Lifehack.org: Are You Lifehacking Too Much?
Posted by Michael | Filed under Craphack, GTD
Interesting article over on Lifehack today linking to Nick Cernis’s of Put Things Off blog. Here we ask ourselves: Is productivity, or at least the concept if not the practice, really and truly “dead”? Is calling it dead a bit drastic? Or are we simply moving into another way of thinking about what it means to be “productive”? Or, are we realizing that the pursuit of productivity really is something we fool ourselves into believing — as a cult-like pursuit of salvation — that being more productive should be the end all, be all of our existence? Are we perhaps missing out on something larger, those of us with a myopic focus on achieving productivity Zen?
“[lifehack.org] He said that “our obsession with ‘productivity’ is getting in the way of our lives.” Nick started out by saying that the productivity industry is out of control, and that it’s making us less efficient, not more. I agree with Nick, and I can tell you why the productivity industry is like that: it’s about making money. more…
[putthingsoff.com] At the end of 2007, I stopped almost all the beeps in my life. I sold the PDA that had been bipping away at me, dutifully organising my days. Instead, I picked up a pencil and paper. So far, 2008 has been my most productive year ever. I went further too. I’ve given up on GTD and trying to bend my life to fit a complex blueprint. I stopped actively seeking online offerings titled 13 Even More Productive Ways to Wash Your Socks That Will Blow Your Mind. I realised far too late that the productivity industry has become a techno-spiritualist movement. People are now using productivity ’systems’, software and small beeping devices just because almost everybody else is. more…
Your thoughts?
Tags: GTD, Lifehack, productivity
Lifehacker: How to Ditch Dedicated GTD Apps
Posted by Michael | Filed under Craphack, GTD
As Jered and I talked about in our first podcast episode, many of us tend to look for new and “better” ways to make our lives simpler. Unfortunately, by doing so we only add yet-another layer of management to our work, thus defeating the point. We called these “craphacks.”
I came across this post over on Lifehacker that brought our point home.
[Lifehacker.com] Mac user Dennis Best says that using David Allen’s Getting Things Done productivity system on your Mac doesn’t mean you need to find the ultimate GTD application—that the tools you already have in Mail.app, iCal and Finder get the job done fine….Not to be all finger-waggy, but ultimately it’s up to you, not your software, to work the system. [more...]
Read Dennis Best’s extensive original posting on his blog here:
Getting things done (simply) in Leopard: The best Mac GTD app might be right under your nose
Although Best’s post addresses apps on Mac OS X, the same principle applies for any OS, or any technology that promises to increase your productivity.
[dennisbest.org] GTD’ers like myself are jumping from app to app looking for the right fit. (How productive is that?) The fact that none of them fit probably says more about my shortcomings than the talents of the developers. Fact is, I’m lazy when it comes to using this stuff and fall off the wagon quickly. [more...]
Best makes an excellent point that following the GTD habit (and other methods for that matter) tempts us to be on constant watch for the next best thing, which really goes against the whole idea of GTD as it is outlined by David Allen. Also, we can’t blame the developers; we only have our mistake of not doing the deep self-reflection necessary in order to adopt the right productivity tools for us as individuals, not the newest that “everyone” is talking about (or selling).
Finally, no tool will ever prevent us from being Human. Sometimes we do fall back on old habits, and we have to be okay with that every now and then. Truly following GTD (or another good method) provides the means to get back on track. Nevertheless, those of us who are “productivity tool addicts” tend to look for the next perfect tool to help get us back onto the proverbial wagon. I’ll go so far as to liken it to allowing an drug addict to relapse, then allowing him/her to try out some new drugs off the street before getting back into rehab. It just doesn’t make sense, but we still do it anyway.
Tags: GTD, Lifehacker, productivity, workflow
GTD + 4HWW = Productivity Perfection
Posted by Jered | Filed under 4HWW, Featured, GTD
Michael and I had a funny conversation about a David Allen / Timothy Ferriss Celebrity Productivity Deathmatch. Allen has the wisdom and years of martial arts training, while Ferriss has the youthful stamina and the secrets to putting on massive amounts of muscle quickly, but I wouldn’t care to wager on the physical fight. I want to talk about their systems duke-ing it out.
I have read both David Allen’s Getting Things Done
Getting Things Done
By keeping lists of the next physical actions for each project, one is able to have a complete picture of what needs to be done. By sorting these actions into contexts, one can always find an action to do in the appropriate settings.
Getting items from an inbox to these lists and projects is broken down into whether the action can be done immediately, deferred to a “tickler file”, or added to a project. This process is developed into a quick and efficient one, allowing data to be quickly added to the lists.
Regular review and renegotiation of commitments are critical to the Getting Things Done system and should be done weekly.
Synopsis: Writing things down, keeps them off your mind.
4 Hour Work Week
Retirement, in the traditional sense, is a lie and life should be spent in a series of “mini retirements,” using self employment and outsourcing to reduce the amount of time and energy expended in generating wealth to support the “mini retirements.”
A low information diet and ruthless application of the Pareto principle (the 80/20 principle) are required to reduce the inputs in one’s life, because with their application it is easier to get more work done when one has to.
Synopsis: The application of the Pareto principle and outsourcing to everything will free up time, letting you take mini retirements.
The Challenge
Getting these two seemingly disparate systems to play well together.
Thoughts
I think that GTD and 4HWW are completely compatible. Getting Things Done is the strategic and tactical while the 4 Hour Work Week is the undercurrent or theming of the process.
Creating a stress free life is attainable by the application of getting thoughts out of your head an on to paper, into a trusted system, which can include outsourcing, and then relaxing on a “mini-retirement.” This flies in the face of most management principles that go along the lines: “When someone is able to relax, give them more work, they can obviously handle it.”
The catch is, you aren’t working less, you are working more efficiently and why shouldn’t you benefit from that?
Tim Ferriss’ goal is have the reader be self employed and while that is a tempting idea, it is not always possible, that doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t take a “mini-retirement” every once in a while. Save up the leave, work out teleworking with your boss, it is possible to attaint the 4 Hour Work Week ethos without having to be self-employed (thusly responsible for your own health insurance, etc.).
Being stress free on your “mini-retirements” is going to be important, no one wants to be stressed when they are supposed to be relaxing, sailing around the world, etc. That is where the “Someday / Maybe” list comes in handy, writing down future “mini-retirements” or keeping a list of postcards that need to be sent.
Ferriss’ reducing input in one’s life is very similar to David Allen’s reducing the inboxes and in-buckets. Going on a media diet for a week or two can be very liberating, reducing one more source of stress. Everyone has stressed out a little bit out the TiVo getting full or missing your most favorite TV show. The way that the two methods are very intertwined is the concept of “mind like water”. A David Allen catchphrase which is the 4HWW realization. Take all of the things that normally make your day rocky, like dealing with angry clients, or fulfilling orders, and outsource them. This allows you to deal with the real issues through the application of the Pareto principle, which should make your life much easier over all.
Why shouldn’t people who are “Getting Things Done” also be able to enjoy a “4 Hour Work Week”? Followers of GTD generally know where all of their projects are, what they have to do next and where the rest of their commitments lie. If a knowledge worker is using GTD (that is the prime category for people who use GTD), most their work will focus around a computer and a phone. Both of those devices are portable and as long as there is a solid cellular network in your “mini-retirement” destination, it would be possible to do work should the need arise. And while I don’t advocate taking work on a vacation, much less a “mini-retirement”, the idea is not to let the fact that some of us can not escape the 9 to 5 from letting us experience Ferriss’ vision.
With keeping “mini-retirements” as a goal, application of the Pareto principle and reducing the number of inputs one has, Ferriss creates a great set of frameworks for the average person to work in. Allen’s Getting Things Done provides a tactical approach with strategic thinking to keep those frameworks in mind. All in all, I would say Getting Things Done and the 4 Hour Work Week are two compatible philosophies / systems.
Tags: 4 Hour Work Week, 4HWW, David Allen, Getting Things Done, GTD, Tim Ferriss
