7Breaths

52 Books in 2009

2009-01-13T16:03:00.002Z

Happy New Year everyone.

As part of my continuing development I'm planning to read a non-fiction book each week over 2009. I have a few on my list already but would appreciate any ideas on books I should be reading this year. Please leave any recommendations in the comments. Many thanks.

Problems with Results Manager & MindManager 8

2008-11-17T21:55:00.003Z

I have recently been using MindManager and ResultsManager to track my ongoing tasks and projects and have really noticed a benefit to my productivity. I was really excited to install the new MindManager 8 earlier this week, hoping for even more benefits. I have found MindManger 8 itself great but since installing I have had problems running Gyronix ResultsManager, especially when trying to regenerate dashboards. This caused the MindManager to just hang indefinitely. As these dashboards were the new hub of my productivity system I was stuck.

After contacting Gyronix I downloaded the new beta version of ResultsManager but this did not help. However, today, after some email with Nick Duffill from Gyonix I have a solution to my problem. Following Nicks suggestion I disabled the “Project Task Management” add-in. I am now able to use my ResultsManager dashboards with no problems. Only problem is I have lost one of the new features of MindManager 8. Still hoping for a better solution but at least with this workround I can continue to work productively. Must say what great support Nick and Gyronix have provided.

MindManager 8 - first impressions

2008-11-13T10:32:00.002Z

Introduction

I'v been using MindManager 7 (with Results Manager) for a few months now and have been using them more and more to organise, plan and track my projects. A couple of days ago MindManager 8 was released and I decided to download it and give it a try. Thought I would post a few initial impressions of the new features.

New Capabilities in MindManager 8
MindManager 8 certainly comes with some pretty neat features.

Mindjet Player
I just love this.
One of the big issues I've had in the past was sharing my maps with those who don't have MindManager. Well with the Mindjet player you can convert your maps into fully interactive Adobe PDF or Flash .SWF files. This means they can now be shared with anyone with Adobe reader installed or published on the web. I've already used this and the people I have shared with have been very impressed.

Automated Task Management
I've been using results manager to help manage my projects. Unfortunately Gyronix have yet to release a version compatible with the MM8 release. MM8 does have some capabilities to help manage projects, set due dates and dependencies, calculate when tasks are due and colour code where you need to focus - all very handy when running a bigger project.

Staying in MindManager
MM8 comes with an intergrated web browser, map parts which allow real time searches for example in google with the results mapped and editable, the ability to view and edit attached Microsoft Word, Excel, Project and PowerPoint files.
All these features mean you can stay focused on the job in hand, keeping in your map rather than switching between multiple applications. This has certainly speeded up my workflow when comppared to MM7.

Searchable Maps
One of my biggest annoyances with MM7 was that I could not search within maps using windows desktop search. It certainly made me less likely to use MM as a knowledge store, konwing that once things wnet in it might be difficult to find again (compare this to OneNote which is my current Knowledge base). This hwever has been rectified in this release making maps fully searchable by many popular desktop search applications.

Database Linker
This is another really useful addition. You can now link to various databases and extract real time information. As I have a lot of information stored in Access I am finding this of great benefit to get information out and then work on it in a whole new way.

Conclusion
MindManager 8 has certainly made some great strides from version 7. The intergration of the web browser and the ablitly to view and edit a variety of documents from withing a map has certainly aided my focus and workflow these last few days. Linking to and working with my stored data via a mindmap has created some new insights and ideas. I especially like the Mindjet Player, anything that allows me to share the power of mindmaps with others has to be a good thing.

I'm on day 2 of a 30 day trial so I will post towards the end of it on whether I plan to upgrade or not (thinking yes at present!)

OneNote In the Cloud

2008-10-29T09:10:00.002Z

I've posted before about using evernote as a capture tool, saying how I liked the ability to access my notes via the web and how this was an advantage over OneNote. Well looks like things are going to change with Office 14. Watch this video, OneNote on the web synchronising with OneNote on a client machine, they also say you'll be able to access it via a windows mobile device. This is just what I'm looking for, hope it gets out soon...

GTD Connect Free Trial

2008-08-16T08:33:00.004+01:00

Just a quick heads up - you can now get a free 14 day trial of GTD connect (h.t GTD Times).
This normally costs $40 a month!! I've signed up to get a feel for it but to be honest it is going to have to be something really special to make me even consider spending that amount a month. I'll post my thoughts later, but for now I'm going to try and make the most of this free 14 day period.

Mondays Done

2008-06-23T18:23:00.003+01:00

First day of the work week over, how did it go?
There are 4 days left - what's the Most Important Thing you need to accomplish this week?

What are you going to do tomorrow to accomplish it?

Pick up the phone

2008-06-23T14:40:00.003+01:00

Just One Call:

Book that gym class

Reserve the seat at the restaurant
Chat to a friend

Discuss with a mentor

Share with your parents

Join a new evening course

Enquire about a new job opportunity

Offer to help out

One call.... Where will it lead? Decide it, Do it!

JfDI - just do it. Book Review

2008-06-21T15:03:00.006+01:00

I've already mentioned Nicholas Bate on my blog before, this guy is a real thought leader in the area of personal productivity. Initially only knowing his work from his blog, I've recently been able to read most of his books and they have been a great read.

The first book I read was JfDI - just f******g do it! The title is enough to inspire you to get up and get something done! It's a great strategy guide for personal change, and the f*****g in the title shows his passion for this subject. Here is a brief review:

Summary

Nicholas explains that for change to occur you need to engage 3 areas -

Brain (Intellect)
Heart (Passion)
Gut (Drive)

He realises that all 3 areas need to be working in unison to achieve your goals, something a lot of people seem to neglect.

To engage these areas he leads you through a 12 step process and as you move through these 12 steps you eventually reach a tipping point where change becomes unstoppable.

He focuses on 3 areas - Attention, Immersion, Momentum and applies these to 4 levels of change Brain, Emotion, Strategy, Tactics - this leads to the 12 step AIM 4 BEST strategy.

The first part of the book focuses on a detailed exploration of each of the 12 steps - the concept, things to reflect on, his own examples of applying these steps and finally how to deal with the ifs & buts which may crop up on that step.

The second part of the book then expands on the framework by giving detailed plans of how to achieve 7 desires - these range from loosing weight and being attractive to writing and publishing a book to just being happy.
In the third part of the book he reviews the AIM 4 BEST steps and explores the more subtle areas of each, he also reviews how to apply this methodology for personal and team change and improvement.

Conclusion

I found this a really useful book to help me kick start a lot of projects. By systematically reviewing my goals with the AIM 4 BEST framework I've been able to clarify a lot of issues and formulate a workable plan to accomplish them. Although there were desires in the second section which had no interest for me (I don't smoke for example) just reading through the steps to accomplish these was an worthwhile experience as they just reinforced the general framework you need to use for other types of goals. I think this is where the book really shines - it gives you a framework you can apply to accomplishing anything you want rather than just being a guide to achieving a limited number of goals. If you have things you want but are not moving towards them I would strongly recommend buying this book and applying the AIM 4 BEST ideas.

A week (and more) on Tumblr

2008-06-21T14:16:00.002+01:00

Ask yourself, “Am I achieving a task and forgetting my organization’s mission? Am I making money to support my family — and forgetting the family that I am trying to support? http://www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com/blog/2008/06/03/mission-or-goal/

The next time you hear yourself say, “I’m just no good at …” ask yourself why not. The next time you’re coaching someone, and he or she says, “I’m just no good at …” ask them why not.
If we don’t treat ourselves–and the people around us–as if we have incurable genetic defects, we can get better at almost anything we choose. Why not?
http://www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com/blog/2008/06/09/our-stories-our-traps/

A great quote encapsulates the wisdom we wish to bear in mind, we wish to practice. Plus a great quote inspires us to act, to put into into play http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/nicholas_bate/2008/04/wow.html

“My advice is to never shy away from your problems. If you do, you’re missing the whole point. Grow and enjoy the process, the successful outcome is assured if you just persevere and learn the lesson life is trying to teach you http://www.musclehack.com/how-to-rise-to-every-challenge-and-succeed/

Do something MANAGEABLE, something you can do every day. And get stronger

Adversity introduces a man to himself.

Most of our projects have been done by before. Why do we resist the guidance of precedent?
There is a huge difference between attending to important details and squandering time on minor ones.
http://www.execupundit.com/2008/04/adding-to-burden.html

How much could we all benefit from slowing down, admiring the view and valuing how good our life already is? http://freeflowlife.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/the-happiness-of-a-cat/

Piling on debt is akin to taking steroids.
You might beef yourself up for a bit.
But, it’ll destroy your future in the long-run.
http://learn.trizle.com/posts/1043-how-to-cripple-your-company

First, do no harm

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.
– General George Patton

A week on Tumblr - more things to think about

2008-04-23T21:13:00.001+01:00

“No shortcuts exist to achieving greatness; it just takes strenuous hours of putting in your time to become better at what you do.
http://learn.trizle.com/posts/1040-how-do-you-treat-talent

People work better when they are working to a system. People feel more confident when they are working to a proven system. People need systems
. http://www.gaviningham.com/2008/04/16/the-sales-apprentice-2008-sales-training-tips-from-the-hit-tv-show-part-iv/

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
http://www.robinsharma.com/scripts/ic_blog.php?id=424

Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.

- Disraeli
http://www.execupundit.com/2008/04/quote-of-day_13.html

Time Audits

2008-04-16T20:02:00.003+01:00

I've posted about logging your time before and I think it's a useful exercise from time to time to see where your time is actually going. Dwayne over at Genuine Curiosity has a nice article with some ideas to help do a time audit - I'd recommend checking it out.

David Allen On The Curse Of The Eternally Urgent

2008-04-14T22:05:00.003+01:00

Nice post from David Allen over at the Huffington Post. Great quote "A crisis should be a crisis. Urgent things should be urgent. And they should be exceptional"

Seems to feed in to Covey’s ideas on Quadrant II tasks - Important, Not Urgent - work on these and the Important and Urgent tasks should arise a lot less frequently. Good explanation of it here. So how do you know what to be working on? I like the way Nicholas Bate ( If you've not come across him already I'd advise setting aside a good block of time to read his blog - a real 'thought leader' for me) describes these tasks:

Important
Investing
Interesting

Identify the tasks that fit these criteria and spend more time in Quadrant II working on things that will have the long term payoffs.

Death By PowerPoint (and how to fight it)

2008-04-14T18:38:00.003+01:00

Just came across this on YouTube. How I wish more presenters would think about how they use PowerPoint.
Get back to basics and remember you need

Significance
Structure
Simplicity
Rehearsal

A week on Tumblr

2008-04-12T11:18:00.002+01:00

Here are some quotes I've collected on Tumblr from my week of web browsing - just a few things to think about over the weekend. Check out my tumblr site to find the sources of these quotes....

“ Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity - Charles Mingus

“The energy and anxiety that you invest in putting off an activity can consume more energy than is required to perform the activity.” - Jeff Davidson

“ Happy people plan actions, they don’t plan results” - Dennis Wholey

“Don’t tell me how hard you work. Tell me how much you get done.” -
James Ling

“ Consider this: every interruption you take trains other people about how to work with you. If they know they can drop something on you at the last minute, they’ll have no reason to think that’s not the way to work with you next time as well. "

Small Things, Done Consistently, Create Major Impact

“ There is no “set and forget” in self-management

“ On Time Management
It can’t be done. You can manage your choices, though. But then you can’t blame anyone; but you are OK with that aren’t you?

“ On work/life balance
It’s the wrong question: get life balance. It’s the work/life balance question which is the real problem. Did the tinker, tailor, baker or farmer have a work/life balance issue? No. Live a life where is little distinction between work and play. A foolish dream? What’s wrong with one of those?

Evernote 3 Beta - My new capture tool

2008-04-05T12:47:00.004+01:00

I've been using the new Evernote 3 Beta as my capture tool for the last few weeks and must say how impressed I have been with it. The main advantage with it is that I have access to my notes wherever I am because of its ability to synchronise seamlessly between my computer, the web and my windows mobile phone. Now wherever I am I can capture a thought and have access to it no matter what platform I am working on. This is a massive advantage for me over OneNote where most of my notes where stuck on my home machine. There is the ability to tag notes and also to mark notes as to-do items - so I may switch to using it as a next action manager, although I have not at present.

If anyone is interested in trying it the folks at Evernote have given me 10 invites for the Beta Program so drop me a line.

Here are some detailed reviews of Evernote which will give you a much better idea of how it works.

100+ GTD links

2008-01-03T10:57:00.000Z

Firstly I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year, I hope you had a relaxing holiday period and are now ready for another productive year. If you feel the need for a little GTD kick start I'd recommend having a look at this list of 100+ GTD links from the folks over at Bootstrapper.

Things have eased off for me at present so I should be getting some more regular posting done soon.

David Allen in British Medical Journal

2007-10-17T21:40:00.002+01:00

I've just come across this interview with David Allen in the British Medical Journal.

The interview is fairly short, but I enjoyed reading his ideas on work (which should be fun) and 'working' whilst on vacation - "Why would you not want to do fun things on a vacation? ". He addresses why we should be taking breaks from work -

"If you have to take a holiday because you're burning out, you're in the wrong job or you're not working appropriately. If you want to take a holiday because you need a new perspective, fabulous, but what's the value of a new perspective? To see things you haven't seen before, to come up with creative ideas you haven't had before, to see things in new ways. So of course I'm going to have a note-taking device with me on holiday because that's where I'm going to have some of my best ideas."

I'd encourage a look at the whole interview.

Thursdays Blog Recommendation.

2007-09-13T09:18:00.000+01:00

I'll be posting about a blog / website I find useful each Thursday.

My first post is about Jason Womack and his Fit and Effective Blog.

Jason used to work for the David Allen Company as a
Executive Coach/Facilitator. He has since branched out on his own forming the Jason Womack Company and is currently providing Workplace Performance Coaching . In addition to all this he also finds time to take part in triathlons and long distance cycle rides. Jason's attitude to top performance and productivity fits well with my own thoughts on the subject. I like blogs which stimulate and challenge me and Jason certainly does. His focus on Goals, Engagement, Commitment and Focus has certainly given me ideas and inspiration. I'd recommend you check it out, maybe try this post.

Weekly Review Outline

2007-08-29T17:18:00.000+01:00

gtdfrk over at Getting Things Done has a post of his weekly review checklist. He wonders about other peoples weekly reviews so I thought I'd post an outline of my current one. I keep this of course in OneNote and have just copied it over, so some formating etc is missing but the basic scheme is still there.

I like to have done all my processing already done before the weekly review. I used to spend so much time emptying my inbox and processing stuff that had accumulated that I found I had less time than I would have liked on the actual planning stage of the weekly review. I therfore try to process my inputs each day during the week and do a final processing several hours before sitting down to do my weekly review which I use for "Planning Not Processing".

Here's whats in my Checklist:

'PLANNING not Processing'

YOU ARE REVIEWING AND PLANNING NOW

PREPARE
Ensure Daily review already done .
Disconnect from the net
Sit & Think
Final Mindsweep and keep open

REVIEW WHERE YOU ARE:

Review previous weeks schedule
Did you keep your commitments
Did you work on all your roles
Did you use your time effectively

Review next weeks schedule
What commitments do you have
Are you prepared for these
Support Material
Agenda

Review Current 90 day goal list
Do all goals have supporting projects
Are you moving towards succcesful completion
Do any more projects need starting this week

Review Project list
Ensure all projects have a next action
Ensure all projects have a role assigned
Schedule time to work on each project
Any stagnating projects
Shedule time
Dump
Someday / May be
Is there a balance of roles during the week

REVIEW WHERE YOU ARE GOING:

4 week Brief Overview
Any commitments upcoming which need work now
Birthdays / Aniversaires
Events
Holidays
.....

Review Someday / Maybe list
Can anything be moved to active
Can anything be dumped

Review Dream list

Read and commit to yearly goals

FINISH

Process the mindsweep
Look at the coming week again
Visualise Successful Action
Reconnect to the net
Relax & Enjoy

Personal Development List

2007-08-27T08:41:00.000+01:00

Priscilla Palmer is collating a list of personal development web sites and amongst those she has included is 7breaths - Thanks. The list is growing rapidly - 2 sites I think worthy of addition are

Jason Womack at Fit and Effective
Stephen at HD BizBlog

Here is the rest of the list, I'm sure you will find some useful new sites here:

Aaron Potts at Today is That Day
Adam Kayce at Monk at Work
Al at 7pproductions.com
Alan Torres at Made to Be Great
Alex Shalman at AlexShalman.com
Alexander Kjerulf at The Chief Happiness Officer
Alexys at Unraveling The Spiritual Mystique
Albert Foong at urbanmonk.net
Amy Hedin at There is no Maximum to Human Potential
Andrea J. Lee at Money, Meaning, and Beyond
Andy Wibbels at AndyWibbels.com
Anita Pathik Law at Power of four Way
Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand
Antonio Thornton at AntonioThornton.com
Ask Lucid at Ask Lucid Spiritual Development
Belle Wong at Abundance Journal
Blogfuse at LifeDev
Brad Isaac at Achieve It
Brian Clark at Copyblogger
Brian Kim at briankim.net
Bob at everyeveryminute
Carlon Haas at Possess Less Exist More
Chris Marshall at Martial Devlopment
Christine Kane at ChristineKane.com
Clyde at Feeling Good
Conceive, Believe, Achieve at Conceive, Believe, Achieve
Craig Harper at Motivational Speaker
Curt Rosengren at Occupational Adventure
Damian Carr at Soul Terminal
Daniel Sitter at Idea Sellers
Dave Schoof at Engaging the Disquiet
Davers at Language Trainers Blog
David Allen at The David Allen Company
David Bohl at Reflections on Balance
David Rogers at How to Have Great Self Confidence
David Seah at David Seah.com
Dawud Miracle at dmiracle.com
Dean Lacono at Law of Attraction for Beginners
Debbie Call at Spirit In Gear
Debra Moorhead at Debra Moorhead.com
Des Walsh at Thinking Home Business
Dick Richards at Come Gather Round
Don Simkovich at Hey Don
Donald Latumahina at Life Optimizer
Donna Karlin at Perspectives
Dr. Charles Parker at The Core Psych Blog
Dr. Hal at Northstar Mental fitness blog
Drew Rozell at Drew Rozell.com
Edward Mills at Evolving Times
Ellen Weber at Brain Based Business
Emmanuel Lopez at The Adventures of Motivatorman
Ellesse at Goal Setting College
Elly Jolly at Jolly Life Coaching
Enoch Tan at Mind Reality
Eric Napier at Quotation Collection
Frank Kanu at Frank Uncovers Excellence in Leadership
Frank Roche at KnowHR Blog
Galba Bright at Tune Up Your EQ
Guy Kawasaki at How to Change the World
Gleb Reys at Personal Development Ideas
Grayson at Modern Worker Blog
Gretchen Rubin at Happiness Project
Gustav at Success-is-in-you.com
Gyanish at Diethack
Hilda Carroll at Living Out Loud
Henrik Edberg at The Positivity Blog
Honman at Open Your Mind to Prosperity
Inkedmn at The Cranking Widgets Blog
Itzy Sabo at Email Overloaded
Jacklyn Ker at Inspiring and Empowing Lives
Jason and Michael at Black Belt Productivity
Jason Ivers at A Miracle a Day
Jay White at dumb little man tips for life
Jean Browman at Transforming Stress Into Power and Cheerful Monk
Jeff Lilly at Druid Journal
Jeffrey Phillips at Think Faster
Jennifer at Goodness Graciousness
Jeremiah Owyang at Web Strategy by Jeremiah
Jerry Hart at Blue Print to emarketing
Jerry Lopper at Personal Growth
Jim Walton at Black In Business
Joanna Young at Coaching Wizardry
John Pratt at John Pratt International
John Place at John Place Online
John Wesley at Pick The Brain
Josh Bickford at Reach For Magnificence and Reach for Magnificence
Julia Rogers Hamrick at Julia’s Blog: Journal of the Journey Home to Eden
Julie Bonner at Declutter It
Kailani at An Island Review
Kammie Kobyleski at Passion Meets Purpose
Karen at Journey with Water Learner
Karen Lynch at Live The Power
Karen Wallace at The Clearing Space
Karl Staib at Karl Staib.com
Kevin Kinchen at Creative Power of Thought
Killeris at Attitude, The Ultimate Power
Kim and Jason at Escape Adulthood
Kim George at Doing What You Can Do
Kirsten Harrell at Ipopin
K.L. Masina at Be Conscious Now
Leah Maclean at Working Solo
Laura Young at The Dragon Slayer’s Guide to Life
Lee Nutter at bmindful
Leo Baruta at Zen Habits
Life Reflection at Universe in a Single Atom
Lisa Gates at Design Your Writing Life
Liz Strauss at Successful Blog
Lola Fayemi at Real World Spiritual and Personal Development
Lorraine Cohen at Powerfull Living
Lucid at Spiritual Suggestions
Lyman Reed at Creating a Better Life
Maddy at Illuminated Minds Want to Know
Maria Palma at The Good Life
Mark at The Naked Soul
Mark Forster at Get Everything Done
Mark McManus at Build Your Life To Order
Mark W Shead at Productivity 501
Martin Avis at Kickstart Daily
Matthew Cornell at Matt’s Idea Blog
Merlin Mann at 43 Folders
Michelle Moore at Happiness Blog
Michael Port at The Think Big Revolution
My Everyday Planner at My Everyday Planner
Nancy Tierney at Unconditional Confidence
Neil Patel at Quick Sprout
Nick Smith at Life 2.0
Nneka at Balanced Life Center
Organize-It at Organize-It
Pamala Slim at Escape From Cubicle Nation
Pamm Larry at My Spiritual Dance
Patricia Singleton at Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker
Paul at Paul’s Tips
Peter at I Will Change Your Life
Peter Aldin at Great Circle
Phil Gerbyshak at Make It Great
Priscilla Palmer at Personal Development Demands Success
Raymond Salas at Zenchill Powertools
Reg Adkins at ElementalTruths
Rick Cockrum at Shards of Consciousness
Rick Cooper at The PDA Pro
Ririan at Ririanproject
Rob at 7Breaths
Rob Cooke at Leave the Office
Robert at Compassionate Council
Robyn McMaster at Brain Based Biz
Rosa Say at Managing With Aloha Coaching
Ryan Marle at The Alpha Project
S.J. Yee at Personal Development for the Book Smart
Sam at Aquire Wisdom and Live with Passion
Scott Adams at The Dilbert Blog
Scott Bernadot at Keeping The Secret
Scott Ginsberg at Hello, My Name Is Blog
Scott H Young at Scott H Young
Self Pursuit at Self Pursuit
Shauna Arthurs at Breathing Prosperity and Follow Your Path
Shaheen Lakhan at GNIF Brain Blogger
Simone and Mandy at Outfit Inspirations
Slade Roberson at Shift Your Spirits
Sleeping Dude at How to Wake Up Early
Spike at Organize It
Stephanie and Jeffrey at Brains on Purpose
Steve Olson at Steve-Olson.com
Steve Pavlina at stevepavlina.com
Steve Roessler at All Things Workplace
Steven Aitchison at Change Your Thoughts
Surjit at Gurushabad
Susan Sabo at Productivity Cafe
Ted Demopoulos at Blogging For Business
Thom Quinn at Qlog
Tim Ferris at 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog
Tom Spanton at TRCoach
Tim Taylor at My Agapic Life
Tony D Clark at Success From The Nest
Torlink at You Create Reality
Travis Wright at Cultivate Greatness
Trizoko at Trizoko.com
Trevor Gay at Simplicity is the Key
Troy Worman at Orbit Now!
Tupelo Kenyon at Tupelokenyon.com
Vickie at Contemplate This
Wan Qi at Meditation Forum Mantras
WildBill at PassionateBlogger

and these collaborated sites:

Burst Blog
Daily PlanIt
Did I Get Things Done
GTD Wannabe
Life Coaches Blog Stratagies for a Greater Life
Lifehack.org

Managing Time and Projects with Outlook 2007

2007-08-23T14:25:00.000+01:00

Despite using the weekly review to identify and discard projects which did not fit in with my current 90 day Goals I still have a tendency to take I more than time allows. To overcome this I have been using Outlook 2007 to help manage my time and projects in conjunction with OneNote 2007 - here I will describe my current workflow. This is an subtle adjustment to my previous workflow with Outlook & OneNote - a lot of it remains unchanged.

I contniue to collect & process my inputs in OneNote. When I identify a next action now I use the outlook flag CTRL+SHIFT+5 to flag it as an action and have it show up in my Outlook to do list. I then set a context for it using Outlook. I then can filter my contexts in Outlook as needed.

If I identify a project I again flag it using CTRL+SHIFT+5 and open it in Outlook. I have a set of colour catagories in Outlook based on my Roles & Responsibilities eg .R&amp;amp;amp;R - Work & Career. For each project I decide what R&R it fits into and assign it.

I use Outlooks calendar for my hard landscape. I colour code commitments for the week using the same colour scheme as my R&R. In this example I've colour coded work commitements and R&R - Work & Career both green. It all comes togehter during my weekly review as described below:

Weekly Review Workflow:

1. Preview the weeks hard landscape:

So at present just a few commitments - mostly green i.e work.

2. I then open the To-Do bar in the calander view - and review each project.

3. I then L click and drag that project to a time slot on the calendar. This way I can assign some time to work on the project and ensure I do not overcommit & underdeliver.

When I come to work on the project I click on its appointment slot, this opens it so I can then click on the OneNote link and go straight to my notes and reference materials for it.

As the week goes by I keep a track of what I've been doing - filling in the time slots in outlook and colouring them as needed. If any new projects come up during the week I know if I have the time to do it or not, rather than just putting it on a project list and hoping to get it done.

By doing this for each project and using the colour codes I can get an overview of how my week is planned and I think more importantly if I am neglecting any roles & responsibilities I have.

Horizons and Higher altitudes

2007-08-19T11:31:00.000+01:00

In my last post I can't do it all... I began to discuss the problem I was having with my workflow - that of taking on too many projects. Jeroen commented regarding using the GTD Horizons of Focus during the weekly review to help decide what you should or should not be doing, whilst SpiKe had not found this approach useful. I've blogged about Higher altitudes previously and have tried to apply Davids horizons to my own life. I found the levels he used did not fit with my thinking - so have slightly adapted things to give me a little more focus - I've tried to represent things in this diagram.

I began by looking at my long term goals and vision - I've labeled these ambitions. These are not written down - after all if you need to write down your lifes vision to help you remember it, it can't be that much of a vision.

Next I have decided what I need to do in the next year to move me towards my ambitions. I've made a checklist of these so I can reward myself for checking them off as the year goes by - just "cranking widgets" on a bigger scale.

For each yearly goal I then set 90 day targets to move towards acomplishing the goal. I find 90 days long enough to get some significant work done, but short enough to allow me to see progress to my yearly goals.

Each 90 day target can have several supporting projects ongoing at the same time, and of course each project will have next actions.

When I do my weekly review I ensure that each 90 day target has active supporting projects - if not I will decide what I need to do and start a project off. This helps keep my focus on doing what I want to do. After ensuring all 90 day targets are moving forwards I then check my projects. What projects do I have which do not seem to support a 90 day goal. These are the "reactive" projects I've picked up during the week. I very carefully review these and ask "What's in it for me?". Sometimes Projects need to be done which don't fit in with your goals, but often just the practice of reviewing them in light of your 90 day targets makes you realise that you should be re-negotiating or dumping the project.

By applying this method I've reduced the number of projects I have ongoing at a time. However I still find I can take on more than I can do if I don't consider the actual time I have to spend each week working on them - this will be the theme of my next post...

I can't do it all...

2007-08-15T15:06:00.000+01:00

Been thinking a lot recently about my personal productivity workflows. I've got all my inputs covered, nothing is missed, all my project lists are up to date, all my next action context lists are full. The problem - there is too much to do. If all my inputs stopped today I would still have weeks of work to do to clear all my projects. I've realised that collecting / processing / organising in itself is not enough. Too many things to do, too many opportunities to seize, (Don't even mention my someday/maybe list - it's just getting bigger and bigger too). Just working with my GTD lists is no longer enough. I need to incorporate the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day along with the admission that I can't do everything I want to in this time, no matter how many productivity hacks I employ. GTD is a great tool, but is not a solution in itself.
I've branched out from pure GTD and looked at other systems and have come up with a workflow that I am finding more manageable for now. I'll be posting some notes on my current thinking over the next few weeks. One thing I have taken to using is leveraging the Outlook 2007 integration with OneNote and I'll be addressing how this has changed my previous OneNote / GTD set up.
For other thoughts on "GTD 2.0" check out these ideas from Eric, Michael, Pascal and Stephen.

Tumblr

2007-08-07T21:01:00.000+01:00

I've just set up a Tumblr account where I'll be posting things of interest that do not require a full blog entry.
You can find it here http://7breaths.tumblr.com/ or subscribe here http://7breaths.tumblr.com/rss

Saturday Review

2007-08-04T06:33:00.000+01:00

What is not measured is not mastered.

How are you spending your time? If you want to be productive a great first step is to master your time management. There are 168 hours in the week - do you know how you've spent them over the last week?

You need to know what you are doing before trying to change anything.

The Exercise:

A useful quick exercise to see how aware you are of how you are spending your time is to:

Recall
Grab your diary and a sheet of paper.

List the hours 0 - 23 for each day of the week

For each hour write down what you were doing - use your diary to remind you. Try and be as accurate as you can, if you are not certain leave it blank.

Review

On doing this exercise you may well find that you can account for every hour - well done in that case. However even if each hour is accounted for a lot of people are surprised at how much unproductive time is spent during the week. Just as bad are blocks of time when we can't even recall what we were doing - again this is usually just unproductive time as you can usually remember if you were engaged in something worthwhile.

How did you do, I'd love to hear some feedback.

It's surprising how unaware we often are of the time we are spending. To try and get some focus on how our time is going I suggest the following challenge:

The Challenge:

Over the next week record what you are doing. Use anything to capture the data, for me I use a sheet of paper which goes everywhere with me. Each time you start a new activity record it. Try and be as detailed as you can, so instead of 2 hours on the computer break it down into its components - reading email, RSS, working on spreadsheet for account xxx etc.. Same with all activities.

Keep the record going for a week, you should have some useful data to work on for next Saturdays exercise...