Getting Back To Productivity Basics
Do you find that all manner of productivity fads and tools enter your life and you just recreate the same level of stress? Do you find yourself focussing on the system rather than the items you’re supposed to be working on and getting off of your mind? This article by Douglas Johnston might help you get back the absolute basics:
I released that my biggest problem was trying to contain all the information, constantly trying to shape an unnatural flow as one might attempt to contain or change the course of a river with only one’s bare hands. Time after time, this caused my tension and frustration to build to the point of needing to abandon my fledgeling systems. You see, my cherished systems were the result of my accumulated knowledge and many years’ experience in IT work; they had become a series of intellectual challenges, and not a natural way of looking at or managing my life. I had to leave this mind-clutter and baggage behind, at least temporarily, and forget about my unholy communions of wikis, web-based project management tools, PDAs, server-synced calendars, sitebars, databases and 20-step flowcharts (Read more).
My GTD system using OmniOutliner and a Hipster PDA is apparently working great for me because I never think about it anymore. There’s no need to tinker with it. I occasionally ponder switching over to some sort of server-based text file or XML nonsense, but honestly, my current system just works for me. I use it without thinking. It’s a tool rather than a hot rod, and that keeps me from ever moving the projects to take it off of my wishlist (what David Allen calls “Someday/Maybe”) and onto my active projects.
Allyson and I have been on a kick lately to look at the way we interact with things and give into it rather than fighting it. We used to have a revolving pile of crap on our table, so we put inboxes on the table a couple of weeks ago, and our table has been clean and uncluttered ever since. If we notice that I keep taking off articles of clothing in a certain spot, then it becomes home to a laundry hamper. By working with the way we truly want to interact with our things, life becomes a lot more effortless. We’re suddenly neater and more productive.