industriousone

"…the terror of knowing that I can't keep up with all of it. It's like finding a river of flowing gold when you haven't even got a cup to save a cupfull…you've but a thimble, and that thimble is your pathetic brain and labour and humanness." —Jack Kerouac

When I began capturing notes and seeing them actually get completed, the floodgates opened and out came more good stuff than I knew what to do with. Attempting to improve my workflow by getting more granular has only added fuel to that fire. After much pain, suffering, and suboptimal productivity I think I've got things whipped back into shape. For the sake of my future self, here's a moment to capture these hard-earned lessons, just in case I find myself wandering off into the wilderness again (not like that would ever happen, of course).

The Someday List

If you've got more projects than you can handle, take the ones you aren't actively working and put them somewhere else. Duh. I call it a backlog so the agile folks at work will know what I'm talking about, but in GTD parlance it's a Someday/Maybe list. Whatever you call it, it's the place you put the things that you're not ready or able to do right now.

A sampling of the Someday list

So the first step to getting my lists under control was to shove everything I could on to the backlog. And I didn't kid around: if I wasn't actively working on it today I pushed it off. Which brings up my rule number one:

Use it aggressively. I mean like every day. If you aren't going to work on a project today, and you aren't going to work on it tomorrow, seriously consider pushing it off to the someday list. If you aren't going to work on it this week definitely push it off. Get everything out of your sight you possibly can; focus on your most important work. If you find yourself with nothing to do—lucky you!—then you can go grab the next thing off the backlog.

Okay, so I pushed everything off, cutting several dozen active projects down to six, and now I've got a big long list of someday. Here's the rub: the Someday/Maybe list only works if someday eventually arrives. Otherwise it's the "Never/No way/No how" list and the kiss of death. And it killed me: I had a backlog, and I used it. More and more new ideas came in and it grew and grew, with no end in sight, until I started losing stuff, losing the big picture. I became afraid to push off ideas, fearing they would never be seen or heard from again. So I kept them active, so I was looking at all of them every day, feeling overwhelmed and unorganized. I couldn't push them off without killing them, and I couldn't keep them around without killing me.

Like I said, I did manage to get it sorted, and here are my rules for making sure someday does arrive. Note that if you use the list aggressively, like I mentioned above, most of these will fall out all on their own. I mention them here for my own edification. Read more...

A lesson learned from the development of Premake 4.1: keep your active projects specific. I mean really specific.

I started development by creating a new project, naming it Premake 4.1, and dropping in a bunch of actions from my backlog. Technically this is a valid approach; the only definition of a project I've ever encountered in this context is "any result that requires more than one action." Now older and a little wiser I realize how incredibly vague that is. Consider: Program TV remote vs. Achieve world peace. Both technically valid projects. One doable, the other not so much (which one is an exercise left to the reader).

My project started out with a reasonable list of actions, but inevitably new ideas came up, features and refactorings, bugs that needed fixing. Because my project was vague enough to encompass all of this new work it soon did, growing larger and less focused, and I started to feel like I was losing ground. Rather than stepping back and fixing it as I should, I tried crunching harder which just made the problem worse. Ack!

Looking back at this trainwreck learning experience, I've come up with some rules to help keep my projects manageable going forward:

• Projects should be a dozen actions or less, a number I pulled out of thin air based on past experience. If it requires more than a dozen steps it is probably larger than I can get my head around in one go, and likely contains hidden work. Better to split it up.
• If I have to think about whether an action belongs in the project or not, one of them is too vague. Either the action needs to be more specific (or become its own project) or the project needs a tighter focus.
• Project names should always start with a verb. What is it I'm trying to achieve with the completion of this project? That doesn't prevent Do stuff projects but it at least makes me think about it for a second.
• When in doubt, split it up.

There are probably more rules, I can't remember. I reserve the right to edit this post later.

I've been doing this for about three weeks now and while I thought it would help my planning a little, the gain in clarity has been quite remarkable. Read more...

Continuing my series of stupid simple ways to get things done, I bring you...pen and paper.

The first habit I picked up when I started my forays into GTD was keeping a pen and paper on me at all times. Any thought of significance gets written down. Once it gets written down, I stop thinking about it, freeing up those mental cycles for something bigger and better.

I started out capturing to-dos and reminders; as the mental cruft cleared I found myself with more project and writing ideas. The process is cumulative, and builds on itself. Simple ideas gather depth over time as I consider new perspectives: new features, presentation ideas, a twist in the plot line. And the best part is that all of this happens organically over time, insights arriving of their own accord, so there is no real effort involved other than writing it down as it comes.

Notes, quotes, to dos, and MITs...pocket sized!

Once a week at first, but now once a day, I review my notes and move them to more permanent homes, usually into Things or Evernote. I've developed quite a queue of ideas over the years — now I just need to figure out how to make them all happen! Fortunately, I've gotten some ideas on that, too.

I've tried various form factors of paper and pens, including index cards, Post-It notes, Space pens, and all the gimmicks on 43Folders and Lifehacker. My well-informed opinion is a Moleskine Cahier notebook paired with a Zebra F-301 compact pen is the best combo out there.

The Cahier is the perfect size to slip into a pocket. It comes in blank, ruled, or graphed versions. The back pages are perforated, perfect for sharing a phone number or directions. It lays out flat, and holds up well to weeks of travel.

I like the feel of Zebra pens, smooth and consistent, even in wet or cold weather. The F-301 compact is small enough to fit into a back pocket next to the notebook, but expands to a full size pen at need. And it's metal shell is sturdy enough to handle being sat upon, for those times when you forget what's in your pockets.

I have an iPhone as well, which is great for capturing a quick photo or a snippet of sound, but I still keep my Moleskine with me. Despite my gadget-oriented nature, pen and paper is more often than not faster, easier, and more versatile. Project ideas, blocks of writing, sketches, UML or interaction diagrams — not quick or easy on the iPhone.

An added bonus: when a notebook gets full, I note the date on the last page and toss it into a box in my office. I find they make for great inspiration when I'm feeling stalled, providing a real nitty-gritty, nuts and bolts window into my past: what I was thinking, what I was doing, and what seemed important.

This is one powerful habit to have. I've gone from being the guy who forgets everything to the one everyone counts on to remember. My friends have even picked up the habit themselves and started carrying around Moleskines of their own. Maybe I should get a commission, eh?

Man, it feels good to get this stuff out of my head. Today's brain dump is scaffolds, another stupid simple technique I use every day to get more done. I live and die by my scaffolds; they are my workday heartbeat. Even if my day gets crappy and unproductive my scaffolds ensure I end up a little closer to my goals.

In one way scaffolds are just checklists, like my morning scaffold here:

• stretch
• drink water
• start breakfast
• start the Roomba
• empty the dishwasher
• take vitamins
• give Kenobi his pills
• empty the dehumidifier
• feed fish

Simple, right? Why even bother with a list?

Ticking off the list each morning helps me remember everything even when I'm bleary-eyed and waking up. Just as important as the what, it optimizes how I do it. After weeks of using and tweaking the list I know this is the best way to get it done. And I don't have to waste any time or energy wondering if I've forgotten something later.

The scaffold also gives me a place to "hang" new actions (hence the name). Kenobi only needs his pills at certain times of year, when his allergies act up. If I didn't check the list every morning I'd have to resort to Post-It notes and memory when allergy season came around. (Kenobi is our dog, by the way. Some people have an allergy to dogs, we have a dog with allergies.) By developing a habit of checking my lists I've created the perfect place to leave reminders for new actions and otherwise optimize my day. Read more...

I think I'll start with the Pomodoro Technique, a productivity enhancing way to structure the work-a-day life. It's effective, I use it every day, it has a cool name, and is as stupid simple a process as you'll ever find: work your ass off for 25 minutes, then chill for five. Repeat.

There, done.

Maybe the folks who thought up the idea take it a bit more seriously, but really that's all you need to know to use it. So what’s so great about taking a break every 25 minutes (why ruin your flow)?

Work your ass off for 25 minutes means pick a goal—one goal—and go after it. No checking your email, no surfing the web, no getting a drink or chatting up your cute co-worker, and no context switching. One goal, 25 minutes. In practice this turns out to be an ideal duration, long enough to do real work, but not so long as to become tedious. And since most office scheduling happens in half-hour increments it slots in nicely between meetings.

Always running a timer while working also protects against the inevitable distraction, that Homer moment when something shiny catches your eye and lures you off into the wilderness. Like earlier this morning when I went researching an unfamiliar API call and ended up on Cafe Press shopping for a new coffee mug. That kind of thing. In 25 minutes the timer goes off and brings you back to reality. Chill for five, refocus, and get back to it.

If I find myself getting burned out, or if I'm having trouble switching gears, I'll take 25 minutes just to check email and surf the web. The timer gives me a chance to recharge without worrying about blowing my entire afternoon. The official instructions would say take a longer break every two hours, but I don't stick to that myself.

Devoted followers of David Allen's GTD system (I count myself among you) can use these cycles as artificial contexts, breaking out of the dreaded @computer conundrum. Example: I set aside one 25 minute block each day for writing, and use an @writing context to plan my work (I also make heavy use of scaffolds, which I'll talk about in another article).

All of that said, the real benefit comes from the five minutes breaks. Read more...

I've been using David Allen's Getting Things Done for a few years now and I can't recommend it highly enough. I get more done in less time. I spend much less time and energy figuring out what I need to do next. It has freed up mental cycles and allowed me to start focusing on bigger goals. And it makes me look good at work, where I have sailed through major crunches without breaking a sweat on more than one occasion.

If you haven't read the book this article might not make much sense. You really ought to go get the book--it is inexpensive and will pay for itself in no time at all!

I've tried several different methods and applications for managing my action lists and projects, with various degrees of success. I spent the last year using paper (the Hipster PDA) for my action lists, with project information stored on the computer. Now I am entirely online--on Google to be specific--and I only carry paper for capturing new items. Read more...