GTD Dojo

Business 2.0 has a great story this month on David Allen . For those who are "geeked-up" on all things GTD, ("Getting Things Done"), the article provides much of the back-story on David’s life and career and where he sees the company going. There are a few productivty tidbits tossed in as well for those willing to dig a bit.

In case you missed it, we recently interviewed David for the Accidental Creative podcast. (The interview is currently out on David’s podcast feed as well.)

Article: "The Master of Geting Things Done" (Business 2.0)

Quotable

"They anxiously do what they would rather not do, or at least they have no pleasure in doing. Their satisfaction consists solely in avoiding, never gaining, something. What emptiness."
Soren Kierkegaard

Rest, Rabbit. Rest.

I am a fan of children’s books. No joke. Love them.

My friend Ben often brings children’s books to work to teach simple principles or illuminate some problem that’s been going on in the organization. There is a clarity that emerges in the midst of these short parables or no-frills proverbs that often touches something deep and primal within us.

A children’s book that I came across in the past year (and have since passed on to others) is called "Rest Rabbit Rest." The book is about a rabbit who is unable to be still because of all of the obligations in his life. He is constantly turning even the simplest task into a complicated and anxious demonstration of futility. He works to make processes more efficient so that he could fill his "saved" time with more activity. His life is scheduled to the minute, and any little distraction becomes a huge issue.

There is a direct correlation between rest and creativity. The more we are at rest - mentally and physically - the more prepared we are to recognize creative accidents when they occur. Many opportunities are lost every day because we are not in a position to receive them. When we are constantly "on" we are incapable of filtering the noise to get to the signal. Great becomes inseparable from good, and novelty is mistaken for creativity. When we are prepared, rested, and focused we are better able to recognize the truly great moments of creative intuition.

How are you at resting? It’s Monday - after the weekend. Are you going into your work week relaxed and ready, or exhausted from a weekend of recreation and over-scheduled activity?

Rest rabbit, rest!

Produce! Produce! {rest} Produce!

OK…so we all know the game. You are what you make, right?

Well…not exactly. But those of us with our eye on the ball are always looking for ways to cultivate our creative rhythm and personal productivity. LifeHack.org has posted its 50 Ways To Increase Your Productivity. (I think they forgot one - STOP READING LONG LISTS ON THE WEB. Oh well.)

50 Ways To Increase Your Productivity [via LifeHack.org ]

Reflections on Pressfield

A few of the key things from the Steven Pressfield interview that stand out in my mind:

I love his "blue collar" attitude toward art. Great art is work and great work is art.

The "an artist can recognize another artist" statement was fabulous. There are a lot of people making money making art who are still amateurs in their mindset.

Steven created for 27 years before he made a living doing what he loves to do.  That pretty much renders anyone’s argument about the difficulty of finding time to write/make/create useless. He MADE time.

His wisdom is hard earned. This man is not sharing theory - he’s recounting his wounds and victories.

Thanks, Steven, for giving us a lot to think about and apply. 

1+1 = [(27/3)/3]-1

Are you making things needlessly complicated in your life? If so, you are creating potential for dissonance to creep in.

With each purposeless complication in our systems, lives, etc., we are creating more friction in the machine. More places for something to go wrong. More places for things to not "add up" right. More chances for mistakes we’ll pay for in mental energy and focus.

Dissonance in music is when two notes are played simultaneously that don’t resolve. When we hear them, our minds want resolution SO bad that we will often subconsciously resolve them. If not, then our minds will continue to try to resolve them, (solve the problem), until there is an appropriate solution.

The same thing happens in our lives. When there are things that don’t add up, our minds go about trying to solve the problem even when we’re unaware. This is wasted creative (problem solving) energy.

Strive for simplicity in your systems, communications, processes, etc. As Einstein is so over-quoted for saying, "Everything should be as simple as possible, but no simpler." 

Simple = Good. That’s an equation I can live with. 

‘Til Death Do Us Part

How do you know when a project or idea should simply be…well…terminated? LifeHacker has started a discussion about  when to simply give up on something that’s not working.

This is certainly one of the more difficult decisions any creative will make. Abandoning or killing off your project is like leaving your baby on someone’s doorstep. However, there comes a time when further energy and effort do nothing but damage. 

Everyone loves a "comeback" story - the one in which, against all odds, the lowly underachiever suddenly rises to the top and proves everyone wrong. We love the idea of "The Pursuit of Happyness" and how one individual with dogged determination can stand up in the face of adversity and say, "I refuse to quit!" I think that these emotions can sometimes overtake our logical thinking skills. We are sometimes limited more by what we hold onto unnecessarily than by our skills or abilities. We need to decide whether something is WORTH holding onto, or whether we are simply continuing out of pride or stubbornness. 

Oh Treo, Where Art Thou?

Observations from day one of “Treo-less” life:
I find that every several minutes I have the urge to check my e-mail. I have a slight moment of panic when I realize that I can’t, followed by sudden relief that I don’t have to and acceptance about my wireless state. (It’s like traveling through all of the stages of grief in a highly compact five second experience.)  It’s amazing how compulsive my behavior had become. I had placed myself at the center of the world. I had somehow assumed the role of Atlas, holding the virtual world of my connections upon my shoulder. This was a highly reactive state. I believe it was Thomas Merton who wrote that the artist is someone who can observe a thing for its own sake, not for what can be gained from using it. When I voluntarily assumed the role of “switchboard operator”, everything inverted. I was no longer about what is “out there”, I was looking for meaning in meaninglessness. (How’s that for a moment of Zen?) By making the simple decision to control when and where I allow access to my innards, I am simply re-shuffling my stimulus and relational life (two of the five components of Creative Rhythm that had become grossly out of balance for me.)

In lieu of “always-on”, I’m now checking my e-mail at regular intervals and making lists of the main things for each day rather than reacting to what’s hot at the moment. (David Allen would be proud.) Seems like common sense, but as we’ve often said around here it’s not about what you know, it’s about what you DO about what you know. It’s the little disciplines we act on - delaying immediate gratification so that we can see the larger patterns as they emerge - that create space for creative brilliance.

I’ll continue to update if there are any developments. Still looking for the thumb restraints, though.

Kickin’ the Crackberry to the Curb…

Actually, it’s my Treo (Creo?)

I’ve suddenly become aware that the constant stream of data, info, e-mail, rss feeds, etc., 24/7 wherever I am (except for that small pocket of dropped coverage on my way home each night) is NOT healthy. It’s sucking my soul and spitting it back to me with tags. The kicker for me was when I realized that I was often hitting the "check mail" button in my email app even though the app was set to check mail every ten minutes. (Apparently, I never know when I might be called upon to solve some global crisis or  to fill in at the last minute for a sick talk-show host.)

As of later today it will be gone. I’m sure there will be withdrawal, so I’m checking myself into the Crackberry clinic. I’ll see you on the other side of rehab.  (And we’ll have an intervention when the iPhone is released…)

For me this is a question of engagement in the moment. Creativity is about full-out, head-on engagement with whatever is in front of you. When my attention is divided or constantly interrupted, I find that my mind sets about solving multiple problems at once. Human beings ARE NOT WIRED to be on 24/7. We require rhythm, rest, periods of intense and satisfying work, periods of recuperation from the work, etc. This is all a part of how the natural world operates, but humans are the only beings who defy it.

So call my Treo-less life my attempt to take a stand against the obsessive wired-ness that is pervading our culture and a small effort to re-claim my humanity. I simply want my life and focus back. 

It’s In the Details…

We’ve talked extensively on the AC podcasts about focus and putting ourselves in places where creative accidents are likely  to occur. It’s important that we learn to cultivate curiosity and pay attention to the little things so that we are able to recognize patterns and emerging brilliance. This is not something that we do exclusively in our work, it is something that we must learn to cultivate in our lives. You cannot turn creative brilliance on and off like a water fawcett - it doesn’t work that way. Just because we are required to create-on-demand does not mean that we can control "creative-on-demand." We cultivate our creative process so that we have a well to draw from when demand surges.

I was reminded of this by my friends Marcus and Andrew when they forwarded this article from The Washington Post. I think it’s proof positive of how many of us (myself included) often move through our days. We are too obsessed with the practical to pay attention to the possible.

Washington Post Article   [via In Iconium ]