost last year


• Started counseling again


• started blog


• started photography page


• Got new SLR


• Decided Photography is a priority


• Formed a romantic relationship with Sarah


• Sarah moved in


• Went to Texas


• Studied traditional Iaido
  Formed a friendship and mutual mentorship with Tara


• Continued with the GTD study group


• Started checking the checkbook every day on a consistent basis


• Formed a daily checklist


• Signed up Sarah with the Gym


• Got a bus pass

2009

• I am starting a martial arts class next week


• I could get my bike fixed and start riding regularly


• I could start mountain climbing and hiking


• I am continuing to expand my photography gear


• Work on previous vision - Japan, add to it, photographer, student


• Add health goals to vision- How do I see my body in the future?


• Form better eating habits

 

What am I?

A learner, a Christian, a martial artist, a writer, an artist, a photographer, an athlete

17:32 12/28/2008

Life Purpose

What is my life purpose? I am trying to come up with something and looking for guidance in other places but what do I really want from life or more appropriately what does God want for me?

I have already established that it is not arrogance to think about my life purpose because God wants to have a relationship with me and he wants my participation in this.

So what do I love, what do I want, and what does God want for me?

What do I love?

What is love to me, a feeling of intense joy that results from the practice?

I love photography.

A life purpose - Photographing the world

That is a good one but a hard one to dedicate one's life too

Curing Breast cancer

I loved working on the Komen charity and facilitating the charity at work.

To live moment by delicious moment

To act with intention and not habit

What do I want to be able to do?>

I want to be more loving; I want to want to be more loving. I want to enjoy hard work and welcome it with open arms. I want to be independent and not afraid of hard work and hard times.

I want to be free of the crutch of comfort.

I like comfort though; do I really want to be free of it? Do I really want to be free of comfort?

 

 

Natural Planning Model for Sleep Project

I woke up at 10 to 7 this morning. I slept at 1am. This particular issue is really
eating at me. I want to get to bed earlier but feel blocked.
I want to blame everyone around me whether they be work or family but I know
in my heart that it is my choice and I am merely making excuses.
Why can't to bed earlier? What is stopping me? The answer that whispers in
my head is, "because you don't want to". I know I really do want it. I want earlier
nights and earlier mornings like I used to have. I want to be able to proclaim "every
hour of sleep before midnight is worth two and every hour up before noon
is worth two"
What is the next action? I don't know. I will have to walk myself through the
natural planning model.

Natural Planning Model for Sleeping Earlier Waking Earlier Project
1. What is the purpose and principles? (Why do I want to get to bed earlier
and what rules am I abiding by?)
Purpose:
I want to get to bed earlier because I like how I feel when I sleep that schedule.
I enjoy the energy, morning clarity, and the ability to accomplish more in the
morning.
Principles:
I want to start getting to bed earlier but I also want flexibility, if an activity
requires being up late then I don't want to be left out of it.
2. What is the desired outcome?

What would wild success look like?

In this case wild success would be I curl up into bed every night between 7:00PM
and 9:00PM and wake up between 3:30am and 4:30am. My best memories of good sleep
come from going to bed at 7, sleeping in became getting up at 4. I wake up bright
and early with a smile and am up and to the shower or the gym without hesitation.
My skin is in better shape, my anxiety becomes more manageable, and I slowly
but surely get back into my optimal athletic shape.



3. Brainstorming

What are all the things that occur to me about this? What is the
current reality? What do I know? What do I not know? What ought I consider?
What haven’t
I considered? Etc.

• Design a reward system for keeping a chain of early bed
• Take melatonin and valarien root
  
• Go to the gym at 4 or even better, 3:30 after work which will help you
  sleep.
  
• Start jogging
  
• Practice getting up earlier when you are not tired to ingrain
  it into your subconscious.
  
• Keep a dream journal
  
• Talk to your family about your commitment and get ideas
  
• Research sleep on line
  
• Don’t be too strict with a time
  
• This is connected to my health and fitness project as well as my anxiety
  management project so this should help me with anxiety, procrastination,
  energy levels, etc.
  
• I should take before and after pictures and blog about
  my progress.
• I could use the checklists in GTDagenda.com (will blog about
  this soon).
  
• Take a shower before bed
  
• Get a new bed frame
  
• I can add meditation to my sleep state to my daily meditation.
  
• I definitely have to pray about this – Why does prayer never pop
  into my mine first?
  
• Make sure to budget melatonin and valerian.
  
• I am celebrating the completion of another goal (Daily budget planning
  on nov 30th). This could be part of my next goal. So my preparation will
  be due by Nov 30th
  
• I have to make sure that my life is still balanced with my relationship
  with my girlfriend and family around this sleeping schedule.
  
• If I fall off the wagon I need to jump back on the next day and not
  let it discourage me.
  
• What mistakes can I learn from?I know not to be inflexible the last
  time I did this I set a flat time and it was too difficult to maintain around
  other commitments. But I also know not to let peer pressure talk me out of
  this. I know in my heart that this works for me. I will discuss this with
  family first thought because it is a big change and resistance is rampant
  during a big change.
  
• What skills do I have that can help me with this? I know how to practice
  and I know how to negotiate with resistance.
  
• What could happen? I end up in a fight with my girlfriend because I
  don’t want to stay up. Can I handle it? Yes, I need to be open in discussions
  with my family before starting the project since my schedule doesn’t
  only effect me.
  
• What about Wednesday nights? This will be a bit of a schedule shift
  since I get off work at 9:30, how can I handle this? Work a normal schedule
  on those days and do my homework sporadically and on Saturdays. I will have
  to make homework a daily goal and Sunday the catchup day, Wednesday can no
  longer be the deadline.
  
• Who would have concern about the success of this project? Myself, I
  would feel a great victory if I did this. My work would see a positive change
  right away and welcome it with open arms
  
• What’s the worst idea you can imaging about doing this project?I
  am really tired and irritability at first and it is hard to deal with.
  
• What is the best idea?The new scheduled applies seamlessly and I am
  awake and bright every day, I lose 30 pounds in 3 months.
  
• What would make this project particularly unique?If I maintained periodic
  journal and blog posts about it.
• I can. I KNOW I CAN, I HAVE DONE IT BEFORE. I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS OUTCOME
  AND WILL BE ABLE TO ACOMPLISH IT!
  

4. Organizing
Identify components (sub-projects), sequences, and/or priorities.
What needs to happen to make the whole thing happen?
Create outlines, bulleted lists, or organizing charts, as needed for review
and control

Calendar

• Talking to family at brunch on 11/3
  

Related Projects

• Set up Daily Lists
  
  • Daily Exercise
  • Daily Meditation
  • Daily Journal
• Rearrange room so bed is under window. This won’t directly help me
  sleep but making a big change like this always seem to boost my creative
  energy at the beginning of a big project.

Sub Projects

• Get light blocking curtains for bedroom window
• Get new bed frame
  

5. Next Actions
Determine next actions on current independent components. (What should
be done next, and who will do it?)
If more planning is required, determine the next action to get that to happen.

• Calendar - Schedule discussion in brunch notes
  
• @home – Log into gtdagenda.com and set up daily list
  
• add sleep earlier get up later to projects – personal list
  
• add Daily Exercise, Daily mediation, Daily Journal to project notes for Daily
  Checklist project. (Thanks Barb for this idea)
  
• @home – Checkbook – Budget -50 for light blocking curtains
  
• @home – Checkbook – Budget
  -50 for bed frame

I think this will be a very successful project.