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ExperimentLab: That's not MY garbage. Or is it?

A new blog feature! Today I'm introducing "ExperimentLab" posts - tiny activities you can try out for a week to help you re-connect you with your world and the wonderful people in it. I've found these to be a fun way to improve my perspective and be a little bit happier.

This week's assignment: Carry a plastic garbage bag with you while you're out and about, and at least once a day stop for a few minutes to pick up some stray pieces of garbage. At the end of the week share your results below. How did it go? Did you find anything interesting? Did any emotions come up because of it? Did your picking up start any conversations? We want to hear your stories!

Happy experimenting,

matt

Update: Still alive, busy. Plus some Twitter tidbits

Hi everyone. I'm sorry for not posting this last week. Consulting has kept me busier than usual.

For fun, in between work I was able to fit in some Cambridge Science Festival events between appointments. These were inspiring. Microsoft, IBM, Google, MIT - these are good examples of some of the folks I enjoy working with. Smart people doing interesting work in science, academia, and technology.

As a consolation prize for no post, I'll share a few Twitter tidbits.

• How paperless is your office? I'm curious if 80% is possible.
  
• Pressure can be your friend or your enemy. Friend: Parkinson's Law (anti-perfectionism). Enemy: Unnecessary stress.
  
• "There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact." -- Mark Twain
  
• The source of all workflow-related stress is fear. That you've forgot something, that you'll look bad, etc. Agree?
  
• Asking the meta-question ("What question should we be asking?") is the sign of an enlightened intellect.
  
• "Education is the transmission of civilization." -- Will Durant
  
• Eric Horvitz at Microsoft is working on Achieve, a project to help reclaim lost time. I'd love to see it! High-Tech Time Management Tools
  
• Before clicking "Send" ask: Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?
  
• What are the time management implications for The Law of Requisite Parsimony? Public Engagement Principles Project - Requisites for dialogue and design
  
• What ebook publishing scheme do you use? lulu.com? e-junkie.com? I have a series of small ones coming out...
  
• "Brain bounce": when something grabs your attention, then RE-grabs it.
  
• If you don't know about this, check it. colorless, odorless, unregulated, deadly: Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division.
  
• Six rules for effective forecasting
  
  
  
  • Rule 1: Define a "cone of uncertainty"
    
  • Rule 2: Look for the "S" curve
    
  • Rule 3: Embrace the things that don't fit
    
  • Rule 4: Hold strong opinions weakly
    
  • Rule 5: Look back twice as far as you look forward
    
  • Rule 6: Know when not to make a forecast
    
  
  
• The vacation test: 1) Are you processing inboxes? 2) Is your calendar empty? Is that all?
  

Productivity? Are you SERIOUS? (A selection of Time Management Humor)

I had an interview lined up with someone who wanted a lighthearted spin on productivity and GTD. The interview didn't work out (ironically the host was a no-show. twice), but I'd like to share some of the material I whipped up. I left a few unfinished (look for "??"). Got any to share?

Cheers!

(Hey - Amazon has a Time management - Humor / Entertainment category!)

Top 10 clinical causes of productivity-related ambulance calls

• Thumb crushed in filing cabinet
  
• Labeler-loss induced panic
  
• Over-capture syndrome
  
• Internet down
  

15 topics not covered by GTD blogs

[silence]

Q: Which came first, the __ or the __?

??

Three GTD belts you haven't yet earned:

• Puce (Never heard of GTD)
  
• Heliotrope (Mind like oatmeal)
  
• Chartreuse (You've reached the ultimate empty mind. You see all, know all, and can focus on any topic like a laser as long as you like. You're also in a hospital for the "gifted.")
  

Due to the economy, David Allen has laid off the 40,000 and 50,000 foot levels.

How to use a labeler to survive a cougar attack

• Print "LAY DOWN" and - quickly, now - flash it in his eyes
  
• Print some blank tape and cover its teeth (only if using plastic tape)
  
• Print "Not Meat" and stick it on your forehead
  
• Throw and run
  

Q: What's the one action you'll never see on a GTD'ers list?

"Drop GTD"

Firefox productivity add ons you NEED to get

(Also check out Top 11 Worst Firefox Extensions.)

• quit-immediately-after-launch
  
• every page redirects to http://www.this-page-intentionally-left-blank.org
  
• Stumble Away
  

Q: How is President Obama getting things done?

??

Four ways to say "no"

• No.
  
• No!
  
• No?
  
• Noooooooo
  

Q: How many GTD bloggers does it take to change a light bulb?

43. One to hold the ladder and 42 to argue whether it's an action or a project.

12 Wild Things People Are Visualizing, In Addition To "Wild Success"

(In case you missed it here.)

1. type and mutant hemoglobin proteins
   
2. success (OK, I included anyway, despite the title)
   
3. shapes
   
4. Saracenic tribes adorned in flowing colored togas
   
5. bastards
   
6. sexual fantasies
   
7. gesticulations
   
8. geometry of invariant sets
   
9. urban adventure
   
10. rush of kayaking off a 100-foot waterfall
    
11. beaver
    
12. sensations of the rainforest
    
13. beauty of the rainforest
    

Q: Why did the GTD blogger cross the road?

He didn't. He was too busy trying out a new fountain pen and $23 notebook.

GTD-ers do it...

(Inspired by this post.)

• ... @Bed [dirjy]
  
• ... in the office
  
• ... with 100% focus
  
• ... on schedule
  
• ... @anywhere
  
• ... in two minutes or less [Pascal Venier]
  
• ... on the runway, at 10,000', ...
  

Q: What's more irritating than someone who's just adopted GTD?

Nothing.

Top 10 things people are Getting, in addition to 'Things Done'

(In case you missed it here.)

• pregnant
  
• a passport
  
• married (NB: *after* pregnant! Leaving the country first?)
  
• "to know you" questions:
  
  
  
  • WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? [cat]
    
  • DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? [yes, they're in a jar on my dresser]
    
  • WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? [cat]
    
  
  
• away with murder
  
• over a break up
  
• rid of fleas
  
• away with murder (lots of murder!)
  
• out of debt
  
• pregnant tips (like beef tips?)
  
• rid of mice
  

Q: If a GTD-er file falls in a forest and no one is around to hear her, does she make a sound?

??

100 books from the IdeaMatt Anti-Library

(A light post this week as I'm finishing up my first little ebook, "You did WHAT? 91 Tiny experiments for having fun and living a happier and healthier life")

In response to my post On Keeping An Umberto Eco-like Anti-Library, Patrick Rhone asks in this comment about some of the books in my anti-library, the key choices and why. I'll cheat and just list 100 of the titles. Shoot me an email if you want details.

BTW I found a meme tag for this, originating with What is in your Antilibrary?

I'd like to pose a question to those who read this blog entry: What are three to five books on your shelf that lay unread and what knowledge do you hope to retrieve from them?

There are some great titles in the comments. Check it out.

(Side note: Googling meme tag gets some specific tags, but there's no wikipedia entry for it. Surprising. Interestingly, in an example of synchronicity I found a 1998 MIT paper Meme Tags and Community Mirrors: Moving from Conferences to Collaboration. It apparently involves wearing a gadget around the neck while interacting at conferences. Bonus: Schmooze rates, and pictures!)

I'm really curious

• What's you your anti-library?
  
• Any titles you recommend for me?
  

Some of Matt's Anti-library

• A bias for action


• Achievement factors


• Always bear left


• Beyond code


• Bird by bird


• Book yourself solid


• CEO of me


• Change or die


• Change you voice, change your life


• Coaching


• Coaching for leadership


• Coaching successfully


• Conquering chronic disorganization


• Conscious breathing


• Crashproof your life


• de Bono's thinking course


• Dig your well before you're thirsty


• Don't shoot the dog


• Everything's an offer


• Executive coaching


• Executive coaching with backbone and heart


• Extreme programming pocket guide


• Failing forward


• Find more time


• Finding time


• Focus like a laser


• Fun works


• Getting started in personal and executive coaching


• Getting to yes


• Goals!


• Guerrilla marketing for consultants


• How the way we talk can change the way we work


• How to be of use


• How to run your own life


• How to stop worrying and start living


• How to win friends & influence people


• How to work a room


• How we know what isn't so


• How you stand, how you move, how you life


• I can see you naked


• In search of excellence


• Information anxiety 2


• Lean software development


• Let's connect!


• Little gold book of YES attitude


• Loving what is


• Managing multiple projects


• Mastering self-leadership


• Million dollar habits


• Mindfulness


• One minute manager


• Optimal thinking


• Orbiting the giant hairball


• Overload syndrome


• Quality or else


• Questions that work


• Real success without a real job


• Rules for renegades


• Simple works


• Success through a positive mental attitude


• Surviving information overload


• Ten powerful phrases for positive people


• The 10 natural laws of successful time and life management


• The 7 habits of highly effective people


• The E-myth revisited


• The art ad practice of leadership coaching


• The art of innovation


• The art of learning


• The artist's way


• The attention economy


• The back of the napkin


• The book of good habits


• The connoisseur's guide to the mind


• The contented achiever


• The difference a day makes


• The experience economy


• The fifth discipline


• The four agreements


• The healing power of humor


• The high-tech personal efficiency program


• The inner game of tennis


• The marketing gurus


• The new brain


• The new psycho-cybernetics


• The now habit


• The overwhelmed person's guide to time management


• The paradox of choice


• The power of full engagement


• The power of now


• The power of the 2x2 matrix


• The self-talk solution


• The success principles


• The ten faces of innovation


• The ten-minute trainer


• The toyota way


• The trusted advisor


• Thick face, black heart


• Think better


• Thinkertoys


• To learn with love


• Total workday control


• What should I do with my life?


• Who moved my cheese?


• Write it down, make it happen


• You can't teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar


• Your attention, please

Plus a fun bunch of cards like The Creative Whack Pack!