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 Tagged as 'A Pattern Language for Productivity'
A Pattern Language for Productivity — Downloadable Version
May 9th, 2008 · 5 Comments
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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 […]
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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, […]
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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 […]
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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, […]
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A Pattern Language for Productivity, Pattern #21: Weekly Review
April 30th, 2008 · 3 Comments
A common problem with task management systems is the length of time that entries remain unexamined. Action lists contain items that no longer reflect current reality. Things that seemed like good ideas at the time they were written down are no longer priorities, no longer practical, or simply no longer interesting.
Hard landscape items on calendars […]
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A Pattern Language for Productivity, Pattern #20: Process Projects
April 28th, 2008 · No Comments
When we’re undecided on whether or not to commit to a project, one option is to shelve the project on a Someday/Maybe list. But sometimes indecision stems from insufficient information. We need to get enough data to make sure that deciding not to do something is a proactive choice, made from reason or informed intuition, […]
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A Pattern Language for Productivity, Pattern #19: Someday/Maybe List
April 27th, 2008 · No Comments
The flip side of managing commitments is managing options. There’s a subtle but fundamental difference between choosing not to act on an option and not choosing to act on it. The former is proactive triage, the latter is indecision. Some things are not worth doing now, but possibly later. Some things, though interesting, are not […]
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A Pattern Language for Productivity, Pattern #18: Waiting For List
April 26th, 2008 · No Comments
To bring a project to closure, we need not only to keep track of our own actions, but those of others. Legacy To Do lists are not designed to track external dependencies. We need a language to identify all components of a project, not just the proactive.
Whenever a project requires information or a delegated action […]
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A Pattern Language for Productivity, Pattern #17: Batching
April 24th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Repetitive tasks are usually not high-priority ones, but they still need to be done. The fact that they need to be done doesn’t mean they need to be done the moment they have your attention. Let them accumulate, handling them at optimally infrequent intervals, between which you spend the bulk of your time focusing on […]
