Dolce Far Molto

6:01 PM Thursday, February 2, 2006

[The focus of a Cro-Magnon hunter]

For the past few weeks I have become obsessed with personal productivity, because a long-threatened day-job paperwork meltdown finally caught up with me. I have had to narrow my focus to that of a Cro-Magnon hunter in pursuit of a wooly mammoth during an Ice Age winter, and other activities, including blogging, have briefly fallen by the wayside. I am just now able to come up for air, having decided that there is no better topic to blog about today. Granted, the Internet does not lack for productivity gurus, including David Allen, and 43 Folders' Merlin Mann, whom I had the good fortune to meet in person at Tinderbox Weekend.

I have five recommendations of my own (I'm sure they've all been said before by someone else) to supplement those which have acquired meme status on the Internet: 1) Don't panic, 2) Organize your priorities and daily goals on-screen and on paper, 3) Get started on everything that really, seriously needs to be done, 4) Remind yourself that haste makes waste, and 5) Temporarily narrow your focus. Number 3 sounds like a no-brainer, but a lot of deferred tasks can be so intimidating that it's is hard just to think about them, let alone get started. (Or is is it just me who has that problem?)

Panic, should it occur, leads to haste and risky avoidance, not just mere procrastination. Haste, in turn, a response to the fear of not meeting a deadline, can lead to errors that nullify the work being done. The human brain by itself cannot remember all the projects, actions, and priorities that need to be organized, hence the need for GTD tools, of which there are many. I prefer mindmapping with software and on paper, Tinderbox map views, and use of emails and faxes to myself to keep the priorities crystal-clear. A narrowed focus (such as: pay those bills and get those checks in the bank) can help, but the risk of a narrowed focus is that it can become a way of life, which leads to resentment, procrastination, and ultimately even lower productivity. BTW, I have not had to give up my cafe time to get things done, now that I have a laptop. Americano in hand (see photo) I can get a clear view of the day's priorities which makes it more possible that I will get as much done as I can. In Italian I could call it dolce far molto, but the Americans say it best: Getting Things Done.

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