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25 episodes! Thank you all for listening and helping us grow the ProductivityCast community!
As we grow and change in our personal and professional lives, we should all consider if the way you see your “next actions” (the granular, physical tasks we take to move projects forward, a la Getting Things Done by David Allen). If we approach next-action crafting in time chunks smaller or larger, or based on different contexts, than you need to accomplish them, then we’ll see ourselves being less effective. In this cast, the ProductivityCast team addresses the issue of priming ourselves to appropriate next-action thinking in our productivity systems.
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In this Cast
Show Notes
Resources we mention, including links to them will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
Quantified Self (DC Quantified Self – Ray is the Organizer)
Eisenhower Matrix (Merrill-Covey Matrix)
Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory
Life changes to give you pause to know it’s time to reflect on the structure, time and contexts of your next-action planning:
1- Birth
2- Death
Professional Transitions
3- I’ve Been Demoted!
4- I’ve Been Promoted!
5- I’ve Been Hired!
6- Unemployment (whether involuntary or by choice)
7- Changing Careers (while employed or not)
8- Starting School
9- First Job
10- Moving Home
11- Moving Office
12- Downsizing Home
13- Starting Retirement
15- Marriage / Long-Term Commitment
15- Divorce / Separation / Ending a Long-Term Relationship
Calculator – Do You Need a Task Management Improvement? by Francis Wade
Francis: “The Ultimate, Evergreen Guide to Choosing Your Next Task Management App or Practice.” Plus. the stuff on implicit vs explicit tagging is in my book which is being updated – http://perfect.mytimedesign.com. Francis also included the idea in this paper – http://www.2time-sys.com/can-time-actually-be-managed/
Francis: The idea of facing changing constraints as task load increases, and the need to see a change is also mentioned in this article: What are the greatest task management tools, and why?
Raw Text Transcript
Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is h:mm:ss.ms to h:mm:ss.ms (e.g., 0:00:00.000,0:00:04.000 starts at 0.00 seconds and ends at 4 seconds in the cast’s audio).
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are you ready to manage your work and
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personal world better to live a
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fulfilling productive life then you’ve
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come to the right place
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productivity cast the weekly show about
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all things productivity here your hosts
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ray Sydney Smith and Augusto pronounces
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weight and art Galax welcome back
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everybody to episode 25 of productivity
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cast and so I just want to thank you all
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for listening to productivity cast and I
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want to welcome to the show today
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gusto pinaud francis Wade and art Galax
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welcome to the show gentlemen guys I’m
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doing really well and as I was saying
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pre-show I’m I’m double caffeinated I’m
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drinking two types of caffeine this
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morning so I’m probably a little jittery
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but I’m gonna I’m gonna try and keep it
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level keep it level for us all today so
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we’re gonna we’re gonna talk today about
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a rather interesting concept principle
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concept centering on the premise of
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getting things done next action
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principles and how those things change
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over time and so I’m gonna hand the mic
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over to you a goose toe to explain to
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the audience what we’re gonna be talking
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about today I was looking at my next
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action list as it was getting behind and
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I couldn’t understand why it’s not a
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matter of the job it’s not a matter of
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the tasks per se but the fact was what’s
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getting behind and I started to get
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accumulated so the question for me was
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is this something because I’ve been
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extremely busy or this is something
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because a condition around my day-to-day
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change in my particular case was the
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second one a condition around my
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workplace my work day-to-day change so
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what happened was I begin changing or
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evolving my role from a person who spent
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a lot of time in the office to a person
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who spent almost none in the office in
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other words a world warrior again
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as I was looking at that I begin to
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consider or ask myself if the way you
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see your next actions and how is
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affected by the unconscious time you
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think you have to accomplish them so if
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you think for example on the two-minute
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rule the two minutes without any doubts
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in arbitrary number
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so we with practice we begin to identify
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what kind of task can be done on that 2
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minutes roll the same way that when we
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are when we have less time we change
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that 2 minutes to maybe a minute or 30
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seconds and everything else going to the
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system or when we have a ridiculous
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amount of time for example a long train
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trip coast-to-coast then we can go to a
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15-minute time because we’ll make no
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difference we are not going anywhere so
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I begin to wonder if hold your next
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actions do conscious or unconscious
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begin setting that same time so when I’m
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sitting at work this is around the time
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I can do without being interrupted or
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without the next meeting coming or
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without somebody coming to my desk and
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ask me what I’m doing and you begin
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defining your next actions based on that
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interval if that’s true then you should
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be able to adjust it one way or the
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other but I’m curious if people also
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observe the same thing in other words if
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they also notice that their next actions
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are defined to a specific interval of
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time or is just the way mine works
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enough yeah I’m thinking about this from
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the perspective of one of the questions
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that I always ask myself and I ask other
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people when they’re trying to do task
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estimation is what’s the amount of time
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that you think a task is going to take
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based on either assessment or
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historical values what’s important I
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think related to what you’re bringing up
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Augusto is that I don’t know that it’s
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necessarily contextual to the time you
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have available because if you think
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about traditional project management
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methodology you’ve got time cost and
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scope
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well if time becomes an inflexible value
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which is this is the amount of time I
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have in my calendar the only other two
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things that can adjust related to it or
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cost and scope and if we’re not talking
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about money it’s the amount of actual
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work that you can do but we haven’t said
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that’s the case that we can change the
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work on the task so we have two
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inflexible values trying to help us do
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this assessment I think if you’re in a
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situation where you have time blocks and
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you’re trying to find work that fits
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into those blocks that’s a determination
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you almost have to make prior to getting
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to those time blocks you have to look at
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the timeline itself you have to look at
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the tasks and say okay this task has
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traditionally taken twenty minutes and I
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was reading an article last week
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ironically enough that talks about this
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idea of tagging related to time and
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going through and for example in this
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case it was using OneNote creating a
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series of tags or I’m sorry it was using
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todoist creating a series of tags so
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that when you put a task in you would
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tag it and say this is a 15-minute task
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or this is a 30-minute task then when
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you had those opportunities of planning
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your calendar you could go back and say
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okay I’ve got three 30-minute blocks
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here where are all my 30-minute tasks
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and what can I put in where
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theoretically that looks solid I have to
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admit I haven’t tried it that much
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hands-on in that method to see if it
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works well but yeah it has some pluses
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and minuses to it but I think it’s one
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of the ways to kind of mitigate this
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push-pull between time and scope when
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you’re trying to get things planned out
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I’m not sure if that’s on target for
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what you’re looking for though I have a
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sort of a little bit about girl net me
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add something to the discussion I think
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it’s a psychological phenomena from from
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my point of view that when you create a
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task the minute your mind comes up with
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the task it automatically tags it in
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what what I what I call in my book in
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with implicit tags and the these have to
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do with for example what’s the context
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what’s the duration when am I going to
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do it how important is it is it urgent
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does it involve any equipment does it
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have a cost in other words well as soon
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as we create a task in our mind these
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psychological tags get created along
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along with it the the when we start to
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bring tasks out of our head and put them
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onto lists we start to make these some
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of these tags explicit so they go from
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being just sort of vague notions to
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being something that we can manipulate
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because there’s actual data involved so
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for example when you create a to-do list
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and you use the Eisenhower metrics
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you’re bringing the important and urgent
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tags out of your sort of the recesses of
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your mind the implicit tags and you’re
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making them explicit because you know
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you’re organizing the the tasks in front
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of you using these no explicit tasks
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it’s re tags and I think what happens
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over time which I think sort of
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addresses a Gusteau’s concerned that
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he’s noticed a shift I think what
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happens over time is that as the number
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of tasks increase we need to change our
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tactics accordingly so in the very
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beginning the first time we start to
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make lists people out people rave about
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no ties and all this because it’s a very
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basic way of using explicit tags but
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that works for as long as it works which
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is for most people open to the point
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where there’s too many tasks then they
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move then you need to migrate to a
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different kind of a system and many
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people move to for example
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GTD system which is a system of using
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contexts in different ways and that the
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GTD contexts are a bit can sa kind of
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inducing critique away because some are
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location-based some are equipment based
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there there’s some people even use later
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some days or temporally based so that we
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try to gain some capacity by changing
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the way we tag and I think what’s
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happened with Augusto my hype my
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diagnosis if I were a doctor if to say
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that he’s running out of available free
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time and all of a sudden he doesn’t have
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the flexibility that he had or in other
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words he has less slack time to decide
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what to do when to put tasks put tasks
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within the slack time that he had he has
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so the motor time has gone down but he
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he still expects his his task to fit
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into the available slack time the way it
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used to which is the system that he used
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to use before he went out on the road
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and I think what’s happened what needs
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to happen sort of from the outside
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looking in is he no needs to to move to
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using temporal tags which are duration
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planned time of start due date and all
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that’s happened all that happens to all
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of us is that as we add more tasks a new
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constraint emerges so in the in the very
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beginning when you using memory the
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constraint at that time at some point
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when we’re me maybe hit 15 16 17 years
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old is that we can’t remember all that
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we need to so that we start writing
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stuff down so at that point the
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constraint is memory and as we go along
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the constraints change and we need to
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change over our tactics accordingly and
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I think he’s he may be at the cusp
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which many people reach from my point of
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view and I’ve been there actually
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actually twice
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my memory where the using task lists no
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longer work so we used and I had to make
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a transition to scheduling everything or
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in other words time blocking everything
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or using temporal tags instead of
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contextual tags and the only reason I
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have survived the transition is because
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I use a program that allows me to it to
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reschedule my calendar without my doing
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it converted auto schedules my calendar
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so it’s perfect for someone who must use
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context I’m sorry temporal tags versus
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other kinds of tags so I said a lot but
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we’re reading it okay I’m gonna agree
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with you completely on the idea of the
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temporal tags and and kind of bring it
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down a notch because you I think you hit
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the key term on it and that is the the
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contingencies that are impacting the
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tasks have shifted what are the primary
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drivers that are that have influence and
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control over those tasks if you’re in a
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situation where you have an eight-hour
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block of a day and you know you always
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have that eight hour block of a day and
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you’re going to be working in the same
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space with the same equipment and the
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same software it’s much easier to plan
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something that’s going to flex but if
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you’re out and about or you have hard
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scheduled activities or I’m gonna flip
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this around a little bit if you’re a
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manager or an executive that has a lot
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of meetings that are thrown at you not
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ones of your own creation but once you
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keep getting invited to then the
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situation you’re in is you don’t have
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control over a lot of those key drivers
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so you have to say okay what what are
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the influences that are gonna mess these
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tasks up for me and what actually items
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do I have control over if you don’t have
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control over the length and the and the
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spacing of your time blocks then the
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only thing you can really do
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has chunked the tasks down in a way that
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they become much more dynamic and that’s
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that’s where I started thinking about
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what we’re dealing with here I could see
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somebody who had a master listing of
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tasks big tasks and having problems
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scheduling them well maybe they need to
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be smaller maybe need to need to have
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more little ones that can be broken up
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and fit into things now there’s a
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diminishing point of return there as
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well where you’re gonna have so many
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little things to try and juggle that you
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may be transitioning in and out of work
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too quickly it it’s not optimal in
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either situation if you don’t have
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control over either the workload or the
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schedule and if both are fairly out of
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your control then it can be really
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difficult that’s where you have to
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constantly measure and evaluate your
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system look at the amount of stuff going
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in do the work look at how that work was
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successful take a look at those metrics
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and say okay what worked what didn’t did
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certain sized time blocks I have a
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greater level of success or smaller ones
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and start to tune it and continue to
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refine it I don’t think you’re gonna
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find anyone that you can flip a switch
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and and this stuff is gonna fit this
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particular model I very much believe in
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the concept of acceleration and
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deceleration lanes when it comes to your
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productivity routine and so I think
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that’s really important I did want to I
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want to jump back to to some comments
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that Francis had made about this being a
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memory limit issue and if we can sort of
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think about this in terms of psychic RAM
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I hate to really analogize the brain to
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a computer too much but if we think
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about it from that perspective we have
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this sense of psychic RAM and that
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temporary memory storage does fill up
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very quickly for us and so we need to be
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conscious of that but there are other
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limits I think that also come into play
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which not necessarily the limits but
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other dimensions which is the emotional
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dimension typically measured in anxiety
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levels and this is not really negative
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anxiety necessarily it’s just the
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discomfort you feel physically from the
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emotion of anxiety and I think that a
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lot of people don’t get that when we’re
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talking about personal
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productivity especially your individual
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anxiety levels will predispose you to a
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particular type of action or non action
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right so that’s one particular thing
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that we have to really take into account
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and then as well as motivation right how
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motivated you are to do something or not
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well then also play into it so I just
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wanted to add those maybe dimensions to
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the concept that yes we get to a point
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in our adolescent and then preteen and
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teen years where things start to become
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such a maximum limit that we can keep
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running in terms of projects and actions
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that we do start to keep lists but then
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we get to this other point which is that
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if I’m type-a I’m predisposed to higher
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levels of anxiety again not necessarily
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a negative thing we need to we need to
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learn how to manage those well and here
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in adulthood we recognize or we should
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recognize I hope we recognize that
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that’s something that’s going on under
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the hood and we can then go ahead and
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say okay I need more framework I need
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more control versus perspective again
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going back to sort of GTD language in
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order to be able to reduce that stress
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and then increase the movement forward
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on the flip side of this going back to
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sort of the the topic at hand I did want
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to sort of outline a little bit about
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the way in which I approach this which
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is that for many years I have used time
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available as the driving force behind
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creating next actions and not
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necessarily the traditional concept of
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context I see the efficiencies of making
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calls together and sending emails
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together and so and so forth but I do
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not I just know how I work I work very
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much project based and so there is this
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concept for me that I need to finish I
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need to complete some chunk what I call
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a milestone which is up either a part of
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a project or multiple projects together
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that create an anchor around something
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and so many times I want to complete
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some part of something in order to feel
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accomplished it’s not literally just
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checking off one action for it
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that gets me that dopamine kick it’s the
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it’s the knowing of completion of
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something so it’s rather intuitive and
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iterative for me in terms of next action
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planning and so over the years I’ve just
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00:17:46,720 –> 00:17:52,240
paid attention and this again for me I’m
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00:17:49,659 –> 00:17:54,760
a quantified self err so I’m always
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tracking data about myself and I’ve
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learned through past data how long it
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takes me
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on average usually a mean average that
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I’m taking not a modal average because I
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think that can be a little bit a little
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less accurate than for some reason the
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mean average and so I then go in and I
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00:18:12,549 –> 00:18:19,870
identify how long things typically take
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for me and thereby helping to inform me
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00:18:19,870 –> 00:18:26,019
going forward when I look at how much
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00:18:22,630 –> 00:18:27,850
time available I have and the actions
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00:18:26,019 –> 00:18:31,240
that are necessary to bring me to
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00:18:27,850 –> 00:18:34,870
fruition does that make sense guys it
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00:18:31,240 –> 00:18:37,059
does it parallels as I mentioned the
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00:18:34,870 –> 00:18:38,380
project management space I look at
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00:18:37,059 –> 00:18:41,350
things a little bit differently because
408
00:18:38,380 –> 00:18:43,630
I come from a pre-sales sales kind of
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00:18:41,350 –> 00:18:45,899
background for a long time and a lot of
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00:18:43,630 –> 00:18:48,940
its estimation at work prior to doing it
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00:18:45,899 –> 00:18:52,029
for to get somebody to agree that you’re
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gonna do it so for me it’s a matter of
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looking at historical completion which
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00:18:55,630 –> 00:18:59,049
is a lot of the measurements that you’re
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00:18:57,130 –> 00:19:00,880
talking about and then being able to say
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00:18:59,049 –> 00:19:03,309
well how close to that historical
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00:19:00,880 –> 00:19:05,710
accuracy can we get in the estimation of
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this particular task to say it’s going
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00:19:05,710 –> 00:19:10,899
to take X number of hours to do now
420
00:19:08,559 –> 00:19:12,789
that’s on a larger scale and not often
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00:19:10,899 –> 00:19:15,130
are we booking are we thinking about
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things in just our daily activity where
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we’re saying okay this is going to be an
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eight-hour task or a 16-hour task I mean
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we break it down more granularly than
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that at least I think we do I know I do
427
00:19:23,760 –> 00:19:35,049
so looking at that kind of pre-planning
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I have to wonder maybe to make it a
429
00:19:35,049 –> 00:19:39,580
little less daunting maybe being able to
430
00:19:37,419 –> 00:19:42,250
break things down into buckets are
431
00:19:39,580 –> 00:19:44,799
helpful you know start to identify tasks
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with context not so much around duration
433
00:19:44,799 –> 00:19:48,880
but estimated size this
434
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a small test this is a medium test this
435
00:19:48,880 –> 00:19:54,040
is a large task understanding that that
436
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translates to roughly a half hour
437
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roughly an hour roughly two hours and
438
00:19:56,200 –> 00:20:02,679
then you can go through and juggle your
439
00:19:58,480 –> 00:20:04,240
your planning accordingly I think a lot
440
00:20:02,679 –> 00:20:06,610
of this honestly from what I’m hearing
441
00:20:04,240 –> 00:20:09,790
from all of us is going to be a lot of
442
00:20:06,610 –> 00:20:12,460
trial and error in methodology there is
443
00:20:09,790 –> 00:20:14,890
no that I’ve heard there’s no formulaic
444
00:20:12,460 –> 00:20:16,600
way to approach this because it’s going
445
00:20:14,890 –> 00:20:19,419
to vary depending on the type of work
446
00:20:16,600 –> 00:20:21,820
you’re doing and the one thing we
447
00:20:19,419 –> 00:20:23,679
haven’t talked about what happens when
448
00:20:21,820 –> 00:20:25,179
this planning breaks what happens when
449
00:20:23,679 –> 00:20:30,400
something jumps into it what happens
450
00:20:25,179 –> 00:20:34,960
when a task goes off the rails I I can
451
00:20:30,400 –> 00:20:36,850
share some of my own history here I I
452
00:20:34,960 –> 00:20:41,820
recently was two years ago
453
00:20:36,850 –> 00:20:44,970
made the switch from from managing my
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00:20:41,820 –> 00:20:47,640
been manipulating my own calendar I
455
00:20:44,970 –> 00:20:50,290
mentioned using an auto scheduler before
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and I’ve been I’ve been manipulating my
457
00:20:50,290 –> 00:20:58,540
own calendar or a calendar of all my
458
00:20:52,900 –> 00:21:00,490
tasks for this about 2001 I think and I
459
00:20:58,540 –> 00:21:02,440
had a break in between when I thought I
460
00:21:00,490 –> 00:21:04,270
could find something better and turned
461
00:21:02,440 –> 00:21:07,809
out to be worse but any we have been
462
00:21:04,270 –> 00:21:10,570
trying to do this manually for 15 years
463
00:21:07,809 –> 00:21:12,280
and then two years ago I made the
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00:21:10,570 –> 00:21:15,190
transition to using an auto scheduler
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and and I had them difficulty most
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00:21:15,190 –> 00:21:22,710
people have which is that it’s it’s hard
467
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to to figure out the right calendar
468
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manually and to keep it updated so a
469
00:21:26,500 –> 00:21:30,880
booster is probably you know looking at
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00:21:28,210 –> 00:21:32,710
you know I have I have 20 hours
471
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available each week that I’m not in
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meetings I’m not traveling and it’s
473
00:21:34,390 –> 00:21:38,650
discretionary
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I have 30 hours of activity to put into
475
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that 20 hours how do I figure out what’s
476
00:21:41,950 –> 00:21:48,070
the best 20 hours to pick from the 30
477
00:21:44,730 –> 00:21:49,929
know doing that manually is very very
478
00:21:48,070 –> 00:21:52,299
very terms of to be very very very hard
479
00:21:49,929 –> 00:21:54,309
I can see from experience because you
480
00:21:52,299 –> 00:21:56,830
you’re juggling multiple attributes
481
00:21:54,309 –> 00:21:59,590
figuring out what’s high priority was
482
00:21:56,830 –> 00:22:01,990
urgent and that changes every day and
483
00:21:59,590 –> 00:22:03,639
you got to redo your schedule whenever
484
00:22:01,990 –> 00:22:06,039
there’s a surprise and all of a sudden
485
00:22:03,639 –> 00:22:08,019
you have a late flight and messes
486
00:22:06,039 –> 00:22:10,179
everything up but so you’re always
487
00:22:08,019 –> 00:22:11,559
juggling juggling and rescheduling and
488
00:22:10,179 –> 00:22:13,419
you’re doing it manually you’re trying
489
00:22:11,559 –> 00:22:16,090
to use a lot of psychic I’m according to
490
00:22:13,419 –> 00:22:17,860
I thought it’s furry to try and come up
491
00:22:16,090 –> 00:22:21,129
with a schedule that looks feasible and
492
00:22:17,860 –> 00:22:23,019
have it be feasible all the time the
493
00:22:21,129 –> 00:22:26,139
when I started using an auto schedule a
494
00:22:23,019 –> 00:22:27,730
couple years ago it took away all of the
495
00:22:26,139 –> 00:22:30,009
manual effort because no with the click
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00:22:27,730 –> 00:22:32,230
of a button I instantly have an optimal
497
00:22:30,009 –> 00:22:36,909
schedule but what I’ve noticed since
498
00:22:32,230 –> 00:22:39,100
then is is but because I’m scheduling so
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frequently which is multiple times a day
500
00:22:39,100 –> 00:22:45,490
and I’m not using my own energy to do it
501
00:22:42,690 –> 00:22:48,190
I’ve become a sort of a better scheduler
502
00:22:45,490 –> 00:22:53,830
in the sense that I’m a better estimator
503
00:22:48,190 –> 00:22:55,119
so I I because I’m I’m the lies that I
504
00:22:53,830 –> 00:22:58,029
used to tell myself and I used to get
505
00:22:55,119 –> 00:23:00,580
away with it slowly taken oh no I can
506
00:22:58,029 –> 00:23:02,470
see where where that cost me something
507
00:23:00,580 –> 00:23:04,629
in my schedule it cost me time and
508
00:23:02,470 –> 00:23:08,139
energy so I become a far better
509
00:23:04,629 –> 00:23:10,980
estimator and much less of a more more
510
00:23:08,139 –> 00:23:14,950
truthful and how long things tick and
511
00:23:10,980 –> 00:23:17,649
how good and how well I can follow my
512
00:23:14,950 –> 00:23:20,860
own schedule so of course I have history
513
00:23:17,649 –> 00:23:22,960
no because I have I’m actually system
514
00:23:20,860 –> 00:23:26,700
gathers gathers some data that you can
515
00:23:22,960 –> 00:23:29,769
go back and look at prior activities
516
00:23:26,700 –> 00:23:32,950
I’ve become way more granular as you can
517
00:23:29,769 –> 00:23:36,909
imagine because when I when I did manual
518
00:23:32,950 –> 00:23:41,049
scheduling and this was using a Google
519
00:23:36,909 –> 00:23:42,909
Calendar mostly it was really hard to
520
00:23:41,049 –> 00:23:44,799
schedule a lot of items so the smallest
521
00:23:42,909 –> 00:23:46,570
time block I could possibly manage was
522
00:23:44,799 –> 00:23:48,039
about a half an hour I would never go
523
00:23:46,570 –> 00:23:51,460
lower than that because it was just too
524
00:23:48,039 –> 00:23:53,740
hard to manipulate so many tasks no
525
00:23:51,460 –> 00:23:55,629
however I can go down to five and ten
526
00:23:53,740 –> 00:23:58,179
minutes if I want because I’m the one
527
00:23:55,629 –> 00:23:59,740
doing all the hard work it accumulates
528
00:23:58,179 –> 00:24:02,769
small tasks put them to get put them
529
00:23:59,740 –> 00:24:04,629
together in different ways and so it
530
00:24:02,769 –> 00:24:06,999
takes away all of the hard work so I’ve
531
00:24:04,629 –> 00:24:12,490
become way more precise and more
532
00:24:06,999 –> 00:24:14,009
accurate just because I’m less exhausted
533
00:24:12,490 –> 00:24:18,059
trying to keep up
534
00:24:14,009 –> 00:24:20,289
with my my my schedule of all my tasks
535
00:24:18,059 –> 00:24:22,570
something else is doing the hard work
536
00:24:20,289 –> 00:24:24,479
and I’ve become way more smarter in the
537
00:24:22,570 –> 00:24:26,679
last couple of years just because I’m
538
00:24:24,479 –> 00:24:29,340
preserving energy and putting it to
539
00:24:26,679 –> 00:24:33,729
where it’s sort of I guess better used
540
00:24:29,340 –> 00:24:39,100
it’s my experience so it’s interesting
541
00:24:33,729 –> 00:24:42,039
because the discussion you know bring a
542
00:24:39,100 –> 00:24:47,379
bunch of interesting elements to
543
00:24:42,039 –> 00:24:53,979
consider years ago when I was well
544
00:24:47,379 –> 00:24:56,739
almost as heavy road warrior as what my
545
00:24:53,979 –> 00:24:58,659
workload is turning right now to be I
546
00:24:56,739 –> 00:25:03,759
can see there are a lot of those things
547
00:24:58,659 –> 00:25:06,940
and when my roles change to a more fixed
548
00:25:03,759 –> 00:25:09,220
asset and you know we’re traveling now
549
00:25:06,940 –> 00:25:11,799
was something that almost happened only
550
00:25:09,220 –> 00:25:14,830
for vacation instead of work or
551
00:25:11,799 –> 00:25:18,549
constantly for work the nature of how I
552
00:25:14,830 –> 00:25:21,960
classify and how I look into next
553
00:25:18,549 –> 00:25:24,489
actions and projects and other things
554
00:25:21,960 –> 00:25:26,379
change with it so it’s it’s quite
555
00:25:24,489 –> 00:25:29,470
interesting to look to look at it I
556
00:25:26,379 –> 00:25:31,960
don’t remember and that doesn’t mean
557
00:25:29,470 –> 00:25:35,739
that’s how I may have done it
558
00:25:31,960 –> 00:25:37,840
unconsciously to have you know a time
559
00:25:35,739 –> 00:25:40,320
bucket for example it was just have
560
00:25:37,840 –> 00:25:45,029
actions based on software but or
561
00:25:40,320 –> 00:25:50,739
location mostly software because I said
562
00:25:45,029 –> 00:25:55,590
my role was heavy on the travel side you
563
00:25:50,739 –> 00:25:59,649
know I was doing at that time over
564
00:25:55,590 –> 00:26:02,229
250,000 miles in planes so but I had the
565
00:25:59,649 –> 00:26:05,080
things I have now that I’m now that I
566
00:26:02,229 –> 00:26:08,379
mentioned that I remembered yes I had a
567
00:26:05,080 –> 00:26:10,239
certain list there were things to do on
568
00:26:08,379 –> 00:26:13,299
a planes mostly because planes tend to
569
00:26:10,239 –> 00:26:16,090
you or tend to be at that time longer
570
00:26:13,299 –> 00:26:20,529
working time so maybe unconsciously I
571
00:26:16,090 –> 00:26:22,509
was temporary tagging for time without
572
00:26:20,529 –> 00:26:25,599
necessarily being aware that is part of
573
00:26:22,509 –> 00:26:28,119
what he’s having on this change towards
574
00:26:25,599 –> 00:26:29,830
the other side when when you change from
575
00:26:28,119 –> 00:26:33,429
being a road warrior and never have time
576
00:26:29,830 –> 00:26:35,379
to be on the office and have oh what
577
00:26:33,429 –> 00:26:39,070
seems like an unlimited supply of time
578
00:26:35,379 –> 00:26:43,029
it’s not a problem turning the wheels so
579
00:26:39,070 –> 00:26:48,159
going from the office to now this highly
580
00:26:43,029 –> 00:26:52,090
constrained working environment it’s
581
00:26:48,159 –> 00:26:55,659
what has thrown at least mine a range to
582
00:26:52,090 –> 00:26:59,009
my system and and made me consider where
583
00:26:55,659 –> 00:27:01,570
where can be or where are the potential
584
00:26:59,009 –> 00:27:02,200
elements that I’m ignoring and I’m not
585
00:27:01,570 –> 00:27:05,200
looking
586
00:27:02,200 –> 00:27:07,980
there are causing trouble I think it’s
587
00:27:05,200 –> 00:27:14,559
really important here for us to identify
588
00:27:07,980 –> 00:27:18,669
for our audience what we can do to
589
00:27:14,559 –> 00:27:22,450
identify when things change so that is
590
00:27:18,669 –> 00:27:25,869
to say when when is when is it
591
00:27:22,450 –> 00:27:28,269
appropriate for us to do that kind of
592
00:27:25,869 –> 00:27:30,629
review and reflection what what are the
593
00:27:28,269 –> 00:27:34,690
key indicators that tell us that
594
00:27:30,629 –> 00:27:38,589
something has shifted and therefore time
595
00:27:34,690 –> 00:27:40,330
available context the length of time of
596
00:27:38,589 –> 00:27:42,759
particular next actions that you would
597
00:27:40,330 –> 00:27:44,710
do in one context say sitting at your
598
00:27:42,759 –> 00:27:49,330
desk now needs to be done
599
00:27:44,710 –> 00:27:53,169
say out in the field or on a plane train
600
00:27:49,330 –> 00:27:55,929
bus what have you and now cannot be done
601
00:27:53,169 –> 00:27:57,849
or say you’re driving so no longer can
602
00:27:55,929 –> 00:27:59,529
you use that time and and that’s
603
00:27:57,849 –> 00:28:01,929
something that has affected me quite
604
00:27:59,529 –> 00:28:04,720
greatly in the last year year and a half
605
00:28:01,929 –> 00:28:06,519
is you know I’m driving a lot more today
606
00:28:04,720 –> 00:28:08,559
than I used to and that has
607
00:28:06,519 –> 00:28:11,229
fundamentally changed the way in which I
608
00:28:08,559 –> 00:28:14,049
get things done so what are the things
609
00:28:11,229 –> 00:28:16,570
that you all sort of identify as those
610
00:28:14,049 –> 00:28:18,190
things and and how do you how do you
611
00:28:16,570 –> 00:28:20,109
change with them Francis do you want to
612
00:28:18,190 –> 00:28:21,429
get started yeah well funny funny you
613
00:28:20,109 –> 00:28:22,629
know if I’ve actually been thinking
614
00:28:21,429 –> 00:28:24,639
about this one
615
00:28:22,629 –> 00:28:27,309
I’m right they’re gonna at the global
616
00:28:24,639 –> 00:28:29,499
what you should pick us your next task
617
00:28:27,309 –> 00:28:31,599
manager’ how to decide what your next
618
00:28:29,499 –> 00:28:33,159
task manager should be which is very
619
00:28:31,599 –> 00:28:35,409
simple it was very similar to what we’re
620
00:28:33,159 –> 00:28:37,450
talking about here which is when things
621
00:28:35,409 –> 00:28:40,899
change how do you figure
622
00:28:37,450 –> 00:28:42,880
what the next approach should be and I
623
00:28:40,899 –> 00:28:43,809
came up with a calculator to try and
624
00:28:42,880 –> 00:28:46,779
figure out okay
625
00:28:43,809 –> 00:28:50,110
if you take this particular test then it
626
00:28:46,779 –> 00:28:52,740
should tell you when you are ripe for a
627
00:28:50,110 –> 00:28:55,659
change and I’ll tell you some of the
628
00:28:52,740 –> 00:28:59,409
indicators I came so one was the state
629
00:28:55,659 –> 00:29:03,399
of your email inbox so if if all of a
630
00:28:59,409 –> 00:29:05,460
sudden there is a an overwhelming number
631
00:29:03,399 –> 00:29:08,200
of emails that you’re not responding to
632
00:29:05,460 –> 00:29:10,389
in your inbox or you used to be doing
633
00:29:08,200 –> 00:29:13,269
zero inbox and you’re no longer doing it
634
00:29:10,389 –> 00:29:15,159
then it’s an indicator that something
635
00:29:13,269 –> 00:29:19,620
has changed and you need it your system
636
00:29:15,159 –> 00:29:23,019
and you upload the other ones
637
00:29:19,620 –> 00:29:24,970
feelings of overwhelm as you look at
638
00:29:23,019 –> 00:29:27,820
your list you have this sort of feeling
639
00:29:24,970 –> 00:29:30,010
of dread it’s all about it it’s an
640
00:29:27,820 –> 00:29:32,710
emotional measure it’s not you know a
641
00:29:30,010 –> 00:29:35,639
practical measure but another practical
642
00:29:32,710 –> 00:29:39,190
sort of measurable would be how many
643
00:29:35,639 –> 00:29:41,440
tasks are falling through the cracks so
644
00:29:39,190 –> 00:29:44,500
how many are you just losing track of
645
00:29:41,440 –> 00:29:46,149
that you intended to do this week or it
646
00:29:44,500 –> 00:29:48,039
had to be done this week it had a very
647
00:29:46,149 –> 00:29:51,070
high intention and a consequence for not
648
00:29:48,039 –> 00:29:52,720
doing it and you’re not able to do
649
00:29:51,070 –> 00:29:54,820
you’re not able to you weren’t able to
650
00:29:52,720 –> 00:29:56,460
do it and the number of tasks that are
651
00:29:54,820 –> 00:30:00,970
falling through the cracks are
652
00:29:56,460 –> 00:30:02,529
increasing so that’s a there’s no system
653
00:30:00,970 –> 00:30:05,350
manual that actually measures that and
654
00:30:02,529 –> 00:30:09,039
it will take a manual sort of recording
655
00:30:05,350 –> 00:30:11,649
or when that happens but those are a
656
00:30:09,039 –> 00:30:14,740
couple that I have included in my my
657
00:30:11,649 –> 00:30:17,260
calculator which I can’t recommend to
658
00:30:14,740 –> 00:30:18,460
anyone because it’s so ugly but anyway
659
00:30:17,260 –> 00:30:20,889
that’s that’s a couple that I came up
660
00:30:18,460 –> 00:30:24,460
with yeah this this is one of those
661
00:30:20,889 –> 00:30:25,450
tough ones though that each one of us is
662
00:30:24,460 –> 00:30:27,399
looking at it from a different
663
00:30:25,450 –> 00:30:29,309
perspective I can understand why people
664
00:30:27,399 –> 00:30:32,110
get frustrated with this problem because
665
00:30:29,309 –> 00:30:35,549
there are so many different ways to try
666
00:30:32,110 –> 00:30:40,870
and tackle it and none of them have a
667
00:30:35,549 –> 00:30:43,570
clear end point as to yes this will work
668
00:30:40,870 –> 00:30:47,799
or no this is not going to work I mean I
669
00:30:43,570 –> 00:30:49,629
could really see okay I’m going to flip
670
00:30:47,799 –> 00:30:50,970
kind of flip the equation here a little
671
00:30:49,629 –> 00:30:54,760
bit
672
00:30:50,970 –> 00:30:56,230
what’s the core problem we’ve gone down
673
00:30:54,760 –> 00:30:57,820
a bunch of rabbit holes here but I think
674
00:30:56,230 –> 00:30:59,500
we need to back up and go back to the
675
00:30:57,820 –> 00:31:03,070
original problem that we’re trying to
676
00:30:59,500 –> 00:31:04,950
solve so augusto question for you based
677
00:31:03,070 –> 00:31:07,900
on everything that you’ve heard so far
678
00:31:04,950 –> 00:31:12,400
has any of this actually addressed the
679
00:31:07,900 –> 00:31:16,320
core problem that you see as a person
680
00:31:12,400 –> 00:31:19,090
who has heard the short answer is no but
681
00:31:16,320 –> 00:31:21,010
this has uncovered something quite
682
00:31:19,090 –> 00:31:24,100
interesting that you just mentioned the
683
00:31:21,010 –> 00:31:28,600
problem has been poorly State so that is
684
00:31:24,100 –> 00:31:32,110
a possibility or the simple answer to
685
00:31:28,600 –> 00:31:35,440
this is a lot more complex than what i
686
00:31:32,110 –> 00:31:37,660
even i was estimating that is exactly
687
00:31:35,440 –> 00:31:42,940
part of the reason I wanted to brought
688
00:31:37,660 –> 00:31:46,300
this topic to the show because changing
689
00:31:42,940 –> 00:31:48,790
on your work conditions internally we
690
00:31:46,300 –> 00:31:52,240
even with and without a promotion they
691
00:31:48,790 –> 00:31:56,220
happen to everybody who is doing the the
692
00:31:52,240 –> 00:31:59,050
system and and I haven’t seen a lot of
693
00:31:56,220 –> 00:32:01,660
discussion on the topic right and trust
694
00:31:59,050 –> 00:32:03,790
me I search for it okay but this
695
00:32:01,660 –> 00:32:06,160
happened to everybody okay you just
696
00:32:03,790 –> 00:32:08,410
start doing this and hey things change
697
00:32:06,160 –> 00:32:14,020
life change work changed travel change
698
00:32:08,410 –> 00:32:17,500
everything else change so but I but as
699
00:32:14,020 –> 00:32:20,470
we have been or I be noticing on this
700
00:32:17,500 –> 00:32:23,170
discussion there is as you said not a
701
00:32:20,470 –> 00:32:28,770
clean cut not a clean answer are not a
702
00:32:23,170 –> 00:32:28,770
straight path that then make me think on
703
00:32:29,340 –> 00:32:36,370
how the level of frustration for the
704
00:32:32,410 –> 00:32:41,410
people who is going through that okay
705
00:32:36,370 –> 00:32:44,800
who not necessarily have the time or
706
00:32:41,410 –> 00:32:47,680
have a span or have the passion to look
707
00:32:44,800 –> 00:32:50,290
and research and and look into the
708
00:32:47,680 –> 00:32:52,150
little details of all this they just
709
00:32:50,290 –> 00:32:54,190
need something that work and will allow
710
00:32:52,150 –> 00:32:56,550
them to move from the place they are
711
00:32:54,190 –> 00:32:59,500
stuck to the place they need to go and
712
00:32:56,550 –> 00:33:01,530
that has been a really really
713
00:32:59,500 –> 00:33:05,610
interesting sleep
714
00:33:01,530 –> 00:33:08,870
I think I could I see a I see a common
715
00:33:05,610 –> 00:33:13,080
problem though the the challenge that
716
00:33:08,870 –> 00:33:17,490
the individual always if the individual
717
00:33:13,080 –> 00:33:21,030
faces is that what was what my habits
718
00:33:17,490 –> 00:33:26,760
make the combination of habits practices
719
00:33:21,030 –> 00:33:29,940
apps tools devices the little system I
720
00:33:26,760 –> 00:33:31,710
have for myself has stopped working
721
00:33:29,940 –> 00:33:33,000
there are symptoms that I’ve are showing
722
00:33:31,710 –> 00:33:35,160
up there and we used to experience
723
00:33:33,000 –> 00:33:38,070
before so let’s let’s say their unwanted
724
00:33:35,160 –> 00:33:41,790
symptoms so everyone gets to that point
725
00:33:38,070 –> 00:33:44,730
at different times of their life some
726
00:33:41,790 –> 00:33:46,230
people react by just cutting down the
727
00:33:44,730 –> 00:33:48,000
number of tasks and saying you know what
728
00:33:46,230 –> 00:33:49,950
I’ve had people tell me I don’t want to
729
00:33:48,000 –> 00:33:51,480
get promoted because I know I can’t
730
00:33:49,950 –> 00:33:54,510
handle it so I just want to stay at the
731
00:33:51,480 –> 00:33:56,250
level I’m at until I retire so they’re
732
00:33:54,510 –> 00:33:58,620
essentially saying I don’t want life to
733
00:33:56,250 –> 00:34:00,330
give me anymore triggers for me to
734
00:33:58,620 –> 00:34:02,880
create anymore tasks and I can currently
735
00:34:00,330 –> 00:34:04,950
manage because I can’t manage the more
736
00:34:02,880 –> 00:34:09,060
than the number that I have but most
737
00:34:04,950 –> 00:34:13,399
people respond by by saying how do I get
738
00:34:09,060 –> 00:34:16,140
rid of these symptoms know that the
739
00:34:13,399 –> 00:34:18,270
short answer is all you need to change
740
00:34:16,140 –> 00:34:20,340
the combination of habits practices
741
00:34:18,270 –> 00:34:22,890
tools and apps that you’re currently
742
00:34:20,340 –> 00:34:26,100
using I need to upgrade them accordingly
743
00:34:22,890 –> 00:34:27,540
so that you can manage more tasks and
744
00:34:26,100 –> 00:34:32,909
thereby get rid of these unwanted
745
00:34:27,540 –> 00:34:37,110
symptoms the tougher question is which
746
00:34:32,909 –> 00:34:39,990
ones do I change and I make sure those
747
00:34:37,110 –> 00:34:42,720
are the right ones for me to change but
748
00:34:39,990 –> 00:34:45,120
the common problem is common even if
749
00:34:42,720 –> 00:34:47,429
you’re whether you’re 12 years old or 50
750
00:34:45,120 –> 00:34:48,360
years old whether you’re a CEO or an
751
00:34:47,429 –> 00:34:51,179
entry-level employee
752
00:34:48,360 –> 00:34:54,690
the question is how do I change these
753
00:34:51,179 –> 00:34:56,310
things that I use so that I can capture
754
00:34:54,690 –> 00:35:00,020
more capacity and get rid of these
755
00:34:56,310 –> 00:35:03,180
symptoms so I can move to the next level
756
00:35:00,020 –> 00:35:05,070
and I’ve focused a lot of times in my
757
00:35:03,180 –> 00:35:08,090
own sort of research and writing in
758
00:35:05,070 –> 00:35:11,490
figuring out what that lateral skills
759
00:35:08,090 –> 00:35:14,160
needs to look like as long as it’s only
760
00:35:11,490 –> 00:35:15,300
about the tasks increasing not about the
761
00:35:14,160 –> 00:35:17,520
emotional pressure
762
00:35:15,300 –> 00:35:20,970
the anxiety or any of that but if it’s
763
00:35:17,520 –> 00:35:23,520
just about tasks increasing then there’s
764
00:35:20,970 –> 00:35:27,030
a ladder that we tend to climb as humans
765
00:35:23,520 –> 00:35:30,270
that think it’s predictable the
766
00:35:27,030 –> 00:35:33,330
challenge is that most people aren’t
767
00:35:30,270 –> 00:35:34,860
aware that they are they have their own
768
00:35:33,330 –> 00:35:37,440
system most people aren’t aware that
769
00:35:34,860 –> 00:35:40,080
it’s made up of habits practices apps
770
00:35:37,440 –> 00:35:42,420
devices tools most people aren’t aware
771
00:35:40,080 –> 00:35:45,300
that there is a ladder and the need to
772
00:35:42,420 –> 00:35:46,740
upgrade most people aren’t aware of any
773
00:35:45,300 –> 00:35:49,110
of those elements and when they’re not
774
00:35:46,740 –> 00:35:50,940
aware then it’s just a matter of chasing
775
00:35:49,110 –> 00:35:53,010
down the latest blog post and that’s
776
00:35:50,940 –> 00:35:56,370
when it gets really difficult for them
777
00:35:53,010 –> 00:36:00,060
that’s sort of my take on it they don’t
778
00:35:56,370 –> 00:36:02,430
see the common problem so let me ask a
779
00:36:00,060 –> 00:36:05,340
question then and I’ll go back to you
780
00:36:02,430 –> 00:36:08,480
Augusto and ask the question this way if
781
00:36:05,340 –> 00:36:11,640
somebody came to you with this problem
782
00:36:08,480 –> 00:36:13,500
how would you recommend to them that
783
00:36:11,640 –> 00:36:15,090
they start to tackle it take yours take
784
00:36:13,500 –> 00:36:17,610
yourself out of your own shoes and look
785
00:36:15,090 –> 00:36:20,160
at it from the outside I don’t know a
786
00:36:17,610 –> 00:36:22,560
gusto system well enough to be able to
787
00:36:20,160 –> 00:36:25,500
tell him but I could suggest ways in
788
00:36:22,560 –> 00:36:28,320
which he could he could sort of measure
789
00:36:25,500 –> 00:36:30,750
the unwanted symptoms the degree to
790
00:36:28,320 –> 00:36:33,630
which he has them and then figure out
791
00:36:30,750 –> 00:36:37,290
where he is on the basically of the
792
00:36:33,630 –> 00:36:39,900
ladder and then make a choice as to what
793
00:36:37,290 –> 00:36:42,600
the next rung on the ladder should be in
794
00:36:39,900 –> 00:36:46,020
terms of the tool
795
00:36:42,600 –> 00:36:47,430
habit practice that combination so I’d
796
00:36:46,020 –> 00:36:49,710
give him some kind of way to self
797
00:36:47,430 –> 00:36:52,140
diagnose himself and then look at the
798
00:36:49,710 –> 00:36:55,590
next level and then choose it or not
799
00:36:52,140 –> 00:36:58,260
that’s that’s how I approach this
800
00:36:55,590 –> 00:37:02,820
problem when it when it was identified
801
00:36:58,260 –> 00:37:06,300
fine then now it’s time that I sit
802
00:37:02,820 –> 00:37:08,910
myself on the patient chair and look at
803
00:37:06,300 –> 00:37:12,690
it that’s was how there was a couple of
804
00:37:08,910 –> 00:37:15,720
things one is what are the new
805
00:37:12,690 –> 00:37:18,930
constraints that you can see because as
806
00:37:15,720 –> 00:37:20,850
much as we all will love to see all the
807
00:37:18,930 –> 00:37:25,380
constraints with clarity that doesn’t
808
00:37:20,850 –> 00:37:27,510
mean it happens so now that you are
809
00:37:25,380 –> 00:37:29,190
going to be there so one is what are the
810
00:37:27,510 –> 00:37:32,549
constraints second
811
00:37:29,190 –> 00:37:34,950
what are the times that has been changed
812
00:37:32,549 –> 00:37:37,589
so for example time in the office versus
813
00:37:34,950 –> 00:37:39,170
time in the car now I’m spending a lot
814
00:37:37,589 –> 00:37:44,099
more time in the car
815
00:37:39,170 –> 00:37:46,740
therefore I need to make sure that if
816
00:37:44,099 –> 00:37:49,859
there is anything that can be done
817
00:37:46,740 –> 00:37:53,160
productively while I am in the car for
818
00:37:49,859 –> 00:37:56,670
example making a phone call I have a
819
00:37:53,160 –> 00:38:00,240
clear and simple and complete access to
820
00:37:56,670 –> 00:38:05,220
be able to get those phone calls or as
821
00:38:00,240 –> 00:38:08,520
many of those as possible that bring you
822
00:38:05,220 –> 00:38:12,059
back even to equipment do I am am i
823
00:38:08,520 –> 00:38:15,230
equip enough to have a good phone
824
00:38:12,059 –> 00:38:17,700
conversation in the car because if you
825
00:38:15,230 –> 00:38:19,920
you know nothing worse than half the
826
00:38:17,700 –> 00:38:21,930
conversation and then the person on the
827
00:38:19,920 –> 00:38:25,020
other side is hearing all the noise and
828
00:38:21,930 –> 00:38:29,849
everything else oh so all that things
829
00:38:25,020 –> 00:38:32,069
come into play third is okay now if you
830
00:38:29,849 –> 00:38:33,299
are now into all these meetings that are
831
00:38:32,069 –> 00:38:35,640
the end of their work and you’re
832
00:38:33,299 –> 00:38:40,069
traveling and spending this amount in
833
00:38:35,640 –> 00:38:43,049
the car how much time you have left
834
00:38:40,069 –> 00:38:45,750
because that is the other point if you
835
00:38:43,049 –> 00:38:49,650
are on the office environment where your
836
00:38:45,750 –> 00:38:52,619
supply is pretty much unlimited and you
837
00:38:49,650 –> 00:38:55,680
are now not well then that is and the
838
00:38:52,619 –> 00:38:59,279
other element is how fast are you
839
00:38:55,680 –> 00:39:02,910
consuming energy and how can you
840
00:38:59,279 –> 00:39:05,369
replenish that in a faster way and what
841
00:39:02,910 –> 00:39:10,910
I mean with that is when you are again
842
00:39:05,369 –> 00:39:15,869
in the office most of the time you can
843
00:39:10,910 –> 00:39:18,510
manage how much energy you are consuming
844
00:39:15,869 –> 00:39:21,029
when you are now meeting to meeting
845
00:39:18,510 –> 00:39:22,890
again in the car drive an hour go to two
846
00:39:21,029 –> 00:39:24,680
meetings to get in the car drive another
847
00:39:22,890 –> 00:39:28,980
hour go to a meeting
848
00:39:24,680 –> 00:39:32,609
it gets more challenging to manage
849
00:39:28,980 –> 00:39:35,730
energy mostly even in the best of your
850
00:39:32,609 –> 00:39:40,109
abilities you are now running almost all
851
00:39:35,730 –> 00:39:42,840
the time that said there are things you
852
00:39:40,109 –> 00:39:46,830
can do to try to slow the
853
00:39:42,840 –> 00:39:49,380
to try to recover energy and and to
854
00:39:46,830 –> 00:39:53,870
continue doing some of the good stuff
855
00:39:49,380 –> 00:39:56,850
you used to do before so at this
856
00:39:53,870 –> 00:39:59,760
particular point for me has been a more
857
00:39:56,850 –> 00:40:01,560
exploratory process than a solution
858
00:39:59,760 –> 00:40:04,110
hence the reason I wanted to make this
859
00:40:01,560 –> 00:40:08,580
call to see if there was a clear answer
860
00:40:04,110 –> 00:40:11,280
or element that I was missing on the
861
00:40:08,580 –> 00:40:16,350
assessment I was doing interestingly
862
00:40:11,280 –> 00:40:20,120
enough it wasn’t it seems that part of
863
00:40:16,350 –> 00:40:24,000
the answer it’s more complicated than
864
00:40:20,120 –> 00:40:25,320
than the simple I seems to show I wanted
865
00:40:24,000 –> 00:40:27,990
to spend a little bit of time here just
866
00:40:25,320 –> 00:40:29,400
doubling back on the part of the
867
00:40:27,990 –> 00:40:33,060
discussion we were talking about with
868
00:40:29,400 –> 00:40:35,880
regard to how to identify when it’s time
869
00:40:33,060 –> 00:40:37,920
to actually look at your system to
870
00:40:35,880 –> 00:40:40,620
identify whether or not you’re creating
871
00:40:37,920 –> 00:40:44,660
the right next actions appropriate to
872
00:40:40,620 –> 00:40:48,210
the new potential contexts of your life
873
00:40:44,660 –> 00:40:49,680
context being not in just GTD context
874
00:40:48,210 –> 00:40:52,020
but really you know what’s happening
875
00:40:49,680 –> 00:40:54,150
what’s the circumstance of life and so
876
00:40:52,020 –> 00:40:57,570
there is in psychology something called
877
00:40:54,150 –> 00:40:58,590
the Holmes ray life stress inventory and
878
00:40:57,570 –> 00:41:02,550
I’ll put a link to this in the show
879
00:40:58,590 –> 00:41:06,720
notes and what it does is it uses 43
880
00:41:02,550 –> 00:41:10,020
different units to identify whether or
881
00:41:06,720 –> 00:41:12,360
not you are having major life stress or
882
00:41:10,020 –> 00:41:14,730
not and it uses a point scale and so and
883
00:41:12,360 –> 00:41:16,170
so forth that that’s really used for
884
00:41:14,730 –> 00:41:18,810
whether or not you’re going to have a
885
00:41:16,170 –> 00:41:22,170
mental or physical health breakdown
886
00:41:18,810 –> 00:41:23,790
right some level of trauma happening in
887
00:41:22,170 –> 00:41:27,360
your life and therefore you need to
888
00:41:23,790 –> 00:41:29,190
address that health risk I like to look
889
00:41:27,360 –> 00:41:31,650
at it from the perspective that those
890
00:41:29,190 –> 00:41:34,860
are opportunities whenever any of those
891
00:41:31,650 –> 00:41:36,750
things happen to assess your system is
892
00:41:34,860 –> 00:41:38,640
my system appropriate to the
893
00:41:36,750 –> 00:41:41,610
circumstances of life right now in life
894
00:41:38,640 –> 00:41:44,370
and work and so I have just 15
895
00:41:41,610 –> 00:41:46,050
categories that cover these things and
896
00:41:44,370 –> 00:41:47,370
I’ll put I’ll put I’ll copy these into
897
00:41:46,050 –> 00:41:48,630
the show notes so you have them but I
898
00:41:47,370 –> 00:41:51,450
just wanted to list them off here really
899
00:41:48,630 –> 00:41:53,460
quickly so people are aware of them the
900
00:41:51,450 –> 00:41:54,930
first one is birth second is death so
901
00:41:53,460 –> 00:41:55,410
when if you have a birth or death in the
902
00:41:54,930 –> 00:41:56,730
family
903
00:41:55,410 –> 00:41:58,500
that’s really a time to
904
00:41:56,730 –> 00:42:00,750
take assessment to whether or not you
905
00:41:58,500 –> 00:42:03,440
have prioritized the right things but
906
00:42:00,750 –> 00:42:06,240
also are you setting up actions
907
00:42:03,440 –> 00:42:07,140
appropriate to the time now you have
908
00:42:06,240 –> 00:42:09,210
available to you
909
00:42:07,140 –> 00:42:12,900
professional transitions and those
910
00:42:09,210 –> 00:42:15,510
include demotion promotion higher being
911
00:42:12,900 –> 00:42:18,710
hired being terminated in some way shape
912
00:42:15,510 –> 00:42:21,720
or form whether involuntary or by choice
913
00:42:18,710 –> 00:42:23,190
changes in in careers that is switching
914
00:42:21,720 –> 00:42:26,880
in transitioning from one career to
915
00:42:23,190 –> 00:42:30,350
another starting school first job moving
916
00:42:26,880 –> 00:42:33,210
home moving offices downsizing homes
917
00:42:30,350 –> 00:42:35,610
starting retirement for some people
918
00:42:33,210 –> 00:42:37,860
marriage or some type of long term
919
00:42:35,610 –> 00:42:40,200
commitment has been engaged and then
920
00:42:37,860 –> 00:42:41,880
anytime of long long term commitment
921
00:42:40,200 –> 00:42:43,410
ends whether that be through divorce
922
00:42:41,880 –> 00:42:45,660
separation or ending a long term
923
00:42:43,410 –> 00:42:48,030
relationship so those are the 15 of them
924
00:42:45,660 –> 00:42:50,430
that really are the the questions I
925
00:42:48,030 –> 00:42:52,650
actually ask clients all the time you
926
00:42:50,430 –> 00:42:56,850
know oh if they’re if they’re
927
00:42:52,650 –> 00:42:59,640
experiencing some level of trauma to say
928
00:42:56,850 –> 00:43:01,230
hey that is trauma to their productivity
929
00:42:59,640 –> 00:43:03,780
system not necessarily mental emotional
930
00:43:01,230 –> 00:43:06,690
trauma but are these major life events
931
00:43:03,780 –> 00:43:11,790
happening and if they are then we need
932
00:43:06,690 –> 00:43:14,940
to reassess the system Frances those are
933
00:43:11,790 –> 00:43:16,310
really cool I’ll share the share my high
934
00:43:14,940 –> 00:43:18,840
cliff there in the show notes as well
935
00:43:16,310 –> 00:43:20,760
for these things by the time the stroke
936
00:43:18,840 –> 00:43:24,360
actually comes out but I could share
937
00:43:20,760 –> 00:43:25,830
some of the others that I looked at how
938
00:43:24,360 –> 00:43:27,930
often do you wish you had more spare
939
00:43:25,830 –> 00:43:32,280
time you know how often does the thought
940
00:43:27,930 –> 00:43:34,560
come up do you run late for meetings and
941
00:43:32,280 –> 00:43:38,340
appointments it’s sort of a basic one
942
00:43:34,560 –> 00:43:39,750
are you meeting your due dates do you
943
00:43:38,340 –> 00:43:41,460
have a good reputation or has your
944
00:43:39,750 –> 00:43:42,990
reputation been suffering lately for
945
00:43:41,460 –> 00:43:45,810
being and delivering on time are you
946
00:43:42,990 –> 00:43:49,140
telling you that you have a problem
947
00:43:45,810 –> 00:43:51,510
I also added on something about space
948
00:43:49,140 –> 00:43:54,590
and seeing my personal space has piles
949
00:43:51,510 –> 00:43:57,960
so I can’t find stuff when I need it is
950
00:43:54,590 –> 00:44:04,290
that a factor or is that has that
951
00:43:57,960 –> 00:44:06,240
increased lately and then that may be
952
00:44:04,290 –> 00:44:07,860
the last last one I’ll sure here is I’m
953
00:44:06,240 –> 00:44:09,339
awakened in the middle of the night by
954
00:44:07,860 –> 00:44:13,089
the thought of a task I
955
00:44:09,339 –> 00:44:15,729
what about a sort of a jumping out of
956
00:44:13,089 –> 00:44:17,979
your sleep in a panic wondering if and
957
00:44:15,729 –> 00:44:19,989
if that happens that’s a probably not a
958
00:44:17,979 –> 00:44:24,460
good idea that a good indicator that
959
00:44:19,989 –> 00:44:28,200
it’s time to look at your your blend of
960
00:44:24,460 –> 00:44:30,969
practices habits tools and apps
961
00:44:28,200 –> 00:44:33,910
remarkably I’ve never been awakened by
962
00:44:30,969 –> 00:44:35,799
my own thoughts in sleep I I’m I’m a
963
00:44:33,910 –> 00:44:38,499
fairly light and sensitive sleeper so
964
00:44:35,799 –> 00:44:41,369
I’m lookin by many different things
965
00:44:38,499 –> 00:44:43,450
maybe they sound or light you know
966
00:44:41,369 –> 00:44:46,539
things happening in my certain
967
00:44:43,450 –> 00:44:56,099
environment but I am a sound sleeper
968
00:44:46,539 –> 00:44:59,289
otherwise you’ve been spared system I
969
00:44:56,099 –> 00:45:03,099
think in a situation yeah in a situation
970
00:44:59,289 –> 00:45:05,469
like this one more information is needed
971
00:45:03,099 –> 00:45:08,619
before decisions start getting made as
972
00:45:05,469 –> 00:45:12,009
to how to make changes so my
973
00:45:08,619 –> 00:45:15,759
recommendation to you Augusto is to take
974
00:45:12,009 –> 00:45:18,579
a deeper dive into what’s not working
975
00:45:15,759 –> 00:45:21,549
what’s failing what’s what is causing
976
00:45:18,579 –> 00:45:23,440
stress Nadja to try to isolate those
977
00:45:21,549 –> 00:45:25,660
items and then tackle those because
978
00:45:23,440 –> 00:45:28,599
right now this sounds like a really big
979
00:45:25,660 –> 00:45:31,210
pizza to eat and you need to get it down
980
00:45:28,599 –> 00:45:33,900
into some smaller slices agree and I I
981
00:45:31,210 –> 00:45:38,259
think there are many people most people
982
00:45:33,900 –> 00:45:41,440
who struggle in the same way especially
983
00:45:38,259 –> 00:45:44,469
people who have a sort of productivity
984
00:45:41,440 –> 00:45:47,170
smart because they can’t understand why
985
00:45:44,469 –> 00:45:50,109
the system they have put together all of
986
00:45:47,170 –> 00:45:52,269
a sudden doesn’t work and it’s not it
987
00:45:50,109 –> 00:45:55,299
often times they try to work their
988
00:45:52,269 –> 00:45:57,549
system even harder or they try to follow
989
00:45:55,299 –> 00:46:00,430
their same approach with more rigor or
990
00:45:57,549 –> 00:46:03,279
more discipline or more energy or more
991
00:46:00,430 –> 00:46:05,920
something and it’s frustrating when that
992
00:46:03,279 –> 00:46:08,140
doesn’t work and they they’re not able
993
00:46:05,920 –> 00:46:10,599
to see the far bigger pickles that it
994
00:46:08,140 –> 00:46:12,549
has to do with capacity and capacity is
995
00:46:10,599 –> 00:46:15,099
no respecter of the system that you use
996
00:46:12,549 –> 00:46:17,049
at some point we all want the capacity
997
00:46:15,099 –> 00:46:19,900
just because we keep creating more tasks
998
00:46:17,049 –> 00:46:22,540
so it’s almost like an inevitable must
999
00:46:19,900 –> 00:46:25,120
happen in the life of all of us
1000
00:46:22,540 –> 00:46:27,790
question is where can they find the
1001
00:46:25,120 –> 00:46:31,180
targeted support that goes beyond the
1002
00:46:27,790 –> 00:46:32,980
top 10 list or here read this book and I
1003
00:46:31,180 –> 00:46:35,320
think it the safe diagnosis is a
1004
00:46:32,980 –> 00:46:39,130
self-evaluation the critical part of
1005
00:46:35,320 –> 00:46:41,770
that well I for one know I don’t have a
1006
00:46:39,130 –> 00:46:44,020
definite answer to the problem but I’m
1007
00:46:41,770 –> 00:46:47,220
really happy of the discussion because
1008
00:46:44,020 –> 00:46:51,120
one of the things that has been
1009
00:46:47,220 –> 00:46:54,070
frustrating to a point is how many
1010
00:46:51,120 –> 00:46:56,830
directions this problem seems to turn
1011
00:46:54,070 –> 00:46:59,020
and how many heads it shows you know in
1012
00:46:56,830 –> 00:47:01,090
a way it’s like fighting with a Hydra
1013
00:46:59,020 –> 00:47:03,040
you know just cut two heads it’s a great
1014
00:47:01,090 –> 00:47:05,950
I’m moving forward suddenly and you now
1015
00:47:03,040 –> 00:47:08,410
have four heads in front of you like
1016
00:47:05,950 –> 00:47:11,590
groups if this is not going at the
1017
00:47:08,410 –> 00:47:13,780
direction I was planning but the
1018
00:47:11,590 –> 00:47:17,260
discussion shows that it’s not
1019
00:47:13,780 –> 00:47:21,040
necessarily a single cut answer and it
1020
00:47:17,260 –> 00:47:24,030
may require even going to a more basic
1021
00:47:21,040 –> 00:47:26,770
level than what I originally thought
1022
00:47:24,030 –> 00:47:29,380
well gentlemen this brings us to the end
1023
00:47:26,770 –> 00:47:31,180
of this episode of productivity cast the
1024
00:47:29,380 –> 00:47:32,620
weekly show about all things personal
1025
00:47:31,180 –> 00:47:35,110
productivity I want to thank you all for
1026
00:47:32,620 –> 00:47:37,690
always joining us here for this
1027
00:47:35,110 –> 00:47:40,510
productivity cast if you are listeners
1028
00:47:37,690 –> 00:47:43,180
have questions or comments please go to
1029
00:47:40,510 –> 00:47:45,520
productivity cast net forward slash
1030
00:47:43,180 –> 00:47:47,950
contact and leave us a message you can
1031
00:47:45,520 –> 00:47:51,550
record an audio message and potentially
1032
00:47:47,950 –> 00:47:54,400
be here on the show with us and/or write
1033
00:47:51,550 –> 00:47:55,990
a message and hit submit and we will try
1034
00:47:54,400 –> 00:47:59,710
to answer your question either here on
1035
00:47:55,990 –> 00:48:01,240
air or in and via messaging back and
1036
00:47:59,710 –> 00:48:03,370
forth so feel free to go to practically
1037
00:48:01,240 –> 00:48:06,070
cast net forward slash contact and let
1038
00:48:03,370 –> 00:48:07,960
us know also please feel free to rate us
1039
00:48:06,070 –> 00:48:10,090
on iTunes or your favorite podcast
1040
00:48:07,960 –> 00:48:12,850
directory wherever you access
1041
00:48:10,090 –> 00:48:15,790
productivity cast please do rate us that
1042
00:48:12,850 –> 00:48:18,070
helps to broaden our reach and therefore
1043
00:48:15,790 –> 00:48:21,550
expand the productivity cast community
1044
00:48:18,070 –> 00:48:24,430
and we want to spread this far and wide
1045
00:48:21,550 –> 00:48:26,530
and bring more people to it so please do
1046
00:48:24,430 –> 00:48:28,270
that and as well you can feel free to
1047
00:48:26,530 –> 00:48:30,010
share your episode your favorite episode
1048
00:48:28,270 –> 00:48:32,050
of productivity casts so far feel free
1049
00:48:30,010 –> 00:48:34,480
to share that on social media and I’ll
1050
00:48:32,050 –> 00:48:35,770
let us know why that episode meant as
1051
00:48:34,480 –> 00:48:36,140
much as it did to you that would be
1052
00:48:35,770 –> 00:48:38,000
really
1053
00:48:36,140 –> 00:48:40,850
for us to know we really appreciate and
1054
00:48:38,000 –> 00:48:43,310
enjoy the feedback finally thanks to
1055
00:48:40,850 –> 00:48:45,410
Augusto panade Frances Wade and art
1056
00:48:43,310 –> 00:48:47,420
Galax welcome thank you gentlemen for
1057
00:48:45,410 –> 00:48:51,470
being on productivity cast with me today
1058
00:48:47,420 –> 00:48:53,330
always a pleasure thank you welcome
1059
00:48:51,470 –> 00:48:55,370
here’s your productive life everybody
1060
00:48:53,330 –> 00:48:57,680
take care that’s it for this
1061
00:48:55,370 –> 00:49:00,110
productivity cast the weekly show about
1062
00:48:57,680 –> 00:49:02,150
all things productivity with your hosts
1063
00:49:00,110 –> 00:49:06,310
ray Sydney Smith and Augusto pan out
1064
00:49:02,150 –> 00:49:06,310
with Francis Wade and art Galax