It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools

In my previous post on GTD I mentioned that I was a time management junkie. My problem is that I've always been a "binge time manager" in that I'd use a tool very diligently for a while, then I'd stop. Then I'd invariably move on to a new tool after some period of disarray and frustration.

On my quest for the silver bullet of day planners, I tried lots of things. The boxes in my garage are like a museum for this stuff - I have Franklin Planners of every shape and size (and even several calculator page finders), Covey planners from before and after the merger with Franklin Quest, about every type of PDA you can imagine, and a ton of desktop software to go with it.

Why so many variations? Sometimes it was the different approaches the systems espoused ("Let me try it this way - that will work."); sometimes it was a different form of the same thing ("If it were smaller, it'd be easier to carry" or "If it were larger, I'd be able to write more things in it"), and sometimes the gadget freak in me won.

Some of these things were great, some weren't. None of them was the lasting solution I sought. Of course, it must've been the tool's fault, right?

When I discovered GTD, I found that it "fit" me better than the other solutions. Part of the reason is that it works regardless of the tools you use. You can use "caveman" tools like yellow legal pads and file folders  -and GTD works. You can use high tech gadgetry (I still love that stuff - more on that in the next few days) - and GTD works.

The bottom line is that David Allen's system is revolutionizing the way work gets done. I've connected with co-workers who have also improved their results with GTD, and we're all using different things for trusted systems.

So, is it perfect? In some ways, yes, in other - no. But it's the best I've found.

More on the imperfections in future posts, as well - and my opinions on how many of the imperfections are not the tool's fault.

(Oh - and by the way - those piles of things in my garage? They really ought to be gone - but that's on my Someday Maybe list so I don't have to worry abou that right now).

Click to read more ...

Getting Things Done (GTD): The turning point

Last year, I began a sort of "vision quest" to get more productive, organized, and focused. I've been on and off the wagon quite a bit during that time, but it's starting to take me less time to get back on the wagon.

For me, the breakthrough was finding David Allen's "Getting Things Done" - a book and much more. Like a lot of the people I know, I've been a bit of a "time management system junkie" for a long time (since my first Franklin planner and training course in the late 80's). Franklin (then Covey, then Franklin Covey, etc.) worked well on a number of levels, but it just didn't scale.

David's system is phenomenal for cutting through all the crap and getting you to a different plane of focus. If you haven't been exposed to it, Getting Things Done (GTD for short) is all about getting tasks (and all the other information that you need to track) out of your head and into a "trusted system" where you can deal with it on purpose. The key is identifying the "Next Action" for every project, wannado, gottado in your life. So, where do you start? Here are the first actions I recommend:

1. Buy and read David Allen's book Getting Things Done (see my link under "Recommended Reading" to find it) - this will get you through the basics

2. Buy and listen to the CD "Getting Things Done Fast" available from the store at David Allen's web site - this will really make it all "click" for you  (at least it did for me)

Stay tuned here and I'll share some of the other hard lessons I've learned on this vision quest of mine in hopes that it helps you find your path more quickly.

Click to read more ...

Door to door magazine racket

It seems like a couple of young fellows show up at my door every month or so "trying to earn points" by offering me overpriced magazine subscriptions. The pitch varies - sometimes, it's so they can earn money for college, sometimes it's job training, sometimes it's a program to help inner city youth learn responsibility and work their way out of their current situation (that last one is the most tempting one).

I don't know anything about them other than that the company on their paperwork is always from a city in Indiana, so there seems to be some connection. They seem to be from all over the country, though a few are from my local area. I don't need the magazines (especially at those prices), and their slick sales pitch makes me very suspicious for some reason - if they can talk that persuasively, seems like a more mainstream sales job should be attainable.

Anyone have any other insight or experience on this?

Click to read more ...

Living transparently

I was in a training session this week run by Barry Rhein, a personal and professional mentor of mine. In the session, he talked about something I'm beginning to think of as "transparent living." Even though the session was focused on creating a holistic account plan from a sales perspective, it forked off into a discussion about the importance of having specific written goals.

This has been a big focus area for me lately, as I'm one of those people who "doesn't want to be restricted by written goals" (or at least that's the way I used to describe it, until I realized I was just in denial). Part of my mental wiring makes me hungry for new information and inputs, and I liked the flexibility of not having a defined set of priorities. At this stage in my life, it's becoming clear that I really need to focus my time and energy in fewer areas to increase my impact on the world I live in, and written goals are central to that.

What really knocked me upside the head was Barry's questioning around how widely our personal and professional goals are shared and communicated. For example, he asked if I had written goals that were hanging up in my house for the whole family to see so they can understand where my priorities are at this point in my life. Wow...

That represents a big shift for me, and I'm working on my plan (and my gumption) to get there. I guess I should probably write that plan down...

Click to read more ...

Finding your voice

I recently bought Stephen Covey's new book "The 8th Habit" and have been spending some time listening to it. I must say, it is certainly thought-provoking. The essence of the book is divided into two parts:

1. Find Your Voice

2. Inspire Others To Find Their Voice

This book is all about anchoring your actions and decisions to your values and passion, and about providing encouragement and opportunity to others to give them a chance to make Meaningful contributions. Easier than it sounds, of course, but a very inspiring concept.

I've always remembered Covey's statement that a vital aspect of success in life is "Integrity in the moment of truth" - something it's easy to forget when the pressure is on and short cut approaches become more attractive.

Click to read more ...