Posts filed under 'GTD'
In the past few months, ever since the D*I*Y Planner 2.0 was released, I’ve heard from some very interesting (and often very strange) people who are sharing some ideas about what they want to track in their planners. In all, I have fielded maybe a hundred or so requests for certain types of templates. Some I have provided in one form or another, such as the Contact form for the Hipster PDA Edition, which you’ll probably see in the 3.0 release of the classic kit. Some are so niche that I can’t justify spending much time on them — the Night Watchman log and the Tropical Fish Breeding requests come to mind. And then there are those concerning subjects I know so little about that I cannot create effective templates — the Make-Up Accessoriser, the Carb-Counter, the Ovulation Indexer and certain types of fitness forms are good examples. (My wife will attest to my lack of knowledge –and interest– in make-up, hair products, fashion accessories and anything else that sends my testosterone into a tizzy. And ovulation…! I get confused by our garbage collection schedule!)
Just because I’m not producing templates for these things doesn’t mean that you have to do without your precious diet logs and breeding trackers, though. About 90% of requests that come from the users of the D*I*Y Planner system can probably do just fine with one particular form, the Matrix. (And please, no blue pill / red pill jokes: I’ve heard them all.)
In the classic 5.5×8.5 and A5 ‘Planner kits, the Matrix comes in two versions, portrait and landscape. (There is also a Hipster PDA version.) It is essentially meant for keeping track of tabular data. Herewith, some examples:
- Grade Tracker : Students, why use another agenda when you have a perfectly good planner? Teachers, why do you need to carry around that big heavy red book?
- Book/Tape/CD/etc. Borrowing : What did you borrow, and from whom? To whom did you loan your Greatest Hits of the New Kids on the Block CD? Add a date column for library books, and you’ll always know when you have to return things at a glance.
- Time Sheet : Yes, some of us are accountable for our time, as those boss types keep reminding us. Workdays across the top, times down the left, and job numbers or dockets in the grid. (Or any other way that makes sense for you.)
- Brewer’s Log : Track your batch name, number, start date, starting specific gravity, rack/bottling dates, and ending SG. (I think I’ll create a dedicated version of this later, since I’m back into wine making.)
- Diet Log : Day/date, breakfast calories, lunch calories, and so on, with a totals column at the end.
- Weight Training : Date, types, reps, times, and so on.
- Hobby Logs : What do you do, and how do you track it? If it can be put into a table, mayhaps the Matrix will work for you. Suggestions: Ham Radio Logs; Photographic Info (shot, time, place, f-stop, shutter, etc.); Comic Collection; Old Time Radio episodes; Fish Breeding; Hitchcock DVDs; O(prah) Magazine Collection; The Ultimate Sandwich.
- Cleaning Logs : Which employee or roommate has to clean the toilet next, and when?
- Inventory List : Keep a basic inventory control list for your business or hobby.
- Lottery “System” : Not a joke. I know people that do this: put in the winning numbers to the 6-49 Lottery every week, to see if they can find a pattern. For the pathologically numeric.
- Accounting : Some accountants wrote to thank me for providing this form, although I couldn’t fathom their exact usage. Sounded impressive, though, as anyone managing large sums of money generally are.
- Neighbourhood Watch : What car was parked next door from 10:30 am to 3:00 am last night? Your neighbour’s business is your own. So says the yellow vest and fancy flashlight.
- Writer’s Submissions : What article was sent to whom, and when? Track rejection letters as they trickle in, celebrate publication by supporting your friendly monkey shop.
- Ummm… Ovulation?
Of course, much of this you can do in a spreadsheet or database, and perhaps more effectively. But would it really be as much fun?
Any other ideas?
June 21st, 2005
Update : This set, and many more, are now available free at www.DIYPlanner.com.
Users of the D*I*Y Planner Hipster PDA Edition will note that there are two new diagrams included that were not part of the original D*I*Y Planner kit. I promised I’d make them available for the classic and A5 versions of the kits, and here they are for your downloading pleasure.
The 8-page kit includes the following diagrams, both on odd pages (”fronts”) and even pages (”backs”), so you can choose how you want to print them:
- The original Getting Things Done diagram from the ubiquitous David Allen book (simply resized for your convenience from the original diagram available here), henceforth called GTD-DA
- The GTD advanced workflow diagram by Scott Moehring (scaled from the original available here), henceforth GTD-SM
- My new version of the GTD diagram, including prompts for mind sweeps and the weekly review, which I call GTD-DJ
- My version of a Covey Quick Reference, a summary of the methods from First Things First, which I call Covey-DJ
Two versions are available:
- 5.5″x8.5″ 1-Up - for the “classic” size D*I*Y Planner (half letter-size)
- A5 1-Up - for an A5 size D*I*Y Planner (half A4 size)
There is currently no 2-up version, since this would probably waste a fair amount of ink. If the demand is there, I can certainly provide them.
June 19th, 2005
Well, it’s been about a week since the release of the D*I*Y Planner Hipster PDA Edition, and the feedback has been excellent and very constructive. I’ve also had a few dozen people writing me about how they implemented the Hipster PDA in their own systems, and it’s been some interesting reading. However, there seems to be a disconcerting trend among a few users, and there is one person in particular whose email illustrates it well. Let’s call him Ringo (and I thank him for his permission to post about his situation).
Ringo wrote me a message asking for my opinion about how he might tweak his setup. Normally, my standard reply is “whatever works for you, my friend,” since everybody’s situation is so very different, and I advocate a process of discovery. But this email caught my attention, since it epitomised a number of problems I see emerging among some productivity tweakers.
His GTD-based system involved Outlook, Excel spreadsheets, a wiki, a web-based to-do application, a Palm synced with both Outlook and Palm Desktop, some Perl scripts to import and export CSV and tab-delimited data files to and from various applications, a D*I*Y Planner Day-Timer and a rather thick set of Hipster PDA cards using most of my templates. I won’t get into the details: suffice it to say that the system was detailed in 17 steps, was about three pages long, required carrying a large bag filled with his tools, and done daily. I must say, as I read his email, I could certainly admire his technical abilities and –in certain cases– his ingenuity. His Perl scripts used a number of CPAN libraries to retrieve and post information from his private wiki and prep it for his Palm, and his next stages were to involve Plucker in the mix using some Python scripts and then use pilot-link libraries to import to-do’s and memos into his Palm. Ringo is a part-time CGI programmer, and quite the smart cookie.
Too smart, I think. It seems like all the really smart people (and notably the ones with technical abilities) overcomplicate matters, and make the productivity process far too difficult and inefficient.
I’ve noticed some people are sharing their planning mantras. Here’s mine: simplify.
In the body of Arthurian legends, you’ll find various tales of the Sangraal, the Holy Grail, the sacred cup that once contained the blood of Christ and which possessed the abilities to heal the land and its people of infertility, disease, despair and –some would say– ignorance. The earliest legends had for their central character the knight called Perceval. (Other Arthurians, please forgive my mixing of versions in the effort to make a point here.)
Now, Perceval’s mother wanted to shield her baby from the nasty world outside, from its war-mongerers, its tempting damsels and its enticing evils. She retreated to the Welsh wilderness and raised him there in the wood for 15 years in complete isolation without the benefit of books, visitors or tutelage in outside matters. Then one day, Perceval experiences knights for the first time. He was amazed by the sight of the armored warriors, and in his naivété he couldn’t comprehend that their metal casings weren’t skin. Finally, in the face of a barrage of questions that forever broke open his self-contained little world, his mother gave in, and told Perceval of his noble birthright and knights and kings and chivalry. Perceval, the young fool, pitched some food into a sack and left for the cities, forever leaving behind his weeping mother and the tranquil life of the forest.
The Quest for the Holy Grail was the medieval epitome of the search for excellence. Many great knights, including the great Lancelot du Lac, tried to achieve the magical vessel and failed miserably, for they were flawed in their thoughts or deeds. Eventually, it was Perceval –the naive, the unlearned– who attained it. Despite the powers and techniques and worldly experience of the other knights, it was only Perceval that possessed the one thing that could lead to the Grail. The simpleton’s secret? Focus. While all the other knights spent most of their time jousting in tournaments, chasing damsels, conquering evil knights, sleeping with queens, and sundry other glamorous tasks, Perceval was single-minded upon reaching his objective.
I’ve always thought that the moral of the tale is to keep things as simple as possible and to focus entirely on the desired outcome. I used to be like Ringo, and had some pretty …uhm… “interesting” ideas on how to use technology to tie together my information and organisational methods into a coherent system. I was always questing, but taking my eye off the Grail. There were so many interesting and glamorous diversions in implementing the various tools that I rarely stuck with my procedures long enough to be efficient. Each new side-quest was alluring, filled with the promise of fulfilling the end goal while making my life easier.
It was only last fall that I realised I was in a never-ending spiral of productivity tweaking. I sat down with a blank piece of paper and wrote down the types of information that I needed to use to keep myself productive. The solution was actually far simpler than I would have imagined. Within a day, I had figured out what I had to do. Within a month, I got the bugs out of the system. Six months later, I only make small and incremental changes –which the Japanese call Kaizen– but only if they are simple, effective and focused. (I’ll write about my own productivity methods at a later date, for those who are interested.)
My most important lesson learned: unless it’s simple, I won’t do it, or won’t find it efficient. Simplify.
Update : I’ve written a post concerning how I simplified matters, entitled The Beginner’s Mind.
June 18th, 2005
I love the DIY spirit. People have been taking the classic and Hipster PDA versions of the D*I*Y Planner sets and doing some amazing things with them. For example, I’ve heard of some people using the graphics versions of the card to produce pages for pocket size planners (among other sizes), some have been colour-coding their pages, some have added dates and pictures to their calendars, others have been translating the PDFs into other languages, and then there’s this: SVG Planner - D*I*Y Planner cards you can tweak yourself. It uses the ‘Planner look and feel, but the cards are redone in SVG format. SVG is an open graphics format that uses XML for “describing” the shapes and contents. Theoretically, that means that one can use a simple text editor (or a not-so-simple one: Chris uses Emacs) to edit the file, modify things, or add one’s own content. This is brilliant, in my opinion. If you have your actions or calendar events in an electronic format, they could (eventually) be imported into the cards for easy printing. It might make an ideal bridge over the paper and digital divide. Right now you have to be a techie to do much with them, but that will soon change, it seems.
Says Chris:
I’ve taken the step of reimplementing a few of the D*I*Y Planner cards in a 3×5 SVG format. This allows those with a little knowledge of SVG to be able to endlessly tweak the formatting of your printed index cards to your liking.
Future plans include more cards, and a web application to produce PNG cards from SVG automatically, allowing you to specify the exact dimensions, colours and proportions you want from a web form. Ultimately I want to include the ability to add a list of tasks and appointments to be included in the printout…
I should mention that his project is a “licensed derivative” under the Creative Commons license chosen for the D*I*Y Planner, and so has my continued support and enthusiasm. The SVG Planner has a lot of potential, and I wish Chris all the best in his efforts.
He redesigned some cards using only Emacs? Incredible!
June 15th, 2005
From a link left within the comments, I found a collection of Hipster PDA templates like none other. John Norris has produced a set that breaks all the rules, and he includes a music staff, a few games to get the mind in motion (or forestall your Next Actions), a morse code cheat sheet, a sundial (no doubt to help manage your time), and even a star chart. It’s probably not for everybody, since there’s some serious right-brain activity happening there, but I find it a lot of fun. Mine looks positively boring in comparison.
Regardless of how it may –or may not– boost your productivity, there’s something to be said for breaking past the borders of conventional thinking, and John has done this admirably. And you’ll never know when his semaphore chart will come in handy….
June 15th, 2005
First, I just wanted to thank Merlin Mann over at 43 Folders. It was an honour and a privilege to contribute an article to the mothership of productivity fans, geeks and gurus.
However, there’s something I wanted to mention here that really didn’t fit into the article, especially since I’ve received quite a number of thoughtful emails on the subject: how the new D*I*Y Planner Hipster PDA Edition contrasts with the original concept. As Merlin conceived it, the power of the Hipster PDA was in its elegant simplicity: it was simply a few cards, a clip and a pen. Jot down your actions, your appointments, and a few notes. Done. And, lo — it was a thing of beauty. The only problem is that beauty is still very much in the eye of the beholder, even when it concerns a matter as mundane as time management.
Going back through the 300+ requests for this kit, I see two important (and yet beautiful) themes emerging: structure and choice.
I’ve mentioned structure already in the 43 Folders article. Some people like to have prompts for thinking and exploration (e.g., on the Project form, there’s a space for “Objective,” which tends to slip our minds all too frequently). Some people like everything to be in its proper and pre-defined place — think about how you organise your dresser, and what clothes go in which drawer and how you fold them. Some people experience life as a puzzle with ill-fitting pieces of chaos, and need to impose order to see the bigger picture. Part of the eternal quest of any productivity tweaker is in implementing structure, and many wish that this was inherent in the tools themselves.
But I see choice as the guiding principle behind all the D*I*Y Planner kits and templates. It is impossible for every person on earth to effectively use the same time management system. A “classic” D*I*Y Planner may work for you, or GTD using a Palm, or a set of index card boxes, or Outlook running DavidCo/Covey add-ons, or a large spinning wheel with tasks and prizes. My day, my life, is different from yours: why should I dictate the best way to organise your time?
The way I see it, the more choices we have, the better the chances of discovering one’s perfect system. True, some folks –perhaps most– could no doubt use the original Hipster PDA to its best effect. But the new ‘Planner kit is there simply to provide a wider array of choices to augment the system wherever necessary. One does not need to use the whole kit, and frankly I would be shocked if you did. But you might want to set up a monthly calendar, or a Next Actions list you can check off, or an Agenda for certain people and meetings, or a yearly calendar, or even a reference card (either GTD or Covey) to trigger an effective planning/review process. Any tweaker will soon discover the gaps in his or her system, and if there are cards to help eliminate those gaps, that’s great. This kit is meant to give you a few more options, ones that can be modified as necessary to suit your specific situation. One card might be handy, as could twenty. Or none at all.
To be honest, I began to create this new set simply because so many people asked me for it. In the end, though, I found that it provided me with more structure and choice for my own daily kit. Of course, I still carry around some blank cards and paper. That’s my choice, and a free-form (read: unstructured) option that works for me.
Your life will demand different structure, different choices. And that’s fine, too.
June 14th, 2005
Update : This set, and many more, are now available free at www.DIYPlanner.com. If you want the (much, much better) version 3 set, please jump directly to the D*I*Y Planner 3 Hipster PDA Edition.
The escape was carefully orchestrated. Congo made sure the coast was clear, Bonzo distracted me with his endearing rendition of Polonius’ farewell speech to Laertes, Pierre engaged my wife with the latest Daniel Smith artists’ catalogue, and Polly constructed the electromagnet that attracted the key to the cage from atop the bookshelf. They waited till after midnight, then opened the padlock and quietly crept to the Mac to get to work.
This morning I found the fruits of their labour, stacked neatly in a small pile atop the printer.
I’m hereby pleased to announce the release of the much-requested D*I*Y Planner 2 Hipster PDA Edition, a series of 34 organisational and planning templates designed for printing onto index cards (a.k.a., the Hipster PDA). These are a subset of the regular D*I*Y Planner forms, re-designed for the smaller size, and may be used either in conjunction with the full kit or as a stand-alone system. Although chiefly inspired by David Allen’s Getting Things Done, an emphasis has been placed upon tweakability and multiple methodologies. The package includes:
- A cover, including an “if lost, please return to” form
- A Getting Things Done Quick Reference Card, including a flow chart, a weekly review list, and a list of “Stuff” (TM, patent pending)
- A Covey Planning Quick Reference Card, including salient summaries from First Things First
- Yearly calendars for 2005 and 2006
- Three variations on the monthly calendar, both horizontal and vertical
- A weekly calendar
- Day Keeper, a daily time management form, with timed and untimed versions
- More Day Keeper forms, with areas for actions
- A “GTD All-In-One” with Next Actions, Waiting For and Notes areas
- Separate full-size Next Actions and Waiting For templates
- Agenda cards for people or meetings
- Someday/Maybe project and quick-list forms
- Single- and double-line ToDo forms
- Covey Roles and Covey Quadrant, for the top-down fans
- Basic Project and Checklist templates
- Shopping and Finances forms
- Notes templates in lined and grid versions
- Matrix, a form for writing or tracking tabular data (exercise/fitness logs, calorie counting, grades, borrowed library books, budget items, etc.)
- A basic Contacts template, four to a sheet
- Instructions for printing, cutting, modifying, troubleshooting, etc.
This edition is available in three different packages. Please read the descriptions to determine which one you need.
- 1-Up Version
- This PDF package is for printing directly onto index cards. You will need the correct size and weight paper, as well as a printer that can handle 1/8 inch margins. (Many printers only have 1/4 inch margins, and will clip the edges of the forms.)
- 4-Up Version
- This PDF package is for printing four adjacent cards onto regular letter-size (or A4) card stock, then cut using a guillotine or scissors. If you can’t print onto regular index cards without clipping, this is probably your best option. (This is the package I personally use, and it works perfectly with a decent guillotine.)
- Graphics Version
- This package contains all 34 templates as graphic files (8-bit PNGs, to be exact). Choose this version if you want to use your own layout program, if you want to modify the forms in any way (including changing colours, margins or text), if you want to use your own preforated forms, or if you experience problems using the above PDF files with your printer. The graphics may be edited in any standard graphics application, like Photoshop or The Gimp (which is free), and layout can be done in OpenOffice Draw (free), Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, CorelDRAW or any number of other publishing programs. (See the accompanying instruction file for tips and license details.)
I would ask that you read the accompanying documentation before sending along any questions or complaints: I’ve tried to address most formatting and printing-related issues therein.
Many thanks go out to all the D*I*Y Planner users who have provided valuable feedback over the past year, as well as to the uber-productivity mavens of the 43 Folders Google Group, whose advice has been beyond compare.
Feedback, as always, is much appreciated.
Update 1: Photo Release Kit add-on
Update 2: Job Tracker add-on
June 11th, 2005
One of the things I wanted for the hipsterPDA Edition of the D*I*Y Planner kit is a nice little GTD diagram that fits on a “Quick Reference” index card. Unfortunately, the original is almost completely unreadable when shrunk down to that size, unless you possess a very good printer and happen to be a gerbil.
Although there are quite a few Getting Thing Done flowcharts floating around, I decided to produce one of my own, since I can then control the sizing of all the elements –including the text– and I don’t have to worry about dealing with multiple layers of intellectual property (one is enough).
You can click on the thumbnail at right to see a larger version of the reference card I’m working on. It’s not finished yet, but it gives you an idea of where I’m going. I’m trying to get away from the whole “intricate flow chart” concept, and stay a little more with the spirit of the original –hence some of the comfortable but cheesy design elements. The one thing I did fix up was the flow around “What’s the next action?” since the book’s version has always been bothersome to me. (Those items should be or processes, not a series of then.)
Any GTD gurus out there care to send along any feedback, suggestions or complaints?
PS: Before anyone asks, this template will also be made available in other sizes, like 5.5×8.5 and A5.
Update : A polished version of this is available in the Hipster PDA Edition, and now contains a weekly review list and a prompts for emptying your brain. Which is nowhere as painful as it sounds.
June 8th, 2005
As of this weekend past, the downloads of the D*I*Y Planner kits have reached 200,000 (40,000 for version 1 and 160,000 for version 2). I’m still reeling from those numbers. Who would have thought that do-it-yourself paper planner templates would be so popular in this day and age?
Another milestone is on the way, and should be ready for next weekend: the D*I*Y Planner hipsterPDA Edition, which is a set of templates suitable for printing onto 3×5″ index cards. There will be a subset of about 30 forms altogether, designed for the much smaller format; most will take their cues from their big brother kit, and the two can be used hand-in-hand if you wish. (For those who don’t know what a HipsterPDA is, see the HipsterPDA post at 43folders.)
June 7th, 2005
I’ve been asked a number of times, “What’s the deal with the reference numbers in your templates? Aren’t they just taking up valuable space?” Well, no: a reference number is a very handy thing to have in an organisational system. Although I’m sure other people implementing the D*I*Y Planner (and DayRunner and Day-Timer forms) have no doubt come across other uses for them, there are two that do stand out in my mind: Dockets and Links.
Reference Number as Docket
If you’ve ever worked in a large organisation, you’ve probably experienced the ubiquitous “docket numbers”, and may have even considered them the bane of your existence. They are numbers, usually created and tracked by an accounting department, that are assigned to each project. When you spend time working on the project, you must note its number, along with the time spent, on your timesheet. The accounting department then adds up all the time for that docket as a way of tracking project costs. Numbers often have several parts; for example, “04-0543-012″ might be department 4, client 0543, project 12 for that client.
All well and good if you’re in a large organisation, but there are benefits to using them for small companies and even personal projects. First and foremost, it serves as a way of separating projects for filing. Now, a paper planner is not infinite. If you use it much at all, you’ll probably want to clean out all the “done” stuff every month. The reference number serves as a valuable way of grouping the material for your files. Simply keep a folder in your file cabinet labelled with the docket, and move all work with that reference number into that file. That way, you won’t have hundreds of pieces of unsorted paper teetering in a pile atop your scanner or other semi-flat purposes.
Second, the number becomes important when you’re tracking work for clients. “043-03″ could stand for client #43, and the third project with them. Tracking projects in this way becomes important if you provide ongoing service for a client, or are sending them an invoice for work completed. It can also be used to track contracts, bills paid, expenses incurred, agendas, and so forth.
Third, a reference number can become an easily-understood identity for certain types of projects. “ENG2201-04-01-03″ to an English teacher might mean the 2201 course, unit 04, section 01, lesson 03. When you sort your work later, keeping all the course resources together and in the right order becomes a no-brainer.
Of course, if you’re using a docket reference system, be sure to keep a list of ongoing docket numbers in your @Reference tab of your planner, so you have an easy look-up system when the number escapes you.
Reference Number as Link
Even if your work situation demonstrates no clear need for dockets, the reference number can still become invaluable for linking material together.
An example might best demonstrate this. In my planner, I have a tab for a certain project, and in it is a Contact Log form for keeping track of discussions with that client. Normally, there’s only a line or two for the subject discussed, and the date on which it occurred (as well as a date for follow-up, if necessary). Let’s say, though, that we discussed quite a number of matters on a particular date. I write up the details of that conversation on a Notes form. But how to link them together? Simple: with a reference number. Atop the Notes form, I might write “CL-050603-01″ (using the date as a basis), and in my Contact Log I write “See CL-050603-01″ in the appropriate line for the date. Voilà! Instant link. I simply put the Notes form behind the Contact Log in the planner, and have immediate access to it when I need it. I use similar “links” for material in Project Details, Project Outline, Objectives, Finances and anywhere else there isn’t enough room on the base form to contain all the important details.
People using software or Palm PIMs will no doubt have their own way of creating linked notes, but I’ve found that this concept works fine on paper too.
I’m sure there are other ways of using reference numbers in planners, and it is very much dependent upon how you work, who you work with, and how your filing is set up. Regardless, the reference fields can prove quite handy — if you get into the habit of using them regularly and consistently.
June 4th, 2005
There’s a little light at the end of the tunnel with regard to my workload, so I’m taking this time to mention the status of the D*I*Y Planner.
First, there is still no version 2.0 of OpenOffice.org yet, so my template kit is still pending its “any day now” release. I am quite encouraged by the drawing tools in the beta, but the program still rather buggy at this time.
Second, my focus for the next while will be on “add-on” packages for the D*I*Y Planner which would be targeted towards more specialised users. The first two will be Education and Creativity. I’m still very much in the embryonic stages of what’s to be included, and how they will be structured.
Which brings me to the reason for this post: are there any students and teachers out there who have ideas about what you’d like to see in the D*I*Y Education Package? Currently, I only have the following templates in process:
- Lesson Plan
- Unit Plan
- Course Overview
- Materials
- Bibliography (MLA), including an index card variant
- HowTo: MLA Citations
- Timetable, both five-day and blank versions
- A marking template or two
- Attendance
- Perhaps some new brainstorming charts?
I lean towards the arts, not the sciences, so MLA is my first choice for documenting sources. That being said, I can see no reason why I couldn’t create other styles while I’m at it. I would like a few pros to double-check my work, though.
If you have any suggestions for additional templates, I’d love to hear from you: please leave a comment below or send me an email. (My address is found at the bottom of the menu at right.) Scholars, educators, students and educational methodologies being what they are, I sincerely doubt that these templates will suit everybody’s needs, but I’m trying to ensure that I take into account as many as possible. Your feedback is thus very important to me.
May 26th, 2005
I was doing some work in the local library (a fairly small one), when I decided to take a little break and peruse the shelves. The productivity section was small indeed, but it yielded a little unexpected treasure: Getting Things Done by Edwin C. Bliss, subtitled “The ABCs of Time Management”. Now, I’ve heard this book mentioned a couple of times, mainly in the context of David Allen’s more famous book of the same name, but I had little idea as to its content. A glance at the sign-out stamps indicated that has been borrowed roughly once every three years. Obviously not a very in-demand book in this neck of the woods. Without further ado, I slapped down my library card and took it home.
First, let me say that I’ve heard a little bit of condescention and smugness used when mentioning Bliss’ book, mainly from hard-core GTD fans who have never read it and somehow seem to resent the back that an earlier productivity book could somehow use the sacred nomenclature. Folks, the term “getting things done” is a pretty run-of-the-mill –even bland– title that… uhm… seems to offter advice on getting things done. While I hesitate to congratulate either Bliss or Allen (or their publishers) on their creativity when naming books, I certainly don’t hold a lack of originality against them either. “It is what it is.”
On to the book. I was very pleasantly surprised. In a way, this is more in line with what Allen hopes to achieve in Ready for Anything, a collection of productivity ideas and wisdom. Bliss, also a consultant of many years’ experience with megacorporations and a lecturer on organisational and time management issues, has put together a book that is deceiving in its randomness. Rather than start at a particular point and build up to a complete, self-contained system (as Allen, Covey and others do), he instead organises the sections alphabetically. He moves from “After-Action Reports” to “Alcohol”, and finishes with “Xenelasia” and “Yesterday Trap”. (There is no “Z”, but I’m not going to hold this against Bliss; I would have liked his take on Zen, though.) In other words, you can open the book, start anywhere, and absorb of few pieces of advice before you rush off to actually get things done.
While Allen and Covey back up their ideas mainly with anecdotes, Bliss is more logical about presenting evidence to back up his thoughts. While he does share the occasional personal story, his approach is far more scientific. He quotes surveys, statistics and studies, and gives well-researched examples for certain topics. These little “mini-essays” –each averaging a page or so– are filled with practical advice, insights into the leaders of large companies, figures from little-known but meaningful reports, and plenty of great little (dare I say it) “life hacks” that cause your neurotransmitters to suddenly figure in the right sequence.
For example, he mentions the “Stand-up Desk”. Now, I’ve never really considered this idea. Apparently, not only great writers like Hemingway, Woolf, Carroll, Nabokov and Winston Churchill used standing desks, but many leaders of large organisations do. This caused me to reflect on something that I’ve noticed about my own thinking habits: all my heavy duty thinking, I tend to do while pacing or standing at whiteboards. Bliss quotes a USC study that indicates an acceleration of 5-20% in the brain’s information-processing speed while standing instead of sitting, as well as a marked improvement in reaction time for anyone working on difficult tasks. He also mentions the fact that a desk should be about elbow height, and that there should be a bar to raise one foot occasionally to prevent back problems. This entry alone has kick-started the creaking gears in my mind: the next time I change around my office, I will certainly try a standing desk for a while. I might have to play around with the ergonomics, especially with regard to using a laptop, but it sounds like a worthwhile experiment.
Bliss covers many other topics in the same way, including the need for sleep, how to overcome mental blocks, the use of exercise in increasing productivity, procrastination, a step-by-step guide to handling correspondence quickly, and so on. There’s plenty of solid, practical advice that one can put into play almost immediately, and enough scientific research to feel informed about your choices.
I am not sure if this book is still in print or not (my edition was updated in 1991), but Amazon.com carries some copies that are quite inexpensive. Highly recommended, especially considering the price.
April 11th, 2005
There’s quite a favourable review of D*I*Y Planner 2 online over at the UK-based Home Computer Magazine. I must say, I was a little amused to find a “screenshot” of the planner. 
(Thanks for the tip-off, Dave!)
April 10th, 2005
How do you make a “trusted system”, the term David Allen uses to denote a planning and organisational system which can be relied upon to contain your events, tasks, projects and thoughts? It’s easy to get carried away in tweaking productivity methodologies, but mind like water is only achieved when such a system is fully implemented and consulted on a day-to-day basis. One of the biggest obstacles for many people, myself included, is how to create a system that is always there, at the ready, and worthy of your trust.
When I was in high school and university, I used to keep journals. Not only did I write rather copiously about all my daily happenings, my far-fetched ideas and my roller-coaster relationships, but I’d also sketch, write lists, insert my favourite new photographs, tape in interesting clippings from newspapers, practise other languages, and so on. For years, I was never without my journal.
After university, I joined the regular work force and started lugging around a day planner instead of a journal. I had every intention of doing everything “by the book” and figuring out how to use all the fancy forms to organise my life and job. I started by entering all my personal and work information into the planner, buying special inserts and folders, and stuffing it with every conceivable type of professional form.
Gradually, though, my enthusiasm began to slip away into apathy. Soon, I rarely carried around the planner. I wrote people’s addresses on stickies and stuck them to the monitor, with the intention of later entering them into my contact sheets. Things to be done, I tried to memorise, believing I could remember them when the time came. Project details degenerated into loose notes jotted on the back of meeting agendas. And my calendar was scattered thoughout my planner, digital PIMs, various stickies, a “motivational” wall calendar, and random scraps of paper (usually crumpled in pockets or lost in manuals).
Obviously, it didn’t take long before I recognised a problem. As Mr. Allen points out, I had no system I could trust. And I had no system I could trust, because I didn’t have a convenient system at hand that felt like an extension of myself and my work habits.
The past dozen years have been a learning experience, trying dozens of different systems in an effort to find one suitable for me. Being a web professional, most of the systems have been web-based or at least digital in some way. But none of them were particularly streamlined for my usage habits, nor were they where I needed, when I needed them. Even lightning-fast Graffiti skills on the Palm tended to seriously cramp my hands after a half-page.
Lately, I’ve finally decided to settle upon a paper-based system, which is what we techies refer to as analog. (This is obviously no surprise to anyone who has poked around this site, as this was the main motivator behind the whole D*I*Y Planner.) Between the Getting Things Done methodology, the forms I designed and the processes I tweaked, my productivity and project planning skills have never been better.
But there was still one missing piece to the puzzle. What would make me carry around the planner, and use it as my “trusted system”? Mind you, once a planner hits critical mass and contains all your pertinent information, you tend to carry it anyway because it becomes essential to your life. The problem is, how can you keep it handy and employ it as a trusted system long enough to get to this stage?
For this, I decided to… uh… “borrow a page” from my journal days: when a planner becomes a personal extension of my life, rather than a simple collection of work-related information, I feel better about carrying it with me wherever I go. It literally becomes a piece of me that I feel somewhat empty without.
Getting to this stage is not very difficult, but it means using a planner in ways that often don’t seem obvious to those people using a daily planner for business reasons. Each night, I curl up with my Day Runner and a smooth-writing Pilot G-2 pen and open it up to the Notes (or “Inbox”) section. I use simple plain or unlined paper, because I don’t want a tightly structured form to restrict my free thinking. And I write. I doodle. I make lists of ideas. I play around with concepts. I note interesting news items that might make good stories some day. I make anagrams. I brainstorm design ideas. I note events that, in several years time, will serve up memories of moments potentially forgotten. I write things that are important to me. I write frivolous things. In short, I make the planner personal. I make it mine.
Going to a cafe? Bring it with you and doodle the likeness of the person behind the counter. Going to be caught in traffic? Scribble down a few ideas about what albums you want to get. Grabbing a bite in a restaurant? Jot down the twenty things you want to do before you die. Watching a little TV? During the commercials, write down the list of places you’d like to go for a vacation. Waiting at the doctor’s office? Note ten things you could do on a daily basis to live a healthier life. And so on.
Some of these items will no doubt become projects and objectives someday, but don’t think about that now. Download your brain, express yourself, and worry about structure later. Not only does this jive with GTD, it forges a strong personal connection with your planner. And that’s a vital part of building trust.
For all those people who haven’t yet got into the spirit of toting a planner, I invite you to do one or more of the following:
- Every night, write down a list of ten things. Use the following to get you started:
- 10 things I want people to say about me at my funeral
- 10 books I’ve always wanted to read, but didn’t
- 10 things to do every day to be healthier
- 10 best films I’ve ever seen
- 10 things I can do to help my career
- 10 ideas for a time travel story
- 10 happiest moments of my life
- 10 worst moments of my life
- 10 of my greatest strengths
- 10 of my greatest weaknesses
- 10 things I find exciting/sexy/sensual
- 10 other lists I can write
- Draw one picture a day. (If you’re not an artist, don’t worry: after all, you can only get better.)
- Keep your planner near the bed. Write down any dream you remember as soon as you wake up. (If you are in a rush, put down some keywords and elaborate when you can.) Analyse it, if you can.
- Carry around at least one photograph in your planner that is meaningful to you, and you can show people.
- Carry around at least one photograph in your planner that is meaningful to you, and you cannot show other people. (Nothing too incriminating!)
- Keep a receipt envelope or folder in your planner, and keep clippings of news or magazine articles that speak to you in some way. Each month, read them and transfer to your filing cabinet.
- Keep a tab called Journal in your planner, and keep your personal writings, sketches and ideas there. Clean out every couple of weeks (or 20 pages, whichever comes first) and store the pages in a safe place.
- Make personal writing a daily habit. Put aside fifteen distraction-free minutes a day to write in your planner.
If you’ve never felt a bond with your planner before, I suggest building one. Not only will it become your trusted system, a safekeeper of schedules and tasks, but an omnipresent companion which transcends mere productivity and serves as the caretaker of your thoughts, desires and aspirations. You more effort you put into it, the more important a role it plays in your life.
Keep it handy, keep it personal.
April 9th, 2005
Update : This set, and many more, are now available free at www.DIYPlanner.com.
I’ve heard your requests, and thanks again to Nate Howland, we have a version of the main template file as a 2-up. This means that you can print two 5.5″x8.5″ pages on one letter-size piece of paper, then guillotine them afterwards, just like the original DIY Planner 1.0.
Tell Acrobat Reader to auto-rotate and center but not scale, and print even pages on back of odd pages. Experiment, and you’ll pick it up easily enough. Link to download: diyplanner2_2up.zip.
Note that this does not include the other files from the D*I*Y Planner package, only the main PDF template file. (If you’re looking for two A5 pages printing to one A4 sheet, check out the A5 Version entry.)
April 5th, 2005
Next Posts
Previous Posts
