A talk I gave on personal productivity and knowledge work. The talk begins with an overview of what knowledge work is and the barriers we face in getting to the work that is really important to us. This is followed by a very brief overview of David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology and what I've learned from Merlin Mann's many online platforms, including 43folders.com, his great talks available on Youtube, and the Back to Work podcast on the 5by5 network. It ends with some practical "hot tips" that people can easily implement in their work environment today.
The "hot tips" part is in quotes because getting to stress-free productivity is REALLY hard to do.
8. THE BAD NEWS (cont’d)
THE INTERNET
IS OUT TO GET
YOU!
9. THE BAD NEWS (cont’d)
15 hours, 33 minutes
The average time a person
spends on Facebook every
month.
Source: http://www.statisticbrain.com/social-networking-statistics/
10. THE BAD NEWS (cont’d)
Social media isn’t
free. It’s just a
different kind of
expensive.
11. THE BAD NEWS (cont’d)
Email is out
to get you
too.
12. THE BAD NEWS (cont’d)
Facebook:
CONTROL: High
EXPECTATIONS: Low
Email:
CONTROL: Low
EXPECTATIONS: High
16. LET ME INTRODUCE YOU…
Photo: www.davidco.com/about-us/about- Photo: http://merlinm.com/about/
david-allen /
David Allen Merlin Mann
• Getting Things Done • Inbox Zero (just
(call it “GTD” to show Google it)
you’re in the know) • 43Folders.com
• Back to Work
17. “It’s possible for a person
to have an overwhelming
number of things to do and
still function productively
with a clear head and a
positive sense of relaxed
control”
-David Allen
The very first sentence of “Getting Things Done”
18. GTD in one sentence
A system for transforming
the amorphous blob of
“stuff” you deal with every
day into clear, meaningful
action steps toward
completing valuable,
meaningful projects.
28. Inbox Zero: The 4 Ds
1. Do it!
2. Delete it! (or “Archive”)
3. Delegate it! (then Delete it)
4. Defer it (Whoa there!)
(These 4 Ds are slightly altered from D. Allen and M. Mann’s original, by me.)
29. Deferring It (the basics)
• Decide on a permanent place to collect
deferred tasks or “things.”
• Verb every task you collect.
• Make it a habit to evaluate your collection of
deferred tasks regularly.
• Two different lists: “To Do” and “To Do
Someday”
39. Want more?
Getting Things Done by David Allen
Inbox Zero talk by Merlin Mann for Google (link)
Back to Work podcast with Merlin Mann at 5by5.tv/b2w
Linchpin by Seth Godin
The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
Flying Without a Net by Tom DeLong
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
It doesn’t really exist, but there are enough things in this world that look like it to make a lot of people think that it does.
Switchtasking involves attention entropy—you loose attention, concentration, focus every time you switch from one task to another, and have to reset each time. It’s just the way your brain works.
Show the book at this point—dropped it from the slide deck.
The reason you get so stressed out is that you’re holding a million things in your head. Those things all get mushed together and weighed against each other and they’re in your head and not outside of yourself. This can drive you crazy.
Merlin Mann comparison between taking $100 and taking 45 minutes of time
Different content types on a to-do list: spring cleaning v. drop bill in mail
Timesheet and monthly report. At the end of the day, or after the completion of a project, write it down immediately, capture it, put in a place you know you’ll find it, and stop worrying about it.
If a project is a priority, it should be get equal or greater standing against non-existent meetings.