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…)
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…)
Happy new year. May all of you achieve plentifulness and reach completion along 2010. May everyone resembles some more the human being he is really intended to be, all free from any kind of social, traditional, educational or psychological harnesses. May all of us be happier, wiser and more free in 365 days’ time.
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…)
In our modern, hurried days, there is always the risk of making an object of the people around us, turning our relations mechanical only because of the speed of things. Such risk is twice as common with electronic communication, whose immediateness, (more…)
In his classic work “De Bono’s thinking course”, the master of creative thinking Edward de Bono (of the “Six thinking hats” fame) exposes a series of techniques to improve reasoning, as a sort of exhaustive “thought gym”. One of his exercises consists in (more…)
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…)
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…)
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…)
