Sunday, August 29, 2004
HELP THE CREAM RISE TO THE TOP
We all know that cream rises to the top. That's an analogy often applied to innate talent. You think it would apply to priorities too. But, does it?
Let's take my method of starting a "White" Paper of to-dos from scratch every morning, right off the top of my Mind, to get what I call a Fresh Start To-Do List. That's cream.
But, what about the things I don't remember that might be just as important. How do I help them surface to the top?
That's where The MasterList's My Day Report comes in with all the to-dos I have been accumulating on a day-to-day basis. Here's how I do it. Let's say it's the weekend, and I decide that today would be a good gardening day. So, it's no surprise that my White Paper To-Do List has 5 or 6 items jump right to the top that have been on my mind for several months. Literally, today will be their day in the sun.
Oops. No sooner do I start, than a giant black cloud in the shape of a Black Swan rolls in and it's a deluge. There go my gardening plans for the day.
As I change my plans in some other direction, to some other project, how do I "re-start" without losing the benefit of my ideas on what needs to be done in the garden?
Fortunately, with The MasterList, all my to-dos are members of "projects". So, I simply open my Gardening Project and there is everything I ever wanted to know about the practical side of My Garden. I've got links to gardening tips on the internet. I've got a Gardening Journal in a notepad. I've got trigger dates for recurrent gardening events in the Annual Gardening Solar Cycle that would make a Mayan priest happy.
And, now I've got 5 or 6 more to-dos which I will convert into a project-centric to-do entry as follows: 1) Hit + sign in project 2) Cut-paste 5 entries into text area. 3) Change date to trigger to next Saturday for another try.
Here's how it plays out. Let's say next Saturday rolls around and I am supposed to attend a wedding that will consume the entire day. My White Paper List includes several matters related to people I will be talking to at the wedding, the reception etc. Suddenly, even before I have taken two sips of coffee, I get a call from the groom. There's been a mistake. It turns out that the date was mis-printed on some of the invitations. It's not today after all.
So, what do I do? I scan The MasterList My Day Report and see that I had assigned a gardening entry as a possibility for work today. I click over to the gardening project and Voila! There's last week's list. Good to go.
I kinda forgot about it with all the wedding plans. But, with the help of The MasterList, the cream has once again risen to the top.
But, wait. There's more! Before, I truck out to the gardening shed, I can take a quick peek at the project My Garden. Because, aside from the links, the notes, the journals, and all the knowledge related to My Garden project, that's where I keep all other pending to-dos for the project, plus my Lag List.
OK. What's a Lag List? It's a list of project-centered to-dos that never got done. They used to be active to-dos, but after blowing by them week after week, I got sensible about it and took the trigger codes off.
Is there cream on that Lag List? Could be. Alan Lakein who made the "80/20" rule a household name in his book How To Gain Control of Your Time and Your Life, suggests that because time is a fixed resource, it is important that we separate our active high-priorities from our minor to-dos. Indeed, he suggests with the 80/20 rule that we actually cross the minor to-dos off the list and jettison them. Here's the dilemma. Some of them may actually be important, but not today. Yet, in terms of today's high priority mix, they don't belong on the list. Lakein uses an A,B,C technique. A = high priority. B = medium. C = low, but meaningful.
When Lakein wrote-up his revolutionary time management theories back in the 1970's, the PC did not exist. The MasterList is Lakein-for-today. I keep my A's on the White Paper Fresh Start Daily List. My B's are on the My Day Report. My C's never get blown off. The MasterList database can hold over 100,000 to-dos if I care to go that high. So, why not let the C list lag, where I can peruse, when I find that exercise to be useful.
Sorry, Alan. With all due respect, in today's computerized world, where I can run a search term on Google and touch upon thousands of on-point websites relating to my thirst for a particular piece of knowledge, why should I throw my own good thoughts into the wastebasket. With The MasterList, I apply the 80/20 rule by dumping my C priorities into a Project, where they sit patiently, waiting their day in the sun. Just because I'm not in a gardening mode this week, doesn't mean I should throw my rakes and pruning shears into the trash. So, why should I throw away my ideas about what and how to rake and prune, simply because they're not a current priority.
That's the beauty of The MasterList. It gives you a place to keep a daily prioritized list of things to do, that you can easily find. It gives you a system to update the list. And, projects to store your idea "jots" and miscellaneous minor to-dos, wish lists, goals, links, related scraps, odds and ends. (Like your Garden Shed for your tools, your Garden Project becomes your personal encyclopedia of how you manage your garden. It's your reference point to you and what you are most closely related to in your world of your potential priority actions.)
Being compulsive, I really don't want to throw my laggers into the wastebasket. That's why I enjoy The MasterList so much. As it happens, I sometimes stop to smell the roses and organize my C-Priorities. Here's how. First, I take the task codes off that would make them trigger on the My Day Report. I don't want to be nagged about C priorities anymore than Lakein did. But, if it should happen that I wander out to the gardening shed, wouldn't I prefer it to look a little bit organized rather than like the inside of a tornado? So, I employ The MasterList's color coding feature to organize any orphaned to-dos in a project into a block I call my "Lag List". I click on light grey to color code the most minor of orphaned C-priority to-dos, and dark gray for those that I really, really wish coulda been contenders.
That way, whenever I enter a project screen, I'm seeing everything that ever entered my mind about that project, at a glimpse. Doesn't that give me competitive advantage in the race against time to define and implement priorities that are most meaningful and productive to me?!
I used the Gardening Project analogy to give a personal example of how these principles apply, because gardening on Saturdays is generally less complex than the pressure cooker projects that get thrown at you Monday through Friday in the professional arena. But the same principles apply. There's plans. There's Black Swans. You need to adjust. When change occurs, you need to get your bearings and hit the ground running. You need to identify your priorities and stay on top of them. You need to "lay off" of low priorities, but store them in an organized fashion as background and knowledge-base for future work in the project. That way whenever a storm blows up in a quiet project, you can quickly orient yourself to your own prior thoughts and action list and take the lead as the expert.
Life after all is ad hoc. It's not all peaches and cream when you get right down to it. That's why you need to be street-wise, but zen-like at the same time. The MasterList is really the perfect computer tool for guerilla prioritization in the day to day struggle with prioritizing and getting things done.
So, 3 cheers for the cream that rises to the top. But 6 more for the cream that almost got lost that you put back in the bottle. In anything you do, if you think about it, there's always more cream you can help rise to the top. And, that will be there to help you, just when you need it. The MasterList is the tool that best exemplifies the basic principle that you only have so much time, and answers the question How do I Get Focused Right Now?
Email me! with questions and I'll walk you through how to get it done.
We all know that cream rises to the top. That's an analogy often applied to innate talent. You think it would apply to priorities too. But, does it?
Let's take my method of starting a "White" Paper of to-dos from scratch every morning, right off the top of my Mind, to get what I call a Fresh Start To-Do List. That's cream.
But, what about the things I don't remember that might be just as important. How do I help them surface to the top?
That's where The MasterList's My Day Report comes in with all the to-dos I have been accumulating on a day-to-day basis. Here's how I do it. Let's say it's the weekend, and I decide that today would be a good gardening day. So, it's no surprise that my White Paper To-Do List has 5 or 6 items jump right to the top that have been on my mind for several months. Literally, today will be their day in the sun.
Oops. No sooner do I start, than a giant black cloud in the shape of a Black Swan rolls in and it's a deluge. There go my gardening plans for the day.
As I change my plans in some other direction, to some other project, how do I "re-start" without losing the benefit of my ideas on what needs to be done in the garden?
Fortunately, with The MasterList, all my to-dos are members of "projects". So, I simply open my Gardening Project and there is everything I ever wanted to know about the practical side of My Garden. I've got links to gardening tips on the internet. I've got a Gardening Journal in a notepad. I've got trigger dates for recurrent gardening events in the Annual Gardening Solar Cycle that would make a Mayan priest happy.
And, now I've got 5 or 6 more to-dos which I will convert into a project-centric to-do entry as follows: 1) Hit + sign in project 2) Cut-paste 5 entries into text area. 3) Change date to trigger to next Saturday for another try.
Here's how it plays out. Let's say next Saturday rolls around and I am supposed to attend a wedding that will consume the entire day. My White Paper List includes several matters related to people I will be talking to at the wedding, the reception etc. Suddenly, even before I have taken two sips of coffee, I get a call from the groom. There's been a mistake. It turns out that the date was mis-printed on some of the invitations. It's not today after all.
So, what do I do? I scan The MasterList My Day Report and see that I had assigned a gardening entry as a possibility for work today. I click over to the gardening project and Voila! There's last week's list. Good to go.
I kinda forgot about it with all the wedding plans. But, with the help of The MasterList, the cream has once again risen to the top.
But, wait. There's more! Before, I truck out to the gardening shed, I can take a quick peek at the project My Garden. Because, aside from the links, the notes, the journals, and all the knowledge related to My Garden project, that's where I keep all other pending to-dos for the project, plus my Lag List.
OK. What's a Lag List? It's a list of project-centered to-dos that never got done. They used to be active to-dos, but after blowing by them week after week, I got sensible about it and took the trigger codes off.
Is there cream on that Lag List? Could be. Alan Lakein who made the "80/20" rule a household name in his book How To Gain Control of Your Time and Your Life, suggests that because time is a fixed resource, it is important that we separate our active high-priorities from our minor to-dos. Indeed, he suggests with the 80/20 rule that we actually cross the minor to-dos off the list and jettison them. Here's the dilemma. Some of them may actually be important, but not today. Yet, in terms of today's high priority mix, they don't belong on the list. Lakein uses an A,B,C technique. A = high priority. B = medium. C = low, but meaningful.
When Lakein wrote-up his revolutionary time management theories back in the 1970's, the PC did not exist. The MasterList is Lakein-for-today. I keep my A's on the White Paper Fresh Start Daily List. My B's are on the My Day Report. My C's never get blown off. The MasterList database can hold over 100,000 to-dos if I care to go that high. So, why not let the C list lag, where I can peruse, when I find that exercise to be useful.
Sorry, Alan. With all due respect, in today's computerized world, where I can run a search term on Google and touch upon thousands of on-point websites relating to my thirst for a particular piece of knowledge, why should I throw my own good thoughts into the wastebasket. With The MasterList, I apply the 80/20 rule by dumping my C priorities into a Project, where they sit patiently, waiting their day in the sun. Just because I'm not in a gardening mode this week, doesn't mean I should throw my rakes and pruning shears into the trash. So, why should I throw away my ideas about what and how to rake and prune, simply because they're not a current priority.
That's the beauty of The MasterList. It gives you a place to keep a daily prioritized list of things to do, that you can easily find. It gives you a system to update the list. And, projects to store your idea "jots" and miscellaneous minor to-dos, wish lists, goals, links, related scraps, odds and ends. (Like your Garden Shed for your tools, your Garden Project becomes your personal encyclopedia of how you manage your garden. It's your reference point to you and what you are most closely related to in your world of your potential priority actions.)
Being compulsive, I really don't want to throw my laggers into the wastebasket. That's why I enjoy The MasterList so much. As it happens, I sometimes stop to smell the roses and organize my C-Priorities. Here's how. First, I take the task codes off that would make them trigger on the My Day Report. I don't want to be nagged about C priorities anymore than Lakein did. But, if it should happen that I wander out to the gardening shed, wouldn't I prefer it to look a little bit organized rather than like the inside of a tornado? So, I employ The MasterList's color coding feature to organize any orphaned to-dos in a project into a block I call my "Lag List". I click on light grey to color code the most minor of orphaned C-priority to-dos, and dark gray for those that I really, really wish coulda been contenders.
That way, whenever I enter a project screen, I'm seeing everything that ever entered my mind about that project, at a glimpse. Doesn't that give me competitive advantage in the race against time to define and implement priorities that are most meaningful and productive to me?!
I used the Gardening Project analogy to give a personal example of how these principles apply, because gardening on Saturdays is generally less complex than the pressure cooker projects that get thrown at you Monday through Friday in the professional arena. But the same principles apply. There's plans. There's Black Swans. You need to adjust. When change occurs, you need to get your bearings and hit the ground running. You need to identify your priorities and stay on top of them. You need to "lay off" of low priorities, but store them in an organized fashion as background and knowledge-base for future work in the project. That way whenever a storm blows up in a quiet project, you can quickly orient yourself to your own prior thoughts and action list and take the lead as the expert.
Life after all is ad hoc. It's not all peaches and cream when you get right down to it. That's why you need to be street-wise, but zen-like at the same time. The MasterList is really the perfect computer tool for guerilla prioritization in the day to day struggle with prioritizing and getting things done.
So, 3 cheers for the cream that rises to the top. But 6 more for the cream that almost got lost that you put back in the bottle. In anything you do, if you think about it, there's always more cream you can help rise to the top. And, that will be there to help you, just when you need it. The MasterList is the tool that best exemplifies the basic principle that you only have so much time, and answers the question How do I Get Focused Right Now?
Email me! with questions and I'll walk you through how to get it done.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
"WHITE" PAPER
WHY DID I CREATE THE MASTERLIST?
I choose doing over not doing, thinking over not thinking, seeing over not seeing, analyzing over not analyzing, relating over not relating, connecting over not connecting, simplifying over not simplifying, striving over not striving, raising my hand over sitting quietly in my seat sitting on my hands.
Give me an active verb any time over a passive life. Choice, to me, always means action over inaction.
Because I want so much, see so much, and strive for so much, I have many choices, see many variables, and am aware of many linkages.
How do I govern all that and bring it into control? Better yet to a focus. Even better to a direction. Even better to a journey in a direction to a goal. Best yet. Achieving what I set out to do.
IS THERE ROOM FOR THINKING IN TODAY'S WORLD OF ACTION?
Descartes didn't write "Just Do It". He wrote, "I think, that's how I do it." Those post-renaissance, pre-Industrial Revolution thinkers were mind-bendingly competent. Look at 17th century Holland. Think ships, banking, canals, art, ceramics, scientific invention. The every day person of the rising middle class did so much, had so much vision, and so much capacity, with no post office, no internet, no telephone system, no television. The mind was the thing, in co-ordination with oneself as the actor or agent carrying out the thoughts. It was an era of experimentation and creativity that led to phenomenal achievements on a vast social scale.
We live in a world of hyper-reactivity today, with exploding technological innovations that invite comparisons to that great era. But, alas, the comparison does not go very far. With computerization, templates, enterprise software, spreadsheets, and the movement towards robitization of choice at the desktop, individuals are no longer encouraged to think independently. If it ain't an algorithm, it ain't got bankable rhythm.
Think if you must, but just get it done our way. That could be a standard corporate mantra.
But, we don't live life in a vacuum. 9/11 proved that. We may be skeptical about the ozone layer, or spending money on SETI, but one thing's for certain. Not everybody likes us. Not everybody agrees with us. Not everybody will yield their own advantage to give our idea or agenda the right of way. In other words, the world is competitive. Conflict is everywhere and everything. Bliss is a myth, or for the lucky ones, a special exception to be savored like a fine wine on a special occasion. As Darwin said, only the fittest survive.
So, is it fit to assume the status quo is good enough? What we already know is the final answer? What we have always done is the only way? That there is nothing to worry about. "Calm down. Calm down. Everything will be alright. Just go home. The wizard will take care of everything."
Individuals in a position to rear-guard and/or point-position our civilization and keep it safely state-of-the-art relative to the competition need to think, not just act, and to share their thoughts, and be able to put themselves into a position to act upon their best thoughts.
By the way, that's all of us. If we rely only on our leaders, our bosses, or somebody else to study the competition, manage the angles, and strive to achieve the most competent, balanced actions in any endeavor, with full appreciation and guardedness against all the risks, then we are in decline. Like Rome. Well, like us. Our borders have been breached! Our corporations have been run by liars and cheats who ran them into the ground. Come on! It's up to us, each of us, to be a thread in the fabric, a link in the chain, that is so strong, the whole idea of who we are as a people, a culture, and a civilization gets re-elevated to give us value, dignity, and worth.
A tool that helps would be useful. I've said it before. The human algorithm needs to be put back into the equation. The MasterList software system does that.
WHAT DOES THE MASTERLIST DO THAT'S DIFFERENT?
I'm just one user of The MasterList out of hundreds and thousands who use it. But, here's what it does for me. Everyday.
My technique du jour is that I start the morning with a fresh cup of coffee, and a fresh "White" piece of paper. Donut optional. Indeed, every morning I start with a Microsoft Word Document that is totally blank. I find it by opening up The MasterList system and looking in one of the linking trays on the home screen. There's my "White" Paper.
I then write down ("type out") what I plan to do in the next several minutes, hours, throughout the day. I'm not writing out goals here, or a diary, or journalizing my ideas. It's very specific. All it takes to get started is about a two-minute or less pause (could be meditative or not) where I think out where I left off, where I am, and where I want to go today. What are my obligations? Who's asking me to do what? Where's the pressure going to come from, or already come?
My MIND can handle that and I generally find that on my first effort I "spit out" (list) about 4 to 6 sure-thing to-dos. So far, I have expended 2 minutes thinking and 5 minutes writing on a blank "White" sheet of paper.
Now, I turn to The MasterList. There is a button called MyDay, which is a list I have been keeping of accumulated undone to-dos. Not all of them. Just those tasks with today's date. On it, at the top, appear my calendar entries by list. I can study them and pick which ones to throw onto my "White" paper. Below them, appear today's "to-dos". It could be 5. It could be 50. No matter. I can scan them quickly by type of task (task code), priority (color coded), to determine if any need to get to the A-List on the "White" Paper. I can clean the list up or not, with certain blasting tools. That's discretionary.
Now, I am ready to work. On the same screen in The MasterList, I click my Outlook Email button. There's all my new email. I can work it down. I can triage it to subfolders for further review. I can link individual emails into specific project folders in The MasterList and create related to-do entries with the Task Code EMAIL to make sure I get back to them later, without having to work on them now.
I am a great believer that keeping your Email Box Clear and your Desk Clear of Piles are the 2 great REGULATORS of time-management and work-flow efficiency. The problem is that if we just focus there, we can get caught in a never-ending reactive cycle where there is no room for co-ordination and follow-up. One of the great things about The MasterList is that it allows me to convert emails and paper into future tasks as "follow-ups" that can be moved out of my immediate Email and Paper Queues. That saves me time now. Yes. I am robbing Peter to pay Paul. But I call Peter low priority and Paul high priority and I will make that trade-off everytime in the name of buying non-reactive time to think, analyze, co-ordinate, follow-up and follow-thru. The MasterList system allows me to do that.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE MASTERLIST THAT PROVIDES THESE ADVANTAGES?
If I can link a document like "White" Paper, my fresh-start daily to do list, written right off the cuff, with my coffee cup and donut near at hand, together with my Email Inbox, and my "master" list of undone to-dos tasked for today, and my list of all Projects categorized all at one single easy to view screen..... Guess what. I no longer need or rely on the Windows Desktop or Windows Explorer, or even Internet Explorer to hunt and peck for files and folders.
The linkages provided by The MasterList together with the notational power of keeping to-do lists that have this kind of linkage renders the Windows "perspective" irrelevant. The MasterList brings everything in my Windows environment together, including my internet destinations, from a single vantage point, my "projects". At last, all my interests acting together, each with its own role, on a single stage, can be managed from a single perspective. I am the playwright, and the director.
So, I can't see it any other way. I say: Respect your harmony and balance, but if you are on a journey to achievement, be prepared to be knocked off balance every step of the way. If you are an interior being who wants to kick ass, don't expect everything you conceive to be automatically done, or automatically respected. Provide options, definitions, focus, and direction. How can you manage to win, if you don't begin by managing?
If you want to manage to win, The MasterList beats a wing and a prayer, instinct, sheer will-power, or what will be will be. If you want to get things done, The MasterList is a mechanical approach that guarantees you mechanical mastery over the variables in terms of knowledge retention, directed focus, sequenced implementation that smacks of a plan, and keeping your eyes out in all directions.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT GETTING KNOCKED OFF CENTER
When we make a plan and start implementing it, we always feel like we are centered, on goal. Then, somewhere down the flow chart something comes out of the blue and throws us off course.
The technical name for that upsetting object that comes out of nowhere is a "Black Swan". A Black Swan is an outlier that surprises us by its unexpected appearance in a defined field of endeavor in which it supposedly doesn't belong. It can even be an inlier (hiding in the bushes of the known where we didn't look for it, didn't recognize it as being important enough to note, or assumed it wasn't there).
If we only study the obvious in a field of endeavor, our predictability of how a plan will go is limited to a short range view of a small set of inliers (what we can see by a "passive" look at a project "landscape" or field of action).
That's why assembly line management style currently being applied to the American desktop dooms us to mediocrity. Algorithmic thinking can account for history, but only human MINDS can actively look for, see and predict Black Swans. Projects don't fail because of what went right. So, why are all our management systems designed to strap us to mechanical repetition of routines? And, why do our software tools offer nothing to help us see, note, and organize potential variables?
The MasterList is a simple software solution that helps active MINDS actively manage inliers, as well as outliers. YES. You can predict Black Swans if you can see their feathers in the snow. Outliers often signal their appearances with resonances we failed to notice.
Look at the history of the world. The Roman Empire. Gone. The Industrial Revolution. Over. That major corporation down the street that governed the world with its product line. Toast. It's all moving so very fast. Change is mind-boggling. How can anyone's plan go as planned in a world like that?
It takes a special tool to take you from a blank "White" Paper and a cup of coffee every morning to the greatness you envision for yourself, your organization, your family, and your culture. Hey. Balance, harmony, and goodness would be just fine. Greatness is a bonus.
If you are a thinking person of action, you've probably thought your way through most of what I've written already. You could have written most of it yourself. So, what's the tool? I tell you it's The MasterList. It works. There might be many ways to skin a cat. But, this is one damn good way to get things done. And how! Guaranteed.
WHY DID I CREATE THE MASTERLIST?
I choose doing over not doing, thinking over not thinking, seeing over not seeing, analyzing over not analyzing, relating over not relating, connecting over not connecting, simplifying over not simplifying, striving over not striving, raising my hand over sitting quietly in my seat sitting on my hands.
Give me an active verb any time over a passive life. Choice, to me, always means action over inaction.
Because I want so much, see so much, and strive for so much, I have many choices, see many variables, and am aware of many linkages.
How do I govern all that and bring it into control? Better yet to a focus. Even better to a direction. Even better to a journey in a direction to a goal. Best yet. Achieving what I set out to do.
IS THERE ROOM FOR THINKING IN TODAY'S WORLD OF ACTION?
Descartes didn't write "Just Do It". He wrote, "I think, that's how I do it." Those post-renaissance, pre-Industrial Revolution thinkers were mind-bendingly competent. Look at 17th century Holland. Think ships, banking, canals, art, ceramics, scientific invention. The every day person of the rising middle class did so much, had so much vision, and so much capacity, with no post office, no internet, no telephone system, no television. The mind was the thing, in co-ordination with oneself as the actor or agent carrying out the thoughts. It was an era of experimentation and creativity that led to phenomenal achievements on a vast social scale.
We live in a world of hyper-reactivity today, with exploding technological innovations that invite comparisons to that great era. But, alas, the comparison does not go very far. With computerization, templates, enterprise software, spreadsheets, and the movement towards robitization of choice at the desktop, individuals are no longer encouraged to think independently. If it ain't an algorithm, it ain't got bankable rhythm.
Think if you must, but just get it done our way. That could be a standard corporate mantra.
But, we don't live life in a vacuum. 9/11 proved that. We may be skeptical about the ozone layer, or spending money on SETI, but one thing's for certain. Not everybody likes us. Not everybody agrees with us. Not everybody will yield their own advantage to give our idea or agenda the right of way. In other words, the world is competitive. Conflict is everywhere and everything. Bliss is a myth, or for the lucky ones, a special exception to be savored like a fine wine on a special occasion. As Darwin said, only the fittest survive.
So, is it fit to assume the status quo is good enough? What we already know is the final answer? What we have always done is the only way? That there is nothing to worry about. "Calm down. Calm down. Everything will be alright. Just go home. The wizard will take care of everything."
Individuals in a position to rear-guard and/or point-position our civilization and keep it safely state-of-the-art relative to the competition need to think, not just act, and to share their thoughts, and be able to put themselves into a position to act upon their best thoughts.
By the way, that's all of us. If we rely only on our leaders, our bosses, or somebody else to study the competition, manage the angles, and strive to achieve the most competent, balanced actions in any endeavor, with full appreciation and guardedness against all the risks, then we are in decline. Like Rome. Well, like us. Our borders have been breached! Our corporations have been run by liars and cheats who ran them into the ground. Come on! It's up to us, each of us, to be a thread in the fabric, a link in the chain, that is so strong, the whole idea of who we are as a people, a culture, and a civilization gets re-elevated to give us value, dignity, and worth.
A tool that helps would be useful. I've said it before. The human algorithm needs to be put back into the equation. The MasterList software system does that.
WHAT DOES THE MASTERLIST DO THAT'S DIFFERENT?
I'm just one user of The MasterList out of hundreds and thousands who use it. But, here's what it does for me. Everyday.
My technique du jour is that I start the morning with a fresh cup of coffee, and a fresh "White" piece of paper. Donut optional. Indeed, every morning I start with a Microsoft Word Document that is totally blank. I find it by opening up The MasterList system and looking in one of the linking trays on the home screen. There's my "White" Paper.
I then write down ("type out") what I plan to do in the next several minutes, hours, throughout the day. I'm not writing out goals here, or a diary, or journalizing my ideas. It's very specific. All it takes to get started is about a two-minute or less pause (could be meditative or not) where I think out where I left off, where I am, and where I want to go today. What are my obligations? Who's asking me to do what? Where's the pressure going to come from, or already come?
My MIND can handle that and I generally find that on my first effort I "spit out" (list) about 4 to 6 sure-thing to-dos. So far, I have expended 2 minutes thinking and 5 minutes writing on a blank "White" sheet of paper.
Now, I turn to The MasterList. There is a button called MyDay, which is a list I have been keeping of accumulated undone to-dos. Not all of them. Just those tasks with today's date. On it, at the top, appear my calendar entries by list. I can study them and pick which ones to throw onto my "White" paper. Below them, appear today's "to-dos". It could be 5. It could be 50. No matter. I can scan them quickly by type of task (task code), priority (color coded), to determine if any need to get to the A-List on the "White" Paper. I can clean the list up or not, with certain blasting tools. That's discretionary.
Now, I am ready to work. On the same screen in The MasterList, I click my Outlook Email button. There's all my new email. I can work it down. I can triage it to subfolders for further review. I can link individual emails into specific project folders in The MasterList and create related to-do entries with the Task Code EMAIL to make sure I get back to them later, without having to work on them now.
I am a great believer that keeping your Email Box Clear and your Desk Clear of Piles are the 2 great REGULATORS of time-management and work-flow efficiency. The problem is that if we just focus there, we can get caught in a never-ending reactive cycle where there is no room for co-ordination and follow-up. One of the great things about The MasterList is that it allows me to convert emails and paper into future tasks as "follow-ups" that can be moved out of my immediate Email and Paper Queues. That saves me time now. Yes. I am robbing Peter to pay Paul. But I call Peter low priority and Paul high priority and I will make that trade-off everytime in the name of buying non-reactive time to think, analyze, co-ordinate, follow-up and follow-thru. The MasterList system allows me to do that.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE MASTERLIST THAT PROVIDES THESE ADVANTAGES?
If I can link a document like "White" Paper, my fresh-start daily to do list, written right off the cuff, with my coffee cup and donut near at hand, together with my Email Inbox, and my "master" list of undone to-dos tasked for today, and my list of all Projects categorized all at one single easy to view screen..... Guess what. I no longer need or rely on the Windows Desktop or Windows Explorer, or even Internet Explorer to hunt and peck for files and folders.
The linkages provided by The MasterList together with the notational power of keeping to-do lists that have this kind of linkage renders the Windows "perspective" irrelevant. The MasterList brings everything in my Windows environment together, including my internet destinations, from a single vantage point, my "projects". At last, all my interests acting together, each with its own role, on a single stage, can be managed from a single perspective. I am the playwright, and the director.
So, I can't see it any other way. I say: Respect your harmony and balance, but if you are on a journey to achievement, be prepared to be knocked off balance every step of the way. If you are an interior being who wants to kick ass, don't expect everything you conceive to be automatically done, or automatically respected. Provide options, definitions, focus, and direction. How can you manage to win, if you don't begin by managing?
If you want to manage to win, The MasterList beats a wing and a prayer, instinct, sheer will-power, or what will be will be. If you want to get things done, The MasterList is a mechanical approach that guarantees you mechanical mastery over the variables in terms of knowledge retention, directed focus, sequenced implementation that smacks of a plan, and keeping your eyes out in all directions.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT GETTING KNOCKED OFF CENTER
When we make a plan and start implementing it, we always feel like we are centered, on goal. Then, somewhere down the flow chart something comes out of the blue and throws us off course.
The technical name for that upsetting object that comes out of nowhere is a "Black Swan". A Black Swan is an outlier that surprises us by its unexpected appearance in a defined field of endeavor in which it supposedly doesn't belong. It can even be an inlier (hiding in the bushes of the known where we didn't look for it, didn't recognize it as being important enough to note, or assumed it wasn't there).
If we only study the obvious in a field of endeavor, our predictability of how a plan will go is limited to a short range view of a small set of inliers (what we can see by a "passive" look at a project "landscape" or field of action).
That's why assembly line management style currently being applied to the American desktop dooms us to mediocrity. Algorithmic thinking can account for history, but only human MINDS can actively look for, see and predict Black Swans. Projects don't fail because of what went right. So, why are all our management systems designed to strap us to mechanical repetition of routines? And, why do our software tools offer nothing to help us see, note, and organize potential variables?
The MasterList is a simple software solution that helps active MINDS actively manage inliers, as well as outliers. YES. You can predict Black Swans if you can see their feathers in the snow. Outliers often signal their appearances with resonances we failed to notice.
Look at the history of the world. The Roman Empire. Gone. The Industrial Revolution. Over. That major corporation down the street that governed the world with its product line. Toast. It's all moving so very fast. Change is mind-boggling. How can anyone's plan go as planned in a world like that?
It takes a special tool to take you from a blank "White" Paper and a cup of coffee every morning to the greatness you envision for yourself, your organization, your family, and your culture. Hey. Balance, harmony, and goodness would be just fine. Greatness is a bonus.
If you are a thinking person of action, you've probably thought your way through most of what I've written already. You could have written most of it yourself. So, what's the tool? I tell you it's The MasterList. It works. There might be many ways to skin a cat. But, this is one damn good way to get things done. And how! Guaranteed.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
A KING'S COURT OF TO-DOS
At my computer, my office chair is my throne. And, from here I can see all there is for me to see. (Or, get up and go see it.) Do all that there is for me to do. (Or get up and go do it. Or, delegate it.) Know all that there is for me to know. (Or, run search terms on Google.) Imagine the limits of all that I can know and conceive. Imagine all the objects within those limits that I can rule as if chess pieces in my domain.
I guess that makes me King of My To-Dos. And, as King, I have many duties (do-tees?).
Let's start with surveying my domain.
There's the throne room frontal perspective. That would be desk, paper, piles, computer screen, keyboard, walls, pictures, windows. Wow. And, all my subjects are crowded in on me waiting for an audience. Dozens of them, maybe hundreds. So, many that maybe I need a list to track them all. Perhaps a "masterlist".
Of course, although they may see themselves as "subjects", in my kingdom, I am the only subject. That's why I'm king. Right? And why I call this my "king"dom. (OK, dome, not dumb.) All these things to-do are my "objects". (For more on objects see another article I posted today on my other blog BLACKSWAN.)
And, as my loyal objects, I naturally want to pay generous attention to all of them. Like those 67 pieces of paper, and a checkbook with unwritten checks sitting to the left of my computer, and the 43 pieces of paper sitting to the right of my computer. All very important notes, ideas, information, and requests contained therein, I am sure. And, as king I will attend to them all. You can be sure. Likewise, I will attend to that red light on my phone that says several of my objects have left voice mail. And, those 73 queued up emails will, of course, get all the attention they so richly deserve from a king who holds court over such a domain of to-dos as mine.
Then, of course, there is my Outer Court where administration takes place. Being King doesn't mean I don't have long term obligations such as bill-paying, regulatory compliance, due diligence, follow-up, and verification on all kinds of do-tees necessary to keep my kingdom running.
Then, there is the inner court yard, the outer court yard. The inner City. The outer City. The land up to the Kingdom Wall. The defense of the Kingdom Wall. The enemies beyond the Kingdom Wall. The unknown beyond the Kingdom Wall.
And, that's just the frontal perspective. As King, I've also got to watch my back. And, be keeping my eye out in all 360 directions to the 360th degree. I even have subterranean concerns. As well as, yikes, celestial ones! The unknown within the Kingdom itself is a potential problem all the time. The intrigues. The infighting. The conflict. The complexity.
Being King isn't easy. That's why I use The MasterList. I never enter my kingdom, or leave it, without it.
The MasterList allows me to define anything that catches my attention as a notational object. I can decide whether it is a passive notation which I just "log" in and index for cursory, occasional reference, or whether I must "actively" keep my eye on it. In which case, I define it, assign it a tracking date to get back to and address, and logically store it in a "project" for which the title or label seems appropriate as a good way of getting back to it.
Now, with so many objects in my kingdom, and with a kingly mandate to bestow my kingly attention upon all of them as if each was my princely brother, I will allow each of them to queue up in line for an audience. Call it a to-do session. Or, tasking. Or, just plain working on the object. Just that object as opposed to all the others in their turn.
Isn't that what kings do? Get things done, by bestowing audiences on their subjects (objects in my parlance).
But, how to do it fairly? Well, with The MasterList, I have a sequential timing device that isolates just those objects I want to visit with today and allows me to tell the others to "go away and come back another day" as the Wiz would say. And, I can prioritize them, so I know which are most important when they return to me for their audience.
Perhaps best of all, I can keep notes on them and make links, even internet links to files and websites and all kinds of knowledge related to these objects, so that when they appear I seem, as if a genius. Shouldn't a king be all-knowing as respects kingly objects?
So, if you have a kingdom of to-dos, why not consider The MasterList. It's simple, but not simple-minded. Reduces complexity to manageability without being too complex. Lines up everything in your kingdom so you can see it ALL, with all-seeing kingly overview when you want to. But, focus on JUST ONE object at a time when you need to take it to task. (Uh... have a regal audience with it.) With the confidence that all your borders are secure, and your back is covered.
At my computer, my office chair is my throne. And, from here I can see all there is for me to see. (Or, get up and go see it.) Do all that there is for me to do. (Or get up and go do it. Or, delegate it.) Know all that there is for me to know. (Or, run search terms on Google.) Imagine the limits of all that I can know and conceive. Imagine all the objects within those limits that I can rule as if chess pieces in my domain.
I guess that makes me King of My To-Dos. And, as King, I have many duties (do-tees?).
Let's start with surveying my domain.
There's the throne room frontal perspective. That would be desk, paper, piles, computer screen, keyboard, walls, pictures, windows. Wow. And, all my subjects are crowded in on me waiting for an audience. Dozens of them, maybe hundreds. So, many that maybe I need a list to track them all. Perhaps a "masterlist".
Of course, although they may see themselves as "subjects", in my kingdom, I am the only subject. That's why I'm king. Right? And why I call this my "king"dom. (OK, dome, not dumb.) All these things to-do are my "objects". (For more on objects see another article I posted today on my other blog BLACKSWAN.)
And, as my loyal objects, I naturally want to pay generous attention to all of them. Like those 67 pieces of paper, and a checkbook with unwritten checks sitting to the left of my computer, and the 43 pieces of paper sitting to the right of my computer. All very important notes, ideas, information, and requests contained therein, I am sure. And, as king I will attend to them all. You can be sure. Likewise, I will attend to that red light on my phone that says several of my objects have left voice mail. And, those 73 queued up emails will, of course, get all the attention they so richly deserve from a king who holds court over such a domain of to-dos as mine.
Then, of course, there is my Outer Court where administration takes place. Being King doesn't mean I don't have long term obligations such as bill-paying, regulatory compliance, due diligence, follow-up, and verification on all kinds of do-tees necessary to keep my kingdom running.
Then, there is the inner court yard, the outer court yard. The inner City. The outer City. The land up to the Kingdom Wall. The defense of the Kingdom Wall. The enemies beyond the Kingdom Wall. The unknown beyond the Kingdom Wall.
And, that's just the frontal perspective. As King, I've also got to watch my back. And, be keeping my eye out in all 360 directions to the 360th degree. I even have subterranean concerns. As well as, yikes, celestial ones! The unknown within the Kingdom itself is a potential problem all the time. The intrigues. The infighting. The conflict. The complexity.
Being King isn't easy. That's why I use The MasterList. I never enter my kingdom, or leave it, without it.
The MasterList allows me to define anything that catches my attention as a notational object. I can decide whether it is a passive notation which I just "log" in and index for cursory, occasional reference, or whether I must "actively" keep my eye on it. In which case, I define it, assign it a tracking date to get back to and address, and logically store it in a "project" for which the title or label seems appropriate as a good way of getting back to it.
Now, with so many objects in my kingdom, and with a kingly mandate to bestow my kingly attention upon all of them as if each was my princely brother, I will allow each of them to queue up in line for an audience. Call it a to-do session. Or, tasking. Or, just plain working on the object. Just that object as opposed to all the others in their turn.
Isn't that what kings do? Get things done, by bestowing audiences on their subjects (objects in my parlance).
But, how to do it fairly? Well, with The MasterList, I have a sequential timing device that isolates just those objects I want to visit with today and allows me to tell the others to "go away and come back another day" as the Wiz would say. And, I can prioritize them, so I know which are most important when they return to me for their audience.
Perhaps best of all, I can keep notes on them and make links, even internet links to files and websites and all kinds of knowledge related to these objects, so that when they appear I seem, as if a genius. Shouldn't a king be all-knowing as respects kingly objects?
So, if you have a kingdom of to-dos, why not consider The MasterList. It's simple, but not simple-minded. Reduces complexity to manageability without being too complex. Lines up everything in your kingdom so you can see it ALL, with all-seeing kingly overview when you want to. But, focus on JUST ONE object at a time when you need to take it to task. (Uh... have a regal audience with it.) With the confidence that all your borders are secure, and your back is covered.
Sunday, August 08, 2004
HOUSE DECLUTTERING
We recently got the following question at The MasterList
I'm looking for something to keep me moving with decluttering my home. Is The MasterList adaptable for my need?
YES. Remember that for all my writing about matrixes, and action landscapes at this blog, The MasterList is fantastically simple to get up and running and great for simplifying anything that is complex in your life or profession. (I often compare to riding a bike). If I handed a bike to Leonardo Da Vinci he would fall flat on his face several times, but within hours he would be up and running, probably claiming he had invented it!
Just as a bike speeds you on your way (complete with a basket and a horn), so The MasterList will soon have you accelerating through your de-cluttering process with no more energy than you are expending now, but a lot more focused results.
Example of how The MasterList can be used at home. I have the following projects on my Home version of The MasterList.
Things To Do - My Town
Finances - Personal
Garden
House & Cars
Me - Personal
Spouse - Personal, about
Daughter 1 - personal, about
Daughter 2 - personal, about
Son - personal, about
Travel
Computer - maintenance
Links -internet
As an example, my son is going back to college and he and his Mom recently decided to "FlyLady" his room, meaning clean it up. We triaged. Some things he really values are going back to school with him. Some have been distributed to some toy "shelves" we have because he has outgrown them. Some he agreed to give away to charity (too small clothes that can't be handed down/large toys/some children's books). Some he considers to be collectibles or important mementos. These we have bagged and boxed and are putting in the attic. While we were doing this over several weeks, we had a running to-do entry that spelled out the upcoming task for the day and which was modified daily. This was in the project MITCH - OK That's the real name of his project. Over the next several days, my job and that of Daughter 1 is going to be to "inventory" the bags and boxes of "keepers" before we put them in the attic. Then, we will use the MITCH project Log A - ATTIC - to list what is in each of the bags, kind of like an index for future reference.
So, here's a RECIPE for decluttering the house with The MasterList:
1. Create a PROJECT called House DeClutter
2. Set up some TO-DOS. Example: First to do: Top 5 Rooms to be decluttered (Use notepad to make list). Second to do: Work on Room A (top 5 tasks): 1... 2... 3.. 4.. 5.. Third etc. That means you have 6 running to-dos. You will use your to-do or task entry for descriptions of what's next. Those are your ACTION entries.
3. Next, "LOGS" at your project will come in handy as passive storage places (like an index of what's in Mitch's bags in the attic - not only tells you content, but location). Here's another example. You are bagging some of it up to give to charity X. Keep a Log C - CHARITY X and in the notepad list things you are giving away to Charity X, even as you pack. Keep another Log C - CHARITY Y.
4. What about reading material, paper, and desk and table clutter? Let's handle that too. Try this. Go to Office Max, Office Depot, or Staples and get a small file drawer system (or use an available file cabinet or desk drawer - what you will really need to purchase is a set of hanging folders labeled A to Z). Label them. Hang them. Then label your file cabinet drawer - Call it your Clutter Drawer.
Now, let's dwell on your reading material for a moment. Suppose there is a great article in a 2 year old copy of RedBook you have been keeping about Yoga and Diet. OK - Let's Create a Project called READING - Create a future to-do entry called Read RedBook article on Yoga and Diet written by Halle Berry - see Clutter Drawer Y (for Yoga). OR, if those add up to too much, just create a log call Y YOGA, articles and another log called D DIET, articles - in both logs reference the article and its location in your Clutter Drawer in a folder marked Y. Now, tear the article out, put in folder Y and forgetabout it. Throw the magazine away.
The net result is that, periodically (no pun intended), you can open your READING project and scan the logs and to-dos for all that concerns or has ever concerned you. Instead of looking at piles of material here and there, you are looking at a list you can easily scan in several minutes in order to make choices, touch base with memories, and move on. What's more, these drawers are great for keeping useless, but valuable information like User Guide for your Electric Can Opener. Project KITCHEN: Log C Can Opener - text entry reads: see Can Opener User Guide (and warranty) in folder C.
By the way, you can also make internet links to actual things to read, or to resources for reading material at any project.
Whether you are at home, or at work, The MasterList can help you get organized by providing a simple process to simplify the complex. It you think it's complex, it is. And, The MasterList will help you cut through it. Like riding a bike.
We recently got the following question at The MasterList
I'm looking for something to keep me moving with decluttering my home. Is The MasterList adaptable for my need?
YES. Remember that for all my writing about matrixes, and action landscapes at this blog, The MasterList is fantastically simple to get up and running and great for simplifying anything that is complex in your life or profession. (I often compare to riding a bike). If I handed a bike to Leonardo Da Vinci he would fall flat on his face several times, but within hours he would be up and running, probably claiming he had invented it!
Just as a bike speeds you on your way (complete with a basket and a horn), so The MasterList will soon have you accelerating through your de-cluttering process with no more energy than you are expending now, but a lot more focused results.
Example of how The MasterList can be used at home. I have the following projects on my Home version of The MasterList.
Things To Do - My Town
Finances - Personal
Garden
House & Cars
Me - Personal
Spouse - Personal, about
Daughter 1 - personal, about
Daughter 2 - personal, about
Son - personal, about
Travel
Computer - maintenance
Links -internet
As an example, my son is going back to college and he and his Mom recently decided to "FlyLady" his room, meaning clean it up. We triaged. Some things he really values are going back to school with him. Some have been distributed to some toy "shelves" we have because he has outgrown them. Some he agreed to give away to charity (too small clothes that can't be handed down/large toys/some children's books). Some he considers to be collectibles or important mementos. These we have bagged and boxed and are putting in the attic. While we were doing this over several weeks, we had a running to-do entry that spelled out the upcoming task for the day and which was modified daily. This was in the project MITCH - OK That's the real name of his project. Over the next several days, my job and that of Daughter 1 is going to be to "inventory" the bags and boxes of "keepers" before we put them in the attic. Then, we will use the MITCH project Log A - ATTIC - to list what is in each of the bags, kind of like an index for future reference.
So, here's a RECIPE for decluttering the house with The MasterList:
1. Create a PROJECT called House DeClutter
2. Set up some TO-DOS. Example: First to do: Top 5 Rooms to be decluttered (Use notepad to make list). Second to do: Work on Room A (top 5 tasks): 1... 2... 3.. 4.. 5.. Third etc. That means you have 6 running to-dos. You will use your to-do or task entry for descriptions of what's next. Those are your ACTION entries.
3. Next, "LOGS" at your project will come in handy as passive storage places (like an index of what's in Mitch's bags in the attic - not only tells you content, but location). Here's another example. You are bagging some of it up to give to charity X. Keep a Log C - CHARITY X and in the notepad list things you are giving away to Charity X, even as you pack. Keep another Log C - CHARITY Y.
4. What about reading material, paper, and desk and table clutter? Let's handle that too. Try this. Go to Office Max, Office Depot, or Staples and get a small file drawer system (or use an available file cabinet or desk drawer - what you will really need to purchase is a set of hanging folders labeled A to Z). Label them. Hang them. Then label your file cabinet drawer - Call it your Clutter Drawer.
Now, let's dwell on your reading material for a moment. Suppose there is a great article in a 2 year old copy of RedBook you have been keeping about Yoga and Diet. OK - Let's Create a Project called READING - Create a future to-do entry called Read RedBook article on Yoga and Diet written by Halle Berry - see Clutter Drawer Y (for Yoga). OR, if those add up to too much, just create a log call Y YOGA, articles and another log called D DIET, articles - in both logs reference the article and its location in your Clutter Drawer in a folder marked Y. Now, tear the article out, put in folder Y and forgetabout it. Throw the magazine away.
The net result is that, periodically (no pun intended), you can open your READING project and scan the logs and to-dos for all that concerns or has ever concerned you. Instead of looking at piles of material here and there, you are looking at a list you can easily scan in several minutes in order to make choices, touch base with memories, and move on. What's more, these drawers are great for keeping useless, but valuable information like User Guide for your Electric Can Opener. Project KITCHEN: Log C Can Opener - text entry reads: see Can Opener User Guide (and warranty) in folder C.
By the way, you can also make internet links to actual things to read, or to resources for reading material at any project.
Whether you are at home, or at work, The MasterList can help you get organized by providing a simple process to simplify the complex. It you think it's complex, it is. And, The MasterList will help you cut through it. Like riding a bike.
