Get Everything Done

Check out this review by Steve Pavlina on the new book by Michael Linenberger entitled "Master your Workday Now!". It sounds like there are some interesting similarities in approaches here with DWM. I have ordered the book and it is on its way.

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2010/03/master-your-workday-now/

-David

Aieeeeeeee. At some point you are going to realize that you have seen EVERY permutation on Time Management. Techniques LOL ;-)

David: You get the feeling that you actually have to read the book to get an idea of what his system is all about. But with Mark's system, Pavlina's review would be no longer than a couple of paragraphs before you get the full picture.

Would you agree?

The book looks very interesting; close to how I've been thinking lately (I think). Mark's system you can get started in a couple paragraphs, but better understanding takes some pages, and the full picture is only had by practice.

Hi JD,

Yes, I think Mark's system is so simple, yet so elegant. Hard to beat, to say the least. I am just intrigued because of the seeming similarity of things in the future according to the book review.

Hi Mike -- maybe I have seen all that there is, but I still want to see what Michael Linenberger has to say. I think it will be quite interesting based on Steve Pavlina's review.

-David

I used Linenberger's previous book for quite a while, it was called Total Workday Control. My own copy has lots of pencil remarks and yellow highlighting.

It was quite good, but after a while I had the feeling of overhead and stopped using it, ot was getting too structured for me, a bit like GTD, which is why I've stayed with AF and now DWM.

I did make Michael L aware of AF1 which he said fitted in with some of his current thoughts then. It would be interesting if David or someone can highlight any AF influence.

<<Aieeeeeeee. At some point you are going to realize that you have seen EVERY permutation on Time Management. Techniques LOL ;-) >>

I always think that I have seen every permutation. And then Mark comes out with something new, like DWM, and it helps me. That said, I just can't seem to get excited about Linenberger's new book.

Do you think Pavlina bought his copy of the book? Aren't there new rules about disclosing whether you were given a a review copy? Do you think the 5 reviewers on Amazon bought their copies?

It all smacks of too much hype, to me.

I am, nonetheless, curious. I am looking forward to David's assessment of Linenber inghts, or lack thereof.

Without reading the book, the write up makes it soundslike a 3-list version of DWM - there's one list for 'over 15days (over the horizon)' one list for critical (today's must-do) and 20 items for "do in the next in 2 weeks (opportunity now)" and the lists are recreated every day(?)

Hi moises, Lillian, and others,

All good points -- I will provide my review of the book/system after I have read it -- I promise. I don't know whether or not Steve Pavlina bought his book or not, but he is a very well-respected person. I don't think his opinions were "bought" per se. But that is just my gut feeling.

-David

I am reading this book now, having read Linenberger's previous works. I find it a very difficult read, mostly because I cringe at reading books written by people who lecture for a living (i.e. the writing often comes across as dictation). I have this same problem with reading GTD.

Linenberger is essentially rehashing Total Workday Control, but trying to broaden its appeal by showing how it can be implemented on paper, instead of being an Outlook-only system. He's trying to compete with GTD and 7 Habits as a top-to-bottom (really bottom-to-top) task/goal/vision system.

Linenberger does refer to Mark Forster in the book, as well as his own interpretation of "Do It Tomorrow":

<<British author Mark Forster wrote a book about this called Do It Tomorrow, in which he describes what he calls the Reactive Mind. The Reactive Mind is part of the mental model we all hold about currrent events. The Reactive Mind tends to overreact and assign unwarranted levels of importance to things merely because they are in front of the mind now. The Reactive Mind tends to want to act now.

Forster's solution to the Reactive Mind is to "do it tomorrow," and thus the title of his book. He says we should never do a task the moment that it appears to us, but rather put it on a list for tomorrow and reconsider it then. His observation is that most tasks do not need to be done once they're rethought the next day.

While I cannot subscribe 100 percent to this theory, I do support it in general...>>

I have not finished the book yet, but overall, I've usually enjoyed his work. You can find more info here: http://www.michaellinenberger.com/AboutMYWDN.html or http://masteryourworkday.com/.

Sounds a bit like what I do already.

It seems any bottom level TM needs to cover 2 areas:

Items that should be done today
Items that should be done in general

AF and DWM cover both of these with one list.
DIT plans out todays items yesterday

<< Steve Pavlina>>

He sounded quite (mentally) ill when posting his atheist rant. Or perhaps he was shooting for increased traffic. Feh, he irks me.

I saw the new book by Linenberger today at a bookstore. It has a lot of made-up jargon and burdensome structure, and I decided not to buy it.

I find almost everything by Pavlina that I have read off-putting, and I do not consider any endorsement by him a plus.

Ordered the book from Chapters.ca. This provided me with an order code which I entered on Linenenberger's site, providing me with templates and review pages of the book.

I do like the S. Covey approach to goal setting & GTD'ish review that is missing in Mark's work.

I haven't read one of these in a while. 90% chance it'll be returned, but you never know.

It sounds really good. Thanks for posting it David!

Avrum - There is nothing incompatible between Mark's systems and Covey's method of goal setting or GTD's review. Just add to your AF/DIT/DWM task list: "Think about goals a la Covey" and "Review all tasks and projects a la GTD". Make them recurring tasks.

Seraphim -

I really like Mark. More than that, I respect his altruism and humility - always trying to deliver a more effective TM system. However he's dry. I tried, but I couldn't make it through DIT. Too many of the examples - which reflect the system - tasted like melba toast (without butter or cream cheese).

Moreover, I've grown weary of reading through my lists (AF to DWM), as if every task/project MIGHT jump out at me. In practice, I've abandoned two things:

1) dating new tasks w/ 31 due dates which need to be done less than 31 days
2) reading through the list over and over again

Again, the above rules do feel too bureaucratic for my liking - something that is echoed in many of the examples in DIT.

Perhaps Linenberger's book combines the best of 7 Habits & DWM. Perhaps not. I'll report back.

Avrum,

Yeah, Mark is dry (I just read GED) but then he does not do a lot of preaching. (Covey seems to want us all to be Mormons and Allen ... ummm, some kind of woo-woo cult? LOL ;-) He has some extraneous religious quotes, here and there, but all in all he sticks to business. His books are notably shorter because of this. For me, that is welcome.

You've abandoned reading the list, Avrum?! How does that work?

<< You've abandoned reading the list, Avrum?! How does that work? >>

Let me clarify. I do read the list. However I don't read the list only to get to the task/project that I want to do right now. The pressure of dismissal a la DWM takes care of any tasks/projects that have been neglected.

<<Covey seems to want us all to be Mormons>>

Huh? In vague terms he refers to spirituality/God, but that's about it. If I were an atheist, perhaps I'd find this jarring.

Avrum,

It goes far deeper. He goes on and on about one's "Roles" in life. Eeech.

<<It goes far deeper. He goes on and on about one's "Roles" in life. Eeech. >>

And?

Really....what is wrong with having different roles in one's life?

-David

Would never want to put words in his mouth, but Mike has talked about the roles thing here:

http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/700036#post702289

FWIW David, I did read David Allen's "Making It All Work" on the plane last week, and it was a pretty decent read after the first couple of chapters. I'm not doing GTD, but have adopted one technique from the book - that's all I ask of most books, just one valuable idea to try on for size. Look forward to hearing what you think about Lindenberger's book.

Hi Jaqueline,

Thanks for sharing with me the link. Now I understand the response about roles in one's life.

Yes, I think David Allen's book "Making it All Work" is pretty good. While not doing strict GTD either, there are some things there that I do. As for Linenberger, his book on how to setup Outlook is quite good. I am looking forward to reading his new book.

Jacqueline, I do hope you are well. Take care.

-David

<<that's all I ask of most books, just one valuable idea to try on for size.>>

Jacqueline - very well put.

Because he was mentioned:
David Allen = MSIA = Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness = "John-Roger" = Roger Delano Hinkins.
Too dubious for me to subscribe to. Even worse than the Mormons' "Deseret School of Time Management".

A.

Jacqueline:
<<that's all I ask of most books, just one valuable idea to try on for size>>


I am glad you found something salvageable from Making It All Work. Unfortunately, I got nothing from it. Nor did I get a thing from Allen's Ready For Anything.

On the other hand, I owe Allen an enormous debt of gratitude for his GTD book. It's the only system that I was able to work with for many years. It qualitatively and permanently transformed my approach to work. I stayed with it until I read about the DIT book on the GTD forum on Allen's website.

GTD worked for me, after I had failed with Covey and Lakein. And the reason that GTD worked was that it advocated a bottom-first approach. That is, it didn't ask me to start by stating my values, mission, or lifetime goals. It had me start by making a pile of all the detritus that had accumulated in my workspace and making a list of all the tasks I had.

I stayed with GTD until I read about Mark's methods. I think that Mark's methods worked better for me than GTD because Mark's methods were more bottom-focused than Allen's. As others have pointed out many times before, Mark's systems dictate rules about how to "do," whereas Allen's system dictates rules about how to organize.

Allen got me organized. By the time I first heard of Mark, I really didn't need any more help getting organized. But I still needed help going. And Mark provided that.

Allen is the hedgehog with one idea; Mark is the fox with many ideas. In my view, Allen's one idea was played out after he wrote GTD. His subsequent work was a faded image of the original.

Mark's ability to reassess, reinvent, and reframe his past work astounds me, especially when contrasted with Allen.

Personally, I get some feelings of annoyance every time Mark comes out with something new. I do not want to be self-conscious about my system. I like systems that become invisible. My system is to my work, what grammar is to language. I do not want to devote much of my day to thinking about, changing, or discussing the rules of language use. I just want to use language. Analogously, I don't want to be focused on my system, which is essentially a set of rules about how to work. I just want to work.

Every time Mark creates a new system, I have to take away time from work and invest it in system revision. But, so far at leas, it has proved to be time well-spent.

In another thread, I commented that Mark's systems have increased my motivation. Mel commented that this is a common effect of system changing.

I agree and I disagree. I think that short-term, I can get a huge burst of energy from trying something new. And this, certainly, wears off after time.

But some systems have yielded permanent gains for me. That is why I stuck with GTD for many years. Sure, I still had motivation issues with GTD. But I was always better off with GTD than I was pre-GTD. I have had the same results (but better) with Mark's approaches. I consistently remain more motivated and more efficient with Mark's systems than I was without them.

Hey moises,

I think your post clarifies to me that we are all different. I don't do well with a bottom up approach without a whole lot of filtering. I also don't experience increased productivity with a new system, I have the opposite result. Look at how simple AF1 was and it still took me 8 weeks or more to get my head around it. Even longer to stop myself from the resistance I had in using it and to not feel overwhelmed by it. Once I got familiar with it, I was okay and doing well. But I just can't see everything that I want to be do written down in one place - that was my problem with GTD and with AF. It's that overwhelm thing.

Part of having problems adopting new systems is probably due to coming from a project / systems background where I've learned to question every step and its utility in the end result. The top down approach coming from goals is the one thing that has worked so well for me for too many years. It's the icing on my cupcake. :-)

If I don't have too much to do (or even if I do), I don't need rules for what to do other than focus on and take care of the priorities for the day as quickly as possible and basically take the rest of the day off doing whatever I feel like doing or working on lower priority projects.

The piece that I found the most valuable in "Making It All Work" was the emphasis on the Incubating phase and the reiteration that I have to continually reassess and incubate projects. This was something I naturally did so well with at work, but had a hard time with in my personal life. Also the discussion on "The Nature and Volume of Stuff" (p. 106) and the meaning of things - I'm still dealing with my 5 years of clutter collection and this was very helpful to force me to be ruthless if I was unclear on the meaning of things - or had a stupid meaning like "I spent money to get it 10 years ago". :-)

I wish I could be working with and testing DWM with all of you guys and this great community that I've received so much benefit from, but the bottom up / everything plus the kitchen sink on a list is just a deal breaker for me.

If anyone is interested in the Linenberger stuff look here http://masteryourworkday.com/tooldownloadscontent

Moises,

That was a great intuitive post. I too failed with Covey. The mix of roles and bigger picture thinking was a hard overlay when I was simply trying to process work. I personally like to separate the big picture thinking from the TM system until it is done and becomes simply tasks.

As far as new systems go I think I am finally at the point where I can resist the shiny new toy, although it has taken me a very long time. I think I have finally realized a few things - there is no perfect system, there is no one size fits all system and the system you create to solve you own situation and weaknesses is probably the best one for you and it will evolve as you do. These realizations along with the fact I will only stick with something simple and easy frame my thinking these days.

Gerry
http://www.simple-time-management.com

I received Linenberger's book today, and barely make it through 25 pages. It's going back. Yes... yes, y'all warned me.

And I feel the same way. The book is going back. There is nothing new here that I have not seen in about 50 different ways. And yes, I know people told me too. I am tired of trying out new systems all of the time -- it is beyond ridiculous. Ever since my stupid post of trying out my "new" system, I have gone back and am staying with Autofocus 4. It has worked the best for me, and that is where I am staying. Period.

-David

I think it's fine to try out new systems, it satisfies intellectual curiosity to a point. One system can create a feeling of boredom as well, especially if it's not well-entrenched in your life. However trying too many systems over a short amount of time makes little sense, some of these systems take weeks to even test.

<<fine to try out new systems>>

I agree. However Linenberger's "system" is a rehash of systems I've abandoned for DWM. Worse, the first few chapters were full of over-promises and hype a la Brian Tracy/Tony Robbins.

I agree....and thanks for the good advice, TK. Sigh....I am my own worst enemy....I love to tinker with systems, even as busy as I am. Perhaps it is a release. But I do find working with new systems or wrinkles of systems fascinating. I am staying with AF4....okay, back to work...

-David

All Is Not Lost.....

Linenberger's earlier book - "Total Workday Control, 2nd Ed" could be useful for anyone (like me) using Outlook for task management.

Although it does incorporate the "MYN" approach, it does not spread it out over a whole book, and does give many helpful techniques for using Outlook for task management and integrating with email to manage the Inbox.

If you are not an Outlook wiz, the lessons learned can be adapted to help you set Outlook's Task system up based on any other TM rules you want - including DWM.

From what I can gather, the MYN book tries to use the same underlying philosophy for paper system users. Not too successfully judging from those of you who have commented above.

Ian

Ian is right, or at least I also felt TWC2 ed had some useful features and techniques.

I looked at the links on Linenberger's site re his latest offering, and stopped, it just seemed to be heading towards overload overhead like GTD, so I'm not surprised at these latest posts.

Interesting that his manual version seems to have gotten overly complicated, because I think the Outlook-driven TWC 2ed seems very compatible with many of Mark's good ideas in GED, DIT & AF. This includes gaining control over your Inbox, starting afresh by shifting everything into a "Backlog" folder, only having one place foor all tasks, letting tasks "jump-out" from a list you scan regularly, dropping tasks if they dont get acted on intime (though he is not as hard as Mark), etc, etc.

I really like his Outlook applications, which really suit my work environment. OK sometimes the text is a bit laboured and slow, but he gives plenty of signposts on how to miss parts out if you already have the knoweldge, I would recommend it to anyone trying to manage tasks in Outlook



Ian