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.

 

What about a GTD merit badge?

Over the past year or so, I've become increasingly involved in my son's Boy Scout troop. I know the Boy Scouts get some bad raps sometimes, but I'm so happy my son's involved in the Scouts.

I've seen a bunch of pretty cool boys get the chance to try their hand at leading others (anyone who's been promoted into a role in which they manage their peers knows it can be tough - imagine what it's like for a 15-year-old!).

I've seen boys who get a ration of abuse at school because scouting isn't cool, but refuse to cave in. I've seen boys push through life challenges (family issues, sport / job / girl pressures, learning disabilities) and hang in there until they become Eagle scouts.

These boys help people - I've worked beside them during grueling community service projects I know I'd have bailed on when I was in high school. They participate in food drives, and other activities to benefit the less fortunate.

Some of these kids will be impressive leaders because of the skills they develop in the Scouts, and I've seen some of them deliver presentations that gave me goosebumps. One year, I spent some time at one of the summer camps and couldn't believe the professionalism and skill with which 17 and 18 year old camp staffers handled rowdy groups of young scouts.

Of course, they also have fun. My son and I will be going on a snow tubing overnighter on Mt. Hood this weekend, which should be a blast.

I mentioned I've been getting more involved - last week, I decided to get Scout leader training so I could be an Assistant Scoutmaster and "officially" help the Troop (I was impressed with the training, particularly the emphasis on Youth Protection practices to keep the kids safe).

Where am I going with all this? Well, I would just like to encourage you to consider supporting the Scouts (Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, I'm not picky) any way you can - the Scouting programs are so good for kids. To help out with financial support, contact your local Scout council and find out about becoming a "Friends of Scouting" donor.

Oh - and the GTD merit badge? The boys involved in scouting learn a lot about balancing the conflicting priorities of home, school, friends, church, and adolescence. They earn merit badges, rank advancements, and help with service projects, but still keep it together enough to get good grades in school, participate in sports, and have a social life. Pretty cool stuff (Yet another reason I wish I'd gotten into it more when I was their age!)

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Not alone...

Good perspective on "falling off the wagon" with GTD over on "Open Loops", particularly with regard to assessing where you are. I find that you're never as far off as you think, but that doesn't always make it easy to get back on the path.

The advantage of following these methodologies is that there are a lot of kindred souls to learn from.

I'm reading yet another couple of books that I think can add to the "community of practice" on this. Will be finishing them up on a cross-county trek tomorrow, so look for a summary by the weekend.

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Getting Things...Stuck?

I'm noticing a proliferation of blog posts (for example, Punkey alludes to it,  as does Steve Pavlina) in which people talk about how they are "stuck" with GTD (David Allen's "Getting Things Done") or have some fundamental issue with keeping it going. What's up with that?

I've had my own challenges with this. I started out loving the GTD system, then got a bit "stuck" and started to feel like I had gotten a lot of things done, but wasn't feeling all that good about them because they didn't feel focused.

I think it's partially about rigor and consistency around GTD - that's hard to maintain sometimes. I also think the Weekly Review is a big part of making it work, and that's one of the first things to go when life gets hectic.

Without a Weekly Review, items get stagnant in my lists (and they begin to repel me, so it feeds on itself).

Another aspect of this challenge: I think you have to inject the higher calling into your processing of your lists and planning of your week. I totally neglected this for a while (David Allen's "50,000 foot view" is part of this, as is the Covey Mission Statement). That's so touchy feely and introspective, I figured I'd get to it later. Trouble is, it wasn't even on my Someday / Maybe list.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance - and that applies for GTD, too. I am not giving up - just continuing to try to learn and improve.

What's your experience been like?

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The joy of emptiness

Whew. I just returned from a business trip and had a nice, long, 5+ hour flight home last night. It was great. Why?

That time gave me the chance to do a weekly review and get my inboxes to empty for the first time since... can you believe it... January 6. Man, that had been bugging me.

It's been a busy year both personally and professionally so far, and I kept putting off the core of David Allen's Getting Things Done - I wasn't doing my weekly review.

If you've never basked in the glow of an empty inbox, you don't know what you're missing. And the weekly review is the only way to get there feeling clean, fresh, and new. (The delete all method just makes you paranoid - trust me on that one.)

So why had I been so lame on weekly reviews? Clues were raining down on me - undoubtedly attracted by my guilty subconscious and aided by happenstance or divine intervention.

I was succumbing to the Resistance I'd read about in The War of Art, which someone happened to suggest to me when I really needed to read it. I found a nice diversion in trying out an Audiovox xv6600 Pocket PC in one of the "new device binges" I mentioned a while back (I just switched back to my trusty Treo 600 using GoodLink for mail and calendaring, and using Chapura's KeySuite for synching my notes and action lists with Outlook). Even as I wrote about them here, I was falling into the same old patterns.

Thank goodness for long flights with bad movies. Thank goodness for an empty inbox.

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Caution: Merging traffic

One of the challenges I've encountered with all the workflow and prioritization techniques I've used and studied is around how to "merge" it into your life.

There are a several aspects that have been challenging to me:

Merging my new workflow into projects and activities already under way

Merging my new approach into effective interactions with others who aren't using this new workflow

Merging new (hopefully better) habits into my old habits and weeding out the old habits that are counterproductive

If I combine bits I've picked up from Covey, David Allen, and others, my key take-aways for how to manage this merge are:

Use your new method diligently for at least 21-30 days to help establish it as a habit.

Make your new systems and associated commitments visible, if you can - for example, let your family and at least some of your co-workers know what you're up to (and why you might be acting funny).

If you want to go a step further, find a "workout partner" that will take on the new system with you.

Keep the system as simple as possible (or as complicated as necessary, but no more than that) so you don't give it up because it's too hard to maintain.

Begin with a clear "short list" of things you want out of the new system - whether that's better life balance, improved productivity, increased focus, better results, more meaning in your life, etc. - and track progress against that short list.

Keep track of the "wins" as you go - they will help you keep going (I've heard that every time you play golf, there usually at least one shot you make that gets you back out on the course the next time - look for those shots in your life, as well).

Share what you learn with others. This has a couple of benefits - you get more moral support, and by teaching others you are compelled towards mastery of the topic.

If you have problems, don't give up. Get back on your program and spend some time reflecting on why you lost momentum, and what you can do to tweak (or trim) your system to make it less likely you'll get stalled again. This is "Weekly Review" time for GTD, and "Sharpen the Saw" time for Covey-ites.

My list is just scratching the surface - what have you learned?

The bottom line is that all of this is worth it. A friend of mine this week reminded me of a verse from Proverbs: "You use steel to sharpen steel; and one friend sharpens another." - I think it's a good symbol for how we need to find the right ways to improve ourselves, and our friends can help.

And you can always hope that you're the friend that your friends turn to when they need sharpening.

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