Archive - Jun 2007

When I talk about the surprising life improvements that resulted from clearing my head of the mundane (see GTD), I mention reduced lower back pain. Some of you have asked about that, so I wanted to respond today and talk specifically about the Alexander Technique (AKA AT - Wikipedia article here), which has helped so much.

(Note: I came down with a cold a few days ago, so please forgive this post's rambling nature.)

As I grow my personal productivity consultancy (via workshops and one-on-one services) I've had to get my head around an issue I'm sure all teachers face - answering the question "When have I done enough?" In my work it manifests because I'm teaching a coherent and integrated approach to workflow, not simply a bag of tips and tricks [1]. Trouble is, it's not a silver bullet, and significant changes around how we self-manage are hard to make (many of our habits go back very far).

I had the privilege of being invited to participate in Mark Shead's group email interview on Biggest Time Wasters. It's up over at Productivity501, and there are some great answers from such luminaries as Brendon Connelly, Alvin Soon, Laura Stack, Brett Kelly, Rosa Say, and Frank Meeuwsen. Thanks Mark!

The more I learn about personal productivity, the more I appreciate decisiveness. I wrote If not now, when? The importance of being bold around this, and I want to expand the discussion to the word maybe, and talk about removing it (or at least limiting its use) from your productivity vocabulary could help you and those you work with.

What's wrong with maybe? It has some good uses (more in a moment), but generally people use it to put off decisions, or to avoid saying "no." It (and its close cousin let me think about it) will often make things worse, not better. This is because, without discipline, the offer/issue/problem won't go away with some focused thinking. Not only will the decision be hanging over you, you'll be blocking the person who made the request.

As I grow into the reality of working for myself, I've noticed there's a rhythm to how much activity I can handle, and it ebbs and flows, often in unpredictable ways. A while ago I wrote about When inputs exceed your workflow system's capacity, a situation I'm currently in - I'm focusing more on managing existing commitments (I'm presenting a fair number of workshops this summer) than creating new work. This is especially evident in my reading - I have a candidates shelf of about forty books (see A reading workflow based on Leveen's "Little Guide"), but I'm just not making much progress on them.