May 27, 2008 by Kara.

Earlier today a colleague called. She was frantic because I hadn’t responded to an email message she had sent. She read the text of the message to me and I didn’t recall receiving the message. We had a good conversation on the phone and got the questions she had resolved. However, it bothered me I didn’t receive her message. I finally did a search for the message and found it in my Junk Mail folder. This happens occasionally, but I usually sweep through junk mail once a day and grab anything important out. The thing that caused me to write this post is the person who called said she didn’t understand why I wasn’t responding to her. When I looked at the date on the email it was from last Friday (May 23rd).

Generally, I respond to email within two business days. I try to process email at least twice a day - normally once in the morning and once in the afternoon. If I can deal with it in two minutes - it’s done and out of there. If it’s a task that requires more than two minutes and isn’t immediately due, I’ll put it in Remember The Milk. If it is something that doesn’t fit one of those two categories I’ll generally email the person and let them know my course of action on responding and then go from there. And, of course, a lot just gets read and deleted or filed. And, as I said, I sweep junk mail at least once a day to make sure nothing of importance goes in there.

So, dear reader, how long is not long enough before we raise the panic alarm on an email that has not been responded to? Is my two business day rule (which due to the holiday yesterday wasn’t yet expired) too long for today’s fast-paced communication? I welcome your thoughts.

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October 5, 2007 by Kara.

A few days ago, Craig Childs wrote how to Write a Personal Mission Statement in 5 Steps.  It’s a good article that summarizes Randall S. Hansen’s 5 step plan for writing a personal mission statement.  The process outlined by Dr. Hansen is:
1.  Identify Past Successes
2.  Identify Core Values
3.  Identify Contributions
4.  Identify Goals
5.  Write Mission Statement
Earlier this year, while I was looking for a little direction in life, I spent some time trying to determine what my personal mission statement should be.  I spent quite a bit of time on the Franklin Covey web site, using their Mission Statement Builder.
The Mission Statement Builder comes in three “flavors” - Kickstart, Museum, and Journey.  Each provides a different way of deriving your mission statement and you get the opportunity to wordsmith your final product when you’re finished.  I went through all three of the tools and also did a little soul searching to come up with the following which is long, but is still meaningful to me as I read it today, even given the changes in my circumstances to a job I love and a new home which have helped to resolve many of the issues I was having at the time.

Powered by ScribeFire.

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July 21, 2007 by Kara.

Today is one of those days where you take a deep breath, relax your shoulders, and realize that sometimes in life - you just start over.  I have accepted a new position and will be moving.  Obviously, this blog - with it’s title - Ho’ohana - is about finding worthwhile and meanful work.  Work that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning.  Work that lights that passion fire inside of you and makes you want to excel at everything you do.  I feel like, in the last four years, I’ve been walking around in a cave in my current job.  It’s a great job - and will be a fantastic job - for someone else.  But, it’s not a wonderful job for me.  I’ve taken a job back where my passion is - in a place where I was happy before - so one can only hope that this will have the same positive impact as my previous jobs had.

This job does mean a relocation away from family and friends, although only about 70 miles, but this too brings an opportunity for a fresh start and for new experiences.  Yesterday I made an offer on a house - should hear today whether it is accepted, or countered. 

So, for the next few weeks - if I can get a few spare minutes to write and can still find the computer amidst all the boxes, I’ll share with you some of the ways I’ve used GTD in the home buying process already and how I already have planned my new house with GTD and general productivity in mind.

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July 3, 2007 by Kara.

1. Listen - Photoshop 2 minute tricks (in audio and video formats)
2. Learn - Hewlett Packard Online Free Classes for IT Professionals and the general public
3. Learn - MIT Open Courseware - hundreds of MIT courses there for your perusal anytime
4. Link - Lifehacker
5. Live - Take an Earthwatch vacation - learn while you see some of the most amazing scenery in the world and help advance scientific research.
6. Learn - Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina
7. Learn - Annenberg Media

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June 20, 2007 by Kara.

I’ve recently come to a new conclusion.  Saying no doesn’t have to be painful - in fact - it can be the most freeing experience of your life.

By nature, I’m a person who wants to please.  I like to meet deadlines.  (Okay - so you wouldn’t know it from my blog posting schedule and the fact I didn’t keep it up very well - but two posts in four days - I’m getting better).  I like to help people.  I believe in leaving things better than the way I found them.  I also have a deep seated interest in learning about new things, improving the quality of life for those around me, and doing good works.  But sometimes, you have to say No.

Saying no is critical to not letting your system get bogged down and ending in a lack of productivity because you procrastinate or simply avoid doing that which you’ve said you’ll do.  I find at the points when I’m the most stressed, the most worried about something, the most troubled is when I have said yes to a project or task that I really didn’t know how to do or really didn’t want to do - but saying yes was easier than saying No.  Why was it easier - it’s always easier to say yes than to say no.

When you think about Saying No in the context of GTD, I realize that saying no actually refers to two of the “four d’s” - do it, defer it, delegate it, drop it.  In fact, if you want to be truly honest about it - saying no to doing it yourself actually covers 75% of those items.  Only do it - make it an actionable project, right now, that you let into your own system - is actually saying “Yes” to something.  The other three imply that it shouldn’t enter your sphere of doing - but should go into someone else’s or not be done at all.

I recently got better at saying No while trying out a little stint on eLance.  I’m taking a cruise in a few months.  I can pay for the cruise with savings, but am looking at buying a new house in the next few months so really don’t want to dig in my savings right now.  I decided I could try out eLance for a few months, make a quick few bucks and be on my way.  I’ll write more about the eLance experiment later, but let’s just say that not all jobs are for me.  Here were my quick steps to determining whether to accept a project or not accept a project:

1. Does it have a clear objective? If the person requesting the project can explain it to me quickly and easily and includes the deliverables they expect and the timeline, then move on.  If not, say No.
2. Is it a project that fits in my job description? When freelancing, this is more of a thing of whether it fits your talents, abilities, and interests.  But, I’ve applied this in my 8-5 as well - does it really belong in my work unit or does someone else more naturally have all or most of the parts and pieces that go into this.  Now - this one is tough because you can become “that person” who shoves their work off onto everyone else.  I find it’s easiest to do my parts - fill in everything that does belong to me - and not hesitate to send other people’s stuff to them to do.
3. Are you getting good feedback from the requester?  I’m still negotiating a couple of eLance projects - and just said no to the biggest dollar bid I’ve had up until this point.  Why?  Because it’s taken two months for the person to approve the bid and now there is a huge checklist of things they want from me immediately.  I’ve followed up every week for two months - trying to get information from them on when this will start - after getting an initial indication that I was going to be awarded the project - and heard nothing.  Yesterday I was awarded the project and need to have the outline to them by Monday.  Obviously, if this was my prime mode of making money then I’d have no choice but to give up my weekend plans and take on this project - but as an experiment I realize it’s not for me and I can say no.
4. When the project doesn’t fit with your passions - Again, in the 8 - 5 world this doesn’t always work.  But, in the advent of a world where we can begin to create our own destiny through freelance projects and freelance work I’ve found it’s easier to not take a job that doesn’t fit with who I am as a person.  I’m happy to take jobs and assignments that help me grow as a person but if a job conflicts in any way with who I am, I simply say no.

Saying no doesn’t have to mean you’re not committed… Another thing I’ve come to realize is that saying no doesn’t mean I’m not committed to something.  It just means that what the person is asking for at the moment I can’t give.  I would love to give to far more charities than I can - give of my time, my money, and my talents.  I can’t do it all - and neither can anyone else.  It doesn’t mean that I’m not committed to doing my own part.  Care about the environment - recyle.  Care about help others - give blood or donate your old items to a charity.  Practice a random act of kindness.  You might restore someone’s faith in the decency of humanity.

Saying no doesn’t have to be painful…Finally - I hate saying no.  But, it’s important you tell the person no - not in a way that is harsh - but in a way that simply communicates you’re not the right person for the job at the moment - for whatever reason.  There are lot’s of guides to saying no, but one that I like is at OnlineOrganizing.com.  I particularly feel it’s important to decline something when you know if you do say yes the best you’ll be able to do is a mediocre job. 

What ways do you use to decide to say no to a project?

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June 16, 2007 by Kara.

If you’re a regular reader (hard to be that when so far I’m publishing a new post once over two months), you will recall that I’m trying to find Productivity Nirvana.  You might guess - as far behind as I am in the posting schedule I created - that I haven’t reached it yet.  No excuses - I’ll get around to that post on procrastination and all the other stuff that’s been keeping me busy - somday

So, this installment of the Productivity Nirvana series is on When To Ask For Help.  I find it difficult to ask people for help.  All sorts of things run through my head before asking a person to help me - they won’t want to do it but will feel obligated if I ask; they’ll say no (that old fear of rejection); they’ll want something in return.  It’s a little easier if you’re paying them to help you out because then you don’t necessarily have to worry about having to return the favor, but money is a precious resource we shouldn’t waste so here is a quick guide to when to ask for help.

1. Ask your parents for help - My dad’s eyes light up when I ask him for help.  Granted, I typically reciprocate with help at the computer or some other task at which he’s not so great - but he loves to help me out with projects.  My parents (yours may not be the same so you’ll have to judge that for yourself) are not shy about telling me no if they can’t/don’t want to do something so this is a no brainer for me - if I need help and mom or dad can provide it, I’ll ask.
2. Pay the kid down the street - I hurt my back recently.  Hurt it badly - as in can’t even lift the cat kind of badly.  My flower beds fell victim to a complete lack of ability to get out there and work in them.  I was contemplating having to call a professional service in to pull weeds, plant new annuals, spread mulch, etc. when I decided to ask some of the local kids if they were interested in the work.  Now, for just $7.50 per hour plus cold drinks and popsicles in the fridge/freezer, I have all the help I want whenever I need.  And, with just a small amount of instruction, the quality of work is OUTSTANDING!!!  The kids - who manage hectic summer schedules with camps, ball practices, summer reading groups, and active social lives - are not at an age to hold down true jobs but still like a little running money.  You can negotiate how to pay them - either though PayPal or cash/check.
3. Delegate - If you are lucky enough to have a trusted assistant and/or staff that can assist you don’t be afraid to delegate tasks to them - and let them grow in the process. I’ve begun delegating some of the more complex projects I work with at work in small chunks to staff members to “start on them”.  They do some key idea generation and I’m not stuck staring at a blank screen.  Always, Always, Always give credit where it is due though - never be the boss who has the staff do all the work and then you take all the credit.  You won’t win points with the staff you’re coming to rely on and if the boss finds out whose idea that really was you may be shocked who gets the next promotion.
4. When you’ve helped others - I have friend with whom I regularly trade tasks.  A good friend of mine is great at fixing broken electronics but hates to paint.  I love to paint and am terrible at fixing stuff when it’s broken.  So, we just trade.  Try to keep it even - but when you can’t free food goes a long way towards evening up the trade.
5. Before you get in over your head - I’ve gained enough wisdom to know there are certain tasks I probably shouldn’t do myself - and some that I simply can’t do myself.  Before you start something that you’re not going to be able to finish ask for help.  Obviously, we sometimes get into situations we don’t anticipate but don’t be embarassed and let it get worse and worse because you don’t want to ask for help.  Think of all the time you’re spending worrying over it and how much stress it’s causing you to not have it done once you’ve started it.  You may need to ask for help in getting it done.

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April 18, 2007 by Kara.

So, I’m about a month overdue for this posting.  No excuses - I’m just late.  Perhaps I’ll add a post on dealing with interruptions and procrastination.  Onto our post…

If there is one criticism I have of Getting Things Done by David Allen, it’s that the focus of the book is on you getting things done.  But for many of us, there are many other people in our lives who either work with us, for us, or are partners with us, in the terms of marriage and family, who may be willing to - or through the responsibilities of their job be required to - assist us with the various next actions and projects we face every single day. 

For me, there is a fine balance between delegation and having someone else do your job for you - and I’ll be the first to say I don’t walk that line well.  I’m blessed to have a staff of five direct reports - all of whom I can trust to get their jobs done.  But, sometimes - even though I trust them to get their jobs done - I have a hard time letting go of a job that one of them really should be doing.  I try to keep it because there is a certain way in which I believe it should be done and explaining that would take me as long as it would to just simply do the task myself.  Obviously, there is a problem with that line of thinking - if I am doing the job of folks who work for me, rather than doing my job, then I’m not giving my institution what it’s paying for in terms of my work and service.

And, more importantly to me if I truly consider what’s important to me, I’m not giving my staff members the chances to develop their skills and advance in the organization. 

So, how do you help yourself let go and give other people the opportunity?  I don’t really know the answer to that question - I’m still searching.  One effort I’m making is to have two separate projects lists - one for my own projects and one for delegated projects.  This helps me to see what I’ve delegated to each person (so I keep them balanced and don’t overload anyone) and it allows me to still hold onto the control I so desperately feel I need in making sure the project has been done in a positive and professional manner.  And, in the same regard, I’m encouraging my staff to do the same thing - many of the projects I give to them have pieces and parts that may be delegated to their staff members - so I’ve been open about the fact that I keep a list of projects I’ve delegated to them and encourage them to do the same.

If you’re not lucky enough to have a team of people that works for you, what other out baskets do you have for your next actions?  The biggest mention David Allen gives to the topic of “out baskets” - or where to send the stuff if it isn’t yours to do - is the mantra “Do it, Defer It, Delegate It, or Drop It”.  It’s a simple statement really - and easily committed to memory.  But, as you can see, if you don’t do it (as in doing it yourself) or having someone to whom to delegate it to , the only other options in DA’s opinion are to Defer or Drop the task - which may or may not be acceptable to you or to your boss.  So, what other options exist?  One that I’ve become interested in over the past few months is the world of online based freelance services.  I am a member of Elance (this is a referral link - you can also just go to www.elance.com if you prefer not to use the referral link).  Through this site, I’ve picked up a couple of neat projects and have also met a couple of good providers for work I have been sitting on for weeks that I didn’t have time to do myself as it never reached the top of my priority list.  E-Lance is just one such site on the web, but if you’re looking for a quick and effective way to find assistance for a variety of projects, then this is a great way to do business.

On the other side of work is what to do when you’ve finished your next actions and moved it on to is next home.  The @WaitingFor list of course is the parking lot for many of these types of items.  Perhaps you’ve reviewed the sales report and sent it back for editing and you’re waiting for copies to be delivered or shipment confirmation that they’ve arrived at the client’s desk.  Or, maybe you’ve delegated a project and now you’re waiting on a staff member to get back to you when they’ve had some time to get what you’ve requested.  Those, obviously go on the waiting for list.  But, what about when a project becomes finished?  What then?  You might say nothing, but in my mind, this is the perfect time to put that project back in front of you, review it quickly, and think about what application it might have to other projects you’re working on, what new work could it yield for you, what someday/maybe items did this project make you think of that you never took time to note on the appropriate list, or what checklist do you need to make so that the next time you’re confronted with a similar project you can avoid (or at least plan for) some of the hang ups that occurred on this project.  It may seem counterintuitive to put a finished project back in your in basket, but some of the biggest opportunities for growth I’ve ever experienced have come from a short debrief after a project is complete and you take the time to reflect on that project and think about all the ways you would do it differently next time.

I hope you’ll provide some comments on delegation, your favorite ways to get projects into your out basket, and more.  And, I’ll be back on schedule with quest articles from here on out…

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March 14, 2007 by Kara.

I’m already a post behind in my aggressive schedule and I have a couple of other ideas on posts I want to put up.  I could make all sorts of excuses as to why I’m behind but the big one is that I got the call on Monday for a second interview for the new job to which I’ve applied.  The interview is tomorrow at 12:30 and I’ve been preparing my heart out.  But - as with all such things - that which is supposed to happen will be and the reasons why may never be understood.

So, on with our post. This is a post about in baskets.  I could start by saying I like baskets.  I used to be a Longaberger consultant so I have many, many baskets (nice ones, with pretty fabric liners and plastic protectors to keep them safe from harm). However, for some reason, the inbasket concept has never worked for me.  I think it’s because in my current job there is too much to do in order to keep it all in one basket (the current stack of paperwork that needs my attention is about two feet high - it takes a big basket to contain that).  Now - you might say - you just need to buckle down and get to work if your paperwork stack is that high.  But, in my defense, I will tell you one of my primary roles is working with a construction project and it only takes one change order (complete with its six official copies and all attendant documentation to support that change order) to make up six to eight inches of that stack in my inbox.  So - get four change orders on the same day (which is what happened yesterday) and you’ve got two feet of paperwork.  And - that construction project is only 1/2 of 1/3 of my job.  

So - one problem with in baskets is that my job requires asking a lot of questions about things before they get signed.  So - it doesn’t necessarily help to have my staff members all put their signature folders into my mailbox or even to bring them to an inbox in my office as normally there are verbal conversations which need to occur with the bulk of the documents.  I have three different teams of people that work for me - each requires signatures on/reactions to a completely different variety of items (facilities issues that require fast turn around and quick decisions, finance issues which require a keen eye and thinking like an auditor, and IT issues that require asking what if questions - sometimes fast and sometimes needing to slow down the speed of the bus to let the riders catch up). 

But that’s not my biggest problem.  My biggest problem with inboxes is I just simply have too many of them.  The problem above with my work inboxes just underscores the issue, but it gets worse when you put it all together with my personal life.  It seems like everywhere you go now someone wants to give you more and more to do.  So - I thought it might be helpful to list what I consider my inboxes and see if you really do have just one.  I’ve sorted these by work and personal. It’s important to note that because I work for a public institution that receives taxpayer dollars as a part of its funding, I’m militant about keeping my personal life and my work life separate (personal calls only get made on a personal cell phone, etc.) So, here goes my list of inboxes…

Work

1. Exchange Email Account
2. Central Mailbox
3. Departmental signature folder (x3)
4. Phone w/voice mail
5. Cell phone w/voice mail
6. Help desk ticketing system for both our IT office and facilities office (I normally don’t have to respond to tickets, but if a staff member is out for the day because we’re not deeply staffed they become mine to worry about)
7. The in basket I do keep on my desk that some people do use
8. Trillian (for instant messaging with my boss and my staff)/Google Talk

Work isn’t such a bad list when you look at it, but I average about 40 “gotta read this or gotta do this” in detail messages a day and average 18 phone calls in a day.

Home

1. Personal email account on Gmail.  I have accounts on most other providers (yahoo, aol, hotmail, etc. simply for instant messaging purposes, but they don’t get checked that often.)
2. Google Reader
3. Personal cell phone - I average about two calls a day on this one plus 10 - 15 text messages (a little news and some personal communication with family and friends)
4. Home phone with voice mail
5. Mailbox at the end of my driveway and wherever the UPS/FedEx driver decides to lay packages on a given day. (They are both very creative with where they will stick a package)
6. The inbox at church - I am the volunteer audio visual coordinator at church (which basically means I spend as much time doing that job as I do on my full time job - or at least it feels that way). This isn’t too bad now as most stuff gets sent through on email.
7. The inbasket on my desk at home where I lay stuff I really should be doing.
8. My Tivo “Now Playing” list.  I love Tivo!!!

Those are my lists, although they probably aren’t 100% complete, but it is everything I can think of.  I’ve tried every way I can think to get all this down to a smaller number, but the plain and simple fact - at least as I read this - is that technology doesn’t always make our lives easier.  I remember a time (barely - I am still pretty young) before answer machines and voice mail; before cell phones; and even (gasp!!) before email.  Take out those from my lists above and my lists get cut in half.  (Don’t take away the Tivo though as that is nothing but a good thing - some technology really does make our lives easier). 

There you have it - my inboxes.  I’d love to cut this number down and know that if I spent some time forwarding phones and forwarding emails and doing all sorts of other things I could probably reduce this number - but what if you do want (or in my case need) to keep your lives separate.  Personal and work shouldn’t mix (at least not where there is a fiscal ramification or where church and state need to be kept separate and my personal political opinions and affiliations can’t mix with my job).  How do you maintain all these inboxes and keep your life a little less hectic so you don’t have all these inboxes?

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March 9, 2007 by Kara.

As I think about my systems for completing tasks, managing projects, knowing when to be somewhere and where I’m going, there are a few elements which I know work really well for me.  However, I have even more which work terribly – fail completely on a regular basis.  I’ve done a great deal of thinking over the last several weeks trying to figure out what is wrong with my system.  This thinking has brought me to one conclusion.  My soft landscape is seeping out everywhere and is in terrible need of hardening up.

Let me begin by saying, I love my calendar.  I’m also a big fan of my contacts list (which contains a great deal more than contacts).  And, when it comes to checklists I’m your gal.  I am great with the hard landscape.   

I should start by saying that I use Outlook 2003 at work running on an Exchange Server.  I synchronize Outlook wirelessly to an Audiovox 6700 with Verizon.  I’ve tried the Netcentrics GTD plug-in with only limited success as well as Clear Context and I’ve tried three different Outlook Calendar to Google Calendar sync tools which have not worked as well as I would like.  Within Outlook I have a second calendar set up that I use to keep my personal notes from meetings and activities with which I’m involved.  Since I’m a chronic note taker this has been a nice way to streamline storage of my notes from meetings.  At the end of most days with a significant meeting, I print a copy of my secondary “Journal” calendar with the notes in them and file it in a binder by date.  I back up both my regular “public” calendar and my journal calendar weekly and restore the backup on my home machine so that I know the backup is good and I always have a second copy.

In using my Outlook calendar, I use color coding to help me determine work versus personal appointments.  I use my calendar to set reminders of all items with a due date.  If it has a due date – it goes on the calendar.  For large projects, I even set smaller deadlines along the way and place those on the calendar.  The long and short of it – if it’s on the calendar – meaning it has a due date – it gets done almost without question and with little chance that I’ll lose it or just forget it.

The next piece of my hard landscape – the piece that works really well – probably better than any other piece – is my Contact list.  I began using my Contacts in Outlook when I got my first copy of Office.  I’ve continued pulling my contacts forward from one version of Outlook to the next.  My Contacts are categorized by a number of different frequently used categories that I can use to print custom lists.  For example – I maintain a list of “Hot Contacts” (it is a standard Outlook category and I was too lazy to change it) – which I keep a copy of at home by my phone, in the car, in the back of my Moleskine, and by my phone at work.  It’s in every location I can put it where I might have to make a phone call.  But I don’t just use Contacts for “contacts”.  All usernames go in my contacts list along with a note that has the password in a special code.  All frequent flier numbers, banking information, and software registration codes are kept in contacts.  I like this method because all this information can be printed in short custom lists by sorting by category and printing just a segment of the list or I can print a hard copy of the entire set of information and keep it easily in a compact location like the fire safe at home. 

The final piece of my hard landscape that works is the checklists.  I have packing lists for trips, a checklist for emergency campus closings (I’m a small college facilities director), the list of software I install on a PC that I consistently update so if the machine crashes I can load the software back on – a checklist that came in incredibly useful when I bought a new laptop and wanted it set up just like my desktop PC. 

So – the hard landscape works great for me.

The problem is my soft landscape – that list of tasks without due dates, the list of projects that I want to do but haven’t spent time thinking about yet (because it’s still too frightening to think about), and all the rest of it – sits out there without a plan for completion and for me, so far, GTD just hasn’t been the key.  I need a way to take these soft items and turn them into hard – yet I’m not sure how to get that done.  I’ve started using My Life Organized for tasks which has helped probably more than anything as it forces you (or at least it makes me force myself) to do the thinking up front.  When you enter the project into My Life Organized, you enter it in the order you want to complete it and go ahead and set up all the subtasks – and you can see them as subtasks.  It’s very linear – but also allows for you to move things and change them around if you need to – far more flexible than the outlook task list for me.  More on that in future issues.

So there you have it – a brief overview of my current system structure and a statement of what works and what doesn’t.  But – as we all know – this is only a portion of the real system we use to operate our lives.  How does information get into our system – how does it get out.  That’s the focus of the next two articles in my series.  And I’ve thought about those articles in preparation for writing them it may not really be my task list that’s broken (and keep in mind I refer to my task list as the list of all my projects and next actions combined, including the someday/maybe list) – it may be the in and out of the system that’s really broken and not really the system.

What’s your system?  What works for you – what doesn’t?  Are you good with one piece bad with another? Always able to pull your 2^nd cousin’s birth date off your calendar, but forget to pack your shoes every time you travel?  Post a comment – let’s explore all of this together – and see if we can’t all reach productivity nirvana. 

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March 5, 2007 by Kara.

Merlin Mann of 43folders.com in his podcast from January 14, 2007, entitled Kung Fu, Meditation, and Sex talks about how we need to move our productivity system from a point where we spend so much time thinking about the system to actually doing the things held by the system.  Merlin creates an analogy between the coffee cup and the system for maintaining your list.  If you spend all your time thinking about your coffee cup, you spend far too little time drinking your coffee (obviously you can think about the cup while drinking - but hopefully you understand the basic idea).  Being at a point where my lists have fallen apart in my initial implementation of GTD and I’m back to what I feel is square one, I’m devoting a series of posts to my search for productivity nirvana.  While Merlin has a point that we need to stop thinking about the system, searching for the best way to contain the system, and the best tools to use to implement the system, I think we do need to spend that up front time thinking about the system.  As David Allen states in Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” target=”_blank”>Getting Things Done, “Thinking in a concentrated manner to define desired outcomes is something few people feel they have to do” (p. 15).  So while Merlin is right that once we are to the point of trying to utilize the system we need to stop thinking about the system and start doing the work contained in the system, I contend that the system will never work if we don’t spend that necessary time up front thinking about it and working through how it will apply to our lives.

In order to hold myself accountable to the whole process I’d even post what it is I’m thinking about as the outline for this series (The quest for productivity nirvana) and the publishing deadlines (self-imposed) for those.  So, here goes:

1. The quest for productivity nirvana, Post #1 - Series Purpose and Overview; post by March 6, 2007
2. Post #2 - Hard vs. Soft Landscape; post by March 9, 2007
3. Post #3 - Where are the in-baskets?; post by March 12, 2007
4. Post #4 - Where are the out-baskets?; post by March 15, 2007
5. Post #5- When to ask for help; post by March 18, 2007
6. Post #6 - When to say no; post by March 21, 2007
7. Post #7 - What is a project?; post by March 24, 2007
8. Post #8 - What is a task?; post by March 27, 2007
9. Post #9 - Where do I do work?; post by March 30, 2007
10. Post #10 - When and where do I work and think best?; post by April 3, 2007
11. Post #11 - Ways to organize it all - using paper; post by April 5, 2007
12. Post #12 - Ways to organize it all - using technology; post by April 8, 2007
13. Post #13 - Ways to organize it all - hybrid; post by April 11, 2007
14. Post #14 - Happily Cranking Widgets - Keeping it all up to date; post by April 14, 2007
15. Post #15 - Happily Craking Widgets - Have I reached Productivity Nirvana; post by April 17, 2007

Of course, I reserve the right to change the publishing schedule if necessary - but you’ll at least get these posts over the life of the series.  I hope you enjoy and I welcome your comments or thoughts for additional articles.

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