Art of GTD, Zone by Zone

A simple yet powerful behavior that produces great value #GTD

2011-06-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

#GTD Collect/Organize Dynamic

2011-04-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

The primary question I bring to a parent/teacher conference

2011-04-21T05:20:00.001-07:00

Calendar & looking forward habit

2011-04-11T03:22:00.001-07:00

Legend:
ES = Elementary School
MS = Middle School
HS = High School

Using a calendar to cultivate a looking forward habit is a great game to play with your kids, especially in the early years. It introduces them to the concept of time. I think the key is to have a healthy dose of fun stuff to talk about to get them excited about coming to this magical tool we call a calendar.

"Hey, look here. I see your birthday is one month away!"
"Wow, only 1 week until your birthday!"
"Your friend is coming over for a play date in 2 days."
"I see the school dance is next Friday."
"If you could plan a cool trip this summer (3 months away), what would it be?"

If you start in the early years, when you get the the later years you won't have to introduce "here is a calendar and here is how you use it." It will be natural - hopefully mystical and magical, too.

Baseball, GTD, Playing with checklists

2011-04-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

(Fixed technical problems with last post. Thank you Duece)

We live in the Northeast so our baseball season is just getting underway (we still have snow on the ground!). I don't know about you but spring is a very hectic time for our family. There are a ton of school events, spring sports and more.

One of the things that keeps me busy is coaching my son's baseball team. Our routine looks like this:
- I leave work
- I drive home
- I pick up my son
- We drive to practice... oops, what do you mean you can't find your socks? Your hat, too?... we are late
(that was last year)

This year I thought, "Hey, another good opportunty for a checklist! Also, a good time to create a 'target' area for all our baseball 'stuff.'" Helping kids create checklists and creating a named space for stuff has really worked for our family. This was a fun GTD moment that was light, playful and meaningful. We are off to a good start!

Seeing R.E.D.S. = up to date GTD system, great tip from Meg Edwards

2011-03-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

Pandora's Box versus Sanctuary: "Mom, Dad... can I have a cell phone?"

2011-01-16T06:36:00.000-08:00

This question is coming at you faster than you know it. Many of you are already there. You can also substitute iPod Touch, computers, TVs, Wiis, Xboxes and more.

Are these good ideas or bad ideas? Honestly, I am not sure. There is always a new technology introduced where the "good versus bad" debates rage on.

I wanted to share with you a simple rule that we have used with our kids since day one that seems to be working well. Our rule is built around the idea of "sanctuary." We define it as a place where you can be the real you. Where can you be the real you? Where can you escape the influence of YouTube, texting, Skype, gmail, Google Buzz, Facebook, Twitter, your friends, your family? Where can you get closer to your own thoughts? In our house, the best answer to this question is... in your bedroom.

So, to tame Pandora's "technology" box we came up with this family golden rule:

You can use technology downstairs. We reserve upstairs as our technology free sanctuary - especially our bedrooms.

Interestingly, it has given the kids (and adults) a reason to leave the distractions of the digital world behind. We enter a space that, by design, has no digital distractions pulling on them. As they say, "form equals function." In this space you will find books, toys, journals and the comforts of your bedroom. My timing on this was lucky. We created the rule before the kids already had technology in their rooms.

We set up and use our technology in the "public" spaces of our home. As parents, this allows us to see what is going on and engage in conversation. This creates many teaching moments (that go both ways!).

This simple rule has been on my mind for a while and I've wanted to share it with my Zone by Zone friends.

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Now, the other thing that has been on my mind is my blogging. You may or may not know that David Allen has invited me and Meg Edwards to co-author a book with him on the topic of GTD for kids/family. A very exciting project!

This is taking most of my focus and time. But I've resolved to get back to doodling and writing for the Zone by Zone blog. So please do check back from time to time.

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

And how do you deal with obstacles?

2010-09-09T04:03:00.000-07:00

I walked past this tree today and the following thoughts flowed through my mind:

- Some times we have obstacles
- Integrate
- Embrace
- Create something new that will make people stop and think

.

I love using GTD to plan the summer with the kids. Fun stuff! (video)

2010-06-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

Summer is upon us here. I love using the question, "What do you want to do - or turn into reality - by the end of this summer?" as an opportunity to practice the GTD principles of "Capture" and "Outcome Thinking" with the kids. I put my new Flip camera to the test as I capture our process on video.

We are in typical Saturday form here. The video pretty is relaxed and real time - thank goodness for baseball hats to hide the bed head!

Here is the video. I hope you enjoy it.

Capture Gear

You will see we continue to use our standard 3x5 cards as our standard capture gear. I have these things stuffed everywhere (on the table at breakfast, in our cars, next to the kids beds). The kids have really taken to using them for all forms of capture and play. After all shouldn't capture be play?

Breakfast with the kids (My First Blog Video)

2010-05-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

I can check "create video blog" off my project list. I finally did it!

This is a video of our setup for our morning breakfast routine. Pretty simple to do and the results of "capturing" ideas and pictures with the kids is always entertaining and great fun.

We've got quite a stack of cards going now. I am thinking about putting them in a time capsule and sharing them with them in 5 to 10 years. (oooh... that is a good thought that is not yet on my project list. Got to capture that one!)

A reminder that I use with myself and others when projects seem big and overwhelming

2010-04-07T06:39:00.000-07:00

Dad, you know what I love about my phone?

2010-04-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

When my daughter said this to me I just had to laugh to myself. I was thinking... my love you are a "digital native" and I am a "digital immigrant." * Life... it is all a matter of perspective.

I find the emerging communication patterns fascinating. Good thing, too. I have many interesting years ahead of me.

* And you? How are things in your digital world? I highly recommend the book Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World. I think you will find some really interesting insights in the book. Especially if you find yourself wondering "Why don't people just pick up the phone and talk?"

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

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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."

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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.

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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