Zugunruhe: Helping great people get [good] things done: Zoog.un.roo.ee

Getting in the Weeks, Part Two: Remember the Milk

On Wednesday, I started a series of posts that are meant to share an “in the weeds” view of my system for getting things done. Today, we’ll take a closer look at Remember the Milk (RTM).

I use RTM to capture all next actions. For those of you who are unfamiliar with RTM, it’s a browser based system that allows you to capture and organize all sorts of reminders. From this screen shot, you can see that there are lots of features and ways to use this handy program. RTM is free. However, I am a “Pro” user (which costs $25 US per year) so that I can integrate more effectively with my iPod Touch. Well worth the extra cost and nice to support a great program.

When entering a task into RTM, no matter how I go about it, the task goes to the inbox. I use rather strict conventions when I enter a task which makes processing easier later on. Here’s an example. Say I need to pick up ink cartridges for my printer. The task in RTM would be: “@errands Rapid Refill black & color + exchange bad cartridge. What this works out to is: Context, Where, Action. All tasks are entered with similar conventions which gives me a list that is alphabetized by context, then an object (where, who) followed by the next action. Depending on need, tasks are then tagged with due dates.

I use the notes feature but not on a consistent basis. Most often, if I’ve entered the task using my conventions, the description itself contains enough info for me to know what to do and how to do it.

One more example should make this more clear. Here’s a task straight out of RTM: “@web bi311 check gradebook change settings midterm II.” Translated: must have internet connection to complete this task = @web; bi311 is the course I teach. The action is to check the grade book and update settings on the second midterm. I know what I mean by “update settings” but if it was an unusual task, I’d say exactly what the update entailed. This happens to be an update I do often, so I felt no need to add extra detail.

A while back, someone asked me how next actions come to me. What he was getting as was how much work comes in the form of email, how much is generated from meetings, and so on. In my world, I’ve found that next actions show up in several ways:

• Assigned tasks
• Meetings
• Self-assigned through roles, projects, higher level goals and aspirations
• Email

Assigned tasks are activities like updating the monthly Board meeting agenda for a non-profit I serve, teaching duties, and so on. Meetings generate next actions from requests and commitments made by me or made to me by others (which become “waiting for” items). Most of my work is self-assigned: this is the stuff I ask myself to do like writing, gardening, taking care of the dogs, and so on. And then there’s email.

I use three methods for getting email-generated work into RTM:

• Forwarding emails to RTM
• Using the import list function (emailing a list of tasks to RTM)
• Entering tasks directly into RTM using the browser

Linked RTM with email is probably a post unto itself, so I won't go into details here. If you want to know more, email me and I'll give you the rundown.

No matter what, all tasks in RTM start out in the Inbox. From there, I review to see if a due date is needed and if there is a clear context. Once I’m satisfied that the item is properly entered and labeled, like the task you see in this screen shot, I move the item to the list labeled “.” which is a static list that serves as a general holding tank.

From the screen shot below, you can see that I run a whole herd of lists (the tabs labeled !, < .7 d, and so on). All lists except one (the list “.”) are Smart Lists which means that RTM generates and updates each list automatically depending on Smart List search criteria I have set up. (No technical details here; want to know more? Email me.)

• ! is a sanity list. If a task has no associated context, it’ll show up here. In essence this is a fail-safe so that no task falls through the cracks. This list should always be empty if tasks have been properly entered and labeled.
• <.7d: Any tasks bearing due dates within the coming week or any overdue tasks show up here.
• <30 d: Tasks due in the next 30 days.
• > 30 d: Tasks that have due dates sometime beyond the next 30 days.
• @....: Context driven lists that are self-explanatory.
• IAC, ICF: organizations that I serve
• Someday: ideas I don’t want to lose but aren’t necessary. These are all tagged with “-someday.” When an item moves off someday and into a real context, all I have to do is delete the tag.
• Today: tasks that are due today or are overdue. I found this list necessary because RTM’s default overview for “today” doesn’t include overdue tasks.

When tasks are completed, I mark them as complete. RTM automatically re-files such tasks to a completed task list. If a task changes (i.e., is now a “waiting for”) I use a tag to indicate the change in status. That adds the task to the list labeled “@waiting for” and allows me to ignore it in the context list it continues to reside in (e.g., “@Email”) until completion.

The key to my success at using RTM is to be absolutely draconian about making sure tasks end up there. To have a trusted system means to be fully committed to it. By fully committing to RTM, I absolutely have to know that anything that needs doing is listed there. If tasks are in my head, listed somewhere else, or existing as emails, then RTM isn’t acting as my trusted system and my commitment to it will waver. That’s why it’s so important to be able to send tasks to RTM using email, the iPod Touch, or via Jott.

That’s it for tasks. Next time, I’ll take a look at my calendars.

Getting in the Weeds, Part One: Email

Back in April, I posted a rundown of my current (and evolving) system linking up GTD with Thunderbird, Remember the Milk, and Jott. Today, I’m returning to start a series of posts to share how I’ve refined my system as well as point out some new tools I’m taking a look at.

Over the next several posts, I’ll give you an “in the weeds” view of how I process email, the ways I use RTM to create context driven lists, my scheduling system, working with next actions in contexts, and how I go about the weekly review.

My essential tools are:

• My iPod Touch, which is synched twice daily with iCal and Mac’s Address Book.
• A month-by-month, day at a glance paper calendar (I use Julie Morgenstern’s wire bound version from Franklin Covey)
• iCal (and occasionally, Google Calendar)
• Mac’s Address Book
• Remember the Milk (RTM; the Pro version which allows easy viewing on my iPod Touch)
• Jott
• For my email client, I’m using Thunderbird

Email:
I process email once early in the day and a couple of times later on. I have four email accounts; each are housed as separate mailboxes in T-bird. That way, personal email is separated from business. In essence, the various email accounts also separate my roles and help me keep those straight, clean, and clear as well.

When email arrives, it’s processed in the following way: I triage all incoming mail with tags. If it’s something that can be answered in less than five minutes, I do it right away. If not, I tag it as “needs reply.” Any email that has some action associated with it generates a task in Remember the Milk. Emails that are answered but need follow up are tagged as “@waiting for.” I archive a few emails but most are deleted.

Because triage tags are associated with colors, I can open any inbox and immediately orient myself as to what needs my attention.

• “Waiting for” is in green—I scan the entire list about once a week to delete completed items or follow up on things that are pending and time sensitive.
• “For review” is pink. I work to get pink stuff (these are usually newsletters or news alerts)out of the inbox every week. If it sits longer than that, I often simply delete it.
• “Needs reply” is orange which is easy to see and hard to ignore. My goal is to process all needs reply emails within 24 hours or less.
• “Needs action” is in blue. The only reason a “needs action” item sits in the inbox is if it hasn’t been processed into RTM yet.
• I have three other tags that are rarely used: delete, defer, archive. Usually, I delete and archive as I go along. I rarely defer decisions—if it’s actionable, it goes to RTM, if not, it’s archived or deleted.

My daily goal is to have an inbox with only green items—those are all tagged “waiting for” and require no further immediate action from me. I do not use email as a reminder system. That’s RTM’s job because RTM allows me to set due dates for follow up and T-bird does not.

For a while, I was trying out the Remember the Milk provider that uses the Lightning extension. I have dropped the provider for now. I found that the interface was distracting and because the provider can’t parse lists into contexts, scrolling through a couple of hundred items to mark something as complete was getting old. For me, it’s faster to use the browser and so that’s what I’ve ended up doing.

The only part of the system that’s a little clunky for me right now is not being able to tag “waiting for” emails with notes. There may be an Thunderbird extension that allows this that I don’t know about. If you know of one, please email me. Otherwise, if and when I find one, I’ll let you know. So far, I solve this in one of two ways—one is to put a “waiting for” into RTM that reminds me of what it is I’m waiting for. The other is to let the email itself be a reminder which isn’t ideal. If I was keeping the system perfectly clean, these emails would be in RTM somehow so that’s probably the next refinement.

In my next post, I’ll explore how I use Remember the Milk.

Where am I on your schedule?

Sometimes I forget to take holidays. Fortunately, there's someone here to remind me that time off is just as important as time spent working.

Enjoy your Memorial Day and don't forget to honor the men and women who served our country!

Change your thinking, change anything?

Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.--William James

What if someone came along and told you that you’re doing something right? Not only that, but this person explained that an activity you do everyday is playing a vital role in helping you to live a better life. And let’s say that this person told you that you didn’t have to change a thing. Just keep up the good work. Would just knowing that you were doing something right change anything about you? I’m guessing you said ‘no.’ If so, you’re wrong.

A recent study by Alia Crum and Ellen Langer of Harvard University showed that simply telling people that their regular daily activity levels provided health benefits allowed the benefits to materialize. Here’s how the study worked. Crum and Langer talked to 84 hotel housekeepers. All 84 were tested for various aspects of physical condition, like blood pressure, weight, and body fat. After the tests, roughly half the women (all the housekeepers were female) were told that the work they do everyday is good exercise. These women were given information in the form of a seminar, written materials, and posters tacked up where they could see the information everyday. The other group was told nothing about the relationship between their everyday work activities and the health benefits of their work as exercise

Four weeks later, the women were tested again. Not surprisingly, the women who were told nothing about their work and its health benefits had not changed. Their blood pressures, weights, and body fat were the same as before. The women in the “informed” group, however, were significantly different. The women who were told that their work provided health benefits experienced the benefits. They lost weight, their  blood pressures went down, and their body fat percentages were reduced. These women had not changed anything behaviorally--not diet, not exercise, not quitting smoking, nothing--yet, simply by being told that they were doing something right, they experienced a significant breakthrough.

What you tell yourself is powerful. The information you put into your head is powerful. One thing this research suggests is that having someone positive in your life, who sees what you’re doing right and brings that perspective to your attention, can have a meaningful effect. An effect that can change how things turn out for you.

What do you want to achieve? The next time someone tells you that you’re doing it right or making progress, pay attention. Just by putting their words into your consciousness, you can experience a breakthrough.

Where are you headed?

Ever ended up somewhere you didn’t intend to go? Perhaps you took a wrong turn by accident. Or maybe you just got curious about where a particular path led. Sometimes, folks end up in places simply because they weren’t paying attention--like missing an exit on the highway due to preoccupation or talking on the cell phone.

Right now, today, you’re on the road to somewhere. You’re taking actions, making plans, doing things. Every road leads somewhere. Some are dead ends. Others go to bad neighborhoods. It’s easy to get caught up in the journey. Put your head down and plod along. Every once in a while, though, it’s useful to take a look around and ask yourself, where does this road lead? Will it get you to where you want to end up?

Everyone has dreams. The only way to make your dreams into reality is to be fully mindful of doing the right things, taking the right steps on the right road. It does little good to be blindly climbing the corporate ladder only to discover you’re on the wrong ladder or that the ladder you’re on is leaning against the wrong wall.

One of the first steps to attaining the life of your dreams is to figure out what road you’re on and making sure it’s the right road. You’re going somewhere, you might as well end up somewhere you’d like to be. Where are you headed today?

Turn off the fire hose

“Indeed, the river may rage, yet [she] is not disturbed; [she] is confident, though the [River] Jordan gushes into [her] mouth."—The Book of Job

One thing I hear in conversation after conversation is the longing to live a life in accordance with purpose and vision. People long for lives of meaning, they really do. Lives that have impact and significance, doing things that have positive effects on others. Yet most of us are drinking from the fire hose, so to speak, overwhelmed by the daily demands and torrent of information coming at us all the time.

I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time on what David Allen of GTD fame calls the “runway,” the factory floor where the stuff actually gets done. Some days, there are lots of fires to put out. Other days, my ability to focus is nil and distraction is at an all time high; I can’t stay on task to save my life. It’s not that I don’t know what’s important to me or that I lack a sense of vision. It’s that my priorities sometimes get driven from the bottom up. Whatever is most urgent or easiest gets done.

A while back I read a wonderful book by Steven Pressfield called The War of Art. Pressfield describes the struggle against Resistance--that force that opposes the completion of all great works from novels to the war on poverty and everything in between, mundane or divine. He points out that Resistance only acts when we attempt lofty goals: “[Resistance] kicks in when we seek to pursue a calling in the arts, launch an innovative enterprise, or evolve to a higher station morally, ethically, or spiritually.” What this means is that when you attempt to order your priorities from the top down, you’re going to meet with significant amounts of friction. Staying on the runway all the time is easy; getting sufficient speed to get off the ground, turn off the fire hose, tame  the River Jordan…now that takes effort.

The other day, I was out hiking with my dogs. I went hiking because I needed to get away from my desk and do some higher level thinking. I’d been contemplating some the areas of focus and responsibility in my life. What I really wanted to was to get some clarity on my goals for the next year or two. Frankly, as I was hiking, I was feeling a bit selfish. What  right, I asked myself, do I have to take off and go hiking just because I need to think?

That’s when it hit me. That kind of thinking couldn’t happen in my office. There were too many things calling for my attention there. I had to get off of the runway and out of the river. Literally.

Ultimately, your priorities are what you do. Regardless of what you say or think about what’s important to you, if you’re not doing it, it’s not a priority. You have gifts and strengths, talents and abilities, a unique role that the world is waiting for you--and only you--to use for some great purpose. The only way you will get to manifest that calling is to order your priorities from the top down.

So turn off the flow, and dam the river if you have to. Take one big step back: what is really important? Attend to what’s most important to you today.

Feeling no friction? It could mean you're standing still.

Friction is a good sign. It means you’re moving.

Ever noticed that as you work at something, it seems to get harder as you go along? Take weight loss, for example. As you get closer to your goal weight, progress slows. You have to amp up your workouts and be even stricter with your diet to hit the mark and maintain it. The same is true for just about any lofty goal. Inevitably you hit a steep curve, encounter lots of resistance, and progress seems to slow to a crawl.

It’s tempting to think that because things are getting more difficult to move forward that you’re getting nowhere. Encountering friction isn’t a lot of fun. But you only generate friction when you’re moving. That’s a simple law of physics.

Think of pushing a heavy couch across a carpeted floor. When the couch is just sitting there, it’s subject to the law of inertia: an object at rest will remain at rest…unless acted upon by an outside force. To get the couch moving, you’ve got to overcome inertia and friction. Paradoxically, the harder you push, the more friction you generate. This an another simple physics law, one you’re probably very familiar with: every action is met with an equal and opposite reaction. The greater the force moving forward, the greater the pushback will be.

When you encounter resistance with whatever you’re pushing forward on--whether it be a sticky work situation, starting a business, or creating a better life for your family, to name a few--keep in mind that friction is actually a good sign. No friction means you’re standing still. Standing still equals no progress. The other thing to remember is that there are more ways to overcome friction than just pushing harder.

Attention to the details is one way to reduce the friction in your life. Being well organized means that fewer little obstacles litter your path to increase friction as you go along. Delegating (aka simply asking for help) is one way of increasing the energy input without burning yourself out in the process. Look around. What can you do to reduce the friction in your life? Increase the energy inputs? Polish the surfaces so that there’s less rub?

And remember, friction is a good sign. It means you’re moving.

Mind like Puppy

David Allen of GTD fame talks about cultivating a mindset that makes you ready for anything. He calls it “mind like water.” It’s an idea from martial arts. It goes like this: if your mind is like water, you’re constantly in a relaxed state. When some disturbance comes along, you absorb and respond to it with ease. As David put it when I heard him talk about this concept last summer, water doesn’t tense up when it sees the stone coming. For getting things done fans, having a mind like water is nirvana; it’s the holy grail. Instead of getting tense over work, the mind-like-water GTDer simply absorbs and responds to the demands on his or her time. I don’t have a mind like water. I have a mind like puppy.

I realized my “mind like puppy” state the other day when I was watching our new fur-kid playing. If the puppy has two or more toys, he plays with each one in succession for about two seconds a piece. He finds each toy with great joy and pleasure, as if he’s never seen it before. He pounces on the toy with immense enthusiasm and just as he’s really getting into playing with it, he spies another. Wow, a new toy! And so he drops the one he’s got and rushes over to get the next one. The secret to my having a calm puppy, one completely absorbed and contented in his play is to give him only one toy. One toy means there’s nothing to draw his attention away and, lo, he plays contentedly for quite a long time without interruption.

My brain works just like my puppy’s except that I’m rushing from one idea or task to another. Just as I get really involved in one thing, something else vies for my attention. Look! Something else that needs to be done! And I’m off, pouncing on that new activity with the same enthusiasm my puppy has for his slobbery toys. And I’m no sooner into my newfound pursuit than something else shows up and I’m after it like a puppy on a tennis ball.

My puppy sometimes tries to multitask. He grabs his gigantic toy bone and then tries to stuff a tennis ball into his mouth as well. It doesn’t work so good; his mouth is too small to get around them both at the same time. Same here, too. Too many things in front of me at once leave me feeling frustrated. Why can’t I play with all my toys at once? Because there’s just no room for me to carry them all in my mind at the same time.

Puppy training, I’ve learned, is all about patience. I take it easy with correction and choose to use praise and treats instead. I reward our dogs when they do what I want them to and carefully fail to reinforce the behaviors I don’t want. I wish my mind would get the picture and fall into line as quickly as my dogs do. Still, I think there’s something to the one toy at a time rule. One toy, one task, one goal in front of me with no other stuff to distract me away from whatever it is I choose to work on. And of course, treats to reward me when I sit and stay and get something done.

Now, if you’ll excuse me—I have a slobbery tennis ball in my lap and a puppy at my elbow asking me for a game of fetch. In this case, multitasking would mean puppy slobber on my keyboard taking distraction to a whole new level. Besides, the advantage of having a mind like puppy means saying always being ready to play, right?

Enjoy the taste of gratitude!

Free cookies! To show my appreciation for you, my readers, I’m going to send one lucky someone a dozen Zen Rabbit Baking Company's wonderful Gratitude Cookies. I’ll draw one name from my newsletter list on Friday, May 16. To be eligible to win, sign up now using the link in the sidebar (look at the top left). No matter what, I’ll send one dollar in your honor to charity!

Celebrate your business blessings!

If you’ve read my blog at all, you probably already know that gratitude is an important aspect of who I am and what I do. I keep two gratitude journals—one personal and the other for my business. I give thanks for everything, even (and perhaps especially) for the difficulties.

When bad stuff comes along, I know that there’s always a gift in it. I made up my mind a long time ago to find lessons in unhappy turns of events. I figured that I had a choice: be upset or put my experience to good use. I chose the latter. When mentorship fell short, I decided that I’d use that knowledge to be a better mentor someday. As obstacles appeared, I learned how to conquer them and then filed that info away for future reference. I’ve struggled through times when I wanted to get angry and stay bitter–and of course, I still struggle. But in the end, I know that no matter what my circumstances, I can choose to be happy. And so I do.

This morning, I was reading the list of affirmations I have posted in front of my exercise machine. Among others, I read this one: Good things happen to and for me all the time. I finished up and headed out for what was intended to be an appointment with a local business owner at a nearby restaurant. The person I was there to meet never showed up.  But as it turned out, my appointment was with someone else entirely--a total stranger sitting at the next table with whom I shared a lovely conversation. I left the restaurant marveling at the synchronicity.

Synchronicity is defined, more or less, as meaningful coincidence. I think it’s the product of getting what you’re looking for. If you look for good coincidences, you’ll find them. If you look for bad coincidences, you’ll get them in abundance. It’s not that circumstances have changed--it’s your perspective. As a business owner, it’s critical to look for good things, those essential signs of progress, that mean you’re moving in the right direction. Counting your business blessings is one way to keep your attention focused on good things and keep those coming your way.

One good thing that I’m especially grateful for right now is my relationship with Lori Saitz of Zen Rabbit Baking Company. Talk about synchronicity! Lori emailed me because she and I both had the pleasure of writing for Jeffrey Gitomer’s newsletter, Sales Caffeine. Lori was looking for fellow business owners with whom to form alliances. I was so lucky to be on her list! Lori is one of those people for and to whom good things happen all the time. You can listen to her talk about her business philosophy and her signature product line, Gratitude Cookies, on my podcast this month. Lori is a real rising star—I don’t doubt that you’ll be seeing her name in lots of places very soon (like the O List, perhaps?).

Lori’s Gratitude Cookies are all about celebrating your business blessings. Have someone that you’re thankful for? A stellar client, the one you’d like to clone? Someone who gives great referrals? Send them a box of Lori’s delicious cookies to show them how much you appreciate them. Appreciation is powerful and authentic appreciation, sweetened by some yummy cookies, can move mountains.

One thing I know for sure is that whatever you have, you get more of. Want more to be grateful for in your business (or life)? Focus on the good things. I guarantee that you’ll get more good things as a result!

To show my appreciation for you, my readers, I’m going to send someone a box of Lori’s wonderful cookies. I’ll draw one name from my newsletter list next week. Sign up now using the link in the sidebar (look at the top left) to be in the running for some sweet gratitude. No matter what, I’ll send one dollar in your honor to charity!