Keeping Things Whole

Perhaps my favorite poem is rather sad.  It's called "Keeping Things Whole" by Mark Strand.  I read it in his book Selected Poems.

Keeping Things Whole


In a field
I am the absence
of field.
This is
always the case.
Wherever I am
I am what is missing.


When I walk
I part the air
and always
the air moves in
to fill the spaces
where my body's been.


We all have reasons
for moving.
I move
to keep things whole.


My interpretation of this is that the author is expressing the feeling that everything is natural and whole and connected EXCEPT FOR HIM.  He feels like the thing that is different.  In a field, he is "the absence of field"--the thing that doesn't belong, the stranger, the outsider.

He walks and he "parts the air".  As he moves, the air "moves in to fill the spaces" where his body has been.  As if nature were disturbed by his invasion.

He moves "to keep things whole" as if the "wholeness" has been disturbed by his presence and he must keep moving to allow the wholeness to return.

 The feeling of the poem to me is very sad, very alienated, but I think it perfectly describes how many of us often feel.  We feel that nature is "out there" and that we are "in here" in our brains, our solitary awareness.  We feel cut off, as if, in a field, we are "the absence of field".

This feeling that we are not part of the "whole" is based on an illusion.  Because we act on the world, we imagine that we are separate from it.  Because we can say "I", we assume that this 
"I" is a totally separate being.  But it is not.  "I" am as much a part of the field as the grass, the trees, the sun, and the wind.  I like to meditate because if forces me to stop, look, and listen.  And when I see things as they are, I realize that I'm not the "absence of field".  I am the field.

So am I Getting Things Done?

Time to reflect:  How am I doing?  Am I implementing the methods of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity?  And is it working for me?

I think I understand the system better than the first time I tried it years ago, and I'm following its guidelines more closely.  I'm not getting my inbox to zero yet, but it's been under 60 for 4 weeks, and it's often flirted with 20.  This compares to my normal 300-400 messages.  I don't feel buried anymore.  I still want to get to 0 every few days, as the book recommends, but I've had to balance this with my other goals.

My home "inbox"--which tends to be filled with papers, manuals, bills, things to file, and things that I need to repair or find a place to store--is near zero most of the time.  This is a huge relief and saves me time when Chris asks me to find something that--in the past--would have been buried among 100 other papers.

Chris has noticed a change in how much I get done at home.  It seems that we're more caught up than we used to be, and more able to take on new projects and challenges.

I think people at work have noticed.  I think they're often surprised at the amount of stuff I'm producing.

I'm feeling more in control.  I'm still behind on some things, but I'm sensing that people are cutting me some slack because they're seeing how much I'm getting done.

Unlike the last time I read the book, I'm spending more time keeping my lists up to date.  I trust them more.  They seem to reflect what I really need to get done.

I'm going to stop blogging about this for a while, but I'm going to keep working at it.  I find that now, when I meditate, I'm better able to concentrate without having my mind drift to all the stuff I've got to do.  I've got a way to go with getting my inbox down, with capturing all my goals and dreams and those of my family, with protecting 2 hours per weeks to review and renew my plans.  But I feel I'm on my way.

Why Getting Things Done is complicated

I wrote yesterday about how much discipline it takes to do all elements of the Getting Things Done system.  In my gut, I feel that there is no way around this:  to get the results, you have to invest the time in planning, executing, and revising plans.  There are no short cuts.  And still this may be the best system out there.  But why is it complex?

I read something today from David Allen's website that answers the question well:

There's an interesting phenomenon which was explained to me once as a key cybernetic principle: in order to create simplicity amidst complexity, your system must be equally complex.

It's not the fault of "Getting Things Done".  The complexity of the time management system comes from the complexity of modern life:  the constant changes in demands, the multiple responsibilities we each have, the overwhelming number of commitments.  The system to manage these commitments has to match the complexity of the commitments.  The "To Do Lists" are long and detailed and almost overwhelming because the commitments we make are long and detailed and overwhelming.  If you don't like this complexity, shed some commitments!  Go after the simple life!  Not a bad idea, really.  But if you're going to be a parent and a professional with a demanding career, the commitments are going to be complex.  Any system you use that isn't equally complex just doesn't rise up to the challenge.

Review and Renew

The first time I tried the techniques in Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.  I had some gains, but it wasn't the revolutionary change that other people say they experience.  I don't blame the book.  The techniques require about as much discipline as a strict diet, an exercise program, and giving up smoking, drinking, and all sexual thoughts.


OK.  That's a bit of an exaggeration.  But the techniques don't come easy.  As even the author admits, we aren't born thinking this way.  Humans aren't born with habitual thinking patterns that enable us to efficiently juggle multiple complex projects.  We're not born with pen and paper for making lists, let alone laptops with time management software.  The techniques described in this book are tough habits to develop.


But that's just the way it is.  If you don't make the lists, your brain doesn't quit trying "not to forget what I gotta do later".  If you don't regularly review those lists and get them up to date, they get stale within days.  They no longer meet your needs.  They don't reflect the life as it is now.  It may take time to do all this, time that I sometimes can't find, but I have no choice if I want all the benefits of the system.


One of those things I need to do more of to be successful this time is the "weekly review".  This is the weekly review, typically requiring 2 hours, of all to do lists and projects for work, home, traveling, etc.  It involves clearing the inbox of all loose notes, emptying the e-mail inbox down to zero by identifying and documenting every task implied by every e-mail or trashing the e-mail or filing it or--if you're really fed up with all your e-mails-burning it!   (I'm kidding).  There is a lot more to it than I'm describing here.  You have to read the book to get it all.  But trust me, it is a very thorough process, it requires effort and time, but it is worth it.  I don't do it every week yet, even though I know I should.  But when I have done it, it has felt refreshing.  Only at these times do my plans feel perfectly current, accurate, and relevant.  Only at these times do I fully trust my "To Do List" and feel motivated to act on it without hesitation.

Teaching Teenagers to Get Things Done

During "Character Camp" this summer, we taught our 12 and 14 year old boys life lessons from the book "tThe 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens.  Three of the 7 habits relate to getting thing done:

• Begin with the End in Mind
• Be Proactive
• Put First Things First

To help with all three of these, I've started to teach them one of the techniques from the book whose methods ("GTD") I'm adopting for myself, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.  They don't need to apply all the techniques in the book.  I just want to focus on the one time management habit that will help them the most, both now and for the rest of their lives.

I'm helping them start lists of their short term goals and the very next 1-2 steps they can take to reach those goals.  As I described in my last blog, it might take 10 steps to achieve a goal.  But GTD suggests you focus your attention on the 1 or 2 that you need to take first.  Once my kids acquire this habit, I can imagine them continuing through life, in college, at their jobs, starting their families, maintaining their homes, all with a habit of documenting his goals and the immediate, concrete next steps that move them to those goals.  I see them conquering procrastination because it is second nature to them to define the next immediate task and then do it quickly.  I picture the rewards they'll receive, personally and professionally, for habitual, swift execution.

Now back to reality:  here and now I'm faced with kids who just started back to school last week, who habitually slept until 10am all summer, who will watch TV 24 hours a day if you let them.  How to get started with this new change?

I started by picking the system in which to document their lists.  Should it be in a notebook or planner?  Not going to work.  My kids would be happy if all the pens, pencils, and paper in the world were destroyed in an inferno.  It has to be something in a computer.

I tried and failed to convince them to use Outlook, then Excel.  Then it hit me:  my 14 year old uses "Google Docs" to store information he uses to write his brilliant football blog http://player-rater.blogspot.com/.   I worked with him to create a simple 2 column spreadsheet:  The first column is "Goals", and the second column is "Next Steps".

The first project we worked with was "Sleep Better".  He had major problems sleeping all summer.  We Googled "tips for insomnia" and ended up listed about 20 things he could begin to do immediately, that same day.  In most cases, you would only want to list 1-3 next steps, but in this case, they could ALL be done immediately and he was committed to do them all.  It's only been a few days, but he's been sleeping like a baby.  Now we have to start to build up the list of goals and actions, and I have to do this with my other son as well.

Perfect planning

One of my favorite concepts from David Allen's books, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity and Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life is the idea of focusing on your "Projects" and your "Next Action(s)" for those projects.  I feel that this is the key to planning without overplanning.

My most common mistake is to act ("Next Action") without clearly articulating the goal I'm trying to achieve ("Project").  I know a lot of people who are like me in this tendency.  We act, often with admirable creativity, energy, and persistence.  But nobody knows where we're going.  We have a vague sense of what we want to see happen.  But we don't explain it, so nobody wants to join us in our journey.  We've tended to aggravate those who we work with and for who have the opposite tendency:  they don't take detailed, specific actions, but they know how to set goals, communicate them, and hold people accountable to meet those goals.  I guess I'm saying I'm a geek? :)

Those we aggravate make just as important a mistake.  By focusing on outcomes ("Projects") without penetrating the how ("Next Actions"), they can get frustrated because they know what they want but don't know how to get there.

Following Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) system drives guys like me to document clearly the outcome I'm trying to achieve with each of those actions I'm taking.  It drives guys like THEM (yes, I said that with a hint of disdain) to penetrate the details of HOW goals can be achieved.

Specifically, Allen defines "Project" in a broad and unique way:  a "project" is any goal or outcome you are trying to achieve in the next 12 months that is going to require multiple, specific actions.  By this definition, I currently have 65 "Projects" on my "Projects List" related to work or personal life, but I expect to have well over 100 or even 200 when I finish documenting all the goals that are either in the front of or the back of my mind.

For each of these goals, one is to define one or more "Next Actions":  specific, immediate, ASAP next steps.  One's documentation of these events is supposed to be so concrete and well defined that you could imagine someone videotaping your "Next Actions".

One of Allen's greatest insights, in my opinion, is his recommendation to focus only on the "Next Actions".  A given project might require 20 actions to complete the project.  But Allen tells you to focus only on the 1, 2, 3, or 4 "Next Actions".  Act, assess the results, then pick your next set of "Next Actions" for that project.  This emphasis on "Next Action" has two main advantages that I can think of:

1. It acknowledges the reality that the best choice for "Next Action" depends on the results of your "Last Action".  We never have all the information at the start.  We act.  We learn.  We use our new knowledge to pick our next action.  When I've tried, instead, to map out ALL the actions required to achieve a complex goal using tools such as Microsoft Project, I've usually felt my time was wasted because--as soon as I started following the plan--the actions themselves caused me to learn things that showed all the plans I had carefully documented had to be thrown out the window.  Better to focus instead on the actions that, based on what I know NOW, must be done ASAP.
2. It is a weapon against procrastination.  It is easy to be paralyzed in the face of a 50 step project.  But a person can proceed with confidence if they are focused on a couple of clear immediate next actions that will keep the project moving and give you new insights with which to select the NEXT couple of actions.

So far, this approach to planning seems to be helping me at work, and I hope it will help me articulate to others where I'm trying to lead them (what outcomes or "projects") so that they more readily follow my lead.

Why add even more to an overflowing inbox?

In hindsight, my last blog never explained why the Getting Things Done work flow starts with collecting MORE stuff to put in your inbox.  This "capturing" and "collecting" process has often felt like I'm shoveling dirt on myself when I already feel buried.  But I think I know why it works out well in the long run.  The stuff you want to capture is stuff that is bugging you anyway.  As David Allen repeats over and over in his books, "Pay attention to what has your attention".  I'm not really piling on new stuff.  This stuff is already weighing me down, dragging on my consciousness.  It's the stereo receiver I bought at a yard sale that I've been meaning to hook up, and it annoys me every time I see it still laying on the floor.  It's all the pretty silver pitchers and platters in the dining room that should have been polished a month ago.  It's the garbage on the floor of my car and Chris's car.  The point of "capturing" is to place reminders of all the things that I need to address in a central inbox so that I'm in a better position to review them later and figure out exactly what I'm going to do and when.

First, you ADD to the To Do List

Part of the challenge of the "Getting Things Done" (GTD) approach is that you start by ADDING to the list of what you have to do.  It feels counterintuitive.  If, like me, you are motivated to learn GTD because you feel overwhelmed with your obligations, why would you want to add new stuff to the list?

The GTD system describes the "five stages of mastering workflow".  The first of these is the one that, to me, initially makes me feel MORE overwhelmed.  I'm giving it a shot anyway, trusting that it will lead to a greater feeling of control once I get it all done.  Here are the stages:

1. Collect:  Accumulate into one or more inboxes ALL the items that are grabbing your attention:  pieces of mail, things that you might want to do something about.  You brainstorm in various ways to figure out all the things you need to think about in your home, your projects, things related to your goals, and to the roles you play in life (homeowner, parent, spouse).
2. Process:  Decide what all this stuff means to you.  For each item, do you file it for reference?  Is it something you don't need after all and can throw away?  Is it something you MIGHT want to do something about, but aren't ready to commit?  Or is it something you need to do ASAP and--if so--clarify what outcome you are trying to achieve and exactly what is the next step that will move you toward this outcome.
3. Organize:  In this step, you organize the things you just clarified:  filing things you want to use as reference, archiving e-mails, moving action items into separate "To Do" lists for Home, Work, Errands and other "contexts".  By "context", Allen means that you organize tasks by the setting in which you can  DO the tasks.  Thus, when you are looking at the "Home" To Do List, you are not needlessly distracted by the list of things you can only do at "Work" or when "Running Errands".
4. Review:  Every week, review your action plans, project lists, and goals to update them so that they are more likely to lead you to success.
5. Do:  Each day, review the lists of immediate action steps, update them briefly, and then act.  Allen has a variety of tips for picking what tasks you do at what times.

This is all logical, but that first step is hard for me.  My Task Lists are already so long, my inboxes are usually so full, that the last thing I want to do is run around finding more things to dump into these inboxes.  Today was one of those days when I had collected a ton of stuff in my inbox at work and found it painful to try to process it all.  But I'm still going at it.

I've had one big success lately.  I've been doing the "Processing" step so often with my e-mails that I've managed to cut the number of messages steadily from over 400 a few weeks ago to less than 25 the last few days.  I hope to see zero soon.

If Buddha was a Businessman

If Buddha was alive today, if he had a demanding job in the business world, if he had a family and a house to take care of, if he had dozens of projects and goals at work and at home, could he still gain enlightenment?  Could he find a way to clear his head so completely from all his obligations that he could tune into this moment and achieve Nirvana?

He would be meditating under a tree, tuning into his breath, trying to find the key by which human beings could achieve lasting peace and serenity--looking for the answer, for enlightenment.  Would he have found the answer if he knew he had three projects that were woefully over due and over budget, and he had not yet figured out how to get them under control?

This is the spiritual side of a time management system such as David Allen's "Getting Things Done".  All those goals, project lists, action plans, and schedule events go into a paper or electronic system outside of your brain.  If you review that information often enough to keep it current and up to date, and if you act based on your system to get things done and move towards your goals, your mind learns to trust that the information is safe "out there", in your system, outside of your mind.  Your mind realizes it doesn't need to expend energy trying to remember these commitments.

So the answer is, yes, the Buddha could have been a business man and still could have found enlightenment in deep, focused meditation.  But only if he had a good planner and calendar.