Posts Tagged ‘Lists’
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…)
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Tags: Admiration, Beauty, Books, Brain, Capture, Classification, Creative thinking, Emotional intelligence, Emotions, Exercises, Focus, Gratitude, Growth, Habits, Ideas, Inspiration, Journal, Language, Lists, Love, Mind, Motivation, Notebooks, Perception, Personal productivity, Reminders, Repression, Self-esteem, Subliminal, Thinking, Tips, Transcendence, Writing
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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…)
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Tags: Books, Buddhism, Creative thinking, Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Emerson, Experiments, Focus, GTD, Habits, Humor, Indecision, Lists, Personal productivity, Procrastination, Subliminal, Tasks, Tips, Weekly review, Workflow, Zen
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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…)
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
Tags: Books, Capture, Classification, Dogen Zenji, Education, Experience, Focus, Growth, GTD, Habits, Katsuki Sekida, Learning, Lists, Meditation, Motivation, Perception, Personal productivity, Planning, Projects, Subliminal, Tasks, Thinking, Time Management, Tips, Transcendence, Zen
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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…)
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Tags: Books, Classification, Experience, Filing, Focus, Growth, GTD, Habits, Lists, Low level, Motivation, Noguchi, Organizing, Reading strategies, Reminders, Time Management, Tips, Weekly review
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In full obedience to David Allen’s teachings (there might be taller or stronger firemen, but he is the one who took me out of the flames), I periodically review my medium and long term goals. I have them written down in a list with a deliberately conventional, impersonal format, using infinitive verbs: “work as…”, “live at…”, “become…” (more…)
Friday, January 8th, 2010
Tags: Creative thinking, Focus, Goal setting, Growth, GTD, Inspiration, Language, Lists, Low level, Organizing, Outlining, Perception, Planning, Projects, Reminders, Stephen R. Covey, Time Management, Transcendence, Weekly review
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Yeah, right: metaphors, images, similes… I am talking about poetry here, about making your personal computer really personal. The using of original names for your computer folders and control lists can do a lot to stimulate your creativity and improve your focus. (more…)
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Tags: Advertising, Brain, Classification, Communication, Computers, Creative thinking, Focus, Growth, Habits, Icons, Ideas, Inspiration, Labeling, Language, Learning, Lists, Motivation, Organizing, Personal productivity, Personal relations, Planning, Poetry, Projects, Tips, Writing
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…to enhance lists
“Man gave name to all the animals”, sang Bob Dylan, and he knew what he was doing. From tribal cultures who honor the magic power of language (with their taboo words that cannot or can only be spoken under certain conditions) to high culture products like Borges’ short stories (more…)
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
Tags: Books, Capture, Classification, Entitling, Habits, Ideas, Inspiration, Labeling, Language, Learning, Lists, Low level, Motivation, Outlining, Reading strategies, Reminders, Tips, Writing
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…”but I used to have a calendar!”
Don’t worry: you still do. It is just that it is not going to be that populated anymore. Allen’s methodology reduces its using to:
a) events with a fixed date (dentist, birthday, deadline set by somebody else) (more…)
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Tags: Books, Classification, Filing, GTD, Habits, Ideas, Inbox, Labeling, Language, Lists, Low level, Notebooks, Organizing, Outlining, Personal productivity, Planning, Projects, Reminders, Tasks, Time Management, Tips, Weekly review, Writing
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The weekly review, or where we mix 1 and 2
So now we have 1) lists of tasks (one for each context), and 2) project plans full of future tasks, grouped by sequences, priorities and components. Let’s mix 1) and 2) and we’re almost there, can you believe it? (more…)
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Tags: Books, Capture, GTD, Habits, Ideas, Inbox, Inspiration, Lists, Low level, Motivation, Organizing, Outlining, Personal productivity, Planning, Projects, Tasks, Weekly review
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Natural planning
So now that we have discussed the basic “bricks” of an organization system (lists), lets take it a step further: let’s talk about project planning. First of all, what is there to plan? Almost everything, in fact, because the GTD methodology (more…)
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Tags: Books, Capture, GTD, Ideas, Lists, Motivation, Organizing, Outlining, Personal productivity, Planning, Projects, Tasks, Tips, Weekly review
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