Archive - Jul 2006

I just finished The Instant Productivity Toolkit by Len Merson, and I found it a short, stimulating read that excelled at the scribble test. Following are some thoughts I hope you find interesting, esp. as Merson's book relates to David Allen's Getting Things Done (AKA GTD) methodology.

I've just finished typing in my notes [1] from the delightful little book Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up by Patricia Ryan Madson. I've been taking my time reading this book (much more than I expected - I'm not sure why), but it's definitely worth reading. For me it took a little while to get into, but it ultimately excelled at my "Scribble Test" [2].

I'll be writing more about the book in the future, but in this post I want to highlight my take on Madson's contributions to time management ideas from the improv perspective.

This week I'm recovering from some (apparently) minor dental work. I'd like to offer some observations on day two that you may find helpful. Additional contributions in the same vein (and I do mean vein) are quite welcome!

On the procedure itself: I found that vigorous rough scraping sensation on my palette, while not painful at the time (thank God for Novocaine), was strangely unsettling. I had to wonder: Did the dentist decide to use a cheese grater instead of a knife? I mean - How hard can it be to just slice a nice, clean (preferably mini) beef-jerky slice off for the gum? The gum is kind, it is gentle, it DOESN'T NEED MUCH!

On the reasons people in public think you're not talking to them:

• jerk
• addle-minded
• jerk
• recovering from re-start of frontal lobotomy work in your area
• simple
• deaf
• thinking about something important (rare)

My GTD Workflow Assessment/Tips Checklist from a few weeks ago got me thinking about the specific set of behaviors that make up David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology. So for fun I examined each tip, asked "Why should I do this?," and attempted to collect and name the underlying habits. Note that I found it fairly difficult to reduce these down so that there's no overlap, yet still find enough to get more detail beyond Allen's wonderful end-of-book summary:

• "keep everything out of your head;
• decide actions and outcomes when things first emerge on your radar, instead of later; and
• regularly review and update the complete inventory of open loops of your life and work."