Toluu

Black Belt Productivity

Encouraging higher levels of productivity through the use of Getting Things Done.

Big Rocks and Little RocksOctober 8 2008

I know most of you have heard the illustration about big rocks and little rocks…the one where you have to put in the big rocks first in order to get all the little rocks in with them.

This past month, I had several major projects that came due. This was the culmination of several things that I had put months of work into, and they were all coming due at once.

Needless to say, it was crunch time.

The challenge for my system in this is the fact that I have a lot of little transactions to deal with that come in daily. So if I focus on them first, they tend to consume enough time that I get pinched to get productive work done on the bigger projects. However, those daily transactions cannot be ignored, obviously. So what do I do to make sure it all gets done?

I have to make sure I take care of the big rocks first…then fit the little rocks around the big ones.

First off, and I have written about this before, I make sure I block off time on my calendar (or make an appointment with myself) to make sure I devote undivided attention to both the big things and the little things. The key here is to make sure to limit your distractions. You want as much focused time as possible. Make sure your email either has its notification functions turned off, or is off altogether. You might even want to ignore the phone or take it off the hook. Also, turn off all IM software…or go to a “Do Not Disturb” status. You are not ignoring your cust

Make Your Mondays ROCK!!!September 8 2008

Anyone have a case of the Mondays?

If so, perhaps you could benefit from the advice of BBP friend Phillip Zannini. Phillip made a great post a couple of Mondays ago helping us see how we can make Mondays better.

Try a few of these tips and if you want to add a few thoughts…feel free to do so in the comments.

Thanks, Phillip, for permission to link…Jason

Are you a Multitasking Guru?August 25 2008

A new book on the market is testing that very question. Dave Crenshaw, author of The Myth of Multitasking, seems to think that you are NOT. In fact, he postulates that, in fact, there is no such thing as multitasking for humans.

I read his book (twice in fact) and conducted an email interview with him. His book has a few really good points and I am looking to incorporate some of them into my life. 

1. Why is multitasking a waste of time?

I like to use an economics and finance term to describe the waste of time; the term is switching cost. Switching cost usually refers to the cost and time and money of switching from one provider to another. In the case of multitasking, people feel that they are doing multiple things at the same time, but they are not. The brain is incapable of focusing on multiple tasks at the same time. When people attempt to multitask, what they are really doing is switching rapidly back and forth between tasks. Because of this, I prefer to refer to multitasking as switchtasking. It is because of these switches that people lose time in the switching cost. In this way, switchtasking causes us to be exponentially less productive.

2. Can someone incorporate your methods with other time management systems like Covey’s 7 Habits, Allen’s Getting Things Done, or Ferriss’ 4 Hour Work Week?

Yes. Many of our TimeGym clients remark how our training reminds them of principles they’ve le

It is time for some Fresh Focus!August 18 2008

A relatively newcomer to the GTD blogosphere has emerged, and she has a lot of good things to say. Kris Rowland, over at Fresh Focus, has posted an interview with me. She asked me some very interesting questions that really caused me to think, and think about some more…then a MAJOR work project hit me and delaying my answers to her. She did not go with any of the cookie-cutter questions that I see all over the web. She forced me to really think about technology and how it relate to GTD.

Kris is currently going through the GTD Mastery 100 point by point and her insights have been really great. She also has some very nice GTD Templates that she has created for sale. 

She is active on twitter and friendfeed.

Check out her site, and subscribe so that you do not miss out on her insights.

- Michael

It’s about being doneAugust 14 2008

I would like to introduce you to work. life. creativity. We (there are 9 of us) are trying to create a community that productive people, such as yourself, would like to come and hang out filling the void left by the redesign of the 43Folders site and forums that we found truly unusable and, ironically, unproductive. There is no real community setting for productivity nerds, like us, to gather and share ideas. work. life. creativity is hoping to fill that void. We are starting out as a forum/blog combination.

Only in this Web 2.0 world can you say ‘It all began with a tweet’. One day across my twitter stream, I see:

patrickrhone is kind of missing the 43 Folders forums. Just can’t use the new style forums so I don’t.

And so then it began:

jasonechols   @patrickrhone…agreed.

BradBlackman @patrickrhone I agree. I wish there were more of a “creative” group on there. Much of why I started MF, but it hasn’t had the “pull.”

michaelramm @patrickrhone agreed, I have not looked at 43F in almost a year (i guess) as well as not paying much attn to MM since his kid was born.

jasonechols @patrickrhone @BradBlackman @michaelramm @jxpx777 Patrick is thinking…and I like where I think he is going with it.