Genuine Curiosity

Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.

 

Interesting Finds (oS edition) 2006/04/26

If you've spent much time on David Allen's "Getting Things Done," you know that the goal is to get everything out of your head by putting all your projects, tasks, etc. on lists. Then, you look at the lists, get them to next actions, and renegotiate your internal commitments so that you don't feel guilty, overwhelmed, or otherwise at the mercy of all the stuff on your list. It's easy - put all the things you don't want to do or think about on a "Someday Maybe" list.

The theory behind "Getting Things Done" is that your subconscious will know about this renegotiation and leave you alone about the things you haven't done. That's cool and everything, and I've found it to be a very effective technique. But I think it only works perfectly if all the people around you have the same "Someday Maybe" list that you do. I live in a house with four other family members, and I generally can't get universal agreement on anything, so this sometimes creates challenges.

I've been experimenting with a new way of dealing with this that seems to be working. Here's a story about it:

I've created a new project on my Projects list called "Reduce clutter and get rid of stuff we don't use any more." That is a vague, overwhelming kind of project that I could just leave on a "Someday Maybe" list forever. The challenge with it is, a) it's something I want to do, b) it's hard to know where to start, c) there is no shared sense of urgency around this project, and d) "done" means something different to everyone in the family.

To make progress against this, I have been working with my kids on a periodic "mini-project" called, "Pick one box o' mystery and process it." Processing means:

  • tossing out anything that's trash, broken or unusable,
  • putting misplaced things where they belong,
  • getting rid of stuff we never should've kept in the first place (how many Happy Meal toys do we really need?)
  • sorting and finding a permanent home for anything that looks remotely like a collection,
  • putting anything that's still usable into our 'giveaway box' so we can donate it,
  • etc.

This can apply to any container, drawer, closet, or other vortex of accumulation around the house. At first, it was kind of a pain, but now 2/3 of my kids look forward to it and ask me when we're going to process another box. We do a few a week, and it give us enough progress to feel good about it without feeling like it's eating up all our fun time.

I think this model can apply to lots of ongoing projects with vague "completion" criteria, and have been brainstorming how I can apply this to some of the other parts of my life.

What about you - have you developed any tricks to make the daunting tasks in your life less daunting?

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Audit time!

Lately I've been frustrated that, even after a very busy day, I don't have as much to show as I'd hoped. So, I have gone back to the classic approach as I wrote about last year: I'm time logging again.

This year, my time logging is going more smoothly - I'm doing a lot of it electronically. Here are the basics:

  • I'm using a Microsoft Word document called "timelog.doc" and have added a shortcut to this document to my Startup group on Windows. Therefore, my time log opens up every time I boot my system.
  • I have created a few ActiveWords macros to make things easier.
    • "newday" adds a divider, inserts today's date, and moves me down a couple of lines to start my logging
    • "ct" inserts the current time and a couple of spaces so I can easily timestamp things
    • "log" opens up my time log document (because I accidentally close it a few times a day)
  • I'm logging more "extra" details than I did last time, such as:
    • the activity I need to be doing (or should be doing, or want to do) for the next chunk of time ("Need to review slides for xxx meeting")
      • this allows me to see how many times I end up doing something other than what I intended to do
      • if I deviated from the plan, I fess up on the next timestamp if I didn't do what I set out to do
      • I also record unexpected obstacles - like yesterday when I tried to print my credit card statement for expense purposes, but Chase's card member site was down for a flippin' long time
    • how many messages are in my Inbox (I only do this periodically - usually before I start processing my inbox, then again when I shift to a new task
      • this enables me to see things like
        • how much time I spend processing email
        • how many messages per minute I'm processing (am I meeting or beating the 2 minute rule or not)
        • the impact of any ratholes I got dragged into while doing email
    • how many caffeinated drinks I'm consuming
    • my energy level (on a 1-10 scale)
      • I look at this to see what impact certain foods and drinks have on my energy, as well as which activities energize me
    • what and when I eat and have snacks

I'm only a few days into it, but I'm already uncovering some sources of unproductive time, particularly during the work day. Here are some things I'm seeing so far:

  • It seems my days are either too structured (filled with meetings) or too unstructured (on days when I don't have meetings, I am not being deliberate enough about what I *want* to work on - this is what triggered my previous post)
  • Any time email processing takes me to a web browser, I'm in danger land
  • My mid-morning and mid-afternoon Zone Bars are really good for my energy level
  • I've been drinking way too much caffeine - I've cut it by 75% in the last couple of days
  • I feel better when I take a walk outside at lunch (vs. sitting inside the whole time)
  • I gain energy from making phone calls, but lose energy when I receive them
  • I don't schedule enough "catch up time" after meetings to write up notes, etc.

I'm going to keep doing this for a few more weeks to see how I can tune my behavior, and I know I'll learn more. I'm also looking for a good PalmOS-based time logging system that is easy to use and (ideally) synchs easily with a PC. I'll let you know if I find anything I like.

I highly recommend time logging periodically. If you're interested, a couple of good places you can learn about it are:

Related posts:

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go ugly early

From my time spent in product development, there is an approach that has served me well: "Go ugly early."

This concept involves releasing early iterations of your products so you can allow your customers to interact with them and provide feedback. I'm not talking about releasing unstable or buggy products - I'm talking about releasing stable products that have limited functionality, but which telegraph the shapes of things to come. This can be done on a controlled basis (such as with a limited Beta program)

There are many advantages to this approach. For example:

  1. You allow your customers to become more involved in the evolution of your product.
  2. You provide functionality to the market earlier - this is good for the market and your position in it (assuming you release stable product).
  3. You get early feedback on whether there is even a need for what you've built, enabling course corrections earlier when your sunk costs are lower.
  4. You discover how your product interacts with other products, processes, etc. in the market.
  5. You can often increase your thought leadership and influence in the market.

A similar approach can be used for our personal ideas. If you have an idea, concept, etc. you can often advance the development of that concept by going ugly early and sharing that idea with others for input before you think the idea is "done." Many of the advantages are similar to the ones listed above.

Of course, there are risks in early disclosure. You may give away your secrets and your competitors may gain advantage from what you have released. In business, as with your own ideas, there are multiple ways to address this.

  • Plentiful attitude. Assume there are enough ideas, money, opportunity, etc. to go around and share the idea openly. This approach also works for ideas you are contributing for the greater good (open standards, for example).
  • Scarcity attitude. Assume that revealing your ideas early will expose you to risk of being out-executed, or having your idea show up in others' works. You can control this to a certain degree by limiting disclosure (to a selected group of early adopters, for example), or by putting a non-disclosure agreement in place. In this case, pick your friends wisely.

And there are many shades between these two. Regardless of the end of the spectrum on which you find yourself, there can be a lot of value and "time to market" benefits of going ugly early. Consider this powerful tool in your toolbox - are you incubating any ideas that could benefit from going ugly early?

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GTD 2006.17: Unplanned Work is an oxymoron

In my day job I do a lot of work with IT organizations on best practices -- aka 'best known methods' -- and IT process improvement. I spend a lot of time working with various research bodies (such as Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute, the IT Process Institute, along with other industry bodies). Our goal is to determine and evangelize repeatable ways to improve IT efficiency and effectiveness.

For a while, my fellow researchers and I have been talking about "unplanned work" as the silent killer of IT efficiency. Unplanned work is also known as "firefighting," and it usually means you're being totally reactive to what happens to you and your organization.

In a conversation with a colleague of mine a few hours ago, he told me that unplanned work was eating him alive this week. I joked that there are actually two types of unplanned work:

Type 1: This is our traditional definition of reactive firefighting in which you have to deal with urgent stuff didn't expect.

Type 2: This is work that you've consciously added to your list, but you just don't have a plan.

I asked him how much of his unplanned work was self-inflicted -- type #2.

Over the past couple of hours, my mind has drifted back to that discussion and I realized it wasn't just a joke, and it applies to our own personal productivity. When I look at days in my life that have seemed chaotic and unproductive, or taken on a life of their own, I realize that one of these two kinds of unplanned work are often at the heart of my frustration.

And my fondness for procrastination just amplifies both of these. Procrastination is particularly "effective" on Type 2, because those are the situations in which I probably don't know what the next action really is.

After pondering (wallowing?) a bit more, I realized that David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) is effective because it tries to deal with both of these issues head-on. After all, the proper use of GTD combats firefighting by helping you systematically deal with (or renegotiate) the things that "show up" in your day. GTD also combats Type 2 by providing you with a system to ensure that you don't have a bunch of ambiguous, unplanned projects or next inactions sitting there on your action lists.

What about you? Do you find yourself dealing with lots of unplanned work these days? Might be time for a refresher on the basics of Getting Things Done.

Related posts:

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Stuck in a rut? Why not make a breakthrough?

Just heard from my friend Lisa Haneberg that she's rolling out an all new version of her "2 Weeks To A Breakthrough" program. As you may recall, I was involved in the first round of this program earlier this year. I loved it and recommend it to you if you want to achieve a breakthrough performance on any big challenges, hopes, and dreams. Or, if you just want to stop doing the "same old same old," this will do it for you.

The new program features improvements like:

  • A better, more complete preparation workbook
  • Daily worksheets with more examples
  • More personalized attention - each person will receive a minimum of 3 one-on-one sessions with Lisa, and she will email personalized ideas to each person

To me, that last bullet is the best part. Lisa rocks.

The course description and details are up on the breakthrough blog now - check it out here where you'll find details about the process, the benefits, and how to get started.

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