When people take action (or so I've heard) they tend to do it because they are moving away from pain or toward pleasure.
Read MoreGenuine 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.
Getting Things Done in the American Way
I took a flight on American Airlines this week, and there is a great article on Getting Things Done (GTD) in their in-flight magazine, American Way. Pick up a copy on your next flight or check it out online.
You'll find first-hand testimonials from some great GTD mentors like Mark Orchant (aka "ark Orchant" in the online version) and Michael Hyatt. This article is also a great way to give your unindoctrinated friends a great intro to GTD.
Read MoreGTD 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:
- It ain't like brushing your teeth (November 23, 2005)
- Outlook and GTD - Filing and Archiving Tips (September 01, 2005)
- Getting your Inbox to Empty: Dealing with the first email purge (August 24, 2005)
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[Updated] Bring your jumper cables for the jump start of your life
Last year, I read Rosa Say’s book, “Managing with Aloha” (MWA) and, as I wrote in my review (”Not what, or how - but why?”) it is a truly special book. At the time, I found it challenging to write about Rosa’s book because it was so easy to feel strongly about it but so hard to explain in a way that does it justice. I always just summarize it down to “You’ve gotta read it, and you’ve gotta learn what it means to you.”
You may recall that I recently wrote about Rosa’s book as one of my favorite books from 2005. All of my favorite books have one thing in common - they not only touched something in me when I read them; they all ended up being books that have become ongoing influences in my life since I’ve read them. I keep revisiting, re-reading, and reflecting on them and continue to find new ways to apply the wisdom they hold.
So, it was with great pleasure that I learned of a cool project Rosa is starting to help people create a personal connection with her book. Whether you’ve read MWA or not, there’s another thing “you’ve gotta do” — check out Rosa’s new Jumpstart Program for Managing with Aloha. See what Aloha is all about.
Update: You should also check out Rosa’s post over at Lifehack.org, on the 10 Beliefs of Great Managers.
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Read MoreGimme some of your tots, Napoleon...
OK, so I was way late to the party on seeing Napoleon Dynamite. We just watched it a couple of weeks ago on a family movie night, but we all loved it. I think it's one of those movies you love or you hate (hint: watch it to the end, and it's really a love story - trust me). My whole family quotes the movie all the time now, and my 5-year-old has mapped our family to all the characters (I'm Uncle Rico, apparently).
Anyway, a friend of mine heard me repeating sound bites and sent me a link to what I call "Napoleon Bill Gates," more commonly known as "Bill Gates Goes to College" on IFilm Very funny - to add to the irony, the video is much smoother if you watch it in QuickTime format on the IFilm site.
Related Technorati posts: fun