Art of GTD, Zone by Zone

B'fast in bed... Kid style; GTD teaching opportunity

2010-02-20T06:28:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of winter vacation for the kids. In true GTD style we will spend some time today brainstorming and capturing ideas. We will use our ubiquitous blank white note cards (aka our portable Think-a-toriums) as our capture tool. We will imagine success. We will create a schedule. We will then let the fun unfold as we move toward our outcomes.

My role in all of this is simply to ask questions, provide encouragement ("high five... That is a super idea!"), and provide transportation (a pretty common next action these in this phase of life!).

In the grand scheme of things this is my on going process for teaching and nurturing the GTD principles with my kids. Planting GTD seeds is great fun. Winter vacation is another teaching-by-doing opportunity.

Have you planted any GTD seeds with your children lately? If yes, I'd love to learn from your examples and share them with our community (Please post them to the comments section).

Any teaching opportunities coming your way?

Wishing you well on your journey. The kids have finished breakfast and it is time to start the capture process! :)

Good, clean, pure, powerful, and positive information

2010-01-09T03:56:00.000-08:00

This quote:

Make sure that on a daily basis you only allow good, clean, pure, powerful, and positive information to enter your mind. Zig Ziglar

(from: http://twitter.com/TomZiglar)

Reminded me of this post:

http://www.zonebyzone.com/2008/02/would-you-wash-with-dirt.html

Which reminds me...

I need to keep leveraging my commute time. This is a great Zone. Goal: Decrease commercial radio and increase more quality music, audio books and reflective time.

Question for you...

What do you do during your commute time? I am looking for some fresh ideas and I am sure others would appreciate your ideas too.

In just a little while... life, death, living and the band

2010-01-08T04:46:00.000-08:00

This is a post about death. This is a post about life. This a post about living.

I have a playlist of "reflective" songs. In my last post I talked about some work I was doing at the GTD 50K foot level. At that level you are asking yourself "What is my Mission in life?" Listening to my "reflective" play list is part of the process I use to detect my mission.

There is one song on my playlist that really resonates with me when thinking about the bigger picture of life. The song is Believe by Brooks and Dunn.

"Says he was in the war when in the navy
Lost his wife, lost his baby
Broke down and asked him one time
How ya keep from going crazy
He said I'll see my wife and son in just a little while
I asked him what he meant
He looked at me and smiled, said

(Chorus)

I raise my hands, bow my head
I'm finding more and more truth in the words written in red
They tell me that there's more to life than just what i can see

I have found comfort in the phrase "in just a little while." It has helped me frame my belief of life and death. We all will die. I think that is an indisputable fact. It is what happens after that last breath that causes my mental and spiritual wheels to turn.

I also love the phrase "there's more to life than just what I can see." We are all ripples in the same pond. The inner circles of the ripple we can see, the outer circles are out of our view but still living and impacting the world. For example, a kind word to someone today may put a smile on their face (an inner ripple that you can see) but it also may be the tipping point in their day between choosing one path over another. My father was a football coach and a teacher. He worked with a lot of kids growing up. Every so often he meets a former player or student who says, "You remember when you said XYZ? That really made a difference for me. Thank you." Who knew? That is an outer ripple coming back. That is a gift. Most of them enter the mysterious realm of "there's more to life than just what I can see."

My aunt Margaret Ann once told us of a dream she had after my grandmother (her mother) passed away. She saw Nana (my grandmother) playing in a band with other family members. This also included my Uncle Steve (Nana's son) who died at an early age and before Nana. In the grand scheme of things it was just a "little while" before she saw her son again. It will be just a little while before I join the band too.

"Just a little while." That is comforting to my heart and soul.

Cruising @ 50K level of perspective

2009-12-29T09:09:00.000-08:00

(You can click on the picture to enlarge)

I am at one of my favorite coffee shops (the Village Cup in Jericho, Vermont). It has the vibe that allows me to fly to higher levels of perspective. The location, music, furnishings and chatter of the patrons fuel my creative juices. I have discovered that certain physical locations get me into the higher levels of perspective "zone" more than others.

My goal today is to continue my intentional search for items that can inform my 50K (a.k.a. mission in life, legacy) intentions. Here are some of the thoughts that come to my mind as I work at this level:

"be soft, be open..."

"life is a process of discovery..."

"life continues to unfold... what is next?"

"how will I respond to [fill in the blank]?"

"the continuation of the story amazes me... I am so thankful for those who have come before me, who are with me and will come after me."

Victor Frankl mentioned that "you detect your mission." That really resonates with me. My real mission feels like it is delivered to me one piece of the puzzle at a time. When I am tuned in, I will capture a piece of the puzzle (a quote, a comment, a vision, an idea) for later review. Slowly, over time, the content and context of my mission is making its way into my heart and my actions.

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What are your favorite higher-level-of-thinking locations? Do you get to them as often as you would like?

How do you capture or record the results of your higher level thinking?

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One last note... a new book is out from one of my favorite authors, Dan Roam. You may enjoy it, too.

The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition): Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures

Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures

EOY + Vacation = Trip to higher levels of perspective

2009-12-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

Furnace filter changed? Yes, but... EOY updating of my GTD checklists

2009-12-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

I am loving the art of creating checklists. At this stage in my GTD journey I am trying to strike the balance between too many and too few. My home maintenance checklist keeps growing. My piece of mind keeps growing with it as I find ways to keep the house running smoothly.

My lastest find... I was not changing my furnace air filter nearly enough. I was changing it once a year. I did some research (click here) and found I should be changing it once every couple of months if not once a month.

I updated my home maintenance checklist with my new found knowledge. Also, I read a great tip during my research: Write the date you installed the filter on the filter for future reference. I also took it to the GTD next step and added a reminder to my tickler system.

My Dirty Air Filter

Here are some links that my help you with your filter research if you are in the same boat:

Honeywell CF200A1008 4-Inch Ultra Efficiency Air Cleaner Filter 16x25x4 Inches

Air Filter Replacement: MERV 8 for Trion Air Bear 20x25x5

12 each: Ace Pleated Furnace Air Filter (84804.011625)

Merry Christmas from Zone by Zone

2009-12-25T05:58:00.000-08:00

May each passing moment today bring you peace and joy.

All my prayers and best wishes go with you.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays,

Mike @ Zonebyzone.com

Breakfast Quote of the Day

2009-12-23T13:19:00.000-08:00

What is your most productive capture spot?

2009-12-23T04:16:00.000-08:00

Without a doubt my sink is one of my most productive capture spots. From a zone by zone perspective, my time here sits between breakfast with the kids (a distinct zone) and getting dressed for work (a distinct zone). I have captured many productive items here. I've also forgotten many gems because I was not capture ready.

What is one of your most productive spots?

Quote of the day

2009-12-22T04:09:00.000-08:00

Backed up, Back logged, Back to Basics... & surfing

2009-12-21T05:48:00.000-08:00

Whew! You ever had one of these weeks... back to back to back meetings all week. I had one of these weeks last week. This picture represents the notes I captured and need to process.

I estimate that I have 4 hours of processing ahead of me. I have dedicated the morning to processing.

Here is my strategy:

- Get a cup of coffee
- Put on my head phones and fire up Pandora
- Commit to not slipping into "doing"
- Repeat this question many times: "What is it? Is it actionable?..."

As David Allen has often stated, this morning I will be "surfing on top of my work."

Do you have your own special processing ritual that you use when you are really backed up?

Time to hang 10. :)

Quote & Word of the Day

2009-12-21T04:05:00.000-08:00

Hot off the breakfast table press...

GTD and Blackberry Tour

2009-12-20T14:30:00.000-08:00

What made me change?

As sad as it sounds my Treo holster broke and I could not find local store that carried a replacement. Combine that with the fact that my tipping point was pretty low. "A new mobile device" has been on my someday/maybe list for quite a while now. My pump was primed for this change.

Why the Blackberry?

I have a Blackberry Tour. I prefer an exposed QUERTY keyboard. That works best for me. It is fast. Nothing to slide up. Just grab and type. My thumbs like to tango with real keys.

Additionally, my company has an enterprise server that syncs with MS Outlook. The server pushes email, calendar items and tasks to my Blackberry "over the air." The ability to push Outlook Tasks over the air was a net gain for me in this switch. The items I describe below are based on my set up with an Enterprise Server. I am not sure how it will work in a non-Enterprise server setting.

What did I do to get my GTD system up and running on the Blackberry?

(1) I set a goal: Find a way to get items in my system with the fewest number of key strokes on my Blackberry (this goes for my laptop, too). I desire speed, speed, speed... which comes from simplicity.

(2) I needed to purchase a 3rd party app. I could not figure how how the native task app on the Blackberry was sorting the tasks. I bought the application NextAction! and it solved this problem. I also bought MemoryBooster to help manage the memory on my device. You can find them in the Blackberry Apps Store.

A note on my GTD setup in Outlook:

- I use the Outlook Tasks to manage my GTD projects, GTD Next Actions and Lists.
- I use Categories to differentiate between these areas.

Project Categories: >Proj-Per, >Proj-Pro, >Someday-Per, >Someday-Pro
Next Action Categories: @anywhere, @blog, @calls, @comp-h, @comp-w, @errands, @home, @office, @travel, @wf
List categories: Birthdays, Lists, Lists-Checklists, List-Hotlists, Strengths, Wiki

(3) Here are the set up activities that I did to improve my speed

- I use Active Words on my laptop
- I use the AutoText feature on the Blackberry (found under Options/AutoText)
- I set it up so my Active Words and AutoText use the same "triggers" when ever possible. This way my brain can relax. It does not have to remember "What was that command on the Blackberry?" or "What was that command on the laptop?"

This did involve changing some of my Active Words triggers to start with $. $ + (keyword) works pretty fast on the Blackberry. You can hit the $ without needing to use the Alt key.

I will post of examples of speed keys specifics at a later date.

(4) I set up three email folders on my Blackberry

@BB (1) Proc to CAL,NA,Proj
@BB (2) Read,Watch,Listen
@BB (3) File

(5) I set up my Blackberry side keys (you set this up under Options/Screen-Keyboard)

Left side key = Search
Right side key = NextAction! application

(6) I organized my Blackberry desktop so the most frequently accessed items appear on the "home" screen - The one that shows six applications. On that screen I have:

- Memory booster
- Messages
- Gmail
- SMS/MSM
- Camera
- Calendar

===========================

MY WORK FLOW

Example 1: Email1

(1) Hey, there is a little red dot on my email folder. I have something new!
(2) I open the email. Read it.
(3) Can I resolve it in 2 min? Answer = No.
(4) I file in my appropriate email folder on my Blackberry.

@BB (1) Proc to CAL,NA,Proj
@BB (2) Read,Watch,Listen
@BB (3) File

Once I process my INBOX to zero I have two options:

(A) Open up "@BB (1) Proc to CAL,NA,Proj" and start defining projects and next actions.

or

(B) Wait to do this until I get back to my laptop. This is my preference. I am much faster at processing on my laptop. Also, I have a goal to expend as little energy and time on the Blackberry as possible. It is a great tool, it can also be a great distraction. ;)

Example 2: Email2

(1) Hey, there is a little red dot on my email folder. I have something new!
(2) I open the email. Read it.
(3) Can I resolve it in 2 min? Answer = Yes.
(4) Do it.

Example 3: Wife, "please pick up creamer on the way home"

(1) Press my right button
(2) Move to @errand list
(3) N - to create a new task
(4) Type: Buy creamer
(5) Save

Example 4: At 1-2 grade basketball practice. What was that child's name again?

(1) Press my right button
(2) Move to Lists-Hotlist
(3) Click on basketball roster list
(4) "Oh yes, that is Oliver and his dad is Jim and mom is Mary."

===========================

Tip: TAGGING AND SEARCH

Both the Blackberry and Laptop have great searching capabilities. I typically tag items with the names of people. For example, I tag a lot of items with my wife's name:

wife1111

I can use this to my advantage on the Blackberry. I can hit my right button (this launches the search function) to find all the items that have the tag "wife1111". The search will return all the items that have this tag. I find this very useful on both the personal and professional side. It is kind of like the @Agenda concept but a little broader. It also requires constant feed and caring or it can get out of control.

===========================

The biggest change for me

The biggest change for me moving from the Treo to the Blackberry was the loss of the touch screen and introduction of the "little ball" on the Blackberry. It is just different. I used it as an opportunity to discover "change" again.

So to make a long story short. I made it to the Blackberry world. I am able to do GTD effectively. I am not yet a Crackberry addict but I recognize the temptation is always there.

I hope this helps someone somewhere.

Mike

Totally off subject... Do you love diners?

2009-12-20T07:22:00.000-08:00

I love diners. I just snapped this picture from the Arcadia Dinner in Burlington, VT. This diner car was manufactured in 1950 in Worcester, MA. I love to imagine all the conversations that have taken place here over the years.

Do you have a diner or favorite breakfast joint? If yes, please leave a comment. It might precipitate a GTD meet up. :)

Shhh... Calendar Review

2009-12-18T04:29:00.000-08:00

Several times a week I ask my daughter to pull out her calendar while we enjoy our breakfast. I have my calendar there, too.

The calendar is a great trigger for conversation. "So, what is on your calendar this week?" Is a standard question. With a healthy dose of "that's cool... how do you feel about that?... Nice job!"

From a GTD perspective, I am slowly teaching her to trust her calendar. In essence, we are doing weekly calendar reviews, differentiating between hard and soft landscape items, and triggering "oh, that reminds me" items. We just don't use those terms.

This is the "Shhhh..." part of GTD. Don't over sell it. Just keep on planting the GTD Seeds. It is amazing how they grow.

Breakfast, Quote for the Day

2009-12-18T03:54:00.000-08:00

Shovel

2009-12-17T03:47:00.000-08:00

Context: Driving the kids to school...

My 7 year old son: "Hey dad, I wanted to shovel some snow the other day but I could not reach them. Can you get them down for me?"

Me: "Sure. Can you do me a favor and write me a note?"

Son: "Sure!"

I try to set up our lives to be "capture ready." We have several pads of paper in the car and the kids back packs. The picture below is the result from this transaction.

I handed him the note this morning and said "Done!". In return I got a big smile.

New feature... ZbyZ Breakfast Express

2009-12-16T04:14:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Every morning the kids and I grab our note cards and capture our thoughts. I figured out a way to share them with you with low blogging "overhead.". These are our GTD Seeds.

We usually do a Word of the Day. Here is today's word. It was inspired by last nights Cub Scout activity.

My hope is these short notes bring value to you and your family.

The band wagon

2009-10-20T03:32:00.000-07:00

A very good friend contacted me recently. He mentioned that he was back using portions of GTD and it is really helping him. Ah... getting back on the band wagon is a good thing.

The word that stuck out for me in his message was "portion" of the GTD system. As you can see by my response below I encourage and challenge people to embrace the "system" part of the GTD system. A "portion" is good. Adopting the "system" is life changing.

Good to hear from you.

If you treat GTD like a martial art and each day as your dojo then amazing things fall into place. Like a martial art there are very basic moves and sequences to learn. Once these moves become grooved behaviors you get from point A to point B with increased clarity and less effort. It is sort of like a tennis serve. When you first start out you are thinking about your grip, your toss, your feet, your racket, your target, etc. But after you spend time practicing your serve you transcend to the next level. The basic mechanics, while always there, drift to the back ground and you focus on a new level.

My basic recommendation I give to everyone is to try to implement the system 100%. Do not tweak it too much in the beginning. There is a ton of wisdom in the process that David has defined. There are no wasted moves. Additionally, the moves are basic every day moves. Everyone does them. The "secret sauce" if you will is the order of the moves. If you trust the system, interesting levels of thinking will follow.

Welcome back on the wagon!

As I tell my kids every morning at breakfast, "Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life!"

Are you band-aid ready?

2009-09-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

A while back my wife was at a local park with the kids. Something happened and one of our kids skinned their knee. She was in need of a band-aid. She did not have a band-aid. :(

There was an older man at the park that day. Seeing my wife in need, he walked over to her and with a band-aid in hand. He said, "I am a a grandfather and have many grandchildren. I always keep a couple band-aids in my wallet just in case."

She told me this story and I thought to myself, "Wow! What a great piece of practical wisdom." So from that day forward I started putting a couple band-aids in my handy dandy David Allen note taker wallet.

Thank you Mr. Wise Old Man where ever you are. You've set a great example for me and have helped many others with your wisdom and kindness.

Are you band-aid ready?

Capture... "Great idea can you write that down for me?"

2009-09-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

(Click the picture to enlarge)

Capturing... what a great thing!

The kids love it. You can create fertile ground for capturing ideas by creating capture ready spaces. The standard 3x5 blank card is working well for my family. We did a brainstorm at the beginning of the summer of all the things we wanted to do. Throughout the summer we moved things over to the done side. When we were trying to come up with an plan for the day the kids would go to the board and look for something from their "project list" (note: I did not call it that. That is a seed that will grow later down the road).

They are also durable. As kids learn to write they tend to press down hard so the extra thickness protects our table

In "landscape mode" they are great for capturing ideas, quote, actions, things to remember at school, things to ask your teacher and more. My daughter was on Quote of the Day duty today and here is what she came up with:

In "portrait mode," they are great for checklists. My daughter started a new activity today, field hockey, so I asked her to make a checklist of things she needs to bring. She is a lefty. I love where she placed the boxes. That is the other amazing thing about these little pieces of paper. You get to see the unique way your child processes information.

All this from a simple white 3x5 card strategically placed and nurtured with questions and encouragement. This is fun stuff!

Here is a related post that uses 3x5 cards to help with one of the many life questions I will face as a father: Daddy am I good at anything?

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PS: If you are in the market for a book bag, my daughter is loving her Yak Pak (pictured above).

The core of my GTD approach with my kids (aka The GTD Seed Company)

2009-09-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

In my life, and in our family, I have breakfast with the kids on almost a daily basis. This is sacred space for me because it is where I listen, offer guidance and plant my "GTD seeds."

This setting is so ubiquitous to our family routine that it makes for an incredibly powerful teaching setting. I know I will sit down with the kids 200+ times per year in this setting. I funnel most of these conversations through the GTD filter because it is so powerful.

I am going to write bunch of posts that focus on this diagram. You will find them under the tag "GTD Seed Company (GTDKids)" going forward. I chose this name because I identify with the image of planting seeds and nurturing them as they grow. Some will grow fast, some won't, some will grow years later when you least expect it.

Do you have a family routine that you could "re-purpose" for a new purpose? (Dinner, drive to school, etc.)

Any new "phases" sneaking up on you?

2009-09-06T04:31:00.000-07:00

Inspiration and Perspective

2009-07-23T04:05:00.000-07:00

Somedays I just need to remind myself. I need to remind myself of the things that stir my soul. And I need to ask "Why?" then pursue the answers. The following three videos stir my soul and make laugh, cry and think. You've probably seen them. They are worth at least an annual review.

One of my all time favorite speaches from Jimmy V

A wonderful speech by Don Meyer from the ESPN Espy awards

Perspective... the power of...

GTD & Frogs

2009-07-04T04:20:00.000-07:00

Another Postscript:

The story of the frogs keeps getting better. After we were done with our frogs I passed them on to my friend Phil. Phil and his son won their heat and got their picture in our local paper.

Link to picture

Look at that frog go. Can I pick winners or what!? :)

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Postscript: Here are some great photos of the Frog Jumping competition taken by my friend Daria: http://www.dariabishop.com/2009/07/americas-birthday-vermont-style-part_8494.html

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I've been carrying the following project on my GTD project list for awhile now:

Complete... participation in 4th of July frog jumping competition

I looked at my calendar today and saw this as a day specific action.

Catch frog for frog jumping competition

I love the way things show up in my GTD system to remind me about the important things.

From a GTD levels of perspective (aka horizons of focus) perspective. This project aligns to 40k goal of "making memories."

There you have the behind the scenes look of a GTD example from my life. I now need to get down to business and catch one of these. "Come on kids, let's go find our winner!"

(picture source: http://dlindagarcia.com/tag/nature/)