Productivity, To-dos, and habits, oh my
Friday, February 5, 2010
I've been spending a lot of time trying to find the right productivity system for me. I've learned 7 Habits, I've mastered GTD, I've meditated on Zen to Done(my favorite of the 3, BTW), and I'm still no closer to finding something that actually works for me. I took a look at "The Middle Way Method" from Diyplanner.com, and if you're looking for something halfway between 7 Habits and GTD, I'd say that's it. But none of these methods really work for me. Why? Because I spend too much time tinkering. I want to make the system perfect. So I end up spending more time making the system more efficient than I do on actionable items. This is, of course, a well known flaw of the GTD system (and one many GTD experts warn against, including Merlin Mann).
There's only one solution, of course: I have to take the best concepts from them, and create a system for me that works, and then leave it alone. I'm going to allow myself 2 days a year to tinker with it. Other than that, I just keep trudging along. I'm going to spend as little time as necessary developing this system.
I've got some ideas. GTD's emphasis on context lists is very useful. Big Rocks from 7 Habits and Zen to Done is great. A place for everything and everything in its place is essential. An inbox that I can process regularly is a must. Having buckets to dump info is great.
I've got another problem, though, and that's to-do list programs. I don't like them, mainly because the ones I like don't sync with my Android phone (they all sync with iPhone, of course). The best list management technique I've seen was created by Gina Trapani, and it basically just uses a text file (todo.txt) and a bash script to process your todos. I'm going to modify that. Since I hate bash, it'll be a python script (one exists already, but it's a little overly simple). I'll probably replace todo.txt with todo.xml (simply because it makes more sense), and when I get the whole system working on my desktop, I'll figure out how to write an Android app in Java to sync with it. Shouldn't be too hard. (Hah, I just jinxed myself!)
I'm one of those people who lives by the following statement: If it is not stored electronically, it doesn't exist. If I can't access it from my phone and/or my laptop, then it might as well be on Mars. I don't use paper, because it is too easy to lose (I do have some paper backups of phone numbers and such in case of an emergency. I'm not an idiot. I just don't use paper on a daily basis anymore.)
I'm smart enough to realize that this is procrastination. My monkey mind has find yet another way to prevent me from accomplishing my goals. The difference is, I have it under control. I won't spend more than an hour a day working on the todo list thing. Until then, I'll use Anxiety as my todo list program because it's dead stupid simple. The main focus of my day will be to work on the RSS reader (which I'll write more about in the next few days). Another large portion of my day will be made up of work on my backup scripts for twitter, facebook, etc.
I do know I am suffering from massive filter failure. There is too much getting in. I'll be changing the way I deal with that too. My email program will only run at specific times. Same with my RSS reader. I'll allow myself access to email and Google Reader as a reward for completing tasks (yes, a reward. I'll explain that some day, though some people already get it.) I have to leave a way for my partner to get me instantly, so my phone will be up, but I'll be screening calls (thank you Google Voice!).
All in all, I've got to create an environment conducive to accomplishing tasks because by nature, I am easily distracted by things like Facebook, Twitter, email, news, etc, etc. I'm consuming way too much information (and most of it is the information equivalent of junk food), and not creating enough of my own. I've got to rebalance the equation.
Oh, and my calendar is all screwed up. That's a post for another day, though. I just had to make it all color coded. *sigh* I'm starting to realize that simple and clear is always better than complicated and murky.
UPDATE: Found out how to make a fluid app out of Google tasks and found an android app that syncs with google tasks. Crisis of to-do averted. Blog post with instructions is at http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/10/fullscreen-google-tasks.html Read more...
