Living With Less For Yourself and the World

I like material things as much as anyone. I studied product design in school. I’m into gadgets, clothing and all kinds of things. But my experiences show that after a certain point, material objects have a tendency to crowd out the emotional needs they are meant to support. -- Graham Hill, "Living with Less", New York Times

Graham Hill's recent op-ed piece about living with less is making the rounds. Given my entrance to the blogging world through my first website, The Simpler Life, I obviously have a soft spot for simplicity and minimalism. It's interesting to read people's experiences with adopting a simpler way of life and Graham is no exception. I don't necessarily relate very well to those who come from a life of massive wealth and decide to down size from mansions and personal shoppers -- but the contrast is interesting to see.

My first introduction to Graham was through his TED talk which I originally saw when it was posted in 2011. His message is important on two levels. The first simply being from a sustainability point of view in terms of what our planet can handle regarding our consumption. What would the social ills we deal with as a society now look like if more of us chose to be happy with less? Secondly, living with more mindful attention to what and how we consume is a potential pathway to more personal happiness. That seems to be the resounding message I see from anyone who has made the switch from typical American-style consumption and a Graham Hill-esque approach to life (and is corroborated by my own experience as well). Both of these reasons are important and any time a single decision can have positive micro and macro level consequences I think it's worth thinking about.

Getting History Done

Prior to this whole positive psychology graduate student/coaching gig I was a social studies high school teacher for a bit. I've always been a huge history nerd and love reading biographies. Over the past couple of years I've been highlighting passages in biographies and autobiographies that describe how remarkable people did their work, their habits and routines, or any advice that they gave. I figured it'd be selfish to keep it all for myself so I started a website called Getting History Done a few months ago. If you're curious about how remarkable people work and live I recommend checking it out.

Deciding How to Spend $100 When You Have a Master's Degree in Evaluation

The "problem"

My parents gave me $100 for my birthday. There are many things I'd like to spend this money on. However, I've been trained in the science of evaluation for the past two years so I can't simply sit here and pick an item off my wish list all willy-nilly! I must ensure that I make as informed a decision as possible!

The criteria

I will be evaluating my options against the criteria I have listed below, starting with the most heavily weighted all the way to the least weighted:

• How much subjective happiness will this object/service/experience (O/S/E) bring me overall?
• How likely is it that I will end up buying this O/S/E for myself eventually under normal circumstances?
• How often will I be able to use this O/S/E?
• How much does this O/S/E solve a practical problem I have?
• How premium a version of this O/S/E can I get for $100?
• Can my girlfriend share in the enjoyment of this O/S/E?
• Will I have any leftover money after purchasing this?

I'm probably missing some other viable criteria but this seemed to hit the majority of things I should take into consideration with a decision like this.

The choices

These are the items I'm considering purchasing with my $100 gift. They all come from the wish list that I keep maintained throughout the year. Some are more practical than others and some I came up with specifically for this occasion.

• Massage: I've never had a massage before. The combination of lifting three times a week and playing hockey every weekend is making me sore and stiff.
• Pillows: I tried to come up with some items that I use nearly every day so that a serious upgrade would affect my life positively every day. I use my pillows every night and I like 'em to be big and fluffy. They could stand for a serious upgrade.
• Coffee grinder: I'm becoming fussier and fussier about my coffee drinking and the next step to take is getting a better grinder. I'm currently using a blade grinder but the go-to type of grinder for us fussy coffee drinkers is a burr grinder. For $100 I couldn't afford a particularly great one, but I could get a low-end one that will work better than my blade grinder.
• Sunglasses: Living in Michigan I felt like sunglasses were always more of a fashion statement than a necessary safety tool. Now that I live in Southern California I realize sunglasses play a much different role here. I should get myself a decent pair that look good and work well.
• Shoes: I'm still an avowed minimalist which means I have very few pairs of shoes. Right now I don't really have anything between my super casual athletic shoes and really nice dress shoes. I need something I can wear when I'm trying to look decent but don't need my feet to be absurdly shiny.
• Shirt: I've been taking a little bit more care with the way I dress and present myself. I've discovered that well-fitting clothes really do wonders for how you look and feel about yourself. My wardrobe is very small (see above re: being a minimalist) so I could use a nice shirt or two.
• Restaurant w/ Em: I like food and I like my lady friend. Going to a nice restaurant together would be $100 well spent.
• A few e-books: My books wish list is close to 100 titles long. I could definitely grab a few great books for $100.
• Save the money: The smart and responsible thing to do, right?

The process

The basic idea behind any evaluation, whether evaluating a program, a potential new hire, or how to spend $100 is pretty simple: decide what criteria merits the best choice (What does a new hire have to know? How many dollars does this program save each year? How much happiness will my choice give me?), decide how those criteria are weighted against each other (what's more important -- a new hire that has specific knowledge or is very reliable? Is it more important that something gives me a lot of happiness or is very useful?), rate each potential option on each criteria and add up the points (while keeping in mind the weights of the criteria) to see which option ends up being the best choice.

Luckily, I recently found a very cool app called Idea Bucket that makes all of this very easy. After plugging in all my criteria , all my options , and rating each option on each criteria  the overall best choice for my $100 is…

A few criteria.Rating "getting a massage"How my choices fared in terms of solving a practical problem.

How my choices fared in terms of how often I will use it.And the winner is...

... pillows!

Looks like I have some pillow research to undertake. Who is up for a 2,000 word article on the ins and outs of pillow shopping?

(Just kidding.)

I think.

EDIT -- Last night I was talking to my girlfriend and she brought up a good point that I only glossed over in this article; the needs assessment! I could've written an entire article solely on how to figure out what my potential choices should've been but let's just suffice it to say that it was a combination of gut-instinct and an ongoing wishlist that I have. This process could've been even more rigorous if I had done an in-depth needs analysis first. Maybe next time, eh?

David Allen at TEDxClaremontColleges

I've been a huge proponent of David Allen's Getting Things Done approach to self-management for a long time. I also had the privilege of inviting David to the TEDx event I helped organize last September. Here is a 20 minute video that serves as a great introduction to what GTD is really about. It's worth it alone just for David's karate punch about halfway through…

A Week Without #1: Background Noise

Every once in awhile I'm going to conduct a one week self-experiment while sharing my reasons, insight and experiences as I do it. The idea behind this is to do things that would seem crazy if I were to commit to it for life, but might lead to a beneficial change in how I live if I were to just give it a chance. Forever is a long time -- but anybody can do anything for a week.

This week I'm committing to creating more quiet space in my life. Normally I listen to music or a podcast while I drive around, walk to and around campus, or exercise. Instead, I'm going to let myself do all of these activities in silence. Much of my future success as a PhD student relies on my ability to think deeply about tricky problems and I can't do that if I'm constantly consuming audio. I noticed when I was living back in Michigan and walking to and from my workspace every day (about a mile and a half walk) that when I didn't listen to anything I very often had good ideas for articles, projects, or developed new insights for things that were bothering me. Hopefully I can tap into that again.

A Week Without #1: Background Noise

• No music or podcasts while driving, walking around, or working out.

(Hat tip to the apparently defunct Week Without tumblr for the inspiration.)

Quantified Self, Optimized Self

"...the app, called Xpression, listens for telltale changes in a person's voice that indicate whether they are in one of five emotional states: calm, happy, sad, angry or anxious/frightened. It then lists a person's moods against the times they change, and automatically emails the list to their psychologist at the end of the day." -- from New Scientist

Jeff and I went to the LA Quantified Self meet up last night. Quantified Self is a movement of people who are using gadgets to collect data on themselves in an effort to optimize their lives. The range of what types of data people collect on themselves is immense and these meet ups are an opportunity to see what other people are doing. Jeff also gave a short presentation about how he uses PACO to track how often he uses his character strengths in his daily living.

Anyway, I'm really excited by things like the above article in terms of how we can eventually use technology to tailor coaching interventions for specific people. Being able to sit down with someone and look at real data from their life is such a great tool when trying to make any kind of behavioral change.

Learning How To Work From a Sandwich Artist

I just finished having lunch at Subway near my campus and I have to share the experience. I don't usually go to Subway because of the overwhelmingly good service. I go because it's quick, easy, and really one of the only fast food options I have as a vegetarian. Most of the time the employees I interact with are understandably bored. They don't really seem like they want to be there, and to be honest, I don't really want to be there either. Just give me my sandwich and let us both carry on with our days.

Today's experience was completely different. Nina welcomed me to the store as soon as I entered (this seems to be corporate policy) but everything was different from that point on. I always get a toasted veggie sub. When she asked me about the type of cheese I wanted she reminded me I get double cheese as part of the sandwich and then asked me if I wanted two different kinds of cheese on the sandwich. Two cheeses?! I evidently hit the jackpot in Subway employees today.

What happened next, though, made me temporarily forget I was even at a Subway. "Would you like to put some veggies on the sandwich before I toast it? It really helps to draw the flavor out of them." "Uh, sure!" "Awesome, do you mind if I put some salt and olive oil on the bread too?" "Sounds good to me." She then proceeded to carefully place my toppings evenly across the sandwich and then massaged olive oil into the bread. Seriously. Massaged it. This sandwich was being transformed from a cookie-cutter and utterly forgettable experience into something borderline gourmet right before my eyes. While it was toasting she "made" me try one of the new sauces to see if it might be a good fit for my currently toasting sandwich. She put the final touches on the sandwich by hunching over the sandwich and applying the Chipotle Southwest sauce like she was plating the main course of Top Chef.

And, as you might expect, the sandwich was better than usual.

---

What's the point of even telling this story? So what if I got a good sandwich at Subway?

The way this woman approached her work was incredibly refreshing. It reminded me of two articles I've written recently. She brought a certain level of dignity to the process of working at Subway. I've always scoffed at the fact that Subway used to call their employees "Sandwich Artists" but this woman actually earned the title. Secondly, she reminded me of a craftsman (or craftswoman, I suppose) in the way she approached making this talent. She took the tools available to her and made the absolute best sandwich that she could. She wasn't getting paid any extra to offer me the option of having two different types of cheese or putting vegetables on the sandwich before toasting it, but she did it anyway. Why?

As I sit down with my computer in front of me and my belly filled with carefully constructed sandwich I'll strive to bring the same level of dignity and craftsmanship to what I'm doing. The final result was definitely better than what I normally get, but that's not even what impressed me the most. I was left in awe of her attention to the process of making that sandwich and I hope that's something I can learn to develop as well.

The Benefits of Optimism are Real

This is what Dr. Dennis Charney, the dean of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, found when he examined approximately 750 Vietnam war veterans who were held as prisoners of war for six to eight years. Tortured and kept in solitary confinement, these 750 men were remarkably resilient. Unlike many fellow veterans, they did not develop depression or posttraumatic stress disorder after their release, even though they endured extreme stress. What was their secret? After extensive interviews and tests, Charney found ten characteristics that set them apart. The top one was optimism. The second was altruism. Humor and having a meaning in life — or something to live for — were also important. -- The Benefits of Optimism Are Real -- Emily Esfahani Smith -- The Atlantic

Optimism can be cultivated. Meaning in life can be cultivated. Resiliency can be cultivated. This is why I'm studying positive psychology and think the field itself is so important. Your life will get bumpy. Terrible things will happen to you. How will you respond? What are you doing during times of low-stress to prepare for the inevitable shit-hitting-fan times?

Deliberately Tiny Steps

My original conceptualization of what it meant to be "good" at productivity looked something like this: I'd get up early and start working on a project that was important to me; I wouldn't be distracted and for 8 hours or more I would just crank away at this project -- making huge progress by the end of the day. Now that I'm wiser and older I realize this is a silly goal to have. First of all, how often do I get a complete day devoid of meetings, errands, and other commitments that draw me away from "being productive?" Almost none. Secondly, who ever just sits down and "does" a project? Most projects that really matter, that will make a difference in this world, are not so clear cut as to be obvious in their next steps. A very large percentage of our work is figuring out what our work actually is. In the past, I've neglected to think of this as important work when in actuality, nothing meaningful can be accomplished without it. No, instead I'm committed to taking deliberately small steps in my work -- and here's why.

Longevity

The occasional marathon work session feels great. Every once in awhile I just find that flow and 8 hours later (which generally feels like 2) I've done an incredible amount of work. That's great when it happens but I don't think I should expect that every time I sit down to do some work. In fact, even if I could accomplish that I think I'd be setting myself up for some kind of burnout down the road. Instead, I think a work life built around doing projects that matter -- but in very small steps -- sets you up for the longest term success. I'm much more interested in creating a lifetime of well-respected and meaningful work than flaming out after one or two major projects. As Steven Pressfield says, "A pro shows up and does the work." Deliberately small steps will let me continue showing up and doing the work for a long, long time.

Course Correction

Huge projects, the kind that people notice, tend to go through many iterations. The original plan turns out to be unfeasible or a better idea or tweak comes to mind as you're working on it. Working in deliberately small steps allows me to take advantage of those changes in direction when they are presented. It's helpful to come up for air every once in awhile and make sure everything is still heading on the right course. Or, maybe the climate around the project has changed and that requires some rethinking and retooling of the project itself? Either way, if I don't work in small and deliberate steps I may miss these needed changes. If my original idea is awesome and I put my head down and work hard until it's finished I may miss the signs that tell me something needs to be changed. There's certainly something to be said for ignoring distractions or sticking to my vision but I don't think that should be done to the exclusion of keeping an eye to everything else happening around me.

Breaking Ruts

It's easy to get stuck on a big project. Just their sheer size can be enough to intimidate me into never starting. Looking at my to-do list and seeing, "Start business," or "Write book," can be disheartening. When I find myself staring at my list of things to do and nothing jumps out at me as doable or enjoyable it's time to think about whether I've broken my projects into manageable chunks. When I'm breaking up my work, I try to aim for things that can be done in 20-25 minutes. If I can't figure out what the next step in a certain project is I'll generally make my next action something like, "Brainstorm X project for 20 minutes," or "Freewrite on X project for 20 minutes." Either way, I'm breaking something insurmountable into something that can be nudged along slowly. Eventually, with enough nudging, I'm usually surprised how much I accomplished.

What does this look like?

So you're with me up to this point. You like the idea of breaking work into small chunks. What does that actually look like, though? For me, this is where my Weekly Review and front-end decision making comes into play. Also, a healthy understanding of what can be done in what amount of time.

Weekly Review

My Weekly Review is the time I set aside every week to review what I've done in the past 7 days and look ahead to the next two weeks (and longer) to see what's coming up. Even more importantly, though, is taking the time to look at all my projects and make sure each one has at least one concrete, actionable, and small task assigned to it. Regardless of the scope or breadth or importance of the project, it must have a next action attached to it.

For example, one of my projects is a 15 page term paper due in May. It's a big project that is a long ways away. But, it has a next action attached to it ("write structured interview protocol" for the curious among you). I also have a project called "SamSpurlin.com Article" with a next action ("spend 20 minutes writing first draft") attached to it. This is a much smaller and more immediate project but the point is that once a week I sit down and really think about what my work is, regardless of how big the specific project is. Therefore, I can spend the rest of my week actually doing the work I've defined during my review. It may sound like a small step, but figuring out what my work actually is always requires more time and energy than I anticipate.

Using Your Gaps

The second aspect of working in deliberately smaller steps involves being more okay with using small blocks of time. It's tempting to say, "I can't work on this project until I have 2 hours of completely uninterrupted time!" That's great if you regularly have periods of time like that, but chances are you don't. It's important to not let the gravity of the project you're working on overly affect how much time you think you need to work on it.

I had a hard time breaking myself of this habit. I used to feel like I needed huge swaths of time to do anything meaningful. I eventually convinced myself that if I can't do good work in small blocks then what makes me think I can utilize large chunks effectively? The added bonus of doing the front end decision making I mention above is that you have a ready made list of tasks you can do in small chunks of time. Even the most audacious of projects has some sort of next action you can take that'll take you less than an hour to complete. Get comfortable using weird gaps in your schedule to move meaningful projects forward. Jotting down notes, brainstorming, following up with people -- these are all things that can be done while waiting around for a meeting to start, riding public transit, or just twiddling your thumbs.

Get tiny, get consistent, and see big results.

Photo by lindejesus

Automating Good Decisions

There are two components of life that I'm always trying to tweak -- the overall quality of what I bring into my life (relationships, physical items, media, etc.) and the overall time and attention I have to spend on things that aren't a priority. To that end, I've recently started two subscription services that I'm really enjoying.

The first is Tonx. Very simply, the guys at Tonx source high quality coffee from around the world, roast it well, and then send it out to their subscribers every two weeks. Coffee is one of my most cherished morning rituals and now that I've tasted truly good coffee I have a hard time drinking anything else. Now I know every two weeks I'll have a bag of the freshest beans I can easily acquire.

The second is Graze. Every week I get a box of tasty and healthy snacks delivered to my doorstep. I can then rate how much I enjoyed the various items sent to me and Graze will take note of my preferences in future boxes they send my way. Eating well is important to me and most of the time I do a pretty good job at it. The one area I've seemed to have trouble is remembering to pack healthy snacks for when I'm spending the day on campus. Now, I just grab one of the little boxes Graze sent me and I know I'm good to go.

I like things that make it convenient to do what I've decided is important to the way I want to live (in this case, drinking good coffee and eating healthy snacks). Automating the things I know I want to do allows me to put my limited focus on what actually matters.

Graze is invite only right now and I have a handful of invitations I can give out. Go to www.graze.com and use the invite code PVHQ145D to join.

If you want to try Tonx you can get a free 2 oz. bag of coffee as a trial. It looks like they're giving away a free Hario V60 Dripper to people who use an existing member's affiliate link as well. You can sign up using mine here.

Think Twice, Speak Once

"My stereotyping-because-it-is-still-unlearned mind then pictured some very stoic and enlightened Buddhist somewhere shaking his head in a nonjudgmental, understanding manner at the frequency of my talking, and it came to me that maybe, just for funsies, I could try to reign it in a little, think a little longer, and make my words count a little more. That’s an interesting concept for someone who wants to make a living getting paid by the word." -- Pass the Manzanilla – sick days and trying to become slow(er) to speak

Garrett is right on the money about paying attention to our listening to speaking ratio. I've been a proponent of quality over quantity in terms of my physical possessions for a long time but perhaps it's time to expand that philosophy to other domains of my life.

99U Conference and Me (and You?)

When inspiration strikes, ideas flow freely. But seeing those ideas through to completion is another thing entirely. That's why 99U focuses on the hard part — idea execution. This May, we'll bring together a handful of the world's most productive creative visionaries and researchers to share pragmatic insights on how to push great ideas forward, create incredible art, build businesses, and change the world. -- via 99U

A few months ago I applied for a fellowship ticket to the upcoming 99U conference. Luckily, I was selected to receive one of these discounted tickets so I could actually afford (barely) to go. They recently released the speaker list and I'm even more excited than before.

I'm particularly excited about seeing Cal Newport and Tony Schwartz speak. Both of these gentlemen have written books that have been instrumental to the way I think about how I work (So Good They Can't Ignore You and The Power of Full Engagement, respectively). Plus, Tony has a pretty great talk from a previous 99U conference: 

Anyone else going?

@samspurlin

Early 2013 Productivity Tweaks

I'm constantly tweaking the way I do things. I think it's the scientist-in-training inside me that always wants to know if there's a better way to do something. When the new semester started near the end of January I had a small list of things I wanted to try to increase my productivity and decrease my stress. A few of them have worked out really well and I want to share them with you.

Ideal Work Blocks + Automatic Reminders

Before the semester began I sat down and tried to figure out what my week would look like if I scheduled "blocks" to do certain kinds of work. I knew I had a couple constraints such as classes, sleeping (unfortunately), eating meals, and I knew I wanted to be finished with my work by around 7 PM each day (as much as possible). So, I sat down and created a calendar that looks like this. Each of the blocks in the calendar have an alert set for their beginning time.

This has been helpful on two fronts. First, when I'm scheduling meetings or errands and in the day-to-day activities of my life. For example, I know that scheduling maintenance activities like picking up dry cleaning or going to the grocery store during my work blocks doesn't make a lot of sense. I'll try to schedule those during Meal blocks, Personal blocks, or the evening Misc. blocks. When I sat down and made this calendar I knew that my prime creative and productive time are in the morning and early afternoon (which is when my main Work blocks are scheduled) so I want to make sure I use those for the work that requires me to be at my best.

The other way this has been helpful is through reminding me where I should be in my day. For example, I receive a notification on my phone when I shift from one block to another. If I'm feeling kind of low energy or not really sure what I should be working on it can be helpful to get a notification on my phone that says, "Work Block #1 starting now." It's a simple little nudge, but sometimes it's enough to get me on the right track.

Renewed Focus on Clustering Similar Activities

I've always known that clustering (or batching) activities was a good productivity trick. I try to sit down and do all my email at one time, or save all my receipts and input them once a week instead of doing them haphazardly. It struck me that I should be clustering other things as well. This semester I have classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Tuesday and Thursday are basically commitment-free. I decided I would try to schedule all errands and meetings for the days I already have class. I have to come to campus anyway on those days so it makes more sense to try to keep my Tuesdays and Thursdays as pristine as possible. Knowing I have two days a week that are completely wide open is a great feeling. I know I can sit down on those days and work nearly without interruption for 8 or more hours. Much, much better than having a meeting I have to attend in the middle of my day. This results in my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays generally being pretty long and tiring days but the reality seems to be that this is less tiring than having meetings scattered about my entire week.

Weekly + Daily Planning in Journal

I've been doing a Weekly Review every weekend for well over the past two years. This is an integral part of my productivity system and something I will probably do for the rest of my life. However, this semester I've added a new wrinkle to my review that has really helped me out. I use software to manage all of my tasks and calendar so I'm essentially paperless in my day-to-day life. However, I do carry a notebook everywhere I go. I decided to add a step to my Weekly Review where I look ahead to my upcoming week, take a look at my appointments, meetings, and other commitments, and try to schedule 2-4 areas to focus on each day. I will then write this plan into my notebook. I don't try to slot them into specific times or anything -- they're just the domains of the tasks I want to finish to feel like I really accomplished what I set out to do.Weekly plan. Written out Sunday afternoon.

As I work through the week I'll move these tasks around as I do or don't finish them, thus resulting in a fresh daily plan every morning. For whatever reason, getting the plan onto paper and out of my computer has really helped keep me on task throughout the day.

Future Tweaks

Like seemingly most nerds I downloaded Mailbox and have been using it on my phone for the past few weeks. I'm still working it into my workflow but I think it's going to have a very positive impact.

I'm also thinking about trying to move my Weekly Review into Friday afternoon (as opposed to Sunday afternoon) so I can keep my weekends even more free of work than I do now. I at least want to see what my mindset is like going into the weekend completely reviewed as opposed to going into Monday morning completely reviewed.

I'll keep tweaking and will report back with any conclusions once they've been drawn. I'm always curious about how other people have done to improve the way they work. If you care to share, Twitter is the best way to reach me. Even better, write something up on your own blog and shoot me a link.

GTD and Empowerment

I recently had the pretty incredible opportunity to participate in a workshop that David Allen is piloting. I was fortunate enough to meet David when I invited him to speak at a conference I organized. Luckily, I happen to be located a mere two hour drive from the David Co. headquarters so I was within range when he invited me to the workshop. Anybody who knows me in real life or has followed my writing knows I'm unabashedly a huge Getting Things Done fan. I think David's contribution to how we think about work in the age of the knowledge economy is incredibly important. As I was sitting in the conference room last week watching David present this information I realized that GTD is about much more than keeping track of lists, label makers, or notebooks. I've always worried that to an outside observer who doesn't "get it", it all looks like obsession over the minutiae of being organized. However, I think GTD is so great because it's really about empowerment.

The Tyranny of the Big Project

GTD empowers you as an individual on two important planes. First, if you "get" GTD and have implemented it into your life in at least a semi-complete fashion then you have the tools to pick apart any project. Literally, any project. I'm talking about world changing, paradigm shifting, my-life's-work kind of projects. Everything from getting your oil changed to ending world hunger has some concrete next action that will take you one step closer to your vision. Every time I find myself getting mired in the sheer vastness of something I'm trying to accomplish I realize I've lost sight of really the only thing that matters -- the next concrete step I can take. Visions and mission statements are great but the lowly next action -- brainstorm for 10 minutes, call John, Google X, talk to Emily about Y -- is what creates change in the world. GTD's bottom up approach, from the tactical day-to-day concerns to the overarching strategic plan, shows an appreciation and respect for action.

Getting Above the Fray

Somewhat paradoxically, the other major empowering contribution of GTD is that it helps you get above the fray and analyze your work and life from a new perspective. Think of the difference between a foot soldier and a general. A foot soldier's overwhelming concern is with staying alive moment to moment. Dodge that axe, duck over there, run over here (evidently my conception of warfare is about two centuries behind). These actions are what keeps the foot soldier alive and they don't have the time or energy to stand back and think about the larger strategy of the battle or war. On the other hand, the commander is above the fray (figuratively and literally). His job is to coordinate the larger strategy of the battle. He needs to monitor what every unit is doing, what the enemy is doing, and make changes as necessary.

Unnecessarily violent metaphor aside, this is similar to how we work. It's very easy to get sucked into the moment by moment actions that keep you alive in a work-sense. Responding to emails, dealing with interruptions, fixing projects that have gone into emergency mode -- these are the actions that keep you afloat but also never let you take a step back. Having a good GTD system in place helps you elevate to the level of a commander from time to time. You can step away from the gritty day to day details and take stock of where your forces are, what's coming on the horizon, and make plans to meet upcoming challenges. Once the plans have been laid and adjustments made you can dive back into the foray content in the knowledge that you're on the right path and you're ready for the unexpected.

Beyond Organization

Without GTD large projects can seem like immovable boulders. Without GTD you can get locked into the small battles that may never coalesce into work you actually care about. Across these two planes of focus GTD empowers you to have greater impact and actually accomplish what you care about. To the outsider, GTD may look like nothing more than obsession over lists and organization for the sake of organization. It can be easy to fall into that trap if you're not careful (i.e. productivity porn) but the potential reward for understanding and carrying out your own GTD system is too great to ignore.

Have a thought you'd care to share? Find me on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of emdot

Mastering The Tools of Knowledge Work: A Craftsman's Approach

I received a great email from Jörn Meyer in response to my article on living with dignity in which he described living with dignity as doing your work to the very best of your ability, no matter what. Whether that means arguing a case in front of the Supreme Court or flipping burgers at McDonald's -- both jobs can be done with and without dignity. This ties in with the theme of Read & Trust's latest issue on craftsmanship. I'm fascinated by the idea of knowledge workers treating their work as craftsmen (and women). Is it even possible to be a craftsman when you aren't creating something physical like a piece of furniture or some other lovingly crafted physical object?

I think knowledge workers can approach their work in the same way a craftsman approaches theirs and it starts with the attitude taken toward tools. A craftsman's livelihood relies heavily on their tools. At the same time, a craftsman's livelihood does not rely on endlessly tinkering with their tools. There is a delicate balance between mastering tools and tinkering for the sake of tinkering. While I think most expert woodworkers understand that distinction pretty well, I wonder if the average knowledge worker has the same level of understanding? People have been crafting beautiful physical objects for hundreds of years but the phenomenon of knowledge work, or working with information instead of physical material, is a relatively new one. Perhaps the same ethos that drives craftsman has not yet reached its way to the knowledge workers' collective consciousness?

The Tools of Knowledge Work

Make no mistake about it, though, the tools knowledge workers use to do their job are just as complex and important as any traditional craftsman's. The effectiveness of the knowledge worker is limited by their understanding and skillful use of the tools at their disposal. Your tools may be different from mine depending on the nature of the work you do, but some examples probably include both software and hardware:

• Word processing software (like Open Office, or MS Word, or Write Room)
• Task management software and systems (like Things or OmniFocus)
• Reference management software (like Evernote)
• Email and other communication/scheduling (like Gmail or Mail.app or Skype)
• Project management (like Basecamp)
• Laptop/desktop/tablet
• Cell phone
• Desk chair
• Pens and notebooks
• Desk and other physical organizational components

These are the tools that allow us to do our work efficiently and effectively. However, how much time have you taken to truly master the tools you use for hours every day? Do you even like the tools you use?

Mastering your tools shows respect for the work you do because it allows your attention to transcend the actual using of the tools in favor of focusing on the true task at hand. A skilled woodworker does not focus on the plane when using it on a piece of wood. His utter familiarity and mastery of the tool allows him to focus on using the plane with full awareness on what he is trying to create. Are you familiar enough with the software and hardware you use every day to let it fade into the background?

A Thought Experiment

Let's run a quick thought experiment: Let's say you are working on typing up a memo and you have an idea for another project you're working on. What do you do? Do you try to hold it in your mind because you know it's annoying to have to find your task management software, click whatever button you need to click to add a new item, type in the item, and then get back to what you were originally working on? Or, even worse, can you not even really decide where that piece of information should go? This is an example of a lack of mastery of the tools at your disposal.

Since this is likely an occurrence that happens many times a day (let's face it, if you're a knowledge worker it behooves you to make sure you capture good ideas you have for other projects throughout the day) you need to be able to handle it in the swiftest way possible. True mastery would be able to recognize immediately where that information should go in your system, open the required software without ever having to take your hands off the keyboard, quickly type in the idea or piece of information, and return to your original task again without ever touching the mouse. With a minimum of effort and thought you have efficiently captured the idea to use later and returned to your original task. Like a master craftsman.

The Craftsman Knowledge Worker

Craftsmen take pride in their tools not because they are the flashiest or most expensive but because of what they allow them to create. They do the research necessary to make sure they have high quality tools but once that decision has been made there is a minimum of tinkering and fussing with alternatives. The ability to adeptly and skillfully use the tools at your disposal is much more valuable than constantly using the latest and greatest tool available. For a knowledge worker, that means not tinkering with every new list management app that's released or downloading yet another distraction free writing app. It's about picking one and learning its ins and outs to the point where you know everything about the app. Every keyboard shortcut, every feature and ability, and inevitably, every shortcoming (which then allows you to identify when you need a new tool to fill a specific gap).

You probably don't go into a workshop every day and it's unlikely that you're regularly producing beauitfully handmade objects for other people to enjoy at your day job (and if you are, you have a cool job). However, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't approach your work with the same care and consideration as those who do. Learn keyboard shortcuts. Wipe down your computer screen every week. Make sure your software is up-to-date and you've learned how to use it as efficiently as possible. These seem like small tasks but they can truly make you feel more professional and more likely to produce better work.

The craftsman mindset is complex and multi-faceted, but I think it starts with a healthy respect and love for the tools that let you do your job. Taking pride in knowing how to use your tools as a knowledge worker and taking pride in the work they help you produce go hand-in-hand and are key ingredients in a happy and healthy professional life.

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