Zerebria

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I think we all have them. Those pieces of clothing which have gone with us through the ages, that favorite t-shirt that is not black anymore but it’s comfortable (more…)

The problem

GTD fan as I am, I usually put a strong brain effort at the planning stage of a project, so I can later enter ‘executive mode’, following my self-instructions in a Robocop-like manner. Working like that guarantees (more…)

The best way to organize documents is alphabetically. But when the stuff to classify is more voluminous or heterogeneous, the task usually becomes harder. One thing that I had some struggle with was stationery. (more…)

Say you love David Allen… (O.K., say what you want). Long and steep is the road from messy to productive, but gratifications are spread like sweet fruits all along the way. It is not about upgrading; it about growing. Once you get  it, Allen’s Getting Things Done system is a very tight tool to use; as he himself states in “Making it all work”, with a delicious lack of false humility, (more…)

That’s the title of the productivity prompt #11 in David Allen’s “Ready for anything”, which I’m currently enjoying (to say the least: it’s like a productivity earthquake). Allen makes a unique work in (more…)

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…)

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…)

While any moment is good to start, personal journaling has always been a classical example of new year resolution. And a very healthy one: it increases your awareness and allows you to squeeze to the most the juice of every moment. Furthermore: in an age where time plays and fools us so badly, I have come to think that journaling (more…)

…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…)

…”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…)