While I was in the middle of reordering, revising and adding sections to the Pattern Language for Productivity series for a downloadable version, one of my more saintly readers, D.L. Fuller, preempted me and sent in PDF and RTF versions, which I’m making available now.
I still see errors and omissions in the series, so I’m […]
Entries from May 2008
A Pattern Language for Productivity — Downloadable Version
May 9th, 2008 · 3 Comments
Tags: A Pattern Language for Productivity
Guest Post on LifeDev: Identify the Dominant Ideas in Your Thinking
May 9th, 2008 · No Comments
The title says it all. LifeDev has graciously posted my guest article here. It deals with explicitly looking for the presuppositions that frame how we view a problem or project. It also contains a few examples for you to run through as a lateral thinking training exercise.
Tags: Creativity · Thinking Operations
Pendaflex and the GTD Police
May 8th, 2008 · 1 Comment
In a reply to my Pattern Language entry on General Reference Files, David Goodger recently commented:
I have never understood the rule to use hangerless file folders. I don’t see how using Pendaflex adds any overhead. The rule seems completely arbitrary, and Allen’s GTD book doesn’t back it up with any arguments or evidence.
Do you agree […]
Tags: GTD
Seeding Ideas with Random Stimulation
May 7th, 2008 · 1 Comment
One of the biggest stumbling blocks to idea generation and problem solving is familiarity with our own thought process. A problem, once recognized, evokes a chain of associations drawn from memory, and the strong tendency is to apply a stock solution that worked in the past for a similar situation. The existing ideas or solutions […]
Tags: Creativity · Thinking Operations
Keeping Task Management Manageable
May 6th, 2008 · No Comments
For any task management system to be trustworthy, it has to be realistic. It needs to have as few placeholders as possible, but no fewer. It needs to hold as many projects and actions as we’re genuinely committed to, but no more.
The discipline of rapidly capturing new inputs and processing them into a list or […]
Tags: GTD · Productivity
A Pattern Language for Productivity, Pattern #25: Brainstorming
May 5th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Before we can manage our options, we need to have options. By default, the brain organizes learned experience into stable perceptual frameworks and common response patterns. It needs to do this. We wouldn’t want to consider every possible way of crossing the street; we just look both ways and walk if we see no coming […]
Tags: A Pattern Language for Productivity
Thought Provoking: 4 Alternatives to List Articles, and 70 Hacks
May 4th, 2008 · 1 Comment
This week I’ll be finishing up the Pattern Language for Productivity series, making some non-trivial edits to it, and turning it into a PDF for download. I’ll leave the series on the blog as-is — I wouldn’t want to edit it retroactively — so you’ll definitely want to take a look at the e-book version, […]
Tags: Thought Provoking
A Pattern Language for Productivity, Pattern #24: Horizons of Focus
May 4th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Our priorities are based on our time frames. When we eat an ice cream, we’ve made short-term enjoyment a priority over long-term health and vitality. When we postpone dinner with family and stay late at the office to complete a project, we’re making another priority choice. These may or may not be the right priorities, […]
Tags: A Pattern Language for Productivity
A Pattern Language for Productivity, Pattern #23: Agendas
May 2nd, 2008 · No Comments
Many activities can be batched, not just repetitive ones. We have context lists that group like activities by the location or resource required — an @Computer list for tasks requiring a computer, an @Home list for tasks that can only be done at home, and so on. We can batch the processing of paperwork and […]
Tags: A Pattern Language for Productivity
A Pattern Language for Productivity, Pattern #22: Daily Review
May 1st, 2008 · No Comments
A complete review of projects and next actions held once per week is critical for keeping your tasks management system trustworthy, preventing “stuff” (unprocessed agreements, intentions, information) from piling up in mind to the point of distraction. Weekly reviews can be empowering, but they can be too empowering. From the repose of the weekly review, […]
