GTD for writers
I’ll admit it: everything I do, I do it for my fiction. I honor writing as the art with the biggest powers, when considering its effects, and the degree of intimacy, elevation and sometimes “possession” it grants (writing, in its finest hour, becomes invisible, the words stop being “black boxes” with a meaning inside and become something similar to music). (more…)
Honor your unconscious
Only extreme ignorance or arrogance can lead to believe that one fully controls one’s behavior. To begin with, we are alive beings, and we don’t know what life is: scientists can describe its parts or modify its working, but they cannot explain life. What I am going to discuss here is Carl Gustav Jung’s basic ideas on the unconscious, and you may agree with them or not, but one fact is already undeniable: the unconscious exists. (more…)
How to become optimistic with very little effort
I have a retarded mind: I very often go through the best ideas in books and posts without noticing them right away. They usually become some sort of “seed” in my head and take 3, 4 days to fully grow, without me having the least intention to do anything about them. And then one day, as a flower that opens after a delicate nurture, I say: “wow”, and do something about it.
Writing the successes of the day was one of those great ideas. Simple, non-coded, very little time-consuming, it pays off in a way that is almost scary. (more…)
Flowing with the workflow
As a product of a typically non-productive culture (sorry for the tongue twister), I have found a very useful tool for implementing the GTD method in monitoring workflow interruptions. The first thing I noticed was (more…)
What to do with yourself when you’re mad
Here is the analogy that one of my teachers used to describe the human brain: he lifted his right fist and said: “this is a lizard’s brain”. Then he (more…)
Life right after removing the wrapper
It happened the other day. I was having the habitual fast-paced walk that is currently my sport of choice (remind me to recover my skates one of these days), when my way got obstructed by a family group. (more…)
Reach for the moon, but start with your (two) shoelaces
In “Getting Things Done”, David Allen affirms that the size of projects does not matter (for those who are not familiar with the GTD methodology, Allen defines “project” as any desired result that requires more than one simple action-i.e. a “pack” of actions with a defined purpose), and in terms of logic, he is right. Everything in his book is rigorously logic. But it makes me think of certain Zen masters. (more…)
Prevent your books from becoming stuck
I love books, so I always try to improve my reading system by making it as organic as possible; I intend to get a system that sort of “defends itself” from the aggressions of modern life, hurry and other everyday monsters. I’ll talk another day about the working and behavior of my reading pile, which is still evolving. Here I want to explain the tiny ecosystem of my “now reading” area and how it works. (more…)
Keep your brain at hand (part 2)
In addition to my previous post, here come a few more tips, taken from my back-to-basics experience using (suffering?) a vintage Compaq Presario 1200. (more…)
Keep your brain at hand (part 1)
This text is a sort of “spin-off” from my previous post “Productivity the Spartan way”, which was about my experience using a vintage computer (God bless it). Now, having spent some time back in my century, I’d like to share with you some of the enhancements I brought with me and a few general (more…)