Peake Productivity

In the last few weeks, I've received countless questions from friends and clients about my opinion of the iPhone as a "GTD-friendly" productivity gadget. My answer might sound like a cop-out: "use it if it works for you."

But ultimately how you choose your essential portable productivity tool is a personal choice based on preferences, your work style and what your job requires (portability, accessibility, focus time, research capabilities, etc.).

I've compiled a few remarks on the iPhone for the consideration of the productivity-conscious consumer:

Pros

• Liking your tool automatically increases the probability that you will use it, take it with you everywhere, and look at your lists with a little less resistance.
  
• Many options = flexibility. Some people will download custom applications to the phone, others will use iCal to manage their to do's and synchronize with their significant other's calendar.
  
• All in one place - multiple applications in one place means you waste less time switching between gadgets. This was the concept behind the the original line of smartphones. And ladies know, one can never underestimate the value of less clunky objects in her purse.

Possible Cons

• Are you seeing your lists of things to-do in the most effective format possible? Can you categorize based on the context in which you will do the next action step? When you test drive an iPhone, be mindful that many smartphones (some BlackBerry's included) don't offer the ability to see categories easily. Instead tasks appear in a long "flat" list - not very useful when you only want to see your Errands or Calls quickly.
  
• Distractions. If we were already complaining about information overload because of our laptops, now you have countless hours of YouTube videos in the palm of your hand - yikes!
  
• Paper vs. Digital - a lot of people easily overlook whether their tendency is towards a kinesthetically-pleasing paper experience or towards a faster digital productivity experience. Consider in your evaluation whether you are a) proficient with new technology tools (how easily did you adopt a laptop scroll pad instead of a mouse?) and b) your natural inclination towards either a pen or a keyboard.

I'll leave you with these clever comments from the GTD master himself about the iPhone and the difference between having a cool tool and having the discipline to fully use the system.

[Reposted from BusinessWeek]

Cool Tech -- A Cautionary Tale
Posted by: David Allen on July 24

I was just talking with a friend who was boasting about all the nifty features of his new iPhone, especially all the capabilities it now has to collect data and input. Taking pictures of business cards that can then be text-searched, recording notes, etc. Seemed, indeed, like the result of lots of creative thinking and design. Then I asked him how often he cleaned up all that exciting new input – i.e. emptied his virtual “in-basket” the phone had assisted him in generating. He sheepishly admitted that was a major problem.

This is indicative of the potentially frustrating side of all the new technology. Lots of new and exotic ways to capture, slice, search, and retrieve data. But no matter how slick the gear, nothing has yet been able to replace the personal and individual executive function of actually deciding what, exactly, all that input means. What action, if any, do I need to take about that interaction that produced the business card I can now take a picture of? How critical is that data, for what purpose(s), now or later on? Until the very specific and discrete meaning of data is determined, there is no criterion for how to organize it.

The cool tech is cool, to be sure - but only if you have installed the best practices of processing the exploding plethora of miscellany it fosters. When they come up with an iBrain you can plug into your iPhone, so you actually don’t even have to think about the contents it collects any more – wow! Of course then you’ll have to choose whether you want the Fast-Track-Executive, Laid-Back-Retiree, or Liberal-Arts-Student version of the premier Decision-Support package add-on (for a nominal additional fee).

If you’re betting on the latest feature-laden nifty small and sexy tool to relieve the pressure of life and work, be careful. The weekend it will require to learn how to use it will be a mere drop in the bucket compared with the extra time you’ll need to wade through the additional stuff it may foster.

A lot of my readers seem to be enjoying Beauty Secrets from Audrey Hepburn. Here's another piece of beauty education that I think every thirteen year-old girl should watch.

I have a dream that we will one day live in a world where we will not be judged.

Loving Each Day
"You will be happy when you learn to center yourself in your own divine love, love that flows out to all God's creatures.

So stand up in the beingness of your own love, and let that love be your connection to all things. When you can enter your loving, your spiritual center, it doesn't much matter what the world presents to you. You have the inner resources to create your own happiness and fulfillment."

- John-Roger (From: Living Love from the Spiritual Heart, p. 25-26)
Watch today's Moment of Peace.

What if you already have all the inner resources necessary to effectively resolve the challenges in your life? Suspend your "yeah but"s for a moment. Imagine what your life would be like if you chose to create and promote all of the experiences you want, starting now? Begin it today with one small step.

Ever heard the old adage "to kill two birds with one stone"? It's a common belief that the more we do and the faster we do it, the better. In work settings people often turn to multitasking in hopes that it will give them more time to do the things that are important to them. But despite good intentions, psychological studies reveal that attempting to switch between complex tasks actually slows us down. Clarifying next action steps accelerates the process by increasing focus. Multitasking can be a great distraction when you have resistance or unidentified fears about a goal. So much killing birds.

A different perspective is that we should manage our activities according to the limited time we have. There are only 24 hours in a day... what do you want to do with them? If this is true, then the only way to have more time for the things you love is to give up the things you don't. Enter the concept of identifying your Great Work versus Good Work. This simple can assist in aligning with your natural priorities, but it still puts "doing" in the center of the picture.

Despite countless attempts to attain relaxed focus, most people are walking around with a sense that they should be doing more. Ironically, holding onto "shoulds" and attempting to multitask are productivity killers. "Shoulds" don't work because our basic selves rebel against coercion. And trying to do more than one thing keeps us from being fully present and halts creativity. The best thing we can do is forgive our shoulds and come present. A wise and trusted friend offered me the following suggestion, especially for ambitious people: "Do less. Be more."

Some great reflections on doing and being from Blog of a Yogini:

And so the rub. I am a "doer". Organizing and coming together and seeing projects through is a skill of mine. And I enjoy the praise connected to getting things done. But when you are trying to "get stuff done," its easy to miss out on what is really happening.

A teacher of mine, Amit Goswami, refers to the "do-be-do-be-do-be" rhythm. As human beings, we are constantly in the tension between being and doing. And within that tension, our life happens.

This touches on another culturally accepted belief that doing is the best way to get what we want. (Wish we could ask the authors of Manifest Destiny if it worked out for them.) But what is it that we really want from the world? Success, money, recognition, happiness, peace... the list goes on. Ultimately all of these things can be reduced down to one thing: love.

A reminder that love is not something to seek out in the world. It exists inside of you right now. In this moment, whatever you think you should be doing, take a moment to be aware of what is present every day, all the time, in each moment. Pausing in this way can help us remember the simple truths in life. But doing more or less, slower or faster, is neither right nor wrong. It comes back to "Do less, Be more," which might be amended to say, "Be more, whatever you do."



Stay tuned for more on doing, resting, and la siesta.